Chapter One

Enter: Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura

Twelve years ago, a nine tailed fox suddenly appeared! One swing of its mighty tails could crumble mountains or cause tsunamis. To fight the demon, people assembled the shinobi.

Of course, the clans of the village were able to hold of the beast until the leader of the shinobi arrived. The Hyuuga clan with power over the Byakugan. The Uchiha clan with power over the Sharingan. Other, smaller and less powerful clans like the Akimichi clan, the Nara clan, the Inuzuka clan, the Aburame clan and the Yamanaka clan also helped.

One by one, the ninja fell. Kunoichi crushed, shinobi torn limb from limb and ninja no older than three left without mothers and fathers. Truly a tragic time for everyone.

A single brave shinobi was able to lock the monster up, but in doing so he lost his life. That shinobi was called the fourth Hokage of Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves.

However, the seal of the nine tailed fox needed to trap the beast inside a new born child. The Yondaime Hokage sacrificed his own, soon to be orphaned child named Uzumaki Naruto for this cause, hoping that he would grow up as a hero for his sacrifice at such a young age.

Death took the Hokage, but his wish was never fulfilled. The village grew to hate Naruto for the beast inside him, which he knew absolutely nothing about. As grownups and elders hated him, their children grew to treat him with the same distain without a known reason. No one was told of the Kyuubi inside him unless they were there when it happened.

Thus, to get the attention he desired, Naruto began to pull pranks and get himself in trouble, he became the village fool, but nothing stopped the hateful glares and death promises he got every day.

[--

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" A blonde boy laughed from atop the Hokage monument, which he was currently covering in paint with disrespectful and crude picture and remarks on the stone faces. He was hanging from a robe suspended at the top of the monument.

"Hokage-sama!" A Jounin yelled as he ran into the Hokage's office, where the old man was writing with his pipe in his mouth.

"What is it? Is Naruto causing trouble again?" The Hokage asked, irritated by this daily occurrence.

"Yes! That punk Naruto is desecrating the Hokage monument, and this time with paint!" He told his superior urgently. The Hokage sighed, blowing out a puff of smoke, and put on his hat.

[--

"HEY, STOP CAUSING TROUBLE!" One Jounin yelled at the blonde boy from the roof of the Hokage tower.

"STOP DOING THIS EVERY DAY!" Another cried.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" A third man promised threateningly.

"LOOK AT WHAT HE'S DOING!" The fourth man pointed out.

"SHUT UP YOU IDIOTS!" The blonde boy yelled to them. "None of you guys could do something this horrible! But I can! I'm incredible!" He boasted loudly.

"Geez, what has that idiot done?" The Sandaime asked as he cleared his path though the crown on the roof.

"Third Hokage-sama, I apologise for this." One of the Jounin, with brown hair, brown eyes, tan skin and a scar across his nose, said to the Hokage while looking up at Naruto.

"Hn?" The older man said questioningly. "Oh! Iruka!" He said in recognition of the younger academy teacher. Iruka nodded and drew in a large breath.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING DURING CLASS TIME?! GET DOWN HERE YOU MORON!" Iruka yelled loudly at his pupil.

"Yikes! That's Iruka-sensei!" Naruto acknowledged, starting to freak out while swinging on the rope. He untied the rope and jumped up the monument to get away.

"Get back here!" One Jounin yelled as he ran after the boy, who was now running down the street.

"You'll never catch me! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto cried behind him as he continued to run. The blonde jumped up and began to leap from roof to roof to escape his pursuers.

"Naruto!" One of the two Jounin chasing him called.

"Hold on!" The other yelled. They continued to chase him when he when out of site, but as soon as the alley was empty Naruto pulled down his camouflage blanket which helped him to look like part of the fence.

"Haha! That was too easy." He stated to himself.

"Oh yeah, Naruto?!" Iruka asked loudly from behind him.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Naruto yelped as he leapt forwards a little and landed on his right butt. "Where'd you come from, Iruka-sensei? What are you doing here?" He asked.

"No, what're you doing here? You're supposed to be in class." Iruka reminded him sternly, but calmly.

[--

Naruto was now tied up at the front of the class room with Iruka standing over him and all of his classmates sniggering at his predicament.

"I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto. You failed the graduation test last time, and the time before that. Tomorrow you've got another chance, and you're messing it up again!"

"Bah." Naruto said, dismissing the embarrassing situation he now found himself in.

"Loser." A boy with a grey, fur-lined hooded jacked and a puppy in his lap muttered towards the blonde.

"Tell me about it." The cold, pink haired girl next to him mumbled, rolling her eyes. Her voice was too quiet for even the boy next to her to hear, but her piercing gaze rest on Naruto and made him look at her in question of the stare. It wasn't hateful, like all of the others he got, but…blank. No where was there any hostility or joy. Just…nothing. She looked away and Naruto returned his look to Iruka.

"Tomorrow is the ninja school's graduation exam. You have failed the last two times!" Iruka scolded. "This is now time to be causing trouble MORON!"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto sighed. That was all it took and Iruka snapped.

"But, because you missed it, Naruto, everyone will review the test on 'Henge no jutsu'! Everyone line up!" He commanded.

"WHAT?!" Most of the class yelled in complaint.

"Transform perfectly into me!" Iruka hollered at them. The class groaned, but did as they were told. "Haruno Sakura, you're up first." He stated, looking prompting at the girl dressed in a baggy black jumper and baggy black shorts that fell to her knees. Her long hair was braided high on her head and she had the standard ninja sandals on her feet.

"Pff, whatever." The pinkette stated as she stepped forward. Many people froze in fear as a few of the boys blushed. "Henge!" She yelled as she placed her hands together in the correct way.

Clouds covered her and, when they cleared, another Iruka was standing in front of the original with an impassive look on his face. Obviously, this was Sakura, since she was the only one -with the exception of a few boys in the class- who used that face all of the time. She transformed back and stood with her hand on her hip.

"Transformed into me…very good." Iruka complimented.

"Eh, whatever." Sakura said, brushing off the compliment. Iruka, who had been trying since she arrived at the school for the first time to get the girl to smile or at least show some emotion, sighed and told her go to the back of the line to await further instructions.

"Next, Uchiha Sasuke!" He called out. A boy with hair shaped like a chicken's backside stepped forward and nearly all of the girls, with the exception of two, swooned with big hearts in their eyes.

"Hn." The boy, Sasuke, said. He too preformed the jutsu and called out 'Henge' before clouds covered him completely. When the clouds cleared, Iruka was facing another one of himself with an expressionless face.

"Um…good." Iruka nodded. Sasuke went were Sakura was standing, at the back of the line, to wait for further instruction.

The next six people did as they were told and transformed into their sensei; some better or worst than others and none as good as Sakura and Sasuke were, but they all initially passed. This went on for about half of an hour until almost all of the class had been called.

"Okay, good." Iruka said as a boy ran back to the back of the line, just as the others had done. "Next, Uzumaki Naruto!"

"This is a total waste of time, Naruto." One boy behind Naruto told the blonde. He had brown hair -tied up to, unintentionally, make his head look like a pineapple- and lazy coal coloured eyes. He was tall, thin and had an IQ of over two hundred, but couldn't be bother to do anything that used too much effort when he could avoid doing it. Of course, he was the one who always slept in class.

"We always pay for your screw ups." A blonde girl stated. She had her waist length blonde hair up in a high pony tail, leaving one platinum bang to cover the right side of her podgy, pig-like face. Her baby blue eyes glaring at Naruto the whole time as her up-turned nose turned even higher, like someone had permanently shoved a bad smell under it. She was the snooty blonde practically no one liked and one of Uchiha Sasuke's biggest fans.

"Like I care." Naruto said back as he stepped forward.

'Naruto…do your best.' A girl with moon-coloured eyes and short, dark indigo hair thought while pressing her index fingers togther, a blush covering the cheeks and nose of her pale face. She turned away when her only friend spoke to her, but looked right back again after a short exchange of words, as was expected from her friend.

'Damn this sucks.' Naruto thought to himself. 'Okay, here we go!'

"TRANSFORM!" He yelled as a cloud of smoke enveloped his body.

When the smoke clear, a beautiful, but naked, girl stood in Naruto's place, clouds covering her modesty. Iruka took only one look before falling back due to his nosebleed. Naruto turned back and burst out laughing.

"HAHA! Got ya! I call it 'Sexy no jutsu'!" He claimed though his laughter.

"YOU DUMB ASS! DON'T INVENT STUPID SKILLS! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!!!" Iruka reprimand him with tissue up his nostrils to stop the blood.

"It was just a joke…" Naruto muttered as he walked back to his seat, passing kids who laughed at him. One even stuck their foot out to trip him, but Naruto was saved when said kid got hit across the class room for his attempted prank. Naruto looked up to see who had saved him from the humiliation of tripping over a foot when he was supposed to be a ninja in training, but the only person standing there was the one and the only female ice cube in the class, Haruno Sakura.

"Um…thanks." Naruto said sheepishly. Everyone in the class feared her, but Naruto had the world's biggest crush on her. Unfortunately, she was the girl who hated everyone, with the exception of her friend, Hyuuga Hinata. No one was sure how that –slightly odd- friendship between the local ice cube no one knows anything about and the quiet and meek shy-girl Hyuuga even started.

"Baka…as if it isn't bad enough that you just made a complete idiot out of yourself in front of the class. Besides, if you tripped, you'd fall right on top of me. It was self preservation." She told him coldly. Naruto looked down in disappointment and carried on towards the back of the line as more names were called.

[--

After school, Umino Iruka supervised Uzumaki Naruto as he cleaned all of the paint off of the Hokage faces -suspended this time by a wooden platform hanging over the monument by four pieces of rope- with a small rag and a bucket of soap water. Talk about manual labour.

"This sucks…loser." Naruto muttered to himself, thoroughly pissed off by is sensei making him clean up the paint.

"You're not going home until you've cleaned off every single drop of paint, Uzumaki." Iruka informed him. Naruto paused in his scrubbing and looked up at the man watching him.

"Like I care! It's not like there's anyone at my home waiting for me to get back, ya know!" Naruto yelled. "Bah." He said before he went back to scrubbing off the dried paint. Iruka watched him sadly and sighed heavily as he looked up at the sky, watching the clouds as he wondered if the offer he was about to make would cause him to be broke for the month or if it would extend to a year this time.

"Naruto…" He called, getting the attention of the pre-teen.

"Yea, what do you want now, sensei?" Naruto asked him, looking up with a cautious glare.

"Well, I was just thinking…maybe if you get all of this cleaned off, I'll take you out for some ramen tonight. The good stuff…what do ya think?" Iruka suggested, scratching his cheek. He looked down at Naruto, only to see the young boy grinning up at him in joy.

"Now that's some serious motivation! Okay, I'll work harder than ever before now! I'll have this clean in no time at all! Believe it!" Naruto yelled, scrubbing like crazy. Iruka just smiled down at his student.

[--

Later that night, you could find Iruka and Naruto sitting at the Ichiruka ramen stand, taking up two of the five seats available. Just as promised, Iruka was paying for it. Naruto slurped his ramen, beef miso flavour to tell the truth, he grinned and did mental back-flips over the delicious flavour.

"Naruto…" Iruka called.

"Hm?" Naruto responded though a mouth full of ramen.

"Why were you doing that to the monument? To the Hokage faces, Naruto? I mean, you know who the Hokage are, don't you?" The teacher asked in shock over what his student did.

"Of course I do." Naruto proclaimed as he slurped some more ramen, finishing his bowl and ordering another.

"Oh really?" Iruka asked; unconvinced that someone would do that if they knew.

"Everybody know. Basically, those who receive the Hokage name are the strongest ninja in their village, right? The best of the best? Undefeated ninja champs? And among them is the fourth Hokage; the one hero saved this village and all other villages from the nine tailed demon fox. He was the most amazing!" Naruto informed his sensei. Iruka sighed.

"Then why did you-?"

"Because, one day, I'm going to be greater than all of them. Me, Naruto, the next Hokage! A ninja legend! Then I'm going to surpass all the previous Hokages! Then everyone will have to stop disrespecting me and look up to me! Believe it!" Naruto proclaimed happily.

Iruka, shocked by the self-proclamation, just finished sucking the single ramen noodle into his mouth and swallowed.

"By the way…I kinda wanna ask a favour sensei. Just one request for your favourite student!" Naruto stated.

"What? You want seconds, another bowl?" Iruka guessed.

"No, I…wanna try on your ninja headband…your Hatei-ate…come on, just let me borrow it, please?" Naruto asked sweetly, flashing his sensei a fox-like grin.

"Oh, this?" Iruka asked, holding his Hatei-ate. "No way. You can only wear the leaf symbol Hatei-ate when you finally graduate from the academy and become a ninja. This is a symbol that you've come of age and ability to wear it, you'll get one tomorrow…if you pass the test." Iruka promised.

"That is so un-cool!" Naruto complained.

"Hey, hey, hey! Is that why you took off your goggles?" The sensei asked, gesturing to Naruto's former head-gear now lying on the counter beside the blonde, in amusement.

"Uh…I want another bowl!" Naruto yelled, trying to get his teacher to forget the question.

"Hahahahahahaha!" Not like that was going to happen though.

[--

"We will now start the final exam." Iruka announced. "Now, for the final exam, you will be tested on your Bunshin no jutsu. When your name is called, proceed to the testing room."

'THAT ONE!? THAT'S MY WORST SKILL! I CAN'T DO BUNSHIN FOR MY LIFE! Great, I'm never gonna pass!' Naruto wailed in his head.

"First up, Aburame Shino. Come with me please." Iruka said as the stoic, bug-jutsu boy of the insect clan stood silently and followed him out.

"S-Sakura-chan, d-do you think w-we'll pass the t-test?" Hinata asked the, normally terrifying, girl in black. The Hyuuga herself was wearing the same outfit as her friend, but instead of black her main colour was lighter, being a nice shade of tan. Both had decided that they would wear the same outfits and change training clothes once they left the academy.

"Pff, if they fail us, I'll skin 'em alive." Sakura stated in all seriousness, but Hinata could tell she was joking. They shared that sort of friendship where Hinata could tell what Sakura meant by her statements and tone of voice, so if she said something completely horrible to her, Hinata would understand that she probably meant something akin to a compliment and not an insult. Sakura, as you might have guessed, wasn't very open. As an answer to this, Hinata learned to read her tone of voice. If she said something like 'you have terrible skills and are weak', Hinata knew from experience that she really meant 'come here and I will help you with your aim' or whatever they were practicing.

"I-I w-w-wonder if they g-give you a s-sp-specific amount t-to s-sp-split into." Hinata wondered quietly. Sakura was about to reply when Shino came in and walked to a boy named Akimichi Choji, telling him to go into the testing room.

"Well, we're not going in any time soon." Sakura sighed as she jumped up on a desk and lay down on her back. She placed her hands behind her head to use as a make-shift pillow and crossed her right leg over her left, causing Hinata to blush at the bold choice in relaxing her friend made. The Haruno just looked lazily at her Hyuuga friend and rolled her eyes softly.

[--

"Sorry to interrupt your…whatever you kids were doing in here, but I would like to tell you that we will no longer be going in alphabetical order and you will be called in at random. The reason for this is that Mizuki sensei lost the list of names, so I had to make a new one off the top of my head and…anyway. Next is Hyuuga Hinata." He called to the shy girl. The pale Hyuuga girl stood up and blushed as a few people turned their attention to her.

"Y-Yes, s-sensei." Hinata stuttered shyly. She received some unlikely encouragement from her friend, Haruno Sakura, though a nod and a comforting hand on the Hyuuga girl's shoulder -which many people in the class were shocked about- and she followed Iruka into the testing room with slightly more confidence than before.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man!" Naruto chanted out loud as he remembered the big failure he was last time he attempted Bunshin.

"Shut up." He heard a female hiss calmly. Thinking that she was talking to him, Naruto looked up, only to see Yamanaka Ino, who seemed to be steaming with anger, standing next to Haruno Sakura, who was just as calm as ever.

"You shut up, forehead-girl!" Ino yelled, too angry to notice the blush-haired girl's right eye twitch. In less than a second, Ino was pinned against the wall with a kunai in the right shoulder of her shirt and another dangerously close to the left side of her neck.

"Hn, watch your mouth, porker." Sakura taunted.

"Next, Haruno Sakura!" Iruka called as a beaming Hinata re-entered the room with a Hatei-ate in her hand.

"Nice job, Hinata-chan." Sakura said to her friend, still as emotionless as ever. However, the Hyuuga girl must have know that her friend really meant what she said, since Hinata jumped at the pinkette and hugged her tightly around the neck. Gasps were heard around the class, but Hinata wasn't thrown back or killed immediately for the contact, as many would have been in her place. Sure, Sakura didn't return the embrace, but she didn't push Hinata away. She just seemed a bit uncomfortable by the sudden and unasked for invasion of personal space.

"Haruno, now!" Iruka barked. Sakura rolled her eyes and pried Hinata's arms from around her neck gently. When the Hyuuga realised that she had been touching Haruno -which the girl hated with a vengeance- she quickly jumped back, apologised and bowed her head in a way of asking forgiveness.

"Feh, whatever. I have a test to pass." Sakura said as she walked passed Hinata, her hand lingering on the heiress' shoulder as she passed in a gesture of forgiveness until the indigo-haired kunoichi was too out of her reach. She walked out of the door to take her test. Ino, in all of her pig-faced glory, immediately pulled the kunai out -with quite some trouble for a kunoichi in training- and stomped towards Hinata.

"Ha! Now that freak girl isn't here, who is gonna save you?" Ino sneered nastily as she pushed Hinata onto the ground.

"O-Ouch." Hinata squeaked as she landed on her butt, hitting the hard floors roughly. She bit her lip to keep it from quivering and mentally wished that Ino would disappear or Sakura would come back.

"You shouldn't have passed that test at all, let alone became a ninja, s-st-stu-stutter g-gi-girl." The blonde boar taunted. Naruto was about to jump in and save her, but a shuriken blasted passed him and nicked Ino's podgy cheek, drawing a line of blood.

"I never abandon her, Yamanaka-pig." Sakura hissed darkly, causing almost everyone except Hinata –who had herd that tone of voice more than once before and was not used to it- to shudder from her tone. As she had said it from the door, the left side of her face being the only thing visible since it was mostly closed, she looked even creepier. Ino gulped loudly -practically in tears from her fear- and moved away from Hinata, letting the Hyuuga gather her things and sit alone in the back of the classroom to wait for her friend in peace.

[--

Naruto's turn to take the test came too quickly for his liking and he was more nervous than ever before. Everyone who had come back from the test had passed, but it was Naruto's worst subject over all. Haruno Sakura, when she came out a few minuets ago, had shot him another blank look and nodding in his direction, which was something almost like to a good luck gesture from a girl like her. Let me tell you, it's uncommon to have Sakura look in your direction unless she's going to attack you, so a gesture of –almost- kindness was like seeing all of the Hokage's in a line performing the 'Can-Can'.

He entered the testing room, where Iruka and another sensei named Mizuki were sitting with Hatei-ates on the desk in front of them. They looked towards him when he entered and Naruto began to sweat. He gulped and closed his eyes tightly, moving to stand in the middle of the room in front of them. When he re-opened his eyes, he saw the older man both waiting for him to do the jutsu.

'Okay Naruto, you can do this. Believe it!' He thought, trying to give himself a boost of confidence for the test. Placing his hands together properly and performing the correct hand seals, Naruto preformed the technique.

"Bunshin no jutsu!" He yelled as smoke covered the room. When it cleared, a very pathetic clone was lying on the floor. It was dead and completely useless, so Naruto and Iruka just stared at it with distain and slight twitching of their eyes.

"YOU FAIL!" Iruka yelled. Naruto fell over and moaned in hatred of his failed clone jutsu.

"Iruka-sensei." Mizuki called, his jaw-length white hair falling over his dark grey eyes slightly as he spoke. "His moves weren't bad and he did hang in there and replicate. This is his third try, so we know he really wants to become a ninja. We could cut him a break and pass him."

With the words from his white-haired sensei's mouth, Naruto grinned and his eyes sparkled with hope.

"Mizuki-sensei, the other students created at least three effective replications, some of the better students even managing to go up to ten at once! But Naruto could only create one…and just look at it. It's completely useless. Just pitiful. I can't let him pass this test." Iruka stated.

Now he knew that he had failed the test for the third time in a row, while everyone else had passed, he couldn't help but think whether Iruka had something against him. Even with Mizuki's suggestion –a perfectly reasonable argument for Naruto to pass- Iruka still shot him down like a fish in a barrel. Naruto's hope shattered and he clenched his fists to keep from lashing out at Iruka. He did, however, let out an audible growl as he marched from the room and left the building.

[--

After school, all of the graduates gathered outside of the academy with their classmates and parents, showing off the Hatei-ates they had earned though passing the Bunshin test. Naruto was sitting on the swing alone, watching the whole thing with utter and complete sadness in his lonely oceanic blue eyes.

"I'm proud of you…we all are." One parent would say to their child.

"Great job!" Another would say. This only succeeding in making Naruto feel even worse.

"Oh! You look great!" A third would announce proudly.

"Finally a ninja…you've made me proud." Would be the final remark, said with the utmost sincerity.

"Hey, that kid…you see him?" A woman said, gesturing to Naruto.

"Yeah, he's 'that' boy. He's the only one who failed the exam." Her friend stated back.

"Well, it serves him right, if you ask me." The first said nastily.

"Just imagine what would happen if he became a ninja." The second said, not nastily but in a concerned voice. "I mean, he's the boy who-"

"Shh! We're not allowed to even talk about that. Not ever!" Her friend scolded, pulling an angry face at Naruto.

"Pathetic." A cold voice said from next to him. Naruto turned and saw Sakura wither Hatei-ate around her neck, her friend Hinata standing behind her, also with the ninja headband around her neck.

"What is?" Naruto asked, seeing that the kunoichi wasn't looking at him when she said this. Sakura didn't answer, but chose to glare at the gossiping women, making them freeze and walk away. Hinata smiled, glad that her friend was proving that she really wasn't as cruel as everyone thought, just misunderstood.

"Stupid gossip hounds. Are you gonna take that, Uzumaki?" Sakura asked the blonde nastily.

"W-Well…I-I…um…" Naruto stuttered, not really sure what to say.

"Pff, you let them walk all over you. In that case, you're the truly pathetic one. Do something about it…big baby!" She scolded him as she walked away, taking the blushing Hyuuga with her. Naruto looked to the ground and though about what she said.

Feeling a presence, Naruto looked up again to see of Sakura was back to tell him off some more. However, he only saw the smiling face of his sensei –Mizuki- looking down at him.

[--

"Iruka, I need to talk to you." The Hokage called to the brunette.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" Iruka answered in a serious, but at the same time curious, voice.

[--

"Iruka-sensei's tough, but he's not against you." Mizuki said to Naruto as they sat on a ledge overlooking the rest of Konoha.

"Then why? Why wont he pass me?" Naruto asked, not believing what Mizuki had just told him.

"He wants you to be as strong as you can, with all his heart. But that will never happen if he goes easy on you." Mizuki informed him. "He's like you, you know? No parents. No family. He probably sees himself in you, somewhere. He wants you to become strong in the real way. Try to understand his feelings, since you also have no parents."

"But…this time I really wanted to graduate." Naruto confessed sadly.

"Well then, I guess I have to tell you." Mizuki said mysteriously.

"Huh?" Naruto acknowledged, looking up at the taller man.

"It's a secret, but I'm gonna let you in on it." Mizuki said, smirking to himself when he felt the presence of another one of the children from Naruto's class listening in.

'A secret…?'

[--

"Iruka…"

"What is it, lord Hokage?"

"I know how you feel. You grew up just like Naruto. Without knowing the love of a mother and father. The warmth of a family."

[--

"Let me go…my mom and dad are still fighting back there!"

[--

"Iruka-sensei, wake up!" A man yelled from the door of Iruka's apartment, sounding urgent.

"What? What is it?" Iruka asked as he opened the door and came face-to-face with Mizuki.

"You need to come to lord Hokage's right away. It's Naruto…he's stolen the sacred scroll." Mizuki informed him.

"You mean the scroll of sealing?! NO!" Iruka cried desperately as the two jumped onto a roof and sped towards the Hokage tower.

"That's not all!" Mizuki yelled to Iruka, coming closer so that he could remain as quiet a possible.

"What else?" The brunette question.

"Another one of our students is with him." Mizuki said back, hoping Iruka would take the bait.

"…Who?" Iruka enquired worriedly. Mizuki smirked.

'Hook, line and sinker.' He thought as he opened his mouth to tell Iruka the name of the child with Naruto.

[--

"Let's see…the first one is…Kage Bunshin?! What the hell?! Why does it start with the one I'm bad at?!" Naruto yelled as he looked though the scroll he had borrowed from the Hokage's tower. He was sitting in a forest looking thought the scroll, with a wooden hut behind him. Thinking he was alone, Naruto didn't notice the huge chakra signature approaching his location…fast.

[--

"Lord Hokage, this is not just a prank. This is a serious crime!"

"That scroll contains secrets that were sealed by the first Hokage. Secrets that are known only to our village!"

"If it falls into the wrong hands, they could destroy our entire way of life!"

"Alright!" The Hokage started. "Bring Naruto here at once!"

"Yes sir!" The Jounin gather said together as they stood at attention.

"Go!" The Hokage commanded and they all jumped off to look for Naruto.

[--

'Where would he go?' Iruka asked himself mentally.

[--

'Now that I've told everyone what Naruto did, I can eliminate him. They'll be glad he's gone. Then, of course, I keep the scroll for myself. I just hope that the other one took the bait too.' Mizuki thought with a wicked grin as he went right to Naruto.

[--

Naruto sat on the floor of the forest, panting after all the hard work he put into learning the jutsu in the scroll. His hands held the now rolled up scroll tightly as he gasped for air. He only looked up when a dark shadow loomed over him. As he looked up, the first thing that caught his eyes was the glint of a Hatei-ate and angry eyes.

"S-Sakura-chan?" He asked, adding the suffix by accident.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She hissed angrily at him, her emerald orbs burning with rage. Naruto backed off slightly. No one had seen her so much a frown, but now he was on the wrong end of her anger, ten-fold.

"I'm just…um…you know-"

"Shut up! All of the available Jounins and Chunins and even a few Genins and ANBU operatives are out looking for you right now, Uzumaki. Do you not realise what you've done?!" She asked him unbelievingly. Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm learning Kage Bunshin." He admitted.

"Give me that!" Sakura hissed as she took the scroll from him and attached it to her back. She sent him a glare and was about to leave when Naruto stopped her with a question.

"So do you hate me too, now?" He asked sadly.

"Wha-?" Sakura enquired in blank confusion.

"You do hate me. You're out here yelling and threatening me, so you must hate me, or something." He confirmed. Sakura just closed her eyes and sighed.

"You're right, Naruto. I do hate you." She admitted. Naruto looked down in shame. "But not for the reasons you think. I hate everyone, basically; with the exception of Hinata-chan, of course. Actually, I used to hate her too, but she kind of grew on me." Sakura admitted thoughtfully.

"So, there's still hope for me becoming your friend? Even after all of this yelling and stuff, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked hopefully. In his mind, not even becoming a ninja can outweigh the change of becoming Sakura's friend. Anyone would kill to have her place you on her list of friends, which was currently limited to Hinata. In fact, anyone would try to kill Hinata if it meant taking her place as Sakura's friend. Unfortunately, trying to kill Hinata would earn you a place in hell rather than on Sakura's friendship list.

"Respect, Uzumaki Naruto. You need my respect before you can have my friendship. But, maybe one day, it'll happen." She said, shrugging. Naruto was about to jump up and hug her, but a cough stopped him.

"It's all over. Hehe." Iruka said as he looked at the two. "Huh?" He questioned as soon as he heard Naruto start to laugh.

"Hehehehehe. Caught me already, huh? Not bad. You're quick sensei; I only had time to learn this one really cool technique." Naruto stated as he was looking as innocent as ever.

'He's been out here practicing.' Iruka acknowledged. 'I can tell how hard he's been working. Sakura, however, looks suspicious enough to be the one who convinced him to take the scroll for her.' He added as he cast a wary glance towards the Genin kunoichi with the scroll strapped to her back, who returned his look with a glare. She knew what he was thinking

"Listen, Iruka-sensei. I'm going to show you this amazing jutsu and you're gonna let me graduate, and then everything will be okay. That's the way it works, right? Anyone who learns a jutsu from this scroll passes. Right, am I right?" Naruto asked hyperactively. Sakura rolled her eyes at his obliviousness.

"Huh? Where'd you get that idea?" Iruka asked.

"Mizuki-sensei told me about it. Believe it!" Naruto said, waving his arms around in a carefree way. "He told me where to find the scroll, and this place…"

'Huh? Mizuki?' Iruka questioned in his mind. A barrage of kunai suddenly flung themselves at Naruto and Iruka, but the latter pushed Naruto out of the way just in time. He couldn't, however, save himself and he ended up with kunai lodged in his leg and all over his uniform to pin him to the hut behind him.

"I see you found our little hide away." Mizuki said, his tone sounding amused as he appeared on a tree branch with two fuma shuriken strapped to his back.

"So that's how it is, huh? I should have known!" Iruka yelled.

"Naruto! Give me the scroll, now!" Mizuki commanded.

"Wait a minuet." Naruto said as he looked between his teachers. "What's going on here?"

"Naruto, don't let Mizuki get the scroll." Iruka said as he pulled out one of the kunai in his vest. "It contains forbidden jutsu, which could put this village in great danger. Mizuki used you to get the scroll for himself; for his own power."

"Naruto, Iruka's just trying to scare you because he doesn't want you to have the scroll." The white haired man countered without skipping a beat in his band of lies.

"Stop lying, Mizuki. Don't let him trick you, Naruto." Iruka warned, trying to pull out the kunai from his leg. Sakura, who had been long since forgotten, kept her face emotionless as she hid in the shadows of one of the trees with the scroll on her back.

"Haha, oh I'll tell you who's really lying." Mizuki promised, chuckling darkly.

"No Mizuki!" Iruka yelled. Sakura narrowed her eyes and her lips tightened into a snarl when she saw the look of horror and pleading on Iruka's face. Obviously, this man was about to tell Naruto something important.

"They've been lying to you throughout your whole life, Naruto. Since the decree twelve years ago." Mizuki began.

"What…decree?" Naruto asked cautiously.

"Everyone knows except you and the youth of Konoha. Iruka's trying to hide it from you too. Even now, he'd do anything to shut me up." The white haired man admitted.

"What is this decree? Why does almost everyone else know about it?" The blonde asked again, more confident this time.

"Don't tell him, Mizuki! You know that it is strictly forbidden!" Iruka yelled more urgently. Sakura was getting nervous. She so much wanted to hear what Mizuki had to say, but she was also the only one who could shut him up.

"The decree is…no one can tell you that the nine tailed fox, the Kyuubi…is in you!" Mizuki concluded. "The fox spirit that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed our village has taken over your body. You are the nine tailed fox, Naruto!" Naruto's eyes widened and he gasped. Sakura, however, narrowed her own and glared at the white-haired man.

"STOP IT!" Iruka yelled, ripping out one of the kunai in his shoulder.

"They've all been sneaking around and hiding things from you your whole, entire life. Didn't you think it was strange how they treated you? Just like dirt! Like they hated you for even being alive!" Mizuki said, grinning evilly as he did so.

"No! No, no, no!" Naruto yelled. He was surrounded by blue chakra, the chakra of the Kyuubi.

"Naruto!" Iruka called out in desperation.

"That's why you will never be accepted in this village. Even your beloved sensei hates your guts!" Mizuki claimed. Iruka tried to move, but the pain in his leg was too great. "Die Naruto!" The man yelled as he threw one of the shuriken at the blonde.

"Naruto, get down!" Iruka yelled to him.

Naruto turned and ducked while he closed his eyes, too distraught to do anything else, and waited for the pain. However, it never arrived. All he felt was drips of a wet liquid fall on his hands. He shakily opened his eyes and saw brown hair blowing in his face with kind brown eyes looking down at him.

The fuma shuriken, the one that was meant for him, was dug firmly into Iruka's back and a lot of blood was falling from his new wound. Naruto's eyes widened at the sight of his teacher risking his life for him. Sakura, who should have helped sooner rather than hidden, glared at the ground in guilt, but remained emotionless as ever. Mizuki's eyes widened and he clenched his teeth.

"W-Why?" Naruto gasped though his tears.

"Because we're the same." Iruka told him. "When I lost my parents…no one seemed to care. They didn't have time for me…they just forgot I was there." He admitted. Sakura felt a tug at in her chest at his confession that she had never felt before.

"He's…" She said, trailing off at the end. Sakura, feeling the tug vanish, frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, digging her nails into the skin slightly. Iruka continued after taking in a laboured breath.

"My grades dropped…I became the class clown. I just wanted them to see me…and to know my name. My school work wasn't good enough to get their attention…so I did crazy things…and then I had to pay for it…it was hard. I know exactly how you feel Naruto…you feel lonely and it hurts inside…and I could have been there for you more. But I let you down…and I'm sorry. No one should have to suffer that much…no one should be alone like that." Iruka concluded.

Mizuki, being the awesomely evil dude he is, began to laugh bitterly at the tear-jerking, heart-wrenching scene splayed out before him. Sakura moved her glare from the ground, back up to the Jounin traitor for laughing so cruelly at another's misfortune and her nails dug into the skin harsher this time, drawing a small amount of blood. The girl, however, didn't even flinch at the sting of her ten small, new wounds.

"Don't make me laugh!" He boasted, even thought it was obviously too late for that. "Iruka always hated you. He was orphaned because the nine tailed fox killed his parents. And that beast is now inside you. He'd say anything to get the scroll from you." Mizuki told him. Naruto got up and ran a short distance from both of them, towards the bush Sakura was hiding in. He scowled and looked at his feet.

"Then it's too bad. I don't have it!" Naruto yelled. Mizuki, realising his error, stared at Naruto with wide, angry eyes and clenched his teeth.

"They who does?!" Mizuki screamed in frustration.

"I do." Sakura admitted, stepping out of the bush and standing next to Naruto.

"S-Sakura-chan! Y-You're still here?" Naruto asked worried. He noticed the blood on her arms, but stayed quiet about it.

"Yea." Sakura told him while still ignoring the suffix he had began adding to her name.

"H-How much did you hear?" He questioned shakily, not wanting her to have a reason to hate him more than how much she hated everyone else.

"All of it." She told him, glaring at Mizuki.

"Well, well. Little Sakura-chan. Yes, the only person in the whole class who preformed not only a perfect Bunshin jutsu without wasting chakra during the test, but a Kage Bunshin jutsu. The very Bunshin jutsu that can only be learned though the sacred scroll of sealing." Mizuki said, smirking at her. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him.

"Your point?" She asked nastily. Naruto, who now knew that the Kage Bunshin was only found in the scroll, stared at the girl with wide eyes.

"I just wanted to know how you discovered it. Unless, of course, you looked in that scroll too." Mizuki said with an innocent shrug.

"I did." Sakura confessed without a single note of regret in her voice. The other sensei, Iruka, watched her confess to the crime without hesitation.

"Were you planning on taking it from Naruto as well?" He asked her.

"So what if I was?" She asked, pulling the scroll off of her back and holding it.

"You could get arrested. As long as I kill Naruto and Iruka, no one will be around to tell the Hokage that you didn't convince Naruto to steal the scroll for you and then kill him and Iruka." Mizuki grinned evilly. Sakura raised a brow and smirked.

"I have it now, anyway." She stated. Mizuki's grin fell and he looked at her in worry. "That and I've memorised all of the jutsus in it and learned almost all of them."

"You're lying." Mizuki accused. The pinkette kept her smirk, proving that she wasn't lying in the slightest.

"The only thing I need to be able to perform every jutsu in here perfectly is practice. I could just burn it and it would be of no consequence to me what so ever." She ended with a non-caring shrug.

"How about giving it to me, Sakura? I can help you fulfil your goal. You're life-long dream. You know which one I mean." He tempted. Sakura's form went ridged and she froze in place.

"No! He's lying! Don't do it, Sakura!" Iruka yelled from the ground.

"You saw the look Iruka gave you when he first saw you here with Naruto and the scroll. He believed that you were the one who convinced Naruto to steal it!" Mizuki reminded her. "Don't try to deny it, Iruka." He added when he saw the brunette open his mouth to protest. Iruka lowered his head in shame and accepted the truth.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked shakily, raising his hand to put it on her tense shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" She snapped as she ran off into the forest with Naruto hot on her trail.

"Naruto! Sakura!" Iruka called after them.

"Hehehehehe." Mizuki laughed as he jumped next to Iruka. "You know what those two are like. When they make up their minds, nothing will convince them to change it. They're stubborn like that." He mused with a smirk on his face. "Sakura is going to try and destroy the scroll and leave the village and Naruto will try to stop her, only to follow it up by using the scroll to take revenge on Konoha. You saw the look in her eye and his own, didn't you? Naruto's are the eyes of a beast, and Sakura's, well…hers are the eyes of a child in pain, ready to be consumed by her hatred."

"No…those two…" Iruka started, taking the fuma out of his back and hurling it at Mizuki. "Aren't like that!" Mizuki dodged easily and smirked.

"You're a joke." He taunted. "As soon as I eliminate Naruto and convince Sakura to join me with the scroll, I'll be back for you." He promised as he jumped in the direction the two twelve-year-olds went.

'I wont let you!' Iruka said in his mind, creating his own promise.

[--

The Sandaime Hokage looked though his crystal ball and watched as Naruto ran after Sakura, who was still in possession of the sacred scroll of sealing. She was much faster than him usually, but in her state of unsure thoughts, she was too distracted to speed up. So many thoughts must have been buzzing though her mind at this precise moment in time.

"This is not good." The Hokage said to himself. "That Mizuki has a big mouth. He made Naruto feel so bad…worst than he's ever felt. It could unleash the power inside of him. On top of all of that, he just made that Haruno girl a promise she can't possibly refuse. With her working with him, even without the scroll, he could control unimaginable power. She has the potential in her that could make every Kage of every village beg for mercy and, if Mizuki manages to convince her, they will. With that scroll and Mizuki's ability to manipulate, Sakura could easily be swayed into a situation were she promises to help him gain power and even to kill Naruto herself. Also, if Naruto tampers with that scroll any more, the seal that kept the demon fox inside of him…could be broken. The beast could come out. If that happens or if Sakura joins Mizuki, I fear for us all."

[--

Naruto was still running after Sakura, but she was extremely fast and, in this state of mind, a danger to his life. She turned once to glare and yell at him, trying to make him leave her alone, but Naruto saw though her hate-filled yells and deadly glares. She too, was just like him. She was all alone.

"Naruto!" Iruka yelled as he caught up with the vessel. "Everything Mizuki said was a lie. Help me catch up to Sakura and get the scroll, hurry! He's coming to kill you and take Sakura and the scroll away!" The brunette infirmed the jumping –usually cheerful- blonde ninja-in-training.

The blonde snarled and leapt forward, knocking Iruka back with a great push in the gut, making it painful as possible. Iruka fell on the ground and skidded backwards on his back. Naruto also dropped to the ground and skidded towards the man using his feet. He was panting from all the running he had just done. Sakura, hearing the commotion, stopped and concealed herself in a bush again to watch the scene. She, however, hadn't even broken a sweat.

"It can't be." 'Iruka' said as he got up. Naruto collapsed on his butt by a tree and watched the teacher. "How did you know, Naruto? How did you know…" Here he paused as a cloud covered him, returning him to Mizuki and not Iruka. "That it was actually me?"

"Because…I'm Iruka." 'Naruto' stated as he too was covered in cloud, transforming him back into the brown haired sensei. Sakura stifled a gasp as she watched the two and she began scanning the woods to find the chakra to signify where Naruto was.

"You're a fool." Mizuki stated coldly with a sneer. "Why are you protecting that freak and the child of scorn? He's the one who wiped out your family and she could do the same to you."

"I don't care what you say. You're not killing Naruto or getting near to Sakura and that scroll." Iruka said defiantly, Naruto, who was hiding behind a tree, and Sakura both let their eyes widen in shock. Their sensei, the one who was orphaned though the beast in Naruto and coldly brushed off by Sakura every day, was defending them.

"As if you could stop me. Don't you get it? Naruto and Sakura are both mirrors of me in their own way." Mizuki informed him.

"How's that?" Iruka asked, ready to come to the defence of the two of them if he said anything out of line.

"Naruto wants the scroll for his own power and his own vengeance; that's how beasts are. He'll pour all his rage into the scroll and destroy everything in his path." Mizuki pronounced. "As for Sakura…well, she's full of rage, scorn and hate. Not even I know why, but it's there. I can feel it boiling up inside of her every day of her life. One of these days, she'll lash out and kill anyone who stands in her way."

"You're right." Iruka confessed. Naruto gasped, but Sakura scowled.

"So its true." Naruto said to himself. "Iruka-sensei never ever believed in me. He thinks I'm some beast. Some kind of…freak!"

"I knew not to trust Mizuki…but I though Iruka was different." Sakura hissed to herself angrily.

"That is how beasts and scornful children are." Iruka continued. Both of the hiding children's ears perked up. "But that's not who Naruto and Sakura are. They're nothing like that. Those two are each individuals and you'll never find any kids like them. They work hard, put their whole hearts into it. Even though Sakura doesn't show it, she cares for her friend –Hinata- and would risk her life to save her. Sure, Naruto messes up sometimes and everyone jumps on him. Sure, Sakura has the same amount of shown emotions as an ice cube and people fear her for that and her over whelming power. But their suffering only makes them each a lot stronger. That's what separates them from being a beast or a child utterly consumed by hate, so you're wrong. Naruto is nothing like the nine tailed fox and Sakura won't lash out and kill everyone she sees. Those two are Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura of the village hidden in the leaves!"

Naruto was crying by this point, as no one had ever said these things about him, while Sakura just grew angrier and angrier at all of the insults Mizuki was saying about Naruto. Not that she wasn't angry that he was insulting her too, but she care more when people insult or hurt someone who doesn't deserve to have that resentment thrust upon them. It wasn't as if she likes him -she did hate him, just like she hated almost everyone else- but Naruto wasn't the way Mizuki described him and Iruka was right about the blonde. Herself, she wasn't too sure about.

"Hm, you really believe that drivel? Iruka, I was gonna save you for later, but I changed my mind. YOU'RE FINISHED!" Mizuki yelled as he took his second fuma shuriken and spun it in his hand. He then ran at Iruka and prepared to strike.

'So this is it.' He thought to himself. However, before Mizuki got close enough to strike, Naruto ran in and kicked him in the jaw, throwing Mizuki back and causing him to release his shuriken. It spun off and cut branches on its way but disappeared. Sakura had to move into view to dodge one of them and she jumped up in the air, landing as she punched Mizuki in the stomach to make him stop moving and hit the ground. When he dropped, Sakura flipped back and landed on her feet next to Naruto, both protecting Iruka.

'Naruto! Sakura!' Iruka thought in surprise.

"Not bad…for a little punk like you, Naruto. However, I assumed that Sakura could have done much better." Mizuki sneered as he got up and wiped the blood from his mouth.

"If you ever lay a hand on my sensei," Naruto began. "I'll kill you!" He threatened. Sakura remained silent and contemplated all that she had heard this evening. Mizuki noticed this though her eyes and smirked.

"Such big words." He said to Naruto, still looking at the rose haired girl beside the blonde. "I can completely destroy you with a single move!"

"Take your best shot, fool." Naruto said, placing his hands in the sign for Kage Bunshin. "I'll give it back to you a thousand fold!" He promised dangerously. Sakura looked at him and narrowed her eyes in wonder.

"Lets see you try. Show me what you can do, nine tailed fox!" Mizuki dared with a mad look in his eyes.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto yelled. Iruka and Mizuki both widened their eyes in shock, but Sakura remained looking at the original in contemplation of his move. Hundreds of Naruto were now swarming the forest, surrounding Mizuki in a wide circle with no places to escape from, since they were also in the trees to stop him jumping away.

'Naruto…those aren't just illusions, those are solid clones!' Iruka thought in pride. 'He has mastered an extremely advanced jutsu.'

"What?" Mizuki gasped as he stumbled around in the centre of a large circle the clones had made around him. Of the clones were yelling things like 'over here' or 'come on' and various other challenges to the white-haired, evil boaster. Mizuki fell to the ground.

"If you're not coming after us…" One of the clones started.

"…Then we're gonna come after you." Another finished. Mizuki almost lost control, but then he noticed that Sakura hadn't made a move to help either him or Naruto and Iruka.

"Sakura!" He called. It got her attention and she looked to him. Iruka, once proud and confident, was once again worried. If Mizuki could sway her, no number of Naruto clones could stop them since Sakura had mastered the same jutsu to a much higher level than him and her normal power greatly outweighs the power of both him and Naruto together.

"What?" She asked back coldly.

"How about that scroll? Remember, I can help you fulfil your dream. Your life's ambition." He said convincingly. Sakura looked at him and pushed Naruto's clones out of her way until she was next to Mizuki. She smirked at Naruto and he and Iruka both gasped.

"Mizuki-san?" She called.

"Hm?" He questioned, confident in the control he had over the powerful kunoichi.

"You don't even know what my ambition is!" She yelled as she also preformed Kage Bunshin, not to the level Naruto had –or to her fullest- but still giving her thirty or so clones, and turned against the white-haired traitor with a hateful gleam in her eye. Who needs a demon when you look scary without?

Mizuki gasped as all of the Naruto clones and the original grinned and laughed while Sakura and her clones glared and smirked slightly. The white haired man, knowing he was beat, let out a frustrated and slightly fearful yell of defeat as both Sakura and Naruto unleashed their clones on him. Iruka smiled at their teamwork as one of Sakura's clones jumped onto one of Naruto's clones' hands and he flipped her back to kick Mizuki in the chest.

[--

When the beating was done, Mizuki lay on the ground with blood pooling from his mouth and nose. He groaned in pain but also relief that the clones had stopped hurting him. Sakura and Naruto both stood over his motionless, but living, body and the blonde grinned while the pinkette glared at their old, traitorous –and also now half dead- sensei.

"Sorry, I kinda got carried away." Naruto admitted. Sakura scoffed at the 'kinda' part and returned to her glaring. "You okay, Iruka-sensei?" He asked in concern. Sakura, stopping the glaring, also looked at the older man, although no emotions were present on her face. He looked at them both, standing side-by-side over their enemy like the perfect team with the wind blowing their clothes and hair forwards.

"Um…yeah." He told them in awe. 'They are amazing. Naruto wants to surpass all the Hokage and I'm starting to believe that he might just do it too. Then there is Sakura, she's just incredible. That deceit, even with her emotionless façade. No one has ever been able to trick Mizuki before she came along.'

"You were so cool Sakura-chan! I mean, you were all like 'haha! I'm betraying you Naruto and Iruka', and then you were all 'Mizuki, you do not know my goal', and then he was all 'No! Luke, I am your father!' and then…no wait, wrong movie. But you were still so cool back there!" Naruto complimented his fighting partner, who seemed to ignore him. "Hey, Sakura-chan! What's the matter, huh?" Naruto asked her.

"Uzumaki Naruto." She said seriously. Naruto looked at the girl and waited for her to continue. "You are annoying, stupid, ruthless and don't even think about your actions before you do something!" She scolded. Naruto looked as if he was about to cry and Iruka wondered why, after what just happened, she was saying that.

"Sakura-chan-?"

"But! For whatever reason, I have temporarily gone insane. That's the only thing I can think of as an excuse to why I found some respect for you at all." She finished. Naruto grinned widely.

"You mean…we're friends now?" Naruto asked happily. Iruka smiled as he watched Sakura scoff and shake her head, even though it was obvious Naruto had grown on her.

"Don't go too far. I said you have a small fraction of my respect. That's no where near friendship. You have a long way to go." She told him. Naruto groaned at that, but was internally happy for the small bit of respect he had earned from her. Iruka thought of something he could do to thank Naruto, but wasn't sure about Sakura.

"Naruto, come here a moment. I've got something I want to give you." He called. Naruto nodded.

"I'll be right back, Sakura-chan." Naruto said before dashing over to the wounded Jounin.

[--

"You're telling me no one can find Naruto?" A Jounin questioned another.

"Not a clue."

"This is bad news. We've got to smoke him out, or something."

"There is no longer any need to worry." The Hokage claimed as he approached the gossiping Jounin.

"Lord Hokage!" A few of the gasped as they turned to face him out of respect.

"The scroll's safe. Naruto will be back soon, along with Iruka and possibly that girl from his class, Haruno Sakura." He said with a warm smile on his senile face.

[--

"Sensei, how much longer?" Naruto asked as he kept his eyes closed, just as Iruka had requested him to do.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now." Iruka told him. Naruto did so and the first thing he saw was Iruka holding his goggles without the Hatei-ate around his forehead.

"Nice one, Uzumaki." Sakura said with a smirk and her arms crossed.

"Congratulations, you graduate." Iruka said to him happily. Naruto just looked at the older man in shock. "And to celebrate, I have another surprise for you. We're all going out for ramen tonight. Sakura, you can come too if you want, as a thank you for helping me and Naruto."

"No need to thank me. I am -according to Mizuki- a scornful child who will lash out at any given moment, after all." She spat angrily.

"Sakura, he was wrong." Iruka told her sternly. He saw, however, that she believed Mizuki over him.

"No, you're wrong. I know I'm full of hate." She sighed. "Sorry, but I can't come for ramen tonight. I got…things to do." The girl said mysteriously with a blank face. Naruto's lip began to quiver and Iruka looked at him in worry.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled as he tackled the man to the ground in a crushing hug.

"Ouch, that hurt." Iruka said, referring to his earlier injuries. They both laughed together and Sakura smiled –a genuine smile-, showing the first emotion she had in years. Her smile was little, but it soon faded as she set down the scroll for Iruka to take and jumped into the trees, leaving the two with a father/son bond alone. Unfortunately for Naruto and Iruka, the one who had been waiting to see her show emotion since he met her, they missed it.

'Naruto, this is only the beginning. Now that you're a ninja, the road will only get tougher. But I suppose if I told you that, I guess it would ruin the moment. So I'll tell you later…over ramen of course.'