AN: This is an AU for Naruto. This means that the timeline starts during the already established timeline in the canon, but then events take a different turn. I will be using Japanese words and terms a lot. I'll keep certain things consistent, like jutsu names, but otherwise it will be mostly during dialogue. I'll be sure to put translations at the end of each chapter where a new word or honorific shows up. Remember, this is my first story on FF, so be honest in your reviews. Enjoy!

Chapter 1 -

Uzumaki Naruto locked up his apartment door, the turning of the lock sliding his homemade barricades into place. They would do nothing against most jutsu if anyone really wanted to get in, but it would protect against the villagers that would normally break in and wreak the place. He turned around and looked up at the Hokage Monument. The Shodaime, Nidaime, Sandaime, and Yondaime Hokages' great stone faces staring out upon the village of Konohagakure.

"I'll be the next one. Definitely!" The blond said before adjusting the goggles around his forehead and dashing off for the Academy, and his, hopefully last test before becoming a genin.

Naruto sat down next to the dilapidated shed and opened the Forbidden Arts Scroll. Most of it he couldn't understand, but he had to try. Mizuki-sensei had told him he had to learn at least one of these techniques before anyone found him if he wanted to become a genin. So he set to work, mumbling under his breath. "Kage Bunshin…"

Naruto slid down the wall, exhausted. He managed to get one skill completely down, but the other one needed so much chakra control that he couldn't do it very well. At least the first one needed only one handsign, and he could even do it with kunai or similar objects in his hands. The other one, not needing any handsigns, causing the need for so much chakra control, he decided, he would show the instructor first, when they got here. Looking down at his hand and seeing it shake with exhaustion, he picked up the scroll again and decided to rest while reading more about his new techniques. Everything will help when the time comes to be tested.

The orange-clad boy looked up from his rest to see his homeroom teacher, Iruka-sensei, jump into the clearing with him. "I thought it would be you who'd find me, Iruka-sensei. I did it. I mastered two skills from the scroll, well, one, really, I'm still working on the other one. But that's enough to pass, right?" He finished, hopeful.

Iruka looked at the student in front of him, his clothes tattered, and the stolen Forbidden Arts Scroll lying on the ground next to him. Iruka stepped closer, clearly confused. "Naruto, what are you talking about? Do you know what that scroll is?"

Naruto stood and picked up the scroll. "Of course. Here you go. I'm sure you need this for anyone else who takes the backup test." He said, holding out the giant roll to his sensei.

A voice rang out. "Good job Naruto! Although, Iruka isn't your tester. Just hand the scroll over to me, and I'll pass you."

Naruto and Iruka looked up to see Mizuki with two giant shuriken strapped to his back. "Mizuki? What do you mean? You lied to Naruto to get the scroll, didn't you?" Naruto looked at his two sensei, not really listening after that. Once Mizuki said that the Kyuubi no Kitsune was sealed within him, he snapped back to attention. All of a sudden, Iruka was on all fours over him, a giant shuriken lodged in his back.

"NARUTO! RUN! TAKE THE SCROLL AND RUN! DON'T LET MIZUKI HAVE IT!"

Without thinking, Naruto ran past the scroll, a two-inch thick tendril of what appears to be concentrated chakra rushing out of his left hand and attaching to the strap of the Forbidden Arts Scroll, before pulling it into his hand. As he jumped into the trees, Naruto threw the strap around himself, slinging the scroll to his back.

Naruto watched as Mizuki reared his hand back, ready to bring the giant shuriken down on Iruka. Suddenly, Naruto appeared between them, the scroll at his side. "If you ever lay a hand on my sensei. I'LL KILL YOU."

Mizuki laughed. Mizuki stopped laughing. In fact, Mizuki stopped seeing, hearing, feeling, and thinking, as well. Mizuki was unconscious.

The thousands of Naruto clones in the clearing disappeared in clouds of smoke. Naruto suddenly had a memory of beating Mizuki senseless, but from thousands of different angles, and he promptly passed out.

AN: okay, there's the first chapter of my fic. I really hope its okay so far. Its really just introducing the first change, which I wanted to occur at this point in the storyline. Most of you probably don't remember, so ill refresh your memory. That two-inch thick tendril of chakra was NOT in the canon. He only learned the Kage Bunshin at this point in the canon. For those of you who are thinking so, that is NOT the same as chakra strings for controlling a puppet. Those are just as they sound. STRINGS!

I decided to let Naruto learn about clone training a lot earlier, but as you can guess, (and see next chapter) I've put a limitation on it.

Translations:

Hokage – literally, Fire Shadow. Used here to describe the leader of the shinobi forces in the Fire country, namely Konohagakure.

Shodaime – first. Used in a sentence: "The Shodaime Hokage helped found Konoha." Referring to the Kages.

Kage – literally, shadow. In the previous sentence, it describes the military leaders of the shinobi villages.

Nidaime – Second.

Sandaime – Third.

Yondaime – Fourth.

Konohagakure – "Village Hidden in the Leaves". Hereafter called Konoha, "Hidden Leaf Village"

-sensei – honorific towards a teacher.

Kage Bunshin – literally, "Shadow Clone" honestly, if you don't know what this jutsu does, you fail and should stop reading Naruto fanfics until you read or watch the manga/anime.

Kyuubi no Kitsune – Nine-Tailed Demon of the Fox. More commonly known as Kyuubi, "Nine-tails"

THOUGHTS! I LIVE FOR REVEIWS!