"Naruto Uzumaki: FAILED," concluded Iruka, just as Naruto produced a clone that looked more dead than alive.
"Why are you so strict, Iruka?" asked the second examiner, a hint of sympathy in his voice. "It's his third attempt to pass the exam! And this time, he actually managed to create a clone…"
"There's no way, Mizuki!" Iruka snapped. "Everyone else managed to create three clones. Naruto only made one, and honestly, I'm not sure it even qualifies as a proper clone. It doesn't count!"
The academy was full of cheers and laughter as the successful students celebrated their results. Meanwhile, Naruto sat alone in what had become known as the infamous "brown corner." His sulking presence was so consistent that the spot had practically absorbed his mood over time. Elias, silently observed from inside, smirking at black orbs of malicious energy floating above the heads of a few children. That told him all he needed—they were mocking his little den. Savages.
But this time, Naruto had enough. He left the academy quietly, shoulders hunched, dragging his feet through the dust of disappointment. As he walked home, a voice called out behind him:
"Naruto!"
He turned. "Mizuki-sensei?"
It began as a warm conversation between teacher and student. Naruto was surprised—pleasantly so. Iruka rarely talked to him outside school these days, especially since his last hospitalization. He hadn't even invited him to Ichiraku Ramen anymore. Naruto had started wondering if something had changed.
Elias, meanwhile, was pleased. Someone else was messing with the kid now.
Later That Night…
Naruto, driven by Mizuki's manipulation, snuck into the Hokage's residence. His target: a scroll.
Elias noticed that the Hokage did already anticipate his visit, but just for fun, the benevolent little fox supressed Naruto's presence entirely. Once Hiruzen noticed what was going on, Naruto was already runing away to hide somewhere: into the trees. He had to run quite far—trees near the village grew very slowly. Little did Naruto know, he was being watched.
And that watcher? Was being watched by a full team of ANBU.
They didn't notice either that Hiruzen was also spying trough the cristal ball, one could not be too carefull.
The Next Morning
The next morning, A tired Iruka appeared in front of a laughing Naruto, sitting with the stolen scroll rolled on his back.
"Naruto..." Iruka muttered, exhausted.
Before Naruto could even show off his new jutsu, Iruka shoved him aside, shielding him from a hail of kunai launched out of nowhere.
Only five struck true—none fatally, and even then, they barely drew blood. The attacker wasn't exactly a seasoned assassin.
"Naruto, give me the scroll!" Mizuki barked, stepping into view.
Elias was overjoyed, it was nearly as good as a mexican TV drama, they were talking so dramatically about that scroll they looked like divorced parents fighting for their child's custody! And then Mitsuki did it, he said it :
"You are a fox, Harry !"
Well it wasn't phrased the same way but Elias wanted to hear it this way. But now what ? Would he invite Naruto to join Foxwarts ? Ney ! Of course not ! Just when Naruto was about to graduate from life by the power of a giant shiruken, Iruka decided to sacrifice himself for his student. The shiruken went only 2 centimeters in the flesh, missing any vital points again, and got stuck in the ninja padding of the ninja jacket. Pathetic, Elias thought. But oh, how the drama escalated!
And just when Mizuki prepared to finish the job, he got struck—in the nose—by the most disgusting headbutt in shinobi history. Full of tears, snot, and desperation.
Then it happened.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
With a puff of smoke, ten additional Narutos appeared, flanking the original like valiant clones on a battlefield.
The original Naruto panted, his chakra almost completely drained. His control was terrible, and he had no access to the Nine-Tails'.
The seal did not merge the excess chakra flow into his own nor increased it over time either. He was stuck with his original reserves and his original growth rate, too bad for Hiruzen who spilled his tea trough his nose and barked to the ANBU to rush over as fast as possible !
Naruto did go to the hospital once again, accompanied by his teacher. He got his ninja certification this time as compensation for all the beating he took. The ANBU did intervene only after he blacked out and got their salaries haved for a month as punition. Even though, their colleagues celebrated and shared their salaries with them, one could not imagine how many years did they dream of sending this fox-demon-anoying-brat to the hospital themselves !