Encounter

Years passed by, and it was almost time for the graduation test for the Konoha Ninja Academy's students.

"NARUTO!!!"

"Yikes, Iruka-sensei!"

A spiky blonde-haired boy was seen hanging on a rope while painting the Hokages monument with various drawings, he grinned happily while holding a can of paint and paintbrush on each hand.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE DURING CLASS TIME?! GET DOWN HERE, YOU MORON!"

Almost immediately, Naruto was apprehended by Iruka and several chunin guards.

~~~~~~

Inside the class, Naruto was tied by a rope in front of Iruka. He was clicking his tongue in annoyance, not a shred of regret could be seen on his face.

"Tomorrow is the Academy's graduation exam, YOU have failed your exam two consecutive times!"

Iruka was furious and lashed out at the culprit, Naruto. Steam-like breath flared below his nose, and fire almost could be seen inside his eyes.

"Moron! This is not the time for you to cause trouble!"

"Yeah yeah..."

Hearing Naruto's nonchalant answer, something snapped inside Iruka, and veins bulged on his forehead. "TIME FOR A REVIEW TEST ON [Henge no jutsu]! Everyone line up, one by one, and transform into me!"

Chittering from the students was buzzed like bees. They reluctantly lined up and occasionally threw an angry gaze at Naruto.

~~~~~~~

Chouji was, as usual, munching on his snacks while standing in the queue line.

'This Naruto is quite a handful guy, all year round he keeps getting in trouble...'

He threw a quick glance at Naruto and kept in mind not to tangle too much with this troublemaker. Although he knew that this little guy was just lonely so he kept seeking attention, he also noticed that the Hokage, or at least the Anbu, were keeping an eye on him.

'The unknown factor is too risky, based on Shikamaru's analysis, he is the so-called jinchuriki of the Kyuubi.'

Lost in his thought, quickly, it was chouji's turn to perform. With a puff of smoke, Chouji transformed into Iruka.

"Passed, brilliant! Next..." As expected, Chouji passed the review test easily.

Not different from the transformation technique, Chouji is also able to perform both the clone technique and the body replacement technique easily. Thus, he was able to pass the graduation exam with flying colors and placed second in the overall ranking, with the Uchiha heir as the first and Shikamaru as the third.

Although Chouji was able to outdo the Uchiha heir in the practical test, literally acing it, he was far from the best in the written test, the theory was never Chouji's forte. So, his overall score was less than the Uchiha heir. While Shikamaru was able to score a perfect mark on the written test, he was too lazy to bother to perform his best on the practical exam.

~~~~~

The night after the exam, Chouji was strolling by himself after he was told by his homeroom teacher, Iruka, to assemble at the training ground in the morning.

Shikamaru was held by his mom to accompany her went shopping, while Ino went out with Sakura to do their stuff.

As he walked far in the forest, Chouji felt a massive amount of chakras being used.

Chouji was not a sensor-nin, but it was hard not to notice if the amount of the flared chakra was that massive. He was sure that he was not the only one who felt that chakra.

'Hm? What was that?' Instantly, Chouji was put up his guard. With his agile body, he sneakily went into the forest and swiftly searched for the chakra source.

"I DID IT-DATTEBAYO!"

Even without his sharp hearing, Chouji knew he would be able to hear this loud shout. He recognized this voice, it belonged to the blonde troublemaker, Naruto Uzumaki.

Positioning himself on a high tree while hiding under the shadow of the leaves from the tree beside him, Chouji subtlety erases his presence to spy on Naruto. As big as he is, espionage is one of the basic things taught in the academy.

'What is this guy doing?'

Chouji saw Naruto with a big scroll on his back did a few hand-seals and summons a few clones.

'He practicing the clone technique? But didn't he fail already? Wait, there is something different about that clone...'

Scrunching his eyebrows, Chouji observed Naruto's clones. He stared intently at them, analyzing each and every one of them.

'They look more solid, and there are few to no differences between them and the original...'

Maybe Chouji would think differently if he had the Hyuga's Byakugan, but with his current knowledge and capabilities, that was his conclusion. Chouji's curiosity was at its peak, and this Naruto began to intrigue him. He stared intently at his every move, including his hand seals.

'I might try that later...'

~~~~~~

Slightly more than an hour passed by, and Naruto unceasingly trained even when his clothes were in a tattered state and his breaths were ragged.

"I've found you..."

Iruka suddenly flickered in front of the panting Naruto.

"Oh, I've found the pervert nose bleeder sensei!"

"IDIOT! I AM THE ONE WHO FOUND YOU!"

Naruto was grinning foolishly while looking at Iruka. Meanwhile, Iruka was surprised to see the state Naruto was in.

"Hehe, yes yes~ Sensei, you've found me, I was only able to learn one skill from it," Naruto said happily while scratching his cheek and patting the big scroll.

"Naruto... you're beaten up like an abandoned dog, what are you doing?" Iruka said he observed Naruto from head to toe.

"Never mind that, Iruka-sensei! I'm going to try an incredible technique if I'm able to do it... Let me graduate, alright?!" Then Naruto began to form a hand-seal without waiting for the dumbfounded Iruka in front of him to respond.

"Oy Naruto, where did you get that scroll on your back?" Iruka said interrupting the enthusiast Naruto.

"Oh, this? Mizuki-sensei told me about it, and guess what? He also told me about this perfect place for training!" declared Naruto proudly, he was grinning widely, and his face was saying something along the lines of 'praise me now'.

"He said that if I show you this technique, you will have no choice but to let me graduate dattebayo!"

'Mizuki...?'

Iruka frowned upon hearing Naruto's words, he sensed that something was amiss. Then, Iruka's danger sense was flaring. By reflex, Iruka pushed Naruto away and crossed his eyes in front of his face. Flurries of kunais and shurikens were rained onto Iruka which resulted in him being stabbed in several places, luckily, none of them hit the vital area.

'Dang it, I let my guard down...'

"Nice job in finding him..."

A man with white shoulder-length hair with a slight hint of blue to it and green eyes was squatting on top of a tree branch. He wore the standard attire of the Konoha's shinobi which included the flak jacket and forehead protector that he wore like a bandana.

"Now Naruto, give me the scroll." Mizuki flatly said while turning his head in Naruto's direction, his finger was hooked, and Kunai could be seen clearly dangling on his hooked finger.

"W-What's going on here?!" Naruto was baffled by the sudden turn of events.