Chapter 1: Graduation Day, Rigorous Trial 1/2

Twelve years ago, a nine tailed fox (or Kyuubi no Kitsune, depending on the dub) suddenly appeared.

Its tails lashed out, smashing mountains and sending tidal waves crashing to the shores.

The ninja rose up to defend their villages.

One shinobi faced the Kyuubi in mortal combat, he sacrificed his life to capture the beast and seal it in a human body.

This ninja was known as the 4th Hokage.

With the 4th gone, the 3rd Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was forced to retake the Hokage position and look after the boy in which the Kyuubi had been sealed.

That boy known as Naruto Uzumaki.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

7 years after the Kyuubi's attack, one of the founding clans of the Hidden Leaf, the Uchiha clan was wiped out almost entirely in a single night.

The one responsible was fellow clansmen, Itachi Uchiha.

The only survivor was Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

However, more than just Uchiha had been slain that night.

Kazuma Kamikaze, heir to the Kamikaze clan and Itachi's partner and lifelong best friend, had died at his hands as well.

This left Kazuma's younger brother Tatsu Kamikaze alone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

3 boys, all orphaned and alone, all striving toward goals.

This is their story.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(12 years after attack)

"Lord Hokage, it's an emergency!"

Sarutobi looked up and sighed "I hope you're not bothering me with some trivia. And don't tell me it's Naruto again."

"It's Naruto again! He climbed onto the great stone faces and put graffiti all over them!"

'Why am I not surprised? Alright, bring me Tatsu."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto had evaded the ninja pursuing him with relative ease "That was too easy."

"Was it now?"

Naruto yelped when he saw Tatsu (blue martial arts gi, brown eyes, brown hair and a set off glasses) standing behind him "Come on Tatsu, I thought you promised you wouldn't scare me like that anymore! What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking the two of you that." Iruka made himself known "You're both supposed to be in class."

"I was asked by the Hokage to come get him." Tatsu pointed out "The little runt on the sugar high here has no excuse."

Naruto responded to that by giving him the finger.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Come on, it was just a prank!" Naruto protested "And why am I tied up?"

"So you don't try and sneak out again." Iruka let out a heavy sigh "I'm at the end of my rope Naruto, you failed the graduation test last time and the time before that. Tomorrow, you've got another chance and you're messing up again. You're giving me the finger behind your back again aren't you?"

"...Maybe."

"Fine! Because you missed it Naruto, everyone will review the transformation jutsu!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright, Sakura here. Let's do it." Sakura went first and transformed into Iruka himself.

Iruka nodded in approval "You transformed into me. Good."

"Yes, I did it! I did it! CHA! Sasuke, did you see that?"

"Yeah yeah." Sasuke waved her off.

"Next, Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka called.

"Right." Sasuke transformed into Iruka.

"Good. Next, Tatsu Kamikaze."

"On it." Tatsu transformed.

"...Who's that supposed to be?"

"Kakashi unmasked, what else?"

"That's not what Kakashi looks like unmasked!"

"How would you know? You've never seen him unmasked."

"...Just go. Next, Naruto Uzumaki."

"This is a waste of time Naruto, we always pay for your screw-ups." Kiba brumbled.

"Lay off him dog breath." Ino snapped "We need the extra practice."

"Like I care what you think dog breath." Naruto stepped up and transformed. Into a naked woman.

"Huh?" then Iruka got sent flying with a nose bleed.

"Gotcha! That's my patented Sexy Justu!"

"CUT THE STUPID TRICKS! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"

"Alright alright." Naruto went to the back of the line.

Tatsu raised an eyebrow "You had that jutsu patented?"

"It's good for catching guys off guard."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After class, Tatsu met up with Ebisu at the hospital "Alright pervert, let's get the real training started."

Ebisu sighed and pushed his sunglasses "I wish you wouldn't call me that."

"I call them like I see them. You're pervert, Kakashi is scarecrow, Kurenai is feminist, Izumo and Kotetsu are the Eternal Chunin, Anko is sadist, Guy is… well, Guy, and Asuma is chain smoker. There only one I didn't give a nickname is the one man who I feel is worthy of being called sensei. Hayate Gekko. He's a great jonin and a good man."

"I agree. He's also a good friend of mine, which is why I agreed to train you for him. Now then, if you're still doubtful of my skills then let's get started. Tatsu, try and run away from me. I want you to try running as fast as you can. If you can get away from me, you pass and I'll give you 50% of my pay for the next month."

"Seriously?"

"Of course, an elite Jonin never goes back on his word."

"You're on. Later!" and he ran off.

'Oh this is going to be fun.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tatsu quickly took to the streets and then to the rooftops "No way I lost him already, I guess he hasn't realized that he's dealing with awesomeness incarnate."

"Oh really, and who would that be?" a voice called out.

Tatsu looked and found Ebisu on top of a building behind him "Okay, not bad."

"If that's the best you can do, you might as well stop now and give up."

"Not so fast, you haven't seen anything yet! I'm just getting started!" he threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared.

"Well now, this is fun."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tatsu took a moment to catch his breath "Pervert or not, he's a jonin after all. I shouldn't have underestimated him." then he saw a Make-Out Series poster behind him "Light bulb."

By the time Ebisu showed up, he could find Tatsu anywhere 'So he's given up running and decided to hide, has he?' he looked and saw the poster and quickly composed himself 'Control yourself Ebisu, use your eyes. Just what do you think you're doing, Tatsu?"

"...Well it was worth a shot." he transformed back.

"It was a good idea actually, using your surroundings to your advantage."

"Alright then, let's multiply this little charade. Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he summoned up to 20 clones of himself "You can thank Kakashi for this one. Scatter!" and they all spread out.

"Not bad. However, you're not the only one who can perform the Shadow Clone Jutsu my friend." he then summoned 2 clones "You can't get away!" he and his clones split up and quickly subdued each of the clones within a span of 20 minutes, before the real Ebisu tracked the real Tatsu down at the bridge "Well, had enough?"

Tatsu managed to stop panting "Yeah, I think I'll call it quits."

"Sorry Tatsu, this game is over. Though I must say, you did well for the first time around. I can see how skilled you truly are. Another few weeks of training, and I'm sure you'll be ready for the next Chunin Exam."

"Hope so. Alright, gonna head to Ichiraku, later." and he disappeared.

"Another Shadow Clone? Kuroga-sensei, your son really does surpass all expectations. I just know he'll go far.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After having him clean the Hokage Monument, Iruka treated Naruto to ramen at Ichiraku, when he finally brought something up "Naruto, why would you do that to the Hokage faces? I mean you know who the Hokage are don't you?"

"Of course I do." Naruto stopped slurping down ramen "Everybody knows, they were the greatest shinobi of their time right? The best of the best, undefeated ninja champs, and the 4th Hokage is the one who saved the village from the Kyuubi. He was the most amazing."

"Then why did you-?"

"Because I'm going to be greater than any of them. Me, Naruto, the next Hokage, a ninja legend. Then everyone will have to stop disrespecting me and look up to me, believe it!"

"You know something Naruto, I don't doubt that for a second."

Naruto looked to his left and saw Tatsu sitting beside him "Tatsu!"

"I'm serious, I have faith in you. I know you'll make something great of yourself someday, as soon as you ditch the pranks, the Sexy Jutsu and that annoying catchphrase."

"Hey, my catchphrase is awesome! Believe it!"

"It makes people want to throttle you, just like the jumpsuit. If you want a good catchphrase, try something like these: tell me who to punch, come back when you're not a bitch, or you can just kick someone in the nuts."

"Kind of crude, isn't it?"

"Says the kid who transforms into naked women."

"...Shut up." then he turned back to Iruka "By the way, I kind of want to ask a little favor sensei."

"You want another bowl?" Iruka guessed.

"...Make that 2 favors."

"Then what's the first?"

"I want to try on your headband. Come on, please?"

"What, this? No way. You can only wear the leaf headband when you finally graduate from the academy and become a ninja. You've gotta pass the test tomorrow."

"That is so uncool!"

"Hey, is that why you took off your goggles?"

"...I want another bowl."

Iruka just laughed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We will now start the final exam." Iruka announced "When your name is called, proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on the Clone Jutsu."

Naruto was internally freaking out 'That's my worst technique! I'm never gonna pass!' he soon found his name called and stepped up 'Alright, get it together Naruto. You can do this, believe it! Clone Jutsu!" he produced one crappy clone.

Iruka didn't look amused "YOU FAIL!"

"Iruka-sensei." Mizuki spoke up "He's off, but his moves weren't bad and he did hang in there and replicate. This is his third try, so you know he really wants to become a ninja. We could cut him a break and pass him."

"Mizuki-sensei, the other students created at least 3 effective replications, but Naruto could only create one and look at it. It's pitiful. I can't pass him."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

What's worse was that people were gossiping about him later.

"There, you see him?"

"It's that boy. I heard he's the only one who failed."

"Well it serves him right."

"Just imagine what would happen if he became a ninja. I mean, he's the boy who-"

"Hey." Tatsu suddenly appeared, clearly pissed "You know you're not supposed to talk about that. More importantly, it's not nice to gossip about people."

"Oh yeah, well what are you gonna do about it?"

"This." he formed a hand seal, and a gust of wind blew up their skirts as he walked away nonchalantly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was later sulking "Why?"

"He's tough, but he's not against you." a voice told him "He wants you to be strong, with all his heart, but that will never happen if he goes easy on you. He's like you you know, no parents, no family. Mizuki is the same."

Naruto looked to see a jonin with brown hair and glasses beside him "Aizen-sensei. But this time I really wanted to graduate."

"Well then, I suppose I'll have to tell you. It's a secret, but I'm going to let you in on it."

'A secret?'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mizuki was taking Iruka out for a drink, discussing the exam "I know how you feel Iruka, you grew up just like Naruto. You didn't know the love of your parents. I lost my mother to that sickness about 3 years ago, and chances are Hayate will die of the same thing soon."

Iruka sighed "I know, but-"

"Sorry to bother you two." Aizen suddenly appeared next to them "There's an emergency."

"What is it?"

"You both need to come to Lord Hokage's right away. It's Naruto. He stole the sacred scroll."

Mizuki froze "You mean the Scroll of Sealing?"

"Yes, let's go."

"Right!" Iruka followed him.

Mizuki hesitated, but followed a second later 'Aizen… that look in your eyes… it's too good, even in my opinion… what're you up to?'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto hid in the forest as he checked out the Scroll of Sealing "Let's see here, the first one is called Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu. Not this again, it's my worst jutsu!"

"What the hell are you doing?"

Naruto looked to see Tatsu in front of him "Oh hey Tatsu. Aizen-sensei told me about this secret test that will let me graduate. I've just gotta master the jutsu in this scroll."

"...Aizen told you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"...Never mind, let me see." he looked over it "Already know, not my chakra nature, not my chakra nature, not my chakra nature, saving for later, boring, lame, just downright asinine, ooh here's a good one. Leaf Dragon God."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several chunin and a couple jonin had gathered.

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

"That scroll contains secrets that were sealed by the First Hokage, secrets known only to our village!"

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

"Alright, bring Naruto here at once." Sarutobi ordered.

"Sir!" and they scattered.

Mizuki and Iruka stayed behind for a moment "Lord Hokage-"

"I know, but please find him."

"Right." and they left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Aizen made his way through the streets, a calm smirk plastered onto his face 'Now that I've told everyone what Naruto had done, I can eliminate him with ease. They'll be glad he's gone, and I'll keep the scroll for myself.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tatsu was panting heavily, covered in various cuts and bruises "How you making out over there?"

Naruto was panting just as much "I think I've got it." then he looked up "Oh, hey."

A pissed off Iruka stood before him, with Mizuki right behind him "It's all over."

"Got me already, not bad. You guys are quick, I only had time to learn one technique. Tatus was way faster though, he found me before I even started."

'They've been out here practicing. I can tell how hard they've been working.'

"Listen guys, I'm going to show you this amazing jutsu and you're gonna let me graduate and then everything will be okay! That's the way it works right, anyone who learns a jutsu from this scroll passes!"

"What? Where'd you get that idea?"

"Naruto." Mizuki spoke up, deadly serious "Was it Aizen-sensei?"

Naruto blinked "Yeah, believe it! He told me where to find the scroll, and this place…"

'Aizen?' Iruka wondered "Mizuki, do you know-"

"GET DOWN!" Mizuki suddenly pushed Iruka out of the way while Tatsu grabbed Naruto, and was suddenly hit by a barrage of kunai out of nowhere.

"I see you found our little hideaway."

"So that's the way, I knew there was something off about you Aizen."

Sure enough, Aizen stood atop a high branch "Naruto, give me the scroll now."

"Wait a minute, what's going on here?" Naruto stammered.

"Naruto, don't let Aizen get the scroll!" Mizuki forcefully pulled a kunai out of his leg "It contains forbidden jutsu that could put the village in grave danger. Aizen must've used you to get the scroll for himself, so he could use it for his own power."

Aizen retained his calm smirk "Naruto, Mizuki is just trying to scare you because he and Iruka don't want you to have the scroll."

"Stop lying Aizen." Iruka spat "Naruto, don't let him trick you."

"Oh, allow me to tell you who's really lying."

"No Aizen!"

"They've been lying to you your whole life Naruto, since the decree 12 years ago."

"What decree?" asked Naruto.

"Everyone knows except you. Even Tatsu knows. Iruka, Mizuki and even Tatsu have been trying to hide it from you even now. They'd do anything to try and silence me."

"What is this decree? Why does everyone else know about it?"

"Well-"

"Don't tell him, it's forbidden." Mizuki coughed up some blood.

"The decree is no one can tell you the Kyuubi is inside you."

Naruto froze 'What?'

"The fox spirit that killed Iruka's parents, Mizuki's father, Tatsu's parents, and destroyed our village has taken over your body. You are the Kyuubi."

"STOP IT!" Iruka screamed.

"They've all been sneaking around, hiding things from you your whole life. Didn't you think it was strange how they treated you? Like dirt, like they hated you for just being alive."

"No!" chakra began radiating from him "No no no no!"

"That's why you will never be accepted in this village. Even your beloved sensei's despise you, and so does Tatsu."

Iruka froze and thought about his conversation with Sarutobi.

"Die Naruto." Aizen summoned a massive shuriken and hurled it.

Naruto ducked his head and heard the shuriken make impact with something, then slowly looked and froze at the sight "Tatsu… why?"

"Because you're my friend." Tatsu sheathed his sword, looked back and grinned "You're like the little brother I never had and I'll be damned if I allow anyone I care about to die on my watch."

"B-Brother?"

"Like me…" Iruka spoke up "We're the same, Naruto. When I lost my parents, no one seemed to care. They didn't have time for me. They just forgot I was there. My grades dropped, I became the class clown. I just wanted them to see me and know my name. My schoolwork wasn't good enough to get their attention, so I did crazy things and then I had to pay for it. It was hard. I know that's how you feel Naruto." tears began streaming down his face "You feel lonely and it hurts inside, and I could've been there for you more like Tatsu or Mizuki were. I let you down, and I'm sorry. No one should have to suffer that much. No one should be alone like that."

Aizen smirked "Don't make me laugh. They always hated you. Tatsu and Iruka were orphaned because the Kyuubi killed their parents, and that beast is now inside you. They'd say anything to get the scroll from you-"

"You never know when to shut up do you?" Tatsu threw a kunai with a paper bomb into the tree next to him, detonating it.

Aizen suddenly appeared on the ground in front of him "A worthy sneak attack, but you only damaged my shadow clone-" he was cut off by a vicious fist to the face.

"If you ever go near my friend or sensei's, I'll kill you." Naruto snarled, his eyes glowing crimson with rage "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he suddenly summoned hundreds of clones.

"Interesting, it's impressive that you could master such a jutsu in a mere few hours."

"Get ready to pay bastard!" all 1,000 of him charged in.

Despite taking a lot of hits, Aizen eventually destroyed about 700 clones "Impressive, but not good enough."

"Then how about this!" Tatsu suddenly blitzed forward and spun, creating a tornado around his body "Leaf Dragon God!" he initiated the technique.

"What- How-?" Aizen found himself engulfed in the attack.

The mouth of the tornado dragon swallowed him, landing deep uncontrollable cuts all across his body as Tatsu increased the speed of the rotating, hurting himself in the process "Naruto, finish it!"

"Right!" Naruto created a few more Shadow Clones and launched himself into the air, then landed a kick to Aizen's torso, slamming him to the ground and leaving him a bloody mess left in a crater.

"Nice work Naruto."

"Tatsu…" his voice was quiet "Am I really the Kyuubi?"

"No, you're not. Sure a beast would go on a rampage and kill innocent people without a care, but you're nothing like that. You're one of a kind, work hard, put your whole heart into everything you do. Sure you mess up sometimes and everyone jumps on you, but your suffering only makes you stronger. That's what separates you from being a demon. Aizen's wrong, you're nothing like the Kyuubi. You're Naruto Uzumaki of the Hidden Leaf."

Naruto suddenly teared up and hugged him.

"And I know for a fact that Mizuki and Iruka both agree with that 100%."

"Yeah…" then he looked at Mizuki "Hey Mizuki-sensei, you alright?"

Mizuki coughed up blood "I'll be fine, just a little rest."

Iruka slung Mizuki's arm over his shoulder "I've got you." then he looked at Naruto 'He really is amazing, he wants to surpass all the Hokage and I'm starting to believe he might do it. Naruto, come over here for a minute. I've got something I wanna give you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Having watched the whole situation through his crystal ball, Sarutobi gave a small smile and quickly called off the search "There's no longer any need to worry, the scroll's safe and Naruto will be back soon."

The ninja were confused.

They had no idea that Naruto had saved the village from potential disaster.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Sensei, how much longer?" asked Naruto.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now." Iruka told him.

Naruto opened his eyes and noticed Iruka's headband on his (Naruto's) head "Wha-?"

"Congratulations, you graduate. And to celebrate I have a surprise, we're going out for ramen tonight."

Naruto suddenly teared up and tackled him "Iruka-sensei!"

"Hey, that hurts!"

Tatsu watched the little scene as he supported Mizuki's injured form 'Naruto, this is only the beginning. The road's gonna get a hell of a lot tougher now that you're a ninja. But if I told you that then I would just ruin the moment. I'll tell you later, over ramen.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later at Ichiraku, Tatsu explained to Hayate the situation "And that's what happened."

Hayate was taken by surprise "Wow, all that happened while I was gone?"

"And now Aizen's locked up for treason and Mizuki's recovering in the hospital. Poor guy, he's gonna miss Genin team assignments."

"And what interesting assignments they should be." Ebisu came in and sat down beside them.

"So you get a good view of Naruto's personality?"

"Let's just say I have a new view of him."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The day came, and the genin assembled at the academy.

Kiba shot Naruto a look of disdain "What're you doing here loser? This isn't for dropouts, you can't be here unless you graduate."

"That doesn't explain why you're here." Tatsu pointed to Naruto's headband "In case you haven't noticed fleas for brains he's got the headband, that means he graduated like the rest of you. I can vouch, I was there."

Kiba let out an arrogant scoff "Yeah right, they must let anybody graduate."

"That's the only explanation I can think of for why you're here, even Akamaru is smarter than you are."

This was interrupted when Ino and Sakura burst in at the same time "I'm first."

"Ino was first." Tatsu called without looking from his book "Hey Ino."

"Hey Tatsu." Ino waved with a bright smile.

Then Tatsu turned to Sasuke and gave a stoic nod "Sasuke."

"Tatsu." Sasuke returned the gesture.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shoved Naruto out of the way and made her way to Sasuke "Good morning Sasuke, mind if I sit next to you?"

"Tatsu's already sitting there."

"Oh who cares about him?"

"Anyone who cares about being a ninja. You should follow his example." then he looked and saw Naruto right in his face "If you're gonna do that, wait until it's cool, or at least ditch the jacket."

Naruto did. And threw it over Sasuke's face "Happy?"

"Very funny, you think this monstrosity will hurt me."

"Don't dis the orange!"