Chapter 1
In the forest outside Konoha, on graduation night
"If you dare touch my teacher again, I'll kill you!"
Naruto roared, fury churning in his chest as he looked down at the wounded Iruka-the man who was like an older brother to him.
"Ha, you? I could finish you with one move," Mizuki sneered.
"Fine, bring it on! I'll pay you back a thousandfold! Shadow Clone Technique!"
The moment he finished speaking, over a thousand shadow clones in orange outfits filled the forest.
Mizuki had no time to react before the clones swarmed him like a tidal wave.
"Uh... I think I might've overdone it a little, right, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto scratched his head sheepishly.
Iruka froze. Maybe this child will surpass every Hokage someday.
What he didn't know was that two onlookers were having the very same thought.
"Naruto, close your eyes."
Naruto obediently did as he was told and waited quietly. Iruka removed his own forehead protector and gently fastened it around his dearest student's head.
"All right, you can open them now." Iruka's voice was full of pride.
Naruto looked at the forehead protector now adorning his brow and leaped with excitement, shouting, "I did it!" and "I'll be Hokage before you know it!" His voice brimmed with irrepressible joy.
"I promise I'll make you proud, Iruka-sensei!" he said, fighting back tears of happiness.
"You already have, Naruto."
The Hokage's office
"The kid's got guts, and from the looks of it, his potential is incredible. What do you think, Sensei?" asked a man with waist-length white hair and red markings around his eyes.
"Indeed, Jiraiya. His chakra reserves are enormous. No wonder he couldn't learn even the ordinary Clone Technique. He simply couldn't control them," Hiruzen Sarutobi replied.
"I was planning to wait a year, or until after his first Chunin Ninja Exams, before taking the brat on as my student."
"But now it looks like it's time I got to know my godson properly and taught him myself." Pride colored Jiraiya's voice.
"Hmm, Kakashi probably won't be happy. He wanted the boy on his genin team, especially now that the higher-ups will likely pressure him to favor its Uchiha member because of what happened to the Uchiha Clan," Hiruzen said.
"Don't worry. I'll handle it. Besides, back when I had to leave on missions... uh, gather intelligence, didn't the higher-ups flat-out refuse to let me take the brat with me? Minato and Kushina entrusted him to me. What orders do you think they'll give Kakashi? To treat all his students equally, or to give the Uchiha special attention?" Jiraiya countered.
"Very well. Naruto and the others should be here soon. Will you stay to meet him?" the Third Hokage asked.
"No, I need to catch up on my research."
With that, the Toad Sage leaped out the window.
"Can't he use the door for once...?" The elderly Hokage sighed helplessly and returned to the documents on his desk, only to find his eyes welling up a moment later.
Team assignment day at the Ninja Academy
Naruto was still riding high when he walked into the Ninja Academy. Last night had been a huge boost: not only had he graduated, but he had also learned a B-rank ninjutsu. For the blond boy, life was finally looking up.
As soon as he entered, several classmates gave him strange looks. They clearly didn't know he had passed.
"Naruto, what are you doing here? This is for people who passed," Shikamaru drawled.
"Look at my forehead protector! I passed!" Naruto said proudly, tapping his forehead.
"What a drag." Shikamaru curled his lip and turned away to go back to sleep, but his mind kept working. He definitely failed. Something must've happened. Could it have something to do with all those chunin running around in a frenzy last night?
While he was pondering that, Sasuke's two fangirls came over. Ino and Sakura were bickering loudly, and Sakura in particular shrieked at Naruto for "daring to stand between her and Sasuke-kun." The noise made it impossible for Shikamaru to think.
Fortunately, Iruka arrived in time to quiet the class, much to everyone's relief-especially Akamaru's.
"All right, I'll announce the team assignments now. You'll stay with these teams until you become chunin. Team 1... Team 7, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha."
Before Iruka could finish, a shriek cut him off.
"Yes! I knew it! Sasuke-kun and I were made for each other!" Sakura's deafening shout made both her classmates and Iruka frown.
"Uh... all right. The final member of Team 7 is Sai. Your supervising teacher will be Kakashi Hatake." Iruka hurried on, then announced Team 8.
(The remaining teams were the same as in the original.)
"Iruka-sensei, why didn't you announce my team?" Naruto asked in confusion.
"You didn't graduate at all, did you? You must've stolen that forehead protector, you idiot!" Sakura screeched.
"Sakura, don't make things up. Lord Hokage personally gave Naruto a harder test last night, and he passed. Naruto, go to the Hokage Tower once I'm done assigning teams. They'll tell you your arrangements there. Everyone else, your teachers will arrive in an hour. Get to know your new teammates first."
With that, Iruka left the newly minted genin behind.
Naruto was a little annoyed. Everyone else had a team, but he had to go wait at the Hokage Tower. Still, he figured there had to be a reason, so he hurried off to find his new team.
Meanwhile, at the Hokage Tower
Kakashi felt both confused and frustrated. He desperately wanted to teach his sensei's son, to make up for not having protected him during his time in the Anbu.
"Lord Hokage, which team was Naruto assigned to? I'd like to teach him myself." Kakashi's voice was full of disappointment.
The Hokage was about to answer when another voice interrupted.
"He's with me."
The words came from the window. The jonin in the room turned to find the legendary Toad Sage, Jiraiya, sitting casually on the sill and gazing out over the village.
"Lord Jiraiya, why would you take him as your student? This child... wouldn't you be better off choosing a top student like the Uchiha? Surely you know what he is?" one jonin asked, a remark that soon cost him his position.
"He's a kid without much talent who'd rather die than give up. No matter how often he fails, he keeps going. In short, he's like me. Why would I teach that spoiled, arrogant Uchiha brat instead of someone who actually needs help?"
Jiraiya's tone turned cold. He was clearly displeased that someone had insulted his godson.
The Hokage Tower
Naruto strode into the Hokage's office and looked around. There were no new teammates in sight, only a tall stranger.
"Old man, what's going on? Where's my team? Everyone else has one. Why don't I?" Naruto looked baffled.
"Naruto, this gentleman volunteered to take you as his student," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a smile.
"Oh, hi. I'm Naruto. What's your name?" the blond boy asked.
"Kid, you've asked the right man. I am the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, one of the legendary Sannin-Jiraiya!"
Jiraiya struck what he considered a dashing pose.
"Uh, old man, can I get a teacher who isn't this ridiculous?" Naruto asked flatly.
"Haha, Naruto, Jiraiya is my student, and he's very powerful. As long as he doesn't fool around, you can learn a great deal from him." The old Hokage laughed, smoothing things over.
"So, Jiraiya-sensei, are you going to teach me some awesome ninjutsu?" Naruto's eyes lit up.
"Patience, kid. We'll fix your bad habits before you learn new tricks. Don't worry, it won't take long. I'll teach you proper taijutsu, not the basic stuff from the academy. Once you've mastered it, I'll teach you new ninjutsu."
Jiraiya smiled at his godson's impatience.
"Then let's get started! I'll show Sasuke I'm not the dead last!"
Shouting, Naruto headed for the Training Ground with Jiraiya.
Training Ground Two
"So, what am I learning? You said you'd fix my bad habits, but I don't even know what I'm doing wrong. I know my chakra control is bad, but I think my taijutsu is pretty good. No one's ever taught me anything else." Naruto looked at Jiraiya, waiting for an answer.
"Here's what we'll do. Make five shadow clones and fight them yourself. We'll talk after you win. That'll show you the flaws in your taijutsu. I'll teach you tactics and work on your chakra control. Once you've learned to climb trees and walk on water, I'll teach you two ninjutsu. One of them was created by the Fourth Hokage. How does that sound?"
Jiraiya knew Naruto would want to learn his idol's technique.
"I'm definitely learning that! Just watch, Jiraiya-sensei! Shadow Clone Technique!"
Five clones rushed him and beat the original so thoroughly that he couldn't fight back, right up until the last clone vanished.
"All right, Sensei, I admit it. My taijutsu really is bad. But there's something else. After the clones disappeared, I could remember everything they did in the fight, like I'd experienced it myself." Naruto scratched his head.
"Oh? Looks like you're not stupid after all. The Shadow Clone Technique is a forbidden technique for two reasons. First, it consumes so much chakra that ordinary people can't use it. Second, the original receives the clones' memories, which can easily overwhelm them," Jiraiya explained.
"Then could I use clones to help me train?" Naruto's eyes lit up.
"Exactly. Very clever. But it's dangerous, and you're about the only person who can do it. The Nine-Tails lets you recover quickly, and you have plenty of chakra. Other people can't imitate that," the Toad Sage said.
"You know about the Nine-Tails?" Naruto asked in surprise.
"I do. Later, I'll help you control it and use its power to become stronger. But right now, you need to get stronger on your own. Make fifty clones and have them read while I teach you taijutsu moves," Jiraiya instructed.
"Awesome! Let's do this!"
Naruto shouted, and fifty shadow clones appeared in an instant.
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