Chapter 20 Mizuki's plan

Naruto looked about as his friends all had their Hitai-ates on various places, he was happy that all his friends were ninjas now and he couldn't wait to show it off to his dad, the two at the ramen stand, Anko, Gai and anyone else he could think of. He was so proud that he was a ninja and he was nearly ready to start jumping around all over the village on the rooftops shouting his lungs out that he was a Genin. Unfortunately knowing his dad he was going to be late again, but he was just happy that he passed. He saw his other friends being congratulated by other family and it made him smile under his mask.

"I see you passed too Naruto," said a family voice behind him. He quickly turned to see Hinata with her father, uncle and Neji there.

"Yeah you got it Hizashi-san," Naruto said smiling and scratching the back of his head although it was actually Hiashi that was speaking to him and once again he was fighting off the twitch that had been forming for years from Naruto constantly getting the two brothers mixed up. Of course Naruto knew which was which but he liked to annoy them because railing a Hyuga was so much fun because of how much effort you had to put into it.

He swore one of these days he would break through that Hyuga exterior.

"Naruto," Hinata muttered knowing her father and uncle hated that game of his.

"Yes Hinata-chan?" he asked her innocently.

Hiashi just gave a low sigh and tried not to get a headache from stress at this point, "So did you do well Naruto?"

"You bet I used my super new jutsu that my dad taught me, I may even beat Sasuke-teme out of the genin of the year with it and it will serve the arrogant bastard right if I did." Naruto said confidently.

"The Uchiha Clan was very powerful Naruto their clan helped to form this village and as the last he as much to prove," Hiashi said to him and he couldn't help to add in one more thing, "Besides from what I hear he was ahead of you in all the written tests was he not?"

Naruto face soured at that, he was never very good at the written stuff and Hiashi knew it. It was a small victory for the adult against the boy for once again mixing him up with his twin on purpose. His face had a small twitch again but this was in the corner of his lips this time as he fought back a small smirk as it would not be dignified. But still he was glad to get a shot in at the boy now and then just to repay him for all the years he tried to get on the nerves of him and his search brother and other Hyugas as well.

"So Naruto I take it Kakashi is running late again," Hizashi said to Naruto.

Naruto grumbled something about buying his father a watch with preset alarms but just shrugged it off he was used to his father being late all the time anyway. He knew that his father would be proud of him when he saw him later anyway.

"So how did you do Hinata-sama?" Neji asked his cousin.

She blushed a bit as everyone started to look at her and she looked at the ground nervously playing with her fingers, "I-I did well, Iruka-sensei said I made fourth highest in the class."

Her father frowned a bit as he thought about that, "I see well I am glad that you passed daughter although I can see that the Uchiha boy and Naruto would most likely be in the top but who else did you lose to?"

Hinata winced as her father used to term 'lose' as she still couldn't beat her own little sister in sparring matches. She looked disappointed when she said that Sakura managed to get the top marks out of the Kunoichi of the class and she could see that her father was disappointed that she had been beat out by a girl that was not even from any clan and whose family had no known or famous ninja in it. Hinata was left feeling like she had let her father down although he never said anything about it she could tell that he was.

She knew that her clan had very high standards and not making top of the class or even top Kunoichi was just another sign of her weakness and she wished she was better. She tried to train hard but she could never bring herself to harm her friends or family in spars and even though she wasn't stupid she knew that Sakura was brilliant when it came to book smarts. She had beat out all the other girls which did say something to her but still being beaten by a non-clan member was something of a black mark against her.

There was nothing wrong with coming from no clan, but those that were in clans many felt that they had to be a bit above the rest and the Hyuga Clan took that to heart as they always tried to show just how powerful their clan was. Now with the Uchiha Clan practically gone they were the most powerful group in the village and her showing weakness at this time she knew wasn't a good thing for her family. The elders of the clan still held enough power to place someone more worthy as heir and she would have to be put into the Branch family and have the Bird Cage Seal placed on her like her cousin was forced to have put on him.

Hinata hated that seal and wanted the practice stopped but she had no power in her clan and if she was removed into the Branch than any hope of freeing her clan from that would be ruined. She needed to prove herself to the elders so she one day could help stop it.

"Hey Hinata –chan you okay?" Naruto asked seeing her space out in thought.

She jerked to attention her cheeks blushing a bit. "Y-yes I'm fine Naruto-Kun."

He looked a bit closer making her cheeks a bit more brighter at how close he was, Naruto was just looking to see what was wrong with her, "Are you sure you're okay I mean you've been getting all red a lot and warm," he pressed a hand to her head to feel if she had a temperature.

She froze at the contact and how her whole face was red, her eyes widened and before she could say anything she fainted only this time forward and hit Naruto in his head with a headbut, he gave a short outcry as he was hit and fell back and Hinata now dazed fell back as her father caught her. He grimaced at the public display from his daughter and looked to see his ooking over the dazed Naruto.

"She really needs to get over that shyness of hers Hiashi stated seeing that Naruto was okay.

Hiashi nodded his head at that it was painfully obvious that his daughter fancied the boy and he guess it was something that was bound to happen. The two of them had been childhood friends for years and Hinata was very close to the boy but being a Hyuga made such a thing difficult as dating outside the clan was a very hard thing to earn. Normally the young couple would go to the head of the household or even to him for approval and it wasn't easy. Anyone trying to get into the clan had to prove that they were worthy of the Hyuga that they were in a relationship with, but with Hinata the elders would have to take things over to prevent Hiashi from any favouritism in that matter.

He would admit that Naruto had much potential and the fact this father was a well known and powerful ninja, it also didn't hurt that Kakashi had been the bane of the Uchiha clan for so long with his sharingan eye of his. It wasn't spoken about but many had delighted in the mighty Uchiha bloodline taken and used by another that wasn't of their blood and had also used it far more effectively than any of their members.

After a few minutes of waiting the two children slowly started to wake up, Hinata was so embarrassed by her actions she could look Naruto in the eye, although he just shrugged it off and made light of it.

"Hinata we should go, I have work to do at the estate," her father told her.

"And I should get back to my team we have a training session in an hour," Neji said as his father nodded as he had to go with his twin search brother.

Hinata nodded and then looked to see Naruto sitting on the swing most likely just waiting to see if his father would show up or not. She didn't like how lonely he looked as all the others had left with their families and she bit her lip nervously, "I'm sorry but may I stay with Naruto-kun until his father shows up?"

Hiashi had a small raise in his eyebrow but figured he could give his daughter that after all he knew that Naruto would see her home safely, he nodded his head to her and she happily ran off to join Naruto and he stood to watch them and deep down he was smiling at the two of them, he wished that his wife was alive to see this day and he knew that he wanted her daughter to be happy and to be with Naruto and he hoped that dream would come true. But she still needed to get stronger, he had lost his wife but he didn't want to see his daughters die as well that would surely kill him inside. He took one last look before turning and walking away.

While the two children were together there was another person who had been watching with interests as Mizuki was grinning as he thought that he had the perfect opportunity. He had been watching and seeing two of the children alone was a perfect setup, it also didn't hurt that it was the Hatake boy and the high and mighty Hyuga girl as well. He had overheard the conversation with the father and he knew Hinata well enough to judge her physical reaction, she was never very good at hiding how she felt.

Also those two were always together so this would be even easier to make them both take the fall, as if one went the other would go along to help the other out.

He walked over to the two children putting on his friendly smile that he had been forced to wear all the time since he was forced into being a teacher the two children looked at him and smiled back, and why wouldn't they after all he was one of their teachers someone that had always been kind and helpful after all.

"So how are you two doing?" Mizuki asked them and they replied that they were doing good and then he put on a slightly sadder look, "You know Naruto, Hinata it's a shame that you two didn't get any higher marks. Naruto I'm sure you father would have been delighted to learn his son was genin of the year like he had been and Hinata, I'm sure your father would have been very proud that you made top Kunoichi as well."

Both children looked a little discouraged at that and Naruto looked up at him, "You mean I didn't beat Sasuke-teme?"

"Sorry Naruto if only you had scored just a little higher in the written test," he saw the effect of that as Naruto's little rivalry with the Uchiha boy had been a strong one since their very first day together. "Although there is a way for you two to earn some extra credit that could put you both over the top...but it's not easy and I wouldn't offer it unless you both felt you could do it."

"What? What is it Mizuki-sensei I can do anything and so can Hinata-chan just watch us!" Naruto jumped up eager to prove himself better than Sasuke and he also knew how badly that Hinata wanted to make her father proud.

Mizuki looked thoughtful at the two of them for a moment, "Well I could set it up but it's not easy and you can even lose marks off your grade after all, but if you both feel you can do this then I can set it up with the Hokage."

"We'll do it, just tell us what we have to do!" Naruto said before Hinata could voice her concerns over this.

"Well the test is an old one," Mizuki explained to them, "You see if you and Sasuke had tied it would have been given to you both as a tie breaker but as a teacher I can have a little leeway in this. You have to sneak into the Hokage tower using the skill you have learned and steal an old scroll used for this exam. The scroll is pretty old since it's been used for this exam for a very long time, as this helps prepare you for a possible mission as a ninja to steal secret documents."

"But the scroll will be guarded and you have to find a way to defeat the guards and take the scroll to a drop off point, without being caught or followed. If you do you fail the exam and marks are taken off your final grade. Now I will ask you both are you sure you want to try for this special exam?"

"I-I-I don't know about this Naruto-Kun, something doesn't seem right," Hinata said to him. She had never heard of this before but then again it was possible that she couldn't have known of such a thing did exist but it seemed kind of strange to her. Why were only her and Naruto given this, shouldn't Sakura and Sasuke also been given the chance since that would be more fair?

"Come on Hinata-chan we could make our parents proud of us if we do this, think of what you're dad and family will think of you if you make the top Kunoichi in the class."

Hinata bit her lip, she would love to make her father proud of her and his earlier reaction played in her mind and she wanted so much for him to say how proud he was of her. She wanted it so badly that she decided to go with whatever Naruto decided to pick, if he chose to do this then she would go with him and help him out after all the times he helped her it was time she did the same for him.

"I-I'll do whatever you think is best Naruto-kun."

"Alright I knew I could count on you Hinata-chan," Naruto shouted in joy and looked at his teacher. "alright we're in."

"Good," Mizuki smiled at them, "Then it will start in an hour, now let me tell you more about your exam and where you'll be placing the scroll that you get..."

-Later-

The sun had set and Naruto and Hinata were just outside of the Hokage tower the two had snuck all the way there not sure what kind of guards that Mizuki would have placed in their way to stop them, so Naruto had asked Hinata to use her eyes to make sure they avoided everyone just to be sure. He was glad that she was here with him, with her he knew that they would pass this with no trouble at all. As they finally reached it Naruto asked her if she could see inside of the tower.

She nodded and scanned the place for the scroll that Mizuki had told them about, he was very detailed about it and she eventually found what she guessed had to be it. It was a very large scroll in a room all its own that was next to the Hokage's office but she noticed that the office wasn't empty.

"Naruto the Hokage is still in there," She told him.

"Crap the Old Man must be in on it too, he must think it's funny to let himself test us but he made a major mistake as I know his greatest weakness," Naruto grinned and Hinata gave him a confused look.

"Hinata keep an eye on me if you spot anyone coming my way, give one of those signals we learned in glass like a bird call or something okay?" He asked her and she nodded once he was off. It wasn't hard for Naruto to get into the Hokage's office after all he had done it countless times to see him over the years. Even when the guards said that he was busy Naruto found a way in, there were more ways in and out than most people knew about and he had found all the little secret ways in. Naruto was making his way to the crawl space that was overhead the office, something he used a lot to surprise the Hokage from time to time when he wanted to 'drop in' on him.

It took some time but he finally made it into the small crawl way it was always dusty and lots of spider webs, he hated those things especially when they got in his face and hair. But he silently crawled in the darkness to his location, he memorized the route by now and stopped to the small hole he made as a peephole to see what the old man was doing. Naruto was confused when he saw that he was working on paper work instead of guarding but he just figured that the Hokage had put this paper work off again and was using the exam as an excuse to get caught up.

'Well Old Man you should have paid more attention because I'm going to give you the change to act,' he thought to himself readying the panel he was now at. With one move he threw the panel aside and jumped down he grinned seeing the surprised look on the Hokage's face it was almost like he didn't expect to see him.

Before the Hokage could say a word he did a familiar sand seal, "Sexy Jutsu!"

Naruto had long since known that the Hokage was a closet pervert after all he had the same books at his dad hidden in the lower left hand drawer of his desk. He was in the form of that sexy teen blond girl with the pigtails giving him the most adorable and sexy look that he could think of. That was all it took for him to defeat the Hokage. Naruto turned back and laughed a bit seeing the old man on his back twitching with the twin blood trails from his nose.

"Okay first take out the guard and now for the scroll, we're so going to pass this exam." Naruto said before going into the room where Hinata had seen the scroll.

It was fifteen minutes later that someone finally showed up to the Hokage's office, and that was none other than Kakashi. He had been late showing up for Naruto's big day which he knew that his son would never let him live down or forget but at any rate he was just going to bribe him with new lessons for being late. He had been so caught up at the memorial stone that he had lost track of time and rushed over to find that Naruto wasn't at the school. He spent the last few hours looking all over the place, he tried home first, then the park, then he rushed over to the ramen stand but they hadn't seen him either.

He even tried the top of the Hokage monument, Naruto didn't think that he didn't know that it was one of his son's favourite spots when he wanted to be alone but Kakashi knew but let him be when he went there usually. But he wasn't there either it was at this point that he was really starting to worry where his son might be. He tried thinking of any other place that he might go and decided that if he wasn't with the Hokage he would try the Hyuga compound and see if he was with Hinata, then he would see if Gai or Anko knew where he might be as well.

When he got to the tower he noticed that there was a lot of activity going on, he was curious what was going on but his son came first. When he got into the office he was surprised to see the Hokage at his desk wiping what looked like blood from his desk. The Hokage looked up at him with a serious look on his face.

"Kakashi we have some trouble," He said to the masked ninja.

Already he had a bad feeling about what this trouble might be, "Just tell me my son isn't involved."

"I'm sorry but Naruto came in here and surprised me with...well never mind what he surprised me with," the Hokage blushed at the thought of that and made a mental note as to what the hell Kakashi was teaching his son to come up with something like that.

He shook the thoughts away to get to the manner at hand, "At any rate he managed to steal the Forbidden Scroll and I'm already organizing a search party for him."

"He what!?" Kakashi's single eye widened in shock, he wasn't sure what surprised him more. That Naruto got past the Hokage that he stole that scroll or even knew that it existed. He was sure that he never once mentioned that scroll and it's not like it's taught in school and he knew that other ninjas that Naruto knew would never say something about that with a child in the room.

It didn't make sense for Naruto to steal that scroll and something was nagging him about this, and if a ninja got to trust one thing it was his gut feelings.

"I'll look for him after all I know him best and might be able to find out where he is." Kakashi said to him

"Very well but you honestly think the others won't be able to find him?" The Hokage asked.

Kakashi eye smiled under his mask, "Have you forgotten who has been giving him lessons all his life and let's not forget how long it took for him to be caught after painting the monument. I swear the jonin and chunins are still sore that they couldn't catch a thirteen year old boy that wasn't even out of the academy yet."

Although he did neglect to mention that Naruto knew all the best jonin and a few special jonin and they liked him too much to really put some heart into the chase, but the point was still made. He even heard a couple had quite ANBU in order to focus more on their training since even they had trouble catching him.

The Hokage nodded his head as Kakashi made his leave, now outside he started to look around for any signs that Naruto might have left but it seemed that he trained Naruto too well in stealth and escape and evade procedures. He knew that time wasn't on his side since that scroll held a lot of dangerous techniques and he didn't want to think what could happen if Naruto tried to read one and then tried it. Because he knew that Naruto wouldn't be able to resist learning at least one move so he pulled out a kunai and made a small cut on his hand.

He used the familiar hand seals and summoned his dogs, all of them that is.

"Hey Kakashi what's the trouble?' Pakkun asked his master looking up at the man.

"In short I need you all to track Naruto down for me," he told his lead dog.

Pakkun winced knowing that Naruto was in trouble yet again, he swore the kid was always getting into something it seemed. "Do I want to know what he did this time?"

"No time just find him and get me to him as fast as you can, he could be in some serious trouble if we don't get to him in time," Kakashi said in a worried tone.

The dogs all nodded their heads and ran off to find Naruto's scent, they dogs all liked Naruto as he had always treated them well and if he was in trouble they would try to find him as quickly as he could. Kakashi watched them run off sniffing for any trace of him from around the tower and he hoped they would find something soon. He looked to the village and he had to wonder just where his son was and what was he thinking and he really hoped he wasn't doing something stupid like reading that scroll.

In the woods that surrounded the village Naruto and Hinata were at a small clearing with a small shed, Hinata was with him looking nervous as Naruto was on the grass trying to read the large scroll by moonlight, he had been curious as to what the scroll had in it and when he pulled it open he was surprised to see a list of jutsus and other techniques. Naruto thought it was some type of teaching scroll that maybe you get to learn something from it if you managed to take it or something like that.

Hinata wasn't so sure, the moves that Naruto listed off she wasn't familiar with most of them and a few she thought she noticed only high ranking ninjas did at least higher than a genin was supposed to know.

"Hey Hinata-chan check this out it's got the shadow clone jutsu in here too," Naruto pointed to the same technique his father taught him.

"Th-the what?' Hinata took a closer look, it looked like a regular clone technique but with a different hand seal at the end of it.

"Yeah my dad taught me it so I could pass, he said I can't make normal clones but shadow clones are easy. They're all solid and stuff too so they can actually hit your enemy with them, there is supposed to be more but my dad said he would tell the whole thing after I passed," Naruto explained to his friend.

Hinata took a closer look at the instructions as she read on out loud it was one of the few times she could speak without stuttering when she was reading something, "The shadow clone jutsu is a jonin level technique and should not be taught until then because the level of chakra needed to use it safely could seriously harm or kill a person with too little chakra..."

She looked at Naruto worried but he just brushed it off, "Aw what do they know I can do it just fine."

She read on, "The clones when dispelled also send the original person all of their memories and experiences, this makes them perfect for spying as any information they have will be sent back to the original."

"What!? I didn't notice that when I used it!" Naruto looked closer at the fine print and tried to remember all the training he did with the clones. He had done it so many times that he just thought that the memories he had were just from all his tries but actually looking back and thinking hard about it he realised that the scroll was right.

"Aw I can't believe I didn't notice that before, I'm such an idiot," he yelled out grabbing his head.

Hinata felt a little sorry for him but honestly never knew what to say in these moments, but then Naruto was back to reading the scroll again trying to find something he could use.

"N-Naruto-kun what are you l-looking for?"

"I'm looking for a new kickass jutsu that I can try out in this thing, hey maybe there is something for you to use as well I bet it would impress your dad if you could master something from this as well too." Naruto said brightly and Hinata thought about it, would her father be proud of something like that? She honestly thought that he might if she could learn an advance move all on her own so against her better judgement she decided to look with Naruto as well.

Next up Chapter 21: Hard Truths