The Scroll
The Corps of the Konoha ninja, stood atop the Hokage Tower, haranguing her about the importance of the scroll. It was dark and they were demanding the Hokage take a hard-nosed approach against Naruto Uzumaki, who had allegedly stolen Konoha's most sacred treasure, the Sacred Scroll of Sealing, a scroll which contains the village's most dangerous jutsu.
"Lady Hokage, this is not a joke, this is a serious crime against our village," one of the shinobi informed her with a growl!
"That Scroll contains secrets, that the First Hokage deemed too dangerous to be used by just anybody," another ninja reminded her!
Tsunade narrowed her eyes, "I know perfectly well why my grandfather created that Scroll," she admonished them, "if the Scroll falls into enemy hands, it could spell disaster for not just our village, but for the entire world at large as well." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, despite her love for Naruto, her duty to the village came first, she opened her eyes and drew herself up to her full height. In addition to her normal mode of dress, she was wearing the robes and hat of the Hokage, her eyes hardened, "Bring Naruto here, at once!"
Before they could form a reply, another voice yelled out, "I'm already here," everybody in the room froze, then turned to find themselves staring at the aforementioned, Jinchuriki! Standing next to the blonde, was Anko Mitarashi, another kunoichi with rosette-hair, and an ANBU wearing the cat mask, call-sign, Neko, "and I didn't take the scroll."
"That's right, Naruto, has been in my presence for the last couple of hours," Anko told them, "Sakura here can testify to that as well, as can Haruno Mebuki," then added, "though in her current state of mind, she might not be a credible witness."
"If you say he was in your presence," the Hokage asked, "then why come here, that would be enough corroboration to unfound the accusations?"
"Uzumaki Naruto-san, insisted on coming here," Neko informed her Shadow, "he wanted to prove his innocence beyond a shadow of a doubt."
The other ninja present were astounded, with the testimony of two witnesses, and possibly a third, he would have been cleared, "Why would he do that," one of those present ninja asked?
"Because with my Flash Clones, I could've pulled off the theft, and deliberately allowed myself to be seen in other places to throw off suspicion," Naruto informed them, "I wouldn't even need to be there, if all I wanted to do was read the thing. Senko Bunshin, have the same memory transference capability of Shadow Clones, from what my Aunt has told me."
"Then why not go out and find the culprit yourself," another ninja asked?
Naruto gave a self-deprecating smile, "because of another ninjutsu I invented, Shin-henge," he reminded them, "I can change my appearance, down to the last freckle on your ass, and nobody could tell the difference between you or me. Even a genetic test would show up as the person I was mimicking," then he blushed, "there would be only one way to tell the difference, and only the Hokage and the hospital administrator, Kato Shizune-kun know that method."
"Excuse me, Uzumaki-san," Neko added, stepping forward, "there is a way to make sure it's you and not a Flash Clone."
Naruto narrowed his eyes in thought, then shook his head and looked at the ANBU, "how, Neko-kun," he asked?
Neko looked at her Hokage for permission, who just nodded, unsure what Neko was talking about herself. Neko stepped forward, turned to Naruto, and bowed, "this is just a demonstration, please do not take what I'm about to do personally." Naruto, still confused, was in the process of nodding his head, when Neko drew back her hand, and punched him dead in the face. Neko is a powerful kunoichi, and while the punch was not enough to knock him over, it did push him back several paces. He was holding his nose as a trickle of blood came leaking out.
All the ninja present, were shocked, none more so than Tsunade, she jerked her head to Neko, "explain yourself, Neko," she ordered, "why would you of all people, punch him?"
"My apologies, Hokage-sama," she bowed to her, then to Naruto, "Naruto-kun, it was merely a demonstration, to show you that." Neko pointed at the blood coming out of Naruto's nose, "Flash Clones don't bleed when they're injured, just a trickle of light in the corresponding injury, before it heals itself."
"So, does this mean every time I see Naruto, I get to punch him," Anko asked with a grin, cupping her fist, "I could do that no problem." The other ninja present grinned deviously, "Uh, boys and girls, I get to punch him, anybody else touches him like that, I'll gut them, and hang their corpse in a tree."
"You can punch me, Anko," Naruto growled, the Kyūbi already healing the injury, "if you want a fight on your hands."
Anko grew serious again, "Naruto has insisted on being subjected to T&I, and said, he will only submit to Morino-sempai, and Yamanaka-sama," she hardened her eyes, "he felt any other member could be soft on him, and I have to agree, I know I would be soft on him."
"Agreed," Tsunade stated, "ANBU!" Two ANBU, one in a Bear mask, the other a Crow mask, and Neko, stepped forward, "Kuma, I want you to take Naruto Uzumaki into custody and guard him closely. Karasu, I want you to go get Ibiki, then inform the Uchiha chief of police to continue the search for Naruto Uzumaki, tell her about how to determine a flash clone from a real body. Neko, I want you to escort Inoichi back here yourself, and you have my permission to inform him of certain sensitive material about Naruto, when he gets here. As clan-chief, only you have that right," Tsunade looked at all of her subordinates, "the rest of you will aid the search for Naruto and Scroll, keep in mind they may have ditched the Naruto disguise by now, but no deadly force, unless he leaves you with no other options. Is that clear," their Hokage asked?
"Hai, Hokage-sama," they all bellowed, before taking off to do their tasks.
The ANBU in the Bear mask took Naruto into custody, placing chakra restraints on him, and leading him to a holding cell within Hokage mansion. As soon as everybody was gone, Tsunade turned to Anko and Sakura, "Please, follow me to my office, I want to know everything that happened between you and Naruto today," she ordered, then saw Sakura with an alarmed expression, "rest assured, anything personal won't go beyond me."
It was minutes later, Tsunade was sitting behind her desk, Sakura and Anko sitting on a couch to the side, had been talking about this afternoon's events, and the recollection of events had taken its toll on the rosette kunoichi. She was leaning her head on Anko's shoulder, looking worn out, when there was a knock on the Hokage's door. "Come in," the Hokage asked, the door opened, and two men walked in, they were as different from each other, as night and day, one was wearing a watch cap, and a dark trench coat, whose face looked as if he chewed rocks like candy, for fun. The other had long, ash-blonde hair reaching into his lower back, which he wore spiky on top and ending in a long ponytail, blue-green eyes, and strong facial features, which included a well-defined jawline. Inoichi Yamanaka was wearing the standard flak jacket over a black outfit, complete with handguards, forehead protector and a sleeveless red haori.
"Ah, Ibiki, Inoichi, thank you for coming on such short notice," Tsunade, greeted them urbanely, "Inoichi, I'm sorry for taking you away from your celebrations regarding Ino's graduation, but this is something that couldn't be avoided. Downstairs in the Mansion's holding cells is Naruto Uzumaki, he has been accused of something, that could land him in prison. I will not contaminate your methods by giving you unnecessary information, I need you to get whatever you can from him, regarding his whereabouts at all times today. Inoichi, you are authorized to go into his mind, don't forget what you might find in there, and there is also some top secret information in there besides the Kyūbi, which according to these ladies he knows all about, that information is information on a new kekkei tota that he discovered. Anything you discover about that is an S-ranked secret, punishable by death, if divulged." Sakura tensed up and looked at her Hokage, who waved her hand to indicate she had everything under control, "also there is information regarding a personal matter, between Sakura of the Leaf, and Mebuki Haruno, which Naruto was a party to earlier today, that information is Need-to-Know only, and only you, and Ibiki-san, besides Naruto and the people in this room are in the Need-to-Know."
"Ibiki-sempai, use whatever interrogation and torture methods you see fit," Anko added, "if Naruto is a cowardly traitor, then he would deserve it if you did your worst," she growled bitterly, "and if not, well then nobody will say we went soft on him, because he's family."
Ibiki looked hard at his junior in the department, "you sure, Anko-chan, because those methods will leave permanent damage, not on his body, but on his mind, most don't recover from that?"
Anko looked down, then up into her superiors' eyes, "it's what Naruto himself said, he wanted," she told them, "when, Neko showed up at my apartment to get him, he specifically, wanted you two to interrogate him, he said anybody else would probably be too easy on him. Naruto wants to clear his name, he gets plenty of flack just for being a Jinchuriki, he doesn't want the added stigma of being labeled a traitor too," Anko looked down, and whispered, "like me."
Ibiki's face became impassive, as he got his game face on, "Very well, Anko," he replied, "just don't blame me if after this, he wants nothing to do with either of you, beyond what's necessary."
"Is there any more information you wish to give us, Hokage-sama," Inoichi asked calmly? Tsunade just shook her head in the negative, "then we shall proceed, and hope we uncover the truth before our methods permanently damage the young man." They opened the door to the office and left.
Twenty, long minutes passed, when there was a quick knock on the door before it was opened and the Sandaime rushed in, holding a TV-VCR combination television. "Where is Naruto," he asked without preamble?
Tsunade answered, sensing the urgency in her sensei's voice, "he's down in an interrogation chamber with Morino-san, and Yamanaka-san."
Tsunade watched her sensei's eyes grow wide, then sat the TV-VCR combo down on the desk, "here, press play, Hokage-sama! I'm going to avert a disaster, before it gets any bigger," he said, and then turned and bolted with every bit of speed, being a God Among Shinobi required. A few seconds later, a crash like thunder was heard in the bowels of the Mansion, immediately followed by the sound of a collision with a wall. In the meantime, Tsunade, Anko, and Sakura watched what Sarutobi had left for them.
They heard steps out in the hallway approaching, Hiruzen led the way inside, followed by a smirking Inoichi, and a Head of T&I rubbing his head and whining, "but did you have to hit me so hard into the wall, Sandaime-sama," he sounded like he was just a step or two from bawling like a newborn, "you could've just told me to stop."
"My apologies, Ibiki-kun," the Third amended, "it was as much adrenaline, as it was chakra, but when one's loved ones are at stake these things tend to happen. Did anything interesting come up, in the short-time you were working," he asked?
Ibiki's admiring smile, made him somewhat handsome at certain angles, "the kid's tough, and not just physically, but mentally too, we had been going at him hard for just a few minutes, but he just kept quiet, answering every question he felt like answering, but not budging on anything he refused to answer. I've seen Jonin crack with less," Ibiki qualified, then looking at the rosette kunoichi, "he didn't talk about anything except his locations and movements, nothing of a personal nature about anybody, but himself." Sakura looked up, because she knew he was talking about what happened, earlier today, "he cares about his friendships." Sakura smiled a grateful smile, before turning back to the screen, in awe.
"What was so important, Sarutobi-sama, that you had to bulldoze through a door to tell us," Inoichi asked stoically, then raised an eyebrow, "that couldn't have waited long enough to open the door?"
Hiruzen chuckled, "I know you well enough, Inoichi, to know you like to keep the door locked while you work, and you probably soundproofed it too, so knocking wouldn't have worked, I used the most efficient and expedient method I could think of to get your attention." Then getting serious and pointing at the TV on the Hokage's desk, "this is why I had to stop you before you went too far with Naruto," on the screen, were three displays: one on the bottom half of the screen, and two at the top, cutting the top portion in half. On the bottom portion was the video of Naruto entering the Hokage's office, locating and opening the safe to the Scroll, it was a clear picture, with no ambiguity in who was on the screen. The top portion was different however, one side was video of Naruto, Anko, Sakura, and Mebuki, during their confrontation this evening, which took place at the same time as the theft. The otherside, showed the video at the top of the Hokage Mansion, it showed everything that happened up there, from the meeting of the shinobi, Neko punching Naruto, to Tsunade and the other two kunoichi departing to talk in this very office. What was unique about the top displays from that of the bottom, was the difference in Naruto's image. It looked like there were multiple Narutos at different places around the picture, doing different, but plausible things as events unfolded, each of them were different spectra, from red to violet, and they did not change any other participant's actions. The actions Naruto actually took, were in the actual spectra of the shinobi's clothing, hair, and skin-tone.
There was a chuckle from the doorway, and they all looked up to see Naruto with his arms crossed, leaning casually against the door frame, he looked, a little worse for wear, but looking pretty good, all things considered. There was a difference in his eyes though, to those seeing it for the first time it was quite disconcerting, his eyeballs were completely white, the only thing they could liken them too was the Byakugan, but in the center the pupil was in the shape of a diamond, running vertically, elongated to the north and south of the eyeball. He appeared to be looking at something with those eyes, "we never thought about looking at me through a camera did we, old man," he asked Sarutobi? Still viewing whatever he seemed to be looking at, Naruto explained his theory, "the different spectra of light, were some of the things I thought about doing in each of those circumstances, the least likely scenarios I considered, the further away from my natural spectra and façade you get. It must be a side-effect from using a film camera, I wonder how I'd look in one of those new digital cameras," he asked absently?
Everybody, except the Sandaime and the Godaime, were looking between the monitor and the ninja, wondering how, the Hell, he could know what was being shown on the TV? Finally, Naruto moved away from the door, walking to the Hokage's desk, "with your permission, Baa-chan," he asked, and she huffed but nodded, she had just had him tortured and though he had requested it, it was still her responsibility, he was allowed some leeway to do what he must to clear his name. Naruto opened her bottom drawer and pulled out the crystal ball, "let's see what the perv-ball can tell me about what happened in this room a few hours ago." All the kunoichi in the room looked at the Third, hard, who looked like a little boy, caught stealing cookies, with his head ducked, arms behind his back, and toeing the carpet.
Naruto began concentrating, feeling the molecules moving through the air, the floor, everything that was in the office, except the people currently inside it, then going deeper to the atoms, further to the electron shells, and deeper into the atomic nuclei. The nuclei and electrons began releasing photons, at first in the form of gamma-and-x-rays, then he began slowing the oscillations of the photons, and lengthening the waves, which decreased their photonic energy. The photons projected out of their phase of matter, and struck the crystal ball, they appeared in the form of beams, lancing out from the atoms and molecules that made up all the matter within the office. Naruto drew the light toward the crystal ball, making it bend around the other objects that were not in the room at the time of the theft, namely the people standing in it now, including himself. It accumulated within the crystal ball, until the ball could not contain it anymore.
"Naruto," the Sandaime asked, "what are you doing?"
Without looking, Naruto thrust his hand out, and with a twitch of photokinetic impulse, moved the light switch down and off, which darkened the room, and finally answered his grandfather-figure, "I had a thought experiment last night. What if light was one piece of a whole, it gets emitted from whatever its origin happens to be, and propagates through space and time, as a wave of electromagnetic radiation, until it hits some form of matter, and breaks apart? When it hits the gases, and dust particles in our atmosphere, it scatters, reflects, refracts, and diffuses, which is where we get blue skies, and why the Sun looks yellow to us. It continues to travel, losing speed, impacting different phases of matter, which has a doppler effect on the propagating wave of EMR. The waves compress as they strike the surface of the molecules, which causes the vibrational frequency of the photon to increase oscillations, adding energy to the photon, causing it to phase shift into different parts of the spectrum: Visible Light, UV, X-rays, then Gamma-rays, each phase absorbed by the different particles of an atom.
"Well, physics tells us that neither matter, nor energy can be created or destroyed, the same should hold true for electromagnetic radiation. Another spooky aspect is atoms, sometimes react to stimulus that is applied to a different atom, monks call it, spooky action at a distance. What if this spooky action wasn't coming from the atom itself, but from the wave of electromagnetic radiation they share, if they share the same light source, which ultimately, we all do, the Sun? The EMR is connected to every photon sympathetically, through space and time, which is what causes the spooky action," as he had talked, he continued to work his Light Chakra through the sphere, then looked around until he found a blank wall, and released the light from the ball. Here, he continued his explanation, absently, "what I have done, is reach into the atoms of the material substances of this office, and found the photons that were absorbed at the time of the video, Jiji, used to save my hide, then converted them back into the visible spectrum for humans, I could've just kept it in the ultraviolet wavelength, but I need witnesses to be able to confirm what I see…," he trailed off, as the image came into focus.
To be sure, the picture was not perfect, there seemed to be gaps in the image, uniform in appearance, very much like the pixels one saw on a computer photograph. Naruto explained them as the pieces of the EMR that were not absorbed by the office. What they saw, astounded them, because projected onto the wall, performing the same actions they watched on the video was Mizuki. He had a sneering smirk on his face, he seemed to be congratulating himself, on how clever he was, there was one moment when Mizuki's face turned bitter and resentful, and that was where Naruto narrowed his eyes. Naruto puffed his breath in relief, "At least, Mizuki-teme wasn't able to recreate my True Transformations, he must've been using the normal version," then he turned to them, "before the Hokage, does everyone in this room agree that they saw Mizuki no Konoha, commit the crime of theft, that it was Mizuki, and not Uzumaki Naruto who stole the Sacred Scroll of Sealing?"
"Before the Hokage, I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, affirm, that I saw Mizuki no Konoha, commit the crime of theft, that it was Mizuki, and not Uzumaki Naruto who stole the Sacred Scroll of Sealing," the Sandaime stated.
"Before the Hokage, I, Yamanaka Inoichi, affirm, that I saw Mizuki no Konoha, commit the crime of theft, that it was Mizuki, and not Uzumaki Naruto who stole the Sacred Scroll of Sealing," the Clan-Chief, and Director of Torture and Interrogation affirmed.
"Before the Hokage, I, Morino Ibiki, affirm, that I saw Mizuki no Konoha, commit the crime of theft, that it was Mizuki, and not Uzumaki Naruto who stole the Sacred Scroll of Sealing," the Head of Torture and Interrogation replied.
"Before the Hokage, I, Mitarashi Anko, affirm, that I saw Mizuki no Konoha, commit the crime of theft, that it was Mizuki, and not Uzumaki Naruto who stole the Sacred Scroll of Sealing," the Jonin of the Leaf said.
"Before the Hokage, I, Sakura of the Leaf, affirm, that I saw Mizuki no Konoha, commit the crime of theft, that it was Mizuki, and not Uzumaki Naruto who stole the Sacred Scroll of Sealing," the nascent Genin Kunoichi confirmed.
"I, Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage, affirm, that I saw Mizuki no Konoha, commit the crime of theft, that it was Mizuki, and not Uzumaki Naruto who stole the Sacred Scroll of Sealing," their Hokage declared, "then from hence forth so shall it be, from now unto dust, this is the truth and cannot be refuted," she decreed.
Naruto then ended the projection and began scrolling through the crystal ball, until he found the image he wanted, a picture of himself, at a derelict cabin sitting on the ground laughing his ass off. Mizuki thinks he's clever, well we'll see how clever he thinks he is when I put my boot in his ass. "I've found myself," he declared, then turned and knelt formally before his Hokage, "Hokage-sama, I beseech thee, to allow me to arrest the miscreant, who would have besmirched my good name, such as it is, with the citizens of Konoha?"
"If I allow this how would you get there, without being waylaid by every ninja out looking for you," Tsunade asked?
"We could go with him," they all looked and standing in the doorway was Uzumaki Yugao, standing with her looking impassive, was Itachi Uchiha, Hana Inuzuka with her companions the Haimaru brothers, Kurenai Yuhi, and Shisui Uchiha. Yugao was dressed as a normal jonin at the moment, and so was Itachi and Shisui, Hana, was a chunin, and dressed as one, while Kurenai wore her regular outfit consisting of a red mesh armour blouse with only the right sleeve visible, and a very broad material, which resembles bandages with a pattern on it similar to those of rose thorns. Her hands and upper thighs are also wrapped in bandages and she wore the Konoha forehead protector and regular shinobi sandals. "As his clan-chief I need to protect the honor of our clan, which that bastard threatened, and as we saw in the image on the wall, he thinks it's funny," she growled.
Naruto smirked, "I take it, Neko, and Karasu went off duty for the night?"
"Yes," Shisui informed him, "that's a fair assumption," then he winked.
At this Itachi spoke up, "with the ninja corps out in force, including all Uchiha Police officers, looking for Naruto-san," he said monotonously, "you will need someone with authority over them to keep them from arresting you, and as a captain on the force, and heir to the clan, I carry that authority. Uzumaki-san," he said indicating Yugao, "called in a favor to me from my days in the ANBU, to help escort you to Mizuki's location."
Naruto was heart warmed, "I'm glad my only living family member had so much faith in my innocence."
Tsunade assessed them, and weighed the consequences against the benefits, for all indications none of the ninja in Konoha have found Mizuki, and really Naruto deserved his pound of flesh, she looked at the still kneeling Genin in front of her. She looked at her Elder, who nodded his approval, "very well, I cannot go I must remain here, you may go get him, but my earlier orders regarding deadly force still apply, does anybody else wish to go with him?"
Anko looked at Sakura noticing her still saddened eyes, lots of emotional trauma for the day, "I'd like to, but I need to finish moving my new roommate into her room," then turning back to the others, "just let me have a crack at him once he's in custody."
"I would really like to returned to the graduation party in honor of my daughter," Yamanaka answered.
"I don't waste my time on petty amusements," Ibiki answered, "besides, like Anko said, he'll come to us eventually," he said with a sadistic smile.
"I will go along to make sure Naruto, doesn't go too far in his vengeance," Sarutobi answered, "I want him relatively healthy for his trip through T&I, and then enough time to recover for his trial," he finished with a growl. After losing two sons to traitors, one in war, and the other, Asuma, after grievous wounds from helping to quell the coup attempt on the Daimyo, by the Twelve Guardian Ninjas, Hiruzen took betrayal, very personally. A new corps of Guardians had been reborn from the ashes of the previous, and Konoha, had sent the married couple Kakashi and Rin Hatake, to represent them, though Rin was a reserve member now, because she was with child. If it was a boy, they will name him, Obito, for their fallen teammate.
"Thank you," Naruto told them all, then said, "the bastard is laughing his ass off at a… shed of some kind as we speak," he informed them, Naruto headed for the Hokage's bay window, "I can lead you to him." Naruto hopped out of the window, without a second glance and the rest followed after him.
Seals
At the shed, Mizuki has just finished his latest fit of laughter, he was still transformed into the Demon brat. When Iruka backed out of stealing the scroll at the last minute, Mizuki thought about doing it as well, but the thought of taking that thing down a peg after its performance was too delicious to let go, that thing needed to be taken down. Before it destroyed the village again, and who better to do the taking down than the very people it had fooled into thinking it was human? I wonder how long it'll run for, before it gets taken down, and if everything goes according to plan, I'll be the one to destroy the cowardly beast?
As he was thinking about this, Naruto and the others who had traveled here with him from the Hokage's office, landed on whatever trees and branches would hold them. Mizuki had not seen them yet, because any good ninja knows not to go barreling into unfamiliar territory, they studied the terrain. It was not a very large clearing, and indeed the only thing in the clearing was the shed, which looked like a laborers building for them to rest in between work. Naruto saw himself, still chuckling at what someone thought would be a great prank, and got angry, but he was cautious still, Mizuki has the scroll, so what was he waiting for, and it dawned on Naruto, "I don't think Mizuki-teme wants to get away…"
"Very good, Naruto," Hiruzen congratulated him, "what do you think he's waiting to do here?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes in thought, he saw the scroll laying on the ground, it looked untouched, like it had not been opened yet. "He hasn't opened it yet, and in the vision I saw, he was too busy laughing to have read it," he reasoned, "he's had a couple of hours, plenty of time to at least get a look inside it…" then his eyes hardened, "I'm just speculating, but I think he wants to get credit for finding it, and maybe for disposing of the Kyūbi-brat." He looked up at his superiors, to see how they thought of that logic?
Most of them were nodding, as if that was sound logic, Itachi just stared at the Chunin in the form of Naruto, his Aunt was looking at the true-Naruto in astonishment, she was not there when Sakura and Anko were telling their story, she had gone off duty to change once she escorted Inoichi to the Mansion, and Sarutobi was looking at him with a proud, fond smile, and nodded at the reasoning. "That seems a reasonable assumption, but remember reason isn't always fact, there could be any number of ways this could play out," the veteran of three Great Ninja Wars, cautioned his surrogate grandson.
Naruto nodded, then got a devious grin on his face, "well first order of business, is to get the scroll away from him, right," he asked, to all their nods? He put his hands into the sign he invented to make his clones, he calls this handsign, the oculus, then whispered, "Senko Bunshin," and one of his Flash clones shimmered into existence at the foot of the tree. Sarutobi gasped, and as Naruto looked at him, he grinned, "I've been experimenting with them, to use other forms of EMR, besides light," he told his research partner. "I shall send the clone in to distract my former teacher," then uncovered a tattoo on his forearm, it looked like an expanded form of the Uzumaki spiral, only with dots along the arms instead of ink-strokes. He applied a little of his normal chakra, to one of the dots along an arm of the spiral and extracted a scroll from it.
Yugao looked at him with wide eyes, "Naruto, you're not going to…," Naruto just grinned maliciously.
"What is it," Itachi asked sharply, yet quietly, and they were all looking at the scroll now, though still utterly calm?
"That tattoo is where my nephew keeps the dividends of his Bakuyaku (Explosion) Chakra, that he uses to augment his already more efficient, explosive fuinjutsu," she told them, "the closer you get to the epicenter of the spiral, the more powerful the explosion."
"Not to worry," Naruto said seriously, "this one is more concussive than destructive, Baa-chan said no deadly force, and I'm following orders." He looked over at Kurenai and shyly asked, "Kurenai-chan, would you please, place a genjutsu on this to make it look like the Sacred Scroll?"
Kurenai looked puzzled, but took the scroll from him, "sure but won't the chakra from the illusion, affect the chakra of the explosive?"
Naruto shook his head, "I developed this level of explosive scrolls, specifically for sabotage-missions and the like, so I added a barrier-line to prevent other chakra from corrupting the seal of the explosive."
Kurenai nodded and went to work constructing the genjutsu Naruto needed, but someone else had in issue with his choice, "why didn't you ask me to do it, I'm known for being good with genjutsu, too," Shisui asked in faux-petulance?
"Well, I know Kurenai-chan, better than I know you, Shisui-san," Naruto answered, then added, "plus from what I heard about your reputation, you're quite skilled at area-effect illusions, and even personal genjutsu," Shisui preened at his praise, "but your sensory-genjutsu lack a certain subtlety, they have a bluntness to them, kind of like a battle-axe to the face."
Shisui sulked, though it was mostly an act, his sensory-genjutsu were something he has been working on in his training, "and I supposed Yuhi-san doesn't have that problem?"
"No, from what I heard," Naruto told him, "her genjutsu are like works of art, and she can vary the intensity of her genjutsu in subtlety and nuance, as much as she needs to in all categories. It's why she's called the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha, and you're still Shun-shin no Shisui," Naruto told him, and there was nothing in his voice to indicate he was giving anything, but cold facts, as he saw them to the Uchiha. Kurenai handed him back his scroll, there was nothing about her demeanor to indicate she had listened to anything Naruto had said about her genjutsu acumen, but as he inspected it, he, without looking at anything but the scroll, said quietly, "and she has pretty eyes to boot." Naruto, without turning to see how she took his last statement, turned to his grandfather-figure, who was smirking at the Genin, and handed it to Sarutobi, "here, Jiji, you've been around the Scroll a lot more than we have, would this fool you if you didn't know any better?"
The Sandaime took the fake, Sacred Scroll of Sealing, and growing serious, inspected the object closely, looking at it from one end to the other. "This will definitely deceive anyone, not as intimately familiar with the true Sacred Scroll, as I am," Sarutobi assured, then turned to the kunoichi who made the genjutsu, "very good, my dear, I'd say Naruto's assessment of your skills is accurate, to say the least."
"Thank you, Sandaime-sama," she bowed with a modest blush on her cheeks.
"I have a question," Hana stated, her companions were on the ground, sitting in readiness to do their mistresses bidding, they all looked at her to go on, "we've been sitting on this tree having a grand old time, talking like we're at a family restaurant. Why hasn't Mizuki been alerted to our presence," she asked, "he may not be the most competent ninja out there, but he is a Chunin?"
Before the others could begin to wonder about that as well, Naruto answered it for her, "That's because of me," he said. "What I'm about to tell you all is an S-ranked secret, that only the Hokage, myself, Oba-san, and Sandaime-jiji, have been privy to, and now maybe Sakura-chan, Anko-chan, Morino-san, and Yamanaka-san," they all nodded for him to continue, "I have a kekkei tota that allows me to control electromagnetic radiation, or what is commonly known as Light. I won't go into detail, but what is relevant here is that I have an EM Field, that I can project around me like a bubble. I can convert it to different wavelengths along the spectrum, tonight while we've been coming up with our plan, and bantering, I converted it to the microwave bandwidth. Microwaves don't have much use as far as we know," he said indicating himself, Yugao, and Hiruzen, the latter two just nodded, "but we've discovered that they have the ability to disrupt sound waves. When we landed here on the tree, I projected my EM Field to encompass this tree, and the microwaves have been channeling the soundwaves coming from this tree, into the ground."
They all looked at each other, but before they could continue talking, the former Hokage, the leader of this mission because of his seniority ordered, "let's get back on mission, now isn't the time for scientific enquiry."
"Hai, Sandaime-sama," they answered.
Naruto pointed his fingers at his own Kidogan, "I'm deactivating my dojutsu, when I do, I cannot maintain this wavelength with my EM Field, so ninja stealth after that, understand?" The rest of them nodded in understanding, Naruto signaled his clone to get his attention, who looked at him and his creator, made a slashing motion and deactivated their Eyes of Luminance. Then Naruto signaled his clone to start the op, and the clone began to act the part of the distressed fugitive.
Naruto came running into the clearing, looking like he had been running for quite some time. He entered the clearing, breathing only a little heavily, when he spotted his duplicate and stepped back in shock. "What… what is this," Flash-Naruto yelled out in distress, taking a step back in horror?
Naruto-Mizuki just grinned at his dupe's terror-stricken face, relishing the torment coming from the apparent Nine-tails, he stood up and his grin turned smug, "this is the end for you, Kyūbi no Kitsune, you may have everyone else deceived, but you will never fool me, monster!" There was a puff of smoke, and the fake Naruto became the real Mizuki, he was wearing the same smug expression he had during his henge. Mizuki was in standard shinobi garb, but had added two giant, four-pointed shuriken, they were called Fuma shuriken, named after an obscure clan in Gohan no Kuni. "I will be seen as a hero," he began gloating, "maybe not by that whore of a Hokage, if she or that old man before her, had been willing to overlook that mask you wear in the form of a child, they might have been able to dispose of you, properly. But what can we expect from a kunoichi-whore, and a doddering old fool, who should've been put out to pasture long before now."
"What are you talking about, Mizuki-sensei," Flash-Naruto asked trying to look ignorant of what the bastard was saying about the Fox?
"You still wish to pretend, Fox, even now," Mizuki wondered in astonishment, then in a more serious voice, added, "fine, I'll humor this farce of yours for a moment? Do you want to know why almost every person in this village despises you," he asked, Mizuki was relishing his perceived victory so much that he failed to notice the shimmer at his feet? Naruto had stealthily substituted his explosive scroll for the real scroll and handed it over to the Sandaime. Now that the official part of the mission is over, Naruto can get on with collecting his payment for the mission, Mizuki's hide. "This whole village has been lying to you," Mizuki stated grandly, "since the Hokage's decree, twelve years ago."
"What decree…" Flash-Naruto asked, expressing his fear of the answer he already knew, needing to buy time to make sure their ruse worked?
"Everyone knows except you, Naruto," Mizuki proclaimed with a leer, "the decree forbids anyone from revealing actually the Demon Fox, that attacked Konoha, twelve-years-ago." F-Naruto's eyes became surprised, "The Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit, that killed mine and so many other's parents, children, spouses, has taken you over. I mean, how a child can hope to fight the power of an entity like that is inconceivable. It is inevitable, that the fox would invade the body and mind of that child you inhabit," Mizuki's face actually became sympathetic, "that boy whose body you invaded, monster, is unfortunately a victim of circumstance, his frail body is now your great weakness," Mizuki took the giant wheels of death from his back, preparing for battle, "and when I finally prove who you are, then the beautiful Yugao, you have tricked into believing she was related to you, will finally know the truth, Nine-tails!"
Up in the tree, the violette Uzumaki made a slight gagging noise, and when all but Naruto looked at her, she was holding a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from retching. "When that happens, she will see, that me and only me is the right man for her to be with, and she will drop the walking Cough-in ninja." Mizuki ridiculed Hayate Gekkō, who had an incurable cough, and those who did not respect him or his skills, often and out of ear-range of Yugao, called him Cough-in ninja, which sounded like Coffin-ninja. F-Naruto appeared to have been horrified by what Mizuki was telling him, seemed to be lost in thought, when a malicious grin bloomed on Mizuki's face, "and now that you know, it's time to fix the mistake left to us by the Fourth Hokage," as he said that, Mizuki took a twisting, loping lunge, flinging one of the giant stars directly at the Flash clone of Naruto.
At the last minute, the clone put up his hand, and extended his magnetic chakra that attached to the metal of the shuriken, halting it in mid-air, it was still spinning with the angular momentum the Chunin imparted upon it. Mizuki was surprised by the move, but figuring the creature's action a fluke, continued his own motion and threw his remaining shuriken at the creature. Flash-Naruto, added a little more angular momentum by increasing the rate of the shuriken's spin, using a touch more magnetic energy to one-side, before releasing the Fuma shuriken, sending it back the way it came. The first shuriken, intersected with the second, but because the first shuriken was spinning, and also moving faster than the second shuriken, thus increasing mass, the first Fuma sheered through the second, like the Raijin no ken through butter. The first one was also destroyed, and there was shrapnel flying, the real Naruto used his EM-Field to protect those in the tree with him, just in case.
Flash-Naruto and Mizuki were not so lucky, the Chunin covered his head with his arms, and was spared any vital damage, though his arms were festooned with metallic bits, his body was also hit, but his Chunin flak-jacket protected him from any injuries. F-Naruto was likewise injured, but of course no blood came from any wounds, only a cascade of light emanated from his wounds, and as he casually looked down at his body, and Mizuki looked at it in horror, the clone looked back up at his foe, and said, "and now I leave you with a snap," he quipped, the clone brought his fingers up and snapped them, while accessing the explosive chakra in the explosive scroll, only a few feet behind the Chunin… "BA-BOOM!" The scroll behind the Chunin exploded, and it felt like the Kyūbi himself hitting him in the back, as it threw Mizuki forward, hard, and the Flash Clone dissolves into a pool of bright, almost angelic light.
Mizuki lay in a sprawled out position, he was totally disoriented from the concussive energy from the bomb. There was a blur of motion as all the ninja in the tree appeared next to Mizuki's prone form, Naruto had appeared with the other ninja with a plasma blade in each hand. These were expressions of Naruto's third kekkei genkai, Plasma release, there were others, but this was Naruto's go to jutsu, because of how versatile they were to any situation. Depending on how Naruto excited the electrons in them, plasma blades could be used as a virtually unstoppable blade, or an unbreakable bludgeon and he could alternate between these states instantly.
Naruto looked down at the Chunin, who was still recovering from the explosion. Naruto's disgust for the man knew no bounds, and he wanted to vent his frustration upon his former teacher. Today, should have been a day of celebration for Naruto, and except for the situation with Sakura and her mom, it would have been. This bastard has taken, what could have been a great day, and turned it into one of the most stressful moments of Naruto's life. He tried to take something away from Naruto that he had worked hard to earn, and when he had finally gotten his hitai-ate, Mizuki nearly made all of Naruto's hard work meaningless. Naruto gripped his plasma blades harder, he was visibly shaking, then he closed his eyes and took a calming breath, then formally addressed the fallen ninja, "Konoha no Mizuki-san, by order of Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage no Konohagakure no Sato, I hereby place you under arrest, for sedition and treason, for the theft of the village's Sacred Scroll of Sealing."
Yugao looked at her nephew out of curiosity, wondering where his anger has gone, "are you sure of this, Naruto-oi-kun, after everything he has done aren't you going to punish him?"
Naruto shook his head, "As clan chief, you may exact whatever price you wish for the Uzumaki," he stated, "you may even order me to do it and I will carry it out, but personally, this pathetic piece of trash has taken enough from me today. My honor, dignity, and happiness over graduating the Academy," Naruto said to her, "but he accused me of being a monster, and I would be, if I attacked someone who couldn't defend themselves. He has taken a lot from me, I won't let him have my humanity," he declared, "my clone wounded him with the shards of the Fuma shuriken, and my explosive appears to have put Mizuki down for the count, I've taken my pound of flesh from him. I'm satisfied," Naruto assured them all, "let the Hokage have what's left," he appeared to be finished, before adding one last thing with an evil smile on his face, "but when I make my report, I'll be sure to include all of the colorful names he called her. That may sway her from showing any mercy on him, at sentencing," he finally finished.
Itachi looked at him and for the first time chuckled, "I didn't think you could be so cruel, Naruto-san," then sobering, "and I would like to thank you and Sakura-san, for teaching my little brother humility, today. Because of you two, the last of my fathe… the former Uchiha clan chief's influence has been washed out of him, he came home with a somber attitude this afternoon, and really seemed to be thinking over how he saw his career as a ninja."
Naruto and Yugao shared a smirk, before she put her arm around his, and turned away from the S-ranked ninja, "my campaign to humble your brother, is not yet complete, Itachi-san," Naruto called back over his shoulder, "the true humiliation comes next week, at team placements."
Teams
Today was the date for team placements, and Naruto walked into the school building for the last time, as a student. He was dressed differently from last week during the Exam, as part of the Hokage's campaign to instill more discipline in her forces, all Genin males had to get a buzz-cut, not a complete shave, but they could be no longer than two-inches on top, one-inch on the back and sides; Genin females, had the option, to cut it to shoulder-length, or they could put it up in either ponytails or buns. All Genin were required to wear the same basic outfit, a camouflage, single-piece jumpsuit, in blue, green, brown, or black patterns, and wear a single or dual ninja-tool holster, accessories were up to the individual.
Naruto chose to go with a blue, camouflage jumpsuit with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow and go with a dual holster, with his hitai-ate acting as a belt. The rest of his chosen ninja uniform, a balaclava which he made himself, to go over his hair in stealth missions, his blonde-hair would be a dead giveaway in those types of operations, on his brow, attached to the balaclava, he wore a visor that could be flipped up or down covering his eyes, that he could polarize at will, and could be used for telescopic or microscopic situations. While his Kidogan could handle that, he refused to rely on his dojutsu, taking wisdom from the other two clans who seemed to rely, on their own dojutsu, by doing the opposite. Besides, if he did use it, the visor would mask when he did, and give him an edge. Naruto wore his sleeves rolled up, showing off spiral tattoos on the interiors of both forearms, both housing his explosives, and his balaclava was thrown back, showing off his Genin, regulation haircut: a flattop, crew-cut. He rounded his new look out with a pair of flexible, combat boots, flexible meaning no steel toe, leather, fingerless gloves, and he wore, a Kevlar utility vest worn over the torso, which had the Uzumaki Spiral sown on his back, and the harness for a back-drawn, tsurugi blade, going down Naruto's spine, and finally, his Ten-Fist-Sword.
Also called, Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, which was not the sword's original name of course, that had been lost to time, but what Yugao had told him the original owner called it, when he showed it to her. It is three-feet long pommel to tip, and as black as the inside of a sack, and seemed to absorb even the light that struck it, reflecting nothing. It had no ornamentation, whatsoever, and the hilt met the base of the blade in a wide, isosceles triangle, but the sword was in one piece, because the blade seemed to crest out of the triangle, until it ended in the tip. The scabbard he carried with the sword, was four-and-a-half feet long and cut along the top, so the blade was suspended a good eighteen-inches above the bottom of the scabbard by the triangle section, or it would fall right through the bottom of the scabbard.
Naruto had tried to study the sword a few times since he awakened his Light Release, but no matter what he did, any form of EMR would be swallowed into the blade. Other than that, it acted like any normal blade, but it was insanely sharp. Yugao-oba-chan said, it was his through inheritance, but refused to tell him from whom, or from which side of the family it came. He assumed it came from his paternal family, but she refused to confirm or deny his assumption.
Naruto entered his class, he was the last to arrive today, and noticed the difference. These were still individuals, but they were individuals within the restrictions set forth by the Hokage. Sakura had chosen to go with the forest-green, camouflage motif, a single-holster for ninja-tools on her right hip, and her hair was styled into a bob. She kept the sleeves rolled down, and wore scarlet, fingerless gloves, and her own flexible, combat boots. Her forehead protector was wrapped around her left bicep but resting outboard on both of her thighs were a pair of sai. Naruto was reminded of a pink rose, with her hair spectra, and the thorns were truly deadly, Naruto had made her a shemagh, a sort of hooded scarf that she could wind around her hair for stealth missions, he had made it out of blood-red crimson, goat-wool. It was his graduation gift to her.
Hinata Hyūga wore the black cammies, was in a dual-holster configuration as Naruto, wore her hair in a loose bun, and her headband as a choker. Over the top portion of the jumpsuit was a leather hooded jacket, that had many pockets, and was zipped nearly to the top, with a gap for air to circulate. She also wore a pair of gloves, with small spikes on the backhand section that went from the wrist all the way to the second knuckle of each hand, and for her head though, it was mostly to give her the same edge as Naruto, he made her a balaclava with the same visor attachment, also presented to her for graduation.
Ino Yamanaka wore blue like Naruto, had a single-holster, and was one of the few who did not have to change her hair-style, since pony-tails were her original hair-style, and wore purple trainers, her nod to individuality, she was also wearing a purple shemagh, that was down around her shoulders at the moment. He had sent it to her through her father, Naruto did not want a fellow ninja's death on his conscience if he could do anything to prevent it. Because, if his own hair would be a beacon on a stealth mission, then her hair being almost white, had to be just as bad. Inoichi must've had to order her to wear it as father and clan-chief. The Nara in their midst, was wearing brown cammies and had simply cut off his ponytail to meet regulations, had his hitai-ate on his left arm, wore standard ninja sandals, and had a single ninja-tool holster. Choji chose green, and went completely bald, adding a happuri-style, forehead protector framing his face, with the dual holster design and wore ninja sandals.
Kiba also went with a forest-green camouflage, which he covered in a brown leather jacket, with a hood for Akamaru, wore a crew-cut, fade hairstyle, which with his Inuzuka fangs, made him look down-right menacing, which he loved, of course. Kiba chose a single-holster, so he could add a set of nunchaku which had claws at the end, a graduation present from Naruto, it would add something extra to his Fang-over-Fang and other maneuvers of the Inuzuka taijutsu style. Though he would deny it, Kiba was moved to tears by the gesture, and had trained with them for hours on end, to get proficient with them. From what Naruto could see, Shino chose the black uniform, a faded-style cut, as well as ninja sandals, but could not tell anything else because the Aburame still wore his thick overcoat, and sunglasses. The Uchiha decided on black too, with a single-holster design, regular combat boots with the steel toe, which Naruto felt through his Jiton sensing. Sasuke had what is known as an Ivy-league hair-style, adding a vest-like Naruto to add the Uchiha crest to his wardrobe, and balanced his kunai holster with the jutte, a truncheon used by police officers. Meant for combating swordsmen, with its fork, the officer could hook the blade out of the warrior's grasp, and the thick metal bar, could block all but the most powerful blows. Naruto shuddered when he felt the steel, within those steel-toed boots, I give him three, maybe four months, then he'll be throwing those steel-toed monstrosities into the ocean. That or he'll be really irritable, because those things will be damn-near pinching his toes off.
Naruto walked over to Sakura, who was sitting with Hinata, and spoke to them both, "Hello, kunoichi-sans," he said with a cheeky grin, "how were your weeks leading up to today?"
They both just smirked at each other, before turning back to their friend, "Ano, my family didn't make much of a fuss, until they found out I was going to have Kunoichi of the Year status. That pretty much shut the Elders up, until they learned you beat me in all other categories," Hinata added grimly.
Naruto gave her a knowing smile, "I wouldn't worry too much about that, Hinata-chan," he cautioned her, "they still haven't announced the final results, one should never prepare for victory or loss when the war, is still not over. Believe it!"
Sakura looked puzzled, "but Naruto-kun, with your performance, surely you'll be Rookie of the Year, Anko-sensei, said something about the averages, not being a factor in determining class ranking."
"Don't you know by now, Sakura-chan," he admonished her, "nothing a ninja says should be taken completely at face value, you know?" Then said something cryptic, "Yugao-oba-san, says one should always look underneath the underneath, when dealing with ninja."
"But, Anko-sensei, is a friend, Naruto-kun," Sakura declared.
"I've said the same thing to her, and you know what she said," the two kunoichi shook their heads, 'no', "she said, it especially applied to friends, and even teammates, because one never truly knows anybody?"
They were about to talk more, when, Iruka entered the classroom, he was different today than normal, he appeared to be disturbed by something. He called the class to order, and his quiet, almost menacing aura quelled the newly minted Genin faster than a million shouts. He began, "I will begin by reading the class rankings, starting from Dead Last to Rookie of the Year, I will answer no questions until the end, so no interruptions," he ordered:
"Uzumaki Naruto – 27th"
Akimichi Choji – 26th."
That got quite a few expressions of surprise from the class, they thought his name would be the last one read. Iruka, however, went down the rankings steadily, and with as much passion as the stone faces on Hokage Rock, meaning none.
"Yamanaka Ino – 19th
Nara Shikamaru – 18th"
[17 – 6, Nameless]
"Aburame Shino – 5th
Inuzuka Kiba – 4th
Uchiha Sasuke – 3rd
Kunoichi of the Year:
Konoha no Sakura
Rookie of the Year:
Hyūga Hinata."
They all turned to look at the Dead Last, whom they all expected to get a much different result, he looked at them all, with a knowing expression on his face. Kiba, who had known Naruto longer, knew that look, it was the look Naruto used, when he was proven right in his jutsu experiments, it said, Naruto knew this was going to happen. It was neither a triumphant nor defeated expression, but it was the expected outcome. It was Hinata, who raised her hand first, and Iruka for the first time showed a benevolent expression on his countenance and pointed to the heiress, to ask her question. A question, he knew was coming, she stood, and in her gentle voice asked, "not that I am not extremely pleased, to be the first kunoichi ever awarded the title, Rookie of the Year, but I feel that I am usurping someone else's place on the roster. Naruto-kun, with his performance in the Genin Graduation Exam, should've been Rookie of the Year, and I, Kunoichi of the Year, so how is it that he languishes as Dead Last of this class?"
"Naruto-san, failed the Genin Graduation Exam, twice before coming to this class," came Iruka's answer, "so he deserves to be Dead Last, regardless of his scores on this Exam."
"What," Sasuke asked, "why would he deserve to be Dead Last, just because he failed twice?"
"Because, it wouldn't have been fair, otherwise," the blonde nemesis answered his castigant, "when I came to this class, I knew things about the Exam you didn't."
"Like what," Sakura asked, her new friend and long-term crush? Even Shikamaru was awake for this, because it was something he did not know, nor did he figure it out, and this was the first time since he was three and began playing shogi, that has ever happened.
"That there was another test buried beneath the entire Exam, something I had to swear to keep a secret before I would be allowed to try again," Naruto told her, "and what the class rankings are really for, and what they mean after the Academy."
"What test, I don't remember getting another test," Ino asked, Choji had even stopped eating too, as it dawned on him, if Naruto had not been in this class, then Choji would be Dead Last?
"And please enlighten us regarding the rankings purpose," bug boy entreated?
Naruto looked at their sensei, who shrugged his shoulders, "I'll answer the first question and let Iruka-sensei answer the second, once we know our Teams," he told them, to Iruka's nod, "the test I'm talking about is a stress test, to see how we handle the mild stress of the Genin Graduation Exam."
"Mild stress," the Nara in their midst scoffed, "Troublesome, that test caused me, to miss precious moments I could've use for cloud gazing?"
"Really," Naruto quirked an eyebrow, "then how much wool-gathering would you have done, if you knew the class averages, meant nothing in determining class rankings?" You could have heard a pin drop after that revelation, and it was at this point when Iruka decided to speak.
"It's time now, to announce on which teams you will all be placed," their sensei stated, they all remained quiet, now not knowing what would happen, they were off balance, which was kind of what the brass wanted to see, how they handled shocks to their system. Teams one through six, and their Jonin-sensei were gone through quickly, "Team Seven: Hyūga Hinata, Konoha no Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto; your Jonin-sensei will be, Yuhi Kurenai; Team Eight: Uchiha Sasuke, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino; your Jonin-sensei will be, Mitarashi Anko; Team Nine: is still in Rotation; Team Ten: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji; your Jonin-sensei will be, Uchiha Shisui."
The class was not sure, if they should be happy or wary of the teams they had been placed on, they were still waiting for Naruto or Iruka, to tell them the purpose of the rankings. "Now, I understand you all wish to know how the Hokage, came up with these combinations for you all." As one, the class nodded their heads, except Naruto, since he already knew the criteria for choosing the teams, well for one team at least. "Firstly, but for two exceptions, all teams are chosen for balance, or harmony within the teams, usually using the three basic ninja skills: physical prowess, chakra usage, and kunai & shuriken acumen. The thought is that if you train together, you will be able to iron out or at least cover each other's weaknesses, to prop each other up in times of hardship. There are, but two exceptions to this criteria, the first is conditional, if there is a member in the same class from three specific clans: the Yamanaka, the Nara, and the Akimichi, also known as, the Ino-Shika-Cho Team, they are always placed on the same team, to promote good luck for the village, and so far, it's worked. There is even a superstition associated with those clans, that as long as all three remain strong and alive within Konoha, then the Leaf will thrive, but should even one of these clans leave or die out, then Konoha is doomed."
The three members of these clans represented in this class, had never felt so much pressure on themselves than they did at this moment. "What, A, Drag," the Nara in their midst, growled!
"What is the Second exception to the balance rule, sensei," Sakura asked, but from the set of her shoulders, she may have already guessed the answer?
"The Second Exception, and this is the reason for the class rankings," Iruka confirmed, "the Rookie of the Year, the Kunoichi of the Year, and the official Dead Last of a class are always assigned to the same team, and they are the Flagship Team of Konoha. Whenever Konoha participates in a foreign Chunin Exam, they're always chosen to represent the Leaf in the foreign country. Right now, Konoha has two such teams in rotation, Team 9: with Hyūga Neji, the Rookie of the Year, last year, Shin Tenten, last year's Kunoichi of the Year, and the Dead Last for that class, Lee Rock, because their Jonin-sensei, Maito Guy, felt they weren't ready to become Chunin, and thus did not submit their names for consideration."
Choji raised his hand, and Iruka pointed at him to ask his question, "if Naruto wasn't here, for whatever reason, what would've happened to me, would I be the Dead Last on the team with Sakura-san and Hinata-san?"
Iruka shook his head, "you would have still been placed on the Ino-Shika-Cho team, and the next to last position would be chosen for their team," he answered.
Sasuke, finally caught up to what that meant, and voiced his realization aloud, "then that means, the class rankings…"
"… it means, Uchiha-san, that after today, the class rankings, don't mean a damned thing," the Uzumaki finished for him.