Chapter 6

Authors Note:

Welcome back to another chapter! If you like the content don't forget to follow/favorite the story.

If you do not like it, please let me know why, so I can improve myself.

The scene of the "prank", Naruto pulled on Ino, Sakura and Sasuke, is heavily inspired by the Story Invictus by RagingSmurf.

If you do not want to wait for the next update here, head over to (P)(A)(T)(R)(E)(O)(N)/Tronic42 and read on. I am up to Chapter 9 over there.

Of course, you do not have to do that! The remaining chapters will be posted here eventually.

If you decide to donate to me, then a big THANK YOU!

The scene with the graduation exam was something from RagingSmurf's "Invictus'! It is nearly the same, so don't be surprised.

I am unfortunately lagging behind on Patre(0)n because I got infected by Covid and am mostly sleeping. Got better though :)

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Chapter 6

[Naruto Uzumaki]

It has been nearly a year since my reincarnation. Thought Naruto to himself. He was watching the sun set over the village. Having occupied his favorite seat on his father's head on the Hokage Mountain.

He worked on a lot of his skills since the day he nearly fell off this very spot. His theoretical knowledge has exceeded what the academy was teaching and his accuracy with kunai and shuriken is nearly on the level of Sasuke, which considering that the brooding Uchiha was the best in that category, is a nice accomplishment.

His thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly felt a Chakra signature approaching him. Recognizing the signature, the light stiffening of his posture relaxed and put a smile on his face.

"Are you skipping your paperwork again, old man?" he asked, not looking away from the setting sun.

Hiruzen sitting himself beside the redhead snorted lightly. "Even the old and wise Hokage, that I am needs time to relax Naruto-kun." Hiruzen explained with a grandfatherly voice.

"Be careful. If you pet yourself anymore on the back, you could get injured." Naruto answered with a cheeky grin, turning to the man.

Hearing a stifled snort from one of the places, where the familiar chakra signatures of the ANBU guards where caused a slight twitch on the lips of the Hokage.

"See, even Cat agrees with me." Naruto continued, seeing a chance to further the joke.

To that the man let a short laugh and looked over to the specific hiding spot. "Thank you Cat for volunteering to take over guard duty for my grandson for the next week."

"O-Of course, Hokage-sama." came the slightly subdued voice.

"Sorry Cat!" Naruto called out. "That was really a gross misuse of power, old man." whispered Naruto with a blank look. "I cannot wait to do it myself, when I am Hokage one day." he laughed.

Snort "You know, it is still impressive, that you can locate and even identify my ANBU's positions." Hiruzen said.

"It's still hard. My range is only about 50 meters and even then, I doubt they are suppressing their Chakra Signature to their best ability." Naruto complained.

He really did not expect developing the Mind's eye of Kagura, would be so, well, troublesome. The problem was that to train the sensor ability, he needed exposure to multiple signatures with varying distances to him, which would ultimately train him in not only recognizing the people by their Chakra, but also allow him to slowly increase his range. Unfortunately, Konoha had so many inhabitants, that it was headache inducing to train it, when not in the academy.

There his classmates were static, which helped him getting used to the large amount of information. He even improved from his measly 2 meters to the 50 meters he was capable of now.

"True, but nevertheless impressive. As are your improvements in general." And they were. thought Hiruzen. Naruto catapulted himself to the top of his graduating class for his final year, which was honestly a surprise to the old Kage.

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Flashback

[Hiruzen Sarutobi]

"Are you sure, with the placements Iruka-kun?" questioned a surprised Hokage.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. I am guessing that Naruto's placement, in particular, is what you mean?" said a happy Iruka.

Hiruzen nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"It is truly astonishing, at which rate he improved over the past year. His theoretical knowledge is among the best if not even at the top altogether. In Bukijutsu he is just behind Sasuke, while his Taijutsu is among the top 5. He uses a different style, which I don't recognize. If my observations are not mistaken, it focuses on speed and agility, with the option to use a blade as a weapon."

Impressive. Improving at such a speed with no extra help.

"His only problem remains in Ninjutsu" sighed Iruka.

Quirking an eyebrow, "How so?" he asked.

"I don't understand it myself, Hokage-sama." said Iruka, frustrated with the problem himself. "He can use the Kawarimi, and Henge without using hand seals, but his Clone Jutsu only ends in failure. They are pale and nowhere good enough to be acceptable."

The Clone Jutsu, Hiruzen frowned. Why should there be a problem and not with the other ones.

Thinking for a few seconds, he came to a realization and chuckled at the absurdity.

"Don't worry about the Clone Jutsu, Iruka-kun. I know what the problem might be. Naruto will have a Clone Jutsu ready for the graduation exam next month." he reassured the teacher with mischievous smile.

Flashback end

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"You would be a contender for the Rookie of the Year, if not for the previous years. Be proud of that, because your parents would be, as I am." praised the Hokage.

"Thank you." was the only response he received, but looking to the forementioned boy, he could see the pink hue that tinged his cheeks.

They sat there for a few minutes in silence and watched the, with lamps, illuminated village.

"Here, take this and learn it." Hiruzen said and gave Naruto a scroll. "I heard of your problems with the Clone Jutsu. It is unfortunately restricted in its frame, by the amount of chakra it can operate with. It is so rarely used by shinobi with extremely large Chakra reserves, that this particular problem never was an issue for academy students." he explained.

"I tried to use it yesterday myself but could not squeeze out the allowed amount and overloaded it too." he laughed.

That's surprising. I thought I just had to get better at Chakra control…huh.

Laughing, "It will be funny to tell my classmates, that they can do a Jutsu, which even The Professor and God of Shinobi is incapable of." said Naruto with a mischievous grin.

Turning serious and leaking a bit of his Killing Intent, Hiruzen said with a deathly voice.

"If you even think about it, you will do D-Rank missions for the rest of your life." threatened the Hokage.

Holy Shit! He is serious. "Of course, Hokage-sama" he retreated instantaneously, while sweat was starting to fall down his back.

The oppressive aura vanished abruptly and with a terrifyingly calm smile, the God of Shinobi too.

Taking a sigh of relief and opening the scroll he left him, Naruto was overjoyed, when he spotted the instructions for the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Rolling the scroll together and practically sprinting to his apartment, he could only think of the op Jutsu, he just got his hands on.

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It was the day of the graduation exam. The written part as well as the Taijutsu part were already taken, which left the Ninjutsu exam as the last hurdle for the aspiring Genin.

Already a part of the class did not pass, because they were not capable of the Academy Three Jutsu. The Clan heirs, as expected of them really, did pass without a problem. There were also other students from non-clan families or even orphan who passed and were sitting happily in their spot and watching their classmates trying to graduate.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you're up." came the voice of Iruka-sensei, who called the students to the front of the class to perform the aforementioned Jutsu.

Hearing, that it was their crush's turn to perform, the majority of the classes' girls started shouting and wishing the last Uchiha luck.

"I know you can do it, Sasuke-kun!"

"You will be Rookie of the Year, for sure, Sasuke-kun!"

"Hn." came the typical reply of the last Uchiha.

"It's really funny, that they think, that they can get his attention with the screeching they are going on about." Naruto said to no one in particular, after Sasuke was done with his performance. Unfortunately for him, that was also the time when the volume in the classroom lowered to an acceptable level, which meant that everyone heard him.

"Narutooo! Shut up you loser. You are just jealous of Sasuke-kun." came the voice of one Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino, much to his chagrin.

"Could you tone it down with the shouting?" asked Naruto annoyed. "That's just plane annoying…not to mention secondhand embarrassing." he muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear him.

A few guys could be seen stifling their laughter at the last part. It was a general thought, that a lot of his classmates had, but did not voice out.

Getting embarrassed and angry Sakura tried to punch Naruto, like she used to do in the past. It was the first time since his reincarnation, that such a situation presented itself. Normally Naruto would just ignore the Battle of Love between the fangirls, just like the rest of classmates would do, and since Naruto did not ask Sakura to any dates or even talked to her, it was the first time since he came across a situation where she tried to hit him.

Not taking it like his old self, he shifted slightly back and let the fist she aimed for his head pass him without problem. Adding to that he pushed her slightly, which caused her to tumble down the stairs.

Everyone abruptly stopped to watch Naruto, even Iruka, who was noting down the score of Sasuke on a piece of paper.

Looking at Sakura with a raised eyebrow and slight uplift of the corner of his lips. "I would not recommend doing that again, Sakura." came Naruto's slightly amused voice.

Coming to a stop at the end of the stairs, Sakura jumped on her feet hearing Naruto's mocking recommendation.

"Naruto-baka! What do you think you are doing!? You wait, I will show you, you tomato head!" she shouted, with a red face out of embarrassment and anger.

A few seconds later, Iruka-sensei shook himself out of his stupor.

"Sakura, sit down and don't try to hit your classmates again. You too Ino." he said with a tired voice.

Reluctantly, she listened and sat down with a huff. Ino was just too happy to sit next to Sasuke.

"Naruto Uzumaki, it's your turn." came Iruka-sensei's voice before anyone could say anything else.

Standing up, he made his way down to the front.

"As if that idiot could pass!" came Ino's voice from behind him. "He cannot even produce a simple clone." "Embarrassing, that he could get one over you, Forehead" she called out to Sakura, who was about to retort, when Iruka called for silence, again.

This will be fun. Naruto thought to himself.

Shikamaru saw the slight change in his eyes, which caused him to look at Naruto with slightly increased interest.

Since his conversation with Naruto a few weeks after he came back to the academy, he spent more time observing and talking with Naruto. Which was why he knew that Naruto was anything but an idiot. After his change in attitude, Naruto became sharper in his movements, and his Bukijutsu improved at an incredible rate. He even saw him practicing hand seals at an incredible speed and reading books on Advanced Chakra Theory and even Fuinjutsu, of all things.

So no, Naruto was smart and if going by that mischievous light in his eyes at the moment, he is up to something. Troublesome. Shikamaru thought with a smirk.

"You know the drill, Naruto. Please perform the Substitution, Henge and Clone Jutsu." said Iruka-sensei.

This'll be fun.

Making a couple handsigns, I made three Shadow Clones, which garnered me surprised looks from my classmates. Of course they had seen him struggling with the Clone Jutsu often enough, that the outcome was not expected.

After that the Clones henged themselves. When the smoke cleared, instead of the three Naruto's, Sakura, Ino and Sasuke were standing at the place, with Sasuke in between the two.

Shikamaru begin to snicker when he guessed what Naruto probably planned.

"Egh," 'Ino' exclaimed, "Now there are two of you. Too much forehead!"

"It smells like a pig pen now, Ino-pig." 'Sakura' growled, holding her nose closed, because of the 'smell'.

The two girls started arguing back and forth, while simultaneously pulling one of 'Sasuke's' arms to themselves.

This caused everyone, bar the real Sasuke, Ino and Sakura to start laughing. It was such a realistic replication of the daily situation, that not even Iruka-sensei could stop chuckling behind his hand.

"Stop using me for your bullshit, deadlast!" growled Sasuke to the real Naruto who was holding his stomach from laughing.

"Shut up, emo!" he called back without turning around.

Sasuke was just about to shout at him again when Naruto continued. "But the generous person that I am, I will fulfill your wish shortly." he called back.

Stopping 'Ino' and 'Sakura' and their argument, on who was more annoying, the two 'girls' looked at 'Sasuke' as he began to talk.

"Girls, there is no need to fight." 'Sasuke' said with a charming smile to them. "There is plenty of me for the both of you." he declared proudly to which Naruto henged as Sasuke and stepped forward. The two 'girls' squealed, and one ran to the clone, the other to me.

The whole classroom started laughing at the situation again.

Dispelling the Henge on himself and his Clone, 'Ino' and 'Sakura' were now looking at Naruto in their arms, which caused them to squeal even louder than before.

"Naruto-kuuun!" They shouted, hearts in their eyes. "You are so smart and handsome. Even your hair is beautiful and does not look like a duck's butt. Marry us, Naruto-kun!" they shouted in unison.

The whole class was losing it and Kiba even fell of his seat from laughter. Sasuke put a hand in his hair, muttering "No, it's not." and glared at Naruto. Everyone else was laughing at Sasuke, Ino, and Sakura's expense.

Ino was horrified, that her arguments with Sakura looked like that her classmates and could not even bring herself to be angry at Naruto. Sakura on the other hand was not red only out of embarrassment, but also loathing at the redhaired boy, who would not stop asking her for dates a year back.

Naruto used the Substitution Jutsu with his clone in the center of the podium and dispelled them, while bowing at the class for his performance.

After the commotion died down and Naruto sat down in his seat, beside Shikamaru, who muttered "Troublesome" to Naruto, with a smile on his face. Iruka cleared his throat and tried to get the class back into control.

"Yes. Yes. Thank you Naruto for your…performance." Iruka said, lips slightly twitching upwards. "You clearly can use the Academy Three. Good job."

After the rest of students have given their examination, Iruka-sensei dismissed the ones who failed, after giving them some additional information about redoing the last year.

"Now. You can all come down and collect your Hitai-ates'. Your team placements will be announced this time next week, so be sure to not be late." he continued.

Ignoring Mizuki's look and taking a Hitai-ate with a black band, he made his way outside.

The hard part starts just now. I need to get a lot stronger to match the powerhouses in the future.