"Why is ramen so delicious?"- thinking

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- jutsu

YOU LITTLE BRAT/You little brat-Demon speech/Inner Sakura

Iruka's Legacy

Chapter 1: The Betrayed Ninja

They have ordered me to kill him.

Why?

They say he is dangerous, a threat to Konoha as a whole.

I know the real reason.

They are afraid.

Afraid of what he would do now that he knows the truth.

Right now he is in a very vulnerable position.

He trusts only one person now.

Me.

And that is why they want me to kill him.

They know I will not succeed.

They know he will kill me.

And my death will break him.

But they underestimate him once more.

I will die, but he will not break.

He will rise above their hate.

He will defy all their expectations.

He will stand strong and they will pay for their ignorance and hate.

Because nobody messes with Uzumaki Naruto and laughs over it at supper.

Believe It.

Iruka sighed as he closed his diary. Today was his last day and he would meet his death with his head held high. But he would leave Naruto something to remember him by. The secret that Umino clan guarded with their lives, their legacy would live on through the Uzumaki. His clan died out because of it but Naruto, however, would flourish and grow stronger. He would…

"Iruka-san"

Iruka turned to face the boar-masked ANBU.

"It's time."

Three Years Later

Sasuke sighed as he read the order.

"Reassignment to Team Seven…"

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders.

"It couldn't last forever, you know? Luckily for you, you are leaving just in time to avoid Ino."

"But do you know who I'm being assigned to?"

Chouji swallowed another mouthful of meat.

"I know Shino is on your team, so at least that's one familiar face."

Sasuke turned to the masked jounin.

"Do you know who is the third member is?"

Kakashi flipped another page of his perverted book.

"…Yes."

"Who is it?"

Kakashi took quite longer in answering the question, but finally he replied.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

The three genin drew a collective breath of shock. It had been three years since Iruka died and their classmate disappeared and what they had heard in those three years was not pretty. It was now common knowledge that Naruto was the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi no Kitsune. It sparked a lot of mixed reactions within the rookies. Some like Kiba who used to cut class and play pranks with Naruto never believed that Naruto was the Kyuubi in human form. Others, like Sakura, believed that Naruto was a demon waiting to unleash his rage on Konoha. Some, like Ino, believed that the Kyuubi had taken over Naruto and was using him like a puppet. Then there were those like Sasuke, waiting for further information to draw their own conclusions.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke turned to Kakashi, who had a somber look on his face. He hardly ever looked like this.

"Do not make any assumptions about him. He's been through way more than you imagine. He's…different."

"In what way?"

"You'll find out."

Aburame Compound.

Shino walked into his house and made his way to his father's office. He quietly entered and sat behind his father's desk, adjusting his sunglasses as he did so.

"Shino how was your day?" Aburame Shibi asked in a monotone.

"It was different. I was reassigned to Team Seven." Shino replied, also in a monotone.

Shibi's eyebrows rose. Reassignment was not to be taken lightly.

"Who are your teammates?"

"Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto."

Shibi sat in silence for a few minutes and rose.

"I wish you well in your new team, now come. We have some training to get to if I'm not mistaken."

Shino rose and followed his father, the slight anxiety gone. If his father had thought there was anything bad with his team, he would have said so. But the silence meant he should exercise caution.

"How much have you changed...Uzumaki Naruto?"

The Next Day - Hokage's Office

Sarutobi Asuma stared incredulously at the Hokage.

"Would you care for a recap?"

Asuma palmed his face tiredly.

"No, you were quite clear in giving me these orders. But this has disaster written all over it."

The Sandaime sighed as he puffed on his pipe.

"Why do you say so?"

Asuma held up Sasuke's file.

"Here is the village's darling boy who is actually a power-obsessed, revenge-oriented ninja who is delicately balancing on the line between sanity and insanity. He has been making recent improvements in his anti-social tendencies but not good enough for my liking."

Next, Asuma held up Shino's file.

"The Aburame can be considered the most normal on the team and that alone should tell you how screwed up this team already is. He is just as anti-social as Sasuke is and is blunt to a fault. He is one of the most gifted Aburames I have seen though but I doubt he will do much to foster team dynamics."

Finally, he held up Naruto's file which was much thicker than both Sasuke's and Shino's files.

"Do I really need to say anything?"

Hiruzen merely continued smoking his pipe and Asuma sighed.

"Finally, we have the village's scapegoat. The unsung hero of Konoha who is treated worse than an S-rank criminal. After his return three years ago, he has been just as anti-social as his two teammates and is reported to be unstable. Throw in the fact that the majority of the citizens treat him like scum, it's a wonder he hasn't snapped yet."

Hiruzen removed his pipe momentarily.

"What exactly is your point?"

"If you are trying to punish me, there is no need to get cruel and unusual."

The Hokage tiredly puffed on his pipe once more.

"To handle this team, there is no one better. Kakashi, for all his power, is a slacker at heart. Kurenai is new at this. Anko is still on probation after what happened to her last team. Raidou and Genma are still healing after their last mission and Ibiki is busy with ANBU interrogations. The others…well enough said."

"So I'm all you've got?"

"…Yes, you're all I've got."

Asuma glanced at the folders and sighed as he picked them up.

"I'll give it my best."

Hiruzen smiled sagely.

"That's all I ask."

Asuma rose to leave but a grunt from his father halted him.

"There is one other thing you should know."

The Next Day

To say Sasuke and Shino were surprised was an understatement. Naruto's sudden change had taken them aback. They expected him to be exactly what he used to be, an uncontrollable orange bundle of excitement and enthusiasm. Now Naruto was wearing a black full-length cloak with his hitai-ite around his neck also set on a black cloth. He was sitting on a training stump with his eyes closed in what they assumed to be meditation. His blond hair was still spiky and his ever-present whisker marks looked a little deeper. But what really caught their attention was in the back of cloak. In white, the kanji for 'Trust' embroidered on the back of the cloak. A white slash was also embroidered on the cloak to cut through the kanji, resembling a missing-nin's hitai-ite. Sasuke frowned when he saw that.

"What does that mean? Does he trust no one now?"

"Yes."

Sasuke was startled by that.

"…Yes what?"

"Yes, that's exactly what it means."

Naruto opened his eyes to look at Sasuke and Shino. His cerulean blue eyes that once held determination and exuberance were long gone. All that was left was a stormy blue that looked like a void, sucking up whatever caught its fancy. It frightened Sasuke a little. Shino merely adjusted his shades.

After a few moments of tense silence, Naruto closed his eyes and resumed his meditation. Sasuke and Shino immediately took seats with their backs too him.

Naruto's mindscape

Kyuubi snarled as he slammed his paws against the bars of his cage. It was in a gigantic rage and had been ever since that night three years ago.

"I do not understand! His mind and will, battered and weak, should have crumbled when his only friend died! How is it that his mind instead became stronger? And that he outsmarted me into that idiotic deal? THIS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!"

"I WILL GET YOU FOR THIS YOU LITTLE…"

"Shut up already."

Kyuubi immediately lunged for the gates in a futile attempt to maul his nemesis, the son of the accursed fleshbag that sentenced him to this existence. He never made a yard before suddenly everything seemed so big.

"Why are the bars so…what happened to my voice?"

Kyuubi took stock of what had happened to him and squeaked in fright. He was now a chibi fox with a teeny voice. Suddenly he felt a hand grab him by the scruff and hoist him into the air. He found himself looking into stormy blue eyes that held a hint of boredom. He immediately began struggling in earnest to at least scratch the face of his tormentor of three years.

"If you insist on behaving like this get used to this form from now on and trust me, I won't lose a wink of sleep over this."

"You just wait, I'll get you for this and I'll…*squeak*"

Naruto had flicked his fingers on the fox's larynx, paralyzing his vocal chords and rendering him mute.

"This is your last warning, if you continue to misbehave; I'll leave you like this, knowing how much you hate this form. And I know a few guys who would love to see you like this."

"Y-y-you wouldn't dare!"

"Try me."

With that Naruto slung the Kyuubi back into the recesses of his mind where the fox regained its original form and was surrounded by the bars of the cage. There, it mulled in silent rage and frustration.

"I'll get you for this brat, even if I have to deal with the Shinigami, I will reclaim what you stole. And then how will you stop me?"

Next on Iruka's Legacy

Is this really Naruto? He has changed so drastically and I don't like it. He is cold, distant and makes Sasuke look friendly. And there are those strange techniques of his. What happened to him after Iruka died? Ugh...mendokuse. This puzzle has caught my attention but can I solve...

The Puzzle of the Fox

A/N: This is something new I decided to try out. My other stories are still going to be updated but The Way Of The Pervert is up for adoption. Please R&R.