The written portion of the graduation exam had been simple enough.
Naruto had filled in the answers with mechanical precision, his pencil moving across the paper in steady, unhurried strokes. History of the village. Basic ninja theory. Chakra fundamentals. Strategy and tactics. He had studied these subjects extensively over the past year—not out of any burning desire to succeed, but simply because it gave him something to do during the long, empty hours when sleep wouldn't come.
He had answered every question correctly. He knew this with absolute certainty, the same way he knew the sun would rise in the east and set in the west. Facts. Observable, verifiable facts.
The physical portion had gone similarly well. Shuriken throwing—eight out of ten on target, which was above the passing threshold. Taijutsu demonstration—adequate form, proper technique, sufficient speed and power. Written and physical combined, he had more than enough points to pass.
All that remained was the ninjutsu portion.
Naruto sat in his corner seat, waiting for his name to be called, watching his classmates file in and out of the examination room one by one. Some emerged beaming with pride, new hitai-ate gleaming on their foreheads. Others came out with slumped shoulders and tear-stained cheeks, having failed to meet the requirements.
He observed their joy and their sorrow with equal detachment, noting the emotions without experiencing them himself.
Around him, the four girls who had inexplicably attached themselves to him maintained their vigil. They had barely left his side throughout the entire exam, and their proximity had drawn curious—and occasionally hostile—glances from other students. But none of them seemed to care about the attention, too focused on Naruto himself.
"You're going to do amazing, Naruto-kun," Sakura said from his right, her green eyes shining with absolute confidence. She had already passed her own examination, the hitai-ate tied proudly around her head like a hairband. "I just know it."
"Totally!" the dark-haired girl who had been Sasuke agreed enthusiastically from his left. She too wore a new hitai-ate, though she had tied hers around her neck like a choker. "You've been working so hard! I've seen you training, you know. Early mornings, late nights... you're like, super dedicated."
Naruto glanced at her briefly, a flicker of something that might have been curiosity passing through the void inside him. She had been watching him train? When? How? He had deliberately chosen isolated locations specifically to avoid observation.
But the question faded before he could voice it, swallowed by the emptiness that consumed everything.
"We'll all be genin together," Ino added, leaning back in her seat in front of him. She had passed as well, her hitai-ate wrapped around her waist like a belt. "Can you imagine? All five of us on missions together? It'll be amazing!"
"W-We could request to be on the same team," Hinata suggested softly from behind him. Her hitai-ate was clutched in her hands rather than worn, as if she hadn't quite decided where to put it yet. "I... I would like that very much."
The girl who had been Sasuke nodded vigorously. "Oh my gosh, yes! We should totally do that! I'll talk to Iruka-sensei, or the Hokage, or whoever decides these things. I can be very persuasive when I want to be!" She winked, the gesture carrying implications that seemed entirely foreign to the brooding avenger she had once been.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
Iruka's voice cut through the classroom chatter, calling out the next name on the list. The four girls immediately fell silent, turning to look at Naruto with expressions of encouragement and support.
"Good luck, Naruto-kun!"
"You've got this!"
"W-We believe in you!"
"Go show them how awesome you are!"
Naruto stood without acknowledging their words, his face as blank as ever. He walked toward the examination room with measured steps, passing rows of students who watched him go with varying degrees of interest, hostility, or indifference.
The door to the examination room opened, and he stepped inside.
The room was small and sparse, containing only a desk behind which sat Iruka-sensei and his assistant, Mizuki. Both wore their hitai-ate and their serious instructor expressions, clipboards in hand, ready to evaluate the final student of the day.
Naruto noted their presence without any particular feeling. Iruka had always been... complicated. The man had never been actively cruel to him, unlike so many others, but neither had he been particularly warm. Professional distance, perhaps. Or carefully maintained neutrality. Either way, Naruto had long ago stopped expecting anything from anyone.
Mizuki, on the other hand, had always smiled at him. Always offered encouraging words. It should have been comforting, but something about the silver-haired instructor's attention had always felt... off. Like there was something behind those friendly smiles that didn't match the warmth they projected.
Not that Naruto cared enough to investigate. Mizuki's motivations were his own concern.
"Alright, Naruto," Iruka said, his voice carrying that carefully neutral tone he always used when addressing the blonde boy. "You know what you need to do. Three basic jutsu: the Transformation Technique, the Substitution Technique, and the Clone Technique. Pass all three, and you graduate. Fail any one of them, and you'll have to try again next year."
Naruto nodded once, a minimal acknowledgment that he had heard and understood.
"Let's start with the Transformation Technique," Iruka continued, making a note on his clipboard. "Transform into me, please."
Naruto brought his hands together, forming the necessary seal. He had practiced this technique thousands of times over the past year, refining his chakra control through endless, solitary hours of repetition. He understood the theory behind it perfectly—molding chakra to create an illusory shell around his body, projecting the image of someone else.
He focused, channeling his chakra with careful precision.
"Transform."
A puff of smoke enveloped him, and when it cleared, a perfect copy of Iruka stood in his place. The scar across the nose, the brown hair tied in a ponytail, the chuunin vest—every detail was accurate down to the smallest particular.
Iruka's eyebrows rose slightly, a hint of surprise breaking through his professional mask. "Very good. That's... actually excellent work, Naruto. Perfect accuracy." He made a positive note on his clipboard, and for just a moment, something that might have been genuine warmth flickered in his eyes.
Naruto released the technique, returning to his normal appearance without comment.
"Next, the Substitution Technique," Iruka continued. "Replace yourself with the training log in the corner when Mizuki throws this shuriken at you. Don't worry—he'll throw slowly enough that you have plenty of time to react."
Mizuki picked up a blunted practice shuriken, still smiling that strange smile. "Ready when you are, Naruto."
Naruto turned to face him, his body relaxed but ready. When the shuriken left Mizuki's hand—moving at a speed that was, indeed, quite slow—Naruto formed the seal and channeled his chakra.
One moment he was there. The next, a training log had taken his place, and he was standing in the corner of the room where the log had been.
Another puff of smoke, another perfect execution.
"Excellent," Iruka said, genuine approval now evident in his voice. "Your substitution timing is impeccable. You've clearly been practicing."
Mizuki's smile seemed to tighten almost imperceptibly, though the expression remained outwardly friendly. "Yes, very impressive. Our little Naruto has been working hard."
Naruto returned to the center of the room, ignoring both the praise and the subtle condescension. Words were just words. They meant nothing.
"Finally," Iruka said, "the Clone Technique. Create at least three functional clones."
This was it. The technique that had always been his weakness. The technique he had failed every previous year. The technique that seemed specifically designed to exploit the peculiarities of his chakra system.
But he had trained. Gods, how he had trained. Endless hours of practice, working to refine his control, to manage the massive reserves of chakra that the demon sealed within him provided. He had read every scroll he could find on the subject, analyzed the technique from every angle, experimented with different approaches.
He was ready. He knew he was ready.
Naruto formed the seal, gathered his chakra, and pushed.
"Clone Technique."
Three puffs of smoke appeared around him.
And from those puffs emerged...
Naruto stared at the clones without expression. They were... wrong. Pale and sickly, they lay on the ground like deflated balloons, barely holding their shapes. They weren't the complete failures of previous years—at least they existed, at least they had some form—but they were clearly, obviously non-functional.
He had put too much chakra into them. Even after all that training, all that practice, his reserves were simply too vast for such a low-level technique. It was like trying to fill a teacup with a fire hose—no matter how carefully you turned the handle, the flow was simply too powerful.
Iruka stared at the pathetic clones, his expression shifting from hope to disappointment. "Naruto..."
"Well," Mizuki interjected, his voice carrying false sympathy, "he did try his best, Iruka. We can see that. Maybe we could—"
"No." Iruka's voice was firm, final. The disappointment in his eyes had hardened into resolution. "The standards are clear. Three functional clones. These are... not functional." He looked at Naruto, and there was something almost like pain in his gaze. "I'm sorry, Naruto. You fail."
Naruto looked at the sickly clones at his feet. Looked at Iruka's disappointed face. Looked at Mizuki's poorly hidden satisfaction.
And felt nothing.
No crushing despair. No bitter frustration. No burning determination to try harder next time. Just... emptiness. A vast, yawning void where emotions should have been.
"Okay," he said.
Iruka blinked, clearly having expected some other reaction. Tears, perhaps. Anger. Pleading. The Naruto he had known for years would have protested loudly, would have demanded another chance, would have insisted that he could do better if given more time.
This Naruto simply accepted the verdict as if it meant nothing to him.
Because it didn't.
"Okay?" Iruka repeated, confusion evident in his voice. "That's... that's all you have to say?"
Naruto considered the question. Was there something else he should say? Some social ritual he was expected to perform? He searched his memory for appropriate responses and found nothing that seemed to apply.
"Yes," he said finally. "Can I go now?"
Iruka and Mizuki exchanged glances, both clearly unsettled by his reaction—or lack thereof. The scarred chuunin cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"Y-Yes, you can go. We'll... we'll discuss options for remedial training later. You can take the exam again next year, and with your improvement in the other areas, I'm sure you'll—"
But Naruto had already turned and was walking toward the door, leaving Iruka's reassurances hanging in the air behind him.
He stepped back into the main classroom, and immediately four pairs of eyes locked onto him with laser-like intensity.
Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and the girl who had been Sasuke all leaned forward in their seats, searching his face for some indication of how the exam had gone. Their expressions were hopeful, eager, practically vibrating with anticipation.
They were looking for a hitai-ate.
They didn't find one.
For a moment, there was silence. Then, all at once, the four girls' faces transformed—hope crumbling into shock, shock dissolving into disbelief, disbelief kindling into something that looked remarkably like rage.
"No," Sakura whispered, her green eyes wide. "No, that can't be right. You passed everything else perfectly. I saw your scores!"
"This is bullshit!" Ino's voice was loud enough to draw attention from the remaining students in the room. "Complete and total bullshit! You're one of the hardest-working people in this entire class!"
"N-Naruto-kun..." Hinata's voice was barely audible, but her pale eyes had narrowed in a way that was distinctly un-Hinata-like. The shy, gentle girl suddenly looked almost... dangerous.
The girl who had been Sasuke was on her feet in an instant, her dark eyes blazing with a fury that seemed at odds with her bubbly personality. "What happened? What did they do? Was it the clone technique? I bet it was the clone technique! That test is so stupid anyway—who even uses regular clones in actual combat?!"
Naruto walked past them toward his corner seat, ignoring their questions and outbursts. He sat down, placed his hands flat on the desk in front of him, and stared at nothing in particular.
"Naruto-kun?" Sakura had risen to follow him, her earlier shock now fully transformed into protective concern. "Talk to us. Please. What happened in there?"
"I failed," he said simply. "The clones were non-functional."
"But you've been training!" the former Sasuke protested, her hands balling into fists. "I've seen you! Hours and hours of chakra control exercises! There's no way—"
"My chakra reserves are too large," Naruto explained, his voice carrying no particular emotion. "The clone technique requires a small, precise amount of chakra. When I attempt it, even with careful control, I still output too much. The technique fails."
The four girls stared at him, processing this information. It was Ino who spoke first.
"That's... that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. You're being punished for having too much chakra? That's like failing someone for being too strong!"
"It is what it is," Naruto replied with a slight shrug.
"No!" The girl who had been Sasuke slammed her palm on the desk, her dark hair whipping around her face. "No, it is NOT what it is! This is unfair! This is discrimination! This is—"
The door to the examination room opened, and Iruka stepped out, Mizuki following behind him. The scarred chuunin's eyes immediately found Naruto, something like guilt flickering across his features.
"Alright, everyone," Iruka announced, addressing the remaining students. "That concludes the graduation exam. Those of you who passed, congratulations—report here tomorrow for team assignments. Those who didn't pass—"
"Iruka-sensei!"
The shout cut through the air like a blade, and everyone turned to see who had spoken.
The girl who had been Sasuke was stalking toward the front of the room, her hips swaying with each furious step, her curvaceous figure doing absolutely nothing to diminish the waves of killing intent rolling off her. If anything, the contrast made her even more intimidating—beautiful and deadly, sugar and poison.
"Ah, Sasuke—I mean, Satsuki," Iruka said, using the feminine name without any apparent awareness that it was unusual. "Is there a problem?"
"Is there a problem?" The newly-named Satsuki stopped directly in front of him, her dark eyes burning with barely contained fury. "Is there a PROBLEM? Yes, there's a problem! You just failed Naruto-kun!"
Iruka's expression tightened. "I understand you're upset, but Naruto failed to meet the requirements for the clone technique. Three functional clones are required, and his were... not functional."
"Because he has too much chakra!" Satsuki shot back. "That's not a weakness, that's a strength! You should be adapting the test for him, not punishing him for being more powerful than other students!"
Behind her, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata had also risen, forming a united front of feminine outrage. Sakura's fists were clenched at her sides, her pink hair seeming to bristle with anger. Ino's blue eyes had gone cold and hard, any trace of her earlier playfulness vanished. And Hinata—quiet, shy, gentle Hinata—had activated her Byakugan, the veins around her pale eyes bulging as she glared at the two instructors with undisguised hostility.
"Now, now," Mizuki said, stepping forward with his palms raised placatingly. "There's no need for this kind of reaction. Rules are rules. We can't make exceptions for one student just because—"
"Don't." Satsuki's voice had dropped to a low, dangerous register. "Don't you dare dismiss this, Mizuki-sensei. Don't you dare act like we're just overreacting girls throwing a tantrum because we didn't get our way."
"No one is saying that," Iruka interjected, trying to defuse the situation. "But the graduation requirements are set by the village. We don't have the authority to—"
"Then I want to speak to someone who does," Sakura interrupted, stepping up to stand beside Satsuki. "The Hokage. Naruto-kun deserves a fair evaluation, and if you won't give him one, we'll find someone who will."
Iruka's jaw tightened. "Sakura, this isn't—"
"You failed him because of a technicality," Ino cut in, her voice sharp enough to draw blood. "A stupid, pointless technicality. He passed everything else with flying colors. He's been working harder than anyone else in this class—and trust me, I've been watching. The fact that one jutsu doesn't work for him because his chakra reserves are too STRONG is not a valid reason to deny him graduation."
"Furthermore," Hinata added, her soft voice somehow carrying clearly despite its volume, "there are alternative clone techniques that Naruto-kun could use. The Shadow Clone Technique, for instance, which actually requires large chakra reserves. Why was he not offered this option?"
Iruka blinked, caught off-guard by the typically silent girl's unexpected challenge. "The Shadow Clone is a jonin-level technique. It's forbidden for students—"
"Forbidden to teach, not forbidden to use," Hinata countered. "If Naruto-kun learned it on his own, there would be no rule against him demonstrating it for the exam."
"That's..." Iruka faltered, clearly thrown by the legal technicality. "That's not how things are done."
"Then how things are done is wrong," Satsuki said flatly. "And we're not going to stand by and watch Naruto-kun be punished for it."
Throughout this entire exchange, Naruto remained seated at his desk in the corner, watching the confrontation unfold with the same empty detachment he applied to everything. The four girls were fighting for him, defending him, advocating for his success with a passion and intensity that was entirely foreign to his experience.
He should feel something about that. Gratitude, perhaps. Or at least mild appreciation.
But there was nothing. Just observation. Just noting what was happening without being moved by it.
Mizuki's smile had grown fixed and strange, his eyes flickering with something that might have been irritation—or perhaps something darker. "I think everyone needs to calm down. This is a simple case of a student failing to meet requirements. It happens. There's no need for accusations or—"
"I'm not accusing anyone of anything," Satsuki interrupted, her voice cold. "Not yet. But I am telling you that this is unacceptable. Naruto-kun works harder than anyone. He deserves to be a ninja. And if you won't give him a fair chance..."
She trailed off, letting the threat hang in the air.
Iruka held up his hands in a gesture of peace. "Look, I understand you're all upset. And I agree that Naruto has shown tremendous improvement. But I can't just ignore the rules. The clone technique is a fundamental requirement for graduation. Without it—"
"Fine."
Satsuki's voice was quiet now, almost calm. But there was something in it that made both instructors tense instinctively.
"If you won't listen to reason," she continued, "then maybe you'll listen to this. Naruto-kun is precious to me. To us." She gestured at the three girls behind her. "We won't let him be treated unfairly. We won't let him be dismissed or overlooked or punished for things beyond his control. Not anymore. Not ever again."
Her dark eyes locked onto Iruka's, and there was something ancient and terrible in them—something that didn't belong in the face of a twelve-year-old girl, no matter how dramatically transformed she might be.
"So here's what's going to happen," she said softly. "You're going to reconsider your decision. You're going to find a way to give Naruto-kun a fair evaluation. Or we're going to have a problem."
Iruka stared at her for a long moment, visibly struggling with how to respond to this unprecedented challenge. Behind him, Mizuki's fixed smile had begun to look more like a grimace.
"Are you... threatening us?" the silver-haired instructor asked, his voice carrying a thin veneer of disbelief over something uglier beneath.
Satsuki turned her gaze to him, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.
"No, Mizuki-sensei," she said sweetly. "I'm promising you. There's a difference."
"This is ridiculous," Mizuki scoffed, though there was a nervousness in his eyes that hadn't been there before. "You're a student. A genin, barely. You can't just—"
"Can't I?"
Satsuki moved.
One moment she was standing in front of the instructors' desk. The next, she was behind them, a kunai in each hand, the blades pressed lightly against their throats.
The entire classroom gasped. Students who had been watching the confrontation with varying degrees of interest suddenly scrambled backward, knocking over chairs and desks in their haste to get away from the violent turn events had taken.
But Sakura, Ino, and Hinata didn't move. They stood their ground, watching Satsuki's display with expressions of grim approval rather than shock.
"Satsuki!" Iruka's voice was strangled, his body frozen in place. "What are you—this is assault on a Konoha instructor! You'll be—"
"I'll be what?" Satsuki asked, her voice still carrying that terrifying sweetness. "Arrested? Imprisoned? Please. I'm the last Uchiha. The village needs my eyes, my bloodline, my potential offspring. They'll find a way to overlook this little... demonstration."
The kunai pressed slightly harder against Mizuki's throat, and a thin line of red appeared on his pale skin.
"But more importantly," she continued, "I want you both to understand something. I'm not the person I used to be. The brooding, emotionally constipated avenger who cared about nothing but revenge? She's gone. And in her place is someone who has found something worth protecting."
Her eyes flickered briefly to Naruto, still sitting motionless at his desk, watching the scene with that same empty expression.
"Someone worth protecting," she amended softly. "And I will do anything—ANYTHING—to ensure he gets what he deserves. Fair treatment. Acknowledgment. The chance to prove himself. Is that understood?"
Iruka swallowed hard, the motion visible against the blade at his throat. "Satsuki, please. This isn't the way to—"
"Is. That. Understood?"
Silence stretched for a long, tense moment.
Then, slowly, Iruka nodded.
"Good." Satsuki withdrew the kunai, stepping back gracefully. The blades vanished somewhere into her outfit—where, exactly, given how form-fitting her clothes were, was something of a mystery.
"Now then," she said, her voice returning to its earlier bubbly cheerfulness as if she hadn't just held two instructors at knifepoint, "here's what's going to happen. You're going to talk to the Hokage. You're going to explain Naruto-kun's situation—his large chakra reserves, his difficulty with the standard clone technique, his exceptional performance in every other area. And you're going to request that he be allowed to demonstrate an alternative clone technique for graduation."
Iruka stared at her, still pale from the encounter. "I... I can do that. I was going to suggest extra tutoring, but... yes. An appeal to the Hokage for an alternative evaluation is... possible."
"Wonderful!" Satsuki clapped her hands together, beaming. "See? Was that so hard?"
Behind her, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata relaxed slightly, though their expressions remained watchful.
"We'll be accompanying Naruto-kun home now," Sakura announced, moving to join her pink-haired... rival? Friend? The relationship between them was unclear. "To make sure he's okay."
"And to celebrate his upcoming graduation," Ino added with a confident smirk. "Because he WILL be graduating. One way or another."
"W-We'll make sure of it," Hinata agreed softly.
The four girls converged on Naruto's desk, surrounding him once again. Satsuki reached out and took his hand—a gesture so casual, so familiar, that it seemed impossible it was coming from the former brooding avenger.
"Come on, Naruto-kun," she said gently. "Let's get out of here. We can get ramen, or dango, or whatever you want. My treat!"
Naruto looked at her hand in his, then at the four faces gazing at him with concern and adoration. He looked past them at Iruka and Mizuki—the former shaken and conflicted, the latter nursing a shallow cut on his throat with barely concealed fury in his eyes.
He should feel something about all of this. Fear of repercussions for what Satsuki had done. Gratitude for their defense of him. Hope that the appeal to the Hokage might work.
But there was nothing. Just emptiness. Just observation.
"Okay," he said.
The four girls exchanged glances—fleeting looks of concern that were quickly masked by determined smiles. They would figure out how to reach him. They would find a way to fill the void inside him. They had to.
Because the alternative—that he was truly, irreparably broken—was unacceptable.
Satsuki tugged gently on his hand, and Naruto allowed himself to be led toward the door. Sakura fell into step on his other side, while Ino and Hinata followed close behind.
As they passed Mizuki, the silver-haired instructor's eyes followed them with an expression that was definitely not friendly. His hand pressed against the cut on his throat, and something dark and calculating flickered behind his fixed smile.
"This isn't over," he murmured, too quietly for anyone to hear.
He was right.
It was only just beginning.