After the Swing, Chiba Borrowed a Blade to Break the Deadlock

Naruto sat on the swing for half an hour, his toes scraping back and forth through the sand. He still clenched his forehead protector in his right hand, but did not tie it around his head again.

Across the playground, students kept running out of the academy building. Their new forehead protectors flashed in the sunlight. Parents gathered outside the school gates, and their laughter carried through the iron fence.

Chiba stood at the corner of the corridor without approaching.

Shikamaru came up from behind, holding his report card.

"Waiting for him?"

"Yeah."

"He won't want to hear any comfort right now."

"I don't comfort people."

"True enough."

Shikamaru looked toward the swing through the gaps in the railing.

"Iruka-sensei gave him a second chance, but Mizuki-sensei kept blocking him. Something about that isn't right."

"You saw it?"

"The Soundproofing Technique wasn't sealed properly. A little sound leaked out from under the door."

"Planning to get involved?"

"I came in second today. Going home will be troublesome enough."

Shikamaru folded up his report card.

"If you're going to interfere, don't go straight to Mizuki. He changed the duty roster twice this afternoon, then handed the northern woods patrol to someone else. Looks like he's waiting for someone to go there."

"Who replaced him?"

"Two newly transferred chunin. I've never seen them."

"What about Asuma?"

"The Hokage summoned him."

Shikamaru walked to the stairwell, then stopped again.

"Chiba, Naruto tends to trust anyone who treats him well. Mizuki-sensei has always been decent to him."

"I know."

"As long as you know. Don't drag me into this. I have to deal with my mom tonight."

The sound of shoe soles hitting the ground came from the swings.

Mizuki emerged from the side entrance of the academy building with two cans of drinks in hand. As he passed through the playground, he looked around first before sitting down beside Naruto.

"Still thinking about the exam?"

Naruto stuffed his forehead protector into his pocket.

"I'll definitely pass next year."

"You say that every year."

"I was close this year."

"Not even close. Your clone couldn't even stay standing."

Naruto kicked sand away with his foot.

"You came to laugh at me too?"

"If I wanted to laugh at you, I wouldn't be sitting here."

Mizuki opened one can and set the other beside the swing.

"Iruka is hard on you because his parents died at the hands of the Nine-Tails. Whenever he sees you, he remembers that night."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"It's normal if you don't understand."

Mizuki took a sip, his gaze drifting toward the school gate.

"There's a special graduation exam in the village. It's difficult, and not many people know about it. If you complete it, you can receive a forehead protector directly."

Naruto finally raised his head.

"Really?"

"If I'm lying, I'll treat you to ten bowls of ramen tomorrow."

"What's the test?"

"Don't rush. There are too many people around the school. We'll talk after dark."

Mizuki patted the swing's support and rose. As he did, the sole of his shoe stepped over a thin root buried beneath the sand.

A Metal Wood root clung to the edge of his boot, shrinking into a hard knot the size of a grain of rice as it left the playground with him.

Naruto stared at the can for a moment. He reached for it, then put it back.

Chiba turned and walked into the academy building.

Iruka was organizing ninjutsu evaluation records in an empty classroom. Naruto's score sheet sat apart at the edge of the desk. The Clone Technique section had been altered twice, and the paper had become fuzzy.

"Here to collect your forehead protector?"

"I already got it."

"Then why aren't you home yet?"

"Has Mizuki been going out at night often lately?"

The papers in Iruka's hand slipped out of alignment.

"Why are you asking?"

"I saw him heading north a few times while I was training."

"The old training ground is south."

"I went seventy miles away."

"That time didn't count as training. Don't use it as a normal route."

Iruka straightened the records again, but his thumb remained on Mizuki's signature.

"Which days exactly?"

"Last Wednesday, last Saturday, and yesterday."

"You saw clearly that it was him?"

"Not many people in Konoha carry Giant Fūma Shuriken on their backs."

"Mizuki is responsible for maintaining ninja tools. Carrying that kind of weapon isn't strange."

"He used chakra interference on Naruto today."

A corner of the paper slipped from Iruka's hand.

"Do you have proof?"

"No."

"Without proof, you can't accuse a teacher like that."

"That's why I first asked whether he went out at night."

Iruka bent to pick up the fallen record, but for the first time, failed to catch its edge.

"Chiba, how much did you really see?"

"Mizuki touched Naruto twice. The first time, he left chakra behind. The second time, he withdrew it. The formula is similar to markers commonly used by Root."

"You know Root techniques?"

"I've seen them."

"You could still be wrong."

"Check the records for entries and exits at the north gate."

Iruka put Naruto's evaluation sheet into a drawer.

"Stay in the dorm tonight. Until the graduation exams are over, students aren't allowed outside."

"They're already over."

"Your forehead protector hasn't been registered yet. You won't officially graduate until tomorrow morning."

"Mizuki will go north tonight."

"How do you know?"

"He just gave Naruto a path to special graduation."

Iruka came around the desk.

"Where is Naruto?"

"The playground."

When they reached the window, the swing was already empty. Only the unopened can remained against the wooden seat.

Iruka grabbed his coat and headed for the door, but Chiba blocked the corridor.

"If you look for him now, Mizuki won't make a move."

"Then I won't let him."

"Root's people are still there."

"You want to use Naruto as bait?"

"Mizuki already has."

Iruka's hand went to Chiba's shoulder, then pulled back before touching an old wound.

"You just graduated. Don't think you're a jonin who can handle everything."

"I'm only dealing with Root."

"If something happens to the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki, the Hokage will take over."

"By the time the Hokage takes over, Danzo will be there too."

Iruka stood in the corridor for a moment. Then he returned to the office and took out that night's patrol roster from a cabinet.

There were three patrol teams in the northern woods. Two had been reassigned at the last minute, and the remaining team bore the signatures of two unfamiliar chunin.

"Who changed this roster?"

"Mizuki."

"You already looked at it?"

"Shikamaru did."

"How does that kid know everything?"

"He doesn't want to know. People just keep doing stupid things in front of him."

Iruka rolled up the patrol roster.

"I'm going to the archives. You go back to the dorm."

"Okay."

"You agreed that fast. Which window are you planning to climb out of?"

"The front door."

"Chiba."

"I won't touch Mizuki."

"What about Root's people?"

"Depends on the situation."

"No killing tonight."

"What if they attack first?"

Iruka opened the door, then looked back at him.

"Leave them breathing. At least let me get their names."

The archive room's lock was undamaged, but the borrowing register for the Scroll of Seals had an extra entry showing Mizuki had consulted it three days ago.

The chunin guarding the room flipped through the ledger twice.

"He said he needed to confirm the classification of forbidden techniques for the ninjutsu exam. I showed him the index, but the scroll never came out."

"What did he ask about?"

"The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, and the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style. I didn't let him see the second one."

Iruka pushed the register back.

"Add two patrol shifts tonight. Move the Scroll of Seals."

"Moving it requires an order from the Hokage."

"Then notify the Hokage first."

The guard chunin glanced at the clock on the wall.

"The Hokage is in a meeting. Even an Anbu message will have to wait."

"I'll go myself."

When Iruka left the archive room, Chiba was already gone from the corridor. All that remained on the floor was a small piece of dark bronze wood that had just fallen from the edge of his boot.

After dark, Naruto climbed out through the back window of the dormitory.

He carried an empty bag, circled around the academy according to the route Mizuki had given him, then found a forged duty token behind a drainpipe on the east side of the Hokage Tower.

Chiba lay hidden behind the higher eaves, roots spreading from his palm through the gaps between roof tiles. They latched separately onto the Metal Wood knots on Mizuki and Naruto.

Mizuki was not following Naruto.

His route curved toward the north gate. Along the way, he met with two unfamiliar chunin. After saying only three sentences, he stuffed a talisman engraved with an inverted tree into one of their hands.

"He'll bring the book out."

"Iruka checked the patrol roster."

"Let him enter the woods. Once Naruto exhausts his chakra, close the net."

The two chunin changed into dark armor without markings and entered the eastern and western sides of the woods separately.

Mizuki waited where he was for half an hour before taking out a Giant Fūma Shuriken and slinging it across his back.

In the direction of the Hokage Tower, a window opened softly.

Naruto landed in a back alley, clutching the Scroll of Seals, which was taller than he was. After running several steps, he looked back, then followed the marks Mizuki had left toward the north.

When Iruka reached the archive room, he saw only the empty scroll rack and a note pinned down by a forged duty token.

The note contained the final task of the special graduation exam.

Before sunset, learn any ninjutsu from the scroll and deliver it to Mizuki in the northern woods.

Iruka crumpled the note and turned to crash through the window.

And at the exact moment he leaped down from the Hokage Tower, the three Root chakra signatures waiting beyond the north gate moved as one.