[Mad Tiger] Chapter 52

Mizuki came out about ten minutes later, hesitating for a second before finally walking up to Naruto. I stayed put, perched up in a tree, watching.

"How about we take a walk?" he suggested.

Oh, for crying out loud! What is it with these people and walking for secret conversations? Can’t they just talk where they are?! Now I had to wait until they were out of sight before making my move. Should’ve stayed in the bushes! What possessed me to climb this damn tree in the first place?!

I waited until they rounded a corner before leaping down and sprinting after them. But when I turned the same corner—bam! Nothing. Not a single soul in sight.

Oh, come on! Where did they go?! I sniffed the air, trying to catch Naruto’s scent, but the trail just vanished like someone had cut it with a blade. That sneaky bastard Mizuki must’ve used some kind of teleportation technique.

By the time I finished running in frustrated circles, it was already getting dark. Damn it! I’m gonna miss all the action! There was only one thing left to do—head for the Hokage’s office. If this was playing out like the anime, then Naruto would be swiping the Forbidden Scroll from there.

And sure enough, just as I reached the area, all hell broke loose. Ninjas in masks, ninjas without masks, all running back and forth like someone had set their pants on fire. I barely managed to dive under an overhanging ledge before someone shouted:

"Uzumaki Naruto has stolen the Forbidden Scroll! After him!"

Oh, now it gets exciting. Among the chaos, I caught a familiar scent—Iruka. Perfect! If anyone was gonna lead me straight to my little knucklehead, it was him.

Iruka ran on foot, sticking to good old-fashioned legwork instead of using any teleportation tricks. That was fine by me—it meant I could tail him easily. Konoha’s forest at night was practically my domain. Better vision, better hearing, better everything.

And let’s be real, even I could find Naruto faster than these guys. He wasn’t exactly a stealth expert, and now that he’d ditched his neon-orange jumpsuit for my “fashionable” spotted hoodie, he wasn’t glowing like a traffic cone anymore.

Iruka, though… Iruka was running very confidently, barely even looking around. Was he secretly a sensor? Or was he heading straight for the meetup spot, knowing exactly where to find Naruto?

Sure enough, near an old shed in the woods, there was my dumbass little chick with a scroll the size of his entire torso. My paws itched to run up to him, but I held myself back. I had a bad feeling about this.

"I got it, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto grinned. "I completed the mission! So that means I pass, right? I get to be a genin now?"

"You idiot!" Iruka roared, followed by a colorful string of words that I definitely didn’t remember from the anime.

Naruto responded in kind, spitting out a curse that would’ve had any self-respecting mother washing his mouth out with soap.

Still, at least they were on the same page now—realizing this was all a setup. Or Iruka was realizing that. Or maybe he already knew? Or maybe this was part of the plan? I was officially lost in the layers of deception here.

Then, of course, Mizuki showed up.

And then came the bombshell.

He wasted no time spilling the village’s biggest secret right in Naruto’s face. "You’re not just some orphan! You’re the vessel of the Nine-Tailed Fox! A monster! That’s why everyone hates you!"

Naruto froze. His brain short-circuited so hard I thought I could hear it.

And Mizuki, the absolute snake, used that moment to hurl a giant-ass shuriken straight at the poor kid.

I barely held back a scream as Iruka lunged, moving so fast I almost missed it. For a second, my entire body locked up—heart pounding, fur standing on end. Watching this unfold in a cartoon was one thing. Seeing it happen in real life? Holy hell, I was gonna have a stroke.

There was a loud clang, and when I dared to open my eyes, I saw Iruka crouched in front of Naruto. He had blocked the hit, his chunin vest taking the brunt of the blow.

But… wait. Something was off.

Iruka looked surprised. Mizuki looked surprised.

"S-Sasuke?" Naruto stammered, crawling out from under his teacher.

I turned and—oh-ho-ho, now things were getting wild.

There he was. Sasuke. Standing a short distance away, eyes glowing red.

Oh. Oh, damn.

He awakened the Sharingan?! Wasn’t that supposed to happen later? Like, way later? With Zabuza, on the bridge, and all that drama? What was he even doing here?!

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out.

Without a word, Sasuke sprinted straight at Mizuki, kunai in hand.

Oh boy. Please tell me he knows what he’s doing.

Meanwhile, Iruka grabbed the scroll Naruto had been holding. "This scroll contains important village secrets, Naruto. It has to be protected at all costs!"

Naruto didn’t hesitate. "Then I’m counting on you, Iruka-sensei!" he declared, before bolting after Sasuke. "I’m gonna help him!"

Of course you are, I thought, already dashing after them.

Branches snapped. Metal clashed. Boom! Something exploded ahead.

What the hell?! These two were out here blowing things up?!

I crashed through the undergrowth like a goddamn bear and skidded to a stop just in time to see the aftermath. The clearing was a wreck. Scorched earth. Torn-up grass. Trees with kunai sticking out of them.

And there, at the center, was Mizuki—knocked out cold, tied up with ninja wire, looking real worse for wear.

Naruto stood surrounded by dozens of shadow clones.

Oh, man, I missed it?!

A rustling behind me signaled Iruka’s arrival. He landed in the clearing, panting. "You guys… What the—" His gaze swept over the destruction, then zeroed in on Naruto. "Wait. Did you… use the Shadow Clone Jutsu?!"

Naruto grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Uh… yeah?"

Iruka’s eyes darted between him and Sasuke, who was wiping some dirt off his cheek like this was no big deal. "You two just beat a chunin…" He exhaled slowly, then gave Naruto a long look.

"If you did all this because you want to be a genin…" He hesitated, then smiled. "Then I guess it’s yours."

He pulled off his forehead protector and tied it around Naruto’s forehead.

Naruto lit up like the damn sun. "YOUR HEADBAND?! IRUKA-SENSEI, THIS IS SO COOL!" He started hopping around, full of energy like he hadn’t just wiped the floor with a grown man five minutes ago.

Sasuke, ever the buzzkill, crossed his arms. "Aren’t forehead protectors engraved with the ninja’s personal number? You’re not supposed to give them away, sensei."

"Uh…" Iruka looked caught. "Well… we’ll swap it out tomorrow when they do team assignments. I just wanted Naruto to have one now."

"THANK YOU, IRUKA-SENSEI! YOU’RE THE BEST!" Naruto beamed, adjusting his new headband.

And then, just as I was starting to relax, I felt a lot of unfamiliar chakra signatures closing in.

From the trees, from the bushes, from everywhere, shinobi in gray vests and animal masks poured into the clearing.

Leading the charge? Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Uzumaki Naruto," the Third Hokage intoned gravely. "How could you steal the Forbidden Scroll?"

I almost laughed. The dramatics! The theatrics! It was like watching the final act of a stage play. Like any actual genin could just waltz into the Hokage’s library and yoink a classified document.

But before I could start rolling my eyes, Iruka immediately jumped in, waving his arms. "It wasn’t his fault, Lord Hokage! Mizuki tricked him! Naruto only wanted to pass the exam—he thought it was a test!" He held up the scroll. "Here, it’s safe!"

The Third took a long drag from his pipe, exhaling thoughtfully. "I see," he said at last. "That changes things."

Then he nodded to the ANBU.

"Take him," he ordered, gesturing at Mizuki.

The masked shinobi grabbed the unconscious traitor and vanished into the night.

"What’s gonna happen to him?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

"He’ll be imprisoned with other high-risk criminals," Hiruzen replied.

Oh-ho, really? So the guy who nearly got the village’s jinchuriki stolen is just… going to jail? In a military village? What exactly do you have to do around here to actually get executed? Or maybe they’ve got these prisoners doing something useful for the village, like… I dunno, forced labor? Building roads? Chopping wood like those old prison camps?

If this was just another one of the Third’s long-winded chess games, then man, I almost feel bad for Mizuki.

After giving Naruto a half-hearted scolding and tossing Sasuke some praise for "helping his friend," the Hokage sent them both home. The clearing emptied in a matter of seconds, leaving just the two of them standing in the dark.

"How did you even know to come here, Sasuke?" Naruto muttered, very deliberately not looking at him.

Sasuke scoffed. "Like I don’t know you. Anyone with half a brain could tell you were lying."

Alright, that was my cue. I darted out of the bushes and ran straight toward them.

"To— Namaiki-chan!" Naruto brightened up when he saw me and scooped me into his arms.

"Naruto…" Sasuke’s voice was quiet, serious. "Is what Mizuki said true? Are you… the vessel for the Nine-Tails?"

Naruto flinched. His grip on me tightened so much I let out a startled mrowr. Then I felt it. He was shaking.

And—wait. Something warm and wet dripped onto my fur.

Shit.

I sneezed from the sting in my nose. Is he… crying?

"I… I think it’s true," Naruto choked out. Then, with no warning, he hugged me even tighter and bolted, sprinting away from Sasuke like a bat out of hell. His silent tears, flung off by his speed, kept landing on me.

I dug my claws into his shoulder to keep from falling, catching a final glimpse of Sasuke. He had stepped forward at first—like he was about to follow—but then, for some reason, he stopped.

Damn it. This was the last thing I needed.