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By that Sin fell the Angels

A/N: Yo people! Triforcelord here with a new story! This story is going to be a NaruHina fic, because I love that pairing. It's pretty much the only one I'll read, so therefore most, if not all, of the stories that I write that are in the Naruto section are NaruHina. Well, I don't want to talk…write your ears off in the first chapter, so please enjoy this creation of mine!

(Edit: Put in some new line breaks, and fixed some minor errors.)

By that Sin fell the Angels Chapter 1: The Power Hidden Within

Left. Right. Another right. Left. Left. Jump. Straight.

It was a hazy night in the forest surrounding Konohagakure. The clouds covered the full moon, casting dark shadows over the already darkened forest. There was a low-lying mist, and, although it may have been just a trick of the eye, the mist itself seemed to be blackened…

With the mist in place, even the most trained eyes could only pick out two odd shadows, one roughly human-sized and one roughly the size of a house. However, even with the size of the larger shadow, not a sound was heard from the odd mist.

Crackle, Crackle…BOOOOM! There was a brief flash of light, and a noise that pierced even the dark mist. Tall pines could be seen giving out due to their supporting roots being blown to bits. The human-sized shadow could be seen dodging in and out of the falling trees at an inhuman speed, seemingly going towards the bright lights in the distance that was the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

However, even this wasn’t enough to slow the larger shadow. The shadow had been pinned down by a massive tree, but, with an earsplitting roar, it sprung to its feet and ripped the tree to shreds with its massive claws.

“WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO MAKE YOU STAY DOWN?!” A voice, presumably belonging to the human-sized shadow, yelled angrily with a hint of fear in his voice.

“Calm down!” A voice said, seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, “You can defeat him! You must defeat him!”

The man took a deep breath and focused. Instantly, the air was alive with the sound of electricity crackling and sheer power. The man thrust his hand skyward and said in harmony with the other voice, “TSUYOI RAKURAI: LEVEL 3!”

What happened next was a feat that won the Kyuubi’s respect for many years to follow.

Instantly, the man started glowing golden, with purple sparks of lightning flying around him, causing the approaching beast to shield its eyes. A golden vortex appeared above the pair, crackling with purple bolts. The man, with a roar of effort and a lone tear finding its way out of his eye, swung his hand down, causing hundreds of thousands of bolts of golden and royal purple lightning to strike down on them.

The roar of pain of the demon was heard over all else, but if one listened closely enough, one could hear what sounded like a human scream, not one of pain, but one of sorrow…

When the attack finished, all that was left was a smoking crater a mile in diameter. In the very center of this crater was a strange-looking, translucent man kneeling in front of a single wet spot on the ground. The man placed one hand on the dampened ground, and one hand over his heart. He spoke in a sorrowful, but determined tone, one that spoke of immeasurable sadness, yet of the will to go on.

“My friend, please forgive me. I have sinned yet again, and it has cost you your life. But make no mistake, your legacy shall be continued. I swear it upon the great Elder Trio, and may the gods get their wish if I break this vow.”

He knelt a few seconds more, than stood up. In a flash of light, he was gone.

Or so it was thought.

(Insert line here)

It was a fine spring day in Konoha. The sun was shining brightly in the east, making the villagers cheer at the stop to the storms that had been plaguing them for weeks. The wind was blowing its gentle breath across the village, carrying with it the sweet smell of berries and tree sap from the forest. All in all, it was a good day.

Sadly, however, the people in the place where our story starts were unable to enjoy the beautiful day due to…minor complications.

"OH COME ON!" A blonde child wearing an orange jumpsuit complained childishly, not for the first time. "WHY DO I HAVE TO BE STUCK INSIDE TAKING A STUPID TEST WHEN THE WEATHER IS ACTUALLY NICE?! I could be pranking the ANBU, but nooooo, I have toOWWWWWWW!" Exactly what Naruto had to do was never found out due to a pink haired girl wearing a red dress decorated sparsely with white circles, who happened to be sitting on Naruto's left, raised her fist angrily. And started swinging said appendage quickly in a downwards motion on the boys cranium. In short, Sakura was beating the crap out of Naruto, as usual.

“You-lazy-no-good-bratty-whiner!” Sakura growled, punching Naruto with each word, “You don’t even know what today is, do you?” She stopped hitting Naruto and crossed her arms, glaring at said blonde, who quickly nodded. He had learned long ago to always agree with whatever girls like Sakura said immediately. It meant less pain for him…usually.

Sakura huffed. “Well, I’ll tell you. Today is the day of the graduation exam, when we’ll finally graduate from the shinobi Academy and become full-fledged ninja. Well, most of us anyways…” She said this last part with a meaningful look at Naruto, who straightened up indignantly.

“Oi, you should watch what you say when you’re talking to me, Sakura-chan!” Naruto said loudly, causing many people to groan because they knew what was coming next.

Sakura sighed. “Naruto, do we really have to go through this again?” She asked, annoyed.

But Naruto wasn’t listening. He had jumped up onto the desk and pointed at Sakura. “I’ll tell you why!” Naruto exclaimed loudly, getting exasperated looks from everyone in the room. Everyone, that is, except a girl with indigo-colored hair sitting in the back of the room, who leaned forward… “It’s because I’m going to become the Hokage, and be greater than all the rest of them! Believe it!” He grinned widely…and kept grinning widely until Sakura pulled him back into his seat.

“Well, Naruto, do you want to know the first step to becoming Hokage?” Sakura asked with a sweet smile on her face, slightly scaring Naruto.

“Wh-What’s that, Sakura-chan?” Naruto asked nervously. His nervousness quickly turned to fear as Sakura’s smile increased.

“Well, I’ll tell you.” Sakura smiled angelically. Her expression quickly changed to a demonic one. “START STUDYING SO YOU CAN PASS THE EXAM!” Naruto quickly nodded and took out his textbook.

Sakura nodded, satisfied with her work, and turned to a black haired boy sitting next to her with an adoring look on her face. "Wasn't that great, Sasuke-kun?" She said girlishly.

The black haired boy glanced at her and looked away. "Hn." Was all he said.

Unfortunately for Sakura, a girl with long platinum blonde hair saw said pink haired girl's fruitless attempts to charm Sasuke and stormed over to them. She shoved both Naruto and Sakura out of the way and made her way over to Sasuke.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun!" The platinum blonde said, leaning over so that her…assets were hanging right in front of Sasuke's face. "What's up?" Sasuke didn't even look.

However, a now angry Sakura pushed Ino away from Sasuke. "Hey, stay away from Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig!"

Ino was livid. "What did you call me, Forehead-girl?!"

"Ino-pig! What are you gonna do about it?!"

"More than you can, Forehead-girl!"

“Oh yeah? Well, at least my forehead is more attractive than a dirty pig!”

“FOREHEAD GIRL!”

"INO-PIG!"

"FOREHEAD-GIRL!”

“INO-PIG!”

Naruto, against his better judgement, decided to break up the girl's fight before they killed each other, or, much more likely, him.

"A-ano," Naruto began nervously, "I don't think you guys should-" That was as far as he got before he brought forth the wrath of two angry girls upon himself.

On the other side of the room, a wild, feral-looking boy and a boy wearing sunglasses and a high collar were watching the scene with amusement. Well, one could only guess at what was going on inside of the sunglass-wearing kid's head, but it was safe to say that the feral-looking boy was amused, if his smirk was anything to go by.

"Man, the stuff that Naruto gets himself into." The feral-looking boy said, shaking his head at Naruto, who was now in the process of having the words “Ninja Arts: Grade 4” imprinted on his head.. "If anyone else had to go through that hell, I’d probably feel bad for them. What do you think, Shino?"

"…" And a movement of his sunglasses was, predictably, the sunglass-wearing boy's only response.

"I should've seen that coming." Kiba grumbled, crossing his arms and sighing.

Meanwhile, in another part of the classroom, two boys were surveying the scene that was unfolding in front of everyone. Well, one was anyway. One of the boys had black hair that stuck out of the back of his head like a pineapple, and was wearing relatively plain clothes with his clan's crest on each shoulder, with a chain mesh shirt underneath.. The other boy was extremely fa-big boned and was going through bags of potato chips at a rate that would leave a health physician keeling over from a heart attack in seconds.

The pineapple-hair boy was watching Naruto feeling what the female race could do when enraged with a bored expression on his face, as if all he wanted to do was to daydream or watch the clouds, but what he was watching was just interesting enough to keep him awake and interested.. He sighed and turned to the round boy. "Man, how does Naruto manage to get himself into those kinds of troublesome situations?" Shikamaru grumbled, “It’s troublesome just watching that.” He lazily waved his hand in the direction of the human punching bag...I mean Naruto.

"Shikamaru, you think that everything’s troublesome." Choji said in between bites. "You need to loosen up more." Choji then paused, and started sweating profusely. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at Chojis expression. He was looking from the chip to Shikamaru and back to the chip repeatedly with an intense expression on his face, as if he was making a life or death decision.

After about ten seconds of this, Choji stopped and took a deep breath. "Here, have a chip." Choji said, gritting his teeth while offering said piece of his soul.

Shikamaru took the chip, even though he wasn’t really a fan of snacking, but he didn’t want to disappoint Choji after the, ahem, “mental suffering” he had just gone through.. As he absentmindedly munched it, his eyes glazed over as he thought of different counterstrategies for his own father’s shogi strategies. If only he could get past his bishop...

Meanwhile, in the back of the room, an indigo-haired girl with eyes lightly dusted with lavender and a thick jacket tto hide her maturing form watched Naruto get pummeled with worry and a hint of self-loathing in her eyes. 'I hope Naruto-kun will be alright.' Hinata thought, wincing at a particularly solid punch by Sakura. She wanted to help her crush, but she didn’t have the courage to actually stand up to Sakura or Ino. She didn’t want to get another “you are a weak, spineless failure” talk from her father, or another “you are fated to be weak” talk from her cousin.

Just when it seemed like Naruto was about to pass out from repeated blows his swollen cranium, Iruka walked into the classroom. Immediately, the entire class was back in their seats as if nothing had happened, while Iruka walked slowly towards the direct front of the classroom.

'Thank Kami that's over!' Naruto thought, relieved. As he slumped down onto his desk with his new collection of bruises, scratches, and somehow cat scratches (outside, a cat with a red ribbon in its ear sneezed as it ran away from a certain academy...) he made a silent vow never to piss off Sakura, or any other female that wasn't an enemy/jerkass, on purpose ever again. Well, except for his pranks, but those didn’t really piss anyone off...just like Tsunade doesn’t have a gambling issue...nope, not at all...

"Good morning class." Iruka said, nodding in the direction of the class and stopping in front of them.

"GOOD MORNING IRUKA SENSEI!" The entire class chorused. Well, except Shino, of course.

Iruka stood in front of the class with a solemn expression on his face. "Now as you all know, today is a very important day for you." He said, looking at each of them individually before continuing. "Today is the day that many of you will be leaving these halls forever, and become a full-fledged shinobi." At this, a few of the children cheered, and Iruka waited for them to calm down before continuing.

"When you hear your name called, come into the other room and perform the jutsu we tell you to. And don't worry; you won't have to summon dragons or anything like that." Iruka chuckled, as did a few other students , although theirs was more nervous than actually humored. Some students were seen exchanging nervous glances while others were squirming nervously in their seats. In Choji’s case, he had finished his potato chips in less than thirty seconds after Iruka’s little speech and was now reaching his hand into the bag in the motion of grabbing a chip and brought the empty hand back to his mouth with a haunted expression on his face.

Even though the majority of the students (CoughcannonfodderCough...and Choji) were nervous, there were a couple who seemed like they either were confident, or didn’t care. For example, Shikamaru just did what he normally did: he put his head down on the desk and went into the arms of Morpheus. Kiba was yelling about how awesome he was going to do on the test with Akamaru barking in agreement. Sakura and Ino were arguing over Sasuke, literally, while said emo was developing a noticeable twitch over his left eye. Shino was being Shino. Hinata, while not on Choji’s level of nervousness, was still noticeably nervous, judging by her teeth chattering slightly.

However, even the normally overconfident Naruto was somewhat nervous. He had been practicing his taijutsu and all three of the Academy ninjutsu until two in the morning the previous night, and knew that he could pass this time as long as he didn't have to perform...that... jutsu.

'With my luck, though, I will have to do that jutsu.' Naruto thought dejectedly.

The student’s reactions were cut short, however, by Iruka clearing his throat. Once he had the (somewhat relative) attention of the class, he pulled out a scroll and looked it over. “Mikiru Akira, please follow me to the other room for your exam.” Iruka said, rolling up the scroll. A nervous-looking girl with bright red hair got up and followed Iruka out of the classroom to the other room across the hallway.

Gradually, the chatter started back up in the classroom until it was at the level it had been at before Iruka had come in. However, if one looked closely enough one could see that there was generally a slightly higher level of nervousness in the faces of the students. Naruto had actually taken out his (now very beaten) textbook and was actually reading it.

This greatly surprised Hinata, as Naruto rarely, if ever, took out his textbook and actually read it. It worried the indigo-haired girl, and she even contemplated mustering up her courage to sit down next to him and talk to him.

‘I would probably be more of a distraction than anything else.’ Hinata thought sadly. She knew that Naruto was actually doing the right thing, but it still didn’t help her worry.

One by one, the number of people dwindled down in the room until it was only Naruto and Hinata left.

'This is my chance!' Hinata thought to herself, 'This is my chance to finally talk to Naruto-kun! All I have to do is just walk over there and, and…' Hinata sighed and resigned herself to the fact that she probably wouldn't be able to muster up the courage to talk to him today...or this week...maybe next week...or not...

But when Naruto's name was called, and Hinata saw how depressed his profile looked, the pain in her heart allowed her to slightly overcome her shyness.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata said shyly. Her voice was so quiet, that if there had been even one conversation in the room, nobody would've been able to hear her.

Naruto jumped, startled, then remembered who the voice belonged to. He turned around to face Hinata. "Yeah, Hinata?" He said with a huge smile, one that didn’t fool the Hyuuga heiress for one second.

Hinata, gathering up all of her courage, smiled slightly and said, "D-Don't worry, N-Naruto-kun. I-I know you can d-do it." Her heart swelled like a balloon when she saw Naruto's face light up in an extremely happy grin.

"Thanks Hinata!" Naruto said, still grinning, "I needed that!" With that, a now happier and slightly more confident Naruto walked through the door leading out into the hallway, across which the testing room was located.

Hinata blushed heavily at Naruto’s words, even as the hyperactive blonde who had her heart walked away. She probably would have tried to say something else, but the only coherent thought she had in her head was: 'I talked to Naruto-kun!'

However, even though Hinata didn’t notice it, somewhere deep in the girls subconscious, something began to stir..

(Insert line here)

When Naruto walked into the room, he was surprised to see the other instructor, Mizuki, in there, sitting next to Iruka. That was strange, because Mizuki almost never showed up during tests. The only time the students normally saw him was during taijutsu and weapons practice, so it was only natural that Naruto was confused.

Iruka noticed the puzzled look Naruto had on his face and explained. "Mizuki is here to be kind of like a second opinion, just in case if I miss something, or vice versa." He explained, “It ensures that the test is both fair and to make sure that only those who deserve it pass.”

Naruto nodded in understanding and said, "Okay, so now what jutsu do I have to completely dominate, Iruka sensei?" Although he was acting confident on the outside, on the inside, Naruto was praying to every god he knew about that it wouldn't be that jutsu. Again.

Iruka scanned a paper on his desk. "Ah, Naruto Uzumaki, you must perform the clone jutsu." He looked expectantly at Naruto.

Inside, Naruto was slowly falling apart. 'Oh great.' Naruto thought miserably, 'It is that jutsu again. I suck at clones!'

However, Naruto remembered what Hinata had said, and steeled his nerves. 'Okay, here goes nothing!' Naruto thought before forming the clone hand seal.

"Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto said, hoping against hope for a good result. There was a puff of smoke, and when the smoke cleared, there was a clone there. However, the clone was lying lifeless on the ground, and after a few seconds, the clone dispelled with a noise that sounded like a fart.

Naruto winced at his miserable attempt at a clone and looked hopefully at Iruka and Mizuki. His hopes were crushed, however, when he saw Iruka shaking his head sadly.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," Iruka said sadly, "But you failed again."

"B-But-" Naruto tried to protest, but he was cut short by Mizuki.

"Now, Iruka-sensei, Naruto did manage to create one clone, even if it is a bit, erm, flawed. That is better than he did last year, so maybe we can cut him a break?" Mizuki said, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Naruto looked at Iruka hopefully. But his hopes were crushed for the second time that day when he saw Iruka shaking his head again. "I'm sorry, Mizuki-sensei." Iruka said, "But the number of clones needed to graduate is at least three usable clones. Naruto only managed to create one, and it's hardly usable. I'm afraid I just can't let Naruto pass." He looked at Naruto sadly. "I'm sorry, but you can try again next year. You're dismissed."

(Insert line here)

Naruto walked out of the room slowly and dejectedly. Once he was in the hall, he immediately kicked over a trash can, sending its contents flying across the hall.

"WHY IN THE HELL CAN'T I PASS!?" Naruto screamed, a whirlwind of emotions flying around inside of him. He was angry at Iruka for not letting him pass, he was angry at himself for not trying hard enough, he was sad that he failed for the second time in a row, and he was depressed to know that he was going to be left behind by his friends when they became shinobi while he was stuck in the stupid Academy.

Naruto roared in rage and kicked another trash can, sending it flying across the hall and through a window, resulting in a loud commotion from the training field when it landed near a group of children who were doing their taijutsu exam.

‘Who cares if I get in trouble anyway?!’ Naruto thought angrily, ‘It’s not like it’ll matter to any of the sensei’s. They’re just concentrating on the people who passed!’ Naruto kicked yet another trash can and kicked it until it resembled a compacted car.

So preoccupied was Naruto with his emotions that he didn't hear Iruka call for Hinata Hyuuga. She came out into the hallway just in time to see Naruto kick yet another trash can through yet another window. She was extremely alarmed by this behavior from the normally happy-go-lucky Naruto, so it wasn't surprising when she suddenly yelled out, "Naruto-kun!"

Naruto froze in mid-kick and turned slowly to face her. His eyes were slightly red, but he made a half-hearted attempt to smile. "H-Hey, Hinata." He said, trying and failing to hide his pain from the Hyuuga, who wasn’t fooled in the slightest. Although Naruto tried to hide it, she still saw the mess that Naruto had made in the hallway.

Hinata had recovered her shyness, but because she honestly wanted to make sure that Naruto wouldn’t do something stupid, she still felt bold enough to talk to Naruto. "W-Why were y-you k-kicking the t-trash cans around?" She asked, a worried expression on her face, “Wh-What’s wrong?” She thought she already knew what was wrong, but she didn't want to assume the wrong thing and make him even angrier.

Naruto's smile disappeared in a flash. He mumbled something with his eyes downcast and shadowed.

"W-What?" Hinata asked. She immediately knew she had asked a bad question because of the glare Naruto was shooting her. She looked away from the look in Naruto's eyes, unable to handle the amount of anger that was being directed towards her.

"I said I failed." Naruto said, his voice strangely calm, although Hinata heard an undercurrent of seething anger hiding in the tone of his voice.

This hurt Hinata's heart to hear this. "N-Naruto-kun, I-I'm sorry about th-" However, she was interrupted by a very angry Naruto.

"Will you shut up with your fake apologies already!?" Naruto hissed, making Hinata recoil like she had been struck with a burning poker. "I know you're only saying that to make yourself feel better. Nobody really feels sorry for me, ever! Everybody just beats me up, or, if they actually have a conscience, says they're sorry for whatever happens to me. But you know what I think? I think that if they were really sorry, they would've tried to prevent what they were sorry for in the first place. So shut up with your fake apologies already, liar. You're no different from the rest of them." And with that, Naruto turned on his heel and stormed off, slamming the door behind him and leaving a broken Hinata to cry before she took her graduation exam.

(Insert line here)

As Naruto walked along the halls, some of his adrenaline wore off, and he somewhat coherently thought about what had just transpired between himself and Hinata. The more he thought about it, the guiltier he felt. He now realized that there was nothing Hinata could've done to prevent him failing. If anyone was to blame for him failing, it was him. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that she was one of the few who was actually nice to him whenever he did something stupid. Add those to the fact that she had actually tried to boost his morale before the exam, and he felt like a total asshole.

He punched the wall with a frustrated growl. He vowed that he would do anything to make Hinata forgive him. Anything.

(Insert line here)

Hinata's test was not going so well. She couldn't seem to concentrate on her chakra control, and kept breaking down and sobbing when she was supposed to be forming hand seals.

Iruka sighed for the what seemed like the fifth time. "Hinata, if you can't pull yourself together, I'll be forced to mark you down as failing. Honestly, I don’t believe that you deserve that. So, please, try to pull yourself together and focus on making a clone, okay?" Iruka decided that with the state she was in right now, he would accept just one clone to be passable.

Hinata shakily nodded, wiped her eyes, and tried to concentrate on her jutsu. However, just when she was about to perform the Bunshin jutsu, Naruto's words came floating back to her.

You're no different from the rest of them.

Hinata's concentration slipped and she broke the justu, breaking down and crying again.

Iruka sighed. Even though he didn’t want to, it looked like he would have to give her a failing grade.

However, just when he was about to say the words, a certain blonde boy wearing a bright orange jumpsuit burst into the room. He looked at Hinata crying, to Iruka's half-open mouth, to Mizuki's surprised expression, and felt the guilt crushing him.

Naruto marched to Iruka's desk, past the still sobbing Hinata, who didn't meet his eyes, and said , "Okay, Iruka-sensei, please let Hinata pass. It's my fault she's like that. I was a total asshole to her for something that wasn't her fault, and she didn't deserve that. She’s too good of a person for anyone to say stuff like that to her." Hinata looked up to see Naruto staring straight at her. "I'm sorry Hinata." He said, meaning every word of his little speech.

Hinata then did something completely unexpected. She jumped up, ran over to Naruto, and gave him a bone-crushing hug. Naruto just let her sob into his chest while he awkwardly patted her back.

'I made her feel this bad?' Naruto thought, feeling even guiltier. However, that guilt was pushed to the side when Hinata looked up and gave him a bright smile.

"Th-Thank you, Naruto-kun." Hinata said, "I-I know it w-was probably h-hard to apologize."

Naruto was thoroughly bewildered by this show of affection towards him but he gave his trademark grin anyway and said, "It's no problem, Hinata!"

Iruka cleared his throat, reminding the two that they weren't alone. Naruto and Hinata quickly separated, blushing heavily.

"Okay, Hinata," Iruka said, smiling slightly, "Do you think you're ready now?" Iruka already knew the answer, as he saw the newfound confidence that shone in Hinata's eyes. 'Naruto certainly has an affect on her.' Iruka internally mused.

"Y-Yes, Iruka-sensei!" Hinata said, making the hand seals for the Clone jutsu. Instantly, there was a poof of smoke, and when the smoke cleared, Naruto, Iruka, and Mizuki looked around in awe. Surrounding them was no less than ten fully usable clones.

Iruka recovered first. "Hinata Hyuuga, you pass with flying colors! Congratulations, graduate!" Iruka said, grinning widely while Hinata had to work hard not to pass out at the looks the people in the room were giving her, “Here, take this headband and wear it with pride.” He took a headband from the table next to him and tossed it to the blushing girl, who, after a few seconds of contemplation, tied it around her neck.

Naruto recovered next. "Congratulations, Hinata!" He said ecstatically, giving her a hug. Hinata barely could hold one to consciousness. “That’s a good look on you!” This, however, was too much for the poor girl, who had gone back to her shy mentality, and she promptly passed out.

Iruka and Mizuki sweatdropped while Naruto was freaking out due to Hinata passing out.

“AHHHHHHHH! HINATA! WHY ARE YOU RED AND SLEEPING WHILE SAYING MY NAME OVER AND OVER AGAIN?! IS YOUR BRAIN BROKEN?!” Said freaking out boy yelled with wide eyes while checking the unconscious girl for a pulse.

"She'll be fine, Naruto." Iruka said, sweatdropping slightly, "Well, that's that. Naruto, can you move Hinata to that bench over there? I think she would want to wake up on a more comfortable place than the floor." Naruto complied and picked up Hinata bridal-style, placing her on the bench when he got there.

"Well, Naruto, you're free to go. Sorry about your test results, but I think that with a little more practice and hard work, you can definitely pass next year." Iruka said encouragingly, not knowing how much of an effect his words inadvertently had on the blonde knucklehead.

Naruto had almost forgotten about his failing grade with the excitement of Hinata passing, but it came back in full force. This time, however, he forced it down and walked out the door slowly. This time, no noise was heard from the hallway aside from the front doors opening and closing, which most likely meant that Naruto had left the building.

After he heard the front door close, Iruka turned to Mizuki. "You're free to go as well, Mizuki-sensei." He said "I just need to clean up a little, and you've done enough for the day."

Mizuki nodded. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei." He said, getting up and stretching. "I am feeling a little tired." He yawned slightly as he walked towards the door that lead to the hallway.

As Iruka was busy gathering up the papers and leftover headbands, he missed the malicious smirk that flitted along Mizuki's face as he walked towards the front of the building.

(Insert line here)

Naruto was sitting on the lone swing in front of the Academy, watching the newly graduated ninja be praised by their family and friends with a feeling of loneliness. Seeing as he didn't have any family or friends, there was nobody to greet him.

"Not that they would be praising me anyways." Naruto sighed. "Who would praise a failure like me?"

"Not everyone thinks you're a failure, Naruto." Said a voice from his left.

Naruto jerked his head to see Mizuki watching him. "W-When did you get there?!" Naruto asked, surprised.

"Not too long ago." Mizuki replied, "Come on. I want to talk with you."

Mizuki turned and jumped onto a roof, stopping and waiting for Naruto to follow him.

Naruto sighed and decided to see what Mizuki wanted to talk with him about. He jumped to the same roof as Mizuki and followed him across the rooftops until they came to a small ledge sticking out of a house, most likely Mizuki’s.

"Sit down, Naruto." Mizuki said. Naruto sat down on the ledge next to Mizuki.

Once they were situated, Mizuki began to speak. “I like this spot.” Mizuki said, looking at the sun which was quickly beginning to hide behind the Hokage Mountain, “It’s calm, peaceful, and away from everything. It’s also a good spot for making tough decisions in life.”



Naruto looked up at Mizuki in surprise. “How do you-?” Naruto tried to ask.

“How do I know that you’re debating whether or not you should become a ninja?” Mizuki said, a hint of amusement on his face. He chuckled slightly when Naruto made a face similar to a what a fish out of water would look like. “Well, you see, I once was making the exact same decision, in this exact same spot.”

Naruto was beginning to wonder just how many more times Mizuki would surprise him before their chat was over. “So you failed the graduation test too?” Naruto asked, curiosity in his eyes.

Mizuki smiled slightly. “No, I didn’t fail the graduation exam. But I went through...a bad time when I started to question myself a lot. Eventually, I walked out of my house and came to this exact same spot, and made a choice. As you can see, I made the choice to keep learning the way of the shinobi, but even today I don’t know whether or not I made the right choice.

Naruto digested this information. He understood what Mizuki was saying, but he still had a question. “Mizuki-sensei, what made you make the decision to keep trying to become a ninja?” He asked.

Mizuki smiled. “The answer is simple: I decided to follow my dreams.”

Instantly, everything became clear to Naruto. He mentally gave himself one of Sakura’s “punishments”. How could he have forgotten?! Wait, he hadn’t really forgotten, but in the stress of the exam he had lost sight of his dream.

“Mizuki-sensei, I know what I’m going to do.” Naruto said with conviction.

Mizuki looked at him. “Oh? What have you decided to do?”

Naruto looked at Mizuki with determination. “I’m going to keep on training so that one day I’ll become the greatest Hokage ever!” He said, practically yelling it.

Mizuki smiled at Naruto, but on the inside, he was cackling madly. ‘Hook, line, and now for the sinker...I just need him to bring up Iruka.’ He thought before realizing that Naruto was talking.

“But since Iruka-sensei hates me, I’ll probably never be able to graduate.” Naruto grumbled.

Mizuki, composing himself, sighed and said, "Naruto, Iruka-sensei doesn't hate you.

Naruto looked at Mizuki confusedly. “He-He doesn’t?” He said, unsure.

Mizuki nodded.“The only reason why he didn't let you pass is because he sees himself in you." He said.

Naruto was even more confused. "What do you mean?" He asked.

Mizuki sighed again. "You see, like you, Iruka-sensei was orphaned at a young age, and he also had very little friends. Iruka wants you to be the best you can be so you don't have to go through any more of what he did."

Naruto was surprised. "Really?" He said, hope shining in his eyes.

Mizuki nodded, "Iruka is just worried about your well-being, Naruto. That is the reason why he pushes you so hard."

Naruto looked down. "I still really wanted to graduate, though, so I could be a super cool awesome ninja sooner." He said, sighing.

Mizuki grinned. This was what he had been waiting for. He made his grin into a small smile. "Well, I guess I have no choice to tell you then." He said, looking at Naruto.

Naruto looked up. "Tell me what?" He asked, curious.

Mizuki held in a grin, and said calmly, "The secret way to graduate."

‘And sinker.’ Mizuki said, unable to hold in a grin at Naruto’s expression.

(Insert line here)

Naruto was sneaking through the Hokage Mansion as stealthily as he could. He was almost to the Hokage's office when the light flickered on and he heard the Third Hokage's voice behind him.

"Naruto, what are you doing in my house at this time of night?" The Third Hokage asked, bewildered.

Naruto did the only thing he could think of at the time.

"SEXY JUTSU!" He yelled, transforming into a naked girl with long pigtails and large breasts.

The Hokage stared for about half a second, then fainted due to the loss of blood through his nose.

Naruto quickly ran towards the Hokage's office as fast as he could while remaining somewhat silent, as he realized that, with the old man being a ninja for his entire life, he would probably wake up very soon. As soon as he entered the office, he started looking for what Mizuki had told him to look for. About thirty seconds after he started looking, he was getting worried that he might not find it, but then he found the seal that Mizuki had shown him underneath the Hokage's desk. He cut his finger with a kunai and applied blood to the seal, causing a large scroll popped out.

"The Scroll of Sealing." Naruto mumbled, reading the label. It rang a bell, but because he was low on time , he just shrugged it off and quickly tied it to his back, jumping out of the window just as he heard footsteps running towards where he was.

The Hokage ran into his office to see an open window and a small amount of blood on the floor.

'Naruto, just what have you gotten yourself into now.' The Third Hokage thought, sighing as he prepared to gather up all available ninja.

(Insert line here)

Naruto arrived in the clearing that Mizuki had told him about only to see that Mizuki wasn't there yet.

"Oh well, might as well start learning a jutsu off of this scroll!" Naruto said, opening the scroll.

But before Naruto could find a jutsu to learn, he felt a familiar, angry presence right next to him and quickly turned around to see Iruka.

Iruka was about to give Naruto the lecture of his life, but then he noticed something. Naruto did not look like somebody who had just been caught in the act of committing a law punishable by death. He was smiling sheepishly, and was rubbing the back of his head.

Iruka took a deep breath to calm himself down, and asked Naruto, "Naruto, why did you steal that scroll from the Hokage's office? Don't you know that's punishable by death?" Iruka waited with bated breath, reaching slowly towards his kunai pouch, hoping against hope that Naruto didn't know what he was doing so he wouldn't have to kill one of his favorite students.

Naruto looked puzzled and scared, which made Iruka relieved as his hand went away from his kunai pouch. "No, Mizuki-sensei just told me to bring the scroll here, and if I could learn a justu off of this scroll, you would have to let me pass!" Naruto said, still looking confused and scared.

Iruka's relief quickly turned to fear as he heard the whistling sound of kunai and shuriken and quickly shoved Naruto out of the way as the kunai and shuriken slammed into him, thankfully missing any vital spots.

Naruto turned to where the kunai and shuriken had come from to see Mizuki standing on a tree branch, with two giant shuriken on his back and an insane smile on his face. Had he been calm, he might have noticed the scratch across Mizuki’s forehead protector.

"So, you decided to protect the demon brat after all, huh, Iruka-sensei?!" Mizuki said mockingly, before cackling madly.

Naruto looked from Iruka to Mizuki with a confused expression on his face. "Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei, what's going on?!" Naruto said, growing more afraid.

Mizuki laughed again before glaring at Naruto. "I'll tell you what's going on, Naruto." Mizuki said, practically spitting out Naruto's name. "The entire village, including your dear Iruka-sensei, have been lying to you for your entire life! They all hate you, even…no, especially Iruka!"

Naruto looked at Iruka, hoping to see some kind of proof that denied what Mizuki had just said. Iruka, however, wasn't paying attention to Naruto. He had a pleading look on his face as he looked at Mizuki.

"Mizuki, stop it NOW!" Iruka yelled, looking desperate.

"Even now he's trying hide it from you!" Mizuki said with maniacal glee.

Naruto looked at Mizuki with a multitude of emotions on his face. "Hide what from me?!" Naruto practically shouted.

"Why, the law that everybody knows about, of course! Well, everyone except you, that is!" Mizuki said, taking pleasure in what was going on before him.

"WHAT IS THAT LAW?!" Naruto screamed.

"MIZUKI, STOP!" Iruka yelled.

Mizuki grinned maliciously before speaking. "Why, the law that prevents anyone from telling you that you are the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the demon fox that destroyed the village and killed Iruka's parents!" Mizuki said with a maniacal laugh as he took one of his large shurikens off of his back, spinning it in his hands as he prepared to throw it. "Now DIE!" Mizuki laughed with maniacal glee as he saw his giant shuriken heading towards the boy.

Naruto was so frozen in horror that he couldn't move when he saw the shuriken flying towards him. Before it hit him, however, a dark shape tackled him to the ground and he heard a loud snap and a squelch. Naruto looked up to see a rapidly paling Iruka standing over him, with the shuriken having gone directly through him.

Iruka coughed up some blood onto Naruto's face. "N-Naruto." Iruka said weakly, "D-Don't listen…to what Mizuki said…about you." He coughed up some more blood. "N-no matter what…is sealed inside of you…you are…still…Naruto…Uzu...maki…" With those final words, Iruka suddenly slumped down onto Naruto, unmoving.

Naruto didn't know what to think. But then, he felt enormous, terrible anger bubbling inside of him, and the urge to rip Mizuki's head off with his bare hands was rising quickly. He wanted to cause that man as much pain as possible before he killed him, to repay what he had done to Iruka-sensei.

"Now that that weakling is out of the way, I can finally kill you and take the scroll for myself!" Mizuki said, cackling maniacally as he prepared to throw his other shuriken.

Naruto ran at Mizuki as Mizuki threw his shuriken. The shuriken zipped towards him, promising certain death, but Naruto didn't care. He was just determined to kill the bastard, even if it cost him his own life. Mizuki was grinning as his projectile got closer and closer to Naruto. But for some reason, time seemed to be slowing down around him…

"Wait, what the hell is this?!" Naruto yelled, as reality seemed to get slower and slower until it finally stopped.

The moment when time seemed to stand still, there was a bright flash and Naruto's world started changing. The colors all fused and merged in wild, sporadic patterns and then separated to form entirely new surroundings.

Naruto was now standing in a blackened plain with dark black thunderclouds above him, and extending as far as the eye could see. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed almost constantly, and there was a heavy downpour.

"W-What the hell!" Naruto yelled, backing away as if that would make him go back to where he had been before.

"Do not worry. You are safe here." A voice said. Naruto spun around to see the blurry form of a man standing on a tall rock about twenty meters away. The storm made it hard to make out the man's features, but Naruto was pretty sure it was a man.

"W-Who the hell are you?!" Naruto yelled over the storm.

"Who I am does not matter, but you should know that I am here to help you." The man said, his voice echoing in the storm somehow.

Naruto was getting pissed off with this man. "Well, at least tell me why I'm here, then!" Naruto yelled, “Or did you just bring me wherever the hell we are for the hell of it?!”

"There is no need to yell." The man said in his echoing voice, "I understand that you are startled, but I can hear you in this storm as clearly as if you were standing two feet away from me. As for why you are here, I decided it was about time for me to make myself known to you, and give you some of my power."

Naruto backed away from the man. "G-Get some of your power? " Naruto said, bewildered, "What do you mean by that? And you said that you decided to show yourself. Just how long have you been...wherever the hell we are?"

"It means what it sounds like. The man said, his voice impassive. “You would have some of my power, and with enough training could possibly use a good portion of it. As for how long I’ve been here, which is in the realm where your mind meets your soul, I think I’ll keep that to myself for now. And also, before you argue, I think you are in desperate need of my help at the moment."

At the reminder of what was going on in the forest, Naruto knew he needed some help with his current situation, or else he was dead.

"Okay, but I need you to answer some questions for me, old man." Naruto growled, not trusting this strange man.

Naruto could've sworn he heard the man sigh. "We do not have much time." He explained, "I can only keep this up for another minute, so we need to fuse now or never."

Naruto made a snap decision, one that would change his life forever in more ways than one. "Okay, I’ll take some of your powers." He decided, "But this better not come back to bite me in the ass. And you owe me some answers later.”

The man nodded once, and raised his hands to the thundering sky, as if saying a prayer, and suddenly two purple bolts of lightning struck down from the sky, striking Naruto and the man at the same time.

(Insert line here)

Naruto was suddenly back in the forest just as a tremendous gust of wind blew through the place, knocking the shuriken off it's path and Mizuki off of the tree he was standing on.

"What the hell just happened, demon brat?!" Mizuki demanded, growing afraid.

Naruto felt tremendous power coursing through his body, but he didn't know the first thing about using it.

'I am going to seal most of this power until you're ready to use it." A voice said in Naruto's head, completely freaking him out.

"What the hell! Old man, why the hell are you in my head?!" Naruto demanded of the voice.

The voice sighed. "I am part of you now." The voice explained, "We are now linked. And I am sorry, but I am going to borrow your arm for a minute. Please don't try to resist." Before Naruto could even ask what he meant by that, an unseen force suddenly took control of his right arm and raised it to the sky.

Small black clouds appeared above a shaken Mizuki, who just looked at the rapidly forming clouds in horror. Naruto's arm quickly made a downward motion at the shoulder with his palm facing outwards, like he was wiping a window vertically.

Suddenly, the clouds above Mizuki started flashing and rumbling, and before Mizuki could even scream, a golden bolt of lightning struck Mizuki, turning him to ashes.

Before Naruto could even question what had happened, an extreme fatigue overcame him, and he felt completely empty. He started to fall over, but strong arms caught him and he was placed over someone's shoulder, and he felt himself being laid down on the ground. He was rapidly losing consciousness, but he thought he could make out a wrinkled old face before he blacked out.

The last thought Naruto had before he succumbed to the fatigue was: 'What…the hell just happened?'

(Insert line here)

A/N: Well, there's the first chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. And don't worry, the story won't be this angsty most of the time. I just needed to put the angsty stuff in there for the plot. Okay, I'm not asking for reviews, but constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated. I am very unsure about this chapter, and I need to know where I screwed up. Thanks, and Triforcelord, out!

(Edit: Pretty much revamped the whole chapter. I hope you guys are happy...)