Hand Signs [A Deaf Naruto Fanfiction]

Chapter Five: Traitor

He failed.

The clones he’d managed to create were terrible. He knew it, Iruka-sensei knew it, the only one who didn’t seem to know it was Mizuki-sensei. He couldn’t hear the interaction that well, but whatever he was saying, Iruka-sensei seemed to regretfully disagree. The most he could tell was the pale haired teacher saying something about passing.

There was an odd look in his eye whenever he looked at Naruto with Iruka-sensei around. When the brunette chunin wasn’t looking and he thought Naruto wasn’t paying attention, he was happy to glare to his heart's content. But when he knew they were looking the glint in his eye was familiar. It was similar to the look Naruto got when he was planning a new prank (he was due for one of those, it had been months but that could wait until he was less upset). At the same time it was different, darker somehow, in a way Naruto didn’t understand. He didn’t like it.

He sat alone on the swing outside the academy. Iruka-sensei was talking to proud parents, though the worried looks he kept sending Naruto’s way were quite telling and Shikamaru and his other friends had been dragged away by their parents. They were nice enough to protest a little, but Naruto understood what it meant to be told now by someone so high on the ladder--at least the concept since he tended not to listen until fairly recently.

The parents, mostly moms, glaring at him were whispering words Naruto couldn’t hear but he knew they were just as cold and spiteful as their eyes. It only made the disappointment sting deeper because for the first time in months, he was completely alone. Of course that was when Mizuki-sensei chose to show up.

He spoke too quietly for Naruto to really understand and when he tried to ask the man to repeat he was swept away to a rooftop. Deep within himself, he could feel Kurama growling, mentioning the smell of snake and how Naruto should get away from the Chunin.

Mizuki (he’d decided to stop calling him sensei since he really wasn’t a teacher to Naruto) went on about secrets and Iruka-sensei not letting him pass. He assumed the teacher had meant Kurama at first but he seemed to be alluding to something else. He spoke around it, Naruto only caught parts of it because the man didn’t use sign and he spoke fairly quietly.

“--secret test to become a genin that Iruka doesn’t want you to know about.”

If there was one thing he’d definitely learned while studying with Iruka and his new friends it was to trust your gut instincts and everything inside of him (including the Kyuubi) was suspicious of the pale haired shinobi.

“Brat, go along with it for now,” Kurama’s voice echoed in his head.

“Is that really the best idea?!” Nothing about this sounded like a good idea.

“Just do it. I have an idea.” Kurama’s laugh reminded the blond a little too much of himself but he decided to trust his partner.

“What is it?” He made his voice sound eager though he couldn’t quite mask his hesitance. Kurama said it made him more believable.

Mizuki’s smirk widened.

Shikamaru was worried. He hadn’t seen that look on Naruto since before they became friends and it was concerning. In his mother’s excitement he’d been rushed away before he could make sure the blond was okay.

It was something they’d spoken about in the days leading up to the test, the possibility of Naruto failing because of his clones. He’d been hopeful that the grade on the clones would be a small enough percentage that Naruto’s written exam could carry him but it hadn’t been the case. Shikamaru wondered if it was the bias against Naruto that was to blame. He’d seen the glares and dark stares the pale haired teacher, Mizuki, sent Naruto the entire time he was there.

The young Nara wasn’t sure what happened in the next classroom over but when the blond came back Iruka looked guilty and Naruto looked even more crushed than he had before going in. Normally Shikamaru would agree with the decision of the teachers regarding passing and failing students but this seemed different and it wasn’t even his personal bias.

Most people who couldn’t do a beginner technique didn’t have enough chakra or had abysmal control of what little they did have. Naruto’s problem was the opposite. The Nara heir had never met a kid their age with as much chakra as Naruto had. The blond had just as much, if not more than his Jounin Commander father. It would only stand to reason that Naruto’s control, especially when he was so young, would be bad. It only made sense that techniques that took more chakra would be easier than techniques that only required a little. So why couldn’t Naruto learn a type of clone that required more chakra? He knew of plenty that existed like water and earth clones, so if they needed to know the Cloning Technique to pass why couldn’t it be any cloning technique?

He’d barely been able to get a word in edgewise to his father, who was proudly telling the clan how Shikamaru was finally a full fledged shinobi. His mother was no better, the troublesome woman was gushing to her own friends about how happy she was that her Lazy Little Genius Shikamaru actually bothered to pass his Genin Exams. However troublesome his parents were while in this kind of mood, it did make sneaking away much easier.

Looking for Naruto was… hopeless.

Aside from Anbu, Shikamaru didn’t think there was anyone who knew the village better than its number one prankster. He wasn’t with Iruka-sensei or Team Gai, he wasn’t in his apartment and he knew Shino and Choji hadn’t seen him since before they were dragged away by their own parents.

He really wished he knew all of Naruto’s hiding places, it would make finding him so much less troublesome.

Shikamaru also knew that if Naruto didn’t want to be found, it wasn’t likely he would be. Years of pulling pranks and avoiding capture taught even a kid in bright orange with sunny blond hair how to hide. It was actually fascinating how someone in such an obnoxious color could evade even experienced chunin and jounin.

There was no way he’d be able to find the blond without a tracker.

What a drag.

Iruka couldn’t find Naruto. After Mizuki had swept the boy away he seemed to disappear and it was vastly concerning. Normally, even without truly needing more lessons and regardless of the way the day went, Naruto would come by his apartment to talk about it. It was a habit that Iruka had encouraged because he knew from experience that shinobi tended to keep everything in until the dam burst. He would rather help the boy establish healthy habits that would help the mental strain being a ninja caused than leaving him to fight on his own.

But Naruto never showed up.

He wasn’t playing pranks, he wasn’t with Gai or Lee or Shino or Shikamaru or Choji, It was like he disappeared. What’s more was that Mizuki was gone too.

The other teacher had been Iruka’s friend since childhood, and had been the one who helped him land his job as a teacher. Iruka trusted the man immensely but the fact that he was nowhere to be found at the same time Naruto was gone, especially when he’d last seen the blond boy with him was damning.

He refused to believe anything until he saw the proof himself. What motivation would he even have? Iruka, of course, knew Mizuki didn’t exactly like the blond but he wouldn’t hurt him.

Probably.

The longer he thought about it the more doubts he had and he hated himself just a little bit more for it. He shouldn’t doubt his oldest friend and he shouldn’t doubt Naruto.

There was a logical answer to all of it.

There had to be.

Iruka ended up staying in his apartment to see if Naruto would show up.

He didn’t.

~

Laying in his bed, in his dark bedroom, he thought about the conversation he’d had with Hokage-sama when Naruto had first been transferred into his class.

[Iruka.]

[What is it, Hokage-sama?]

[I know how you feel. But… Naruto grew up without knowing parental love, much like you did.]

Flashes of the Kyuubi attack passed through Iruka’s mind at the reminder of his loss. Nine long orange tails whipped about as the fox bared sharp white teeth through the dust and smoke that rose above the village. Shinobi, wounded and healthy alike, launched themselves at the beast in a fruitless attempt to stop its rampage. One shinobi grabbed a ten year old Iruka under his arm and carried him away from the chaos against his wishes.

“Let me go! My mom and dad are still out there fighting!” He struggled against the Jonin’s grip, his brown eyes meeting the deep red one of the demon who terrorized his village. Who killed his parents.

“Wake up, Iruka-sensei!” A voice called from outside his apartment and the academy instructor jumped to answer the door.

“What is it?” Iruka asked as he calmed his heart rate, his anxiety raised from the memories of that night twelve-nearly-thirteen years earlier.

“Come to Hokage-sama’s immediately. I heard that Naruto-kun… stole the Scroll of Sealing.”

It felt like Iruka’s heart stopped all over again.

“Th-the Scroll of Sealing?!”

Naruto wouldn’t, would he?

He’d mellowed out so much, surely failing the exam wouldn’t send him that far over the edge…

Right?

~

A crowd of Jonin and Chunin crowded the Hokage, attempting to change his orders.

“We can’t forgive him, Hokage-sama! This isn’t just a prank!”

“The scroll is a dangerous item the Shodaime himself sealed! Depending on how it’s used…” A Jonin with an eyepatch protested.

“It will be a major disaster if it’s taken out of the village!”

Iruka showed up with Mizuki just in time to hear the raging Chunin and Jounin and the Hokage’s orders.

“Bring Naruto to me at once.” He kept the order simple, enough to imply that the consequences would be severe but still not telling them anything.

The Sandaime had always had a soft spot for Naruto, he had to know there was more to this. There had to be.

“Yes, Hokage-sama.” They were gone in a blink of an eye.

Iruka leapt from rooftop to rooftop trying to use the buildings’ heights to find Naruto’s bright orange jacket or hair, but if there was one thing he knew the blond to be good at it was hiding. He was already out of breath; he'd been moving so quickly, trying to get to Naruto before any of the others did.

He knew of their bias against the boy, knew it intimately as he’d felt the same at one point, and needed to make sure he got there first. He didn’t know what could happen to his favorite student if he failed.

He set off again.

There was no way it should be this hard to find someone with bright yellow-blond hair and an orange jumpsuit.

Mizuki went after Naruto quickly, smirking to himself. He’d told the blond where to meet him with the scroll, afterall. Even if it had taken the moron three repetitions to understand.

His large shuriken were heavy on his back but all of it would be so worth it when he finally had what he wanted.

[I’ll tell everyone in the village about this and eliminate Naruto, and the Scroll of Sealing will be mine!]

His smirk widened. Yes. The brat would take the fall and he’d get the scroll and none of the leaf morons would ever suspect him. His standing as a teacher meant that no one would question him and the Kyuubi Brat’s standing as village pariah meant that no one would doubt the moron was capable. The idiot had played right into his hands, all sad and desperate and so terribly naive. It was almost impressive, actually, how someone who was treated so badly could still trust someone so easily.

Really though, it was just sad.

The idiot was so desperate that anyone even showing a hint of sympathy or saying the slightest compliment was instantly trustworthy.

Pathetic.

He moved a little faster, the Scroll of Sealing was within his reach. Just a few more minutes and he’d be off scott-free.

The power of the Shodaime himself, of the Nidaime and all kinds of forbidden techniques at his fingertips and no one except a single idiot knew.

It wouldn’t matter though, of course. Even if Naruto survived what he would do, there was no way the brat would get off with only a slap on the wrist for an offense like this. It was treason, afterall.

No one would miss the demon anyway.

Naruto was panting, the technique itself wasn’t exhausting the blond’s chakra—at least not to the point the scroll said it was supposed to, but he’d been going for a while. For a so-called Kinjutsu, it was really easy. He had decided to test the clones’ resilience, though, which had left Naruto the panting mess on the ground he currently was.

Mizuki would be there soon. He was late, but Naruto knew there was no way he’d miss out on this.

The feeling of familiar chakra froze the blond in place. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. Naruto looked up to find the sweating face of a very angry Iruka-sensei. Alarm bells rang in his head but, instead of fleeing, Naruto held strong.He absolutely could not fail. This was important.

“It’s all over, Naruto.” Iruka-sensei was angrier than Naruto had ever heard, his voice pitched low, though still loud enough to hear, almost growling at the twelve year old. Through all that he could hear the overwhelming concern in the man’s harsh tone.

Naruto played it cool and pretended not to notice, running tan fingers through the blond locks of hair and smiled sheepishly with a nervous chuckle. Iruka-sensei only glared down at the troublemaker. Naruto secretly hoped reverting to his behavior from before the man had taken him in would be enough to set off alarms.

“You found me…” Naruto had to think fast. “And I only learned one technique.”

The look on the Chunin’s face didn’t change but Naruto could tell he was observing every detail about the situation and thinking. This had to work. It had to.

[So he’s been practicing the Jutsu… ] He looked over the blond’s dirt covered clothes. [...until he’s become this exhausted and dirty?]

“Ano sa, ano sa! I’m gonna show you this amazing Jutsu!” This was it. “You’re gonna let me graduate if I can do it! Isn’t it true that I can graduate if I can do one of the Jutsu written here?”

The stage was set.

There was no way Iruka-sensei could possibly miss the message he was sending now.

Iruka’s eyes widened and he sputtered for a moment.

“Who told you that?” Even in his stressed out state he still made sure his words were clear.

“Mizuki-sensei!” The blond seemed oblivious to the Chunin’s distress. “He told me about this scroll, and this place…”

Iruka was frozen in place. [Mizuki did?!]

He didn’t have time to process it before kunai came flying at him from behind. With barely any time to react at all he managed to push Naruto out of the way, taking the hit head on. Most of them missed, thankfully, except for one in his thigh.

“I see now… how it is,” Iruka said with a wince, casting his gaze to the trees where Mizuki was now clearly visible.

“Naruto,” Mizuki ignored his childhood friend completely. “Give me that scroll!”

The blond’s eyes were glued to Iruka, wide at the fact that he’d taken a hit for him. The teacher wasn’t even sure the blond heard Mizuki’s demand. Naruto barely registered that Mizuki had said anything before Iruka was ripping the kunai from his leg, tossing it aside carelessly, and giving an order for the blond to do the opposite.

“Naruto! Never give him that scroll!” He was hesitant to look away from the pale haired Chunin who’d been his friend but managed to turn his head just enough to allow the blond to see his lips move. “It’s a dangerous object that contains forbidden Ninjutsu. It was sealed. Mizuki used you to get it for himself!”

Naruto glared at the Chunin in the tree, blue eyes hard with an anger Iruka had never seen from the blond before.

“Naruto, Iruka is only afraid of you holding that scroll!” Instantly the twelve year old, truly a child in that moment, seemed to have been reminded that everyone considered Naruto a monster.

The scarred Chunin could see Naruto’s trust waver because even though it seemed more than clear that Mizuki wasn’t as trustworthy as he’d seemed, the blond was beginning to doubt him as well.

“What are you saying, Mizuki?! Don’t let him get in your head, Naruto!” It was weak, he knew, against someone as damaged as Naruto tried to hide being. The last few months with the boy would never be enough to make up for the abuse he’d dealt with before.

Mizuki laughed. “I will tell you the truth,” Somehow it seemed that this would be the truth and Iruka felt his heart spike.

“Idiot! Don’t do that!” Iruka tried to stop him but he knew it’d be fruitless. He wasn’t speaking loudly but Naruto’s eyes were glued to him, no doubt attempting to read every word he said.

Something in his eyes changed though, and Iruka wondered just what the blond was thinking.

“After an incident twelve years ago, a rule was created,” His attention was once again entirely on the blond.

“A rule?” Naruto’s voice was barely audible, caught between believing him because of Iruka’s outburst and doubt that this would be some kind of sensational truth at all.

“That is, Naruto, a rule everyone except you knows.”

Naruto’s innocent blue eyes were wide in disbelief and Iruka could do nothing to stop it.

“Except me?! What is it?” The blond’s voice shook, torn between demanding answers and being fearful of what those answers would be. It seemed that way at a glance, but looking closer Iruka wasn’t sure that Naruto wasn’t aware.

“Stop it, Mizuki!” Iruka tried again, he couldn’t take the chance.

Naruto certainly didn’t deserve to find out like this.

Mizuki didn’t listen.

“The rule forbids anyone from revealing that you are the Kyuubi no Kitsune!”

Naruto could barely breathe through the confusion that was painted so clearly on his whisker marked face.

“Huh?”

“You are actually the Nine Tailed Fox Spirit who killed Iruka’s parents and destroyed the village!”

“Stop it!” Iruka broke free of the kunai pinning him in place, his vest and shirt tearing.

Somehow Naruto stayed composed, so composed that the tan chunin wondered just how much he actually was able to understand. He looked hurt, but he didn't look as lost as Iruka was sure he himself would feel if he were in Naruto’s place.

“Everyone’s been deceiving you ever since. Didn’t you find it strange? Why everyone hated you so much?”

Blue eyes narrowed and Naruto was angry, so much blue chakra swirling around the blond’s small form Iruka could see it.

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” Naruto cursed over and over, tears making the twelve year old’s blue eyes glossy at the reminder of the village’s contempt.

[Naruto…] Iruka thought as he helplessly watched the blond he’d come to care about so much come so close to breaking under the pressure of the words Mizuki was saying. Anything he said, his childhood friend would only spin on him to make Naruto trust him even less and he didn’t know what to do.

“Nobody accepts you! That’s why Iruka hates you so much!”

Iruka clutched his leg as the Hokage’s words from that fateful day Naruto had joined his class once again echoed in his head.

[Iruka... Naruto grew up without the love of parents. Everyone avoids him like the plague after what happened. That’s why he keeps misbehaving. It’s the only way for him to get any attention or acknowledgement. He pretends to be tough but inside he really is hurting.]

Iruka thought back on the pranks Naruto had played in the past, how the kid tried to play off his failures in class, how he sat on that swing alone. He remembered how Naruto would watch the parents picking up their children longingly as they received hugs and attention that Naruto had never felt before. He remembered all the time they spent together in the past few months and all the progress he’d made simply by being acknowledged. How he’d made friends and stopped worrying so much about proving himself to Sasuke and focussed on making himself happy.

He remembered how happy Naruto seemed when he was with them all.

It was hardly a choice at all.

Mizuki spun one of the large shuriken he’d had on his back and took quick aim.

“Die, Naruto!” He launched it.

Naruto, barely aware of what was going on, made a sad attempt to crawl away.

“Naruto! Get down!” Iruka yelled, emotion clear in his scream.

Naruto, who thankfully heard his call, braced for the hit but it never came. When the blond looked toward where the shuriken had been coming from a green vest blocked the view. Iruka had shielded the blond with his own body,

The shuriken cut painfully into the tan Chunin’s back and his muscles strained to avoid crushing Naruto under his weight. Blood sprayed from his lips as he coughed and dripped onto the small boy’s whisker marked cheeks. Naruto’s eyes were wide as the child stared up at him, shock, more than was present when Iruka had taken the hit from the kunai earlier, would’ve been obvious to a toddler.

Mizuki growled but neither of the two in his company were paying attention.

“W-why?” Naruto couldn’t understand.

Iruka hated Naruto like the others did, right? So, why?

Naruto couldn’t see the teacher’s eyes when he answered.

“Because you and I are the same. After my parents died, nobody paid any attention to me or gave me any support. I wasn’t a good student in school. I was the class clown, because I wanted people to notice me.” Iruka remembered, when he was ten, falling off the tightrope and into the water unable to balance. The kids in his class laughed at him and he laughed through the pain with them.

They’d never talked about this before, not in this way, but Naruto seemed to need the reassurance more than anything else. He continued.

“I couldn’t get noticed through excellence, so I kept doing stupid things. It was so hard,” Iruka choked on the memories, on his tears that dripped onto the shocked blond, washing some of the blood away. “Right, Naruto? You felt so lonely… right? And you suffered inside, right? I’m sorry, Naruto. If I had been more responsible, maybe you wouldn’t have suffered so much. But no matter what mistakes I made before recently, I’ll never regret the last few months that I’ve spent with you.”

Naruto’s lip quivered but the moment was destroyed by Mizuki who, by now, was fed up with what he considered to be a pathetic display of emotions.

The pale haired Chunin chuckled.

“Don’t make me laugh!” He scoffed. “Iruka has always hated you, ever since you killed his parents! He’s just saying all that to get the Scroll of Sealing back!”

Naruto bolted with the scroll.

“Naruto!” Iruka reached out toward the blond,in a sad attempt at getting the blond to stop, shuriken still lodged in his back. “Narutooo!”

Naruto didn’t hear him.

Mizuki’s chuckle was triumphant now as he jumped down from his tree and walked toward his once-good-friend.

“He’s not the type of kid who will change his mind. He will take revenge against our village using that scroll!”

Naruto kept running, adrenaline keeping his small body going far longer than lungs of that size would usually allow.

Mizuki kept talking, trying to instill doubt in both of them. “Didn’t you see his eyes? Those are the eyes of a Demon Fox.”

Iruka sat himself up and yanked the shuriken from the meat of his back, rising unsteadily.

“No... Naruto… isn’t like that at all!” He whipped the large shuriken at his ex-friend, who easily sidestepped the attack.

Both shinobi could hear it cutting through branches as it traveled up into the trees.

“All I want is to kill Naruto and get the scroll. I’ll take care of you later!” And Mizuki bounded off into the trees.

Iruka struggled trying to stand.

“I-I won’t let you…”

He was panting with no time to catch his breath as he made his way through the trees when Iruka, uninjured, came up beside him.

“Naruto! Everything Mizuki said was a lie! Give me the scroll, quick! Mizuki is after the scroll!” The chunin yelled to the blond.

He lept at him, kicking the brunette square in the stomach and away from himself and the scroll. The chunin hit the ground, shocked, and the blond slid down the tree finally able to catch his breath.

“It can’t be…” He got up slowly, his voice turning dark. “How did you know I wasn’t Iruka?”

He released the Henge and in Iruka’s place was Mizuki.

The blond grinned and in a puff of smoke, in the twelve year old’s place was Iruka.

“Because I’m Iruka.”

Mizuki smirked. “I see. What’s in it for you to protect the one who killed your family?”

Iruka chose not to acknowledge the suggestion.

“I’m not going to let a bastard like you get that scroll.”

When Mizuki told him about the Kyuubi, Naruto could barely hear him. He could understand what he meant and nothing he said made any sense. He wasn’t Kurama, he was a human. Was that why everyone hated him? Not because Kurama was sealed within him but because they thought he was the fox?

Kurama was positive that Mizuki was only trying to get into his head with the comments about Iruka but Naruto wasn’t completely sure. There had always been a small part of him that continued to wonder if anyone, Hokage-jiji, Iruka-sensei, Shikamaru, Choji, Shino, any of them actually liked him. Couldn’t help but wonder if all of this, the last few months, were a part of some giant prank on him. The giant fox said he was being an idiot but until a few months ago he had nothing. What changed? He didn’t understand.

He gave Iruka-sensei the benefit of the doubt for the time being, Kurama seemed to trust him, at least (and the fox hardly trusted Naruto so he supposed that should count for something). He would too, until the older man gave him a reason not to.

Then Iruka saved him.

He was so earnest about his feelings even though Naruto could barely even understand what he was saying he recognized the look in the chunin’s eyes. He’d seen it on the faces of every single one of his classmates’ families’ faces when they picked them up from school. Love. Familial love. He wondered why he’d never noticed it before when images of that same smile on Iruka-sensei’s face flashed through his mind. All of which were directed at him.

When he’d done well on a test or a spar. When they ate together. When he’d met Gai-sensei (Bushier-Brows-sensei was reserved for when he was talking directly to the man) and when he’d finally left the bottom spot in class behind--even if it was only by one place.

How had he missed it?

The Mizuki had to ruin it. He ran away and left Iruka-sensei there with a giant shuriken stuck in his back out of fear that it had somehow been a lie, a trick of the light.

Naruto knew he had to keep the scroll away from Mizuki so he couldn’t turn back but he didn’t think he ever felt worse than when he left Iruka-sensei to fight for himself. He wondered if the tanned chunin could ever forgive him for it. He decided to hide, keep the scroll safe just like he was supposed to when he saw a copy of himself being pursued by Iruka-sensei.

Then the doppelganger turned out to be the real Iruka-sensei and the other Iruka-sensei was Mizuki in disguise. It made his head hurt just thinking about it.

Naruto watched the pair talk from behind a tree. They were speaking too quiet to hear, but his lip reading skills were good enough to get the gist.

“--Naruto is the same as me.” He missed the first part but he caught his name and followed from there and sat confused.

Him and Mizuki? Naruto was fairly certain Iruka-sensei had said something similar before he took off. The blond was more inclined to agree with his teacher and pseudo-caretaker than the pale haired chunin.

Naruto’s scarred teacher didn’t seem to see the similarities either.

“--whatever--wants when--has the scroll,” Mizuki was speaking just a tiny bit too fast. “There’s no way that monster--won’t take advantage--power--that scroll!”

“You’re right.”

Naruto felt his heart stop and he hoped to every god, anyone who could possibly hear him that he read that wrong.

“If he was the demon--spirit.” The faintest thread of hope returned. “But Naruto--different! I know--exceptional student. --Works very hard. No-- accepts him and he knows the meaning of--suffering.--Not the Demon Fox. He’s Uzumaki Naruto of The Village Hidden in the Leaves!”

Even only hearing half of his speech, Naruto had tears running down his face.

Mizuki wasn’t nearly as moved by Iruka-sensei’s words and he removed another of his oversized shuriken from his back holster.

“You’re so gullible. I--going to take you--later but I changed my mind.”

The shuriken spun and Mizuki rushed the wounded chunin teacher.

Naruto made his move, launching out of his hiding spot and kicking the traitorous chunin away from his teacher. The shuriken went flying into the trees and missed its target and Mizuki flew backwards. He stuck the landing and used the large scroll as a support to stand taller.

Mizuki said something Naruto couldn’t hear and didn’t care to. He glared at the man with the same hatred he received every day, his usually warm blue eyes hard and cold with anger and disgust like nothing he’d ever felt before.

“If you ever lay a hand on Iruka-sensei, I’ll kill you!” Naruto didn’t know if he’d ever felt like this before.

There had been plenty of times, when he was younger, before Iruka-sensei, that he’d wanted the people who’d hurt him dead. This was different, stronger. Naruto wanted his blood and he’d have it if the man dared to make another attempt on Iruka-sensei’s life. He hated the feeling but he was far from joking.

“Shut up!--Take care of a--you in a single blow!”

The threat didn’t scare him. He made a cross out of his fingers, two from each hand, and his glare didn’t falter.

“Why don’t you try then? I’ll strike you back a thousand-fold!”

He began gathering chakra.

“Let’s see you try! Show me--do, Demon Fox!”

There!

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”

There was a loud bang and burst of smoke from all around the chunin and when it cleared there were easily hundreds, maybe even thousands of clones all dressed in bright orange surrounding him. They were on the ground, in the trees, anywhere they could fit and they all wore matching glares.

From his place, leaning against the tree trunk, Iruka was impressed.

[These aren’t just images… Those are actual clones! That’s an advanced Ninjutsu!]

Iruka grinned proudly, pain forgotten, before it evolved into a smirk.

He knew his faith in Naruto wasn’t unfounded.

He knew that the blond would no doubt be a fierce shinobi.

[He really is something.]

Mizuki stumbled, taken aback by the sheer numbers that surrounded him.

“What is this?” His voice shook and he actually looked scared.

Naruto and his many clones taunted him.

“What’s the matter?” One of the copies shouted.

“C’mon!” Another taunted.

The traitor couldn’t seem to figure out where to look, couldn’t remember where the real one was.

“Weren’t you going to get me with one blow? Here!” A group snarked.

The pale haired chunin fell backwards, overwhelmed, and Naruto’s confidence only grew.

“In that case,” Identical voices echoed. “I’ll come to you!”

Mizuki screamed as every clone pounced at once.

It was an absolute slaughter. Of course, he didn’t actually kill the man--no matter how much he wanted to--but he stood no chance against the sheer volume of clones that attacked him. Punch after punch, blow after blow, kick after kick until he could no longer move.

By the time he was finished the sun was rising and Mizuki was twitching in pain, bleeding from his face. The clones dispelled and Naruto looked at Iruka-sensei sheepishly, barely seeming fazed by the battle.

“I guess I kinda got carried away. Iruka-sensei, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” He didn’t look very okay, but Naruto assumed he meant that he wouldn’t die. He gave the boy a smile that looked more like a grimace. “Naruto, come over here. I’d like to give you something.”

He walked over to the injured chunin.

“Now close your eyes.” Naruto gave the man a skeptical look and Iruka-sensei laughed. “It’s okay.”

The blond did as he was told and closed his eyes.

It was unnerving, being in the dark not being able to hear, especially after an ordeal like that. He was still on edge and Iruka-sensei was injured but he trusted the man implicitly. He felt his hair move as his teacher played with his goggles and quickly became impatient.

If anyone asked he’d blame his eagerness to see the surprise Iruka-sensei had for him and forego mentioning his anxiety.

“Sensei, how much longer?”

“Okay,” Iruka-sensei was probably being loud so he could hear him but it still seemed muffled. “You may open your eyes now!”

Naruto blinked his eyes open. The morning sun was bright and his vision was blurry at first but it soon focused on Iruka-sensei’s smiling face. He had Naruto’s goggles in his hand and it was only after noticing that he realized that his teacher’s forehead protector was gone.

“Congratulations… On your graduation.” Naruto gaped, not blinking. “In celebration, we’ll have ramen tonight!”

Naruto felt a familiar warmth spread through his body and his eyes burned. He hadn’t felt like this since that first conversation about his hearing. His teacher’s smile fell slightly when he realized Naruto hadn’t reacted and that’s when his body finally decided to cooperate. For a moment, Naruto forgot about Iruka-sensei’s wounds and lept at him, hugging the man around his middle.

They both fell to the ground and the brunette chunin yelped in pain as his wounds were aggravated.

“That hurts!”

He squeezed Naruto tightly anyway.

~

If later that same day he also received two additional hugs and a nice pat on the head from his very-worried-friends who he then proceeded to recount the entire night to it was his business.

He totally didn’t almost cry again.

~

A few days later he was in Hokage-jiji’s office because of his registration picture. Honestly, Naruto didn’t know why the old man expected anything different, he’d been too quiet for months and this was nothing compared to his original idea.

He didn’t need to know he’d planned on graffitiing the Hokage Monument though.

Of course Naruto was planning on getting the picture retaken but he couldn’t help but have a bit of fun. Graduation day had been stressful and pranking helped. Especially since everyone was busy planning for Team Placements at the start of the next week.

That didn’t make Hokage-jiji any happier.

They glared at each other for a while before Naruto got frustrated.

“Henge!”

In a puff of smoke Naruto was gone and in his place stood a beautiful woman with similar features. His Oiroke no Jutsu was finally complete. It’d taken months of practicing but he finally figured out just how much skin to show and how little should be covered.

“Oh, please, Hokage-sama~”

The Hokage stared for a moment before falling backwards, blood pouring from his nose.

He released the transformation and stared at his grandfather figure with a mixture of shock and worry.

Konohamaru chose that moment to burst through the door and rescue him from the lecture he was bound to receive.

“Naruto-nii! You have to teach me that technique. You promised!”

And so Naruto spent the day getting bruises for Konohamaru’s failed attempts at sexiness.

Like always, when they finished their training they got drinks and sat on a log to talk, though now they mostly signed. Konohamaru was picking it up fast and Naruto felt warm knowing that a kid, only eight years old, was willing to learn what was essentially a new language for him.

It was nice.

Ebisu had a habit of intruding on nice moments, though Konohamaru finally managed to perform the Oiroke no Jutsu properly. He still had a bit of practicing to do but at least the result wasn’t… what it had been previously.

Unfortunately a single naked woman was no longer enough to set the brunette’s tutor off because he scoffed and called the technique weak.

Naruto smirked and created a bunch of clones, transforming all of them and himself into identical women. They pounced on the Tokubetsu Jounin with a cry of “Ebisu-sama~” and he was done. K. O.

When the failure discouraged Konohamaru, Naruto relayed advice Iruka-sensei had given him and he wondered if that feeling was the same thing his teacher felt when he taught.

He kind of liked it.

~

The wait to finally get to Team Placements Day was agony and when it came around Naruto was stoked.

He knew he wouldn’t be on a team with Shikamaru and Choji, they would both be with Ino to create the next generation of Ino-Shika-Cho. It sucked but Naruto understood that traditions within clans would be upheld, even if he hated it just a little. Shino was a good friend, though a tad quiet (even deaf Naruto was quite talkative but Shino was a good listener) and he knew Hinata was nice even if she was shy. Really shy.

He just hoped he didn’t get stuck with Kiba, Sasuke or Sakura.

He didn’t really know anyone else in his class that well, most of them hated him and ignored him, but even they would be better.

He and Kiba were too much alike to be an effective team, even if Kiba would likely end up a tracker and even though they got along better they still weren’t on the best terms.

That much was evident by his cocky yell as soon as Naruto had entered the classroom.

“Hey Dobe, this meeting is for graduates only! Why’re you here?”

“Are you blind? Don’t you see my hitai-ate?” He pointed to the leaf symbol on his new forehead protector. “I’m a ninja as of today, same as you.”

He refused to rise to the bait the way he had with the Inuzuka and Sasuke in the past.

His usual desk table was taken and the closest one to it, speaking of which, was where the Uchiha himself had been sitting so Naruto chose to be the mature one and silently take the seat, nodding in some form of acknowledgement (he was ignored but now Iruka-sensei couldn’t say he didn’t try).

Suddenly, in a blur of pink and red and platinum blonde and purple, Ino and Sakura burst into the classroom arguing over who came in first. It almost reminded Naruto of himself before he’d calmed down and actually had friends. He hoped no one else thought the same, it was embarrassing enough watching them do it, let alone being the one to act that way.

The pinkette rushed him, knocking him out of the seat so she could take it for herself and not for the first time Naruto found himself wondering what he ever saw in her.

“M-morning Sasuke-kun.” She stuttered out a greeting, cheeks warm from being in such close proximity to the object of her affections.

Sasuke stayed quiet, barely even looking at her, and Naruto was tempted to be petty and bring up the fact she often did the same to him when he’d liked her. He refrained though.

“Mind if I sit next to you?”

Ino interrupted before he could answer, though if he did speak the answer was likely to be no because that’s how Sasuke was.

“Hey! I’m sitting next to Sasuke-kun!”

“First-come, first-served!”

“I got in the classroom sooner!”

“If that’s the case then I did!”

Soon more of Sasuke’s fangirls gathered around them shouting about how they would sit next to Sasuke-kun and Naruto was still on the floor where Sakura had tossed him. He could help but watch. It wasn’t often that he was able to actually hear what was going on so clearly and Ino and Sakura were loud.

Normally, before finally being acknowledged by someone (multiple someones), this was where he’d jump on the desk and challenge the pale, dark haired boy. Instead he was planning on sitting next to Shikamaru and Choji or Shino but there were no empty seats next to them.

In the end Sakura ended up sitting next to Sasuke with Naruto at the end.

He hated it and his three friends sent him looks of sympathy which he greatly appreciated.

“As of today, you have all become full-fledged Ninja,” Iruka-sensei’s loud voice called out to the class, gaining their attention and he signed along with his speech. “However, you’re still Genin. The tough part is still to come!”

Naruto didn’t think being a genin or even a chunin could be much harder than how he’d graduated. Lee told him that most of the missions they went on were closer to being chores than an actual mission and chunin didn’t go on missions too much better. If Iruka-sensei and Gai-sensei were to be believed, they were sent primarily on escorts.

“From here on,” The academy teacher continued. “You’ll be in a squad of three and carry out your missions under your Jounin Sensei.”

Some people seemed surprised by that. Naruto probably would’ve been surprised too if he hadn’t met Lee’s two teammates, Tenten and Neji, and heard many stories about their early days as a team. Shikamaru hadn’t seemed surprised either but that wasn’t shocking, he already knew what his team would be and both he and Naruto knew Ino was going to be disappointed.

“I wonder who’s gonna be grouped with Sasuke-kun.” The platinum blond Sasuke-Fangirl teased her rival.

“I don’t know…” She sounded uncertain but the glare she sent her ex-friend said more than enough.

Sasuke seemed disappointed by the idea of being on a squad too but Naruto didn’t care because there was no way he was getting stuck on a team with the self-centered bastard.

“The groups have been determined so that the strength of the groups will be balanced.”

Naruto knew immediately that strength would be misinterpreted. It wasn’t to say that there were strong members to balance out weak members, but rather, their individual strengths create well-rounded teams. It was something he’d learned from Gai-sensei and he was grateful for the insider knowledge.

“Now for the assignments: Team One…”

Naruto couldn’t tune him out because then he’d never hear his name (though he supposed he could always ask Shikamaru who was sitting right behind him) but he was also curious about the other teams. He didn’t hear, or lip read, many familiar names until Iruka-sensei got to Team Seven.

“Team Seven: Haruno Sakura,” It was the first familiar name and he desperately hoped his name wasn’t under that group. “Uchiha Sasuke,” Ino grumbled behind him and Sakura cheered. Naruto tried not to take joy out of the dark haired genin’s misery. “And Uzumaki Naruto.”

Naruto wanted to slam his head into his desk. Life, the gods, the world, the village, everything was against him. Except for Iruka-sensei, Shikamaru, Choji and Shino. After this stunt he wasn’t so sure about the old man anymore (of course he was sure, just like he knew this was probably a lesson and some kind of punishment for the whole stealing the Scroll of Sealing thing…).

Shikamaru patted his hair, his face a mixture of a teasing, but lazy, smirk and real sympathy. Either way it made him feel a bit better.

Shino ended up being on a team with Hinata and Kiba and, of course, Shikamaru was on a team with Choji and Ino. It was one of the few times he’d wished he would’ve been wrong.

He could do this, get along with the two of them. It would be fine. Naruto looked over at his new teammates. Sakura was hanging off of Sasuke’s arm with cheeks as pink as her hair and Sasuke looked like he’d rather be dead.

It would’ve been funny if he didn’t need to get along with them somehow

They were doomed.

He was doomed.