Naruto: The First Step

Chapter 21

Naruto uttered the word 'Kai!' which made Iruka poof away and standing in his place was Mizuki.

The man was shocked on how Naruto knew that it was him. He could've sworn he did the Henge right.

"How'd you know it was me?", Mizuki asked.

"Iruka-sensei doesn't have a shuriken behind him and he doesn't want to get the scroll so bad. You need to improve on your Henge.", Naruto replied.

"You truly are the smartest in your batch.", Mizuki stated.

"Perhaps this should teach you never to underestimate me ever again.", Naruto growled.

Naruto threw a couple of shuriken towards Mizuki but the man dodged. Mizuki pulled out a kunai from his holster and charged towards Naruto. On instinct, Naruto pulled out 2 kunais and began hand to hand combat with Mizuki.

You could see that all he learned in from Iruka has served him well and he was grateful for it. It gave him the upper hand and landed a few cuts on Mizuki.

Mizuki was frustrated that a Genin was defeating him and had to take drastic measures. He kicked Naruto's shins making the boy fall back and land on his bottom. Mizuki jumped up the air and threw the big shuriken towards Naruto.

Naruto, still recovering from his fall, saw the shuriken coming towards him and he had no time to dodge. He pulled his arms up to his face, closed his eyes, and braced for impact. But none came. He heard Mizuki land on the ground with a small thud.

Instead, he heard breathing so he slowly opened his eyes. What he saw shocked him. He saw Iruka hovering on him, blood trickling down his lower lip. He saw the shuriken on Iruka's back. The sight made him speechless.

Iruka coughed a little and smiled at him.

"You okay, Naruto?", Iruka asked.

"S-Sensei...", Naruto murmured.

"Take the scroll. I'll take it from here.", Iruka said.

"B-But sensei...", Naruto stuttered.

"No buts, Naruto. That is an order.", Iruka coughed out.

Naruto nodded. Iruka sat on his butt while Naruto stood up with the fake scroll and ran. He hid behind a tree nearby and sat, hugging the scroll to his chest.

Iruka pulled out the shuriken from his back and rested his back on the nearest tree.

"What did you do, Iruka?! You let him get away!", Mizuki snarled.

Iruka glared at him.

"You shouldn't have let Naruto take that scroll for you.", Iruka reprimanded.

"Why so soft on him? He's just a demon!", Mizuki said.

Naruto, who was listening, heard Mizuki's words making him lower his head.

"You're wrong. He's not a demon.", Iruka defended.

"Come on, Iruka! You yourself know that Kyuubi was sealed inside him!", Mizuki said.

Naruto's head shot right back up.

'The Kyuubi? Sealed inside me? No wonder the villagers hate me.', Naruto thought.

"Have you forgotten who killed your parents?! It was that kid!", Mizuki shouted.

"The Kyuubi killed them. Not Naruto. He would never do such things.", Iruka said, matter-of-factly.

Naruto began thinking why Iruka was defending him. It gave him a sense of importance. Iruka continued his speech.

"I could never forget who killed my parents. And everytime I see Naruto, I am reminded of what the Kyuubi did to them and I get mad sometimes because of it. But I could never get mad at Naruto because it wasn't his fault.", Iruka said.

Mizuki stared at him.

"I know of what Naruto went through because he didn't have parents so I couldn't get mad at him. I went through the same things he went through. I've seen him get beaten up by villagers sometimes because of the Kyuubi.", Iruka continued.

"What are you trying to say?", Mizuki asked.

"I'm saying that Naruto has nothing to do with what happened 14 years ago!", Iruka shouted.

At this point, tears started trickling down Naruto's cheeks.

"In truth, I am proud of what he has become despite the villager's mistreatment towards him. He worked hard to prove himself to them and look where he has gone now.

"He is the best Genin of his batch and I couldn't be more proud. By becoming shinobi, I salute him. He is part of Konohagakure no Sato and his name is Uzumaki Naruto!", Iruka proclaimed.

At this point, Naruto was already bawling his eyes out. He didn't know how much Iruka cared for him until now. But Mizuki, however, wasn't impressed.

"Whatever. I'll still kill both of you.", Mizuki said.

Mizuki pulled out some kunais and prepared to hit Iruka. Naruto jumped in front of Iruka with the fake scroll.

"Don't you dare hurt Iruka-sensei!", Naruto growled.

Mizuki smirked.