Naruto Hikikaeru

Naruto awoke in his bed, his eyes still blurry from sleep. Lifting his arm up, he rubbed his eyes until his vision cleared up. Then he stared at his hand, what kind of dream was that? He wondered. He thought back and found that his memories about the dream were jumbled up. Nothing felt clear to him, and the more he tried thinking about it, the more his head hurt. Eventually, he couldn't stand the raging migraine that had formed from trying to recall the dream he had.

So in the end, he gave up trying to think about it, since it was only a dream. He looked out his window and saw the sun rising over the horizon. Birds flew across the sky above Konoha. Then he looked over at the stone faces of the Hokage's, looking at each one until his eyes landed on the last one, the fourth Hokage's. Naruto grinned and jumped out of bed putting on his familiar orange jump suit and goggles, rushing out the door of his apartment. Today was the day and he had big plans, so he needed to get a head start.

He ran down the steps of his apartment quickly running into an empty alley where he found what he needed. He had stored away several buckets of paint he'd stolen a few days earlier and now was the time to use them. This is going to he the greatest prank in the history of pranks!! Naruto thought as he began chuckling to himself. The thought of it was too much for him and he couldn't help but grin as he imagined the scene.

Grabbing the buckets of paint along with the paint brushes, Naruto began taking all the secluded routes he knew toward the stone faces of the Hokage's. Even though the sun had begun rising over the horizon, most people were still asleep and only the shop keepers and store owners had woken up by now. So Naruto didn't have to worry about running into anyone just yet. Soon, he arrived at the bottom of the cliff where the stone faces had been carved into.

Naruto remembered from earlier in his academy days when the school took all the kids to see the hidden evacuation route for the villagers. They had been told that the route was for emergencies if the village was attacked. The villagers would use this route while the shinobi's would fight off the attack and defend the village. But now, Naruto was using this route for his grand prank. The route lead all the way up to the top of the cliff. Taking in a deep breath, Naruto began climbing up the stairs leading up to the top.

While walking, he found he had a lot of time to think about stuff. But there was really only one thing on his mind at the time besides his prank that he'd been planning. It was the strange dream he had last night. While he couldn't remember most of it, the bits that he could remember still didn't make any sense. He remembered hearing lots of screaming in some parts of the dream, blood, and the roars of monsters. Then there was another part that he vaguely remembered and it was of a barren landscape with a black sky, but there was also something in the sky he couldn't figure out.

But just like this morning, the more he tried to think about it, the more his head would start hurting. So naturally, Naruto quit thinking about his dream. After some time passed, the pain had subsided and Naruto continued on climbing, picking up hus pace to reach the top sooner. After several minutes of climbing, he finally made it to the top. The wind blew at Naruto, threatening to throw him off the side of the cliff with how powerful the gusts were. But despite the danger, Naruto still felt his breath being taken away from the sight before his eyes. He could see all across Konoha and the surrounding forests. The sun had fully passed the horizon and was up in the sky now shining down.

Naruto grinned as he popped open the lids of the paint buckets and grabbed the brushed. Time to get starter!! He thought as he began his work. Naruto began working as if possessed, nothing was distracting him from completing the task before him. He started with the First Hokage's face, and after he had finished, he moved onto the Second Hokage's. The sun was steadily climbing higher into the sky and more and more people were waking up now. However, by the time anyone noticed what had happened it was too late.

Naruto stood on top of the stone face of the fourth Hokage, grinning from ear to ear while covered in paint. This is my greatest prank ever, just look at them all staring!! Naruto thought. Just as he was about to leave though, he felt a sharp pain in his head. It was the migraine from this morning, and with it a series of flashing images went through his mind. In this moment of pain, Naruto lost his footing and fell forward, falling off of the stone face.

Naruto screamed out as he fell, part of it was due to the fear of falling, while the rest of it was because of the pain in his head. This migraine was even worse than the pain he felt from earlier. The two didn't compare at all, but with the series of flashing images, something felt like it was being ingrained into his mind.

Instinctively, Naruto channeled his chakra into his hands and feet and rotated himself so that he was facing the cliff wall. He thrust his limbs toward the side of the cliff and his falling slowed until he stopped moving. Naruto opened his eyes and blinked.

"Wha- What just happened??" Naruto muttered.

He'd been terrified of falling just now, but then suddenly the pain from his migraine disappeared and now he was hanging onto the side of the cliff. But it wasn't that he was jusg hanging onto something, he was literally sticking to the side of the cliff. Naruto couldn't help but stare and admire how cool this feeling was. He looked at his hands and feet and felt his chakra moving through them and sticking to the side of the cliff.

Suddenly, Naruto heard yelling from the ground, glancing over, he noticed several people running around and pointing at him.

Uh-Oh, Naruto thought, I've gotta get out of here. He slowly stood up on the side of the cliff, still worried that he might fall off. But after seeing that he was still fine, he began running on the side of the wall away from the commotion. As Naruto ran. he couldn't help but think about how amazing it was to run on walls like this. He began thinking about all the new kind of pranks he could do now that he could do this. But unfortunately for Naruto, he didn't get too much time to bask in his triumphant feeling because two shinobi's appeared behind him.

"NARUTO!!! GET BACK HERE!!!" Random shinobi 1 yelled.

"WE MEAN IT NARUTO, THIS IS THE LAST STRAW!!!" Random shinobi 2 shouted out.

"Ahahahah, you guys are just jealous since none of you have the balls to do what I just did!!" Naruto laughed back.

"WHY YOU LITTLE--!!" Random shinobi 1 shouted in anger.

"See you later losers!!" Naruto yelled.

He quickly jumped off the side of the cliff wall toward the ground and began dashing through different alleys. After losing the two ninjas from earlier for a moment, Naruto ran toward the fence stopped and quickly hid himself behind a camouflaged sheet.

"Get back here Naruto!!" Random shinobi 2 yelled.

Unfortunately for them, the two passed by Naruto as they ran without noticing him.

Naruto held the sheet down as he laughed to himself. But then he was suddenly hit on his head. Forcing him to squat down as he held his pain.

"NA-RU-TO!!!!" Iruka grinned.

"Oh. Hehe, hey Iruka-sensei!" Naruto greeted.

...

...

...

"How many times do I have to tell you Naruto?!" Iruka reprimanded.

"How will you learn to become a great shinobi if you keep doing pranks like these?"

Naruto looked down at the topes tied around him.

"Are these really necessary?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"You-!" Iruka growled.

Several of the kids in the class laughed at Naruto's question, but most of them were laughing more at Naruto than at his question. After Iruka caught Naruto, he had tied him up and carried him back to the academy where he had began lecturing him like usual.

Iruka glared at the kids laughing, making them quiet down before he sighed.

"Naruto, go sit down, class will now begin." Iruka said.

The class g.r.o.a.n.e.d after hearing what Iruka said, many of them had hoped that Iruka would continue lecturing Naruto longer.

"Settle down everyone, today is the final exam for graduating, so everyone needs to be focused." Iruka reminded everyone.

Most of the class wasn't worried about the exam, but a few including Naruto began panicking after hearing Iruka's words.

"Alright, alright, calm down. To start off, everyone will demonstrate the transformation jutsu." Iruka continued.

The class got up and began lining up in front of Iruka. One by one, they each performed the transformation jutsu. Iruka had each one transform into himself, until finally it was Naruto's turn.

"Alright Naruto, it's your turn, use the transformation jutsu to turn into me." Iruka instructed.

Naruto nodded his head but just as he tried performing the jutsu, his migraine came back with a vengeance. He clutched the side of his head while trying hard not to make any sounds of pain. But doing anything that required focus was impossible right now.

Seeing that something was off, Iruka walked over to Naruto to see what was wrong.

"Are you okay Naruto?" Iruka asked as he approached him.

Just as Iruka was about to reach out, the pain in Naruto's head disappeared.

"I'm fine Iruka-sensei, I'll perform the transformation jutsu." Naruto said.

Iruka hesitated for a moment but then nodded and backed away. Naruto then began focusing on thr technique.

<Transformation Jutsu>

Smoke appeared around Naruto as he transformed, after the smoke subsided, a second Iruka was revealed. The real Iruka examined the transformed Naruto and couldn't find any deficiencies in the transformation. He was more shocked than impressed however, because he hadn't expected Naruto to do this well.

"Alright, good, you pass on the transformation technique Naruto. Next!" Iruka said.

Naruto released the jutsu, transforming back into himself and walking off to the side. The images that passed through his mind were about the transformation technique. Naruto even saw himself transformed into a s.e.xy girl version of himself and then he saw himself transformed into a bad example of the Third Hokage. It had felt like dejavu for him, like he'd already done these things before. But the pain came back everytime he tried recalling those images. However, as more time passed and Naruto experienced more of these migraines and saw these flickering images, the more he felt they were like memories instead of just a strange dream he had.

The day continued on and the sun was getting low. Naruto was called into the exam room to see if he'd finally pass and become a genin.

There were two people sitting at the desk in front of Naruto, it was Iruka and Mizuki.

"Alright Naruto, it's your turn to take the exam, which will be the clone technique." Iruka said.

Naruto immediately felt like he'd lost, the clone technique was his worst jutsu. Everyone knew that, including Iruka-sensei. This whole situation felt like a bad joke now. How many times had he failed the exam? But there was nothing Naruto could do, he grit his teeth and channeled his chakra.

<Clone Jutsu>

Naruto performed the jutsu and smoke filled the room. After clearing away, what was revealed was a dummy version of Naruto next to the original. There was only one word to describe it, pathetic.

Iruka sighed, after seeing Naruto's transformation jutsu, he half hoped Naruto would pass this as well. But it appeared that was too much to hope for.

"I'm sorry Naruto. You fail." Iruka said.

Naruto held his head down in despair, the bitterness in his heart swelling up.

"Hold on Iruka, isn't that too harsh? Naruto did manage to create something, and he's already failed so many times before too. Shouldn't we give him a break on this?" Mizuki spoke up.

Naruto looked up with hope as he waited for Iruka's reply.

"Mizuki, look at it, it's pathetic, if I were to pass Naruto, then he'd only become a burden to his team. We're shinobi, and the missions we take can be dangerous. It would be wrong of me to pass Naruto knowing he can't properly perform the basic techniques we teach students in order to become genin. So my answer is still the same, Naruto failed and he will have to retake the exam again next year." Iruka replied.

Naruto felt like the hope he had was shattered after hearing Iruka's words. But he held back whatever he wanted to say and left. He walked passed the kids with their parents congratulating them on passing. He could hear their laughter as they all left kne after the other.

As Naruto walked through town he wondered why he had to live like this? Where he had no one to rely on, no one who cared about him. Without paying attention, Naruto accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry-" Naruto began.

"Watch where you're going!!" The older man yelled. He pushed Naruto onto the ground and glared at him.

"Look what you've done!! You've ruined my clothes!!" The older man shouted.

Naruto glared at the middle aged man. but then noticed the stares of the other a.d.u.l.ts surrounding them. Not one stood up for him, and they all whispered to each other. Suddenly, another man walked up to Naruto and picked him up by his shirt.

"Oi brat! Ain't you gonna compensate him for ruining his clothes?!" The other man said, his breath reeking of alcohol.

Naruto lifted his leg and kicked the man's leg, making him drop Naruto. After getting free, Naruto sprinted off away, leaving the crowded streets. He closed his eyes as he ran, trying to block the whispers. Shut up, Shut up, Shut up, SHUT UP.

"SHUT UP!!" Naruto yelled as he ran. He tripped and fell onto the ground.

Opening his eyes, Naruto found he was all alone and that he'd tripped over a garbage can. He picked himself up and patted himself down. Then he continued walking away.

The sun was setting, and Naruto was sitting on top of the roof of his apartment watching the sun go down. He wondered why he was alone, who were his parents? What happened to them? Why wouldn't anyone tell him anything? He had so many questions, but no answers to any of them. But now he had another question, why did he have that dream last night?

Author's Note: Not really action packed, but I'm taking this down a different approach, hopefully with better pacing and a more engaging plot than before. Hope you all enjoy. Peace! ✌