Welcome to Unleashed

(Story Summary: Naruto was designed to be a failure. He was taught all the wrong things by the teachers at the academy, given faulty equipment, and ostracized by the general public. Iruka caught onto this plan before Naruto could take the third and final exam. What has Naruto gotten himself into now?)

(A/N: Welcome to the rewrite of Unleashed. This story will most be stationed around Naruto and Kakashi.)

(Updated 01/25/2019)

Chapter One: A Blond Haired Fool

(Konoha Ninja Academy)

He was called an airhead and he wouldn't deny it either. Like who really cares about old history lessons anyway? What does that have to do with the now! 'I mean look at this old piece of crap,' the boy thought Lifting the book up a little to inspect it closer. Said piece of crap was known to the class as a Konoha textbook. He was holding the book by the front and back cover of the worn hardback. He watched as the actual binding bent down leaving a hole that he could see his teacher's face though. The teacher was too busy to notice him as he continued to give the lesson. His bored mind wanders to the idea of using the book's bad binding as a telescope. Closing one eye he continues to watch his teacher, 'This is the next Hokage, I got eyes on the target, over.'

This was Naruto Uzumaki. A boy with blond spiky hair, bright blue eyes, a rounded face, relatively short compared to others his age, and the oddest and or noticeable feature about him was the three whisker marks on each cheek. Well, if his badass, bright blue eyes and yellow hair didn't stand out enough, his orange and blue jumpsuit sure the Hell did. He was the village's eyesore and he loved that fact; it made people notice him much better. Haters gonna hate on his bad-ass orange and blue jumpsuit. They're just jealous that they couldn't pull it off like he could because he was super fly.

The crazy thing was that people could only see him when he wanted them to, even after a large prank people couldn't find him. He gave chunin a run for their money, a jounin though, that was a different story. They would have to be on a bad day or he was just one lucky son of a bitch. Anbu, yeah okay, good luck with that! No way, not in a hundred years. They knew just about almost every hideout he has. Remember, almost. His pranks would have to cause a war, or he stole something of national importance for the Hokage to even think of sending them after him. Yeah, like that would ever happen. He wasn't that dumb.

'Rodger, next Hokage. Keep eyes on target, command over and out.' He answered himself acting like there was more than one person in his head. He kept his trained eye on the man. Contrary to popular belief, Naruto did have a great judge of character. He had this weird way of reading people. He kind of had to due to the place he lived and the way he had been treated over the years. The man in front of him was no exception.

Iruka Umino was an average man of height and build. He has black hair, which he keeps in a ponytail, dark eye color, tan skin, and a scar that runs horizontally across his nose. He is wearing the regular shinobi outfit with the only difference being that his sleeves were rolled up one-fourth of the way up his arms.

Iruka was different compared to the other assholes that call themselves teachers. While everyone else treated him like trash, Iruka showed him kindness, even though he was on his case twenty-four seven. Iruka was like an older brother that cared for him with tough love. Naruto always loved to hear him talk to him while they shared bowls of ramen together. Right now though, he wanted nothing more than for him to shut the Hell up.

His unsaid prayer was answered with a snapping sound. That snapping sound was his book's binding breaking; letting loose hundreds of pages of shinobi history onto his desk and the hard wooden floor. This, of course, disrupted the class, which made his classmates snicker at his bad luck. Naruto paid no attention to them only the man whose eyes were twitching as he looked right at Naruto.

Naruto was still sitting there in his chair holding only the cover of the now ruined book. Quickly flipping the book cover to cover his red face, he pretended to flip a page that no longer existed, causing the table behind him to laugh out. He never notices that Iruka had walked up to him with a smile that showed uncontrollable rage.

"Whatcha doing there Naruto?" He asked in a sweet tone that wasn't sweet at all if that tick mark on his forehead was anything to go by.

Naruto put the cover down and raised an eyebrow at the man in question, "I was going over the lesson you were giving. Why?" He finished with a question. He heard some of the girls in the class giggle with amusement, while a second tick mark found its way onto Iruka's head.

"Oh, really Naruto? Could you care to tell me what today's lesson was?" Iruka inquires at the blond boy.

Reaching down into his mind, he tried for the life of him to recall something that was said today. Pulling the first thing that came to his mind, he blurts out the word, "Katra! Why of course." Naruto answers coolly which caused the entire class to break out laughing, and Iruka's mouth twitches between a frown and back to that horrible smile, multiple times.

"You mean Chakra." Iruka corrected the blue-eyed boy. Naruto took his reply not as a statement or a fact, but instead as a question.

"No, I mean Katra," Naruto said sounding out the last word. The boy with the dog on his head fell to the floor grabbing his sides. The puppy had safely jumped onto the table as his master laughed on the floor. He was laughing too hard. Naruto didn't know which of the three had caused Iruka's third tick mark to appear: the whole class laughing at them, the dog boy's loud and obnoxious laughter or his smart-ass remarks. Maybe it was because of Kiba? Yep, it had to be because of Kiba. It was the only thing that made sense to him.

Iruka's face was as red as a tomato, clearly with anger, and yet he still wore that smile. "Naruto, why is your book so small compared to everyone else's?" He asked through his teeth.

Naruto knew whatever he said, no matter what it was, it would be the last nail into the coffin, so why not make it good, "You ask why I say why not."

Just like he had predicted, Iruka exploded, "That's it you little brat! You're mine after class!" Iruka yelled as his head enlarged ten times the size of his own. Which made the unlucky blond fall out of his chair with a yell. What a fantastic end to his day. He got to spend extra time with a teacher and clean up a mess he may or may not have made.

The class ended shortly after the incident before Iruka could even continue. Iruka had Naruto clean up the mess he had made as punishment for ruining the book and disturbing the class. Of course, Naruto complained the whole time about how they need to get better books. Once he was done with clean up duty, Iruka called him over.

Rubbing his temples in tiredness Iruka started, "Naruto, what on earth caused you to destroy that book? Don't you how important it is to our history as a village?"

Naruto was quick to get back on the defensive, "What! No, I didn't do it!" Iruka gave him a hard stare which Naruto took head-on, "It's the truth Iruka sensei!" Seeing Iruka sigh wasn't much of an answer so Naruto decided to continue, "You see all I did was," he grabbed Iruka's teacher copy of the history book before Iruka could stop him, "This!" He mimicked what he did before. They both watched as the book's binding ripped and spewed its contents onto the classroom floor. Iruka had a look of horror on his face as his book fell apart before him.

Naruto put the cover on the man's desk and gestured to the papers on the ground, "See these books are falling apart!" He proclaimed rather loudly trying to prove his point, "They're so old I highly doubt they cover any of the recent events within the last twenty years!" Now Naruto only assumed they didn't, but the look on Iruka's face that made it look like Naruto had grown a second head. It was enough to tell him that he hit the nail on the head.

Shaking the shock out of himself Iruka looked at Naruto seriously, "Naruto, you're right about the books not covering some of the more recent events, and," he peered over his desk and looked at the papers lying on the wooden floor, "They are very old, but that doesn't explain your behavior and how you act in and outside of class. You know the final exam is this Friday and today is Wednesday, and I haven't seen you study anything or even do your homework while you have free time in class."

Naruto waved his hand dismissively at his teacher, "Homework doesn't matter, it's all about scoring well on the final exam." Naruto said crossing his arms as he finished like stating a well-known fact.

Iruka gave Naruto a look that made Naruto feel like the biggest idiot in the world, "What?" Iruka squinted his eyes and looked away from the boy before looking back at him, "Naruto, how on earth did you come up with that conclusion?"

Naruto became unsure of himself with Iruka's tone of voice, "My previous teachers told me that."

Iruka's mouth dropped a little but he quickly closed it and asked, "What else did they tell you, Naruto?"

Rubbing his chin in thought. "They told me that homework wasn't important, all that matters was the exam. They gave me the older equipment and said it didn't matter, they even showed me a different..." the boy's voice trailed off as he began to get lost in thought. More like he was starting to realize something. The same thing Iruka had just realized as well.

"What did they show you?" Iruka said a little forcefully which cause the blond to jump a little at the tone being used.

"Um, they show me my fighting style that I use." Iruka snapped his fingers as if he just realized something important. Naruto instantly wanted to know what it was that Iruka had discovered, "What! Come on and tell me Iruka sensei! I want to know too! Don't leave a guy hanging!" the boy pleaded like a five-year-old.

Iruka shook his head as he processed the information. Once he was done he sighed disappointedly. It was not known if it was at himself, the boy, or the situation, "Then they lied to you Naruto," Naruto's mouth dropped, "If you did well on your homework and had an 'A' or even a low 'B' you could have gotten a forehead protector even if you failed the final exam, the equipment you have is falling apart worse than that history book, and your so-called fighting style that you use, will get you killed. No wonder why you can't win most spars!" Iruka finished looking directly at Naruto, who turned away from him.

Iruka finally realized why Naruto was the way he was. He had always thought the boy wasn't taking care of his equipment and was getting them lost or broken. He had also thought that the blond wanted to make his own fighting style, not that he was taught that horrible excuse of one. It also explained why he didn't do any homework, what a mess.

Iruka folded his hands in front of his face. He wanted to seem calm to Naruto, but on the inside, his blood was boiling. As any good teacher should, they were supposed to care for their students and show them the right path, so seeing this level of pure sabotage made him furious. These people who had done this were not teachers, they were monsters. He also realized Naruto wasn't bad because he didn't try or how he was treated, but how he was taught! Taught by people who were supposed to see past the demon locked inside of him and teach him how to survive in the real world. Yet they disregarded their job to get back at a demon and said demon was probably laughing at them as they harmed the kid who was holding it back.

He didn't know much about seals or how they worked, but could the emotional stress they caused the boy weaken the seal? Hopefully not. He would have to do research for that answer.

"So I've been set up to fail?" was Naruto's whispered response. It wasn't meant to be answered or even heard, yet Iruka decided to answer it.

Iruka sighed again, "As much as I hate to say it, yes you have." The dark haired man let his anger get to him as he slammed his fist on the desk, "And I was too blind to see it."

Naruto didn't respond to Iruka, he was too far lost in his own thoughts to care. He had been set up to fail by people who were supposed to be teaching him. His dream of earning everyone's respect, and becoming the Hokage was now even further away from his grasp. Why did people hate him so much? What had he done to deserve this? Surely a couple of pranks didn't cause that. No, it couldn't be that, they hated him way before he started pulling pranks.

He was brought out of his thoughts as he heard Iruka call to him, "Sorry, Iruka-sensei. I didn't catch that last part." He told the man quietly hoping he couldn't hear how weak he sounded.

"No that's fine Naruto," The teacher said sadly to the blond. He could clearly tell that Naruto wasn't all there at the moment, "I said that I would like for you to tell me more about those two different classes you had before mine." He retold Naruto.

"I'd rather not." Naruto sniffed. Iruka saw that Naruto was ready to bolt out of the classroom. Naruto obviously didn't want him to see him cry, or be seen crying. Before Naruto could bolt out of the classroom, Iruka moved with speeds that all decent chunin should have and holds the boy still. He turned the boy to face him, his eyes were red and tears were running down his face.

Iruka knelt down to Naruto's level, "I understand you don't want to talk about it, believe me, I know, but I need to know in order to help you."

Naruto whipped the tears away from his eyes, "Really?" the boy question hopefully, but his voice was still shaky and more tears were gathering in his eyes.

Iruka gave the boy a kind smile, "Yes," Iruka motioned to one of the desks behind him, "Pull up a chair and let's talk about it." The blond nodded slowly and did what he was told. Still sniffling as walked up to grab a chair.

Iruka went behind his desk and watched the blond, he couldn't help but feel like he was about to be in for a long chat with the class troublemaker.

"Where do you want me to start?"

Iruka gazed at the boy wondering about just where. "Let's just start at the beginning, tell me what happened that year."

Naruto rubbed at his right eye.

When Naruto was done telling him everything, Iruka could only shake his head in great disappointment. Naruto had been sabotaged from the beginning. One of his teachers had him take the final test when he knew he wasn't ready for it. Another had personally helped him discover a new Taijutsu stance that was guaranteed to get him killed in a real fight. One told him that homework was optional and didn't really matter and then gave him faulty equipment. They probably told the class to harass and ostracize him and reward them for doing so. This was beyond what Iruka and the third Hokage first thought. He would need to speak to lord third right away.

Iruka sent Naruto on his way after offering to get him a bowl of ramen after he was done talking with the Hokage. Naruto happy proclaimed the word 'ramen' and did a little dance, but Iruka could tell it was a mask. He was really hurting on the inside, and he knew Naruto was putting all of his faith into himself. He knew Iruka was his last shot. Iruka had then cleaned up the ruined book, collected his things, and headed to the Hokage tower. He did not stop for anything.

He entered the large red building that was known as the Hokage tower. He walked up to one of the secretaries in the main office. The woman behind the wooden desk looked up from the papers she was sorting, when she noticed it was Iruka she smiled brightly at the teacher.

"Hello, Iruka! How may I help you today." The cheerful woman greeted the man. The woman has black hair and green eyes, with a beauty mark on the left side of her lower lip. She was wearing a white shirt with a black skirt and black sandals.

She was pretty cute in Iruka's book, enough to get him hot under the collar. Iruka wasn't a lady killer like some of the other men in the village. He wasn't that good with getting women, yet Iruka returned her smile, "I'm looking for lord Hokage. He isn't too busy today is he...?" he asked the cute secretary named, looking at her nameplate on her desk, he saw it was Mana. 'which means affection, love.' Iruka mused, "Mana-san." he finished adding her name at the end.

The green-eyed woman eyed him for a second longer before taking a thoughtful look, "I don't believe he has any meetings today?" she asked herself. Iruka watched as she rambled on. Iruka coughed into his hand when she got way off track and was rewarded with the woman bushing red, "Sorry, I got distracted." she apologized.

"It's not a problem," Iruka reassured her, which earned him a smile from her.

"He should be free at the moment, you may see him." She informed the scarred man. Iruka thanked her and gave her a slight respectful bow. He then climbed the stairs to his leader's office. He came to a stop right by the single dark oak door and knocked at what he thought would be the most respectful way possible. He heard the low grunt of a 'you may enter', and enter he did. He closed the door behind him quietly once he was in the room.

The third Hokage looked up from the stacks of paper on his desk and smiled at the teacher of the future generation, "Why hello Iruka," the great man said happily. Truth be told he was looking for something to get his mind off of the paperwork in front of him, "What brings this unexpected pleasure?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was below-average stature, he has light tan-skinned, his hair was grey, and he has the wrinkles and liver spots of old age. He has a single line running vertically under the outer corners of each eye, which stretched down into his face as they reached his cheeks. He was wearing the customary Hokage hat and haori with a red, full-length kimono that is tied using a white sash. He has a red and black pipe lit as smokes rise from it.

Iruka stood hesitantly in front of Kage's desk, "I'm here about Naruto Uzumaki."

Hiruzen instantly sighed as he places his left hand on his forehead, "What has the boy done now." The great man said tiredly. Couldn't Naruto not do anything troubling for once?

"Well besides destroying two history textbooks, and disrupting the class," Iruka paused scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "Nothing." Well, that was a surprise to the Sarutobi clan leader. Must have been a slow day for the blond boy or he hasn't done 'it' yet. That last thought made him want to sigh again.

"That being interesting in itself, surely you didn't come by just to say that." Hiruzen stated before gaining a thoughtful look, "What about Naruto brings you here?"

Iruka took a more serious look, "Naruto is going to fail the final exam and the academy in general."

Hiruzen stared at the man sadly, "Is that so?" the Third Hokage in truth knew the boy still had a chance with his horrible grades to pass the exam, but to hear Iruka tell him flat out that he wasn't going to, dashed those hopes. It also left him with the question on how he knew that, "How are you so sure he will?" He added with narrowed eyes, not in anger but in thought.

"Yes, and I will explain," Iruka said still being serious, "and it's not his fault." He made sure to add. The Hokage gazed at the man in confusion. Hiruzen made a motion with his hand which meant to continue, he hated dramatic pauses, "Naruto has been taught differently than the rest of his peers."

Hiruzen frowned at hearing that, "Please elaborate on that." Hiruzen requested. Naruto was taught differently? Interesting.

"Well for starters, I'm sure you have seen his homework grades," Iruka stated.

The Hokage shook his head for no, "I have not due to the fact that they are nonexistent." Saying that depressed the great man more so than he already was because he knew how gung-ho Naruto was when he first joined the academy. Hiruzen thought the boy would do his homework to prove himself but his grades proved otherwise, but since Iruka was here trying to explain the situation, something else was going on. Something that even he was not aware of.

"That is because Naruto was lied to since the start of his time in the ninja academy." Declared Iruka shocking the Third Hokage. Iruka didn't allow the Hokage to respond to his declaration, "His first instructors had lied to him and said that homework didn't affect his grade, thus Naruto hasn't done any homework thinking he didn't need to. They also gave him faulty equipment hoping that it would break to lower his grade even more, and it also throws his aim completely off. I'm sure you know of how the academy grades on weapon handling and care." Hiruzen nodded at the last part. That was another grade Naruto was very low in.

Faulty equipment could mean death to a Shinobi or a Kunoichi. Which was why it was taken into account and part of the grades. Hearing he had been given faulty equipment, meant that he couldn't throw his kunai and shurikens correctly and they would break easily.

Hiruzen was anything but a happy camper at the moment. From what he was just told by Iruka, it seems that Naruto wasn't necessarily a bad ninja because of himself, but by his very own teachers. He knew that his teachers beforehand hated the boy, but to sabotage him was completely different and unacceptable. He was going to have to discipline them about this. There was just one question he had, why hadn't he or Iruka found out sooner about this? Why only now had this been discovered?

"What had led to this discovery?" Inquired the eldest Sarutobi. He knew Iruka wouldn't bring this to his attention if he thought Naruto may have been lying. In truth, he was curious about how Iruka discovered this. He knew Naruto wouldn't lie about anything this big or shocking. The boy wouldn't lie to save his skin.

Clearing his thought, Iruka continued, "After I had Naruto clean up his mess, I went on to ask him why he had destroyed it. He told me that he didn't and shown me what he did with my teacher's copy which sadly ended up like his." Iruka shook his head disappointedly before brightening up, "He also brought to my attention that the history books don't have any new information on things in last twenty years, which I'm guessing was a very good assumption from him, and an accurate one." he informed Hiruzen.

"Did he now," Hiruzen commented lightly. It was good to hear Naruto doing something that was actually a good thing for once, "Continue." He solicited.

"I went on to tell him that even though he may be right about the books, he still didn't have an excuse in not studying or doing his homework. That was when he told me that homework didn't matter and the final exam was all that mattered. That's was when I asked him where he got that idea from."

"And that was where he went on to tell you about his previous teachers." Hiruzen finished for Iruka to which the man nodded to the older and wiser shinobi. Hiruzen took another drag from his pipe to calm his nerves. Rubbing his temples he asked, "Have his grades been updated?"

"Yes, and while almost all of his grades are poor and less than satisfactory level, he does have an exceptional grade when it comes to raw speed." This caused Hiruzen to smile. 'It seems Naruto got more than just his looks from his father', the man mused to himself.

"I see, just how fast is he?" Inquired Hiruzen with honest curiosity.

"The fastest out of all the academy." That shocked Hiruzen. If the boy was the fastest, then how come he wasn't doing well when it came to Taijutsu? "While he is the fastest in terms of speed, his fighting style is what is single-handedly killing him. That is why he has a 'C' in speed on the paper, that and he has horrible reaction time when he gets angry. The fighting style he uses doesn't let him use his speed, in fact, it slows him down. If he used the actual academy style he would easily defeat the regular civilian children while holding his own against the clan heirs, not winning but differently holding his own. If he was taught the right way from the get-go, he would definitely be able to take on Sasuke Uchiha right now and actually challenge the boy unlike most of his peers, but as he is now, it is impossible for him to do so against, well anyone." Iruka said sadly.

He really hated how slowly Naruto had progressed and wished he could have done more for the boy. He really wanted to give Naruto another shot now knowing just what was up with him, "Naruto has been trying his best to be successful, it's just not going to happen the way he is now. I recommend putting him back in the academy, and let me handle his training so this way he will be able to-"

Hiruzen seemed to take in everything the man said so far with stride, but hearing the man wanting Naruto to go back into the academy, didn't agree with him. Hiruzen put his hand up and stopped the man from talking further, "While you have done well with Naruto thus far, improved his grades from what they were, and brought this whole troublesome situation to my attention, I will have to stop you there." The Hokage interrupted the teacher, "I will not allow Naruto to go through that experience again and discourage him further than he already is. No, I have something much more different in mind. While I agree that Naruto isn't ready for the field or being placed on a team like most of his peers, I'll have someone look into training the boy further."

"You mean like an apprenticeship?" Iruka said with surprise, "But those haven't been used since-" Iruka found himself cut off once again.

"Since the First and Second Great Ninja wars, yes I'm fully aware of that." Hiruzen stated, "You see, this is just the perfect timing as well. I was just about to take one of the jounin sensei off the list due to a late entry jounin that would be perfect for one team due to a 'special' case." He told Iruka, yet not giving up too much information. "Now as for Naruto, I want you to let him know everything is being worked out, and he will be taken care of. Tell him to attend class tomorrow like usual, but in reality, it won't be like usual. He is going to be tested by the jounin I have picked out for him. Don't give him better equipment for tomorrow, the jounin will handle it."

Iruka didn't seem to be behind his plan one hundred percent so Hiruzen reassured him, "Don't worry too much about Naruto, this jounin sensei isn't like the others and will see Naruto as he is, not what he holds."

Iruka seemed to relax a little bit at that, "I will trust in you, Hokage." Iruka bowed to the man.

Iruka feeling like he was dismissed moved towards the door, when he opened it and started to walk out, Hiruzen spoke up once more, "Just to let you know Iruka, I was right in choosing you." This caused the man to freeze where he was. While he had thought he failed Naruto because he couldn't see that the boy had been lied to, the Hokage thought completely different. The Hokage thought he had done a good a job. It made the scarred man smile.

"Thank you, Hokage" Iruka thanked his leader before closing the door to the Hokage's office. After Hiruzen saw the door closed he glared at nowhere in particular. How had he been played as such a fool for not seeing this sooner? He didn't think the teachers had the gall to do what they had done. This was beyond unacceptable or forgivable. He looked to his desk drawer that was filled with new files on the upcoming graduating class of academy students. He opened the drawer and went to search for one specific file. When he found it, he pulled it out. This file contained all the information on Naruto Miso Uzumaki. Seeing all the notes left by his previous, other than Iruka, teachers, he pulled them out and discard them. Falsified information wasn't acceptable, but he did write down the names of his previous instructors. He was going to have them brought in right away.

Thinking more about Naruto, he couldn't help but feel saddened. He had such a terrible life; he was harassed and picked on by the children his age, no doubt because of their parents, adults called him names, glared at him, threw him out of shops, et cetera.

Now he had realized just how much people hated him and how far they were willing to go. To find out that your education was a complete and total lie, must've hit the boy hard. This had already hit Hiruzen hard because of the deal he had made with the entire council of Konoha.

That deal started: if Naruto couldn't complete the academy within three terms, he would be handed over to Danzō for proper training. While Hiruzen had agreed to the arrangement, he didn't have to go along with it. He was the Hokage, and Konoha wasn't a democracy. He let his people make the decisions as a whole so he knew what the people wanted. Since the deal was reaching its deadline, he had to make a choice. To stay true to the deal or break it. Now though, he could make a new decision since the academy instructors had failed to train Naruto properly. They had to know of the deal or it was just rotten luck and they wanted the boy to fall flat on his face. Hiruzen thought it to be the first one rather the second.

Which was why he had decided to have Naruto to be taught from the ground up by a jounin, because he was raw and unformed, and he had just the person to do it. No one got the better of Hiruzen Sarutobi and gets away with it! This what he got for sitting on his hands. He had been out of the job for a while but this was unacceptable to have let this happen under his watch. He needs to remind people that is council has no power in his village. This was a military village, not a city. He had grown too soft for the current position he held, and Naruto paid the price for it. It was time to hunt down the ones responsible, fix this mess, and remind the people that they live in a Military Dictatorship, not a republic where the council had power.

"Cat!" An ANBU woman with purple hair and cat mask flashed before him, "Bring me Kakashi Hatake and alert ANBU squad Ranger to find me these three people in this file. I want them under watch until I and T are ready for them. Make I and T have cells ready for them. I want this done swiftly." He tossed the folder to the woman. 'Its time for them to see the Hiruzen of old. They have finally crossed a line I will not allow.' He turned to look out his window as he gazed over his village. It was finally time to nip this problem in the rear. He should have done this a while ago but better late than never.

(With Naruto)

Naruto was standing outside his third favorite place in the whole village. His first favorite place was the village itself, followed by the Hokage monument, and third being the ramen stand known to everyone as the Ichiraku Ramen Bar! The place where only gods eat. Truly the food was a gift from the gods, it had to be. No other place had such good food. Well, he hadn't been to any other place because they wouldn't let him in, but that's beside the point.

Naruto was waiting for Iruka to show up, hopefully, he had some good news for him. He really didn't want to think about the whole situation. It was just another thing to add to the list of obstacles he had bulldozed over when he published his book on how he became Hokage. Yet it still left him full of questions. Just why did all these people hate him so damn much that they tried to fuck him over on everything? Really, what was he missing? There had to be something he wasn't getting. Surely he would find out what it was eventually. Naruto sighed to himself watching the villagers walking down the street, they were ignoring his presence for the most part, though there were a few that glared at him, and he glared right back. He was not in the mood today.

Naruto shook his head and went back to smelling the aromas of the small ramen stand. Naruto was trying his hardest to wait for his teacher, but the ramen was calling for him. He had decided not to wait for the man and go ahead and enter the stand. Iruka wouldn't be mad if he went in and ordered something while he waited, would he? 'Nah,' he thought dismissively.

Naruto threw the flap that was hanging down out of his way and hopped on top of one of the six stools. Naruto grinned when he saw old man Teuchi. Teuchi is a very kind and jovial man. He was a very stern businessman and has also been described as stubborn, obstinate, and having the temperament of a craftsman. Yeah, Naruto didn't really care about all that crap said about the man, he served the food of Gods and would give him free ramen once in a while. He was 'A' okay in his book.

"Oi! Old man!" Naruto called out from the seat with an eager wave.

The 'Old man' turned on his heels to see his best customer. Truly no one ate his food more than him. Naruto was in here almost every day. Teuchi smiled at the blond, "Well if it isn't Naruto, how are you doing my boy?"

"Better now," Naruto said truthfully. Anytime ramen was in his general area, he was doing much better. It was a simple fact of life; ramen equals better. "I'll have the pork ramen today! Make it with extra pork!" He yelled out excitedly.

Teuchi nodded at the boy's order, "I'll have to make a new batch of noodles, so you're going to have to be patient." He said and went to work on making the noodles.

Naruto frowned hearing that his ramen was going to take longer then he was hoping.

"You know, the best things always come to those who wait." Spoke a voice from behind Naruto. That frown quickly turned into a smile hearing the voice. Naruto turned in his seat to face the voice.

"Iruka-sensei!" The boy exclaimed happily seeing his teacher. Iruka had a warm smile on his face as he sat down next to the boy.

"Hey take it easy there kiddo, whatcha trying to do? Make me go deaf or something?" Iruka teased at the boy's loudness.

Naruto scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment, "Sorry Iruka-sensei, I'm just glad to see you," he told the man honesty but quickly became serious, "So what happened with the old man?" the blond inquired. He had to know what the Hokage had planned for him.

Iruka had found out early on that Naruto called the Hokage Jiji. It was really disrespectful, and he corrected him every time he said it, "Well, first of all, it's the Lord Hokage not 'Old Man'," he corrected the blond to which said blond rolled his eyes at the teacher, "and most importantly, everything has been sorted out."

Naruto's eyes widened, "What, really?" The blond questioned Iruka to which the man nodded.

"All you have to do is report to the academy tomorrow, Hokage has something very special in mind for you, and only you," Iruka told Naruto in an amused tone. At that moment it was like a firework had been set off inside the ramen stand.

"Alright!" Naruto burst out of his chair and started jumping around the place excitedly making Iruka laugh at his demeanor.

Teuchi wasn't as amused as Iruka however and raised his ladle at the boy, "Hey!" He barked at Naruto, "Sit down before you break something! This isn't a playground!" Naruto sat down in his seat dejectedly at having his happy moment cut short. Iruka chuckled at him, but was stopped when the ramen cook pointed his ladle at him, "And you!" Iruka was shocked by the cook's anger towards him and pointed to himself, he didn't do anything! Teuchi nodded and crossed his arms and his anger had vanished into thin air, "What are you having?" He asked the ninja teacher.

"Oh, um…" Iruka thought for a couple of seconds before he found what he wanted, "I'll have the beef ramen with extra veggies." Iruka order and the cook nodded and went to work on their orders. Naruto stuck his tongue out in disgust at hearing the word veggies.

The two customers sat in silence before Naruto spoke up, "Hey where is Ayame?" Naruto asked Teuchi looking around the stand to find her to no avail.

Teuchi thought about the question for a moment, "Ayame has the day off today. She said something about hanging out with her friend Komachi." Teuchi said recalling what Ayame told him earlier today. Naruto and Iruka both nodded not really knowing who that was. It was a big village, after all, full of a lot of people. The pair had only had to wait for a couple of minutes before their food was done. The three continued their small talk for a while as the two customers ate. Completely unaware of what was happening at the Hokage Tower.

(At the Hokage Tower)

The door to the Hokage's office was opened as a fit and relatively tall shinobi, with spiky silver hair and a single dark grey eye that peeked in since his other eye was covered with a forehead protector. This was Kakashi Hatake, an elite jounin of the village hidden in the leaves. Kakashi has a mask over his nose and lower-half of his face. Kakashi was donning the standard jōnin attire: a Konoha flak jacket, dark blue pants and a long-sleeve shirt with the addition of wearing shorter, fingerless gloves with metal plates on the backhand. He also has a chain necklace around his neck. "You called for me Hokage?" he queried walking into the room.

"Ah, Kakashi. Just the person I wanted to see." The Hokage said turning from his position overlooking the village through the window to face him, "I called you here to inform you that you have been removed from the list of jounin candidates for a genin team." He informed the jounin.

Kakashi's one eye visibly widened at the Hokage's words. He grew saddened knowing that he wouldn't be able to have a chance at taking his sensei's son on in training. Though he was still very curious as to why he was taken off the list, "May I ask why?"

Hiruzen nodded at the younger man, "Well, there are two reasons for my decision, the first one I can't tell you," That caused Kakashi to raise a perplexed eyebrow, "The second one is something that I had not seen coming and has only been brought to my attention recently." The man paused to think over his words, "I'm sure you remember Naruto Uzumaki," Kakashi smiled under his mask for a moment before nodding, which causes Hiruzen to continue, "It has been brought to my attention that Naruto is going to fail his last and final exam."

Kakashi frowned, "That is unfortunate, but I can tell there is more to that story." Kakashi stated, knowing full well that the Hokage was getting somewhere with this. Where? He didn't know.

"Indeed there is, it started a long time ago when the boy was four and nearing the age to be entered into the academy." Hiruzen started, "There was a meeting between the various members of the council, myself, and my advisors. It was there that the council agreed to let Naruto take the academy test three times. If he failed the third one, he was to be handed over to Danzō for 'proper training'." Kakashi took all that was told to him in stride, yet he knew there was more to the story, "Today I learned that Naruto will fail his last and final exam."

Kakashi was still not getting what the Hokage was telling so he interrupted the Hokage, "If I may," Kakashi interjected and the Hokage nodded allowing him to continue, "So where do I come in?"

"I was getting to that," the Hokage said with narrowed eyes, boy Kakashi was impatient today, "Yes, well, Naruto's teacher had also made the discovery that young Naruto was sabotaged since the very beginning of his time in the academy."

That statement alone made Kakashi's eye widen. If what the Hokage was telling him was true then Naruto had been set up to fail so he could be passed on to Danzō. Yet, there was something he wasn't getting, and that was where the hell did he fit into this mess.

"I see you figured out what happens if Naruto fails the exam and the whole situation he is in." the Hokage assumed, "Now the part where you come in," Hiruzen told Kakashi. Kakashi had no idea what the Hokage had planned for so he waited with bated breath. "From this point onward, Naruto Uzumaki is now your apprentice."

(A/N: This chapter is basically the same. I saw no need to change it. I only added some very little things here and there. Enjoy the rewrite.)