Hello Naruto fan-base.

Been a good long while since I actually wrote anything in this category. Longer than that since I actually did anything that was going to act as long-standing project. Well, lets hope I can keep up with the times and things haven't changed too much since I've been away. In the event that anyone cares, this is my Re-Write Project for the story that, at the time, got me to the 1,000 review marker.

The old one's crap, but this one hopefully won't be, so I lets see if this idea isn't too faded and you all enjoy the rewrite of my old work.

Inuyasha and Naruto are owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Mamashi Kishimoto respectfully; therefore I own nothing.

Konohagakure no Sato, the village hidden in the leaves, one of the five great villages that made up the entirety of the shinobi world and largely considered to be the strongest among them.

As things current stood, today was to be a day of celebration and with good reason as well. For on this day, many among the youthful occupants of this village were to have graduated from the shinobi academy. To many of the youths of this generation, they had completed the first step towards their future aspirations. Some dreamed of fame, some wealth, some for the sole purpose of serving, and some to carry on their family's tradition. The reasons why they aspired for this lifestyle varied, but the fact remained the same was that they were all one step closer towards reaching whatever goal they strived to achieve. So indeed today was a day worth celebrating, as nearly every person among this particular year's class had passed the final exam that would allow them to graduate.

Nearly, however, did not mean all had passed.

And the solitary child who did not was currently seated far away from the crowd of peers and parents alike.

This boy was Uzumaki Naruto, the boy who failed, the troublemaker, and overall idiot of their class.

Even as he sat on the solitary swing that existed in front of the academy, the blonde couldn't help but stare at the sizeable crowd of people that blocked the entrance to the academy. He couldn't help but stare because there really wasn't much else for him to do. No mother or father of his were going to show up to comfort him because he did not have any. None of his peers were going to come near him at this point because every last one of them disliked him. Nobody even spared him a second glance from where he was, despite the obvious orange he wore being a huge contrast to greenery that surrounded him on nearly all sides.

They treated him like he didn't exist, like he wasn't here, because in their minds he didn't.

In their own worlds, the people of that crowd were centered around their offspring's success.

Was it selfish of him to wish that just once someone would give him the time of day? Would it have been that hard for him to get even one glance of sympathy? Perhaps it was selfish, but he was entitled to that as he was still a child and that was not something he could be blamed for. Every child wanted to be acknowledged in some way or another, every last one of them wanted some form of attention. Naruto, however, rarely had any sort of positive attention directed at him and those moments were typically too few and far between to really have a noteworthy affect. By comparison, the negative attention he received was staggering to say the least; most cases the rather hateful stares and the hushed whispers of spiteful villagers were all he ever got.

But that was something he did his best to ignore, even if what was being said was negative they at least acknowledged that he was there. That was what made the pranks, the loud antics, and the overall bad behavior worth it. This sort of display was what hurt the most. To be treated like he was invisible, to deny his entire existence, was something he hated most. What made it worse was that, in his current dejected state, he couldn't even gather the energy to provoke them.

He was just too tired of trying.

Tired of making empty boasts, tired of sitting here watching his peers being praised and congratulated by their parents.

"...probably wouldn't have made a big difference anyway." Was the sullen murmur Naruto spoke aloud as he reached down to retrieve his goggles settled by his feet. "Not like anyone was gonna congratulate me on graduating anyway."

If he was trying to make himself feel better, then he had chosen the wrong way to go about it. All those words did was further remind him of what he never had and wasn't ever going to have. Sure, he made comments like these pretty often and in most cases it was to entice sympathy from select people. But in this instance, the sting that was pinging his chest was far more painful than it typically was; this time in lingered in his chest like a stomach ache that made him want to go home and sleep off. Such was to be the likely turn of events after securing his goggles on their usual place on his head.

Fate, it seemed, had a different agenda in mind.

Before the blonde could raise himself up off the swing, he became aware of one his instructors standing wthin a reasonably close proximity to where he was situated.

As to be expected, with so many parents busy congratulating and praising their respected offspring, nobody truly took note of either the teacher or the student in the background. Nor did anyone realize that both parties had promptly departed from the academy grounds shortly thereafter.

If Naruto was to be honest with himself, this situation was rather strange. Stranger still was the fact that neither he nor his sensei had spoken since the initial confrontation at the academy. Naruto because he knew there wasn't much to talk about and...well, he didn't know the reason behind Mizuki's silence. Given, the man did try to convince Iruka to let him pass, but his efforts really didn't accomplish much. All that served to do was showcase how much better everyone else was at making a stupid clone. Naruto wasn't mad at Mizuki though, and though he was upset, he wasn't even really mad at Iruka either. Everyone else was able to do it, everyone except him, so even he could get that he failed fair and square.

"You know, Iruka doesn't hate you or anything like that." The first words Mizuki spoke almost reflected on where his mind currently was at. "Harsh as he is, I'm sure he wanted nothing more than to see you graduate with everyone else."

"Could've fooled me."

Okay, so maybe there was a bit more spite in him regarding the scarred man. Not that he could be blamed, considering how often the man took to berating him in class.

"He has his reasons, he knows what you're going through, and he only has the best of intentions at heart. It was rough for him too, no family to speak of just like you, so he does it so you won't go through the same things he did growing up."

Yeah, they were the same in that regard, but with one key difference. Iruka had parents at one point in his life, he knew them too, and that probably made it that much harder when he lost them. Naruto never knew either of his parents, he didn't have a clue who they were or what they even looked like. As bad as it sounded, he was probably better off not knowing either of those things; less he be subjected to the pain of loss. That wasn't a very soothing thought, but it certainly made it easier to accept when he lacked such knowledge.

"I know but...I really wanted to pass this time."

Having failed for the third year in a row, it was understandable that the blonde was done fantasizing and instead wanted to live out his dream about being a shinobi. All his dreams, his goals, all of it was all riding on passing this first hurdle. Said hurdle had kept him back this long, forcing him to take a step backwards with each failure. Whenever he tried to take that next step forward, it kicked him backwards a full two steps. It was frustrating, it was nerve-racking, and he was done watching the backs of everyone else as they went on to be what he couldn't. He didn't want to watch it happen again, didn't want to be left behind and forgotten like he had been twice already, he was ready to move on and grow to be somebody.

Yet that wasn't going to happen, not this time anyway. That was what he was thinking until he took note of the light chuckle that emerged from Mizuki's lips. That sort of reaction immediately caught his attention, enough to warrant the shift in position to give a rather frustrated look to the Chuunin sitting not far from him.

"Sorry, I'm not laughing at you; it's just that I have some a little secret that you'd probably like to hear." Admittedly, the look the boy was giving him was the most attentive one he had ever seen on his face in a long while. It was the reaction he had been expecting to receive and it had been so painfully easy to provoke. "It's not a common practice, but there is a way to pass the final exam with an alternative one. It isn't easy, it might even be harder than the actual exam, but if you succeed then you will pass and become a Genin with the rest of your classmates."

For his part, Naruto was stunned about this little revelation and rightfully so. Here he was, on his third year of graduation, and only now did anyone bother to tell him about this secret. Why wasn't he told about it sooner? How come Iruka never mentioned it to him all those times the two went out to eat? Hell, why was it a secret to begin with!? If he had known about this test in his first year, he would have happily jumped at the chance to finally move on. Despite the questions, his ignorance, Naruto was all too willing to throw caution to the wind if that was what it took for him to be a shinobi. Opportunity only knocks once, at least that's how he remembered the saying went, and if Mizuki was giving him that opportunity then one could bet that he was going to answer it.

"Really!? You serious!? You're not messing around with me are you sensei? Pleeeeeeeease tell me you're not joking with me right now because that would be really-"

"Calm down, calm down, I promise I'm not messing with you. The test is real, but I'm being serious about its difficulty, it's not going to be easy for you and there's no retaking this one."

"Oh please, just tell me what I gotta do and I'll do it. As long as I don't have to do anything with the Bunshin no Jutsu; cause...well, you know how that'll turn out."

"Yes, I know, and you'll be happy to know that it doesn't."

Mizuki himself couldn't have been more eager to loosen his lips about the supposed 'test' which Naruto would be undertaking. In complete honesty, things could not have been going any smoother than they were right now. Desperation made anyone hasty in their decisions, so hasty in fact that they often don't question their choices until it is too late to do so. Applying this to a kid, one who was naive and dense as they came to boot, made manipulating the little brat all too easy. Everything was falling into place, the blonde soaking up every single instruction he gave like a sponge. In the back of his mind, he could only imagined how surprised Iruka would have been to see the boy this attentive. He himself might have found this sight to be amusing if it was any other kid that was as ignorant as this one.

The key word there being 'might'.

"You understand now, right?" Having finished giving out his instructions, he stared down the gullible blonde who was currently busy nodding his head vigorously. "Okay then, repeat it back to me once just to be sure."

"Sure, I sneak into the oji-san's place, grab that one scroll from his office, head into that spot in the woods you mentioned, and learn a technique from the scroll. If I show you that I learned a technique from it, then you'll let me pass."

"There are a lot of scrolls in the Hokage's office, which scroll are you looking for?"

"The...um, Fūin no Sho, right?"

"Correct."

"Sweet! So, Mizuki-sensei, when do you want me to start?"

Mizuki couldn't keep the smile from his face, though he did keep it from spreading too wide. The kid was just too easy to exploit and when everything was said and done he would have killed two birds with one stone. Ridding the world of this little pest and acquiring power that would go beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Sure, he wouldn't stick around the village anymore, but he would at least do Konoha a great favor as his parting gift. It was the least he could do, plus it only made the whole charade he was putting on for the brat worthwhile. Seriously, the thing couldn't even create a standard clone, a feat that every one of his peers except him could perform. So what was the likelihood of him learning anything from that scroll when he couldn't even create a single passable clone?

The conclusion to that thought only served to make the corners of his lips twitch upwards slightly as he gave out his final instructions to the ignorant boy.

Unfortunately, Mizuki failed to grasp just how eager Naruto was in regards to the supposed 'test' he was to partake in. Or perhaps it was something he had taken into account and it was an outcome he had been anticipating. It was hard to say honestly, but regardless of if it was or was not part of his scheme was irrelevent at this stage. While he had been told to wait at least an hour after nightfall, Naruto wasted little time once the sun had fallen passed the horizon to begin. Like hell he was going to wait a whole other hour just to get some fancy scroll. He had waited long enough for the day to end and night to begin. And while an hour wouldn't have been too long of a wait, he was just way too hype about finally graduating to truly pay his sensei's instructions much mind.

Though, in retrospect, if he had waited he probably wouldn't have run into the Hokage when he was getting the scroll. But that was a moot point at this stage since he was able to take care of that issue himself, a fact that he was actually pretty proud of to be honest. Either way, he completed the first part of his test, and had just touched down at the shack he was told to meet Mizuki. Now all that remained was to learn a technique from the scroll and he could kiss his years in the academy goodbye for good.

"Okay, so, the first technique in this scroll is..." With the scroll partially unraveled, he started reading the characters on the parchment in front of him. "...Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu..."

There was an exceedingly long pause once he finished reading precisely what was written on the scroll in front of him. But that silence was not a result of his inability to understand kanji, rather it was because he was too busy trying not to burst into a fit of furious rage. Had he not been so furious with the sight of this particular technique, he probably would have felt his eyebrow twitching along with the slight headache he was developing due to the protruding veins beneath his goggles. He had been lied to, Mizuki had said he wouldn't need to learn a clone technique for this test, but the very first thing he finds is what? A clone technique, though its name was different from the one he had been practicing in the academy, it was still a damn clone technique.

In his anger and frustration, Naruto proceeded to do what he believed to be the best course of action.

"...NEXT!"

Treating the massive scroll as a giant roll of toilet paper, the Uzumaki proceeded to unravel it and explore the contents further within. But with a scroll as thick as this one, various techniques of recent and ancient times were literally at his fingertips. This knowledge, however, was not something he was privy to knowing, as he was only looking for something cool to learn. But whenever he saw a technique or anything that he thought could be one, he quickly lost interest after reading the techniques name. He wanted something cool, something that he knew would impress everyone who passed, and he really doubted some fancy calligraphy or what looked like the doodles he did at his desk would provide that sort of thing.

It didn't help that his frustration was only growing the more and more he tugged away at the parchment of this big ass scroll.

"Seriously, what's the big deal with this thing, all the jutsu in this thing sound so lame." It was a rhetorical statement, though that was obvious since he was sitting in freakin the woods by himself. "I mean, come on, Hakke no Fūin Shiki? That thing looked like something a kid would scribble on a piece of paper to me. "

Having laminated on the obviously poor taste of whoever made these techniques, Naruto soon began to realize the problem accumulating at his feet. He had been tugging at this thing for what felt like ten minutes now, and from what he could tell he wasn't even a quarter of the way through the entire scroll. Sooner or later, Mizuki was going to show up, and he needed something to practice for him to pass his test. But so far nothing caught his attention, nothing at all, aside from the very first technique he saw on the scroll. As much as he hated the idea, the Uzumaki had to come to terms with the fact that he was stressed for time and he couldn't really afford to be picky at this point.

This was his only shot at passing now, and if he failed here then he would have wasted a lot of time for nothing and be forced to repeat the academy for the fourth time. Such a conclusion was not something he would let happen if he could help it. So, with more than a few grumbled complaints, the lad began the task of rolling the scroll back to its original state.

During this process, however, Naruto's fingers had been close to the parchment's edge and in the process of rolling it back up caused the thin edge of the paper to break through his skin.

"Ouch!" It wasn't much, but the few droplets of blood that oozed out from the thin line on his finger went airborne as the blonde hastily removed his hand from the parchment's edge. Most of those droplets of blood flew harmlessly onto the grass below, but a few specks still spattered onto the black swirling pattern inscribed on the parchment. "Geez, this just isn't my da-"

His words were abruptly cut off by the distinct 'pop' that was commonly associated with standard academy techniques. Said disturbance even came with an equally distinct cloud of smoke which quickly filled his vision. The coughing fit that ensued inevitably made him release his hold the large scroll as he stepped out of the cloud that suddenly appeared. What he didn't pick up on was the sound of something clattering to the ground not far from where the scroll had originally been situated upright, though he did make out the dull thud of the scroll hitting the dirt. As the smoke cleared and his coughing ceased, deep blue sphere's wildly searched for the source of the sudden cloud and the noise he had prior.

His peers could say what they will, in fact so could his teachers, but Naruto was not so touched in the head to not take note of the obvious. Laying not far from the heap of remaining parchment of the scroll was an object that had not been there previously. At first glance it looked like a massive cocoon made of wood and tree bark, but his curiosity peaked and thus enticed him into inspecting it further. After a few prods of his finger he found that he was right, it was made of wood, and from what he could tell its length was almost as tall as he was. Yet, even as he remained crouched there prodding it, he was still curious as to what this...thing was.

"O-kay, this is weird." Why he continued to poke at it as if expecting some reaction was beyond anyone's guess. "What the hell are you supposed to be, a tree turd or some un-hatched egg of a forest creature?"

Another, harsh, jab to the object effectively forced it to roll slightly from its original position. This slight adjustment allowed for the boy to take note of what looked like a opening along with the broken chucks of wood that had broken off. Evidently the impact of it landing on solid earth had caused it to break apart, which grew increasingly obvious thanks to the web of cracks that were rising from the same opening. For a moment, he almost thought he had hit the nail on the head with his guess portraying to what the thing was.

That moment had been a fleeting one when he poked it again and the slight gap he saw before turned into a much wider opening as more wood flaked off. It was because of the moon's glow in the sky that allowed him to see the faint visage of something inside the cocoon of wood. At that point, curiosity was now guiding every movement he made, despite his own childish fears regarding the thing's contents.

One final shove was all that was needed to fully expose the gaping hole that it now sported along with the contents inside this strange pod-like thing of wood.

What Naruto found made his face scrunched up in a notably puzzled manner.

"A sword?"

Indeed, within the wooden pod lay a simple yet very old looking katana. What made it somewhat strange was how it was secured inside, as it appeared as though the roots and vines themselves were supporting it from the inside, suspending it in a manner that placed it right in the center of the wooden pod. Under normal circumstances, one would have noted that such a thing was not normal by any means and conclude that there was something peculiar about this strange arrangement. Naruto, however, didn't much care for these things and simply did the first thing that came to mind upon seeing it.

Sinking his hand into the hollow pod and, with a bit of exertion, pried the blade from its container as the vines and roots snapped and broke apart.

"Hmm, who'd put a katana in a place like that? Pretty cool, I gotta admit, but still." As that thought came and went, another one came that almost made his eyes light up with excitement. "Oh! Maybe this thing is like one of those legendary katana that can cut through metal and stuff! That's gotta be it! Why else would anyone put it something like that if it wasn't some badass legendary weapon?"

To be fair, his logic did have some merit behind it, as it was a very strange form of housing for a blade.

His excitement, however, was short-lived as he partially removed the saya only to be greeted with the sight of a rusty, chipped, and overall battered looking blade. Now he wasn't a specialist when it came to weaponry, hell he wasn't a specialist in anything except annoying people, but even he knew enough about weapons to know what was good and what wasn't. This thing he was holding, this old or possibly ancient weapon, was the biggest piece of crap he had ever laid eyes on. And this time, unlike his reaction to seeing the first technique on the scroll, he could actually feel the twitching of his brow as well as the headache that was brewing.

It was official, today was a day of disappointments.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Every time, every time, I think something good is finally coming my way it turns out to be just another piece of crap! First the clone jutsu and now this thing!? Come on already, what's a guy gotta do to get a little slack every now and then, huh!? Once, just once, can something go the way I want it to and get something that's actually worth a damn!?"

It went without saying that this was, in all likelihood, a byproduct of his pent-up frustrations finally reaching a boiling point. The combination of his aggravation as well as disappointment was something that should not be bottled up like he had been doing up to this point. The fact that he was now a panting mess and nursing a sore throat upon letting loose those words only served to further prove that fact. Still, having taken a few moments to cool off, Naruto's breathing eventually evened out before sparing the sword still in his hand a dirty look. Without much care, he dropped the sheathed blade to the ground before picking up the scroll still unraveled and laying in the grass to continue with his previous task.

"Stupid scroll, stupid clones, stupid katana." This sort of grumbling continued for the better part of a few minutes until the majority of the parchment had been rolled back to how it was when he got it. Well, more or less anyway, for the blonde was still staring at the very first jutsu that had been listed there, eye twitching as he glared at the kanji printed innocently on the paper in front of him. "...screw it, I need to learn something out of this thing, and so far you're the only thing that I've seen that looks like it's worth a damn."

So, with that in mind, Naruto sat himself back onto the grass and began to read the instructions inscribed on the old parchment. Time became nothing more than a word to him once he finished raveling the scroll and started the long and harsh process of learning that which he had read. The sweat was real, the fatigue even more so than that, but so were the fruits that gave birth from that effort. He could see it too, he saw it with each failed attempt and each inch of progress that was made. Slow and steady, harsh and unrelenting, his body pleading him to stop but he preserved, he endured, from each bead of sweat to each haggard breath he endured.

He wasn't going be fall behind again, he wouldn't let himself be left in the dust for a third time.

Naruto was either going to become a shinobi tonight or be nothing for the rest of his days.

Such was the mindset belonging to that of a single determined soul.

Eventually, however, his body's protests would not stand being ignored any longer. As the last plume of smoke finally dissipated, the orange garbed boy collapsed on his rear as his heart thumped loudly in his ears. He was drenched, he was exhausted, and he was going to need more than a few cups of ramen when he got home. And yet Naruto felt an overwhelming sense of pride in himself for the feat in which he had made possible. He had done what he came here for, he had learned the technique from the scroll, and he was damn happy about it too. So happy that he hardly noticed that his hand had found itself on the smooth wood belonging to the sheathed blade he had discarded earlier. His body so tired that he didn't hear the arrival of a certain individual due in part to his still thumping heartbeat pounding loudly in his ears.

It was only after he had noticed that he was sitting in the shadow of someone that the blonde boy finally took notice to the new arrival.

Who he saw positively surprised and excited him beyond all measure; despite how angry the Chuunin instructor seemed to be.

"Heh, I finally found you Naruto." The level of anger that was present in the man's tone would have normally been something Naruto would have found intimidating. The fact that Iruka was chuckling somewhat may or may not have made the image more menacing had this been any other situation. "Do you even understand how much trouble you're in right now?"

Trouble or no trouble, Naruto didn't seem to be too bothered by the Chuunin's current ire; in fact he was clearly glad to have been caught. The fact that he had the gall to appear sheepish rather than scared or surprised actually drew in the scarred man's curiosity spike to a great degree.

"Geez, that was fast, you're pretty good sensei." The cheeky remark was delivered with an equally cheeky grin as he continued to scratch at his neck. Clearly he had no shame, but who cared about that when he was as excited as he was in this moment? "I thought I would've had more time to learn another jutsu from this thing. Guess I might as well throw that idea out the window then huh?"

Iruka almost bashed the child's head in upon hearing this particular comment. Had he not heard the boy claim to have already learned something from it, he probably would have carried out that task. The fact that he didn't was a testament to his awareness to the boy's current state of fatigue. It was honestly the first time he had truly seen the boy look so physically exhausted in a very long time and only further proved that there was some truth in the boy's words. Now Iruka had known Naruto since he joined the academy and even in the early years he could bring himself to admit that the boy was not one who was easily tired out.

For Naruto to be in such a state was a feat in itself; the fact that he had claimed to have learned anything from such a scroll was something else entirely. Though he had to wonder why the blonde was currently in the possession of a katana of all things, much less had it with him all the way out here in the woods.

"Okay, so now that I've learned a jutsu from this scroll, all I've gotta do is show you and I'll pass the exam, right?"

All thoughts regarding the sword were eradicated from scarred Chuunin's mind once he was addressed with that question.

"Eh?"

That had been the intelligent response which emerged from a very bewildered Chuunin.

"...what, isn't that how this test works?" Apparently this reaction bewildered Naruto as well, as he, now standing, stared up at his teacher with a rather lost look in his eyes. When the man continued to look back him with the same lost expression as he did, the lad in orange continued in hopes of jogging the man's memory. "Mizuki-sensei told me about this test, said that if I got the scroll and learned a jutsu from it, I could pass and become a shinobi like everyone else this year...But he did say it was a secret, so maybe you just didn't know about it like everyone else."

That was impossible because if such a test did exist then Iruka would have obviously known about it. There was no secret about this and this was no test, this had been a set-up and the person who was pulling the strings was Mizuki. He had initially wondered where the man had gone off too after the graduation ceremony had run its course, same with Naruto as well. Now that this piece of knowledge was attained, he understood what was at work here and knew what needed to be done in that instant. He needed to get Naruto as well as the scroll out of here and inform the Hokage of Mizuki's treachery. Such was the action he was about to take and with great haste had he not heard the something approaching from the distance.

This disturbance signified the arrival of the traitorous Chuunin and with his arrival eventually came the revelation of a certain truth.

A truth that wasn't meant to ever be brought to light.

The truth regarding night which the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the demon that ravished their village twelve years ago, was supposedly slain.

Truth, in many ways, can be far more devastating than any lie one can conceive.

People are more than likely to accept what they know is a lie than they are to accept what is the undeniable truth. That was why fiction was often the much better alternative, the more appealing option, than to stare at the grim face of reality. Naruto was no exception, he loved fiction, the story of a hero saving the day, being the shinobi without a name who beats the bad-guy and rescues some noble princess. He liked it because it was cool, he liked it because in that shinobi's place, he would have a visage of himself and it would be his name that those same people chanted before the credits rolled.

It was always much better in those settings, it was always better to briefly pretend to be that person, before stepping outside and finding himself alone with no one beside him.

"I'm not the Kyuubi..."

Unfortunately, at some point, Naruto always had to accept that he was alone and there was no one beside him. He always had to come to terms with every waking moment of life since as far back as he could remember. Each time he saw parents pick up their children, every time he sat by himself at the playground, every time he went back to an empty, silent, and cold flat which he lived in. There had been times where he questioned why, in fact many times he made that simple inquiry to himself, yet there was never an answer to be had. The lack of friends, the utter disregard of his existence, those and much more were questions he would always ask, yet no answer came.

"I'm not the Kyuubi..."

Now, after twelve years of silent curiosity, he finally received the answer he had always been asking himself. And the answer itself could not have been any harsher than all those years of loneliness that he had endured. The Uzumaki of course denied it, he didn't believe it and he wasn't going to, but that was just denial. He didn't want to believe it, but everything that had transpired in his life all pointed to that being the cause of it all. It made sense, it explained a great deal, so by all accounts Mizuki must have been telling the truth. While the lad didn't have any reason to believe him since he had already been tricked into stealing the scroll, he would have had no reason to lie about something that would have him killed just for speaking it out loud.

"I'm not..."

He didn't care that his lungs felt as though they were on fire as he ran as fast as he could. There was no shred of concern for such things when his fragile soul was on the verge of breaking into pieces. Because of his distraught and stressed mental state, it was forgivable of him to stumble at some point in his mad dash and fall forward onto the forest floor. His body skid against the grass as his grip on the sword he was still carrying in his hand loosened and clattered a few feet in front of his prone form. For a moment, Naruto just wanted to lay there motionless and wish for just a moment that he could be someone else in the world. Whatever pain he suffered here was nothing in comparison to the pain that was tearing away at his heart; to him it felt as though a hand was gripping the organ and squeezing it with all its might.

"I'm..."

Boy's don't cry, so they say, and that was something Naruto had not done in a very long time. Tears didn't make lessen the pain, it didn't then and it certainly wouldn't now. He knew that, but every part of his being wanted to as he laid their hopelessly trying to cope with the knowledge that had been thrown into his face not long ago. Yet, even in this situation, he wasn't given the chance as the rustling of twigs and leaves suddenly alerted the blonde to someone's presence in the trees above. Frightened and alarmed, the orange clad youth hastily adjusted himself to a crouching position, scooped up the sword, and made a beeline for the nearest trunk near him.

After a slight adjustment of the strap on the scroll, the boy pressed his back against the tree as he peered passed it; just in time to see Iruka come crashing down from the trees. He almost cried out in concern had he not seen himself descending from the trees as well. He didn't need to be a genius to figure out who was who, though he had to retreat back behind his cover since Mizuki was looking in the general direction he was currently hiding.

"H-how did you-"

There was a bit of a chuckle here as 'Naruto' eased himself down onto the gross before a familiar cloud of smoke revealed him for who he was.

"Because I am Iruka."

Naruto, for his part, didn't dare to reveal himself here, despite the clear concern regarding the safety of his teacher. He had already received several injuries back when Mizuki first arrived and had even taken one of those giant shuriken's just to protect him. By all accounts, even he knew that someone that wounded was not going to be much a match against someone who has thus far only sustained minimal damage.

"Tch, I don't understand this, this thing you've got going on right now." The confusion was present in his tone, but it was mostly outweighed by the level of frustration that was lacing his words. "Why are you protecting that monster? After what it did to your family, what it did to you as a result, you choose to defend it? Why Iruka, why do that when you could become a hero to this village by killing that beast once and for all?"

There were no words that followed these questions, to which Naruto himself was also curious about as well. Why was Iruka trying so hard to protect him? Why hadn't he joined Mizuki and instead chose to keep him safe? It didn't make much sense to him either, but apparently the traitorous chuunin found his ex-comrade's silent defiance to be irksome. Naruto didn't have to use much of his imagination to envision the sneer that was likely on the man's face as he looked at the opposing chuunin in disgust and contempt.

"Heh, you know, that brat's probably long gone by now. If the other Jounin don't catch him, he might even use the jutsu in that scroll to come back and finish what it started. Wouldn't that be a ironic if the monster you helped get away ended up coming back to burn this village and everyone in it to the ground? That's what monster's do after all, so in that sense I guess me and him are not so different wouldn't you say Iruka?"

For his part, the Uzumaki was honestly expecting for his teacher to remain silent, to maintain it and refuse to even grace the bastard with a reply.

"You're right, that is what a monster would do."

But Iruka did give the man an answer and it was the wrong one. The boy could feel his grip tighten on the sword still in his hand and his teeth sinking into his lip as he tried to distract himself from the pain throbbing in his chest.

"But Naruto is not a monster, never was and never will be. He may not be as smart as some others, may not be as dedicated as them either, but he understands what it means to suffer, to be truly alone in this world. Despite everything that he is, despite all his faults, that boy is not the Kyuubi no Kitsune; he is not the demon that took my parents from me. No, he is one of my excellent students, he is part of the whole that makes up Konohagakure no Sato, and that boy you call a monster has a name Mizuki; that name being Uzumaki Naruto!"

In the wake of that proud announcement, that declaration of acknowledgement, the vice which had been tightly wrapped around his aching heart had finally been removed. That pain in his chest was now gone and in its place came the choked sobs as he remained where he was. He wasn't a monster, he wasn't the Kyuubi, and Iruka had acknowledged that he existed as a person; not as a beast. It took every ounce of restraint he had in his body to keep from succumbing to his own happiness and relief, after having lived for so long being ignored to finally have someone truly accept him as he was.

The fact that his hand was starting to hurt due to the intensity of his grip on the sword still in his possession certainly did wonders as a tool to distract him. Sadly, Mizuki didn't feel as touched by the fellow Chuunin's words; if anything he looked both astonished and disgusted.

Too bad since it was a rather impressive declaration.

"Well then, if that's how it's gonna be, then I guess I'll go ahead and take care of you now instead of later like I originally intended." The sound of the large shuriken being removed from the clip on his back was easily distinguishable to anyone even remotely near the area. "It a shame really, you could've been a hero to this worthless village, but since you're so eager to side with that monster..."

Without any warning other than the rush of the wind as the massive weapon was spun in his hand, Mizuki charged forward with the clear intent of ending the man's life. Iruka, because of his current state, remained where he was as he prepared to prime the explosive tag that he had in his hand to explode. He would not live passed this day, but he would at least ensure that his student would live and not be pursued by the traitor. He wasn't even thinking about the scroll anymore, at this point that was more of a secondary objective than anything else.

So long as Naruto was safe and this bastard was dead, then he would gladly give up his life without regrets.

That was his plan anyway, but that plan was thwarted when a blur of orange sudden rushed out of seemingly nowhere. Said orange blur was met with no resistance as the still sheathed katana was swung like a club right into the approaching Chuunin's face; catching him right in the side of his head just short of Mizuki's left temple. So caught-off by this abrupt attack, Mizuki lost control of the shuriken and thus accidentally throwing it up into the trees causing it to shred through several branches overhead.

This inadvertently caused the moon which hug high above them all to illuminate the area in which the three males were located; the glow casting a rather intimidating shadow on the boy who was now standing firmly in-between the two downed Chuunin.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on my sensei, you bastard."

The amount of righteous fury in those otherwise vibrant blue eyes were probably enough to warrant him being called a monster; but he didn't care.

He didn't care because he had something worth standing up for.

He didn't care because, despite what everyone else believed, he now had at least one person who acknowledged him for who he was.

And demon or not, he would be damned before he was going to let this scumbag take that away from him.

"So there you are, you fucking brat." Sneered out the Chuunin as he began to pick himself up off the ground, having shaken off the boy's attack for the most part. "You should have run when you had the chance, all you did was save me the trouble of finding you. Now I can get rid of both of you and get the scroll in one setting."

"Naruto, get out of here now! Don't get caught up in this and just run back to the village; I'll handle this!"

"Can't do that sensei, besides-" Having already made his intentions clear, the boy let the scroll fall to the ground whilst sticking the sword between the pit of his right arm; his fingers raised into a cross-shaped seal as he flashed the man the same cheeky grin he was known for over his shoulder. "I told you already that I learned something from this thing, didn't I?"

"Don't get cocky you little-"

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

What followed this was nothing short of amazing and frightening to both Chuunin in the clearing. Everywhere from the ground below, to the branches above, there stood copies upon copies of the blonde haired youth all staring down the traitorous man who stood in the very center of the mass gathering. These clones weren't armless either, for each one was brandishing the same katana which Iruka had seen before. None of them were unsheathed, a fact that Iruka was silently slightly thankful for, as it seemed that Naruto had no intention of using lethal force here. Even so, each and every last copy of the boy grinned with mildly sadistic glee as they all watched the man panic from the sight of so many clones.

There were not just illusions, not transparent images, but solid replications of the real user.

"Hey, Mizuki-sensei, do you know what time it is?" It wasn't a serious question, but even if it had been there would have been no time for the man to give an actual reply. Because as quickly as one of the many Naruto's asked this question, another had already provided the answer in the man's stead. "It's time for a well-deserved beat-down, jackass!"

The cries that followed shortly after this announcement would either serve as fuel for a nightmare or someone's endless amusement. It wasn't long-lasting, the man had passed out at some point after the army of orange youths began beating the man senseless, though he honestly didn't realize he was unconscious until a bit afterwards. Needless to say, Mizuki was a bleeding and swollen mess on the ground by the time all of the clones had dispersed. With the brawl over and his clones now gone, he returned his attention back over to his injured teacher with no small amount of pride showing on his features.

Iruka, for his part, was not lacking in pride either; having witnessed what he had firsthand.

"Do you think I overdid it a bit there sensei?"

The scarred Chuunin briefly looked passed Naruto's visage to watch as the former instructor lay mostly motionless in the dirt. He would groan and twitch every so often, but aside from being on the receiving end of a very thorough ass-whooping he believed the man would live to serve for his crimes.

"Nope, I think he'll be fine for the most part...maybe." At this, both teacher and student shared a little chuckle as the former made a move to stand. "Hey, Naruto, could you come here for a second? I have something that belongs to you."

Confused as he was, the boy did as he was told, only to be then be asked to close his eyes. The urge to question what he wanted did rise, but he quelled it and continued to do as he was asked to do. There was no harm in it, Iruka had his trust, so whatever it was surely wouldn't be anything bad. When he suddenly felt his goggles being removed, the lids to his eyes almost cracked open, yet he didn't once he felt something else taking the same space shortly after. It was warm, whatever it was, and when he was given the okay to open his eyes he did. What he was greeted with was the proud face of his sensei, smiling as he held the former headgear in his hand.

But what Naruto took immediate notice to was the lack of the standard Konoha hitai-ate that was usually present on his person. It took a couple seconds, but it eventually clicked as to what he was now wearing. Disbelief was the first to arrive, only to make a hasty retreat when his trimbling fingers raised up to feel the smooth metal plate of what every shinobi of Konoha wore somewhere on their person.

"Congratulations, Uzumaki Naruto, for you are now a shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato." Were the words which Iruka had long waited to say to his longstanding student. While he did not currently have the energy to say it with as much enthusiasm as he would have liked, he made up for it in how genuinely happy he was to see this day finally arrive. "And to celebrate, I think it's only fair that we make a little stop at Ichiraku's for a well deserved meal; my treat of course."

In the wake of disbelief's departure, something else could be felt bubbling up inside the boy's chest as he remained motionless. It was a lot to process, especially for someone like him who was way far off from being the brightest color in the box. For a moment he thought this was all a dream, that he would wake up any moment now and find himself back in that empty flat he called a home.

Confirmation was required in moments like these.

Naruto had to be absolutely sure that this was not a dream.

So what did he do?

"Helllll yes!" Simple: he let loose the loudest victory cry he could produce and practically tackled his teacher back into the tree. "I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it!"

"Guh, ow! Hey, Naruto, calm down I'm injured remember!?"

This was no dream, he had really succeeded, he was now a real shinobi of Konoha and he doubted anything that happened to him in life would ever trump this moment. Naruto was not going to be left behind, he wasn't alone in this world anymore, and he could finally begin taking the first steps towards achieving that dream he was striving for. It wasn't out of his reach anymore, it wasn't something he could reach out to but never touch. The spark that had nearly dimmed and died away had been rekindled by this man and for that Naruto would forever remember this day for as long as he lived.

With so much joy filling his being, he didn't realize that he had dropped the sword he had since been holding onto for a good portion of the evening. It simply lay in the grass, the gold tsuba gleaming in the light of the morning sun from where it lay. Had Naruto still been holding it in that instant, he would have likely felt something akin to a pulse or ripple course through the inanimate object.

...or perhaps not, it's hard to say.

And as it began before, it begins anew.

Think if this chapter as a prelude to what's in store. My writing style has changed a lot since I started writing and I hope I established a decent balance between the dialog and the monologue with this chapter. If its not enough dialog it can be amended, not enough action well what do you expect? It's the first chapter of both the story and the manga; variations being obvious. I know that this doesn't seem so original at first, but give it time, this sort of chapter is kinda necessary as this is where he get's that oh-so-legendary sword from.

Thaaaaat and I'm hoping I hit the nail on the head with how obnoxious Naruto is in the very beginning. Not used to writing a canon-version of Naruto you see, so that's something I may need to get accustomed to.

Will I get flamed for this chapter? Likely, and I say bring it on. I'd love to hear what arguments and issues you critics wish to address to me; I'll answer them with genuine kindness. Otherwise, to those who enjoyed this, you have my thanks and I would like to hear some of the questions some of you may have.

I hope you all enjoyed my little piece of refurbished work and I look forward to seeing you all again next time.

Goodbye for now.