Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Author's Notes

This story is dead as of 9/4/19. It will remain on the website solely as a means to show how I've progressed since I first started writing.

Sarutobi Naruto: Konoha's All-Seeing Monkey

Chapter 1: One of a Kind

A lone figure stood leaning against a shed in a small clearing on the outskirts of Konoha in the dead of night. Though most people would have some level of difficulty seeing through the darkness, it would be almost impossible for anyone to fail to make out the outrageously orange clothing that the figure seemingly chose to wear.

Upon closer inspection, one would make out that the figure seemed to be no more than a mere boy – perhaps a young teenager at the oldest judging by their height. They stood at roughly four-foot-eight and were clad in an orange tracksuit that had a bit of blue around the upper shoulders and waist. They finished off their apparel with a pair of standard-issue blue shinobi sandals and had a kunai holster strapped around his right thigh over some bandages.

The most noteworthy features about the figure in question, however, would be their spikey blond hair – and if one were able to make out the details – their six distinct whiskers and their cerulean-blue eyes. Anyone that been within Konoha for any moderate length of time would be able to put the facts together and peg the figure as their resident pariah – Uzumaki Naruto.

However, despite the fact that he was viewed in a bad light due to his burden and his constant pranks around the village, most people would view him as a bit different tonight; they would view him as a traitor of the worst degree. They had relatively good reason to believe this, unlike most of their other prejudiced thoughts regarding them, as the giant scroll he had latched onto his back was quite a valuable and powerful item to the village. The Forbidden Scroll of Sealing, as it was properly called, was a scroll that held details on nearly all of Konoha's forbidden techniques. As such, it was certainly understandable that nearly every loyal Konoha shinobi or kunoichi would view him as a traitor for having stolen it earlier in the evening.

Yet, despite the fact that he had stolen the scroll, Naruto seemed surprisingly calm. It was obvious that he was either unaware of what he had actually done or merely didn't care about the repercussions that could come about as a result of his theft. Seeing as his face portrayed nothing aside from boredom, which was something no one would find to be truly news-worthy for the boy who seemed to be filled to the brim with energy, it was quite difficult to tell exactly what he was feeling at that moment.

The boy's bored expression only changed when a new figure suddenly entered the clearing by walking up to the boy from the side of the shed.

"Na-ru-to!" The figure nearly growled out each syllable as the blond turned to face him.

"Ahaha," the blond laughed nervously as he reached a hand behind his head and scratched it in a manner that many would realize was a tick of sorts. "Found you, Iruka-sensei!"

"…BAKA!" The now-identified Iruka shouted after a moment as he walked closer and slammed a fist upon the top of blond's head. "I found you!"

'…Though it doesn't like he's scared that I found him…nor does he look exhausted from running,' the scarred Chunin thought as he gazed up and down the form of his favorite student. 'Well if he isn't stopping to rest, then what in the Hell is he doing?'

"Naruto," Iruka continued as he decided to simply vocalize his curiosity. "What are you doing out here? Why did you take the Forbidden Scroll?"

Upon hearing this, the usual joy and happiness that the blond held in his expression seemed to vanish as he locked his gaze onto Iruka's own.

"You'll find out in a second, Iruka-sensei," he replied with more seriousness than Iruka had ever heard from him in the past. Said Chunin furrowed his brow for a brief moment as he digested the blond's words. As he opened his mouth to speak again though, he jerked his head to the left just as a number of kunai nailed his clothes to the shed behind him with pinpoint precision.

"Ah, I see I got here just in time, eh Naruto?" came a voice that the pinned Chunin was all too familiar with. A moment later, and he could make out his silver-haired assistant crouched on a branch in a tree several yards away.

'Mizuki! What's he…oh…oh no…' Iruka thought as he quickly glanced from the man to Naruto before futilely attempting to pull his right arm free from the shed it was now pinned to.

"Yo, Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto replied to the man with his usual grin as he grabbed the giant scroll behind him and brought it up into his arms. "I got the Forbidden Scroll just like you told me. So, after this, I graduate right?"

Iruka's eyes widened to saucer-size as the new information made him realize exactly what was going on.

"Naruto! Don't list-" he began before Mizuki raised the volume of his voice to talk over him.

"You sure do Naruto!" the silver-haired man shouted as he jumped down from the branch and quickly walked towards the blond. "Now, just give me the scroll and you're all finished."

"STOP!" Iruka screamed with a bit of desperation as he saw his orange-clad student walking towards the man he now realized was almost certainly a traitor. "NARUTO! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!"

The blond barely even turned his head towards the man before continuing to move forward and wordlessly handing the scroll over to Mizuki.

'NO!' Iruka screamed mentally as he saw a dangerous glint in his assistant's eyes as he took the scroll. 'NONONONONO!'

"NARUTO, RUN! GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Iruka pleaded as he finally managed to tear his right arm free from being pinned and quickly tore at the kunai still holding his legs. However, despite his frenzied attempt at removing the deadly projectiles, he kept his eyes locked onto what was happening as if he could stop the act just by keeping his eyes upon it.

As such, his eyes widened a bit further in horror when saw when the blond turn to him and cock his head slightly to the side – an action that Iruka idly recognized as his 'tell' when he was confused about something. However, while he was doing that, the Chunin's eyes were honed in on Mizuki as the traitor pulled out a kunai silently behind his unsuspecting student and positioned it for a lethal strike on his neck.

Time seemed to slow for the scarred academy instructor as he watched the weapon descend towards a lethal vein in the boy's neck.

"NARUTO!" He screamed one last time…right before the knife plunged into his flesh and he saw the teen's cerulean blue eyes widen even as his right arm reflexively reached upwards to try to apply pressure to the wound.

Before his hands reached the area in question though, both of the remaining men's eyes widened as something quite unexpected occurred. The Naruto that had been directly in front of them promptly fell to his knees and…

Poof!

With a small plume of smoke, vision of the blond was obscured for a moment before said smoke was blown away by a gentle breeze. Iruka and Mizuki themselves astonished, then, when the area was revealed to show two duplicates of the blond lying face-first on the ground.

"What th-" the silver-haired traitor began to say before…

Poof! Poof!

The two Chunin were shocked yet again as the two Naruto duplicates turned into smoke and revealed nothing but an empty field a moment later.

'Wh-what just happened?' Iruka thought in shock before his eyes darted to Mizuki and he quickly went back to trying to rip out the last few kunai keeping him secured to the shed. It would do him well to take the moment of surprise to try to free himself, after all.

"…A trick!" Mizuki declared loudly upon realization that the blond had seemingly gotten one over on him somehow. He quickly turned back to where he had laid the Forbidden Scroll before attempting to assassinate Konoha's pariah only to find himself nearly face-to-face with something he definitely did not want to encounter in this situation.

A white, porcelain mask.

The traitor quickly stumbled back a few steps in shock, a lethal mistake in front of a hostile shinobi or kunoichi if ever there was one, but the figure either failed to or simply elected not to take advantage of it. Quickly regaining his bearings, Mizuki glanced up at the figure's mask and noticed that there was something substantially different about it than most masks that ANBU used around their village.

The mask was in the shape of a monkey with circular ears at the sides, in that regard, it was much the same as any other ANBU mask; however, the mask's lower portion – save for two slim pieces of porcelain that hung down on either side – had seemingly been cut out and would normally reveal the wearer's mouth and part of their cheeks.

Seeing such a mask had Mizuki a bit spooked, but he quickly calmed down upon remembering that ANBU agents weren't permitted to modify standard-issue masks. The man in front of him, whoever he was, obviously wasn't a real ANBU agent – a fact that bolstered his confidence considerably as he quickly took in the figure's appearance.

The masked figure stood at right around the same height as him at five-foot-eight. They were also equipped with mostly standard-issue Chunin/Jonin attire and accessories. They had a pair of black pants taped along the bottom to avoid the possibility of a snagged hem with a kunai holster strapped over their right thigh, a long-sleeved black shirt that fell to their wrists, and a standard, unzipped flak-jacket atop the shirt.

However some of their attire deviated from the norm as well. They wore a pair of black shin-guards that resembled the ANBU-style model most agents wore, though theirs in particular had an engraving in the center of each one that others did not. Said shin-guards also had a plate draped over the bridge of each of his close-toed boots that concealed most of the white tape wrapping his pants from view.

On his hands were black hand-guards that strapped around his palms with what was presumably an elastic band and tied with string around each of his middle fingers – an option for armor that was often replaced with metal-backed fingerless gloves nowadays. Finally, finishing off the variations of his outfit was the fact that the collar of his shirt seemed to have additional black cloth sewed seamlessly onto it to create a skin-tight black mask that they could pull up if desired. Said mask was currently pulled up to hide the small portion of their face that the porcelain mask would've otherwise left exposed.

Finally, the last of the man's visible features were his hair and eyes. Spikey blond hair stuck up from behind the man's mask that was pulled back into a lengthy braid and tied off at the bottom with a strip of orange cloth. While Mizuki didn't particularly care about the individual's hairstyle in his current situation, their eyes unnerved him a great deal. He could easily make out the pupil-less white eyes within the holes that were cut out of the porcelain – the trademark appearance of the Byakugan.

'Fuck!' Mizuki thought as he ground his teeth together and quickly slid into a defensive Taijutsu stance – only idly noticing that his hands were shaking rather badly. 'Fuckfuckfuck! It wasn't supposed to go like this! There's no way I'm getting away if this guy's a Hyuga!'

"Mizuki," the masked figure began with what both Chunin in the clearing could almost feel was a fair amount of condescension in their masculine voice. "It would seem that you're guilty of attempting to steal the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing – a crime, as I'm sure you're aware, is punishable by death. I assume that you have no intention of surrendering quietly?"

In response, the traitor merely reached backwards slowly to grab one of the Fuma shuriken that was strapped to his back. After a moment, he began to quickly spin it with his right hand until it was little more than a blur to the untrained eye.

"Very well," the masked man stated with a neutral tone as his hand twitched to his kunai holster and flicked it open thoughtlessly as he slowly slid a finger through one of the ends of the utensils held within. "I need to see if I'm ready to use this effectively in combat anyway."

With nothing further needing to be said, Mizuki rushed forward with a roar even as Iruka stood off to the side after finally pulling out the last of the kunai pinning him down. He elected to merely wait for an opportunity to jump in as he didn't want to get in the way of any plans the masked man had already come up with.

However, any intention on joining the fight ceased for Iruka as his eyes locked onto the kunai that the unidentified man pulled out of his holster in its entirety. His eyes widened to the size of saucers as he saw the slightly elongated handle with a few kanji written along the length as well as the main blade of the weapon being accompanied on either side by a slightly smaller blade.

Mizuki, however, continued rushing forward blindly as he didn't have a good angle to see the weapon in question. He did, however, twitch to deflect the unknowingly modified weapon with his own weapon of choice after the man threw it towards him. With a clang, it went veering off towards the left before gravity began taking effect.

'As if I'd be hit by a single ku—'

The traitor's thoughts stopped cold as the man he had been staring at disappeared in a flash of yellow only to reappear right next to the mid-air kunai, effortlessly snag it, and promptly thrust it forward.

Schlink

Feeling a foreign sensation plunge into his flesh even through his flak-jacket, Mizuki looked down and saw the elongated handle of the weapon sticking out from his chest – directly over his heart, to be more precise. The fuma shuriken he had been spinning quickly dropped into the ground with a thunk as his muscles stopped responding due to his shock at the sight. As the pain finally caught up to him, the silver-haired man quickly dropped to his knees even as his heart tried valiantly to keep beating despite the piece of metal currently lodged into it.

Looking up, he saw the figure that had brought about what would likely be his death directly in front of him. Even as his breath grew raspy, the masked man looked down on him with eyes that still unnerved him to his very core even as blood started trickling down his chest from around the deadly weapon lodged there.

"You're a damned fool," the man stated with obvious disdain towards the Chunin. "I was required to read your file quite some time ago when you were first labelled a suspected traitor. You had a happy life here, a cushiony job, and even a lovely woman as a girlfriend from what I understand. Yet, despite that, you would throw all of it away for your greed and lust for power."

Developing a mild tick above his brow at the man's harsh words despite his weakening body, Mizuki found the energy to look up at him and spit - an action which the masked man did nothing to try to avoid as it hit his flak-jacket.

"Fuck…you…" the silver-haired shinobi stated weakly in between his struggling gasps for air before he coughed and blood started running freely down his chin. "I…was helping…this fucking village…even as I…betrayed it," he continued on despite his continuing struggle for air

"Ah, yes," the masked man drew out in a way that made it obvious he knew of what the traitor was speaking about. "You mean by killing the 'Demon Brat' before you took Konoha's list of jutsu to Orochimaru, right?" The man took the dignity to use air quotes with his fingers as if disagreeing with the name most villagers addressed Naruto with – a fact that caused the spectating Iruka's respect for the unknown man to bump up several notches.

"Damn…right…" Mizuki stated with a wheeze as he smiled wickedly up towards his mask. "That demon…doesn't deserve to live. The…Sandaime has…gone…senile…in his old…age."

Silence reigned in the area for a few long moments among the three vested individuals save for Mizuki's breath.

"Well…I suppose that makes this moment a bit sweeter for me then," the figure responded before promptly reaching a hand up, grabbing the monkey mask, and pulling it away from his face. Taking his time, he clipped the mask to a small, unseen hook that was somewhere on his belt.

However, there was no drastic reaction to the now-exposed portion of his face until the blond also reached up and slowly pulled down the black cloth that covered the lower-half of his face. As the rest of his face became exposed, Iruka's jaw dropped and even Mizuki's eyes widened substantially at the familiar markings on either of the boy's cheeks – six distinct whisker marks

"Surprise~," the blond drew out in an almost teasing manner the moment the mask had exposed one of his most distinguishing features.

"Naruto?!" Iruka called out questioningly as he finally moved closer to the two men in the clearing since the fight was clearly over at this point

Turning, the blond directed his gaze momentarily to the scarred Chunin as his lips twitched up into a small smile.

"Iruka-sensei," he acknowledged briefly with a nod before his smile faded and he a cold gaze back towards Mizuki. This allowed the academy instructor to get a good look at his student's face.

The boy's usual cerulean blue eyes were replaced by the cold, white, pupil-less eyes of the stoic Hyuga clan. While that alone made a drastic difference in the boy's usual appearance, there was also the fact that he had two rather sizable scars across his face to give him a bit more of a rugged look. The first was a long scar that went vertically from his scalp down to his jawline while traveling directly over his left eye. The second traveled from roughly the center of his forehead in a diagonal slash across his right eye and down to the middle of his cheek before coming to a stop.

Then, of course, there was how his hair appeared to have grown a great deal in the few short hours since the Chunin had last seen him. The back of his hair dropped to the middle of his shoulder-blades in a sizable but simple braid while two lengthy bangs framed his face in a fashion almost identical to the late Yondaime's hairstyle. The alterations seemed to highlight his face a bit more than usual and made him seem a bit wilder in appearance compared to what Iruka had come to expect

'Man, if he'd just cut a bit of hair off of the back he'd look almost exactly like…!' Iruka thought before he stored that thought away to bring up a bit later and turned his attention back towards what was going on in front of him since his eyes caught movement.

With no visible sign of hesitation, Naruto walked up to Mizuki, gripped the handle of the tri-pronged kunai lodged in the man's chest, and ripped it viciously out of his chest. Blood promptly sprayed across his chest from Mizuki's now-gaping chest wound, but he didn't seem to bat an eyelash at it. After the initial spurt, the crimson liquid quickly poured down the man's vest as he swayed on his knees from the blood loss for a brief moment before falling face-first into the grass. The blond, meanwhile, took the same time to wipe his kunai off on his pants before depositing it back into his holster.

"…This isn't my first kill," Naruto stated as if sensing a question or comment that Iruka was about to vocalize at that moment. "No need to give me the usual speech or coddle me."

Without saying a word, Naruto reached into his right pants pocket and pulled out a small, square container. Flipping open the metal lid, he quickly slid out a cigarette that was held within it and placed it between his lips before snapping the container shut and putting it away. Then, he reached into one of his vest pockets and withdrew a metal lighter. Flipping it open with a flick of the wrist, he lit the cigarette with the ease of a long-time smoker. After tucking the lighter away, he took a long drag on the tobacco-filled stick that he had been craving for the past several hours.

Exhaling the smoke he had inhaled a moment beforehand, he turned to his academy instructor who seemed to still be in a state of shock, though there was small, familiar gleam in the man's eyes that told the blond he was about to try to chastise him.

"Old enough to kill, old enough to smoke, sensei," he finished with a bit of a chastising tone before taking another drag. "I imagine you have quite a few questions about…well, all of this, right?" Naruto asked after a lengthy pause while blowing out smoke again.

Not knowing what to say in response, Iruka merely nodded his head dumbly.

Returning the gesture with a nod of his own, Naruto then held out his cigarette to the man.

"Hold this for a second," he commanded more than asked. Though he was against smoking in most circumstances, the Chunin merely held it awkwardly and stepped away as his student gave him a gesture to tell him to back up.

Flipping through a series of hand seals at a speed that Iruka could barely follow, the blond brought a single hand up in an 'o' shape to his mouth as he shouted his technique.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu) Naruto shouted as a continuous stream of powerful flames came out of his mouth through the small ring his fingers formed and began incinerating the traitorous Chunin's body. After around ten seconds, positive that the body would continue burning until it was either unrecognizable or ash, he ceased the stream of intense flames.

Iruka, meanwhile, just chalked up the impressive display of elemental jutsu as another astonishing thing he had seen in the past few minutes. It seemed that his favorite student, for he knew absolutely no one else with whisker marks on their cheeks, had suddenly jumped to Chunin-level skill or higher overnight. Not only that, but after seeing his new hairstyle, his modified kunai, and what he could've sworn fit the textbook description of the Hiraishin, he was quickly starting to get rather suspicious of the boy's lineage as well.

"Okay!" Naruto stated with a chipper tone that let the Chunin know that this definitely wasn't the teen's first kill since only people who had done it relatively frequently could still sound so unaffected afterwards. "Let's go see the old man and I'll see if I can't answer a few of your questions. Good enough for you?"

"Y…Yeah," Iruka said shakily after a few moments as he wordlessly handed the stick of tobacco back to the teen.

"Alright then," the blond shot back with a smile that crept across his face while he placed the cigarette between his lips again. "Hope you can keep up," he stated before he promptly seemed to vanish out of the area in a blur.

'Shunshin too,' the academy instructor thought in a moment of awe before he quickly formed the necessary hand seal and disappeared in a cloud of smoke – showing his own less-mastered form of the technique. 'Exactly how far along areyou, Naruto?'

(10 minutes later)

Iruka stood formally in the office of the Sandaime at attention after having just arrived there a few moments ago while Naruto stood at his side with a slightly slouched posture – his cigarette having been discarded sometime before reaching the office.

"At ease, Iruka," the elderly Kage said from behind his desk with a small smile gracing his wrinkled face. "No need to be so formal for the time being."

"H-hai, Hokage-sama," Iruka stated as he allowed himself to slouch slightly and his eyes darted absent-mindedly to the portraits on the side of the room.

"Now," the elderly man stated as he pushed his hands together atop his desk and interlaced his fingers. "Why don't you go ahead and brief me on what exactly it was that you saw?"

"No real need for that, Jiji," Naruto stated from the Chunin's side. "I wanted to test Hiraishin in combat since I had an opportunity and he saw me use it. He definitely suspects something already…at least if the way he's staring at the portrait is any indication. I trust him enough to let him in on this."

Iruka promptly snapped his gaze back to Naruto from where he had been staring at the Yondaime's portrait, processing the words that had been spoken and what they could mean.

"…Fair enough, I suppose," Hiruzen said as he directed a small smile towards the blond for having caught him red-handed. "It's your secret to give, so I won't stop you. However, Iruka, know that anything you hear tonight is regarded as an S-rank secret to everyone excluding Naruto and myself until it is made public knowledge. I don't believe I have to tell you what that means?"

"N-no, Hokage-sama," the scarred Chunin said as he felt a bit of sweat gather at his brow from the evident severity of the situation. Breaking an S-rank secret of the village, unless specifically given permission to, often resulted with the person never being seen again for one reason or another.

"Well then," Naruto began as he turned toward the scarred Chunin and let his expression show a bit of exhaustion that he had apparently been concealing, "go ahead and ask your questions. I know you're curious, but it's pretty late, so try to keep it short please. I've been up for around forty-eight hours and would like to get some rest before tomorrow."

'Easier said than done,' the scarred man thought as he directed his gaze to the teenager. 'With all that I've seen tonight, I barely even know where to start.'

"Right," Iruka finally stated aloud after a few moments of silence. "I'm guessing that this is the…erm, the real you?"

"It is," Naruto said with a sad smile as Iruka gestured at his current body. "I'd have to be horribly, horribly malnourished to be as short as most people think I am at sixteen."

"S-sixteen?" Iruka asked with a slightly dumbfounded face.

"Yes," Naruto said with a deadpan as he looked the man straight in the eyes. "It even said so openly in my academy record. Failing three times will cause a bit of an age discrepancy, y'know."

'…Just a few hours ago I would've been surprised if he even knew what discrepancy meant,' the Chunin thought as he had the decency to look a bit embarrassed at his lack of available information.

"Ah…haha," Iruka laughed nervously as he reached up and scratched his cheek. "Sorry, you just looked and acted so much like some of the others that I guess I kinda let it slip my mind."

The blond merely let out a frustrated sigh as he shook his head.

"You aren't the only one, so I guess I can't get too upset at you," he grumbled.

"Uh," Iruka began somewhat nervously as he let his gaze slip over to the portrait of the Yondaime in the room. "So…am I right in thinking that you're the son of th-"

"Yes," Naruto stated before Iruka could even finish as his pupil-less white eyes drifted to the portrait on the wall and remained there while he continued. "The pariah of the village is the son of the hero of the same village. Ironic really, especially considering that I had no choice in the matter."

'So he definitely knows about the Kyubi then,' Iruka thought after a moment before considering how to respond to the teen's question.

"I suppose it is a bit ironic," Iruka confessed, feeling a bit strange hearing Naruto of all people utter such a bitter-sounding though. "But…after tonight, I don't doubt that the village will eventually come to accept you Uzumaki Naruto like it always should have."

Allowing his eyes to slowly drift back to Iruka, and finding no sign of deceit in his words, Naruto let a smile slowly creep over his lips again.

"…I suppose that'll make you one of the rare few then."

After a lengthy pause in conversation following that, Hiruzen decided to interject to get the conversation rolling forward again.

"So Iruka," he began in the same position as the last time he had spoken. "Do you think that young Naruto here is of a sufficient skill level to become a Genin now that you've seen him in action?"

Replaying the rather anti-climactic fight in his mind, the Chunin turned his gaze onto the Hokage with only a moment's silence and nodded.

"Without a shadow of a doubt, Hokage-sama," he stated briefly in addition to his gesture. "He may not be able to perform the Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique), but I have no doubt in vouching that he can fulfill the requirements of any Genin. He's at least Chunin material in terms of combat potential…at least by my estimation."

"Good," the Sandaime stated with a knowing smile. "Then it sounds like I was of right mind when I promoted him to an un-official Genin quite some time ago. Naruto, your mission pay," he continued as he took out a large stack of Ryo and set them on top of his desk.

"Ahhh," Naruto stated as walked forward and picked up the bills and thumbed through them. "Nothing quite like the smell of easy, long-term A-rank mission pay."

"Wait, wait, wait," Iruka stated as he waved his arms from behind the blond. "How long has he been an un-official Genin?"

"A bit over three years, if memory serves," Naruto stated in the Sandaime's stead as thumbed through the Ryo he had been handed. "My current record is fifty-seven C-ranks, thirty-two B-ranks, eleven A-ranks, and one S-rank mission," he drawled out in a monotone voice as if repeating an answer to a question he was asked frequently.

"…You cannot be serious!" The scarred man whispered harshly in an attempt to keep his voice down to a degree. "B-ranks, A-ranks, an S-rank? No one as young as Naruto should have that sort of record!"

"I was a bit of a special exception," the blond responded with a smile towards the academy instructor before he could continue venting his opinion at the elderly Kage. "My partner…well, let's just say they get a C-rank or better or they don't get a mission at all. Even a C-rank is testing their patience pretty severely. This was the first mission above a B-rank I was actually ever assigned. The other A-ranks and the one S-rank were upgraded for various reasons while out I was in the field."

The Chunin just looked towards the Sandaime who nodded in the affirmative, causing the scarred man to look towards his favorite student and simply shake his head in disbelief.

"This is just crazy…it's so hard to think that you're the same goofball that I've been teaching for years," he continued as he gazed at the blond.

"Iruka," the Sandaime interrupted as the two men shot their attention back towards him. "I know it's a bit difficult to believe, but I assure you that this is Naruto. Now, I would like you to finish the paperwork tonight to push through Naruto's official graduation so that I may sign him into service before the team assignments are finalized tomorrow. In your report on the encounter with your assistant, omit that Naruto-kun here used the Hiraishin to defeat him and simply report that he used Kage Bunshin to get a lucky stab in on him with one of his kunai. Make sure to also note that you left the body there after all was said and done. I will take the liberty of making a note on the report to say that ANBU disposed of the body upon arrival."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Iruka responded immediately.

"Superb," Hiruzen stated as he glanced at the two men in his office. "Now, it has been a long night and tomorrow is going to be a rather hectic day for all of us. So, is there anything else you'd like to ask while we're in the safety of my office?"

"One final question, if you don't mind," Iruka asked as he turned his gaze towards Naruto who simply made a gesture for him to proceed. "…How'd you manage to attend the academy and do these missions at the same time? I saw Haruno-san strike you multiple times in class before, so there was no way it was just a simple Kage Bunshin under a Henge."

"Ah," Naruto stated with a bit of relief when Iruka neglected to ask about his unnatural eyes and scars. "It was actually quite simple. The 'Naruto' that everyone came to know was a combination of two Kage Bunshin merged together and altered with the Konbi Henge (Combination Transformation). The technique actually changes the user's physical traits, so no one with a Byakugan or sensing abilities would be able to tell with certainty that it was a clone. It also sustains itself a lot longer than normal Kage Bunshin."

"As for how they survived being hit," the blond continued after a moment of thinking how best to explain it, "you already know that the Konbi Henge merges the chakra of the two individuals who fuse and Kage Bunshins are no exception. Since the single combined clone is overloaded with even more chakra than usual, it's able to withstand most physical blows, though getting punctured with a sharp object or blasted with some sort of elemental technique will still cause it to dispel. The only downfall is that its chakra control sucks, so any clones I make with it can't actually use most jutsu."

"So…all this time at the academy…" the Chunin began slowly. "I was teaching…"

"A glorified Kage Bunshin who couldn't hold a candle to my real capabilities," Naruto chirped with a bit of pride while neglecting to notice the tick mark growing over the man's right eye.

"So…all of the ramen that I bought for you …" the scarred man stated as he let a bit of his anger seep into his voice.

"Ah…haha," Naruto responded nervously as he finally noticed the man's angry appearance and realized where he was taking the conversation. "I'll uh…buy you a drink sometime?"

"NA-RU-TOOO!" Iruka hollered as he began trying to chase the blond around the office in an attempt to bash him over the head with his fist.

Hiruzen, meanwhile, just chuckled silently and smiled at the scene despite how outrageous it was.

'Ah, it's good to see that you still can be your old self every once in a while, Naruto.'

(The Next Morning)

Standing in front of a full-body mirror in his room in the Hokage manor – a large, three-story home that any elected Hokage was permitted to use if they so desired – Naruto had to suppress the urge to grin widely at himself.

He was clad in the same gear as the night before, albeit with a fresh set of clothes since the others had a moderate amount of blood on them. His monkey mask was clipped on his belt just beneath his flak jacket and the black, skin-tight half-mask was left hanging loosely around his neck for the time being. The only notable changes were a Konoha Hitai-ate tied firmly around his left bicep with a blue cloth, an additional kunai holster over some bandages on his left leg as well as his right, and a beige supply pouch on each of his hips.

'Today's finally the day,' he told himself inwardly as he glanced at himself in the mirror again – having long gotten used to the 'freaky white eyes' as he used to call them. 'No more hiding myself from the very village I was born in.'

"You really are the spitting image of your father," an elderly voice stated from the doorway to the spacious room he was in.

The blond merely let a small smile stretch across his lips without turning towards the man as he fiddled with the strings attaching his hand-guards to the back of each hand.

"I know, Jiji," he responded after a few moments of silence. Finally turning towards him, he raised his arms to the sides and asked the question he had been wondering to himself about for the past fifteen minutes. "How do I look?"

Coming closer, Hiruzen reached out and grabbed Naruto by his shoulders as he looked up a few inches to make eye-contact.

"Like one of Konoha's finest shinobi," the elderly man answered with a warm smile. "And a splendid Hokage in the making."

Naruto simply gave a sad smile as he gazed slightly down into his surrogate grandfather's face in response. "You know that hasn't been my dream for a long time now," he stated with just a touch of sadness in the tone.

"I know," Hiruzen stated with a small sigh before he reached up and ruffled the teen's hair despite the five inches the blond had over him. "It certainly doesn't stop me from hoping that you'll take up the mantle one day though. I'd like at least one of those I've taught to be willing to do so should the need arise."

Naruto merely turned his gaze away from the elderly man as he felt a fair amount of guilt well up in the pit of his stomach.

"Naruto," the head of the Sarutobi Clan stated upon noticing what he had done. "Don't feel guilty at the words of a sentimental old man. If anyone has the right to turn down the mantle, it would be you. You have given more than your fair share for Konoha already."

Returning his gaze to the man's eyes slowly, the blond gave a nod in acknowledgement, but otherwise remained silent.

"Do you have all of your things?" Hiruzen asked as he noted that the room looked relatively barren aside from a large scroll sitting at the foot of the bed.

"Ah, yeah," Naruto responded as he turned and looked at the room he had grown to view as his own with a smile. "I'm definitely gonna miss the place though."

"Well you're hardly forbidden from ever coming back again," the Sandaime chided softly. "You know that my door will always be open to you should you need my help."

Suddenly, Hiruzen found himself wrapped in a rather fierce hug by the boy in front of him – something he returned without hesitation as he pat the boy on the back.

"Thank you. …I could never repay you for everything you've done for me, Jiji."

"No, my boy," Hiruzen stated as he looked the boy in his eyes again with a genuine smile adorning his aged face. "You've already repaid me by becoming a splendid shinobi and a splendid young man. There's nothing more I could ask for."

"…You're difficult to thank, you know that?" the blond asked with a chuckle.

"I have been told that by many people, yes," the Sandaime responded with a wider smile pulling back his wrinkles a bit further.

"…Have you at least given thought to what I proposed last week?" Naruto asked after a pregnant pause, his nervousness about the subject being obvious at asking the question to anyone who knew what to look for.

"I have," Hiruzen responded as his eyes narrowed and he got a bit more serious. "Are you absolutely certain you wish to go through with this? I'm more than happy to accept, but I don't want you to rush into this decision."

"If you would have me, then absolutely," Naruto responded immediately. "I love my parents despite the burden they've placed upon me, but as far as I'm concerned, you are as much my family as they are. While I'd like to carry on their clan names in my full name to preserve them, it would be a great honor to carry on my other family's name as well."

Letting his serious expression soften back into what he would call 'grandfather mode,' Hiruzen gripped the boy's shoulder again and gave it another squeeze.

"..Then it is the Sarutobi Clan's honor to accept you as one of our own, Sarutobi Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto."

"Thank you," Naruto said in a slightly shaky voice as he kept his head down to hide the tears that had gathered in the corners of his eyes. "Thank you, Sofu (grandfather). …Just Sarutobi Naruto will do though, I think. Saying the whole thing is a mouthful," he continued with a chuckle despite the emotional moment.

"You are welcome, Magomusuko (grandson)," Hiruzen replied with the widest smile he had given in years as he pushed back the tears that threatened to seep into his own eyes. "You're right though," he admitted with mirth in his own voice, "it is quite the mouthful. However, you should be off soon. I won't stand for any member of my family being late on the day they're assigned to a team."

"Ah, right, sorry," Naruto stated as he reached a hand up and pinched the area over his eyes to try to not-so-subtly wipe away the tears that had welled there. "I just…uh, got something in my eye."

"It happens to the best of us sometimes," Hiruzen admitted with a silent chuckle. "I'll bring your adoption up at the council meeting while you're at the academy. Come by my office around seven in the evening or so if you're still in good shape. I've put aside a bit of time today, so we'll be able to visit your parent's estate together to get you settled in. Leave the scroll here for now, by the way. I wouldn't want you to have to lug it around considering that you might be visiting a bar or two this evening."

"Hai," Naruto responded as he let a smile cross his face upon remembering the date. "I'll see you later tonight then, Sofu. Wish me luck."

With nothing further being said, the blond formed a hand seal and disappeared in a blur of motion.

'Ah Naruto,' he thought wistfully with a soft chuckle. 'Knowing how attached you two have gotten over the years despite your hidden identity, I doubt you'll need any luck that my best wishes could offer you.'

(5 minutes later)

After having vanished in a Shunshin from the Hokage mansion, Naruto found himself frozen to a spot just outside of the academy gates despite how close he would be cutting it to showing up on time. He had been rooted to the spot for several minutes now with his hand held over the mask on his belt absent-mindedly.

For years, ever since he was eight years old, he had lived behind a mask of his own creation while in public. In a way, he had grown used to the secrecy and security it gave him. Only a select few people ever knew that both he and Saru – the codename he used while behind his monkey mask – were in fact the same individual.

Though his clone was the one interacting with them on a regular basis, the memory feedback it provided when he dispelled it made him feel the relationship he had formed with his classmates despite his deception. Although he rather detested some of his clone's quirks, such as pursuing Haruno Sakura despite her obvious lack of interest in him romantically, he had to admit that it was fun to have colleagues relatively close to his own age. Choji, Kiba, and Shikamaru in particular were kids he felt he could view as good friends…but the question remained if they would feel the same about the real him. Most people wouldn't exactly appreciate finding out they had been deceived for years, after all.

There were others he thought could be friend material as well, though his clone had chosen not to interact with them a great deal. Shino and Sasuke both seemed respectable even if the later seemed to be a bit too focused on revenge for his liking. Even Ino seemed to be someone he could get along with, at least when she wasn't fawning over Sasuke and bowling him over to get to the Uchiha.

Then, of course, there was the final student of note on his mind – Hyuga Hinata. She obviously had a major crush on his clone and, subsequently, his 'mask.' She could react any number of various ways to him announcing that it wasn't the real him, though he doubted her reaction would be too negative so long as he showed that he was still the same person…more or less.

The thought of the Hyuga princess, however, made him move his hand from his mask up to the scars on his face and trace over the one over his left eye. She was the cause, albeit indirectly and unintentionally, of both the best and worst events in his life.

'I just need to stop thinking about this,' the blond finally told himself as he inhaled deeply and slowly let out his contained breath. 'I don't know what they're going to say until I get in there anyway. I just need to man up and do this.'

He couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the fact that he had used one of his partner's favorite phrases, but brushed it off and quickly proceeded inside. Thankfully the academy hallways were almost completely barren thanks to the graduation yesterday. A few people still there handling paperwork would stare at him in curiosity as he passed, but the Hitai-ate on his arm made sure they didn't stop him to ask for identification or any nonsense that would have delayed him even longer.

Pausing for a brief moment at the familiar door to Iruka's classroom, he smiled a bit as he reached for the door handle. He had debated briefly on pulling up the black mask around his neck, but discarded the idea as soon as it popped up. Today was about revealing his true self, not hiding behind yet more masks.

As he stepped into the spacious room and shut the door behind him, he could nearly hear a pin drop. The silence could've been due to his entrance and the students silencing themselves to look at who the newcomer was, or judging by the way Iruka was standing in the front of the classroom with his clipboard, was most likely due to him using his patented jutsu to shout at them a few moments before he had come in

"Sorry for being late, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said with a smile still touching his lips as the scarred Chunin looked over towards him.

"…I suppose I can forgive you one more time, all things considered. Just find a seat, Naruto"

As if the name were the button to a delayed explosive device, the class sat in stunned silence for a few moments before the noise level skyrocketed as students began whispering to one another and Kiba stood up from where he was with Akamaru on top of his head.

"Oi, no way this guy's Naruto!" the Inuzuka proclaimed as he slammed a hand onto the desk and pointed at him. "He actually looks respectable!"

'…Why did I want to be friends with him again?' Naruto asked himself even as he held out an exposed finger and allowed a solitary bug to land on it for a few moments before it quickly flew off again, unknowingly causing a teen in the back to widen his eyes slightly behind his sunglasses after it returned to him.

Many in the class were having thoughts along the lines of Kiab's, though none actually vocalized them towards the teen or their sensei.

"QUIET!" Iruka yelled as the noise got to be a bit too much, though Kiba remained standing in his previous position. He merely glanced to the blond in question who caught his eye and seemed to take the silent nudge he was trying to give him to speak.

"Well you certainly aren't wrong, Kiba. I haven't exactly looked like a respectable shinobi-in-training in the past. However, as should be apparent from how I've seemingly grown nearly a foot and put on substantial quantities of muscle over-night, there's a bit more to me than you're aware of."

"…Well now we know it isn't Naruto," the Inuzuka heir continued with a laugh. "There's no way he could talk that good."

"'Well' or 'smoothly' would've been the proper words to use there, dog-breath, but I digress," Naruto stated with a small smile upon seeing the Inuzuka heir grow confused upon having his grammar corrected. "The fact is that I'm Uzumaki Naruto," 'for now anyway' he added mentally before continuing, "and I'd like the chance to get to know all of you since I'm not obligated to conceal certain aspects about myself any longer. If you're willing to give me a chance, then I'd be honored to get to know you."

Upon giving a small incline of his head towards the others to show a bit of respect, he nodded towards Iruka before proceeding up the steps towards an empty seat next to Hinata. Many of the students found themselves debating whether or not the blond was actually the Naruto they'd gotten to know, though a select few had confirmed the fact already.

"Wait," came a voice that he had just passed, causing him to turn and look down to the form of Sakura who was, as usual, sitting next to Sasuke. "If you're Naruto, then how did you suddenly get eyes like Hinata's?"

"…You're certainly rather blunt when asking about issues that could easily be considered touchy for most people, Haruno-san," Naruto stated in a voice stern enough to make her and several others flinch a bit. "To answer your question though, I'm sure someone as intelligent as yourself is familiar with the eye-for-an-eye clause in Konoha's founding laws, yes?"

"Y-yes," she stuttered slightly due to the surprise of not hearing someone claiming to be Naruto referring to her with a great deal of adoration in their voice. "I-it…it states that someone that can undoubtedly prove they were wronged by someone can take equal compensation from them."

"Right in one," he responded emotionlessly before turning and continuing to walk up the stairs while leaving the pink-haired girl and the rest of the class to think on what exactly he meant.

"Yo, Hinata," Naruto stated somewhat warmly as he approached the desk that was empty aside from said girl seated in the center of it. "Is it alright if I sit here?"

The girl, who had been staring intently at his face up until he got close enough to the desk to make her realize he was going to sit next to her, merely pushed her fingers together nervously and nodded with a blush adorning her cheeks.

'Is…is this really Naruto-kun?' she asked herself while stealing glances from the corner of her eyes as he sat in the chair and leaned forward onto the desk. 'He's just so…different.'

"You know," Naruto whispered as he leaned over slightly and nudged Hinata's elbow with his own. "If you don't believe me, you could always activate your Byakugan and find out."

"A-ah…I-I didn't mean to…" she trailed off.

"It's alright, I can't exactly blame you for not simply taking my word for it," the blond shot back with a small smile. Not being able to resist any longer, a small and mischievous smile grew on his lips at his next train of thought. "I must admit though, I am a little hurt that my secret admirer doesn't believe me."

It took a few moments for Hinata to register what the blond had said, but once she had done so, her entire face took a shade of red that indicated she was dangerously close to feinting as she had done a few times in the past when around her crush.

'Oh no, how did he find out?! I-I-I'm not ready for th- wait. Wait…this still might not be him," the heiress told herself as her blush slowly died down. 'He gave me permission to look at him with the Byakugan, so I might as well take it.'

Naruto watched with a fair amount of amusement as the teenage girl flipped through a series of hand seals under the desk before stopping and whispering "Byakugan" under her breath. As the veins around her temples began bulging out, her eyes widened as she looked at the blond's chakra network.

Though her eyes weren't powerful enough to see Tenketsu, at least not yet, she was able to see his chakra network the same as any Hyuga could. Naruto's network had always been a bit…odd. There was the normal blue network that showed a capacity larger than any she had ever seen, but the important part was a small swirl in the middle of his stomach that held red chakra instead of the normal blue coloration.

Her eyes went wide, then, because she saw said red swirl of chakra – nearly confirming without a doubt that this was Naruto since she hadn't seen any other individual with that particular irregularity.

'It's him…IT'S HIM,' Hinata screamed inwardly as she slowly cut the chakra she was channeling to her eyes and found her cheeks heating up as the blond's normal body started coming back into view. 'But…but that means…!'

As she came back into her normal vision entirely, she hesitantly glanced up into her crush's eyes which were looking directly into her own – something that caused her blush to multiply two-fold in intensity.

"So? Do I pass, Hinata-chan?" Naruto whispered as he smiled and purposely put a bit of emphasis on the suffix to tease the girl.

For a moment, she looked like she might respond despite her face rivaling the shade of a tomato. However, despite her jaw opening and closing several times in rapid succession, her head quickly slumped forward as she fainted from embarrassment.

'Ah…teasing her felt a lot better than it probably should have,' Naruto thought to himself in a moment of amusement.

"Ok, next, Team seven!" Iruka stated loudly to quiet the murmuring of students that had picked up, causing the blond to mentally smack himself for not having paid attention thus far.

"Your team will consist of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and U-" Iruka began to state before he was interrupted.

"Cha! Take that Ino-pig, true love conquers all!" Sakura shouted as she launched up from her seat and pointed towards her blonde rival.

"Gah!" Ino responded as she flung herself to a standing position and pointed towards her pink-haired rival in return. "This is a sham! You just wait forehead, I'll show Sasuke-kun who's better yet!"

The two girls, seemingly having gotten their pieces out, sat back down after that – one with a small frown and the other with a bit of a smile on their lips as they felt victorious.

"Right, as I was saying," Iruka continued smoothly after they had quieted down. "You two will be paired with Uzumaki Naruto. Your Jonin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi."

A lengthy silence followed where most students were waiting for the blond's reaction…which they only received just before Iruka was about to continue.

"Fuuuuuuuuck," Naruto rolled out, not even stuttering as he was hit in the head with a piece of chalk from Iruka to try and stop him from swearing completely. He didn't even pay attention when most of the other students turned and stared at him with confusion after the small outburst.

"Naruto-baka!" Sakura shouted as she stood up in defense of who she thought he had insulted. "Don't get upset just because you're on a team with me and Sasuke-kun!"

"Who says I'm upset about that?" Naruto questioned in response, causing the pink-haired girl to flinch slightly again at the lack of usual adoration in his tone towards her. "I don't have problems with you or Sasuke on the team, it's our Jonin sensei who I'm not excited about."

Sasuke, who had been thinking on the blond's changes ever since he first laid eyes upon him when he walked into the classroom, merely furrowed his brow at hearing that. He was going to ask the blond about the man who would be teaching him, but he was stopped by Iruka clearing his throat rather forcefully at the front of the class.

"If you're quite finished?" The scarred Chunin asked with a glance towards Sakura and Naruto, getting a sheepish response from the pink-haired girl and dismissive wave of the hand from the blond. "Team eight will consist of Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuga Hinata. Your sensei will be Yūhi Kurenai. Team nine are still active Genin from last year, so we're skipping that one. Team ten will consist of Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino. Your sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma."

"…I vote to trade sensei with Team ten, how about it guys?" Naruto called from his spot as Hinata finally began to stir, though not enough for her to have heard her team assignment. Ino was too busy repeatedly banging her forehead on her desk to hear his offer, Shikamaru was seemingly taking a nap and not bothering to answer, and Choji seemed too intrigued with a snack he had brought in to bother responding.

"You know that isn't feasible anyway, Naruto," Iruka said at the front with an exasperated sigh. "Unless you're questioning the wisdom of the Sandaime, that is?"

"If he made Kakashi my sensei, then yes I am," the blond shot back in a deadpan voice as he stared Iruka directly in the eyes and earned a few wide eyes from some people in the class upon saying that so casually.

"Come on Naruto, he isn't that bad," the Chunin shot back as he thought of the bad traits the man had shown over the years.

"Yeah Naruto, I'm not that bad," came a voice from directly behind the blond as a familiar masked face rose up from the floor.

"K-K-Kakashi?" Iruka asked from the ground floor as he stared up and quickly glanced back to the clock behind him. "You're…you're…"

"…I'm not that really bad about being on time, am I?" The masked Jonin asked as he tapped Naruto on the shoulder. He merely sweat dropped when the boy turned slowly towards him with a deadpan stare. Salvation from the awkward situation came, however, when the door to the classroom slid open to reveal a pair of Jonin in the doorway.

"Team ten, meet me at the gate in five minutes," came the voice of Sarutobi Asuma who took a quick glance of the room and had to grin at seeing a familiar spikey blond hairstyle at the top. "Good to see you're finally out and about, Blondie," he added before stepping back and heading outside of the academy once again.

"Team eight, meet in the classroom across the hall," came the voice of Yūhi Kurenai as she glanced towards the students after poking her head into the room. Her eyes shot to the still-stirring form of Hinata before she promptly exited without another word.

"Ah, I suppose that's my queue then," Kakashi stated from the same position as before as all of the student looked towards him. "Team seven, meet me on the roof. Naruto, I know it will be difficult for you, but try not to let any ladies distract you on the way up there~."

Within a moment's notice, Naruto had withdrawn one of the tri-pronged kunai from his holster and tossed it backwards at the man. While many of the students went wide-eyed and gasped at the blatant attempt at harming a Jonin, Kakashi merely side-stepped the weapon before disappearing in a plume of smoke.

'I swear to Kami, I'm going to kick his ass during his stupid test,' the blond thought as he stood up and walked to the kunai that had embedded itself slightly into the wall. 'Always teasing me about women. I swear, I wish I had never asked him for advice.'

Turning around to see Shino gently waking up Hinata out of the mild stupor she was still in and seeing everyone still gaping at him after his most recent display, he tore the kunai easily out of the wall and let out a loud sigh.

'One small step at a time Naruto,' he told himself while forming a hand seal. 'Just get to the roof and handle any damage control later.' With a small plume of smoke, and a mild glare from a certain Uchiha at the display, the blond vanished from the classroom.

(A moment later)

"Alright Kakashi," Naruto began as he suddenly appeared on the roof in a blur. "I'm assuming you're a Kage Bunshin?"

"Hm?" Kakashi asked from against the railing along the roof as he was nose-deep in his favorite Icha Icha novel. "Sorry Naruto, did you say something?"

"…Hilarious," the blond commented sarcastically at the Jonin's frequent 'joke.' "Seriously, this is just the whole schpeal about the real Genin test and dropping a hint about it being teamwork, right?"

"Pretty much," the masked Jonin stated without taking his eyes away from the book as he flipped a page. "Just make a Kage Bunshin to leave here or something so your teammates don't get suspicious. Be at the Third Training Grounds tomorrow at six1 in the morning, don't eat breakfast, etcetera, etcetera…"

"Super, thanks," Naruto responded as he made a quick hand seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," he stated calmly, causing a small plume of smoke to appear next to him before revealing an identical copy of him. Giving a mental command for it to stay on the roof, he was about to use another Shunshin to disappear before Kakashi's voice stopped him momentarily.

"Tell her I said 'Happy Birthday,' if you'd be so kind," he stated while having enough courtesy to make brief eye contact with the blond as he eye-smiled at him. "…and try not to get into too much mischief."

"…I'll do that, and I make no promises," Naruto responded with a smile before disappearing with a quick use of the Shunshin.

(20 minutes later)

'Well…now or never I guess,' Naruto thought as he stood in front of an apartment door in semi-casual clothes – meaning that he had sealed his flak jacket, supply pouches, and kunai holsters into a small storage scroll he kept on his person at all times. However, despite that fact that he was in his casual garb, he had pulled the cloth mask back up and dawned his monkey mask once again. Though he had no desire to wear it any longer, he would dawn it this one last time in front of his partner to surprise her.

Reaching forward, he knocked on the door even as he shifted the small scroll he held in his left hand around a bit for comfort.

Thud

'Heh, must've started celebrating a bit early,' the blond thought to himself with a sad smile growing underneath his mask. 'Probably didn't expect to hear from me after a few months of no contact, after all.'

"Sec!" He heard come through the door in a groggy-sounding feminine voice. It took a bit, but eventually there were a series of soft thumps getting closer to the door that signaled her approach. A moment later, the door swung inward to reveal his partner ever since he had become an un-official Genin – Mitarashi Anko.

While she was normally clad in a trench coat, mesh, and a skirt, she was currently in much more comfortable clothing that he knew likely functioned as her sleepwear. She wore a simple purple belly-shirt that hugged her curves quite tightly and a pair of shorts that fell to just above her knees. Her hair, usually pulled back and tied in a fan-shape behind her, was currently down and ruffled enough to show she had been sleeping quite recently.

"Morning Hebi-hime," Naruto stated with obvious mirth in his voice, causing the newly-promoted Jonin's eyes to snap open a bit more as her face twitched in a way that let him know that she was trying valiantly to suppress a smile.

"Hey Saru, couldn't have waited until like…noon-ish? Even I need my beauty sleep, you know," Anko stated as she opened the door further and beckoned him inside before closing it immediately after he had entered to block off the sun that had been shining into the apartment.

"Bah, I doubt you can get any more beautiful than you are anyway Anko," Naruto stated with a dismissive wave of his hand even as his cheeks blushed a little under his mask at his sincere compliment. He often bantered and flirted back and forth with her over the past few years, but he had grown to eventually have genuine feelings for her – something he had confessed only to Hiruzen and Kakashi. Anko may have also grown to suspect it, but he was uncertain of that.

"Well…flattery is certainly a good starting point for not getting yourself stabbed for waking me up this early," the violet-haired woman said with a smile as she ran her hands over her eyes to wake herself up a bit quicker. "So, we finally got a mission or something?"

Though to most her voice would come across as neutral, Naruto had grown to know her well enough to notice the slight pang of hope within her tone. Aside from missions, he rarely had free time to actually spend time with her. Her last three birthdays and perhaps a few dozen other cases were all that he could really think of in three years' worth of time. He smiled, knowing what he would say next would likely make her day.

"Oh come on," he stated teasingly as he turned around in the one-bedroom apartment and looked down a few inches into her eyes with a warm gaze. "It's your birthday. I'm here to spend some time with you if you're free. Kakashi sends his regards, by the way."

In response to his statement, he was granted with a rare sight – a genuine smile from what was likely the toughest woman within the village walls.

"Did he now?" She asked as she turned and walked towards her kitchen. "I think the two of us burning his porn collection last year may have made sure he remembered to say something this year."

"Well, that's certainly a possibility," the blond admitted with a soft chuckle as he looked around the place again. It wasn't much, but that was mostly due to people not wanting to deal with someone who had once been affiliated with Orochimaru regardless of how dedicated to the village she had proven herself to be. That…and she had a rather nasty habit of spending a good portion of her pay on sweets and alcohol.

The entrance of her apartment actually served as the area where she kept her bed, though he knew from past conversation with her that it was so she would have a better chance of hearing anyone messing with her door or apartment in general. With that tucked into the corner, there was a loveseat, a small coffee table in front of it, and a small television in front of both of those that served as her dining area in the same room. Then, the room opened immediately into the kitchen in one direction and a small hallway that led to her closet and bathroom in the other.

"You want something to drink?" Anko asked as he snapped out of inspecting her apartment, turning towards the small kitchen area.

"Tea would be good if you're willing to make some," he responded.

"'Kay," she shot back before yawning as she brought out a pot and began filling it with water. "So, I gotta ask, what's in the scroll?"

"Two of your gifts," he responded with a smile as he saw her flinch slightly upon hearing the word and open her mouth to say something. "And yes, I'm aware I didn't have to get you anything. I did so out of the kindness of this heart of mine," he finished with a poke to his own chest.

Whatever the woman had been planning to say seemingly died in her throat as she closed her mouth and chuckled softly.

"…You know, there's something about hearing that from a man you've seen kill at least a hundred people that makes it slightly less meaningful," she teased.

"Harsh words from the woman who never wants to bother with the small fry herself," he shot back in a similar tone. "My kill count might not be so high if you didn't take most of the stronger enemies and leave me all the weaklings."

"Ah…well, got me there," she admitted as she put the filled kettle onto her low-quality electric stove and turned it on. Turning, she eyed the scroll excitedly as she barely looked to be restraining herself from fidgeting.

"Here," the blond stated with a grin as he handed it over without further delay.

Not wasting any time, the woman took the scroll, walked over to her coffee table, and rolled open the scroll even as he sat down on the small loveseat. Seeing two storage seals within the scroll, she raised her eyebrows slightly in interest as she channeled a bit of chakra into the first one. With a plume of smoke, a pile of ten boxes appeared. Taking the top one and inadvertently taking in a breath while holding it, she nearly tore off the lid as her favorite scent hit her in full force.

"Dango!" She exclaimed as she happily picked up one of the 5 sticks within and took a bite, noting that they were still quite hot. Her eyes shot open at a familiar taste that she only got once a year as she shot a questioning gaze towards her blond partner.

"I paid the owner of the bar to get his hands on some of his festival spices to make some for you. I know how much you love the stuff," Naruto explained as he took a seat on the other end of her loveseat. "You've got fifty sticks of it total in there."

"Shooo gooood," the violet-haired woman stated as she took another bite and sent her thanks for the gift as best she could through her gaze alone.

"I'll seal the rest of these for now to keep them warm," Naruto stated as he reached out and quickly sealed the other 9 boxes back into the scroll. "I think you'll like the next one even better though."

"Fat chance," the violet-haired woman scoffed as she tossed an empty stick into the box where four fresh sticks of her favorite food still remained and moved it onto the table instead of on the scroll. "I can't really think of anything…else…that…" she trailed off as she unsealed the next item and saw five large bottles atop the scroll – each with the symbol of Mount Myobōku painted onto the bottle.

"No way," she said as she grasped one of the corked bottles and gazed over at him with a bit of awe. "Is this…?"

"Mount Myobōku Fire Sake?" Naruto asked. "Why yes, yes it is. Five bottles of the highest-quality stuff no less – all of which came from blackmailing Jiraiya of the Sannin to sneak some bottles away from Gamabunta and causing him some bodily harm in the process."

"That…that's fucking amazing," she stated as she uncorked one of the bottles and took a small sip, closing her eyes harshly as it slid down her throat. "Holy shit that stuff is strong!" she said before turning her head away and coughing.

"…It is called Fire Sake for a reason, you know," he teased.

"Oh shut up, ass," she shot back after the burning sensation in her throat died down though there was no real venom in the words. On top of that, the look she gave him once again tried to convey a great amount of thanks despite what she had just said.

"Nah, that's no fun," he responded with a laugh. "You're welcome though, I imagine you probably went through most of your normal sake supply last night and early this morning."

"Ahaha…yeah," she confessed as she scratched her cheek and grinned and her eyes lost a bit of their normal playfulness. "Kurenai had plans with Asuma today so…I wasn't exactly expecting anyone since you've gone for the past few months."

"Sorry about that, by the way," he stated with sincerity even as she gave it a dismissive wave.

"Nothing you could do about it. It was probably the Sandaime's orders anyway. …At least you let me know ahead of time that I wouldn't see you for a while."

"True," he stated as he purposely tried to avoid thinking about how disheartened she had looked when he broke the news about being gone for so long. "Still, I figure I've got a way to make it up to you."

"…You mean other than my absolute favorite food and a drink so rare that the Fire Daimyo has difficulty getting his hands on it?" The Jonin asked with a chuckle as she looked into his eyes through the mask. "You got Orochimaru's head in another scroll or something?"

"Ah, 'fraid not," he responded in a sad tone. "One day hopefully, but I couldn't get my hands on that just yet. I think you once told me that it was the one thing you wanted almost as much as killing him though."

After finishing, the blond had to struggle not to chuckle at seeing Anko's brow furrow for a moment before her eyes widened comically even as she shakily put the sizable bottle of sake down. However, before she could respond, the kettle in the kitchen started whistling – causing the woman to flick her gaze in that direction and curse softly under her breath.

"Be right back," she growled out lowly as she stood up and walked into the kitchen.

'I wonder what she'll think…' the blond wondered idly as his mind drifted through the various scenarios he had thought of multiple times in the past. 'Eh, whatever. At least she won't call me ass-face when she's drunk anymore…hopefully.'

"Here," Anko stated roughly a minute later as she laid a ceramic cup on the coffee table with a teabag sticking out of the side and a matching cup on her side of the table as she took a seat next to him again.

"Thanks," Naruto responded with a smile, seeing her barely contained excitement at what he had offered before. "So, before your kitchen appliance ruined the moment, I was making you an offer to see my face," he stated bluntly as he turned his head just enough to see her reaction.

"Y-yeah," she stuttered as she swallowed heavily. "You…I mean…I can finally see it?"

"…I was only hiding it before because of what people in the village would do if they knew my identity, Anko. I wasn't lying back when we were first partnered when I said our pasts weren't all that different."

The young woman's mind started racing with possibilities of who he could be at hearing that, though only one possibility came to her mind. She merely nodded to give the blond to signal him to continue.

"The reason that I was gone for three months was simply to try and learn a technique that would make me powerful enough to stand against the vast majority of enemies so that it wouldn't matter if people figured out exactly who I was. I was somewhat successful, so I got permission to reveal the information to who I wanted, but it won't be a public announcement for now."

"…What was the technique?" The woman asked with a quirked brow, knowing that techniques that could make someone that powerful were quite rare.

In response, the blond merely reached into his pants' pocket and pulled out another small scroll before unrolling it to reveal a single seal in the center of it. Putting his hand over it, he brought forth a single tri-pronged kunai and dangled it from his finger as it slipped through the ring at the end of it.

"I know I told you that I used these solely due to their irregularity and that they make it easier to injure enemies, but that wasn't the entire truth. While I did initially use them for that reason, the Sandaime also thought it would be a good idea to have me be used to using them for when I eventually got around to mastering my father's signature technique."

"…N-no! No fuckin' way!" Anko nearly sputtered as her eyes widened in realization. "You're the son of the Yondaime?!"

"Yeah, but that stays between the two of us and a select few others for now," Naruto responded in a serious tone. "I don't want people treating me differently just because I'm someone's kid."

Anko's eyes alone seemed to convey a new respect for him upon hearing that as he stored his kunai away in the scroll again and pocketed it once more.

"Now, as for who I actually am…" Naruto stated as he turned his gaze to her and he could see that she looked like a mix of emotions. Nervousness, excitement, and a small bit of disbelief were all evident in her facial expression.

He reached his hand up to grab at his mask, but was quickly stopped as Anko reached out and snagged it just before he touched it. Her action caused him to frown momentarily, but what she said a moment later turned it back into a small smile.

"Wait I…I want to do this myself. Please?" she asked with a voice that nearly sounded as if it were pleading with him. Normally he would tease her for that a bit, but he simply nodded instead as he took his hand away.

He watched, then, as the violet-haired Jonin reached two shaky hands out and grabbed the sides of his porcelain mask before pulling it directly away from his skin.

A moment of silence followed as she held the mask absent-mindedly in her hands and drank in the sight of the upper-portion of his exposed face for the first time.

"…I never knew you had scars," she stated a few moments later as she dropped the mask onto the floor without a second thought and reached out to touch him. Her hands then touched and traced part of the vertical mark as a mild blush rose up onto both of their cheeks at the shared contact.

"You never really asked if I had any, to be fair," he responded as he successfully suppressed the urge to flinch at the mention of the permanent marks on his flesh. "Any guess as to what my real name is yet from what you can see?"

"…Only one, and that's a bit of a stretch," she confessed with a slight furrow of her brow as she continued to absent-mindedly trace over his scar. "It's only because of how your hair is though, to be honest. I can only think of one person with spikey blond hair like that in the entire village. The whole Byakugan thing still throws me through a loop too."

"Oh?" He asked as he closed his left eye as she traced over it, causing him to smile underneath the last bit of cloth hiding his face from her at receiving so much attention from her. "Care to take an actual guess first or pull down the mask and see if you're right?"

"…The Uzumaki kid?" She asked uncertainly as she pulled her hands away to stare into his pupil-less white eyes.

Instead of answering, he signaled for her to pull down the mask with one of his fingers, causing her to slowly pull it down to his neck and reveal the unique whisker marks that only he had ever possessed.

"I suppose this is where I say that it's nice to finally see you face-to-face, Ank-" He began before finding himself cut-off as said woman leaned in quickly and pressed her lips intensely against his own – a shiver running through his body a moment later upon realizing what was going on.

"S-sorry," she stated nervously after a few moments as she pulled away with a mild blush. "I promised myself I would do that a long time ago."

"It…it's alright," he responded with a burning sensation that he knew was a blush on his own cheeks from the gesture he had only dreamed about before. "I-I actually enjoyed it," he admitted with a good deal of embarrassment.

"Haha!" Anko laughed after a few moments as she pointed at him. "You're totally blushing! It's so obvious why you had that mask now. You were too afraid you couldn't handle this," she continued as she ran her hands over her hips.

"Says the woman that blushed like it was her first kiss," he shot back only to notice her turn away a bit at his words.

"…In a way, it kind of was," the woman admitted softly with a shrug of her shoulders as she turned away from him a bit. "I mean, I've had to make-out with guys to get some information before on missions obviously, but that was the first one I ever gave because I just genuinely wanted to. …There aren't exactly any guys in Konoha lining up to date the Snake Wh—"

"I'm sorry," Naruto said softly as he carefully reached over and touched her shoulder – the action interrupting Anko before she could finish the title that the less tolerant individuals in Konoha had given her. "I didn't know. I forget sometimes that I'm not the only one who suffered for something I didn't have a choice in. For what it's worth, I'm happy I got your first one…in a sense, anyway. Fair trade and whatnot," he finished with a smile.

Slowly, Anko turned back towards him with a small tint of red still evident on her face as she huffed slightly.

"I guess I can forgive you for being an ass if you spend some time with me today," she stated as she absent-mindedly rubbed her own forearms. It was a gesture Naruto knew she only used when she was leaving herself vulnerable in an emotional or physical sense, so it was something even he had only seen a few times in the past.

"I'm free until around seven this evening. Once that rolls around, I have to meet up with the Sandaime. I'm yours until then though."

"O-oh, gotcha," she stated with a genuine smile though it was obvious that she was slightly saddened at the news. "At least I get someone to hang out with until then."

"Eh…you know…you can probably come with me if you want to when the time comes if you'd like," the blond said as he reached out and grabbed his tea cup and took a sip. "We're just going to the estate my parents owned and getting me moved in."

"Wait, the Namikaze estate? As in that giant house right next to the white-eyed pricks?" Anko asked with her usual name for the Hyuga.

"Yup." He responded.

"Wow, I'm a bit jealous," she admitted as reached over and pushed him playfully. "It must be nice to have all that space."

"Eh…maybe. I think it's probably going to be way too much space for one person," Naruto said honestly with a sad smile. "Still, the old man wants me to take it since I've finally got a decent grasp on the Hiraishin. He keeps telling me that they'd want me to have it."

"Heh…it's still so weird to think that I was partnered with the Yondaime's son," Anko stated with a small smile as she reached forward and grabbed her own tea and gave him a glance. "You know I'm eventually going to rub that in people's faces, right?"

"When it becomes public knowledge, I would fully encourage it," he shot back with a small grin. "Just make sure to describe how much ass I kicked."

"Be sure to tell them how I carried young Blondie through the trials of a shinobi and manhood. Got it," Anko confirmed to herself with a sagely nod.

The now official-Genin merely turned towards her with a deadpan stare and letting out a soft sigh. "You're a pain in the ass sometimes, you know that?"

"So I've been told," she admitted after placing her tea back down onto the table. "You wouldn't have it any other way though, now would you?" she asked after turning a smirk towards him.

"No," he confessed with a chuckle. "You're definitely one of a kind Anko, I wouldn't change you for the world."

Aaaaaand there's Chapter 1, I hope you enjoyed.

Naruto's Hiraishin isn't mastered despite the flawless use of it in the Mizuki 'fight.' His limitations with it will be demonstrated in the next chapter in the skirmish with Team 7. You'll also find out which bloodline he has.

He still introduces himself as Uzumaki Naruto for now since his adoption isn't yet finalized. That will change in the next chapter - thus making the story title appropriate.

Anko was promoted to full Jonin while partnered with Naruto, I'm aware her usual rank is Special Jonin. I also know that my portrayal of her likely made her seem quite soft, but that's the side of herself that she generally keeps hidden from others for fear of getting hurt or betrayed again. What Naruto has done to earn enough of her trust to see that side of her will be touched upon a bit later. His mission record should give a bit of a hint.

Mount Myobōku Fire Sake is not my idea, but I can't remember for the life of me what fanfic it came from. Credit goes to whoever that author was.

The Harem: Anko, Hinata, Tenten, Temari, Tsunade, Mei, and Fu.

Thanks for reading!