Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ All for One ❯ Tests, then the Academy ( Chapter 7 )

All for One

 

“Naruto-kun, what brings you here today?” The Hokage asked his small, purple-eyed guest.

 

Naruto looked at him like he was going senile. “Um, oji-san? You called me here.”

 

The Hokage grinned, acting like he knew that. `Damn, I forgot that.' “I know, Naruto-kun. I was just testing you. You passed!”

 

Naruto looked at the aged Hokage. “Riiiight.”

 

“Well, Naruto-kun, I'm here to test your progress in your training. As you know, it's been over two years since you've began it, and I am eager to see what you've been working on.”

 

The now eight-year old Naruto nodded. “I know, and in three more, I'll be going to the academy!” Naruto knew that because Kurenai, Anko, and Hana, all of whom were three years older then he was, were on their way to their first day as he spoke. That was both a good thing and bad thing. On the good side, he got more personalized attention. On the bad side, he wouldn't be seeing his three slightly older friends nearly as often.

 

Kurenai was really nice to Naruto. She often brought him some kind of food before their lesson, and never hesitated to help Naruto on some genjutsu concept he wasn't doing well on. It was thanks to her care and help that he had finally mastered his favorite genjutsu, the Kage Kase no Jutsu (Shadow Shackle Technique), a move that required absolute control and concentration.

 

Out of all three of them, Hana was the only one that Naruto knew he'd see on a regular basis. After all, she was training to be a veterinarian as well as a shinobi, and he took Kouken to see her frequently, to make sure he didn't get ticks, fleas, or a strange disease. She was also one of best people to talk to when you had a problem.

 

And Anko… Anko was confusing. Before her disappearance, then subsequent recovery, she had been a sweet, calm girl who was very giving. Now she was more rude, had a tendency to jump at small noises, and was known for killing all the snakes she could find. She also was known for rubbing her neck at random times, and cursing a lot for an eleven year old.

 

“That's right.” The Hokage said. “In three more years, you'll be off to the academy. But for right now, I'm going to test your progress on each of the subjects you've been learning with your tutors. If you do well, I have a special gift for you.”

 

Snapped out of his melancholy by the promise of a gift, Naruto grinned. “Bring on your tests!”

 

The Hokage grinned, and said, “First test, Naruto. What are the eight `target' body parts that you should attempt to strike at when fighting?”

 

Naruto thought for a moment. “Heart, Lungs, Clavicle, Jugular, Kidneys, Spine, Brain, and… Liver!”

 

“Good Job, Naruto!” The Hokage said calmly, though his inner Sandaime was another story all together. Inside his head, a chibi-sandaime was jumping up and down, waving flags that read `Go, Naru Go!'. “Next test: Taste this pudding, and tell me the ingredients.” He handed over a small dish of chocolate pudding. Naruto tasted it.

 

“Butter, Pure Vanilla, Cornstarch, sugar, salt, milk, and a little chocolate powder.” Again, the Sandaime applauded his correct answer.

 

The tests went on for hours. Next, Naruto was told to determine the proper plan for combating a Jounin missing nin from Kiri with a high power accomplice, with only a Jounin sensei, a gennin team, and an inebriated old man. He solved it easily, with the gennin distracting the accomplice as a team while the Jounin dealt with the bigger threat.

 

Then he was told to anticipate the reaction a sick comrade would give when knocked out of action for months. Naruto was correct in his decision that he would have yelled to get a medic nin quickly, and if one was not nearby, he would throw kunai at everyone he could see. Unbeknownst to Naruto, that exact situation was playing itself out right now during combat between a three-man Jounin team and a squad of Wind Country troops.

 

Then, Naruto was given a list of plants and was told to choose the ones that were edible. Once again, Naruto got that right, after deciding that it would be best not to eat pine cones or those little red strawberries that grew in people's gardens.

 

Animal Training was the next subject to be tested. Naruto simply had to describe the handling procedure for a dog that was giving birth to triplets and wasn't happy about it. That was an easy task, as that exact thing had happened one time when Naruto was visiting the Inuzuka compound.

 

The last non-practical exam was on book smarts. Naruto breezed through this one. He just had Inner Naruto take control for a little while, and while Sandaime had to put up with much screaming and cursing from Naruto's inner persona, he also received the correct answers.

 

Then it was on to the practical exams. Stealth and Tracking was the first up, as Naruto had to complete a D-rank mission (find a runaway cat) before a gennin team. He had to hide from the team, locate the cat, then bring the cat back to the Hokage tower. Once the mission was completed, Sandaime surprised Naruto by giving him the mission fee, saying that he had earned it.

 

Taijutsu was next. For that, Naruto simply had to defeat a member of the aforementioned gennin team in an all taijutsu sparring match. When he entered the training ground, he was worried about having a difficult fight. Those worries were quickly alleviated.

 

As he analyzed his opponent, he noticed that his stance was slack, he had almost no actual style, and he expected to easily beat the younger, smaller Naruto. Naruto sealed his fate with a few words. “Hey, I found your cat about an hour ago.” Having spent all morning chasing after that cat, the gennin was enraged and charged at Naruto, screaming death threats.

 

He then found himself on the ground, having been subjected to a spinning-heel kick from Naruto. Trying to get up, he found it was quite impossible, as Naruto was standing on his back, with one leg lifted high into the air. “If you don't give up, this foot is breaking your neck.” The boy said calmly. The gennin didn't have to think hard about his response.

 

As the Sandaime watched the fight, two thoughts crossed his mind. `My, Naruto-kun sure likes kicks.' Was the first one. The second was `We really need to up taijutsu training at the academy.'

 

The test after that was chakra control. Naruto simply had to perform the tree climbing exercise, running up and down the tree ten times. He finished quickly, and added two more for good measure.

 

The weapons proficiency test was next. Naruto had to fight another one of that gennin team, only this time they were armed. The opponent chose a standard katana to fight with, while Naruto went with his weapon of choice, a double-headed spear.

 

The gennin thought he had the advantage in this fight for the same reasons his teammate did: they were older and bigger. Then, just as quickly as his teammate was, he was disabused of that notion. Striking out with the steel heads of the spear, the wooden staff of the spear, and his own tough feet, Naruto easily defeated the gennin.

 

Genjutsu was the next test. He had to perform a genjutsu of his choosing on the final member of the gennin team whose life he had been making miserable all morning. The last member was obviously the brainy kind, as she had no muscle on her whatsoever, and was armed with a case of scrolls. She also looked smug, and confident that Naruto wouldn't be able to affect her with a genjutsu.

 

Naruto simply looked at her, and then made the Tori (bird) seal. “Kage Kase no Jutsu (Shadow Shackle Technique)” he whispered.

 

The gennin moved her hands into the cancel seal, or at least, she tried to. But she found herself unable to move her arms, or her legs for that matter. In shock, she looked over at her arm. Her shadow had formed a chain and was connected to her wrist, chaining her to the ground. Or at least, that's what her mind told her.

 

Naruto watched the formerly smug gennin struggle and wail that she was shackled to the ground. Eventually, the wails got more annoying then amusing, and Naruto launched a small chakra pulse that dissolved the genjutsu.

 

`Well, that was certainly efficient.' Sandaime thought.

 

The final test was ninjutsu. Sandaime took Naruto out to an empty training field, where he was pointed at a target dummy. “Just destroy the dummy, Naruto-kun, and you'll have passed the last test.” Naruto didn't need to be told twice, and bit him thumb before springing into familiar seals.

 

“Kuchyose no Jutsu! (Summoning Technique)” he yelled as he pounded his hand into the ground. The familiar plume of smoke erupted, and Naruto found himself standing on Shainingu's head.

 

“Whatcha need, Naru?” the great silver dragon asked.

 

“We're showing off!” Naruto replied. “Let's go with combo attack number seven!”

 

“Gotcha!” Shainingu said, then took a deep breath. As he exhaled, the dragon yelled “Ryuton: Hikasui! (Dragon Style: Ice Spikes)”. A flurry of sharp icicles flew towards the practice dummy.

 

Naruto pointed his fist toward the center of the spikes, channeled his chakra, and yelled “Dendouse! (Electric Current)” A small line of electricity shot towards the spikes, and connected with one. The current bounced off of it, and connected with another. Pretty soon, it had hit every single one of those spikes, leaving them all with some electric charge. With a thunk and a sizzling sound, the electrified ice impacted the dummy.

 

The Sandaime looked at the aftermath: a dummy that was charred in some places, frozen in others, and had more holes then a sieve. “I think that will do, Naruto-kun.”

 

From his lofty perch, Naruto yelled “Remember to thank Shainingu!”

 

The Hokage grinned, and bowed to the mighty dragon. “Of course. You performed most excellently, Shainingu-kun.” If dragons could smile, Shainingu would have. He lowered Naruto back down to the ground, snorted at him affectionately, then disappeared in another plume of smoke.

 

Naruto walked over to the Sandaime, then looked to both sides, as if he was about to share a secret of the upmost importance. Then he said, in a conspiratorial whisper, “I think I passed.”

 

The Hokage chuckled. “That you did, Naruto-kun. Now here's your prize.” He withdrew a scroll from his robes, and handed it over to Naruto. Hastily, Naruto broke the seal and opened it. After a minute of staring blankly at it, his brain registered what it was. The heavy parchment fell from numb fingers, landing on the ground.

 

“T-T-T-T-T-The, it's t-t-the Uzumaki clan scroll.” He said in a blank, though stammer-filled, voice. The Hokage stood, staring at Naruto. He began a mental countdown.

 

`6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… We have liftoff.' In tandem with his thoughts, Naruto snapped out of his stunned state, and tackled the aged leader.

 

“THANK YOU OJI! Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!” he yelled, then grabbed the scroll from the ground. “I'm gonna go home and study it right now!” He took off in roughly the direction of his house.

 

Five minutes later, Naruto was outside his house (an amazing feat, considering the training ground was over three miles away). He ran inside, leaving a dust trail behind him. Ibiki looked up from his scroll (this time entitled `Removing blood, urine and spit from your interrogator's uniform') in concern, then looked back at his scroll muttering “It's kinda obvious whenever he gets a new scroll.”

 

Upstairs, Naruto was in his room unrolling the scroll all the way. It was even bigger then the Mitarashi Scroll, detailing every little thing about the Uzumaki clan. The first section had a title that made Naruto's breath catch in his throat: The Uzumaki Bloodline.

 

`The Uzumaki Bloodline Ability, commonly known as the Nijigan, comes in many forms. It typically starts with the eye changing to one of the colors of the rainbow, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo or Violet, around the age of sixteen. Each color comes with different abilities, and is triggered by a different emotion. Eventually, the Uzumaki clan member's eye cycles through all of the colors that have been opened on it's own, and, if the user wishes it, it gives the benefits of all of their current abilities. They are detailed below.

 

Red: The Red Nijigan is brought on by rage. While it is on, the user is able to see the veins and capillaries of anyone.

 

Orange: The Orange Nijigan comes with stress. When activated, the user can see heat sources.

 

Yellow: The Yellow Nijigan is brought on by worry. It allows the user to see the cause of many ailments and injuries.

 

Green: The Green Nijigan comes with complete and utter serenity. The user is able to beckon plants to the surface to do their bidding.

 

Blue: The Blue Nijigan comes with determination and resolve. The user can communicate mentally with anyone who he stares at.

 

Indigo: The Indigo Nijigan is brought on by pure terror. It allows the user to shatter any mental power anyone has over them.

 

Violet: The Violet Nijigan is the most powerful of the colors, and only two people out of the entire Uzumaki Clan have ever unlocked it. As such, what emotion is necessary and what it does are not known.'

 

Naruto sat back, and pondered what he had just read. `Rainbow eye, huh? I better get stronger before it manifests, or I'll have to go through the whole sealing thing again. Wait a sec, sealing?” At that thought, Naruto pounced on the scroll again, and scanned to the section on sealing.

 

`Sealing is an Uzumaki specialty. It usually involves painting a symbol, then fusing it with the precise amount of chakra for the desired effect. Seal masters can just draw the shape in midair with their chakra, with no need for paper or a brush.

 

A standard seal is used to hold some kind of object. The seal next to this paragraph contains a very important book. Only an Uzumaki member can retrieve it.' Naruto looked at the seal that was next to the writing. He could sense the power coming out of it, a small aura that reminded him of himself somewhat. Biting his thumb, he wiped some blood across the seal.

 

His guess was correct, and the seal popped out of existence. In its place was a very, very large book. Naruto read the cover. `The complete guide to sealing for complete and utter morons'. Naruto thought for a second. `I'm going to ignore that title.' He put to book aside, and went back to the scroll.

 

The scroll contained a couple of other things. Mostly, it was jutsus and fighting styles, which Naruto vowed to learn. `Why am I learning so many fighting styles?' He asked himself. `I'm comfortable with the Suimeiashi (shimmering foot), but I know a style for every clan! Now I'm going to learn Uzumaki taijutsu!' But the last part of the scroll was interesting. It contained Uzumaki traditions.

 

`The Uzumaki Clan is known for being among the most eccentric clans, and has a couple strange traditions. An Uzumaki always wears an armband with his favorite color over his right bicep. This identifies him to others of his clan. Also, an Uzumaki always has at least four meals a day. They have exceptionally high metabolism, so they don't gain much weight. Finally, Uzumakis practice…'

 

Naruto stared at the last word in surprise, then said out loud “What the hell is polygamy?”

 

The next afternoon, after his training sessions, Naruto sat back down with The Complete Guide to Sealing for Complete and Utter Morons. He got started with the basic chakra containment seal. The seal did nothing except for hold some chakra, and then release it on command into a harmless fireworks display. It took a couple of hours of trying, but eventually, he got the shape of the seal exactly right.

 

Now was the hard part. Naruto put an index finger on the seal, and began channeling his chakra into it. His chakra control was near-perfect, thanks to his lessons with the Hyuugas. Naruto stopped his chakra, and felt that the seal was ready. Biting his thumb, he swiped blood across it. A small burst of green energy shot out, and erupted into a pretty pattern. Naruto looked at it. `Cool!' he thought.

 

The next three years went by in much the same way. He trained in the day, trained most afternoons, went out once a week for dinner with his close family, and every once in a while, spent time with his friends. But before he knew it, three years had passed, and Naruto was preparing to enter the academy.

 

“Have a good day, Naruto.” Ibiki said as he went off to work. Naruto nodded, and packed up his small bag. He had a couple of scrolls, some bottles of ink, brushes, and The Complete Guide to Sealing for Complete and Utter Morons. In three years, he had only become somewhat good at sealing, probably proficient enough to make the correct seal once out of three attempts. So he still needed work on it.

 

As he finished packing his bag, he went and grabbed his jacket. It was a standard jacket, only this one had orange and black tiger stripes. The clans had wanted to put all of their symbols on it, but that would have taken up the entire back of the jacket, so they settled for just the Uzumaki spiral.

 

Naruto looked at himself in the mirror. He was wearing plain black pants with many pockets, an orange T-shirt, the tiger stripped jacket, and had a mask (like Kakashi's) around his neck, so he could pull it up if he wanted to. But unlike Kakashi, Naruto didn't wear the mast a lot. He just left it around his neck.

 

Deciding he'd stared at himself enough, Naruto ran out the door and towards the academy. He had gotten their quickly, and had time for a five minute nap. When he woke up, he saw that both of the seats next to him had been occupied. On his left side were Kiba and Akamaru. The brash dog boy and his canine companion had become Naruto and Kouken's `rivals' within the clan. In reality, Naruto had quickly established himself as the `top dog', and Kiba was his underling. Kiba still challenged for `control of the pack' every once in a while, but Naruto could keep him in line.

 

On Naruto's right side was Ten-Ten. She could have entered the academy the previous year, but for some reason, her father had held her back until this one. Out of all of the girls that Naruto was friends with, Ten-Ten was the scariest. Hinata was usually meek, Ino was bitchy sometimes but otherwise a sweet girl, Sakura was like another Ino, but Ten-Ten… Ten-Ten was a nice girl, but she also spoke out frequently, frequently challenged people to fights, talked occasionally about how good she was, and unlike other people, could back up her words. She was undoubtedly the best of the girls in the classroom.

 

Soon, the teachers walked in. One had shoulder length silver hair, and had a calm and open expression on his face. The other one had a brown ponytail, and a scar over the bridge of his nose. “Ok, class!” The scarred one said. “I'm Umino Iruka, but you'll know me as Iruka-sensei. My partner is Ketsunoana Mizuki, and you'll know his as Mizuki-sensei.”

 

“Here, in the Ninja Academy, you'll be honing your skills so you can become productive ninja in the service of Konoha. But before we actually teach you anything, we'll have to make sure you're all here.” Mizuki said. He pulled out a clipboard with a piece of paper on it. “Aburame Shino?”

 

“Here.”

 

Mizuki continued to take role, calling on everyone to make sure they were there. But when he got to the end of the list, he jumped. “Wow, that's a long name!” He yelped. Naruto chuckled.

 

Iruka looked over Mizuki's shoulder, and blanched when he saw the name. `Wow, that is long!' “Um… Hyuuga Uchiha Haruno Shinkotama Sarutobi Inuzaka Nara Akamichi Yamanaka Aburame” Iruka paused for breath. “Yuuhi Mitarashi Hatake Uzumaki Naruto?”

 

Naruto laughed out loud. “Here!”

 

After role had been taken, Iruka said, “Now, we will to rank you by your skills. Does anyone know what a jutsu is?”

 

Sakura's hand shot up into the air. “A jutsu is a ninja technique. Jutsu's are divided into three categories: Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu. They are also ranked from E-Rank Jutsus, to S-Rank Jutsus.”

 

Iruka stood there blinking for a moment. “Very good, Ms. Haruno. Do any of you know any jutsus?” He blinked again when almost everyone's hand shot up into the air. “Ok, everyone who can perform a gennin level technique, come to the front of the room. Almost everyone walked up front.

 

The next ten minutes had most of the students performing Bunshin no Jutsu, Kawarimi no Jutsu, or Henge no Jutsu. Sasuke broke the monotony by performing Hinotama no Jutsu (fireball technique), an extremely low lever Katon technique. Naruto looked at him, then performed the exact same technique. Their eyes met. Naruto grinned, and Sasuke made one of his patented smirks.

 

“Very good!” Mizuki said to Sasuke. Then he rounded on Naruto. “And you! How dare you imitate Sasuke because you have nothing good!” Naruto looked at him in mild amusement.

 

Iruka interceded. “Good job, Naruto. Now everyone who cannot perfom a chunnin level technique, return to your seat. Most everyone returned to their seat, leaving Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, Shino, and Ten-Ten at the front of the room.

 

First, Iruka went to Hinata. Consulting his list, he found her name and said “Ok, Hinata, please perform your technique.” Hinata nodded, then concentrated. A pure blue string of chakra shot out from her finger, grabbing a nearby pencil, then flying back to her hand.

 

`Chakra Strings, a chunnin level move. As expected from one with excellent chakra control.' Iruka thought. “Now you, Shino.”

 

Shino did nothing for a moment, and Iruka began to repeat himself. But before he finished, Shino dissolved into bugs! Iruka jumped in surprise, but looked around and saw the real Shino standing ten feet away. The usually silent bug boy said, “Kikai Bunshin no Jutsu.”

 

`The Aburame bug clones. Very nice, to have mastered them at such a young age.' Mizuki thought. “Sasuke, you're up next.”

 

Sasuke turned, and faced an open window. “Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu! (Fire Style: Powerful Flame Technique)” he cried, and exhaled a powerful fireball out the window.

 

Iruka thought, `Fire specialist, as expected from an Uchiha.' He turned to Ten-Ten. “Your turn, Ms. Shinkotama.” He said. Ten-Ten nodded, then kicked the floor. A board shot up, and she grabbed it.

 

“Kiken! (Wood Blade)” she shouted, and the board melted and shifted. After a moment, it turned into a wooden sword, which Ten-Ten held expertly.

 

Mizuki nodded in satisfaction. “And that leaves you, brat!” he said to Naruto.

 

Naruto looked at him, still somewhat amused by the pompous ass in front of him. He placed his hands in the Tori symbol, and focused his chakra on his shoulders. “Ryuyoku! (Dragon Wings)” he shouted, and two huge, bat-like wings shot out of his shoulders. Concentrating, Naruto started to flap them. Soon, he was hovering two feet off the ground. Then he stopped the chakra flow, and the wings dissolved.

 

`…' was all Iruka could think. “That was impressive, Naruto. Now, if anyone can perform a Jounin level jutsu, stay at the front. Anyone who can't remain seated.” Not expecting anyone to answer in the positive, he was shocked to see two boys still standing up front: Naruto and Sasuke.

 

The two exchanged glances, and Sasuke said, “We might want to do this outside.”

 

The teachers led the two outside, where they were trailed by a crowd of curious students. No sooner had they gotten outside then Sasuke went into handseals. “Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu! (Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique)” he cried, and shot a huge flame in the shape of a dragon into the sky. Once it dissipated, Sasuke sunk to his knees, exhausted.

 

“Very, Very Good!” Iruka said. `We've got tons of talent in this class! Sasuke's defiantly leading the pack! Unless…' He turned to Naruto. “Naruto, it's your turn.”

 

Naruto grinned, then ran up a tree. `I should do this in midair, for dramatic effect. Shainingu always likes to make an entrance.' He bit his thumb, and leapt out of the tree's canopy. Everyone gaped as Naruto started to plummet to the ground. But Naruto made familiar hand seals, and thrust his arm forwards yelling “Kuchyose no Jutsu!”

 

Summoning smoke erupted, and Naruto was soon on his familiar perch on Gin no Shainingu. Over the years, Naruto had learned that he was the only one who could summon the silver dragon, and it got boring for the dragon in the land of summons. So any chance Naruto got, he could summon the dragon, because he needed to get out more.

 

The mighty silver dragon surveyed the class, and rolled one eye up to look at Naruto. “Showing off again?” he asked.

 

Naruto grinned. “Performing our best technique gets us good rankings!” Shainingu chuckled.

 

Almost everyone was gaping at the boy standing on top of the silver dragon, except for those who'd seen Shainingu before. Unfortunately, Iruka and Mizuki were not among those, and their jaws could currently be seen on the ground. Behind them, a group of girls Naruto had never spoken with before were whispering to each other.

 

After the lunch break, they arrived in shirts that read `We Love Naruto-kun', had made a giant banner with the same thing on it, and somehow had managed to get their hands on a picture of him, and were trying to make him sign it.

 

Sasuke thought this was very amusing, until his own fan club reared their hair-sprayed heads five minutes later.

 

Needless to say, the academy had a very interesting first day.