First fan fiction, so be cautious, although I am told I write well regardless. Plenty of negative emotions, characterization, POV, and different views of the same events clash.

The expected amount of Chapters including this chapter: 12. Expect some to be graciously long, and some to be unfortunately short; I will aim for 10k on average per chapter.

Inspired by the song "Grace" by Lamb of God, along with songs from the Final Fantasy 9 soundtrack; inspiration was also taken from Final Fantasy 9, for I really enjoy Final Fantasy 9. This is also slightly inspired by Shakespeare's dramas.

Once again this is my first fan fiction writing, so please give me constructive criticism, what you like, don't like, what you would like to see me change, what you would like me to add, etc. I have this story entirely planned out from start to finish, so if anyone would want to give me an idea for a second story give me some ideas, please!

[I don't own the characters or world of Naruto, because if I did, Orochimaru would not be gay.]

First Epic Fic (100k+)

Enjoy Chapter 1: The Irony of Life Itself

"…And so, as seconds pass into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days, days into weeks and into months and years, I finally realized without any trace of doubt that I was a jest. A living comedy perhaps made solely for the purpose of entertainment of a higher power? Or is it that I was created as a scapegoat for the fears, inadequacies, and unhappiness of the inhabitants of my homeland? Regardless of "truth" as of now and the true purpose of me living to this day, I have survived. In no small part this is due to my resiliency, however I have not escaped unscarred, for deep, permanent, and unforgiving serrated scars constantly tear and grind at my mind and torment what's left of my sanity. I can no longer feel anything but negativity, in all of its forms from sadness to anger to hatred to paranoia. I feel these now as naturally as one feels "normal" emotions, leaving me what people call 'abnormal,' which in my mind is an improvement, for without careless positive emotions running amok, without happiness to delude myself, without friendship to lessen the true load of MY humanity, without concern of other people to cloud and confuse my natural judgment, I feel more than human. Given, it is hard for me to even consider feeling what is considered 'normal,' as I haven't felt those... dreaded emotions for many years. At many times I feel nearly 'normal' and therefore grieve my disposition with the people I am forced to be around and live with, I feel worthless, empty and meaningless; I lament living a single day of this 'hell' and I despise every single person who has ever wronged me and even more the people who I see blindly living happily, when I have done nothing to them on a personal level. Most of the time however, I feel as if I am 'god,' that I am more than any human, that without emotion, without lament nor happiness, I am an empty shell, eager to absorb knowledge and power and free to make decisions not based in morality and "righteousness," the path to true power in this retrospect is not obscured, but free to my manipulation and my advantage. However, I digress, I am sure you may wonder, 'Who is this speaking?' or something akin to 'Why bother with the introduction?' and the answer is: 'My mind on a constant basis regularly rewinds time to relive the most important aspects of my past, and the best way to reflect on my life is with none other than my true reflection,'" thought a young child, no more than 13, as he stared at his blank, empty void of eyes in the cracked and dirty looking glass in front of him.

This young child is Naruto, and he was born in a time of chaos, and happened to be born in the wrong place and at the wrong time; simply coincidentally, his life was forfeit as a sacrifice as soon as he as born due to unforeseen circumstances which neither he nor his mother nor his mysterious father could control. From what the boy knew after years of subtle investigations and subterfuge, he understood that his parents were both important people, although who exactly they were, he knew not. They just happened to have him as their son and he happened to be born the day a demon attacked their home village, the Village hidden in the Leaves, Konohagakure no Sato. This demon was one of 9, named the Bijuu, who were immensely powerful creatures of pure chakra, which is the force by which all life exists. The Bijuu that attacked the fateful day Naruto was born was the Kyuubi no Kitsune, a powerful fox demon that was strongest of the 9; its tails are said to be extremely powerful, enough so that one swipe of which could level mountains, create tsunamis, tornados, and fire storms. This terrible demon was mysteriously sighted outside the village of Konoha quite soon after Naruto's birth, and the only way for the Yondaime, or the Fourth Hokage, to defeat this beast was to seal it away in a newborn infant, and the only one available that accursed day was Naruto himself. And so, since birth, Naruto has been both cursed and blessed to carry this vengeful, angry, wrathful, and psychotic demon within his body and be the target of hatred and loathing of his fellow villagers, who lost many loved ones during the beast's rampage. At the same time however, Naruto was blessed with inhuman power, chakra levels, stamina and might, and had an unwilling but beneficial "voice" in his head that always gave advice and suggestions.

However, even as the Yondaime's dying breath was the wish for Naruto to be treated as a heroic figure for saving the village, the Sandaime Hokage, or the third Hokage who was previously retired before the sacrifice of the Yondaime, told the adults and elder council members of Naruto's status as Jinchuriki, believing they would understand Naruto's predicament. The adults simply exploded at the release of this information, demanding Naruto's execution immediately as penance for the Nine Tail's aforementioned destruction and murder of hundreds of people in the village. Simply disturbed by lack of remorse of the people to even a new born child, the Sandaime Hokage released a new law, that those who knew of Naruto's predicament were not allowed to release this information to others with a penalty of death, as the Sandaime sought to at least allow the younger generation to not treat Naruto with such distaste as the elder generation did. And even with this law, and although nobody spoke of Naruto's occupant, the dread, hatred, fear, and anger at Naruto was passed down to the younger generation although they did not understand the reason why. Due to the mistake of releasing this information to the older generations, Sarutobi the Sandaime Hokage did not anticipate that Naruto's orphanage caretakers would mistreat him severely, that other children would even mistreat him and be rewarded for it, and that he was severely malnourished and neglected, even as a child. Sarutobi knew some of this would happen, but he did not even know the tip of the iceberg of atrocities committed against Naruto until years after he was born into this world set against him…

Naruto's most distant memories were filled with even the taste of pure hatred, the smell of it enough to choke one foolish enough to ask about his past. For as Naruto grew and became more physically able, he was more and more severely beaten as a child, even to near death. The first memory that Naruto can pull from his miserable and abused mind is one of neglect and hatred. It was when Naruto himself was still living at the orphanage, along with many other children, most victims of the Kyuubi attack a few years ago. Naruto is alone in a small closet, with stale food on a plate on the floor, thus allowing insects and other vermin to gorge themselves on the boy's "food." Due to his diet being like this for many years, he was extremely malnourished, to the point of near starvation on a constant basis. This day seemed as dreary and bleak as every other day in Naruto's mind, except today was filled with his innocent need for hope; today was the day of hope for all the orphans, for today there would be a multitude of potential parental units there to adopt, as today was the monthly orphanage "open house" so to speak. All that Naruto was concerned with however was that he would be able to leave his "room" and be able to see other people from outside the orphanage, the first time since last month's open house.

Naruto sat impatiently in the dark and otherwise uninhabitable room, awaiting his chance for the caretakers to bring him out with the other children. He could not simply exit, for upon entering and exiting his room, his door was always locked to keep him in and away from people who despised him, or keep him out if he did something wrong such as annoying a caretaker and decided to run into his room. Regardless, Naruto waited. He heard the multitude of footsteps and general commotion made by large crowds of people, eagerly awaiting his chance of seeing them all with his fellow orphans, "Maybe this time," thought the innocent young boy, "maybe this time I'll get a mommy and daddy, too!"

He heard as the caretakers presented themselves, making sure all the potential parents present knew exactly who was taking care of the children, teaching the children, and doing everything for the children… As they prolonged their speech, Naruto became more impatient, he was ready to exit his room and see his future parents. Then the part he awaited for came, the lineup of all available orphans in front of the crowd of people. Although many children were nervous, their need for parents kept them calm, they wanted to have their own as soon as possible. Naruto waited. About this time, as always, he would be released and told sternly by a caretaker with an angry tone in their voice not to do anything stupid or he would be without supper for a week again. However as he heard the storm of younger and older children rushing past his door into the adoption hall, he heard the heavy footsteps of a caretaker following the miniature crowd of people. He heard the heavy footsteps stop by his door, as the children stampeded away, eager for parental love and care. He could tell this heavy-footed person was the only one in the hallway outside his dark room now, and he impatiently waited and whined to himself waiting for the door to be opened. "Please open the door, Mr. Caretaker! I want to be adopted like the other kids!"

As he waited for an answer for the heavy footed person outside his door, he slowly heard a noise… a noise he recognized and filled his innocent heart with dread and sadness… Naruto was hearing that chuckle. Not the chuckle one hears when an older orphan tells a funny joke to the little ones, not the kind of chuckle you hear the adults make when they lock themselves in the bathroom across the hall from Naruto's door, the chuckle Naruto hears when malice is about and evil intentions are made. He knows this chuckle quite well, and as one as Naruto would know, he was scared. "Hahahaha, you're such a stupid brat! Like anyone would ever adopt a defect such as you. You deserve no happiness, you deserve no parents, and you don't even deserve to eat that food we so graciously give you! Shut up, you stupid brat, and let the other kids have a chance to be happy and away from you." Naruto heard the footsteps go down the hall towards the adoption hall and as Naruto registered what was told, he sat down in his scraps of cloth he used as a bed and cried. Many days and nights, no matter how Naruto acted nor what he did, the caretakers would be cruel to him. Naruto did not understand why. Sometimes he would blame himself for asking for more food, or being too loud when he coughed when he was sick, and that one time he was given food when the orphanage was running short on it and he puked it back up, that time he was beaten for wasting precious food. He always felt sorry afterwards for misbehaving, but this was a new level of cruelty and Naruto understood now that this was his punishment for everything he did. He was no longer allowed to go to the adoption hall during open house ever again. Naruto curled up inside his cloth scraps of a bed that he shared on many occasions with rats and cried at the cruelty of his caretakers. He knew he was a bad boy, but he could never understand why they were so mean to him and so nice to all the other children. And so, without a cushion for the mental and emotional blows to him, Naruto's mind over time has sewn the seeds of paranoia and sociopathic tendencies.

Only a few years later, Naruto left the orphanage, or rather he was ousted by the spiteful caretakers that despised him so much. Since that point in time, Sarutobi the Third Hokage was quite concerned with Naruto. Only hearing of this atrocity days after it occurred, to which the Hokage was furious about, he immediately gave Naruto an apartment for him to live in, although the boy was still only 7 years old. He also began teaching the boy basic shinobi tactics in his spare time, in order for the boy to protect himself.

Needless to say, due to the ignorant hatred of the villagers, Naruto's apartment was vandalized weekly, if not daily, and he was cornered every time ANBU had their backs turned and beaten to a bloody mess. This occurred multiple times, the boy's psyche not doing too well. Every single time, the Hokage appeared in a flash with his most trusted guards, intent on dealing the punishment of death to all those who would attack this innocent boy. Under the interrogation, many claimed that the "Kyuubi" hypnotized them into attacking him, so that he could get his enemies out of the way. The Hokage and interrogators were furious at this outburst to which all the other attackers agreed to, thus silencing them permanently via kunai to the throat. Sadly, even with the Hokage's law supposedly allowing Naruto to live normally and his own apartment and bimonthly allowance, he was still abused, mistreated, tortured, captured numerous times, starved, nearly assassinated countless times, and much more horrible actions. One particular action against him has scarred Naruto more deeply than any other terrible day, for even the horrendous Orphanage caretakers and the mobs of drunken villagers couldn't amount to the distress from the worst day of Naruto's young, ruined life…

It was a typical day, Naruto was scavenging for food at the age of eight due to the overpriced food all the stores seemed to have, when he heard the tell-tale sign of a mob approaching from the far side of the alley he was scavenging in behind a restaurant. Naruto saw the apparently alcohol-influenced mob approaching him, many holding dangerous household implements, others with broken bottles, and some with half-empty bottles they were still busy drinking. Of course Naruto at this point understood what would happen if he could not escape quickly enough, as the ANBU always seemed to be "late" when saving him, allowing at least a few minutes of torture to take place with the boy. He crouched low to the ground and ran quickly away from the mob, which was apparently outraged at his audacity of simple self-preservation.

"Kill that demon!"

"Avenge all those who have died!"

"BURP!"

"Quickly before the damnable ANBU arrive! And don't burp in my face, you idiot!"

"Can you spare some sake?"

Naruto ran more quickly than before in a full sprint, quite intent on leaving the alley before anymore people arrive to "do justice" to the "demon child," when he heard the saving grace that was multiple ninja appearing behind him using the shunshin. When Naruto turned with somewhat hopeful eyes to see his "saviors," he was shocked to see not his regular ANBU guards, but impostors, with swords drawn, facing Naruto.

"AHA! The ANBU have decided to aid us in this holy task! Demon, meet your doom!"

Once he realized what was about to happen, Naruto silently pleaded for a god-send, a savior to keep him from the agony he knew was imminent. It never came in time.

By the time Sarutobi heard of this latest violence, he hurriedly gathered his trustworthy sentinels when he realized that four were missing… He quickly used a shunshin to the alleyway where a large gang was being detained when he saw the four who were missing. They betrayed his commands, instead they sought to dispose of the Yondaime's very own flesh and blood, punishable by six days and six nights of torture, before an execution as dishonorable men and women are given. His face was livid as he saw they who were once his "trusted" ANBU, they laughed manically at Sarutobi.

"It's too late, Hokage! The little demon is dead! WE AVENGED KONOHA! Hahahaha!" the delusional ANBU screamed before he was harshly backhanded by a furious Hokage into a nearby concrete wall, cracking it severely as the ninja slumped to the ground silent and motionless, probably to never move again.

"ANBU! Take all of these… these MONSTERS to the Torture and Interrogation division! NOW! They are all to be executed, and the traitorous ANBU dishonorably discharged, tortured, and executed!" As the Sandaime ended his righteous fury, he quickly hurried off to the end of the alley to see if… well he didn't want to think Naruto was no longer living… He couldn't have possibly failed his most important mission… Thankfully (or so Sarutobi thought), he did see Naruto breathing, alive, with truly trusted ANBU using the best of their medical knowledge to help what was left of him… He noticed a terrible facial wound that would leave a set of terrible permanent scars, in a horrific Glasgow smile, along with many other unspeakable revulsions, especially when one medic had to pick up the boy's bloodied femur off of the ground and jam it back into the boy's body roughly into place before healing the muscle tissue around it quickly. Sarutobi also noted a set of horrific bloody whisker marks marring Naruto's face, no doubt an inclination towards the fox…

Naruto awakened weeks later in the hospital, although he wondered if he was ever truly awake. At this point in time, Naruto had the thought scarred into his brain and body as well that he wasn't normal, this much he understood. He knew other children weren't treated like this, and he knew that every other person wasn't treated like that, put through a pain that intense. 'I understand now… after so long, and with all this pain… they could have told me instead of shown me… I'm not meant to be happy like other kids like me… no wait, not like me… I'm supposed to be… happy too? But… Maybe it's my destiny like Jiji says, but not to live happy like he says, I gotta be… happy this way. I have to be like this, because it's my destiny. I have to live like this… I always have because it's my destiny, and I always will like Jiji says my destiny will be like… I have to be this…'

It was at this fatal point where Naruto stopped existing as a human child, and began existing instead as what he was meant to be: a weapon. In his mindset, he knows he cannot have friends because all children are scared of him and all adults banish him from their sight. He knows he cannot be happy because his "destiny" cannot allow it, he must be satisfied with being unhappy, which in his poor, fractured mind means he had to be this way, even if it hurt him so… Little did he know the pain would cease soon, emotionally and physically, and that he would be glad forevermore that his "human emotions" were destroyed, and that he would feel no more unhappiness… while simultaneously feeling no happiness. He knows now that he cannot live by human standards, but by his own standards. He decided to begin training, to better prepare himself for his no doubt horrific life to come.

Little did anyone know of the great beast within him, slowly changing the boy's mind and body, and slowly forcing its vile influence into him, slowly pushing the normal human instincts out and replacing them with demonic imitations…

The boy stood, dressing himself in blood stained clothes and ripping out his medical equipment. He took hold of his now tattered black shirt and ripped a lengthy piece out, wrapping it around his face to cover his permanent acquisition. He took hold of his possessions before quietly leaping out the window into the night, not a soul noticing a thing.

Years later, Naruto is playing in a park, well as much playing as he did anyway. He never learned what the point of it was, only that it was a way to exercise and stay active, and that it had some social value that did not matter to him. He was busy swinging by himself, watching other children across the park playing oblivious to his presence, although their parents occasionally shot a nasty glare in Naruto's direction. To Naruto however, he knew it was normal and meant all was well. The children have evaded his presence for as long as Naruto could recall. He had been training much more often now, becoming truly a habitual trainer, constantly pushing his body to the absolute limits to become more prepared for his future, and thus while he was malnourished, he was lean, and contained high amounts of strong, lean muscle.

Naruto now sported dark slim fitting cargo pants to carry supplies of various kinds with him, tucked into his black combat boots. He wore a tight long sleeve black shirt with a grey and red harness on over it to hold larger objects such as packs, weapons, or other paraphernalia, along with a pair of light weight black gloves that stretched to his elbows. Over this he donned a large, tattered, grey cloak with hood that covered his person entirely, better to hide his hand seals or the drawing of a weapon from sight. This gave him a ghostly, haunting, spectral appearance that could easily blend in with darkness or light, the entire neutral grey cloak covering his head to his toes. Lastly, the boy wore a ragged scarf wrapped around his neck and lower face, mostly to preserve his secrecy, since with his hood and scarf nobody could see his face, and also importantly to hide his scars. He was the epitome of ghostly existence, since no skin could be seen, and all that could be perceived was a ragged and grey void…

Eventually as fate would have it, the children playing with a ball sent it flying with one of their "special attacks" as they said, although Naruto did not understand. 'How is that an attack? That would never work on an enemy…' The ball landed near Naruto, which the children seemed dissatisfied with. One bravely went near the lonely child to get their ball, but as he neared Naruto who was still seated on the swing, his parents yelled from their place across the park, and came running over immediately with a few other parents to see what happened. As they neared and saw their boy looking at them with a questioning look on his face, and saw the ball near Naruto, they assumed what hateful villagers would assume about the "demon boy."

"You brat, how dare you steal from my boy?! You insolent child! Answer me!" The boy's father yelled at Naruto who remained seated. "I said ANSWER ME!" He grabbed Naruto by the front of his cloak and lifted him off the swing. Naruto continued to stare passively from his shadowy face at the fuming and quite furious adult before him. "You worthless child! If you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from my son and his property! Begone, vile creature." He threw the boy with all of his might into the bushes nearby and stormed off with his son in tow. The other adults followed, knowing that their part was unneeded this time… 'How dare I? I didn't dare anything at all. But I didn't do anything wrong… maybe I'm always to blame? Maybe I was at fault…' Naruto thought without interest as he brushed himself off and walked towards the academy for the day.

He arrived in class before most of the students, and simply chose a seat far to the back of the room, a place where the teacher's forsaken live in exile from education. He opened up his lesson scrolls he "liberated" from the unwilling library and began reading. Soon, no time seeming to pass to Naruto, the class was filled and Iruka-sensei was already calling role, to at least make sure students learned their military skills for future servitude of their country. Iruka called all the names with haste, but noticed without even having to call that all the students were here on this most important day, even the chronically lazy Shikamaru, for today was a milestone in the advancement of these ninja-in-training. Today was the day of their second-to-last exam, and thus far the most important. It was mostly a physical test today, but Iruka decided that since a shinobi must balance their mind and body to include a short pop quiz that no students were prepared for.

"Students! Settle down now. You all know how important today is, and I know you all have trained your body and chakra to prepare and do your best as Mizuki and I have taught you all. However, as a special bonus to the important exam today…" Iruka trailed off, reaching behind his desk, and causing anticipation to rise throughout the room. "Today we also have a written part of the exam! How exciting!" A large groan echoed through the room from most of the students, anticipation clearly dissipated.

"Mizuki and I will pass them out now! You guys have only one hour to complete this special added portion to the test. Begin when we give you the paper." And thusly Iruka and Mizuki passed out the paper that would even cause a genius prodigy to pass out from lack of knowledge. This test was made especially just for the students to fail…

***One Week Earlier***

"Iruka, why do you persist in torturing our poor future shinobi? Surely you must jest, to give young students an impassable obstacle in this exam?" asked the Hokage in disbelief to a nearby obviously pleased Iruka.

"Well Hokage-sama, think about it; if the students are faced with an impassable goal, what better way to determine how they deal with failure? There is a one-hundred percent guarantee that not a single student will pass every single mission they ever get. Why not allow them to cope with failure now to prepare for the future? This will allow them to prepare for the real life of a shinobi, surely," argued Iruka, who was intent on provoking mass displeasure from his students.

The Hokage chuckled lightly. "Ha… Iruka, your teaching abilities and escapades never cease to amaze me. Please, do this added portion of the exam. This will certainly do as you say. What a fine idea, I wonder why we haven't encouraged this before?"

Iruka walked out even more pleased than when he entered, with an exceptionally large grin on his scarred face.

***Present***

"Pencils down, everyone! The exam is officially over." A sigh of discontent flowed through the ears of all in the room. 'Apparently,' Iruka thought to himself, 'my plan worked wonderfully. I see everyone seems unhappy with their failure… except Naruto? He looks like he normally does. But I suppose for him that's normal. Surely he is taking it hard as well, knowing how hard he trains.' "I will now pick up all your papers, and then you are all excused for 30 minutes for a lunch break. I hope all my brilliant pupils did well!" Iruka added with a sly smirk on his face. While he did this for their betterment, he himself thought it was amusing as well, especially seeing the blood-red rage flowing off of Sasuke's visage.

He passed down, or rather up the aisles of his classroom taking up tests as he advanced, a steady line of unhappy students flowed out the room behind him. He picked up and noted how many blank pages there were. He wasn't surprised that when he got to the snoozing Nara that he indeed performed well, but not perfect. Maybe he scored a sixty to seventy percent at most, especially since even Jounin failed this exam. Lastly he picked up Naruto's exam at the back of the classroom, but was surprised that all the answers were complete. 'Ha, Naruto probably just wanted to seem smart like Shikamaru. It's probably all false, no offense to Naruto…' Iruka thought slyly. He picked up Naruto's paper and promptly dropped the stack of papers on his desk, prepared to grade them all. However one small issue remained, in the form of a remaining, ghostly student before his desk.

"Naruto? Did you want something?" asked Iruka dumbly.

"This was a test of failure?" Naruto questioned blankly with an empty stare on his obscured face, his gaze a void.

"It is okay, Naruto, honestly, between you and me, this was meant to fail you guys. No need to look so glum. This was a test of failure, yes, but to see how you guys deal with failure. Try not to take it badly, okay?" Iruka said in a fatherly way to Naruto.

"But sensei… I didn't fail, I passed. I was simply going to ask why it was more challenging than usual… but I suppose I should instead ask what my punishment is for nullifying the purpose of this exam."

Iruka looked dumb-struck at Naruto, who inexplicably thought it would amuse him to make the teacher look stupid. He began shuffling through his stack of papers for Naruto's paper. "Naruto, you didn't pass, trust me. Not even Jounin passed, very few made over a fifty percent. It is utterly unthinkable that you, an academy student, could pass it perfectly. Not even Shikamaru…" Iruka trailed off when he looked at Naruto's exam in detail Iruka, in no other conceivable way to accurately describe it, was having considerable jaw-dropping action with a mixture of the most extreme disbelief possible along with suspicion. "But it is… it can't be… Naruto, you didn't… you did," Iruka admitted in defeat as he realized Naruto passed perfectly. "But how!? It's utterly impossible without studying these precise questions beforehand! You didn't or couldn't have possibly known about this, the students were not told. Naruto did you cheat? This simply cannot be!"

"But sensei, you saw me. I wasn't cheating."

"Naruto, go have your lunch, I must speak with the Hokage. I want to believe you, truly I do, however… this is utterly impossible."

Naruto silently left his awe-struck sensei in a cloud of disbelief as the single smartest ninja in Konoha left his room. Iruka quickly arrived at the Hokage's office with haste, intent on somehow logically explaining Naruto's inexplicable… he didn't even know what to call it. It wasn't a test, nor an exam, nor a paper, nor even representation of Naruto, especially since it was all correct; it was simply a testament of Naruto's will, a battle of pen versus paper that undoubtedly shows the true nature of that which the world has never seen in many years… not since the likes of Itachi Uchiha. Iruka burst into the Hokage's office while his students were eating.

"Hokage-sama!" Iruka exclaimed with a bow. "My apologies for interrupting your no doubt serious matters you attend to," as he noticed the orange flash of a book disappearing behind the Hokage's desk and his flushed face, "but I must show you something phenomenal…" Iruka dropped Naruto's exam onto the desk of the Hokage.

"And this is…?"

"This is the exam handed in by one Naruto Uzumaki."

"Ah. Then I suppose… yes. Naruto is very, unequivocally intelligent, and has a brilliance about him even the wisest of the Nara would be envious of. Keep this test secret; say what you must to Mizuki. Tell him, in fact, that Naruto was cheating. We can't let anyone know that Naruto is this smart, you understand Iruka. If anyone hears about this showcase of Naruto's mental power, then Kami forbid the repercussions involved. All the "Kyuubi-haters" will be marching the streets, exclaiming how he is possessed by ancient knowledge and must be executed. So for Naruto's sake, don't tell anyone."

"Yes sir, Hokage-sama." Iruka walked out worried for Naruto, but also slightly pleased that he helped teach possibly the smartest future shinobi to have served Konoha.

"I hope you, my pupils, have had a fantastic lunch, because I have exciting news for you all!" said one conspiring, scarred ninja known as Iruka. "My dear, students, as you all know, this test is quite important to your success as a future ninja of Konoha, and what a fascinating instrument to measure the progress of our future country. However, I am displeased to say that everyone in this room has failed."

Distress was rampant, and disbelief plagued the wide eyes of one Nara. "You can't be serious…. What a drag." One Uchiha was fuming, enough to at least have the capability to fry an egg on his face. Other students' outrages were equally spiteful and not well-mannered in the least. Naruto was the only calm one, not speaking, nor moving, or in any way reacting to this revelation.

"HOWEVER, my students, in this, you have succeeded. By learning how to cope with failure now, you will be prepared for the future, as not one person in this room will ever succeed at every mission. Ponder on this wisdom, and learn from it. Learn to accept your mistakes, and learn from them."

"Iruka-san, I will never fail. My family name IS power, and power never fails," says one black haired beast. "I've never failed anything, and I never will. I will succeed at any obstacles thrown my way, and I will show the world how strong the Uchiha blood is."

Iruka looked at Sasuke questioningly. "Sasuke, although your goals are noble, your heart set, it is virtually impossible to succeed at every mission. It is guaranteed some will go wrong at some point, be it misinformation or such. You must learn to handle this now, when there are no lives on the line as there could be in a true mission-gone-wrong."

"Very well, Iruka-san," Sasuke said, a conceited frown on his face, obviously displeased with his "success" today.

"Regardless, my pupils, this was just mental preparation. The true test today is beginning outside in the training area. Please, follow Mizuki, and let us begin to test your strengths and weaknesses!" Iruka exclaimed as one smiling Mizuki led the students outside, through the halls and out the building. Naruto followed behind the parade of children, walking with Iruka to the testing area. Along the way while children were speaking to each other and grumbling about their grades, Naruto felt no despair, no anger, no vindication that this was wrong, although for simplicities sake, he had to ask. "Sensei, why would you say everyone failed? Did I not do as well as I think?"

"Naruto…." Iruka started saying, before trying to find the right words to say. "Look, for practicality's sake, son, I had to put the class under the impression that everyone failed, in order to mentally prepare them all for their future… you, Naruto, are prepared I think, seeing as you didn't immediately cause an outburst when told everyone failed. You are prepared, but your information had to be forsaken to help the rest. Don't you see?" Iruka explained honestly, hoping Naruto would see the reasoning.

"I… understand sensei. Thank you." Naruto walked away to rejoin the group now accumulating in the training area. Iruka thought to himself 'I'm sorry, Naruto… it had to be done.'

"Well students," started Mizuki, standing in the center of the training area as the students watched, "now it is time for us to begin the practical part of the exam. First up is ranged weaponry, you must use ten common ranged weapons of your choosing and hit the targets. Your score will be based on accuracy regarding vital areas of an enemy. For bonus, you can increase the range of throwing from ten yards to twenty. Your call."

Students were called up, alphabetically by surname, and asked to throw weapons of their choosing at straw dummies with targets painted on them. Accuracy ranged from generally accurate 70% to a low of 20%, no real pattern was being followed. Kiba scored half percent and was quite furious, blaming the wind. Others like Sasuke were pleased with their results, Sasuke reaping a dashing 85%, a problem he called out to the wind, yet again. He stepped up, arrogant in manner, prepared to launch five kunai and five shuriken from the twenty yard line, a new feat for today. As he threw them, his eyes narrowed slightly as the wind really did slightly alter the trajectory of his weapons, causing said 85%. It is always the wind's fault, apparently, although Sasuke did score the highest regardless of distance bonus. Iruka had to explain to them, yet again, that wind will always exist, even in the midst of battle, and to succeed in battle one must fight with the wind, for if one lets the wind prevail, they would lose the fight. Naruto was up last, he grabbed the same weapon load out as Sasuke, five shuriken and five kunai, and walked to the twenty yard line casually.

"Ha, look at the fool trying to copy the Uchiha! He probably couldn't hit one target from that distance, let alone pass this test," Sasuke said casually causing many other students to laugh and giggle at Naruto's expense. "Taking bets now? 50 ryo, 100 ryo, how much will you bet?" asked one Kiba smugly, causing more uproar and comedy. "Students, silence yourselves. Allow him to concentrate," said one Mizuki, trying not to laugh. "Why sensei? He probably won't hit a single target!" Laughed one student before hearing a thud, causing all of the laughter to cease and suddenly look at the results. It is astonishing, to them at least, to see every weapon in every vital point, so that every target would very much be dead. Naruto turned and walked back towards Iruka, passing students and Mizuki whose mouths were dangling quite low.

"Well Naruto, well done. Well done, indeed," Iruka proudly stated to Naruto. "Mizuki, would you like to announce Naruto's score?"

"…One-hundred and five percent is his score."

"Very good, my boy! Alas, we must begin the next portion of the exam instead of celebrating. Mizuki?"

"Ah, yes Iruka, forgive me. I was… overwhelmed, to say the least. Anyway, students, now we will attempt the jutsu portion of the exam. You will have to do the main three jutsu: Transformation, Clone, and the Body Replacement technique. For bonus, you may do another jutsu of your choosing." He began calling students up, same order as before. Every student successfully completed the main three jutsu, and the only bonus jutsu performed were completed by clan members, using clan techniques, an easy bonus for them. None of the non-clan students could complete bonus jutsu, although one student tried to cast a fire jutsu and ended up severely burning several trees along with his hands, so he earned no extra credit. Sasuke arrogantly completed the Body Replacement technique, before casting a clone of himself and making it transform into Mizuki, clearly impressing the students and both instructors. "Very good Sasuke! Any bonus jutsu?" Mizuki asked eagerly. Sasuke began flashing through hand signs before shouting his particular clan special: "Great fireball!" A large sphere of intense, red head flew from his mouth and into the sky where he was aiming, clearly earning bonus and impressing everyone there. "Finally, Naruto Uzumaki. Please, impress us as you did before," Mizuki said haughtily. Naruto created a clone with no hand signs, before himself transforming into Mizuki, again with no hand signs. "Not as impressive as I thought Naruto, do the Body Replacement now, please." "It is done," said Naruto, the "clone," as the Mizuki-transformed "real" Naruto poofed into smoke. They realized he completed a Transformation and Replacement at the same time, causing everyone to think his clone was fake, and he transformed into Mizuki, but truly he switched with his clone and his clone turned into Mizuki. "Astonishing use of the techniques, Naruto! Very good! Although they won't net you bonus points. Have you prepared a bonus jutsu to perform?" asked Mizuki. Naruto turned towards the target area used for the previous test, and again using no hand signs, he held his hand with two fingers extended towards a target, before the target burst, straw flying haphazardly through the air in all directions, while small wisps of chakra evaporated from the point of impact. As silent as the jutsu was, Naruto stayed and walked back to his place among the students. "Naruto, what was that?!" Iruka asked, afraid. He had never seen such pure potential before… "It was a special jutsu, which is all you must know." The students were frightened by the pure destructive power, and Sasuke was fuming. 'How could a lowlife learn such a powerful technique, and he isn't even from a clan!'

"Well, children, it is time for the final portion of today's exam, the physical fight. When it comes down to the pure raw potential of a ninja, it is how well he deals with his enemies head-on, no distractions. You will each fight Mizuki, one-on-one, and must lay a single hit on him without him blocking. For bonus, five hits must occur," Iruka explained. The students went up and fought to the best extent they possessed. Mizuki allowed himself to be slower, to make it simpler for students to fight him. Most passed within a few minutes, although a few of the weaker ones gave up, like Shikamaru, or lost in the fight, being unable to strike him. When Sasuke started fighting Mizuki, everyone's gaze was focused. It seemed Mizuki was having troubles fighting the young avenger, as he was flipping, spinning, kicking, punching, and every other quick striking move available. Sasuke was over powering Mizuki, and when the time limit was done, Sasuke had landed four strikes, the most thus far. "And now, you Naruto. Show me what you got," said Mizuki, planning to fight more ferociously than with the others in order to make him do poorly. Naruto stepped into the ring, when Iruka shouted "Begin!" Mizuki immediately sped toward Naruto, attempting to take the young boy by surprise, only to find that when his fist was barely in contact with Naruto's face, Naruto sidestepped Mizuki and landed a series of five blows to his unprotected back, before the fifth and final strike forced Mizuki out of the ring, skidding on his stomach in the dirt. The entire battle took approximately three seconds. "Naruto!" Iruka exclaimed. "Y-you defeated Mizuki! Congratulations, you get full score and bonus!" Iruka said proudly as he went to help Mizuki up, who was covered in dirt and shame was portrayed on his face.

"It has been a very good testing day today! It seems you all passed, even though some could have done better," Iruka said to the now indoor class while eyeing a napping Nara. "At last, it is time to award the top three positions in today's test, and their due respect. Third place, a student who performed extremely well, Shino! Very good Shino, very good indeed. I had no doubts about you," congratulated Iruka towards the silent boy in the back wearing shades. The other students clapped politely, respecting their fellow who did better than them. Sasuke stayed silent, not praising his comrade's feats. "Next, second overall, Sasuke. You better watch out Sasuke, it seems one of your classmates may be stealing your thunder," Iruka said while smirking. Most of the students clapped for the fuming heir, while a few females in the room were calling out to Iruka to change his score to first place. After they settled down, Iruka continued, "Our last, but most certainly not least, student, who made perfect scores in all of his tests, Naruto! Good job, my boy!" There was no clapping, no praise, other than Iruka. Mizuki stared at Naruto with distaste as he still had dirt on his favorite Chunin vest. Sasuke furiously made eye contact with said student, his anger veritable. "Well, usually comrades commend each other for their successes, but… At any rate. You are all dismissed. We have a week of leisure before our final exam next week! Make sure to train, study, do what you must! Naruto, Sasuke, Shino, keep up the good work. The rest of you, I hope you learned something from them today. Farewell, until then!" Iruka said while starting to file papers among his cluttered desk, Mizuki left the room in a hurry, off to who-knows-where, and the students scrambled out of the classroom, cheerful to be free for the day… except for one quiet child.

"Naruto," Iruka called out, just as everyone but said student left. The boy looked at Iruka questioningly before asking "Yes, sensei? Do you require something of me?" Iruka felt slightly irked at the boy's constant nonchalant attitude, his passive state, and his neutral tones, willing the boy to show some signs of humanity. "You did well, Naruto! How about we go eat ramen, my treat, eh?" Naruto looked suspiciously at Iruka, remembering vividly what happens when a person he doesn't fully trust offers him food… Regardless of his instinctual feelings, Naruto obliged, knowing Iruka for a few years now. They walked to a small ramen stand where a nice old man and his daughter worked hard, and produced uniquely delicious ramen and other treats, before quickly ordering.

"You did well today, Naruto. I wonder though, why have you always held back? I have known for quite a while that you train excessively, and I know you've been holding back but… I've never seen anything like that, son," Iruka said as he slurped up what was left of his bowl of soup. "Sensei… I wanted to stay out of mind, out of sight. The best way to do that is to do below average at everything, to not stick out any more than I already do. But now that I'm about to officially become a ninja, it doesn't matter now, since any more wastes of space senseless enough to cross my path will be on the wrong side of the law from me," Naruto answered truthfully as Iruka choked on his second bowl. "Naruto, but why would you want that? There's no reason to hide, the world is equally cruel to everyone." Naruto stopped eating and turned slowly toward his teacher, the light from the bar vaguely showing a silhouette of his icy eyes, as he darkly chucked, a hollow gagging sound. "Sensei… that is far from the truth."

After their dinner and discussion, Iruka walked Naruto home, and he felt even more so that he wanted to help the boy. Naruto on the other hand felt some sort of brotherly connection to his teacher, even more emphasized after this night, since the man honestly wanted to help him, and he did not immediately judge Naruto because of his past.

A week later, the final exams for the passing of Konoha's future generation of Ninja was about to take place. Naruto, again, was in class, sitting upright, stiff, and silent when Iruka wished him luck, to which Naruto responded by nodding his thanks. Iruka then sat at his desk and watched him along with the other students slowly trickling in until the class officially started, at which point he proceeded to explain the day to the anxious students. "Well, my students, this will be the last time we meet as a class, hopefully. I hope you all prepared adequately because this is the last exam you will have to take before officially becoming ninja of Konoha! Mizuki, please pass out the tests!" Iruka exclaimed happily, surely since he would be done with this rambunctious group of children should they pass. Mizuki haughtily passed out the papers, pausing shortly at Naruto's desk, frowning with distaste due to the humiliation a week earlier. He smirked as he lay Naruto's paper down and strolled away, Naruto never missing a detail with his constant observation.

An hour later, with many disgruntled sighs, the class turned their papers in. "Now, on to the practical part of the exam, which will be the same as last week's, if you recall. This time, however, we will individually change the rules for each student to challenge them a bit more than usual, so that nobody will pass without effort," Iruka explained, to further agitate the young ones. Some like the Uchiha scoffed at this minor detail, others who were slightly less trained like the Haruno became anxious once more. Then there was Naruto, who simply made no visible reaction to this information, similar to Shino. Iruka glanced over his students' reactions quickly before smirking and continuing his directions. "First up is the ranged weapons examination. Your load out will be chosen by Mizuki and myself based on your last exam, as will the distance you must throw it. After going through nearly all of the students, whose scores varied quite much and was the cause of more discontent among the young warriors, he called up the Uchiha. "Sasuke, due to your astounding progress as a ninja, you are to throw from thirty yards, the maximum range, and you are to use all shuriken, due to their higher difficulty compared to kunai. Go!" Sasuke gathered up his strength with five shuriken in each hand at the thirty yard line before launching the deadly projectiles at the inanimate targets. Successful thuds indicated his higher than average accuracy, when Mizuki who was down range called out Sasuke's score of one hundred percent accuracy proudly, with many of the student body cheering and clapping. Sasuke seemed quite content at his score and thought to himself about all the time he spent in the last week struggling to train as much as he could with the most difficult of ranged weaponry, sure that not even Naruto could do the same. "Finally, certainly not least, Mr. Uzumaki. Please, gather the same load out as Sasuke, and head to the thirty yard line," Iruka said with a smile as he watched his most potential student prepare. Sasuke scoffed that Naruto was even in the same league as him, but accepted it and prepared to watch the boy fail terribly. Without even throwing his arms back to launch the weapons with enhanced power and speed, Naruto seemingly flicked the ten shuriken at the targets, and the projectiles flew faster than the eye could follow, obliterating the targets down range. "Naruto, you failed to disappoint me again! Good job," Iruka proudly stated. Mizuki scowled down range and reluctantly called out his perfect score. To say the least, the students were dumbfounded that this once poor student now out-classed the Uchiha heir, and said heir was very displeased.

"Next, the jutsu portion of the test, which will be administered in the same fashion as last week's exam. First up is…" Iruka trailed off into the long list of names as each student once again produced adequate results. Sasuke produced the same effect that Naruto did a week earlier, and did the latter of the three jutsu together, firmly astounding the instructors. Naruto was next, when he did something unexpected for his clone, transformation and replacement. When the dust settled, the students saw a Naruto standing with an Iruka, nobody was sure which was clone this time. However, when the second poof of smoke obscured their vision momentarily, they were surprised to see that the Mizuki and Iruka that were standing off to the side of the dirt training area was really a transformed Naruto and clone, while the "Naruto and clone" in the center of the arena poofed into Iruka and Mizuki. They realized that this boy just replaced himself with BOTH Iruka and Mizuki, made a clone, and transformed all four beings at the same time, all in one move. To say the least, even the instructors were awestruck. "That was… well, needless to say Naruto, you passed. With flying colors," Iruka said in a dumbfounded manner.

"Finally, we have the physical examination. This will take the form of a battle royal, in which all of you will compete against each other in supervised Taijutsu-only matches," Mizuki explained, still irked that a student beat him just last week. The students fought valiantly, each doing well in some areas, such as defense, but doing poorly in other areas. Both Naruto and Sasuke excelled in all, Naruto even managing to not be hit once in all of his matches, to which the Uchiha was furious. Shikamaru suspiciously observed Naruto, concerned that this student was particularly… troublesome. Kiba was unhappy that he lost to the Uchiha, as he wished to test his mettle against Naruto. Mizuki called the final match to begin between Sasuke and his relatively new rival, Naruto, the call of which ushered total silence across the training grounds, Uchiha and Uzumaki staring at each other, Naruto seeing angry black eyes, and Sasuke seeing only the shadowy features of Naruto's face under his grey hood and cloak. This would be troublesome, as the full-body cloak concealed the boy's movements well… Instantly, as if some secret alarm sounded only for the two combatants, they approached each other rapidly. Sasuke in his slight annoyance went with an aggressive move, instantly trying to lay a fist into the enemy's solar plexus. Naruto in mid-stride feinted to the side, only for the Uchiha to pass by him harmlessly, and before Sasuke could realize what happened, Naruto quickly tackled the boy hard enough to send him rolling… Sasuke was prepared for the next strike: a foot aimed for his chest. He caught Naruto's foot and tripped him, and he stood as Naruto fell, preparing to elbow him in the gut. As he flew to the downed Naruto, the other boy rolled over in the dust, and kicked out to nail Sasuke right in the stomach from an angle, which sent him flying clear out of the arena and into a tree. Poor, defenseless tree; it never saw it coming. With a real knockout instead of a technical one as had been the case for the other students, Iruka called the lunch hour, ushering the students off to their meals as he and Mizuki took Sasuke to the infirmary. Naruto scolded himself in the relative safety of his mind for being tripped by such an easy opponent.

After the break, and all the students including one now conscious Uchiha were collected in the class room, Iruka and Mizuki began calling names into the adjacent room to tell each student whether they passed or failed and give them or not give them a Konoha headband. Some students came out empty handed, teary, and unfortunate failures. Others came out boasting loudly, causing a disturbance for many others. And then there was the Uchiha, who came out smirking with a relatively new headband tied on to his head, silently boasting of his power and allegiance to Konoha. Then finally, Mizuki and Iruka called Naruto into the room. "Naruto… it seems there were some… complications. I don't know how to say it, really…" Iruka started, until Mizuki interrupted. "Naruto, unfortunately you failed. There's absolutely no way someone could not use chakra when throwing shuriken to cause that amount of damage, especially one of your level. We've concluded you must have used chakra, and therefore you have failed a major portion of the exam." Iruka wanted to cut in, but as the Hokage said, keeping Naruto's real power under wraps was entirely crucial, and not at all optional. "And not to mention, boy, your test scores were more than… unsatisfactory," Mizuki sneered as he threw the papers at the boy who caught them, only for his eyes to widen slightly as all of his answers were incorrect, but the paper itself included questions he had never seen before. 'Genjutsu, so I must be meant to fail this test like the one from last week…' Naruto thought. He said nothing to his instructors, but only stared. "Naruto… you'll have to try again next year," Iruka said solemnly, unhappy that his "little brother" failed. Naruto nodded and walked off, and left the class behind, only to go to the top of the academy and ponder his fate, a haphazard void of uncertainty at the very least. 'There must be more to this, Naruto didn't use chakra surely, and I KNOW he didn't get every answer completely wrong. His answers aren't even relevant to the material on the test…' Iruka pondered.

Mizuki found Naruto atop the building, sitting solemnly, probably contemplating and lamenting his failure. 'What an idiot, he doesn't deserve to be a ninja, but what better tool than a damn lucky brat to do my dirty work…?' Mizuki wiped his face of dastardly planning and malicious intents before donning a sympathetic look as he approached the grey form of the boy he so despised. "Naruto, it's unfortunate that you failed. I was really hoping you would do well today, but… Look, Naruto. I'm not supposed to reveal this to you yet but… there is another way to become a genin," Mizuki smiled a bit too brightly as he told Naruto, who sat and quietly listened. "Right, all you have to do is get past all of the elite guards in Hokage tower, to steal the Forbidden Scroll. With this scroll in hand, you must escape the same tower as surely some guards will come to "stop" you, and meet me deep in the woods outside the west gate, where you will find a small clearing and a shack. You will have until midnight to learn a single jutsu from the scroll. If you are successful, I will personally be there to give you your own Konoha forehead protector! How does that sound?" Mizuki explained to Naruto. The boy wasn't foolish, he wasn't optimistic, he was extremely cautious, but for the sake of his career, he knew he shouldn't believe a word of what Mizuki said, as it was probably some ruse to get him in trouble. But then again, unrestricted knowledge from the scroll and guaranteed entrance into the shinobi world? Even if this was probably a lie, Naruto couldn't pass up this opportunity. "I'll meet you tonight, then, sensei."

As Mizuki sped off with a slightly twisted but certainly triumphant smile on his face, Naruto waited until he was out of sight before heading towards Hokage tower, the sun still shining upon the town…

It was night, and the moon was shrouded by thick blankets of dark clouds, providing many stretched, dark, and intense shadows across the quiet village of Konoha. However, if one were to look closely, they would see dark, quick blurs of something jumping from rooftop to rooftop, staying hidden in the shadows when a bright ray of moonlight was revealed, before continuing as the moon was covered once more. The process would continue for many minutes, the blur slowly making its way towards the western wall from the Hokage tower, urgently. While the gate guards were on duty, neither noticed the oppressive blur scale the wall and leap into the nearby forest, unseen and unheard. The blur sped through the canopy, quickly hopping from branch to branch with adrenaline-pumping endeavor, before arriving at a small clearing with an abandoned shed. The mystery character stopped before one could see blue eyes and licks of blonde hair as Naruto pulled back his hood, carrying a rather large scroll on his person. He checked his surroundings once more before squatting on the ground and opening the large scroll, before he delved into the mysterious and powerful ancient Forbidden scroll, intent on learning the techniques contained therein…

Meanwhile, ninja within the village were quickly becoming more and more hectic, searching every nook and cranny for a sign of the now-missing Forbidden Scroll and the boy who took them. One of the guards surrounding Hokage tower saw a grey-cloaked child fleeing the scene before losing him, and called to arms other ninja of the village. It was at this point even chunin were alarmed and sent out to detain the boy. Mizuki couldn't have been more pleased with this new progress. He rushed towards Iruka's apartment before hurriedly knocking on the man's door. He opened it to see a still half-asleep Iruka who asked "Mizuki? What are doing here at this time of night?" before he noticed Mizuki's "dismayed" appearance. "Iruka, Naruto must have snapped after failing his genin exam! He's stolen the Forbidden Scroll and has eluded our searches thus far! We need to find him, now!" Iruka was wide-eyed with horror and sorrow, feeling less of a man and friend for failing his brother like figure. "Let me grab my gear Mizuki, and let us make haste."

Mere minutes before midnight, Naruto was still hidden in the nifty little clearing, the scroll unraveled before him. Although Naruto knew even he couldn't use some of these techniques in many years, he knew just how valuable and powerful they were… so Naruto had been copying the most interesting jutsu from the scroll into a smaller scroll he kept with him, a note pad of sorts. He had also learned a new clone technique to make his clones into solid illusions, powerful allies to help fight enemies in real time. It was at this point where Naruto neared the end of the scroll and closed it as he heard someone approach. Naruto noticed it was Iruka that had found him, instead of Mizuki. "Naruto! What have you done?! What were you thinking, lad?! You've stolen one of the most valuable treasures in our village and have desecrated it as well! The Hokage himself has ordered all active ninja to search for you and to detain you! What is wrong with you?!" Naruto felt slightly upset while he let this sink in, before quietly responding. "Mizuki-sensei claimed this was a test in order for me to advance to genin rank. It appears he hath made fools the ninja of this village, and concurrently with the search of loyal ninja, he must be searching for me and this scroll… We should bring this back to the Hokage in the confines of Konoha's walls."

"No, Naruto! Wait!" a certain silver-haired sensei yelled as he too entered the clearing. "You have passed, very well! All I need is the scroll so I can bring it back to Hokage-sama and you will have earned your forehead protector. Hand it over now, Naruto." Iruka was shocked, to say the very least. This despicable man wanted to steal this powerful relic and frame Naruto simultaneously. He was willing to believe that Mizuki was willing to escape the Land of Fire with it, as well. "Mizuki! How dare you frame Naruto! This boy has… has worked very hard to get where he is today, and you mock him and me as his proud sensei, with this foolish charade. Surrender before the Hokage or ANBU get here, and I will make sure you are kept safe from harm," Iruka pleaded with Mizuki. "HA! You have absolutely no idea how much of a BRAT Naruto is! Nor can you conceive your own foolishness, you threaten me?! HA! I will kill you and that demonic waste of space here, and escape with a powerful knowledge." Mizuki quickly reached behind his back and launched an completely massive shuriken at Naruto, who was frozen in place, deep in thought. 'Iruka is proud of me? But why…?' He stared at the oncoming metallic weapon, approaching his skull at fatal speeds… before he was pushed to the ground and Iruka covered him, taking the shuriken in the spine, the weapon lodged so deep within him that the tip of the weapon was protruding from his abdomen.

"Sensei… why would you protect me? Why would you sacrifice yourself for me? You are more important and powerful than I… Sensei you shouldn't have done this!" Naruto said in shock that his sensei was bleeding out above him, and for the very first time in a very long time, Naruto felt fear, anger, and anguish boiling inside of his chest. "Naruto… you are like a brother to me…" Iruka wheezed out as he coughed up blood and fell to the side of Naruto in the dirt, breathing heavily while still keeping eye contact with the boy. Mizuki jumped down off of the tree he was perched in and began pacing towards the downed duo. "You remind me of someone who has lost everything. Naruto, your life is just beginning, and you have much potential… you must survive past this day, and you must show the world who you are, and you mustn't let Mizuki escape this unscathed with the scroll… Naruto, no matter what anyone says, you are neither a monster nor a demon… you are a human being… And I am proud to have been your sensei, and your brother. I am proud to have known you my friend, Naruto Uzumaki…" Iruka gasped one last time before Mizuki appeared behind him and shredded Iruka's back wrenching the massive weapon out before swinging it around again to plunge it through Iruka's head. "And with that fool gone, you are next, Uzumaki. Hand it over, and I'll make your death painless."

Naruto felt empty, like he had for years, devoid of emotion, until a moment ago when he watched Iruka's face distort with pain before the slashing weapon was sliced through his head, covering the boy in his blood. Iruka trusted him with the scroll, and he wouldn't let his sensei-brother die in vain. "Alright Mizuki… I surrender. Kill me quickly, and take the scroll. Leave this place free of your treachery, fiend…" Mizuki looked at the downed boy, covered with Iruka's blood and laughed coldly. "I was joking you monstrous brat. I'm going to torture you, slowly, and make you wish for death, one that will not come until I am finished flaying you and ripping you limb from limb." He stalked towards Naruto, a murderous smile on his face. He grabbed a kunai from his belt and prepared to slice into the boy when he felt something was off. He looked behind him and beheld a second Naruto with a second scroll strapped to his back, although still covered with Iruka's blood, aiming for Mizuki with his two fingers extended before Mizuki realized what was about to happen, he leapt out of the way just barely from a fatal shot, instead his shoulder burst into bloody, boney, sinewy bits as his right arm was blown into the bushes. Mizuki screamed in horror more so than pain as he faced the boy before he knelt down and covered the bleeding and fractured hole where his shoulder used to be located. The Naruto on the ground disappeared into a smoke cloud, Mizuki realizing that it was a clone of some sort. Naruto coldly said aloud to him from across the clearing, "You will not leave this place intact Mizuki. You will pay for what you did to Iruka-sensei tenfold!" He raised both hands with both index fingers and middle fingers extended towards Mizuki who snarled at the threat before leaping away where the ground exploded from the force of whatever Naruto was doing, before he looked back at the boy who fired his second jutsu from the other hand that hit Mizuki in the knee, which was accordingly blown to bits as his shin and left foot fell to the ground, twitching, while Mizuki screamed louder. He was grounded, unable to neither stand nor fight as he could gain no inertia to put force in his attacks. Naruto neared the down Mizuki, anger quite evident on his face and vengeance in his thoughts when the boy realized he had nearly no chakra left. He would have to do this the old-fashioned way… He neared Mizuki, who was bleeding profusely, and grabbed the traitor by the throat while kneeling beside him in the dark dirt, the blood looking darker than usual in the pale moonlight. "Face your death now," was all the boy said before he jabbed his other hand deep into Mizuki's abdomen, just under the solar plexus, before reaching up and grabbing Mizuki's heart in his fist. He had injured no organs, so Mizuki was conscious and could feel the boy's hand enclose around his heart, before screaming in absolute terror "YOU MONSTER!" as Naruto clenched his fist and the organ was reduced to globs of bloodied tissue, before retracting his arm from the now obviously dead traitor…

The Hokage had been also looking for the boy along with his many other squads of Ninja, when an Inuzuka ANBU alerted the Hokage, "Hokage-sama, there is a massive amount of blood nearby, I'm nearly retching from the stench… about seventy yards in that direction," he said as he pointed toward some inconspicuous trees. The Hokage left with his personal detachment of ANBU towards the location detailed, before even they without enhanced senses of smell could practically taste blood in the air, its stench unquestionable. They spotted in the darkness a small clearing ahead, and when the Hokage broke through the surrounding veil of trees, his heart skipped a beat, or two. The ANBU with him immediately stopped in horror and the Inuzuka was already retching in a bush, unable to handle the intensity of the smell, his canine partner whining alongside him. What they found was an old shack, and from their point of view separated two different scenes of vast difference but similar eerie dread. To the left of the shack, was a mutilated Mizuki. One arm was totally missing, as was his leg from the missing knee down. There was an obvious gaping wound in his chest that exposed many of his organs and tissues to the world, and they could see massive amounts of blood still pouring from the wound, filling them with terror and dread, although in the darkness they couldn't make out the final expression on his face. To the right of the shack however, they spotted the boy Naruto, just barely in the darkness, kneeling over an unmoving body, a pool of blood surrounding the boy and his as-of-yet unknown corpse friend, and they could hear the slight sounds of tears falling, something the Hokage thought he'd never hear from Naruto again. It was at this point one of the ANBU cast a light jutsu so that they could elucidate the situation. The immediate detail they saw was that Mizuki's facial skin was flayed, leaving him looking like a human meat puppet, even so far as his eyelids being removed, along with his lips, and all of the cartilage from his nose. Those that weren't already shivering in fear were now shaking explicitly. What they weren't expecting, or were expecting but didn't want to see, was that the grey-cloaked Naruto was completely soaked in blood, panting from exertion of some sort, and crying. When they looked to see the final figure of the three, they gasped, seeing a dead Iruka with blood pooling from his back and his head nearly sliced in twain, causing more blood to pool onto the forest floor. Naruto looked up, tear stains combined with bloodstains to give a totally horrific visage, the ice blue eyes unfocused and displaying exhaustion. "Orders, sir?" an ANBU asked the Hokage, whose mouth was agape with indescribable shock.

"Collect the bodies, and clean up all of this… this blood. One of you will take the scroll back to its designated location. I'll… I'll deal with Naruto, myself."