Chapter no.4 Ignorance?

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(The Next Day)

Naruto had gotten one hell of an earful from the Sandaime Hokage after returning the Scroll of Sealing with Iruka the previous night. Naruto wasn't sure what he was more angry about, the fact that Naruto had actually gotten away with the scroll, or that Naruto had actually gone through the Hokage himself to get it. And people called Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy Jutsu) a stupid waste of time.

Anyway, after getting chewed out for half an hour the kindly old man told Naruto he was proud of him and that protecting Iruka the way he did showed that he did indeed have the Will of Fire. He supported Iruka's decision to allow him to graduate and proceeded to give Naruto all of the information he needed for orientation the next week; where to go for the actual orientation itself, where to go to get his ninja ID photo taken, etc.

Anyway, Iruka asked him to meet him at the Academy the next day. Why, he didn't know since he was told orientation for new genin didn't happen until next week, but he figured he would humor his teacher and show up. He proved the previous night that he was someone Naruto could trust and for that the least he could do was show up when he was asked to, it wasn't like Naruto was doing anything else either to not do so. With that in mind Naruto headed through the streets of Konoha towards the Academy.

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Iruka sat on the edge of his desk waiting for Naruto to show up. He was very glad that he showed the skill needed to graduate last night, but the conversation he held with the Hokage after Naruto headed home stuck out in his mind

(Flashback)

Iruka sat in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage who had lit up his pipe as he waited for Iruka to speak. For some reason the man had something else he needed to talk about regarding the events of the evening. Iruka looked like he was thinking on how to address the issue, but eventually opted to just speak, "Hokage-sama, Mizuki came this close to telling Naruto about the you know what. If he hadn't cut him off when he did it would have gotten out."

The Sandaime nodded and let out a puff of smoke, "Sometimes I wonder why I don't just tell him myself. I kept it a secret because it was supposed to help him be a normal boy like everyone else, but as we all know, that didn't exactly turn out as anticipated. You yourself can attest to that."

Iruka nodded in concession to that, "Do you want me to tell him?" Iruka wondered, "I think I'd be willing to, and I think he might take it better if he hears it from me in case another person like Mizuki tries something."

The old Hokage laughed, "I don't believe that after what Naruto-kun did to Mizuki there will be too many people lining up to attempt to use him for anything. As if Naruto-kun himself would let that happen again. He learns his hard lessons well enough. No, I don't think that will be necessary Iruka-kun. I have someone I intend to have tell Naruto-kun himself when I can get him to return to Konoha. I appreciate the thought though. I just want him to enjoy his first days as a genin before I let him know about such a dark secret. He hasn't had a normal childhood as we all know even as far as orphans go, he at least deserves to get a normal experience as a genin."

Iruka couldn't even imagine having the pressure of holding back what Naruto had the responsibility of doing right now, and he was doing it unwillingly and unwittingly as a child. Knowing that an entity of chakra that nearly obliterated your home and snuffed out countless lives was sitting behind a construct of ink on your belly would turn the hairs of lesser men gray with stress. Iruka blinked at realizing what his leader had just said, "Wait, you mean you're going to tell him at some point? From the way you just put it I would agree with never telling him, it's worked so far."

Hiruzen shook his head, "I'm risking Naruto-kun's spite by not telling him for as long as I have, but one day he will need to know. The burden placed on him isn't just going to disappear Iruka, no matter what he does it will always be the elephant in the room. To anyone that doesn't know Naruto-kun personally they will always see the shadow of the Kyuubi over him if they ever even see him at all. I could reiterate to the village over and over again that he is a hero, but that would do no good, they must come to their own conclusion on the matter, unfortunately for the most part it is usually the wrong conclusion."

(End Flashback)

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"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto called out, sounding kind of hesitant. He slid the door to the room up at the top of the rows open and looked around before seeing Iruka at his desk, "Hey there sensei. You wanted to see me?"

Iruka sighed before smiling, "Yes I did Naruto. I wanted to say that I'm very proud of you for proving that you were good enough to graduate, and also for saving my life."

Naruto grinned widely as he started walking down the stairs towards Iruka and rubbed the back of his neck in what had to be his signature posture, "No problem sensei, I mean you saved me first didn't you? I just returned the favor heh."

Iruka smiled warmly at the boy, "Well how about I teach you something in return for helping me out yesterday?" Hearing the word 'learning' from Iruka sent a shiver down Naruto's spine. Learning was usually associated with lectures, lectures were boring, Naruto hated boring.

Naruto slowly backing away towards the door, "Uh that's okay sensei I didn't do anything big. And besides, I don't need it, I graduated right, dattebayo?"

Iruka gave Naruto a deadpan look, "Naruto I was going to teach you a jutsu."

The word 'jutsu' stopped Naruto right in his tracks and he seemingly teleported right into Iruka's face, "A jutsu? You're going to teach me a jutsu? What is it? Is it a giant fireball? A tidal wave? What is it Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka calmed Naruto down, "I'll teach you this jutsu but I want you to listen to me okay?" Naruto stood still and had a face of intent listening. Iruka cleared his throat, "Now as I said I'm very proud of you for what you accomplished and you should be too." Naruto beamed a smile at that, "But you should know that things are only going to be harder from this point on. I want you to take everything I'm telling you to heart, as if I've never tried to tell you anything before this, but this time I want you to really listen to me and take note."

Naruto frowned but he was getting a jutsu out of this, "Alright Iruka-sensei. I'm listening."

Iruka nodded and continued, "You're going to be a ninja of Konoha and that means that you're a soldier of this village, just like me. And just like me you need to be ready to defend the people of this village with your life and do missions important to our prosperity." Naruto wanted to yawn, he knew this already, "You have a responsibility to be the best that you can be. Whenever someone, especially another ninja, tells you something important you need to listen. You also need to work at your weaknesses. Now tell me, what are you good at?"

Naruto immediately started, "I've got the Oiroke no Jut-."

"Be serious Naruto." Iruka said seriously.

Naruto squinted at Iruka, why did no one take that move seriously. It's an effective technique, "Alright… I have Henge, Kawarimi, I can't do the Bunshin but I have Kage Bunshin now heh." He tapped his chin in thought, "Um, my taijutsu is awesome!" He felt Iruka's glare on him, "Okay, my taijutsu could be better. And my genjutsu…" He trailed off.

Iruka sighed and patted Naruto's head, "That's okay Naruto, you're just starting out, but that's what I mean. You have to get yourself together. You need to get all of the Academy katas down and finish learning the taijutsu. I know you still have all of the take-home things I gave you for when you all were learning them and I want you to practice."

"But Iruka-sensei I'm a good fighter!" Naruto whined.

Iruka shook his head, "Those are the most basic forms there are Naruto, made so that everyone can learn them and they're good for branching out further for original styles later. It's a fantastic stepping stone. Everything you've learned in the Academy is a stepping stone, the concepts of the three jutsu you had to learn are all rooted in the basis of many other far more complex jutsu. Kawarimi and Henge are two of the most adaptable ninjutsu in existence, hence why we teach it, but I'm going off on a tangent."

'You're telling me.' Naruto told himself, still listening intently.

Iruka rested his hands on Naruto's shoulders, "I know you can be a splendid ninja if you put your mind to it, but you need to work hard. I don't want you to slack off like you were doing in the Academy, because if you do it out in the real world it can get you killed. Tons of genin die on their first real missions because they weren't ready for what the life entailed. I don't want that to happen to you, so if nothing else I want you to keep these things in mind."

Naruto saw that Iruka's expression was completely genuine and he had said these things out of concern for his well-being, "Okay Iruka-sensei. I'll try."

"Good. I'm counting on you to prove me right. After all, when you're Hokage I want a raise for being the guy that was behind you all the way." He got a chuckle out of Naruto before he made a motion with his head, "Now come on, let's teach you that jutsu I promised."

"Yatta!" Naruto shouted, almost making a dust cloud on his way out of the building, "I'm getting an extra jutsu right out of the Academy. Nobody else is getting that!"

Iruka sweatdropped and followed him out.