The Graduation and a Traitor

Ninja Academy

Naruto was bored out of his mind. The class was a torture no matter how one looked at it. Seriously, history, arithmetic, flower pressing for girls, these were some of the most useless subjects in the academy. He knew that the quality of shinobi education had degenerated but this was ridiculous. Instead of physical conditioning, tactics, basic medic training and other stuff which could save the life of a ninja on the field, these useless subjects which had almost no use in the field. His sorely wished to burn the Academy for the torture it put him through.

"Then why don't you do it kit." came the voice of Kurama.

"Huh, what do you mean by that. It is common sense why we should not destroy the only school for ninja in Konoha. It could cause a lot of problems." Naruto replied in a matter-of-factly tone.

"What I mean is why you even stay in the village. You are already skilled enough to leave the village. Why do you stay, instead of escaping to some samurai place like a Daimyo's court, or perhaps Tetsu no Kuni? You will be almost instantly accepted. This village does not know how to accept people correctly. If that monkey you call father had released the knowledge about me being sealed in you, you would have been the center of every attack by some misguided villager hoping for revenge on Me." enquired Kurama.

"I happen to agree with Kurama-san Naruto. Why do you stay here? You have yet to answer this question." enquired Yamato.

"The answer is very simple…" Naruto sighed,"… I have to stay here because I don't have the experience of being in an actual fight till now. I cannot leave the village until I have an actual experience in fighting against sneaky opponents. Tetsu no Kuni, while a good place for a budding samurai, has fallen from grace. Initially, it was a hub for powerful samurai from different countries to fight and learn in order to better serve their masters. When some samurai and blacksmiths made it their home, it had budding economy which was seriously hit by the First Shinobi War. To prevent such a thing from happening, Tetsu made a pact with every other nation to not employ ninja in their ranks. They opened trade to every country on equal terms. In the Second Shinobi war, Tetsu was protected by other countries, because it became a very important trade center. It was a bonus that Tetsu does not take any ninja missions and the samurai never leave Tetsu to gain experience. This has caused a weakening of samurai in their ranks. Now the samurai can match low A-rank shinobi but anything higher will beat them. The only samurai who can match an S-rank shinobi is Mifune-sama. This is the reason why I still stay here. As a ninja, I can gain experience. This will help me when I actually leave the village on my journeys. It is also the reason why I had sent some blood clones of mine. The money we made doing D-rank missions had helped me buy some cheap properties throughout the elemental nations. According to the latest report, I have one on the outskirts of Kumo, one near Kiri, one near the fire temple in Hi no Kuni, and finally one near Suna. I can leave the second I want to, after all, my space-time Ninjutsu is much superior to Hiraishin."

Naruto in his last academy year was able to create a Space-Time technique, which he called as Garganta. With the help of Yamato and yin chakra, he was able to rip the very fabric of space and time which allowed him to teleport anyplace he had seen. Even dimensions can be crossed with this technique. Most would say that it was an inefficient technique as it did not teleport him in a blink of an eye. Well, for that, he had Shunpo and Sonido. Even after being proven countless times of his accomplishments, Naruto was still the same in his mindset.

"But once you become a ninja of this village, you would not be allowed to leave the village and if you do, you will be marked as a missing-nin. The village will send hunter-nin after you. This would be counterproductive to your plan." warned Kurama with a hint of concern for the human he saw as his own kit.

"Don't worry Kurama. Young gennin pull out of ninja program quite often. And the higher ranks are allowed to retire anytime they wish. Their retirement will affect their status as a ninja and they will be civilians, but it does not affect their emancipation. They would still be considered an adult in the eyes of law. So even if I become a ninja for a small amount of time, they will never be able to keep me bound. I am too much of a free bird." replied Naruto with a minor hint of amusement.

Naruto still remembered the day he first entered the Academy. People milled around his siblings but once they thought that he was not interesting enough, they left him alone, not that it bothered Naruto much. He was not a kind of child who desired the limelight. While he was neglected and ignored for most of his life, he was not full of angst like Sasuke. He was not the light or the darkness; he was the shadow who just wanted to be left alone.

Suddenly, a commotion outside made him turn and what he saw shocked even him. His siblings apparently thought that paints and graffiti were a good way to decorate the Hokage monument. The graffiti they drew was also obscene bordering on outright vulgar. Yet, he knew that his younger siblings will never be punished for anything as long as they stayed loyal to the village. He had seen such commotions on many occasions and knew that this will result in a wild goose-chase all around Konoha. He simply palmed his face and went to take a nap. He was woken up a small time late, only to see his brother use his perverted Jutsu to give Iruka, their homeroom teacher a nosebleed which propelled him towards the blackboard knocking him out.

He once again went for a nap, wondering why he even bothered to attend the Academy. The Graduation exams were three days far and he could not wait to graduate. The Academy was such a drag…

Three Days Later

Naruto was at his wits end and this troubled him greatly. For the past two years since he first attained Yamato, he found himself losing control over his emotions. He normally had a very tight hold on his emotions, yet the past two years have been taking a toll on him. He often wondered if he would lose control and hurt someone innocent by mistake, but he was reassured by Yamato that it was his purpose to help him, which made him very happy that he had such a loyal friend.

Now, he was sitting with other graduating students in his class, which included all the clan heirs. This made this year's class very special. Firstly there was the next generation of Ino-Shika-Cho trio as their children. Nara Shikamaru was just as lazy, if not lazier than his father Nara Shikaku. He was an avid practitioner of shogi, go, and other tactical games. His only bad quality was his inherent laziness which seemed to plague every Nara in existence. He wore a simple shirt with Nara clan symbol and wore his hear is a pineapple style ponytail. He was accompanied by a big boned boy who was always eating potato chips. This was Shikamaru's best friend Akimichi Choji. He had spiky brown hair with two swirls on his cheeks. He was considered fat by many people, but no one had the guts to say it to his face. It was considered a taboo to call an Akimichi fat. Then there was Yamanaka Ino, Uchiha Sasuke's top fangirl along with Haruno Sakura. She had platinum blond hair and wore purple clothes with bandages. The three of them were close due to the relations their parents had as the infamous Ino-Shika-Cho trio. They were also expected to be on the same team.

There was a boy who had a small white pup on his head. This boy was Inuzuka Kiba, the only son of Inuzuka clan head. Kiba's attire consisted of dark grayish pants reaching to his calves and a grey, hooded fur-lined coat, with the hood usually placed on his head, over an apparent plate of armor and fishnet undershirt. He was loud, brash, and arrogant without anything to back up his arrogance. Because of his animalistic nature, he often tried to prove his domination as an alpha, yet was always effortlessly defeated by his brother and Sasuke. His pup, who was named Akamaru, was one of the young ninken of the Inuzuka clan. Next to him sat Aburame Shino. Shino is a fair-skinned child and the tallest member of his graduating class. He wears a light grey high-collared jacket, and has dark, bushy, brown hair and wearing his signature round and dark glasses. His clan was famous for their use of kikachu bugs which lived inside their body. He was reserved and most people tend to avoid him for they find him creepy. Next to them was Hyuuga Hinata, heiress of the Hyuuga clan and the possessor of the famed Hyuuga Dōjutsu Byakugan. Hinata usually wears a cream-coloured hooded-jacket with a fire symbol on the upper sleeves and fur around the cuffs and hem. Along with this she wears navy blue pants. She was a good girl if a lot shy and always stuttered while talking because of her lack of confidence. She had potential but it was severely suppressed by the harsh words of her clan and her gentle nature

On the far side of the classroom, brooding near the window was Uchiha Sasuke. He wears a navy blue, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar; white shorts, and, white arm warmers. The only loyal male Uchiha left alive by his brother when he massacred his clan leaving only his mother and brother alive. He was on a dark path of an avenger, and was completely obsessed with killing his brother. He did not even care about his mother now, believing that the only goal in his life is killing Itachi. He was also the Rookie of the Year and had a big fan club, led by a pink haired girl called Sakura. She was not from a clan but her parents were shinobi of leaf. She had a violent side, but it was actually a mask to hide her insecurities about her forehead as she was teased a lot when she was younger.

Finally came his siblings, Namikaze-Uzumaki Mito, and Namikaze-Uzumaki Tomoe. Mito was almost a carbon copy of his mother with red hair and violet eyes. She wore a blue tank top with khaki pants and blue shinobi sandals. She was loud and brash, but also quite skilled and was the Kunoichi of the Year. She held the yin part of Kyuubi's Chakra. His brother Tomoe on the other hand was a carbon copy of his father with blond hair, blue eyes and three whisker marks on his face. He wore black sleeveless shirt with ANBU style pants and black shinobi sandals. His behavior was also quite similar to his father with his calm and collected nature. Both of them have been taught by the best of the village. His parents taught them Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, Senju Tsunade taught them chakra control, although they only had high Chunnin level chakra control, Jiraiya of the Sannin taught them summoning and Fuinnjutsu. This caused them to grow quite well as a shinobi. They both had high Chunnin level Taijutsu, high Chunnin to low Jounin level chakra control; level 5 Fuinnjutsu and good tactical knowledge.

Today was the Graduation exams of the academy and the two Chunnin teachers Umino Iruka and Mizuki quickly addressed the class.

"Class, today is the final Graduation test for this class, I have seen you grow as fine shinobi in training and have utter confidence that you will be able to succeed. Let's start with the weapons portion. Everyone, assemble in the training grounds, we will test your prowess in kunai and shuriken throwing." informed Iruka and everyone began to mill out of the class. Naruto was the last to go out. He was a high level swordsman, but to achieve that, he had to neglect the kunai and shuriken throwing. He was only average in those, though he could throw senbon quite well he was mediocre in kunai and shuriken. One by one, the children threw their kunai and shuriken; most clan heirs got good scores. Shikamaru got 5 in kunai and 6 in shuriken; Kiba got the same results and so did Choji. Among the girls his sister hit every projectile on the bulls-eye, Hinata was able to get similar results as Shikamaru, Ino and Sakura hit 7 kunai and 4 shuriken each. This was mostly due to their fangirlish tendencies and their lack of training. His brother was also able to hit every target, as was Sasuke. Kiba got 8 on kunai and a 6 on shuriken. When it was Naruto's turn, he got a 6 on kunai and 5 on shuriken.

This placed him somewhere in the middle of class. The next portion of the test was a Taijutsu test. The students had to survive against Mizuki-sensei for about a minute and land a punch on him. This part was quite easy for Hinata, Kiba, Sasuke and his siblings. They quickly completed this part. He noticed how Hinata deftly weaved around the hits with a grace different than any other Hyuuga he had seen. Her flexibility helped her and if she developed it in Jyuuken, she will go very far. Kiba's family specialized in tracking and Taijutsu so it was quite easy for him. Sasuke and his siblings were also quite proficient in their family Taijutsu styles so it was a cakewalk. Now it was Naruto's turn. As he stood in front of Mizuki, his Dōjutsu started acting up. Well, it wasn't a Dōjutsu per se, but rather Kurama giving him a modified version of his negative emotion sensing. This was Kurama's gift to him last year.

Flashback

As Naruto made his way to his mindscape, he was confronted by Kurama. He had a smile on his face as he saw his adoptive kit, protégé and friend. In a proud voice he said

"Kit, in the last few years, you have come very far in your training. Now that I have completely regained my power, I give you a choice. You can either have a free usage of my chakra and without the extreme hatred that came with it before, or you can have an ability which I will help you write in your genes. So choose, which one of the two do you want?"

Naruto thought for a moment. While having Kurama's chakra could work and make him quite powerful when he was using it without any side effects, it was borrowed power. Naruto might have been joining the Academy, but he was a samurai at heart; and a samurai never depended on borrowed power. With the decision made, he faced Kurama.

"The ability; it will always bring shame to my samurai way if I depend on borrowed power. Although, what is this ability that you speak of?" enquired Naruto.

Kurama grinned and explained, "My negative emotion sensing ability. It will help you separate the innocent and guilty. You will be able to judge the person based on the feel. In other words, you will be able to feel good and evil. No amount of deception will be able to fool your ability. Now do as I say and give me some of your yin chakra. When I return this chakra back to you, channel it into your eyes, and it will give you a few abilities. Firstly you will be immune to any Genjutsu that can mess up your mind; secondly, you will be able to find see the difference between good and evil people. It will also help you follow very high speed movement. I remember that you have some problem when you use your speed techniques."

In the end he received Kyuubi's ability as a Dōjutsu. He named it Hanteigan (Judgment eye), where his eyes turned golden amber colored from their original crystal blue color. (AN- Think about Kenshin's golden amber eyes when he becomes Hitokiri Battousai.)

Flashback End

Quickly moving is hand towards his brow pretending to wipe sweat, Naruto used a small Genjutsu to disguise his eyes as his original blue ones and looked at Mizuki with his Hanteigan. One look at him showed exactly what kind of person Mizuki was. His soul was stained in resentment, hate and greed. He resolved to never trust him.

Mizuki wanted this match to end quickly so that he can commence his plan to steal the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. He lunged at the eldest son of Hokage but his son dodged his every attack and lunge. All the punches were either dodged or redirected, every complex Taijutsu maneuver countered. It looked like a gennin was toying with him. This drove him into rage and he increased his speed from high gennin to high Chunnin.

Naruto saw the change in Mizuki's demeanor quickly blocked a hit moving towards his head and weaved around the following axe kick. Mizuki was getting serious and he needed to end the match quickly.

Spectator POV

Every other gennin and even Iruka were surprised when Mizuki blurred from his position. Ost of the gennin could not even follow him. Iruka was surprised that Mizuki would go all-out against a gennin. He moved to intervene in order to protect Naruto.

Before he could even move, Naruto blurred and appeared by Mizuki's side. Quickly tripping him, he flipped Mizuki and his fist buried in Mizuki's gut. Mizuki never felt so much pain before and quickly lost consciousness.

Naruto POV

Naruto took a deep breath and stood in front of Iruka."I am sorry Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei lost consciousness. It was not my intention but I simply reacted." said an apologetic Naruto.

Iruka was conflicted about what he should do. Never had he expected a student not even out of Academy completely outclassing a shinobi who had been a Chunnin. He recalled quickly Naruto reacted to Mizuki's attacks and how easily he was able to counter them. But then, he figured that Hokage-sama must have taught him and decided to continue the exam.

Next was the Ninjutsu portion where the students were to display their proficiency with the basic Academy jutsu. One by one, the students came and went with bright shining hitai-ate. The only interesting thing that happened was when his siblings showed the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu rather than Bunshin no Jutsu. When his turn came, he quickly demonstrated the required Jutsu, took his hitai-ate and left without a word. The only ones who noticed his behavior were his siblings, but did not comment. It was just the way their brother was. Even though they liked him, they did not have any respect for him. Deciding that waiting for him would yield nothing, they decide to go home and then Ichiraku's to celebrate.

Forest Clearing

Naruto was practicing his katas when he felt the chakra signature of Mizuki near the forest. He knew due to his Hanteigan that Mizuki was evil. He quickly hid his chakra and followed Mizuki. Behind Mizuki was the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. This was something that made Naruto suspicious. He knew that Mizuki was evil, but a traitor, he had not figured. Naruto used his Shunpo to reach a little farther. As he was waiting and observing Mizuki, Iruka appeared and confronted Mizuki.

"Mizuki, how could you! Why would you steal the Scroll of Seals? What would you gain by betraying the village?" demanded an angry Iruka.

Mizuki gave an evil laughter and said, "What would you know Iruka? You don't know the value of power. Once this scroll is delivered to Orochimaru-sama, I will be given unimaginable power. Can you believe it Iruka, power enough to defeat the Hokage himself, but how would you know how valuable is power? You never had it and you never will, for I will kill you now."

Mizuki threw a Fuma shuriken at him, at speeds which Iruka could never hope to dodge. Naruto could not let a good man like Iruka die, so he unsealed a bokken and took out a bone-white mask with lines and wore it. He made this mask to protect his identity if he had to do something without revealing who he was (AN- It looks exactly like Ichigo's Hollow Mask, but does not give any power to him, just disguises his voice and face.) Quickly using a Shunpo to appear before Iruka who was bracing himself for incoming death, he deflected the huge shuriken with the bokken which was fortified with chakra to protect it from damage. When Iruka did not feel the pain, he opened his eyes and saw a young ANBU in front of him, wearing a strange demon like mask holding a bokken. Although it was unclear as to why he was using a bokken instead of an actual sword. The ANBU looked at Mizuki and said," Mizuki, you are under arrest for stealing important documents, attacking a fellow Nin, and treason. You can either come peacefully, or I can knock you out, since I am not allowed to kill you before interrogation."

"HAHAHAHAHAH, you will never get me that easily, after all, there is nothing a bokken will aid you against real shinobi weapons. Why would you use a bokken to capture me, afraid to use a real sword?" laughed out Mizuki.

Naruto muttered under his breath and suddenly blurred from view, and Mizuki felt extreme amount of pain. He looked down to find the bokken buried into his gut. It pierced his stomach without even having a blade and missed the vital spot.

Naruto looked at Mizuki and said," Do not worry about dying, I did not pierce any vital spot. Death is too good for a traitor. Wait here for medics and ANBU to help you, you are yet to be interrogated."

Mizuki coughed up blood and asked," Why did you not use an actual sword?"

"Scum like you do not deserve do even touch my blade, you will be executed, you do not deserve to die by my blade." said Naruto

As Iruka looked at the ANBU member, he heard the unknown ANBU say," Are you okay Iruka-san, do you need any assistance."

"Thanks for asking. You have my most grateful thanks." thanked Iruka.

Naruto smiled a little under his mask and said, "Think nothing of it Iruka-san. The ANBU are on their way, please stay here to guard the Scroll of Seals, I must go now."

With that, the strange masked ANBU quickly disappeared from view just as ANBU came into the clearing. After seeing the unconscious and bleeding traitor, the ANBU took the scroll and Iruka to see the Hokage.

Hokage Tower

As Iruka finished his tale, the Yondaime, considered as the strongest and smartest ninja in the whole village was confused as he never recalled any ANBU who wore the type of mask Iruka was describing. He remembered every ANBU under the village roster yet could not recall any ANBU similar to what Iruka was describing. He must be quite strong, to be able to pierce Mizuki with a wooden sword. While he was thinking of the strange ANBU, he decided to investigate about him later; Right now it was time to celebrate his children graduating from the Academy. He quickly wrapped up the last of his paperwork and flashed home.

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