Behind the Waterfall

#1 Start The Exams

Timeskip 6 years later

Iruka's lessons were boring. That was the only thing that the blonde boy really learned in his four years in the academy. It was funny how the brown haired shinobi would assume Naruto was sleeping, simply because he would refuse to answer a question that he thought was useless. Looking out of the window the blonde watched a pair of birds in the tree as half an ear was still listening to the sensei talking about how proud he was to see the children take the genin exams and how the man felt like it had been yesterday when he first walked into this classroom, seeing all the new faces.

Walking into the classroom Naruto knew that the next four years were going to be hell. Seeing the children that had already arrived the blonde counted at least five kids that had refused to play with him when he had asked them if he could join them. He had seen how their parents looked at him when they took their kids away from the playground, away from him. He sat down in the back of the class, closest to the window, as they waited for their teacher to arrive.

"So, there will be a second chunin overseeing the exams along with me." Iruka explained as the door to the classroom opened. Everyone looked back towards the man walking down the steps towards the teacher's desk. Naruto smiled sadly as he recognized the face of the man who had led several so-called 'fox hunts'. The chunin didn't even spare a glance towards the last known Uzumaki as looked over the class, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Hello everyone, I am Mizuki Touji. You may call me Mizuki. I will be the second examiner for your upcoming exams to make sure that you guys are prepared and ready to go out there and become great ninjas." Naruto's eyes widened when he heard the voice, recognizing it from the night before. He knew now that he had to stick to his plan in order to figure out what that man wanted from him. Returning his gaze towards the nature beyond, he waited for the bell to ring, signaling the small break for the students before the exams were set to begin.

As the ringing sounded through the class, it was different from all the times before. Usually the children would have jumped out of their seats with Naruto staying behind with Shikamaru, both waiting for the rush to pass. Whilst Shikamaru would leave after most of the kids had run out of the door, Naruto had made it a habit to stay in the classroom, where none of the kids would be able to glare or insult him. However this day was different. Instead of the usual hurry to leave the room, the whole class stayed relatively quiet as most of the kids were discussing what the exams would consist of, since they had not been told that information. Smiling to himself, Naruto laid his head on his arms, closing his eyes, not worrying about the upcoming test, since he already knew the questions and tasks they were going to be asked to solve and that his were not the same as everyone else's.

Watching the teacher leave the academy Naruto stayed in the shadows, waiting to be sure that Iruka had left the building.

"Why do I have to do this again?" He thought to himself, looking around a corner to see Iruka calmly walk through the streets, making his way towards his home.

"Because it is a good test for your strength." Kurama answered his thoughts.

"That was rhetorical, you know." The blonde replied, as he quickly jumped up the tree that stood next to the school. He had left a window open in the bathroom to get into the academy without breaking anything.

"Sure, it's empty?" Kurama asked, as the blonde pushed the window open.

"Yeah, Iruka is always the last one to leave." Naruto stated, as he quickly made his way towards his teacher's office at the far end of the hall. Opening the door Naruto smiled as he saw the point sheets lying on the desk, apparently nothing stopping him from taking them.