"The scroll. Naruto, give that scroll to me," Mizuki demanded as Naruto lay on the ground, not understanding what was happening.
"No, Naruto! Whatever you do, don't let Mizuki get that scroll," Iruka voiced urgently, seeing Naruto's confusion.
"Iruka-sensei, I don't understand what's going on," Naruto replied, bewildered.
"Don't you get it? He used you to get that scroll! He knew Lord Third wouldn't be on guard if you tried to sneak into his house, and now the village is all riled up, thinking you stole the scroll," Iruka warned.
Mizuki calmly approached Naruto, ignoring Iruka's words. "Come on, Naruto, do you really think I'd do that? He's lying to you—they all are. Have you ever wondered why the village has been hostile towards you?" Mizuki stated, slowly walking towards the confused Naruto.
"What do you think you're doing, Mizuki?" Iruka yelled.
"You see, even Iruka knows the reason why," Mizuki pushed.
"What are you talking about?" Naruto questioned, holding his guard.
"You know about it. Twelve years ago, there was an incident where the demon fox attacked Konoha, but it was sealed up again," Mizuki explained.
"So what about it?" Naruto responded.
"Hmph. There's a really special law here that binds the people of our village to the strictest decree," Mizuki continued.
"Strict law? I don't remember such things," Naruto replied, shocked.
"Of course you wouldn't," Mizuki laughed. "That law is specially tailored for you," he added.
"Me?" The boy was flabbergasted.
"Yes. That law states that none of the villagers must ever tell you that you are that demon fox," Mizuki revealed with a grin on his face.
"What have you done, Mizuki?" Iruka yelled, angered by this revelation.
"That's not true! There's no way that can be true," Naruto denied, the news making him fall from shock.
"Haha. Just look at Iruka's face. Surely even you can tell from his expression that I'm right. Face it, Naruto. You are the one who harmed this village. You killed many people, even your dear sensei's parents. You are the nine-tailed fox spirit that wreaked havoc in Konoha twelve years ago. Don't you think it's strange for an orphan to be so despised? It's because you deserve it," Mizuki added, making Naruto question his existence.
"Enough! It's true the fox demon took away my family, but that has nothing to do with Naruto. He's an excellent and talented kid. Naruto, even if I seemed hard on you, I never and will never hate you. You'll always be my student," Iruka stated firmly.
"You're just saying that to trick the boy," Mizuki responded. In a flash, he threw his giant shuriken. Before Naruto even saw what happened, Iruka was there, standing and shielding Naruto.
"Cough... Naruto, don't let him get the scroll," Iruka said, coughing up blood.
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto cried.
"Haha! How pathetic, protecting that monster just because it looks like a child," Mizuki said as he reached for his other giant shuriken. "Say your last words," Mizuki scoffed as he threw his last shuriken.
[A/N- image if the Hyuga could also do the spinning thing from Ninjago lol, I came across that show today and I can't stop thinking about it]
"If you try to harm Iruka-sensei, then I won't spare you!" Naruto shouted, kicking Mizuki and disorienting him, causing the shuriken to miss Iruka.
"You little..." Mizuki wiped the blood from his mouth. "I'm tired of your nonsense. Come at me, and I'll show you what I can do," he snarled.
Naruto formed a hand seal. "Try me, you little fox. Come at me with all you've got," Mizuki yelled.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted, creating multiple clones of himself. This shook Mizuki, who didn't understand what had just happened.
"You said to come at you with my all, right? This is my all," the Narutos replied in unison, proceeding to one-sidedly beat Mizuki, leaving him bruised on the ground.
"You really are something," Iruka stated, leaning against a tree.
"Hehe. Guess I'm just too strong," Naruto chuckled.
Back in his office, the Sandaime watched over the event using his crystal ball. "It seems things worked well," he mused as he left his office.
"Has no one found him yet? Maybe we should call in more ninjas," a no-name ninja asked as they huddled up.
"That won't be necessary. I've personally resolved this issue," the Hokage assured the mob of ninjas, letting the matter go. Despite his treatment of Naruto, Hiruzen had helped him significantly during this incident.
"Hokage-sama!? Very well," the mob replied, seeing his conviction in letting the matter rest.
"This was slightly entertaining. Not only did I memorize a lot of jutsu, but I also got to see such a touching event," Daniel thought, floating in the sky with his energy hidden, watching as Naruto and Iruka walked back to Konoha. "I've been reading a couple of books in the library, and judging by the information available to the public, such as who the Yondaime is and a bit about his life, like him marrying a certain Uzumaki, and since Naruto knows about the fox being sealed in him, then maybe I can reveal the teleporting ninja in the room," Daniel pondered as he flew home, pleased by the events that transpired today.
The next day was picture day. Daniel woke up, wearing his ninja gear, and left his house. Walking, he came across Naruto.
"Sup," Daniel greeted. "I heard you had an eventful night yesterday," he added with a smirk.
"It was nothing, really. I learned a lot, though, about myself," Naruto replied, hands crossed behind his head.
"Ohhh," Daniel raised a brow. Arriving at the academy, it was not an eventful day since it was mostly about taking pictures and interviews. The following day was special. The class was excited because it was their last day, and they were going to be assigned to teams. Things panned out as in the original story, with Naruto kissing Sasuke. Daniel sat in the middle, with most kids avoiding him, as Iruka arrived to announce the teams. As expected, Naruto was teamed up with Sakura and Sasuke.
"Lastly, it's Ando, Yuki, and Daniel," Iruka announced, concluding the team assignments and leaving them until he would announce their senior instructors later today.
"I can't believe I'm stuck with no-name mobs for teammates. I'll probably have to carry them like Miguel did his team in 'Pick Me Up'," Daniel sighed, voicing his thoughts while waiting for the senior instructors to arrive. Not many teams were left in the class; five teams remained, and Daniel didn't care if they heard him.
"Hey, that's rude to speak of your teammates like that," a pink-haired girl refuted.
"Heh?" This shocked Daniel, hearing this from the girl who practically treated Naruto like trash and acted better than him, even though she was useless. Again, Daniel acknowledged Sakura's talent and respected her for her future achievements, but he didn't like her.
"Is that so?" Daniel glared at her with utter disdain, and she quickly kept quiet.
"Now that I think about it, Hashirama had three or so kids, one of whom married a Namikaze and had Tsunade along with her sibling. Then we get Minato, who's insanely talented for a kid from a no-name clan. If my guess is correct, Tsunade is probably Naruto's grandmother, and if not, she's definitely his closest living relative. Yet she trained Sakura and didn't really care about Naruto. That's sad," Daniel thought as he shifted his glare from Sakura.
"The hell you say about carrying us?" Ando slammed the table. "What's a parentless bastard like you talking about me being dead weight?" he raged.
"Huh, didn't you hear what I said? No-name NPCs like you will just drag me down," Daniel repeated, not bothered by the slur hurled at him.
"Cut it out, you guys," Yuki tried to mediate, but her efforts bore no fruit.
"What's with the ruckus here?" a Jonin entered. "Yuki, Daniel, and Ando! Come with me," the Jonin called.