Yo!!

Here it is! The first installment of my new fanfic, which a revisal of my original fanfic for Naruto which was originally called Naru HIME.

As you can see I have changed very little of the original content, except of course it is from a male point of view, and a few changes to make it more realistic, namely Tessai Naru Chan's 'Kage' level family servant/ANBU. A little bit over the top don't you think.

I am also changing the Ninja partners from oufans to a Guardian partner. Kind of lame I know but it allows me to bring in all kinds of cool creatures from different animes and games, daemon anyone? Or maybe a fiend? Oh well it sounds much cooler than oufan

So read and enjoy. And please review!! I don't give a damn if all you have to say is "#$ you!! Go away loser!!!" (Flamer!!) or "This is good! Keep going!" I need all the help I can get, more ideas don't hurt either!

So read and enjoy!!

"Naruto speaking"

"Naruto thinking"

"Kyubi speaking"

"Kyubi thinking"

Jutsu's being shouted"

Fear, anger, confusion, helplessness and panic. This was all the young blond haired hanyou with fox ears could feel as he ran from a danger he could not yet see, but could hear, while running with his tail waving wildly behind him. This unknown danger he could instinctively feel pursuing and gaining on him through the forests of Konoha, hungering for his blood. He just kept running, not daring to look back. His vision shifts and the young hanyou is now stumbling and tripping down the side of Death Gorge.

Death Gorge is the location where the great Kyubi had been defeated and the body left behind afterwards had exploded in a great explosion, powerful enough to leave an enormous crater nearly four kilometers wide and a kilometer deep and the body had completely vanished without so much as a hair left behind. A forest had grown there in the past few years, making it almost seem like an enclosed forest, uncut off from the rest of the world, as a seemly untouched paradise. The villagers had made a memorial on the lip of the crater in honor of the Yondaime who had defeated the great beast. But nobody goes there to pay their respects, as the villagers unfortunately believe it to a cursed place.

There is said to be a tall spire in the middle of the crater, how it had survived the explosion nobody could scarcely imagine how. The young hanyou was still running from the danger that was closing in, forcing him to run in the only direction he could. Towards the spire.

His vision suddenly shifted again and he was now leaning, panting against the base of the spire in front of what seemed to be a strange draconic seal. It had a strange sword embedded in it. There were also what seemed to be eyes on the seal, six of them.

This strange seal had mysteriously appeared 12 years ago barely a day after the Kyubi had apparently died. Many had come to take a look at the strange site, at least those who could and dared to go down. Some even tried to pull the blade out to see what would happen but no one could even budge the archaic blade a millimeter.

The young hanyou felt his gaze inexorably drawn to the seal despite the danger approaching him and when he laid eyes on the seal, he was drawn into a deep trance, ignoring all else but the seal. He could feel a great power behind the seal, and at the same time, he could feel a just as great but more wonderful feeling of power, welling up inside him, it burned like a great fire but warmed and flooded his soul with light. He could hear a great heart beat pounding in his ears, he could feel his own heart, pounding in rhythmic harmony with the bigger one. The visage of a great white fiery dragon suddenly appeared before his eyes and bowed before him, crooning in a comforting tone (It sounded like whale song), as if promising it would forever serve and protect him. The young man reached out to touch the great head. When suddenly the unknown danger drew in close, reared its head and lunged towards him, claws slashing, and jaws snapping. The young man screamed.

"AAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!!"

Naruto shot up from his bed, gasping for air. Naruto's sweat soaked muscular body trembled in agitation from the strange dream, his fox tail was subconsciously wrapped around his waist and was all messy and matted. Naruto fell back onto his bed panting as if he had run to Suna and back nonstop. Naruto willed his body to calm down, and slowly but surely, his body eventually stopped trembling and his panting slowed down.

Naruto brought his arm up to cover his eyes before quietly muttering "That bloody dream again, I've been having it every night for the past week, the stress must be getting to me, it is the finals tomorrow……… hey Kyu Chan… do you know what going on?" Naruto asked his resident vixen mother/sister figure in his head, looking at his stomach at where the seal would be.

In the seal, Kyu, otherwise known as the Kyubi no Kitsune looked up sleepily from her conjured up bed in Naruto's mindscape and sleepily replied "I don't know Kit, but it isn't an ordinary dream, it is just too realistic to be otherwise, and that feeling of power you told me about, a hidden part of your soul is responding to the dream so it might all be connected"

Naruto just sighed in aggravation "Yeah well, what ever it is, this dream is driving me crazy" Naruto's eyes suddenly became a myriad of emotion and he held his hands to his chest as if to retain a feeling "Though I must admit, this power that I felt rising up in my chest, it feels… amazing; comforting but also very familiar, and it also feels powerful"

Kyubi smiled softly to herself "Whatever you say Kit, now I believe that you have somewhere to be right now? It is getting late"

Naruto looked confused for a few seconds before looking over at the old clock on his bedside table and had to stifle a panicked shout "Oh crap! I have to get to the academy!"

The young hanyou leaped out of bed in a frenzy to get ready and all Kyu could do was laugh at the young man as he worked himself into a higher state pf panic, quickly taking a shower in his dingy bathroom, rushing to get dressed while at the same time trying to eat a bowl of Ramen.

When Naruto started rushing out the door Kyu couldn't help commenting "Remember to groom your tail!" causing Naruto to yelp "Hai!" before grabbing a brush for his tail from his dressing table. It took him a few minutes but he was finally ready and was about to leave and lock up to the Ninja Academy when he suddenly spied herself in his old full length mirror and couldn't help pausing to have a look at himself.

A black vest with orange zipper and trimmings adorned his torso, along with a pair of black cargo pants which had a plethora of pockets strewn about, useful for a Shinobi. There were also black bandages tied around his ankles

He wore a pair of black elbow length, fingerless gloves on his hands coupled with a pair of metal wrist guards for more protection and on his feet he was wearing not the standard ninja sandals but a pair of black combat boots.

Naruto's eye glimmered with satisfaction; these clothes had been a gift from Kyubi to celebrate his entering the Ninja academy. Kyubi said that it would be able to protect his body better than any other armor there was, apparently the entire outfit was made of a special breed of Fire Rat fur that felt and breathed like silk, but was twice as strong as the original breed of fire rat and the boots were made of a special type of metal with a name he couldn't pronounce. It actually quite comfortable and it was never to warm or cold during any season of the year. They were charmed to grow or shrink to match the size of the owner; which was just as well as he had had this outfit since he was seven, the outfit allowed his body to move freely allowing him concentrate in a battle

Naruto was actually quite well off for a twelve year old. A 150 centimeters tall, a highly developed muscular structure, highly toned and very strong without being all that bulky and his body was also very flexible. So much so that the only ones who could match him were the upper level Kunoichi's as it was well known that females are more flexible than most men. Fox like crystal blue eyes gazed out kindly and confidently from his face which was a rather boyish but defined and strong face but lacking the usual baby fat and then bright blond hair adorned his head which was seemingly untamable adding to his boyish features.

"The perks of being a Jinchuriki I guess" Naruto said with a shrug, before turning to the door and walking over, when he suddenly remembering another, very important thing he had to do before leaving. Naruto sighed regretfully but did a series of hand seals and dully intoned "Kitsune Henge No Jutsu" causing a cloud of smoke to pop around him which slowly dispersed revealing that his tail and ears had disappeared and canine like teeth shortened leaving his looking like an ordinary human.

Naruto sighed regretfully before complaining "I hate it how I have to hide myself from the villagers like this, even if it is for both our sakes, it feels like I'm missing a big part of myself when I don't have my tail or ears, not to mention that my abilities are severely limited to that of a normal human!"

"I know Kit, but until that day comes, where you don't have to hide them, it is for your and their own protection, now let's get going, you're late enough as it is"

"Hai" Naruto sung before leaping off to the Academy, making sure stop long enough to lock his door securely.

The next day Naruto could be seen running through the village on the way to the Academy for the finals. This would have looked like quite a peaceful scene, a child running through town on his way to school, if it wasn't for all the stares that were directed at him. Over the years Naruto has learnt the subtle science of looks. There were the brief subtle looks of villagers who watched him with closely guarded amusement and small friendly smiles on their faces but there were also small signs of sadness and regret. These people were the ones who were able to see beyond the Kyubi to the lonely child underneath that was suffering but, unable to speak out to defend him or make friends with him because of the other villagers, at least a third of the village was like this. Then there were the villagers that stared at him coldly but without anger or hatred these were the villagers that didn't hate the container itself, but were unable to get over the fact that the Kyubi was in him and were probably barely restraining themselves from wishing harm on the container, this made up another third of the village and then there were the villagers that just stared at him with barely concealed hatred , these were the villagers who thought that he was the Kyubi itself and wished him harm. This accounted for the rest of the villagers.

Naruto had been receiving these stares for his entire life, so he just ignored it and bore it determinately, knowing that someday, his patience and hard work would pay off and he would finally be able to achieve his dream of becoming the Hokage and their friend and of being accepted into the village not as the village pariah but as an equal, as a Ninja of Konoha.

Naruto finally arrived at his usual classroom and took a quick look around and saw that like usual he was one of the last too show up, but like most days he had shown up on time. He could see all his friends spread out through the class room doing what it was they usually did. He could see Sasuke who like usual was sitting in his usual window seat doing the whole 'I am a bastard' Gendo Ikari pose with his hands in front of his face.

Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi were sitting together doing what they usually did. Shikamaru was dozing on his desk and Chouji was eating a very large bag of chips patiently waiting for class. Naruto's best friend and unofficial adopted sister Hinata Hyuga was sitting at a desk shyly looking fairly lonely but to shy and unsure to do anything, Naruto sighed and made a mental note too cheer her up later. His somewhat friend Kiba Inuzuka and his friend Akamaru the Nin-dog were sitting and playing quietly together. Due to the fact that he was a Kitsune hanyou, he was able to understand other animals quite easily so he got on very well with Akamaru who was quite happy to make friends with the strange smelling boy who like his owner was able to understand him when he barked.

Shino Aburame was sitting impassively like he usually did and barely spoke. Naruto was one of the few with whom he spoke with at least semi regularly so when Shino saw Naruto come in he took the time to slowly nod at him in acknowledgement to which Naruto replied with a lazy salute. Naruto was also one of the few, that due to his enhanced vision was able to determine different emotions and expressions from the seemingly emotionless boy. The fact that he was literally a walking hive of insects didn't bother him in the least so he was one of the few to be able to call himself one of Shino's friends.

He then saw Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka who like usual were arguing over who was going sit next to Sasuke who was just ignoring them like he usually did. Naruto just sighed aggravatingly but amused.

Kyubi spoke up "They'll get it eventually Naruto, they have great potential, especially Sakura, I have never seen such a natural at Chakra control and she is very brainy quite well suited for med-nin don't you think, I'm not so worried for Ino as she has always struck me as much stronger and less fangirlish than the others and not to mention more independent, I personally think she would do very well in torture and interrogation"

Naruto had to grin at that, he could quite easily picture Ino in a room full of painful looking tools and a sadistic grin, but he frowned at Sakura again.

"I only hope that it happens before they get hurt, there's something about Sasuke has always made me on edge, its faint but ever since that fateful night when his clan was slaughtered…I don't know, I hope those two wise up soon or something will happen that will scar them for life"

Kyubi shook her head "Oh don't be so melodramatic Naruto now lets leave this dark conversation and go say hi to Hinata-Chan" before dropping off into a short nap.

Naruto cast one last worried and disappointed glance at Sakura but agreed and walked over to sit next to Hinata while saying hello to other ninja hopefuls that had managed to make it to the end of the year.

Unbeknownst to Naruto, Sakura had seen Naruto's worried glance and it startled her a little allowing Ino to snatch the seat from her nose promoting a dismayed yell from Sakura who unwillingly went to find another seat as close to Sasuke as possible, but that worried and disappointed glance from Naruto seemed to linger unwilling to fade. She was only trying to get Sasuke-Kun's attention right, so why did she feel so upset and down from that glance, why did she suddenly desire to see approval in his eyes. That pair pf strong, confident, kind, gentle eyes. Sakura shook her head and willed herself to think about Sasuke-Kun, that her goal! So while Sakura continued on with her life, unbeknownst to her, a seed had wormed down deep inside her heart, never to be lost

Naruto sat down and Hinata notably perked up noticeably when he sat down and said "Good morning Naruto-Kun" Naruto just grinned.

Naruto suddenly heard talking from outside and looked up just in time to see Iruka-sensei and Mizuki enter through the door. Naruto gave Iruka a wave and a grin, who looked up to Naruto waving and gave a small wave back before shouting at the class to sit down and starting the role call. Naruto and Iruka got on quite well, almost like a brotherly relationship; Iruka had in fact just treated Naruto to Ramen last night. When he was younger Naruto had idolized the young man, something that he never did. Because unlike most of the other teachers in the academy he had been so kind to him and helped him to catch up in his studies from years of being held back by other teachers. He eventually became very good friends with Iruka which of course later down the line, became more of a protective older brother, younger brother relationship, which Naruto was quite happy to keep that way. It was one of his few bonds that bound him to his precious people. Of course while in public he called him Iruka-sensei but in private he called him Iruka-niisan

Iruka finally stopped taking the roll call and began speaking "Ok class, it is time for the graduation exams, myself and Mizuki-sensei will be waiting through that door to grade your performance, and the jutsu we will be examining is…" Iruka took a look at the file and couldn't help but wince and take a furtive look at Naruto who was eagerly sitting forward on his seat nearly falling off, waiting to hear their topic.

"Clone No Jutsu!"

Naruto's face twisted in shock and horror and he was mentally screaming in his head "What!!! Clone No Jutsu!! That's my worst skill!" Causing Kyubi to wake up from her little fox nap and speak out incoherently "Huh… What? What's going on?"

Iruka and Mizuki turned to go to the next classroom but Iruka couldn't help but turn back to look at Naruto who at the moment was banging his head on the desk hard enough to knock an ordinary person out for a couple hours, He could see Hinata trying to stop him to no avail. Iruka just sighed and entered the classroom for the exam, he had a bad feeling about this.

At the same time Kyubi was waking up enough to finally notice what Naruto was doing and barked out sharply "Naruto Kazama stop that at once before you hurt yourself!"

Which made Naruto jerk up and sit still and Hinata to also jerk in surprise, and if his tail had been exposed all the fur would have standing up straight.

Kyubi nodded once and spoke again "Now tell me, just what happened?"

Naruto began to slowly tell Kyubi what had happened, the talking was almost therapeutic and Naruto was able to calm down enough so that Kyubi was able to get the gist of it.

"The word crap sums this up nicely" Kyubi drawled sarcastically and Naruto was barely able to stifle a chuckle.

"Well this is just about what I expected to happen" and all Naruto could do was nod his head in agreement.

"This is the third year in a row that this has happened, I mean, it is well known that Clone No Jutsu is my worst skill, so what better way to prevent me graduating and becoming more powerful? Make the Clone No Jutsu the test"

Kyubi nodded "Indeed, I can smell the council all over this, especially Danzo"

Naruto just sighed "What are we going to do Kyu-chan, this is my last chance to graduate, one more fail and I'm booted out of the program"

Kyubi could only sigh "I don't know Kit, but all we can do at the moment is to just try our best, you never know we might get lucky this time, if not, well...we will just have to work something out, but don't worry, if it doesn't, you will always have me"

Naruto just sagged in his seat and simply nodded, not willing to talk at the moment and Kyubi, detecting his present mood sank back into the depths of his mind to wait for Naruto to be called. Hinata, seeing that Naruto had somewhat calmed down, tentatively reach out to touch his shoulder as if to say are you alright and Naruto looked up with a smile and simply said "Thank you Hinata-Chan, I'll be alright" and looked back down. Hinata, sensing that he didn't want to talk, lowered her hands and put them in her lap with a worried sigh.

Naruto was sitting quietly when he suddenly heard his name called from the other classroom and he took a deep breath to calm himself down, stood up straight, head held up proudly and walked through the doorway.

When he entered he saw that Iruka and Mizuki were sitting behind a desk on which the coveted Konoha head bands were proudly gleaming. Naruto swallowed nervously but proceeded to walk over and stand in front of the two examiners.

Iruka looked up from his writing pad and slowly looked Naruto over, looking for signs of nervousness, which if he had any it was well hidden. Iruka gave a small smile hoping to bolster Naruto's confidence, but all he got was a weak grin in response causing Iruka to silently sigh before assuming a more professional stance.

"Naruto Uzumaki, show me the Clone No Jutsu" he commanded, before mouthing 'good luck' knowing that Naruto would see it.

Naruto just nodded before assuming a stance designed to help focus chakra with his hands in the rat seal. Chakra began welling up in his body, flooding his body with untamed and barely controllable power, Naruto's expression became more intense as he tried to control the flood of chakra, enough to do the jutsu with out blowing it. Kyubi was also monitering carefully, and periodically telling Naruto to lessen his chakra.

"Less chakra Kit….. a little bit less chakra…. Focus!" Kyubi intoned while also trying to suppress her own chakra from interfering.

Naruto continued concentrating to where he felt it would work and with a silent prayer in his heart intoned "Clone No Jutsu!" while doing the appropriate seals causing a puff of smoke to appear with a pop.

Naruto hesitantly looked over to see what happened with an abated breath and Kyubi was also holding his breath in anticipation, but when they saw the result they both released it with a breath of disappointment.

He had managed to create three bunshin but they look absolutely terrible and useless. Two were mangled looking corpses, and one was a violent shade of green and it frantically ran to the toilet that was just outside where a horrible sounding retching could soon be heard. Three pops were soon heard when the technique finally dispelled.

Naruto looked up to see Iruka's reaction and it didn't look good. Iruka had an unhappy looking expression with a twitch of irritation above his eye and Mizuki was looking very amused at Naruto in a not so pleasant way.

"You Fail" Iruka dully intoned, hurt and sadness apparent in his voice and Naruto couldn't help but wince and held back some tears that threatened to fall.

Mizuki suddenly looked up "Well, he is a highly gifted athlete and his taijutsu is very good and he did technically do the Bunshin No Jutsu so maybe we could let his pass? He did try so hard you know?"

Both Naruto and Kyubi had to narrow their eyes at that, what was he up too? Mizuki had never shown any inclination of helping him before so why now? Not to mention that both Naruto and Kyubi didn't think that Mizuki had that type of personality. Though Naruto secretly allowed himself to feel some hope

Iruka sadly shook his head in a negative "I wish I could but those bunshin were useless and so I can't let him pass"

Naruto just couldn't help himself, tears appeared in his eyes and he turned and fled out the open window into the yard ignoring both Iruka's and Kyubi's cries and in another place altogether, an old man who had been watching through a certain crystal ball sighed in regret and softly murmured "Naruto"

Had any of them been paying attention they would have noticed that Mizuki's expression changed from one of amusement, to one of cruel and malicious satisfaction.

Later Naruto could be seen slowly swinging on a tree swing that he used often, whenever he was feeling especially depressed. He was watching all the other kids be with their parents who had come to congratulate them on graduating, he watched them be all happy and gleefully accept praise from their proud parents, he watched as a couple of the villagers looked at him and whispered to themselves unknowing that he could hear them perfectly.

"Hey! That kid…" one woman spoke.

"Yeah… He's 'that' kid… I heard that he was the only one to not graduate" another spoke

"Well that's fine… we can't have him becoming a shinobi, because he's the…" the other spoke

"Oi! We can't speak of that!" the other interrupted.

Naruto sagged a little bit more, feeling his loneliness all the more acutely, when he saw Hinata slowly walking over, twiddling with her fingers shyly as she did when she was nervous "Ano… Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto looked up at Hinata "Hey Hinata-Chan" he said in a weak attempt of cheerfulness. Kyubi sighed anxiously and just watched quietly hoping that Hinata could break Naruto out of his slump, she had a habit of doing that.

Hinata stopped a few feet away and looked down before asking "Naruto… Ano… are you okay?"

Naruto took on a pensive expression and leaned forward "Am I ok? I'm not sure Hinata"

Naruto's answer caused Hinata to start becoming upset which Naruto noticed and quickly began trying cheer her up all the while waving his hands wildly "It doesn't mean that I not going to be okay, I'll be fine, I wont give up right!, you remember don't you? I never give up! So cheer up Hinata, I'll be fine!"

Naruto's antics caused Hinata to start giggling shyly and Naruto stopped waving and spoke more calmly "Don't worry Hinata, I'll be alright, I'll think of something, I always do"

Hinata nodded but perked up when she heard her father calling and turned to Naruto and clasped Naruto's hand in both hands "Promise me Naruto? Ok, That you will be okay?" Naruto nodded an affirmative with a thumb's up in the 'good guy pose' causing Hinata to giggle again before running to her father with a wave of goodbye and Naruto waved back.

Naruto continued waving until Hinata turned around the corner before stopping and looked down at the hand Hinata had clasped. Naruto stayed like that for almost a minute before his demeanor started changing. Naruto's expression firmed up in determination, and he clenched his hand into a fist, reaffirming his promise to never give up, and he murmured to herself "Thank you…. Hinata-chan"

Kyubi sighed in relief and also murmured to herself "Good girl Hinata"

Naruto was suddenly startled when he heard a thump beside him and he turned to see who it was only to see the last person he wanted to. Mizuki, Naruto looked in askance at the other ninja who correctly interpreted his question and said "Hey Naruto, can I talk with you a little bit?"

Naruto silently asked why on the inside but on the outside he just nodded and got up to follow the ninja to someplace quiet.

Kyubi watched silently, trusting Naruto to make the right choices but she continued observing Mizuki trying to find a reason for what he was doing when she heard Naruto speaking to her.

"Hey Kyu-chan?" Naruto spoke and Kyubi turned her attention to her somewhat son.

"Yes Kit?" Kyubi replied.

Naruto frowned while watching Mizuki's back "What do you think is going on?"

Kyubi frowned "I don't know Kit, go along with it for now, but be careful, and be ready to run away if necessary, you can't take him on"

"I can if I really needed to, if I release the henge..." Naruto shot back.

Kyubi growled "That is last option only Kit and you know that, so just be careful okay?"

Naruto just nodded knowing that Kyubi would understand and continued following Mizuki.

They finally stopped at a balcony where Mizuki motioned to sit down and Naruto complied. Mizuki looked pensive for a moment before speaking.

"He wasn't picking on you, you know" he began and Naruto just nodded not trusting himself to speak.

"I think he just wants you to be genuinely strong, Naruto-Kun" Mizuki spoke before being interrupted by Naruto.

"NARUTO! Just Naruto please Mizuki-sensei" Naruto bit out and Mizuki just shrugged.

Mizuki continued speaking "I know that you wanted to graduate but Iruka was just doing his job as a responsible teacher, not to mention he was always looking out for you"

"Yeah I know, but I couldn't help it, I really wanted to graduate and it had to be that bloody Clone technique!" Mizuki chuckled and the two sat there in a tense silence.

Mizuki suddenly sighed catching Naruto's attention "I guess I have no choice then but to let you in on an little secret"

Naruto narrowed his eyes 'Secret?' and Kyubi also murmured "Secret?"

Naruto could later be seen watching Mizuki jumping off after having escorted him home.

Naruto was also about to jump off when he felt a familiar presence appear in the alley behind him causing him to smile, Naruto leant against the wall casually and muttered "Haven't seen you round recently, eh, Tessai?"

In the alley a man appeared in the corner of his eye. He was quite plain looking actually, long brown hair tied off in a ponytail, wearing featureless clothes that didn't make him stand out, wearing plain wire rimed glasses, he looked just like everybody else and everybody ignored him. Everybody, completely and totally, you could almost assume it was a genjutsu, a very subtle genjutsu. Tessai didn't look like much but underneath was a different story altogether. Tessai had in fact been the Yondaime's personal Anbu, used from deep cover spying to a bodyguard. Tessai was a man who could find anything, anywhere, with none the wiser, and he was on par with the top jounins in one on one battle.

Of course one else knew of this, except for Naruto, Kyubi and the Sandaime that was. He said that he had once served his father and his family, and that now he was serving him. Naruto didn't completely understand why such a man would serve him, when he asked once Tessai had only replied that he was repaying a debt that could never be repaid and seeing as his father the Yondaime was dead, Tessai served his son instead. Tessai always said he had never once regretted his choice to loyally serve the Kazama family as he quite enjoyed doing it.

Back in the alley Tessai smiled and replied "Indeed, Naruto-sama" Naruto grimaced but ignored it knowing that he could never get him to stop calling him Naruto-sama.

Tessai just smiled knowing all too well how much he hated it.

Naruto leaned his head back against the cool wall "I presume you heard everything?" and Tessai frowned but replied "I did"

"Is it true?" Naruto just had to ask.

"No it isn't, there is no such test" Tessai replied turning into a professional attitude.

Naruto frowned "What do you think?"

Tessai didn't bother mincing words "I think he is trying to steal the Scroll of Seals for himself and frame you for stealing it, and if possible, to kill you and be proclaimed a hero"

Naruto just smirked "Well that's nothing unusual, what do you know about Mizuki?"

Tessai frowned unhappily "Not much I'm afraid, I found the usual folders you would find with any ninja and he is nothing special at all, except for a high degree of skill in taijutsu, but that's a given, knowing that he is the upper level taijutsu instructor in the academy. But I did find a report stating that he is under suspicion for murder, though now that I think of it, there was a report last night stating that a imprisoned rouge Guardian went missing, I think that Mizuki might have taken it"

Naruto frowned "Mmmm, maybe, and the Scroll of Seals?"

"It is a scroll of forbidden jutsu that the Shodaime wrote and sealed himself saying that they are too dangerous for ordinary ninja" Tessai replied and Naruto frowned.

"A scroll of forbidden jutsu that the Shodaime wrote, I can see why Mizuki would want it" Naruto pondered quietly, any techniques that the Shodaime deemed too dangerous must be powerful indeed.

Naruto thought for a little bit but frowned and motioned to Tessai who came closer to hear better.

"Come with me, I need to speak to Kyubi, so I need you to keep watch okay?" Tessai nodded and followed Naruto into his house who then lay on his bed before closing his eyes.

When next he opened them he was welcomed with the sight of a comfortable looking lounge room and he saw Kyubi in human form lying in a comfortable looking lounge staring pensively at the fire in the fireplace. Kyubi's human form was actually very beautiful. She was about 5 feet 9 tall with a body that looked like a movie star's, silky skin, a scandalously sexy and very feminine body, and luxuriously long, healthy fire red hair.She was dressed in a Japanese style kimono that was red with various flowers on it and bound with a sky blue obi which only served to accent her sex appeal and natural beauty. She, like Naruto had fox ears, elongated canine teeth and nine red fox tails that flowed and lay around her. Kyubi's eyes were also elongated and they were a very attractive ruby red.

Kyubi turned to up look at Naruto with warm welcoming eyes and gave a warm smile to which Naruto couldn't help smiling back. Kyubi beckoned him over, which Naruto accepted with a grin and didn't resist when Kyubi wrapped him up in a motherly hug and placed him in her lap. If it had been anybody else, he would probably be so embarrassed he would have never consented to sitting together like this, but Kyubi was practically his mother in all but blood, though even that was a close thing due to having been changed into a Kitsune hanyou by her chakra and blood essence

They sat together for a few minutes savoring the peace and quiet they hadn't been able to get all day but eventually Naruto decided to bring up why he had come.

"I'm just so confused, what should I do? Mizuki wants the Shodaime's for himself, and probably get me killed as well, If I was some naïve, ignorant baka I might have gone for it in hopes that he was right and that I might graduate, but I am not some ignorant baka thanks to you teaching me so I just don't know what to do" Naruto spoke with a dejected voice and Kyubi frowned.

"Now don't give me that Naruto, weren't you saying that you were not going to give up no matter what only an hour or so ago?" Kyubi spoke in a pleasant voice that Naruto liked to think that his real mother had possessed.

"Yeah I guess" Naruto agreed in a growing voice of confidence.

Kyubi just smiled "Well whatever you decide you know that I will follow you where ever you go, okay" and Naruto smiled brightly.

Naruto thought about the situation a little to himself before looking up at Kyubi with resolution in his face and Kyubi grinned "Well? Are we going Kit?"

Naruto nodded "I thought about it and it came down to just two things, 'What I could do' and 'What I should do' I may not be ninja by name, but at heart I am a ninja of Konoha, and it is my duty to stop Mizuki's treasonous actions and… and…I cant let him get away with the Shodaime's scroll!"

Kyubi nodded before asking "What about the missing Guardian?" and Naruto hesitated before grinning mischievously.

"Well then we will just have to read the Shodaime's scroll to see if there is anything useful" Naruto said with a wide grin and Kyubi just shook her head.

"Honestly I would mistake you for a Kitsune if it weren't for the fact I know you are only a half Kitsune" she said wryly and Naruto chuckled before closing his eyes once more.

Once again he found himself on his bed feeling quite refreshed, a peculiar side affect of seeing Kyubi in person.

"It must just be my irresistible charisma and boundless energy that does that" Kyubi joked and Naruto chuckled slightly before turning and seeing that Tessai was sitting at his table eating a bowl of ramen.

Naruto looked at the clock and noted that it was about five in the evening, he had been 'sleeping' for about two hours. Naruto felt something and looked downwards and noted that he was under his bed covers, his shoes had been taken off, as well as the jacket and his gloves and wrist guards.

Tessai heard motion behind him and turned around to see Naruto looking at his current state of dress. Tessai quickly scarfed down the rest of his ramen and stood up and bowed and Naruto looked at him in askance to which Tessai replied "Naruto-sama I apologize for any inconvenience but you didn't look too comfortable so I took the liberty of 'putting you to bed' so to speak" and bowed lower saying "I apologize"

Naruto looked at him a little reproachfully before sighing and saying "Thank you Tessai, I should have done it in the first place so please stop bowing to me, okay"

Tessai stood up and bowed his head "Thank you Naruto-sama" and Naruto waved him away saying "Yeah yeah, whatever, just stop calling me Naruto-sama!"

Tessai bowed and said "Hai, Naruto-sama" and Naruto just slapped his head in exasperation.

Tessai suddenly turned serious "I presume you talked to Kyubi-sama, so what have you decided to do" he asked ready to aid his in whichever way he could.

Naruto's expression turned into one of determination "I'm going to stop Mizuki, I can't let him continue these treasonous acts or let him even touch the Shodaime's scroll" Naruto's face suddenly turned grim "however, the only way to get Mizuki to reveal himself and get evidence of his betrayal is to spring the trap"

Tessai balked and spoke "But it is dangerous and there is that Guardian to consider"

Naruto nodded "Yes it is dangerous but I have to do this, if I am to ever grow in strength as a ninja" Naruto suddenly grinned "Besides Mizuki isn't expecting me to know about him, and there is also a scroll of techniques to consider, I might get so curious about what is in it, that I might open it and find a technique that could help, if he does have the missing oufan all I have to do is prevent him from releasing it from the crystal he is carrying it in"

Tessai thought about it, its certainly possible, whenever a ninja is taking his or his oufan partner on a mission, the oufans themselves are carried in a special accessory that maintains them in a deep sleep like state and ready for battle at anytime. Kind of like a poke-ball on that cartoon show Pokemon. So when ever they are needed to combat ninja or other Guardians which were quite common in a battle, they can just be brought out in a moments notice.

Naruto got redressed and got ready to set out. Kunai, shruiken, a few smoke bombs, flash grenades and exploding tags and he was ready.

Naruto turned to Tessai "I'm going to go see Old Man Hokage, if I am going to pull this off I will need his help, see if you can't keep Mizuki distracted while I'm meeting with him"

Tessai saluted and said "Hai, and good luck Naruto-Sama" before using a shunshin prompting another exasperated groan form Naruto.

Naruto looked around the large clearing in the forest that Mizuki had suggested, there was a small hut that looked like nobody had occupied in years and Naruto couldn't help whistling, this was a good location for a personal training area. Large clearing, small cottage where one could eat lunch, rest a little bit, or study technique scrolls. If he survived this Naruto didn't think that anybody would mind his using it to train in.

Naruto checked his chrono piece and saw he had time yet before Mizuki said he would show up, sitting down against the hut, Naruto opened the scroll and moaned at the title of the first technique.

"Ugh… Shadow Clone no jutsu… Why did it have to start with my worst skill?" Naruto groaned and was about to go to the next one when Kyubi suddenly stopped him.

"Hold on Kit, I know of this technique, I think that it would suit you perfectly, so please read some more" Kyubi said eagerly wanting to know more, and Naruto politely obliged read further into scroll about the technique and before long even Naruto's face was beaming.

"This really is perfect for me! It is much simpler for me to use and very much more effective and useful, not to mention that I will probably be the only one to use it to its full potential!" Naruto spoke excitedly.

Kyubi nodded in agreement "Right, and from what I understand of this technique, instead of having to supply an appropriate amount of chakra, which with you is very difficult, all you would be doing is splitting your chakra evenly among the clones which would be much easier than trying to use just enough chakra to do the Clone technique, this really is a perfect technique for you, most people under jounin would collapse just trying to make and maintain five kage bunshin, but I think you could literally make hundreds even without my power!"

Naruto couldn't help himself and nearly cheered out in excitement before managing to stop in favor of learning to do the Shadow Clone Technique.

Iruka lay on his bed contemplating his life, and about how similar Naruto's life was to his own, and about his current relationship with the young boy, he had just gotten back from a talk with the Sandaime, who had talked to him about how Naruto had grown up without his parents much like he had.

He, like everybody else had once been very resentful of the Kyubi container, and he had vowed to never forgive him, when he had gotten word that he was to be the containers teacher during his third round at the academy, he had promised himself that he would act like a professional and teach the bare minimum and not help him at all, this way he could keep his reputation as a fair teacher and not help the container grow strong.

His resolution to do that completely and utterly died when he first laid eyes on the nine year old Jinchuriki. He was quite the energetic little thing, but if looked closer, he looked pretty ragged and banged up, his clothes were dirty and old as if he was constantly running, his body was covered in old bruises and sores and he had no life in his eyes, and he looked pretty lonely and sad, as he sat quietly watching the other children play with each other. But what surprised him most was that he could not see any sign of the monster that the villagers had described, he was not feral looking and there was no hate or resentment in his eyes, just a look of deep desire and longing for companionship and comfort.

He had done some investigating and what he found horrified him, how could anyone do this to a child? Container regardless! Multiple cases of severe abuse, a police record that to him seemed to be impossible to associate with the young boy, there were even a few records indicating he had nearly been severely crippled but was narrowly saved by the ANBU, he was quite well behaved and didn't seem the type to steal, whatever the circumstances. His years in the academy had not been kind to him at all. He had started at least three years before his age group signifying that he had great potential with possibly an ulterior motive on the Sandaime's part. At first he seemed to be doing quite well, achieving a great deal in class, but then his grades started to slip and he became the dead last in the academy. He found that it was because the teachers were asking him to do things that they wouldn't ask of any other child, like asking him questions that chuunins would have difficulty answering thus a child his age couldn't possibly have answered them, ignoring him whenever he asked questions, forcing him outside during important lectures on pretence of misbehaving, giving him exams that were beyond his capabilities. The teachers did all this and thus he became known as dead last and his potential languished having been held back in first year. Naruto had also been subjected to heavy bullying, and being ignored by his fellow students except by a select few. Iruka noted that the teachers had done nothing to discourage such behavior.

Iruka had sworn then to help Naruto as much as possible. Over the next three years, he had started assisting him with his work and Naruto had eagerly accepted Iruka's instruction, and he had progressed tremendously in a very short period, showing that he had been anything but stupid or dead last, though strangely he never seemed to gain a step up in the ranking ladder so to speak. Now Naruto didn't know this, but he had been very aware of Naruto's idolism of him, and he had found it very endearing if not a little embarrassing, he had even indulged his idolism a couple times, taking him out to Ichiraku's to eat a bowl of ramen together which he could tell he had enjoyed a lot. He had been thankful really when he grew out of this phase and it had developed into their current relationship as brothers.

Iruka smiled, he had come long way from that shy young boy that he had once been.

Iruka was suddenly interrupted by a knock his door which he got up to answer and found Mizuki standing impatiently on his door step.

"What is it Mizuki?" Iruka said looking at Mizuki in concern.

"We've got trouble Iruka, we've been summoned by the hokage, Naruto has stolen the Scroll of Seals" Mizuki said quickly.

"What!!!" Iruka exclaimed looking dumbfounded at the other ninja.

"I don't know the details myself, all I know is that we have to report to the hokage and that it has something to do with Naruto and the Scroll of seals" Mizuki explained quickly.

Iruka was shocked. Naruto? Steal the Scroll of Seals? Why would he do that? Naruto isn't the type to do something so very foolish like this, something wasn't right! Iruka ran back inside and soon came back out in full ninja gear, he nodded at Mizuki and they jumped off towards the hokage tower, Iruka clenched his fist, "I'm coming Naruto! You aren't the type to do this! I know your not!"

Sarutobi the Sandaime Hokage was having quite an interesting night. He had been sitting in his office trying to shrink the pile of paperwork (Papers from the ninth level of hell) on his desk when Naruto had shown up. Sandaime had listened as Naruto had quickly explained the situation and what he and Kyubi planned to do. Sandaime had quickly examined Naruto's plan and had agreed that Naruto should proceed and he would take care of the rest. But when he had asked Naruto what he was going to do to avoid Mizuki's suspicion, Naruto had just grinned and to Sandaime's utmost surprise had formed a couple hand signs and murmured "Sexy no jutsu!" and he had puffed into smoke which slowly disappeared to reveal a beautiful and surreal vision of a scandalously beautiful and downright sexy twenty year blonde woman. The thing was she was wearing nothing but her birthday suit and with just enough smoke to conceal certain areas of her anatomy. It was just too much for the Sandaime to handle and his nose had exploded in a fountain of blood, resulting in him fainting from blood loss.

Sarutobi was still turning bright red from just memory of the jutsu and his nose threatened to explode again but he forced it down and kneaded his brow in embarrassment. "What a terrifying jutsu, it should be written down in the forbidden scroll as a kinjutsu, if only to prevent all the male ninja from keeling over dead from forced blood loss".

Sarutobi looked over the assembled ninja who had come in response to the summons and he nodded to himself "Good, it's all going according to plan" Sarutobi was yanked from his musings when one of his ninjas spoke up.

"Hokage-sama, that boy has gone to far this time! He can't get away with this!" One ninja yelled out.

"That Scroll is dangerous! And it was forbidden by the Shodaime! If it is taken out of the village…" Another spoke out.

"It cannot leave this village Sandaime-sama! We must find the boy as soon as possible!" said another ninja and Sarutobi nodded in agreement.

"Find Naruto as soon as possible, along with the scroll, and bring them to me, but do not harm him! Understood!" Sarutobi ordered "Now go!" he ordered again and the gathering of ninja all vanished in search of the wayward Jinchuriki.

Sarutobi turned back to his office to look at his crystal ball to watch Naruto, or at least keep an eye on him. Sarutobi watched Naruto train in the clearing while waiting for Mizuki and rose an eyebrow at what Naruto was training in but decided to trust in Naruto's and Kyubi's judgment.

"Okay Naruto, I've done my part, the rest is up to you, I pray you are up to it".

A few minutes later Naruto could be seen leaning on his knees panting slightly with the scroll on his back, totally exhausted, but extremely satisfied.

Naruto suddenly fell back onto his ass in a sitting position still panting heavily but with a big smile. "Well Kyu-chan I did it!" he said to Kyubi, who had been watching and quietly encouraging Naruto to keep going.

"Yes you did Kit. You mastered the Kage Bunshin, you're becoming stronger every day, it took you less time than I thought it would take for you to master it, I am very proud Naruto, very proud indeed" Naruto beamed and he could feel Kyubi giving his a mental version of a hug.

Naruto suddenly heard a faint snap behind his and he jumped up and whirled around with a Kunai in hand only to find a pissed off looking Iruka standing behind his.

"Nnnaaaarrrruuuuuttttttoooooo…. Just what on earth is going on?" Iruka asked in a foreboding voice signifying that he was very angry, but willing to listen.

Naruto shivered from the barely suppressed anger in Iruka's voice, but noticed Iruka was about to say more, so Naruto quickly raced up and put his hand over Iruka's mouth to silence him.

"I know your angry Ni-san, but let me explain!" Naruto yammered out quickly in hopes of sparing himself a long and tedious lecture, knowing that Mizuki was going to be there soon.

Iruka shoved his hand away and said "You have thirty seconds to explain your actions and it had better be good or so help me…" Naruto understood what he wasn't saying and quickly rushed to explain, Mizuki probably wasn't far away and he would need Iruka's help to capture him.

Naruto quickly explained how he had been feeling after his failure to pass for the third time, he explained how Hinata had pulled him out of his funk and helped regain his determination to succeed. He then explained how Mizuki had come up to him with an offer to tell him about another way to pass the genin exam. About how he had told him about the scroll and that in order to pass he had to steal the scroll from under the hokage's nose and give it to Mizuki in this clearing.

Naruto had then explained about his suspicions of the obviously treacherous Shinobi and he then told him the reasons that he had decided to got through with it, he told Iruka about the plan he had cooked up with the Sandaime.

Iruka couldn't believe his ears. It was all Mizuki's fault! But why would he do it? He is a Shinobi of Konoha! Isn't he?

Both ninja suddenly heard a sound of kunai and shruiken being thrown, but only Iruka was quick enough to react. Naruto suddenly found himself flying backwards after having been pushed away by Iruka who then took the full assault head on, a few of the shruiken an kunai lodged themselves in various places on his body but none were immediately life threatening but the rest of them pinned him to the wall of the hut unable to move at all.

Naruto got up slowly, looking at Iruka in horror but heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that Iruka would be alright for the time being. Naruto then quickly turned around and spotted where the attack had come from. Naruto's eyes narrowed when he saw Mizuki crouched in the tree above them, casually twirling a large Windmill Shruiken on his hand.

"Good work Naruto… Now… Give me the Scroll and you will have passed this test" Mizuki ordered with a fake grin on his face. Naruto's face twisted in a peculiar expression of distaste and anger.

Iruka spoke out then pain clearly showing in his voice "Don't give him the scroll Naruto, he is a traitor to Konoha! He only wants it for himself!"

Naruto nodded in agreement and shouted out "I am a Shinobi of Konoha! And I will not give this scroll to a traitor like you Mizuki-teme!"

Mizuki's face twisted in an expression of anger and he looked like he was about to blow when he suddenly gained a glint in his eye and he gained a crazed smirk on his face.

He bent down to look at Naruto "Haven't you ever wondered Naruto? About why the village hates you?"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow, he could see where this was going but decided to play along and replied "Yeah, so what about it?" barely keeping amusement from showing in his voice.

Mizuki's grin widened in anticipation, knowing that what he was about to reveal would hurt the boy, allowing him to snatch the scroll, and he so loved causing pain.

Iruka also knew where this was going but unlike Mizuki didn't want Naruto to get hurt and shouted out "Mizuki! Don't do it! It is forbidden!"

Naruto turned to look at Iruka quickly but turned back to Mizuki unwilling to let him out of his sight.

Mizuki just ignored Iruka's plea and continued on "There was a law created 12 years ago, a law that nobody was to tell you."

Naruto could barely hold in his contempt but managed to choke out in what seemed to be a pained voice "What law, what was this law about?"

Iruka yelled out again "Stop it, Mizuki! He has already been hurt far too much! Please don't do this!"

Naruto looked at Iruka again, this time in shock, and he was unable to prevent a smile of gratitude and joy from lightening up his face or preventing a few tears from flowing down his face "He does care!" Naruto cheered to himself and his heart suddenly became much lighter, the pain of loneliness that had haunted him for his whole life had started to lift from Iruka's words alone and Kyubi just smiled. It had been a long time since Naruto had lowered his mask and shown such a beautiful smile.

Iruka noticed Naruto looking at him and turned to look at him and saw the young boy he considered his younger brother looking at him with the most beautiful smile of gratitude and joy that he had ever seen. He couldn't help the slight blush and smiled bashfully back at him to which Naruto responded with an even bigger smile which made Iruka blush even more and look away.

Naruto grinned at Iruka's bashful expression and turned to look back at Mizuki with a confident smirk and hefted a kunai in his hand, determination flaring in his heart until Kyubi became sure that it would catch alight.

Mizuki just looked at them in distaste, hate and revulsion apparent on his face. How is it that Iruka could care so much about the damn boy? He is that bloody demon Kyubi in human form after all!!! He glared at Naruto such hate and anger that Naruto felt a weak killing intent which he just shrugged off, as if to move some stray hairs from his face and merely put his kunai in a ready position. Killing intent is a valuable weapon in any ninja's arsenal as it could cause the enemy to freeze up allowing said ninja to kill his opponent. Being the Kyubi's container Naruto had been exposed to various levels of killing intent through out his life and therefore was immune to killing intent, practicing shrugging it off with the strongest demon in history sure helped as well.

Naruto looked up at Mizuki with a cocky smirk and said in a bored voice "You call that intent? I've had far, far worse than that, BBBaaaakkkkkaaaaa" he drawled, voice dripping with derision before asking in a more serious voice "This law you were speaking of? What is it?"

Mizuki's eye twitched at Naruto's disrespectful tone and the fact that his intent was totally ineffective but ignored it in favor of telling Naruto a bit more.

"Well as you know this law was instated twelve years ago by the Sandaime and that nobody was to tell you this law or anybody of your generation really"

Naruto just raised an eyebrow and spoke "And what is it Mizuki-teme"

Mizuki grinned insanely "This law is…. That nobody is to speak about the fact that you…." and Mizuki pointed at Naruto "Are the demon fox!! You are the Kyubi no Kitsune that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village, you have been lied to your entire life! How does that make you feel Demon?"

So that was it, and the next chapter is also going to be a revisal. So please review and tell what you think. I am unsure of how I have introduced Sakura so tell me what you think so that I may do better next time.