Two years had passed. Today was the graduation test.

"Okay, class, settle down," called out Iruka. "When I call out your name, please come to the next room for your graduation test. Those who can successfully perform the clone jutsu pass."

Then it was Naruto's turn.

"Okay, Kit, you know what to do," said Kurama, yawning.

"I know, I know," groaned Naruto as he entered the room.

"Alright, Naruto, let Mizuki and I see your clones."

"Clone jutsu!"

In front of Iruka's eyes were three of Naruto. The colour of the clones were a bit off but they were still workable clones that were eligible to pass.

Iruka beamed with pride. After teaching Naruto for two years, he had come to like Naruto and his goal was to change him into a good shinobi. After all, Naruto reminded Iruka of his young self.

"Congratulations Naruto! You pass!" said Iruka happily.

Naruto faked smiled and shouted, "Yeah, dattebayo!"

Mizuki scowled. "But, Iruka, don't you think that Naruto's clones are off colour and flimsy?" he questioned.

"True, they are not perfect but they are still in the academy's range of passing and graduating," countered Iruka. "Alright, Naruto, off you go."

Naruto left the room.

"Kit, be careful of that Mizuki guy," warned Kurama. "I sense an evil presence around him."

"Yeah, I know," replied Naruto. "It's fishy. Orochimaru?"

"Maybe, just look out, Kit."

When Naruto went back to the classroom, and everyone saw that he had passed, they went silent.

"Puh, Naruto, you, of all people, graduated?" said Sakura in disbelief.

Even Sasuke couldn't hide his disbelief. Naruto inwardly snickered at his expression. After graduation was over, Naruto was called to the Hokage tower.

"The academy days are over. You can officially drop your act now, Naruto," said Hiruzen as Naruto sighed in relief. "Don't relax too soon. I have another mission for you, Naruto. I have been informed of some suspicious behaviour coming from Mizuki, one of your teachers at the academy. Please spy on him for me."

"Yes, Oji," said Naruto.

He bowed, then flickered away.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was now late afternoon and Naruto was spying on Mizuki. The white-haired man had discreetly entered one of the Hokage's private rooms.

"Damn that, Naruto," hissed Mizuki under his breath, oblivious to the fact that Naruto could hear him. "If that brat had just failed the test then I could have bribed him to steal the Forbidden Scroll. Well, I guess I have to steal it myself."

Naruto smirked. Now he knew Mizuki's intentions. Silently and quickly, Naruto went up to Mizuki and pressed a pressure point on his neck. Mizuki dropped to the floor. Naruto sealed him into a scroll then flickered to the Hokage.

"Lord Hokage!" exclaimed Naruto. "I have news!"

Hiruzen looked up from his paperwork.

"Mizuki has attempted to steal the Scroll of Sealing," said Naruto.

"I see, Naruto, efficient and swift as always. I expected nothing less. Leave him with me. I will take him to be interrogated."

Then, suddenly, a little boy came running in along with an adult trailing after.

"Old man, fight me!" he shouted, tripping over his scarf. "Damn it! Who tripped me? I know you did something" he said, pointing at Naruto.

Naruto sighed, "You tripped over yourself," he said, grabbing the boy by the collar.

"Hey, Naruto! Let go of him! That's the third Hokage-sama's grandson!"

"Go ahead and punch me!" threatened Konohamaru, thinking that Naruto was a typical shinobi who wanted to be on Hiruzen's good side.

"You think I care?" said Naruto bluntly, slapping him leaving Konohamaru wide-eyed in shock.

Then he flickered away.

It was the next day and Naruto couldn't wait to see the priceless reactions of the people at the academy when he showed them his true self.

Naruto had disabled his genjutsu and changed his clothes.

Now he had pale skin, black hair that reached his shoulders and he wore a black and red battle kimono with many tool pouches, fingerless gloves and black sneakers. Naruto also wore a sealing scroll on his back.

For once, Naruto was on time. Soon Shikamaru and Choji came. They saw Naruto and were shocked: the immature dead-last of the academy was reading...quietly and wearing normal clothes.

The pair decided to ignore Naruto. More people arrived, all shocked at Naruto's change however they all ignored him until Sakura came.

"Oiiiiiiii! Ino-pig! I beat you!" shrieked Sakura.

"No you didn't, Forehead!" retorted Ino.

"Yes, I did, my big toe is just in front!"

"No, it's not!"

"Are you—"

"SHUT UP!"

The whole room went silent and everyone faced Naruto. Normally Naruto would have tuned them out but they were being a terrible nuisance today.

"Some people's ears would appreciate it if you didn't shriek like the banshees you are," stated Naruto coldly.

"Shut up Naruto-baka! Just because you changed your hair colour and clothes doesn't mean you're better," screamed Sakura. "No one wants to hear what a baka like you would have to say! No wonder why you have no parents! They must have wanted to abandon someone as annoying as you!"

Then the room was filled with intense and dark chakra.

"I don't care if you insult me Sakura, but I do care if you talk bad about my parents when you know nothing of them."

Sakura, instead of cowering in fear like most of the other graduates, laughed.

"No one cares about you Naruto. How about you get lost so I can sit next to my Sasuke-kun."

And then Naruto couldn't take it anymore. In a blink, he had put a silencing seal Sakura.

"Mmm, mM-HM, HM!"

Just then Iruka came in. He raised his eyebrows and everyone looked at Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, could you please tell me what's going on?" asked Iruka. "Surely this is not another one of your pranks?"

He was greatly surprised at Naruto's new look and it almost seemed like Naruto had changed, but Iruka decided not to comment. Naruto was for sure more mature and civil.

"Iruka-sensei, I have my reasons for putting a silencing seal on Sakura. Nevermind, I was going to take it off anyway."

After the whole commotion was over, Iruka started addressing the graduates.

"Beginning today, you are all real ninjas but you are still rookies. The hard part has just started. You will be assigned duties by the village and you will complete missions in teams with a jonin sensei.

Yow will obey the sensei's instructions. We have tried to balance out the team by your academy records, strengths and how well you did on your graduation exams."

Naruto sighed. It was obvious who he was going to get teamed with.

"Okay, so next up is Team 7, which consists of Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke."

"Great..." sighed Naruto.

"Shut up Naruto-baka, Sasuke-kun is so much better than you!" screamed Sakura.

"Huh? Did you say something?" asked Naruto, his voice laced with fake politeness.

Everyone in the room sweatdropped while Sakura screeched in rage.

In the Hokage's tower, Hiruzen also sweatdropped as he spied on Naruto through his crystal ball.

"Let's just hope he doesn't pick up Kakashi's tardiness and pervertedness..."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Urgh, why is our team sensei so late?" whined Sakura.

It was just team 7 left in the room.

Naruto was reading a book while Sasuke just brooded in the corner.

"Our teacher is Hatake Kakashi, no doubt. He's always this late," drawled Naruto, looking up from his book.

Just then, the door opened.

"Hmm, how can I say this? My first impression is...I don't like you guys," said Kakashi while eye-smiling.

Naruto laughed.

"Ne, ne Kakashi, how could you say that to me? I'm hurt," teased Naruto.

Kakashi just smirked.

"Meet me at the rooftop," and he flickered away, along with Naruto.

Only Sakura and Sasuke were left.

"Sasuke-kuuuuun!," said Sakura, casting a look of simpering affection at him, excited that she was left in the same room as him. "Let's go, together!"

Sasuke ignored her, and walked up the stairs by himself, thinking about Naruto's sudden change in skill.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Okay, let's begin with some introductions," addressed Kakashi lazily.

"What do you want to know?" asked Sakura.

"How about your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that," said Kakashi.

"Why don't you introduce yourself to us, you seem suspicious," retorted Sakura.

Kakashi sighed. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desires to tell you my likes or dislikes. Dreams for the future? Hmmm... Hobbies? Well, I have many hobbies."

"All we learnt was his name?" deadpanned Sakura.

Naruto laughed. "Is that all you're gonna tell them?"

Kakashi eye-smiled in return. "They don't need to know Naru-chan. Anyway, how about you go first."

Naruto eye-rolled. "When did you get so affectionate?"

"Oh, I just miss my poor Naru-chan's real self. So snarky and witty," retorted Kakashi in a friendly but sarcastic way.

Naruto snorted. "Anyway, as you know, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, it's not my full name but that's confidential, moving on. Likes? Hmm...I guess ramen and a lot of other stuff. Dislikes? Too many to name and my dream for the future, I don't have one. Hobbies...Pranks and reading I guess."

"Alright, thanks Naru-chan, your turn," said Kakashi, pointing at Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are a ton of things I dislike but I don't like anything. And...I don't want to use the word 'dream' but...I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and...to kill a certain man."

"Okay...And lastly, the girl."

"My name is Sakura Haruno, the thing I like is...Well, the person I like is...Ummm...Should I say my dream for the future? Oh my! The thing I dislike is Naruto! My hobby is...kyaaaaaa!"

"Okay! That's enough of that. We will start our duties tomorrow. First, we're going to do something with just the four of us...Survival training," said Kakashi dramatically.

"Survival training? Why is our duty survival training? We did enough training at the academy," questioned Sakura.

"I'm your opponent but this isn't normal training. Out of the 27 graduates, only nine will be chosen as genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy. This training is a super difficult exam with a failure rate of 66%!"

"Then what was the point of the graduation test?" screamed Sakura.

"That was to select those who can become genin. Anyway, tomorrow you will be graded. Bring all your shinobi tools and skip breakfast or you will throw up. The details can be read on this printout. Don't be late tomorrow."

"But...if I fail this, I will be separated from Sasuke-kun. This is a test of love!"

With that, Kakashi flickered away along with Naruto. Sasuke started walking off, Sakura trailing after him, to ask if they could walk together but Sasuke shrugged her off and was soon home.

"When did Naruto change?" thought Sasuke. "Hn, who cares, he is nowhere near my level, he will just drag me down along with Sakura."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The moonlight slowly faded, replaced by the sun.

Team 7 was waiting for Kakashi at the training grounds. Sakura was brushing her hair groggily while Sasuke was stretching. Up in the tree, Naruto was reading a book while eating.

"Naruto-baka! Kakashi-sensei told you not to eat, remember?" shrieked Sakura.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Who cares if I throw up, I'm hungry anyway."

"Hmph, whatever," she retorted haughtily.

"Kakashi, I sense you, come out," chuckled Naruto.

Kakashi came out of the bush.

"You're late!" screeched Sakura.

Kakashi ignored her. "Not bad, Naruto. I see your skills haven't slipped."

"Of course they haven't," smirked Naruto, "You sure yours hasn't after you quit ANBU?"

"Anyway, moving on," said Kakashi, "Here are two bells. Your task is to take these from me before noon. Those who cannot get a bell by noon get no lunch. I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps but I'll eat right in front of you."

"What! How is this fair! You told us not to eat!" screamed Sakura.

"As a shinobi, you need to see underneath the underneath. Mah, mah, moving on, You only need to get one bell. There are only two so one of you will be tied to a stump. And... the person who doesn't take a bell fails.

So, at least one of you will be sent back to the academy. You can even use your shurikens. You won't succeed unless you come at me intending to kill."

"But, you will be in danger!" complained Sakura.

Naruto eye-rolled. "He's a jonin. There is no chance you will even touch him, especially someone with your skill."

"NA-RU-TO—"

"Mah, mah, calm down. Anyways—"

There was a puff of smoke that appeared just as quickly as it disappeared. Sakura and Sasuke looked in surprise to see Naruto holding a senbon against Kakashi's neck.

"Naru-chan, I haven't even said start yet," deadpanned Kakashi.

Naruto smirked, "In the shinobi world, there's no such thing as the word 'start'. The enemy will not wait."

"What he says is true," said Kakashi. "Anyway, START!"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hey reader-chans! Sorry for not updating this week. I was bombarded with assignments from school. :( Anyway, hope you like this chapter.

I tried making Naruto badass. I guess it's not too bad but I feel like the story is a bit fast-paced. CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, please. :)