Rain: It's time once again...I love this Fic, don't get me wrong but I just want it to be more coherent. Some things will remain the same, many things will be different. Most of all, I just hope you guys enjoy my final edit of this fanfic known as...Reaper's Blood: Final Mix

Mario: Here we go!

Title: Reaper's Blood: Final Mix
Category: Anime/Manga » Naruto

Pairings: Naruto/Hinata/Ino/Anko
Author: RainthelingeringSentiment
Language: English, Rating: Rated: M
Genre: Romance/Adventure

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto at all. We've been through this a few times already!


*Legend*

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Kyuubi talking"

'Kyuubi thinking'


Reaper's Blood: Final Mix

Chapter One

"I, Uzumaki Naruto have done something that no one else could ever accomplished! I can't believe it!" Naruto exclaimed as he bounced from tree branch to tree branch with an excited look in his eyes

Naruto had done the impossible. He had stolen the forbidden scroll by knocking out the Hokage by using his Oiroke no Jutsu.

And here he thought it would be a challenge to steal the damn thing.

With his grin growing with each second that passed, Naruto continued his way deeper into the forest until he finally came across the old shed Mizuki had told him to meet him.

Naruto tried to slide to a halt but he managed to trip on a small pebble and with a yell, he crashed face first onto the ground.

He stayed on the ground for two whole minutes before his embarrassment subsided before getting up onto his feet, walking over to the scroll and sitting himself down on the ground in front of it.

"Operation: Scroll grab has been complete success! I can't believe that the silver haired teme himself would offer this chance to me! I guess he saw that me becoming the Hokage could truly happen," Naruto said aloud to himself as he sat the rather heavy scroll on the ground before him before he sat down in front of it.

If Naruto could be honest with himself, he didn't know how he felt about doing this. He wanted to become the Hokage and everyone and their ancestors knew this about him but was he going about this the right way?

Every Hokage in existence went through the academy and passed it successfully and yet he was here cheating his way to the top by taking the scroll to Mizuki to pass in a rather sleazy way, at least to his mind.

"Then again…Mizuki-sensei did say that this was an alternate test to test my skills as an shinobi…And even if he was a total jackass by picking on me the entire time, he at least saw something in me to give me this test…More than Iruka-sensei…" Naruto said, trying to quell his inner guilt over doing the test differently.

And saying Iruka's name made Naruto's somewhat good mood completely change into a somber one.

Naruto didn't hide it to anyone who cared that Umino Iruka, his chūnin sensei at the academy was something akin to an older brother to Naruto.

When they met, Iruka looked at him the same way everyone had…Like he was a menace to Konoha and he often picked at Naruto and tried to stop Naruto's pranks but despite this, Naruto didn't give up.

He continued to be the prankster that he wanted to be and Iruka would always chase after him and make him clean the aftermaths of the pranks and for a while, they built up some sort of relationship, even though it was a negative one.

But after one particularly bad prank, Iruka told the amused class something that said the words that turned Naruto's slight dislike of the chūnin into absolute loathing.


Flashback – Five Years Ago

Uzumaki Naruto

The five year old Uzumaki Naruto felt victorious.

He had just done the impossible.

He had finally broken the calm veneer that his prideful sensei had worn from the moment they had met.

The plan was very simple.

All he did was follow Iruka to his home after school let out and placed buckets of hot pink and sunflower yellow as he slept and carefully tied dental floss around the handles of the buckets around his wrists as carefully as possible.

So when the chūnin woke up and moved, the buckets would tip over and splash all over him and from the sparse amount of pink and yellow in Iruka's hair and from the fact he was thirty minutes late to class, Naruto could claim that this prank was a smashing success!

But that was only Part "A" of the plan.

Part "B" was going to happen the moment Iruka sat down on his chair...And that moment quickly came when Iruka sat down on his chair and the moment he did, the chair's legs snapped off, sending Iruka slamming to the ground where seconds later, hot pink and orange paint fell from the open ceiling tile down onto Iruka's head, painting his head in pink and orange.

The class seemed to love it as well because everyone was in hysterics while Naruto rose up and took three bows while the class congratulated him for his success but then the sound of something heavy slammed onto the desk, causing Naruto, along with everyone else, to look at the direction it came from.

Naruto watched as a stoned faced Iruka stood up from his down position and slowly, the chūnin let out a small chuckle, which stunned Naruto.

"Class…Do you think this is amusing?" Iruka asked, which caused everyone to stare at the scarred man in confusion but Naruto laughed.

"I thought so at least," Naruto stated as he placed his thumb against his chest with a grin before he added "Orange and pink look really good on you, Iruka-sensei."

"I am glad you think so Naruto because I know this little prank and the one this morning is your doing," Iruka responded, which made Naruto's grin change into a smirk.

"Well of course, you had been begging for it for weeks. Besides, I'm the best prankster there is," Naruto boasted.

Naruto watched as Iruka chuckled and wiped the orange paint that was coming down his face and said "Listen class, I do know that many of you enjoy these pranks but at the end of the day, all of you are encouraging these acts of vandalism."

Naruto was confused by the words Iruka was saying and was about to open his mouth to respond but Iruka continued with "The things that Uzumaki Naruto has done as of late are childish and immature and people like that are not worthy of the time or respect of us hard working citizens of Konoha deserve so when Naruto plays a prank, ignore them…Maybe then young Uzumaki will become a more of productive member of society instead of the hooligan he is now."


End Flashback - Present Time

Uzumaki Naruto

Naruto was hurt by his sensei's words.

Everyone treated his words as gospel and ignored any and all pranks Naruto had played and soon, Naruto felt even more alone than before.

Sure, no one had liked him back then but people at least responded to his pranks so to have this person tell everyone to ignore them had really cut Naruto deeply.

And because of this, Naruto treated Iruka with hostility that the chūnin had shown him, throwing mean prank after mean prank on the chūnin, who practiced what he preached and ignored all the pranks he had thrown at him.

At the peak of their "war", Iruka decided that he was not allowed to attend the "Test of Courage" which was a ton of exercises done throughout the village.

And Naruto felt that it wasn't fair so that forced him to prank the entire group before announcing that he would no longer go to the academy.

For the next week, Naruto refused to go back to the academy and he was sure everyone was happy about this until a bunch of kids that bullied him in the past told him that they felt bad by his words and would be his friends but on one condition.

The kid told him that a patrol unit had fought some enemy ninja in the back hills the day before and if he wanted to be in their group, he would have to bring back something from the battle site that were outside the village to them.

Naruto knew it was stupid but at the time, he was so desperate for someone, anyone to care for him that he did do it. He snuck out and found the dead remains and at first, Naruto found himself gagging from the smell that emitted from them but he needed friends and would do anything to gain them.

Naruto was not proud of rummaging through the bodies of the dead but when he found a piece of paper of some scrawls that he couldn't make out but he decided to keep it but that was when Iruka came upon him.

Iruka told Naruto to return to Konoha but he refused and used his patented "Oiroke no Jutsu" to distract Iruka long enough as he ran as fast as his little legs could take him but that led him right into the hands of Kunoichi that were from Takigakure no Sato.

Iruka wasted no time in saving Naruto's life several times during the two of them trying to get away and with the help of some masked guy Naruto later knew as Hatake Kakashi, the two finally got away.

And when the excitement died down, something happened between the two of them that changed their relationship entirely.


Flashback – Five Years ago

Uzumaki Naruto

"Why did you do it Naruto?"

Naruto frowned at Iruka's words as the two sat by each other on a bench.

It had been a few hours after the two of them had gotten away from those tough kunoichi and Naruto felt annoyed that Iruka called him out here right before he was going to go to bed.

Iruka may have saved his life and he was grateful but that didn't change the fact that he felt hurt by all Iruka had done to him during his time at the academy. "Why did I do what?" Naruto asked with a snotty tone, his bottom lip sticking out with his arms crossed.

"Why did you leave the village the way you did?" Iruka asked with a concerned yet angered tone in his voice. "What you did was foolish and reckless and had I not come and found you, you could have gotten hurt or even killed."

Naruto could hear the anger in his voice and felt the anger growing within his veins. How dare this guy act like he cared now after all the crap and hurtful crap that was said?

Iruka had no right in trying to be all worried and Naruto let him know this when he snapped with a harsh tone "Do you dare try to act like you care after all you've done!"

Naruto could see that Iruka was taken aback by his outburst but Naruto didn't care. He was tired, hungry and still a bit afraid after today's events and this was only making things worse for his mood.

"You think saving my life means you can act like you're all worried about me when you yourself said I wasn't worth the attention or respect of anyone?! Where do you get the right to act this way?!"

Naruto could feel unshed tears within his eyes as he said with a wavering voice "You think you c-can just say those things and expect me to be happy that you saved my life but they won't!"

Naruto could hear the faint noise of surprise from Iruka's mouth but Naruto didn't care. Years of being subjected to the worse kind of neglect was finally bubbling to the surface and Naruto could no longer hold back all that his little heart could stand.

"Every single day…From the moment I wake up to the moment I sleep, I'm alone. No one cares about me. All they do is treat me like I'm some sort of sickness….They pretend I don't exist or when they are forced to interact with me, their voices are so cold and cruel…But do you know what the worse part of being me in this village is?"

A bit of anger appeared in Naruto's voice along with a brief flicker of fire in his eyes as he answered his own question with "Being at the end of their constant glares! I don't even have to see it; I can practically feel their hate anytime I leave my damn rundown apartment. And the one place that I thought I could avoid that was at the academy…Sure I was treated somewhat badly but I never had to deal with that unwanted stare of hatred...Until you came around and suddenly, I couldn't escape that look at all."

Naruto lowered his head as tears started to fall down his cheeks as he sniffled sadly and mumbled "All I wanted was friends Iruka-sensei…Someone that cares for me and wants me around, even if I'm there to be made fun of…It's better than just being ignored and hated…At least I can feel wanted, even as a punch line to a joke."

"K-Kami-sama above…Naruto, I-I'm so-" He heard Iruka whisper in a tone that was unfamiliar to Naruto but Naruto merely shook his head and offered a watery smile.

"Just save it," Naruto whispered sadly. "I've gotten used to it to the fact that no one cares about me. Even I don't care about myself anymore…Maybe it would have been better for me to die…At least I would have been f-freed from this lonely he-"

Without any warning, Naruto felt Iruka's arms wrap around him in a bone crushing hug, which caused Naruto to stiffen with surprise and that surprise grew when he felt a drop of something wet hit his shoulder.

"A-All this time…All this time I thought of you as just some menace to the village…Kami, you're just a child…And I treated a child so terribly…What have I done?" Naruto heard Iruka whisper with that strange tone again as the elder male shook against him.

It was then Naruto realized what the strange tone was.

It was sadness.

And to shock Naruto further, the wetness that he was feeling was Iruka's tears. Iruka was crying because of him.

Seeing the man that had hurt him with his stares of hatred and cruel words now crying against him because of his words truly made Naruto upset. No matter how cruel Iruka was to him, Naruto hated to see people cry because of him.

"Please don't cry…" Naruto told him with a sad frown on his face but Iruka only squeezed him tighter.

"Kami…I'm so sorry Naruto," Naruto heard Iruka breath out remorsefully against his shoulder, which made fresh tears appear in Naruto's eyes. He wanted Iruka to stop because he himself was scared.

He was scared that this was all a cruel trick. No one ever cried for how they treated him before so why would his biggest detractor mourn for how he treated him?

But despite this thought, Naruto couldn't stop himself from hoping that maybe, just maybe, someone was actually sorry for how they treated him and that was more than enough for him bawl against the older man's flak jacket.


End Flashback - Present Time

Uzumaki Naruto

Iruka had explained after that moment that he when he was younger; he had lost his parents and in turn became lonely enough to become a delinquent like Naruto was but the Hokage himself was able to steer Iruka to the right direction with advice.

Iruka then explained that he had heard of Naruto's reputation as a severe prankster and was wary of him but Iruka then stated that instead of seeing the signs that he was lonely, Iruka admitted that he took the same approach the villagers did to him.

Iruka admitted that the moment Naruto broke down on the bench, Iruka saw the pain his words and his actions had and it made Iruka realize that Naruto needed someone by his side, like Iruka did when he was younger.

And it was after that moment Iruka swore from to Naruto that he would earn his forgiveness for his cruel words and stares.

And without a doubt, Naruto felt that Iruka made up for it a thousand times over.

Thanks to Iruka, Naruto was living in an apartment building with super nice tenants that treated him like a normal person instead of the one the Hokage had found which was more rundown and had managers that despised him.

Instead of the ratty, poor quality clothes that Naruto was forced to buy from the rude shop owners, Iruka made sure to buy nice clean clothes, even in his favorite color orange.

And instead of being sold rotten or expired food like he had before, Iruka always bought fresh food him.

Iruka even helped Naruto excel in his classes and while he wouldn't become rookie of the year, he was still doing better than he was before.

But while Iruka helped Naruto become a better person, Naruto also helped Iruka. He helped the chūnin loosen up and have more fun and take more risks and so far, Naruto's biggest success in this department was helping his sensei find a girlfriend.


Flashback – Four Years Ago

Uzumaki Naruto

"Naruto!"

Naruto's head snapped up when he heard Iruka's bellow from the classroom before a small grin appeared on his face.

"Uh oh, Sensei found the badgers…"Naruto stated with an amused grin on his face as he sat by himself outside the academy.

"I better get going before he catches me," Naruto stated with a smile before he hopped down to the ground and stretched his limbs out.

After hearing a door being slammed open, Naruto quickly dashed down the road away from the academy until he was in the middle of town and he was making some good headway until he found himself slamming into the legs of a woman, sending him landing on his backside.

And a few moments later, a large amount of dango fell on his head and onto his lap. Naruto looked at the food on his lap in confusion before he heard some deep, heavy breathing coming from above him.

"You…" A deep, feminine voice growled out after a few seconds of silence.

Naruto slowly looked up to see who the voice belonged to but the moment his eyes met her rather beautiful face, Naruto found himself grabbed by the shirt and thrown high into the air.

'I didn't even see her or feel her grab me!' Naruto thought to himself as he managed to recover in the air and stumbled a bit before he heard an enraged scream coming from behind him.

Naruto barely saw a flash of enraged light brown pupil-less eyes before he was once again launched into the air.

"Kami!" Naruto shouted in alarm as he tried to recover from the throw but luckily, Iruka was just turning a corner and managed to catch Naruto before the blond collided into him.

Naruto quickly scrambled away from Iruka's grasp and said "We need to get out of here!" Naruto could see the look of confusion on Iruka's face before the two of them heard a loud shout.

"Get back here you orange wearing brat!"

Naruto's eyes widened in horror at the sound and quickly tried to run from Iruka but he then felt the hand of the scarred man holding the collar of his shirt and said "Oh no…You aren't going anywhere."

Naruto squealed in horror as the he heard the chuckle of the woman coming from a distance and the more the low, almost sadistic chuckling got closer, Naruto squirmed more but Iruka held strong until all became quiet.

And then…

"Hello Gaki…I believe you are the one that destroyed the dango I've so desperately wanted since I got back to the village twenty minutes ago."

Naruto turned his head and saw the sickeningly sweet smile of a pale skinned, beautiful kunoichi with violet hair with a spiky fanned ponytail framing her face.

Naruto would have been blushing by her beauty had he not had been terrified beyond belief. The woman stood up and faced Iruka and said "Thanks for catching him…I greatly appreciate it. Now I can have him meet Kohana."

"W-Who is Kohana?" Naruto asked fearfully.

The woman then let a sadistic smirk appear on her face as she said "She's one of my snake summons. Black Mamba I believe. The most vicious species of snake in my collection."

Naruto's tanned face paled as he quickly began to try to run but Iruka held him in a good grip. "Look, I know my student is quite a troublesome lad but I assure you he didn't mean to bump into you…Unlike how he meant to hide those badgers in my classroom closet."

Naruto laughed sheepishly.

"Why don't I treat you out to Dango as an apology for my student's behavior. This way, you can have your treat and he still draws breath for another day."

Naruto could see the woman tilt her head up in thought at this before she grinned and said "Deal. Dango outweighs the need for his blood any day. "The woman then held out her hand and said "Names Mitarashi Anko."

Iruka's hand clasped with hers and replied "I'm Umino Iruka…And this-" Naruto felt Iruka lift him up into the air. "-Is Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto held out his hand and stuttered "N-Nice to meet you?"

The woman, now known as Anko, merely chuckled and shook hands with him as she replied "Nice to meet you Gaki. Just remember, even though Iruka-san is treating me out, you still owe me Dango and I expect you to repay me one day."


End Flashback – Present Time

Uzumaki Naruto

Despite their rough meeting, Naruto and Anko became great friends and even became to see her as an older sister and to make things even better, Naruto soon gained another friend soon after.


Flashback – Four Years Ago

Uzumaki Naruto

"Why in the world did I even come here?"

Naruto muttered to himself with a sad sigh as he swung on the swing by himself, a frown on his face.

School had just let out and Iruka was forced to grade papers so he couldn't spend time with him so here he was, in the park, watching kids his age playing with their friends.

Despite Iruka and Naruto's friendship after that day the scarred man saved his life, Naruto still yearned to make friends his own age and as he watched a small platinum blond haired girl playing with a chubby chestnut haired boy and a black haired but whose head was shaped like a pineapple.

They looked so happy playing together.

It only made Naruto feel terrible. But when Naruto turned his head to look away, he saw a girl his age sitting the seat of a separate set of swings with the same sad look on her face he knew was on his own.

Was she lonely too?

'This is the first time I've ever seen her in the village…she might be new…maybe she can be my friend,' Naruto thought with a hopeful feeling filling his heart.

Naruto got off his seat and walked to the swing seat and as he did, he could hear her whisper "I w-wish I had f-friends."

And that was when Naruto placed a single tap on her shoulder.

The small girl looked up at him and for a moment, Naruto was surprised. Her eyes…They were so unique. They looked like lavender colored pearls…They were very beautiful.

"Um h-hi…" The boy said softly, unable to keep the nervousness from his voice. "Can I swing with you?"

The girl stared at him for what seemed like an eternity, she gave a small smile and stuttered out "S-Sure."

Naruto smiled and sat down next to her and said "I bet I can swing higher than you!"

The girl responded with "nu-uh" The boy simply smiled and replied "Uh-uh" and with that, the two began to swing together, both of them laughing as they went higher.

After twenty minutes of this, the two had stopped swinging and just sat there on the swings in silence before Naruto asked "Why w-were you sitting here all by yourself?"

The girl looked down at her feet and stuttered "Because n-no one w-w-wanted to play with m-me…Why did you c-come play with m-me?"

"No one would play with me either," Naruto told her truthfully. "No one except Iruka-sensei likes me…"

"M-Maybe we can p-play with each o-other," She replied with a flustered look.

Naruto glanced at her and gave her a bashful smile and asked "Does that mean that we're friends?"

The girl looked at her shoes once again with a small blush and replied "If y-you want t-to be my f-f-friend…"

Naruto couldn't stop the large smile that threatened to split his face.

He had finally made a friend.

"Then you're m-my best friend forever!" Naruto exclaimed happily, trying to hold back the tears that wanted to fall from his eyes and as he looked at his new friend, he could see the tears in her eyes as well but she was smiling too.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto said, officially introducing himself to her. "What's your name?"

The girl looked away from him shyly and replied with a small voice "Hyūga Hinata…" Naruto gave her a huge smile which she returned with a small one.


End Flashback – Present Time

Uzumaki Naruto

Things soon started to look up for Naruto. With Anko, Iruka and Hinata and soon even more friends in Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino by his side, Naruto slowly started to end his pranking (except on special occasions) and began to take his school work seriously.

He practiced with Hinata, Kiba and Shino any chance he got and Anko taught him some moves when she could and Naruto even studied on his own time.

But despite all of these changes, he had stilled failed.

All because of the damn Bushin test.

He shouldn't have expected Iruka to give him a second chance to prove himself but deep down, Naruto wanted his surrogate older brother to grant him a chance to prove himself and yet Iruka hadn't.

Naruto knew that Iruka was a fair teacher and while he taught Naruto all he could, he didn't want to show Naruto special treatment but selfishly, Naruto wanted him to show that to give him that second chance.

But he didn't…If he was honest with himself, Naruto was hurt by hearing the words "I'm sorry Naruto, you failed," from Iruka had hurt him deeply, to the point that he walked away and avoided everyone and went to the Hokage Monument.

And that was where Mizuki found him and whispered the sweet temptation of becoming a shinobi into his ear.

Something that Iruka, despite all the good he had done, wasn't able to give him.

And Naruto went for it.

"I can't keep dwelling on this otherwise all I did was for nothing…Iruka-sensei didn't give me a shot, Mizuki-sensei did. I need to buckle down and get this thing opened," Naruto told himself with a serious tone, trying to convince himself that this was the right way to become a shinobi.

But as he picked up the scroll and tried to open it but found out immediately that the scroll wouldn't open.

"Ok…Maybe I didn't think this thing through," Naruto stared at the scroll for a few minutes with a pout before an idea struck he stood up and began to stomp on it, seeing if it would bust open but when that failed, Naruto went for throwing it against a nearby tree but to his shock, the scroll had embedded itself into the tree.

After a few minutes of pulling at it, the scroll finally was released from the tree's death grip and decided as a last resort to take a fallen tree branch and tried to pry the scroll open found himself not being able to open it.

"Come on you damn thing!" Naruto hissed out as he kept trying to pry the scroll open with all of his strength but he used too much force and that caused the branch to snap in half which caused both of his palms to be cut deeply.

"Ah you motherfucker!" Naruto screamed out in anger as he tossed the scroll near the shed where he then fell to his knees and banged his hands upon the ground and shouted "Why…Why can't I ever catch a break?!"

All he wanted was to become a shinobi…To become Hokage and hopefully earn the respect he so desperately craved.

"Maybe everyone was right…Maybe I am a failure…" Naruto whispered softly, trying hard to keep the bitterness from his voice due to the feeling of self-loathing rearing its ugly face.

What Naruto didn't notice as he was lamenting to himself was that the scroll had started to shine brightly until it slowly filed that area.

Naruto caught the radiant blue out of the corner of his eye, Naruto turned himself around so he was sitting on his butt and let out an awed "Whoa…" before covering his eyes when it became bright enough that it began to blind him.

When the light finally died down, Naruto opened his eyes and noticed the scroll was wide open for his viewing pleasure but how could that be? He did his best to open it and yet throwing it worked?

How Bizarre.

"But who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth. Let's get to work!" Naruto exclaimed with a smile as he walked to the scroll, picked it up and looked through it with interest.

He had come across a lot of pretty good jutsu but Naruto wanted to know one in particular.

Naruto knew it was a terrible idea to seek out this style of jutsu but at the same time, it was this style of jutsu that had failed him in the first place and he always felt the best way to grow was to overcome the very thing that had defeated him in the first place.

And when Naruto's eyes gazed upon the "Kage Bushin no Jutsu", a large grin appeared on his face.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu? That seems pretty interesting. Let's see if I can learn this," After half an hour of working on this jutsu, Naruto let a small smile appear on his face before exhaling softly. He had managed to learn the Kage Bushin jutsu.

'I proved everyone wrong! I do have what it takes to be a shinobi and soon…I'll prove them wrong again when I become Hokage. Believe it!' Naruto thought to himself as his eyes found another Jutsu he could learn.

"Hm, Bunshin Bakuha and Bushin Bakuha: Eikoudan (Exploding clone Technique: Flash bomb) that honestly sounds pretty damn cool. I better copy these down!" Naruto said to himself as he took out a scroll of his own and started to copy down the two clone jutsu along with a few others he found interesting.

But as he did this, he heard rapid footsteps coming from the forest and with an excited look in his eyes, Naruto shouted "Mizuki-sensei?!" but instead of the silver haired man, Umino Iruka came stumbling into the opening with a haggard and annoyed look on his face.

"Ah! Iruka-sensei! Did Mizuki-sensei invite you to watch me pass?" Naruto asked the scarred man while finishing the writing in his own mini-scroll but when he got a closer look at the man, Naruto instantly grew nervous.

His head looked bigger than normal and it was beat red with anger, as if it was going to explode but all of that disappeared when Iruka replied with "Wait...Mizuki? Naruto, what are you talking about?"

Naruto was confused by Iruka's own confusion and answered with "Mizuki-sensei told me if I was able to take the scroll from the old man's office, he would make me a genin. Wasn't too difficult either. I even managed to learn a new jutsu. Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

With a puff of smoke, an identical Naruto stood beside the smiling original and from the look of total awe on Iruka's face, Naruto concluded that he surprised and made Iruka proud.

"W-Wow...That is amazing Naruto," Iruka stated to him with a smile on his face, which made Naruto's proud smile grow but his smile instantly vanished when Iruka added "But don't distract me Naruto. You said that Mizuki told you to meet him here with the scroll, is that correct?"

"That's right sensei!" Naruto stated with a fist pump. "Won't he be surprised that I mastered a technique stronger than that old bushin jutsu. Oh! Speaking of which..."

Naruto turned to the clone beside him and handed him the small scroll he had put the other jutsu he wanted to learn and said "Take this and hide it at our place."

"Right away boss!" The clone saluted before dashing off into the dense forest, leaving Naruto and Iruka alone once more but when Naruto turned to look at Iruka to say something, Naruto saw the really tense face of Iruka, which prompted him to ask "Sensei...Is everything ok?"

"No...Something is gravely wrong..." Iruka whispered and just then, Naruto heard the sound of laughter echoing throughout the forest but this laughter wasn't something

"I should've known you'd be here Iruka...Such a shame too...I was expecting the kid alone...ah well..."

Naruto turned around to see Mizuki, who was standing on a tree branch with a large Shuriken placed on his back, a sneer on the silver haired man's face, which was directed to Naruto's direction.

"Hey Mizuki-sensei! I got the scroll like you said. Even learned a jutsu from it! Does it mean I passed?" Naruto asked with excitement but that was before he took in the look of pure contempt that was on Mizuki's face.

It was then that Naruto knew that something was very wrong with this situation.

"What the hell is going on Mizuki?" Iruka shouted out as Naruto looked to Iruka and Mizuki back and forth with confusion in his eyes.

"What do you think, you idiot? I'm getting what belongs to me," Mizuki told his longtime friend with a smug expression as pulled his large shuriken from his back and he leapt towards Naruto with his weapon high in the air, fully intent of killing him but Naruto then felt the arms of Iruka wrap around him as he leapt to avoid the large shuriken.

"I don't understand!" Naruto heard Iruka shout with anger at Mizuki, who landed on a tree branch that was closer to the ground. "Why betray our village? Why try and set up Naruto for your heinous plot Mizuki? Answer me!"

Naruto watched Mizuki's face warp into an evil smirk as he said "My plan was simple, I get the forbidden scroll and give it my true leader, Orochimaru!"

Naruto could see Iruka's eyes widen in shock and horror and Naruto understood why this could be. Naruto had learned that Orochimaru was the Snake Sannin of their village until his sick experiments were found out and he was forced to abandon it.

Naruto also knew of it due to Anko bearing the sick mark of the snake on her neck.

But then Naruto realized the rest of Mizuki's words and instantly grew disgusted at himself. He had helped this traitor and therefor, helped the monster that had hurt Anko and so many others in the village.

What had he done?

"But that's not all…I had an ulterior motive as well…What I wanted to happen was that the moment that little blond haired monster bought the scroll to me…I was going to kill him, become the savior of this shit village before Orochimaru-sama burned this to the ground but you…You decided to interfere with my brilliant plan…And for that…You will die!"

Naruto saw Mizuki frown briefly before he jumped to a higher tree branch, tossing kunai at the two and Iruka managed avoid the quick thrown kunai to land a hit to Iruka's leg, making the man land on the tree branch wrong which sent the two falling to the ground hard.

Naruto slammed onto the ground and groaned in pain before he looked at Iruka and quickly ran to him and asked with panic in his voice "Iruka-sensei, are you ok?"

Naruto watched with worry as his sensei winced as he ripped the lone kunai out of his wounded leg as he replied with a soothing tone "I'm fine Naruto, don't you fret about me."

Naruto was concerned by this but he let it go for the moment when he heard Mizuki say from behind them "I have to admit, I'm significantly impressed that you're still trying to protect that thing, Iruka, despite the wound and all...But let's see how far you can truly go!"

Naruto saw the anger radiating in Iruka's eyes as he gripped the kunai that was just embedded in his leg before he and his opponent leapt towards each other and disappeared.

Naruto didn't see the two chūnin but he could hear metal clashing against each other as well as various grunts and groans from both men and felt his heart rate speed up.

As the clash of steel got closer and closer until Iruka's form suddenly appeared before him along with Mizuki's form, both of their respective weapons were locked in a clash.

"Iruka, I just don't get you," Naruto heard Mizuki say as the male leaned close to his sensei's sneer before he continued with "You know he's the cause of your parent's death and yet you still protect him? I'm sure Ruki-san and Kato-san are rolling around in their graves right now."

Naruto gasped.

If there was one thing Naruto had learned from Iruka, it was to never say the name of his parents, especially if those words were in mocking.

Naruto watched as Iruka pushed Mizuki away from him with a boost of chakra before Mizuki landed on a tree branch a few feet away from them.

"Don't you dare mention them traitor!" Iruka roared out before jumping towards where Mizuki was but Naruto watched the silver haired shinobi smirk quickly performed the hand seals quickly before tossing his giant shuriken and shouting "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!"

Naruto watched Iruka dodge the first large shuriken but when the second shuriken appeared seconds behind the first, Iruka landed on the tree branch below him to avoid it but his right shoulder was hit.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled in concern as he watched his sensei instinctively grabbed his now wounded shoulder but then Naruto saw Mizuki leap from the tree above him and towards his sensei.

Naruto quickly jumped in the air and knocked Iruka out of the way just as Mizuki was going to cleave his sensei in half.

The two fell to the ground and Naruto quickly ran to Iruka to help him up but as he did, Naruto heard Mizuki say to his sensei "But it is true Iruka, you defend the demon without hesitation! The very same being that nearly razed this village to the ground!"

'Demon?' Naruto thought to himself in confusion.

Iruka wasn't protecting a demon.

"What the hell are you talking about Mizuki-teme?!" Naruto exclaimed. "Iruka-sensei isn't protecting a demon!"

Naruto watched as Mizuki leaned back and let out a hearty laugh, which only caused Naruto's confusion to grow but once the laughter died down, Mizuki said "Oh yeah…I forgot that you didn't know about this village's grand secret about you."

Now despite the dangerous situation Naruto was currently in the middle of, his curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"Secret? About me?" Naruto questioned to the man, who was now smirking widely.

"Oh yes little Naruto, a secret, all about you…" Mizuki responded, which caused Naruto to take a step away from Iruka with a curious look on his face.

But when Naruto was going to respond to this, the blond heard Iruka say from behind him "Naruto, get the scroll and get out of here quickly. Don't ask any questions, just go!"

"But Iruka, he needs to know about the secret about himself…Considering he doesn't know it! Who am I to hide it from him any longer?!" Mizuki shouted back to his sensei.

Naruto was at a crossroads.

Should he do as Iruka said and take the scroll and go?

Or should he listen to Mizuki about this "secret" about him?

After a moment of thought, Naruto turned to his sensei and quickly ran to the scroll and grabbed it but as he turned away to leave, he heard Mizuki shout after him "You're just doing what he wants Naruto!"

Naruto paused mid-step then slowly looked back to Mizuki but he heard Iruka shout at him "Naruto! Get out of here! Mizuki's just trying to trick you!" He shouts out as he forced himself back to his feet.

"Oh, I'm trying to trick you Naruto? Look who's talking?! Iruka's been playing you from the start, trying to gain your trust and do you want to know why? Because he plans to take revenge on you just like everyone else wants to in this village…He's played you from the very start!"

Naruto stared at Mizuki then back at Iruka, who was starting to stand back up before he finally turned back to Mizuki and asked "What are you talking about?"

"Do you know why everyone hates you including your beloved Iruka-sensei?" Mizuki asked him with a smug grin.

"Naruto, get out of here now!" Naruto heard Iruka demand but the blond refused to move.

He needed to know why. He always knew the entire village hated his guts but no one had ever taken the time to tell him why he was the pariah…It was time he knew the truth…No matter how much dread he felt within his heart.

"W-Why?" Naruto asked

Mizuki smiled manically as he shouted "Because you are the very creature that invaded Konoha twelve years ago! You are the creature that not only killed many shinobi and civilian alike, you killed you sensei's parents and nearly crushed this village. You're the reason why the most "Beloved" Hokage sacrificed himself to save this horrible place. You're the reason this all has happened…You, Uzumaki Naruto are the Kyūbi no Kitsune!"

Naruto felt everything in his body grind to a screeching halt the moment Mizuki told him this mind blowing secret.

'I…I'm the Kyūbi no Kitsune? It...It can't be,' Naruto thought to himself in muted horror at the revelation that had just been revealed to him.

But then as Naruto stood there, things started to make sense.

Why everyone hated him and ignored him.

Why people seemed to be very vicious to him during his birthday, which was the same day the Kyūbi had fallen to the Yondaime Hokage.

Why the heads of stuffed and real foxes were found at his doorstep.

But the most damning of all…Was why he had whisker marks on his cheeks.

Naruto sunk to his knees in absolute dread as it began to sink in.

He was the Kyūbi…He had killed Iruka's parents and caused so much agony and grieve within the village.

He had been the one…

'No wonder no one ever cared…' Naruto thought to himself, his sorrow slowly swallowing him up.

Naruto could barely hear the rest of Mizuki's rant but what he did hear was the faint sounds of whistling coming from in front of him.

It was then Naruto saw several shuriken towards him but Naruto didn't move. He couldn't…He deserved this…He had killed all those people…

But without warning, Iruka's form appeared before his kneeling form, which made Naruto gasp in surprise and then in horror when he saw spurts of blood fly from Iruka's back.

Iruka had taken the shuriken in the back…

For him…

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed in horror as Iruka lurched forward in pain but Iruka didn't respond. Instead, Naruto felt himself being picked up by the wounded chūnin before Iruka tossed down a smoke bomb, covering the entire area with white smoke.

Naruto watched as Iruka dashed towards the scroll and scooped it up into his arm before the blond felt the wind whip around them as Iruka ran deep into the forest with him in his arms like a baby but Naruto didn't move.

He didn't even try.

Naruto was still coming to terms about the reveal that was giving to him.

He was the Kyūbi…And yet, Iruka had saved his life.

But why?

"Iruka's been playing you from the start, trying to gain your trust and do you want to know why? Because he plans to take revenge on you just like everyone else wants to in this village…He's played you from the very start!"

Mizuki's words replayed in Naruto's head and Naruto instantly became worried.

Was Mizuki right?

Was Iruka-sensei doing this as some sick payback for him killing his parents?

Was all of this, from the moment Iruka cried that day to now been one huge scheme to hurt him when he least expected it?

Naruto would quickly find out his answer when Iruka suddenly dumped him on the ground once they had gotten far enough and said "You fool…How could you let his words effect you like that? Don't you know you could have been killed?"

Naruto lowered his head so he was eyeing the ground and said "Maybe I deserve it…I-I am the Kyū-" Without warning, Naruto felt himself fall to the ground hard from Iruka's fist slamming into his right cheek.

Naruto whipped his head up to stare at Iruka with both shock and fear as he held his now reddening cheek but that's when he noticed something.

Tears…

Tears were falling from Iruka's eyes.

"Don't…Don't you say another word…" Naruto heard Iruka whispered but Naruto could tell that there was anger and sadness within his voice.

"Naruto…Listen very carefully because I'll only say this once," Iruka told him slowly, which made Naruto listen immediately.

The teen watched as Iruka fell to his knees before Naruto and said "When I first became your sensei…There were times where I had thought about befriending you only to have my revenge against you for the death of my parents….Because I thought of you as the Kyūbi…"

Naruto watched as Iruka lowered his head in shame after he said those words but the man continued with "I will not hide my mistake…I thought of you as the Kyūbi itself and treated as such…Up until that day where you left the academy during the trials of courage…"

Iruka let a sad smile appear on his face, which Naruto had only seen when Iruka was truly upset. "I remember the words you said to me that day…How you said that you know everyone hated you, myself as well…And it stuck with me. At first, I thought you were tricking me but every night until we met again, all I could see is those eyes…Those beautiful ocean blue eyes filled with tears…"

Iruka paused as a groan of pain left his lips but as Naruto reached for his sensei, Iruka raised his hand to stop him, which made Naruto lower his arm. "So I went to the Hokage to talk to him about it and I will never forget what he asked me i-in regards to you being its jailer…"Just because you live in a house, does that mean that you are the house itself?" At first…I didn't know what he meant but that night on the bench, I finally realized what it meant…"

"A-And what did it mean?" Naruto asked fearfully, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice but failing when his voice cracked.

"That you aren't the Kyūbi no Kitsune…You are merely its container and that was what made me break down. That entire time, I treated you as a monster when you never, ever deserved it and even at this very moment, I am so ashamed at myself for treating you the way I did back then."

Naruto then felt Iruka's hand rest on his head to slightly rub his blond hair as he said "You're not the Kyūbi no Kitsune…You're Uzumaki Naruto…The most hyperactive, loud mouthed, kind hearted trickster that I've grown to know and love as my baby brother and I humbly apologize to you for all that I have done and felt about you before that day…Please…will you forgive this fool for his past transgressions?"

Naruto didn't know what to say to that.

When Iruka first admitted that what Mizuki had said was true made him want to run away but as Iruka continued, Naruto could hear the truth in his sensei's voice and soon, Naruto felt tears prickling at his eyes as Iruka, the man he saw as a big brother, asked for forgiveness for his past mistakes and that had really touched his heart.

How could he refuse something as heartfelt like that? "S-Sensei…Of course I forgive you…Was there any doubt?"

Iruka let out a small smile at this until the sounds of clapping reached Naruto's ears.

"How cute, the two have made up. It's too bad that this is the final day for you both," Mizuki's taunting voice rang out from all around them before the familiar sound of whistling reached his ears.

But where was it coming from?

Without warning, Naruto felt Iruka's hand grab the back of his neck before he was thrown forcefully to the side and that was when the whistling stopped but the sound of metal slicing into wood was heard.

Naruto looked up and that Iruka had the large shuriken wedge within the left side of his chest and he was just kneeling there, in the same spot that he was in when he apologized to him. Iruka slowly fell to his back, with the large shuriken still in his chest.

And he wasn't moving…

Cold.

That's what Naruto was feeling right now as he gazed upon the now deceased figure of his sensei, not even aware that hot tears were falling down his face.

Just earlier today, Iruka Umino was smiling, eating, yelling, and running but most of all, he was alive but now...He was gone.

Just like that.

In Naruto's head, the smiling face of Iruka's was slowly fading away until his sensei's corpse was in its place that's when Naruto heard chuckling coming from behind him that soon grew into an uncontrollable laughter.

"Oh Iruka…Pathetic, even upon death!" The cruel voice laughed out.

With a slow, heavy breath that seemed to echo with the rage, Naruto rose to his feet and turned around to see the laughing Mizuki leaned against a tree, a kunai dangling from his right index finger.

"Now with him out of the way, Hand me the scroll and I promise you'll be seeing your demon loving sensei so-"

Seeing red at the mention of his dead sensei, Naruto leapt at Mizuki to start his unrelenting assault, sending a flurry of sloppy punches and kicks as he shouted "I'm going to kill you!" only to have Mizuki dodge most if not all of them.

"Aw, the little demon is trying to avenge his sensei how cute!" Mizuki shouted out as he kneed Naruto in his stomach, taking the breath out of the young child.

Naruto fell to the ground in a small ball, struggling to gain his breath but Mizuki grabbed him by his hair and rammed the boy's face into his knee before grabbing the boy's head and slammed it hard into the ground repeatedly with an insane laugh.

Mizuki then lifted Naruto's head back up and smirked down at the now bloody face of the boy and asked "What do you have to say now Demon?" before tossing him hard towards Iruka's body.

Naruto coughed heavily as he wrapped an arm around his stomach, his forehead touching the ground with pain etched on his face.

Naruto knew that he was in over his head.

He wasn't even a shinobi and here he was trying to fight a chūnin. But he knew that while he was unskilled, he had something up his sleeve.

As Naruto struggled to get on his knees, he looked at his sensei and noticed something.

He could see Iruka's chest rising and falling…very slowly.

Iruka was alive!

But Naruto knew from the blood pooling around his sensei that he needed to get Iruka out of here soon or else he would really die.

Without warning, Naruto was suddenly and rather brutally kicked in his stomach, hard enough for him to roll repeatedly before slowly stopping near his sensei but he tried to rise off the ground again only to be lifted up by the front of his jumpsuit by the traitor who raised him high into the air and with boisterous, maniacal voice, he shouted "It's time for this game to end Kyūbi!"

In response to being called the Kyūbi, Naruto licked up the blood that was flowing from his mouth and spat it in Mizuki's face which surprised the silver haired man before his face melted into a look of rage.

"You filthy Mongrel!" Mizuki barked out before his free fist shot out and slammed into Naruto's stomach repeatedly which caused blood to fly from Naruto's lips.

After landing a final punch to Naruto's face, Mizuki twisted his body around and tossed the pre-teen towards a tree where Naruto bounced off of it and fell to the ground, right behind a large green bush.

Naruto groaned out in agony and coughed heavily but then he realized something.

Now was his chance!

"Come on out Naruto-kun, It's time we end our game!" Naruto heard Mizuki shout but that was when Naruto made the hand sign for the jutsu he had just learned.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Naruto screamed out and just then, the entire area around him exploded into smoke.

When the smoke faded away, two dozen Naruto's were crouching in the trees above him, each one with a dangerous gleam in their eyes while Naruto held stood up to face the rather amused Mizuki and listened as the insane man said "Oh look at this, the demon can make replicas. It's a pity however that these are fake."

Naruto let a large smirk appear on his face at these words and shouted "That's where you're wrong Mizuki-teme! These aren't regular bushins. These are Kage Bushins!"

Naruto could see the surprised look appear on Mizuki's face but as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared back into the insane expression as the man shouted "Kage Bushin….So these are true clones, big deal demon. You may have the numbers behind you but I have the experience, the training, the power. You are nothing to me!"

Along with all of clones, Naruto narrowed their cold, empty eyes at him and with the coldest voice he could, Naruto said "Kill him."

Naruto didn't wait to see his clones attack Mizuki and instead quickly ran to Iruka's body and kneeled against it and began to pick it up to sneak away from the battle but just as he got him off the ground, Mizuki's foot slammed right into his face, which sent Naruto slamming backwards into a tree.

"You aren't going anywhere!" Naruto heard Mizuki shout but Naruto summoned several more clones and told them to attack the man but as Naruto rose from the bush he was hiding behind, he saw something he didn't want to see.

Naruto watched Mizuki flip into the air to avoid two clones with kunai in their hands and landed on their faces then flipped off of them to decapitate them both where he then watched the man land on the ground and kicked two more clones in the chest then spun the shuriken to cut the downed clones in half where then laughed darkly, facing the eight remaining clones as well as the original.

"Well, well, well…Look at this! Not a scratch on me! Now come, come and let finish you off!" the remaining clones jumped into the fray and rained down blows upon Mizuki, who used his weapon to block their blows.

And once more, Naruto quickly dashed towards Iruka's body at a desperate pace but the body of his own clone slammed into his chest, sending both him and the clone rolling backwards on the ground.

Naruto rose up and saw Mizuki smirk before focusing back on the clones and Naruto felt angered by this.

He didn't know if Mizuki knew Iruka was alive but he would not let Naruto take the man so Naruto only had one choice.

To make sure Mizuki wasn't standing to stop him.

As Mizuki battled his clones, Naruto dashed towards Mizuki and leapt into the air and the moment Mizuki turned his head, Naruto slammed his knee into Mizuki's face but the man countered by jumping in the air and kneed Naruto under his chin, sending the Uzumaki high into the air where Mizuki threw his shuriken.

But Naruto saw his clone leap up and take kunai while another clone grabbed Naruto and flung him back to Mizuki where he then delivered a punch towards the traitor only to curse as Mizuki dodged it and countered with a knee to the face.

Naruto rolled to the side and watched as Mizuki grabbed a clone by the face and drove it into the ground before stabbing it in the head with a kunai before he dashed towards him.

Naruto's clones ran towards Mizuki and once they met in the middle, Naruto leapt over Mizuki and kicked the back of his head while two clones slide on the ground and grabbed Mizuki's ankles then pulled back, making him fall forward.

Once Mizuki's face hit the ground, two clones grabbed his arms and held them down while the last clone and Naruto jumped in the air and slammed their knees into his back hard, making him yell in pain only for the clone and Naruto to begin to stomp down on the man's back.

Naruto leapt away when Mizuki shook off the clones that were holding his feet and arms before he grabbed two kunai that were dropped and effortlessly killed the two clones by his arms then he threw the projectiles between the eyes of the two clones.

But Naruto saw that Mizuki was temporarily blinded by the smoke of the clones and Naruto took the advantage by grabbing a discarded kunai that was nearby and quickly slammed his shoulder into the man hard enough to send them both to the ground.

And that was when Naruto repeatedly rammed the kunai into Mizuki's chest furiously. Naruto could feel the sticky, hot liquid that was Mizuki's blood on his hands but Naruto couldn't stop until the handle of the kunai broke within the man's chest.

Panting heavily, Naruto gazed down at Mizuki's completely bloodied chest and face and felt his gaze lingering on it, staring at the blood that flowed down the silver haired man's face and closed his eyes as he looked up into the air, breathing in the smell of blood but he then opened his eyes and lifted his right hand over his face and seeing Mizuki's blood drip from off his right hand and onto his whisker marks on his face.

Naruto panted and climbed off of Mizuki's chest and fell to the ground next to the now dead nuke-nin and panted heavily, his entire body sore from the complete beating he had suffered but it was now over.

Naruto turned his head and saw Iruka still in the spot he was in before Naruto stood up and limped to Iruka's body and noticed that the man was still faintly breathing.

He was still alive…

Naruto leaned down and lifted Iruka off the ground as best as he could and slowly limped to the scroll and as he leaned down to grab it, he heard an unfamiliar voice come from behind him.

"I knew Mizuki was not enough to complete this mission…." a feminine voice stated, her voice void of emotion. Naruto turned his head to see a hooded figure standing above the dead Mizuki's body, a blood red katana being held in the right hand.

Naruto could feel the dread form in his stomach as he stared at the figure.

He didn't even hear this person appear…

"I am impressed you were able to defeat him while being so weak…Then again, that is the power of the Uzumaki that Orochimaru-sama has spoken of..." The figure stated before the figured disappeared completely.

Naruto felt his "Flight" instincts go haywire at the figure vanishing but the moment Naruto turned around to run, he felt something cold and sharp enter his chest.

Naruto gasped in shock as he looked down at the blood red metal of the figure's katana was going through his chest. "Alas…This is how far that power goes…" Naruto heard the figure state before the cold steel was removed from his chest.

Naruto fell to his knees and then faced first to the ground, his eyes watching as the hooded figure grabbed the scroll and feebly tried to stop the figure but the figure disappeared within a plume of black smoke.

Naruto's eyes roamed to Iruka's body and reached out to him as he feebly said "S-Sen…Sensei…" before everything went black.


Unknown Location

Uzumaki Naruto

'S-Sen…Sensei…'

That was the first thought that ran through Uzumaki Naruto's head as he laid on the wet sand that was beneath him.

"Sand?" Naruto whispered in confusion as he eyed the wet sand beneath him in confusion. Suddenly, a large wave of crystal blue water slammed on top of him, causing him to shriek in alarm.

Once the wave died down, Naruto waddled out of the water, his black shirt and orange pants clinging to his wet form as he shuffled far enough away from the water before he fell to his knees on the dry hot sand, coughing violently.

Once the coughing died down, Naruto leaned up and brushed his dripping wet hair from his eyes and looked around.

He was currently kneeling on a white, sandy beach with crystal blue water behind him and a clear blue sky above him but how did he get here?

"W-Where am I?" Naruto breathed out slowly but the moment he said that, a smooth, deep voice spoke from behind him.

"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you, Uzumaki Naruto?"


Rain: And that is where I end it. So I actually went fairly deep into Naruto and Iruka's relationship this time around and while things mostly stayed the same, things did change as well. So, tell me what you guys think in the reviews. Until the next chapter!

Mario: See you next time!