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Chapter 6: Graduation Day

~3rd person POV~
The next day, Kuro walked into the classroom like any other day. The girls were squealing over Sasuke and the guys were all staring at Kuro. Today was the graduation test, but of course Kuro had no worries. She went over to her typical seat only to find it occupied by Sasuke. She groaned inwardly as she sat of the far side, completely away from his sulky self. She felt a change in the air as several girls approached her with attempts at scary glares. Kuro merely turned an unamused glare right back at them, sending some of them retreating to their seat. But then there were the bubblegum haired girl and Ino. Ino had previously been a…well…a friend of sorts to Kuro in the past but ever since the girls all acquired a liking to Sasuke, Kuro was like their enemy. Although Kuro had no interest in the Uchiha boy, he usually spoke to her because she never bothered him. Kuro rolled her eyes and laid her head on her desk as she heard the shrill, whiney voice of the bubblegum haired girl, Sakura.
“Excuse you! Who do you think you are sitting with MY Sasuke?!”
Kuro groaned as she looked up to see a furious Sakura and an even more furious Ino.
“What did you say billboard brow?!”
Ino’s shrill, angry voice screeched. Kuro slammed her forehead onto the desk as she heard a faint chuckling sound from her left. She shot the Uchiha a glare, to which he returned a quick smirk.
“I said Sasuke is MINE Ino-Pig!”
After several moments of bickering back and forth Kuro was getting agitated. Which in turn stirred up Fumetsu, leaving Kuro feeling rather vulnerable. Plus, Naruto wasn’t here yet to satisfy her curse’s need. She abruptly stood up, shorter than the two girls by a bit, but still intimidating nonetheless. With a strong glare the two girls quieted down before Kuro shoved them onto their butts on the ground, towering over them.
“If you two don’t shut up for once so I can have a little bit of peace, I swear with no hesitation I will reach into your mouths and rip your tongues out so I never have to hear you speak again. Do I make myself very clear?”
Kuro’s angelic tone was lost in that instant, the entire classroom glanced over, afraid to even breathe. Iruka shot a glance up, but even he was too afraid to move anywhere near her. Ino and Sakura looked up to Kuro with big, watery eyes before looking longingly at Saskue once more, hoping he’d recuse them from this monster Kuro. As Kuro cleared her throat the two girls scurried back to their original seats. Kuro plopped back down in her seat as Sasuke sent an amused glance over to her. In a strange way he felt like he was protected by her, but he knew she really didn’t have much interest in him, but for some reason he was entirely interested by her.
Only a moment later Naruto burst into the classroom and went over to his normal seat to see the same thing Kuro did when she walked in. Naruto put on a pouty face as Kuro rolled her eyes and scooted over toward the Uchiha. She knew Naruto harbored a strong disliking to this boy, and it was understandable. Sasuke got all the attention by doing nothing, while Naruto poured his heart and soul into gaining anyone’s attention but everyone ignored him. He sent Sasuke a glare which was deflected by Kuro’s. Naruto normally wasn’t scared of her, but he could tell something had already annoyed her today, so he dropped his pouty attitude and grinned sheepishly at her. Sasuke made a single chuckling sound as Kuro slammed her head back onto the table at their childish antics. Iruka stood quietly and started the test, calling one person at a time into the testing room. Kuro frowned when she heard the test was on clones. She and Naruto had been still working on this for weeks now and he had yet to create a good enough clone to pass, let alone three clones.
“Miss Kuro, it’s your turn.”
An instructor called as he soon vanished from the room. Naruto looked over and grinned at his friend, knowing full well that she would pass. As she stood and strode out the door all eyes were on her. Even after all this time she was still such a creature of mystery to everyone, a mystery they all wanted to solve. Naruto’s smile faded as glared over at Sasuke, soon being thrown to the floor by all the admiring fangirls. Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he scooted over to a vacant seat, not knowing that a lavender pair of eyes was silently observing his every move.
In the testing room, Kuro had easily filled the room with perfect shadow clones. Mizuki looked on in awe, but Kuro glared heavily at him. Something about this shinobi threw off calm senses, and she didn’t like it one bit. Iruka smiled proudly at his student as he handed her the headband, which she tied around her hips like a belt. Iruka stared at her oddly as she shrugged and walked out.
After the testing was over and the people gathered with their families in front of the school raving about how they were now ninjas, Naruto sat alone on his swing. He was the only one who had not passed the graduation test. Kuro stared sadly at him, wanting to do something to take his pain away. Her curse mark seared her hip as she strode over to him and sat on the ground beside him.
“Hey Naruto.”
Kuro’s quiet and innocent voice tried to draw him out of his depressed stage, but that seemed impossible at the moment. She let her gaze fall to the ground as the wind blew around her face. She held her bangs down in place as she got a wiff of a strange human nearby, silently watching. She recognized the scent immediately, Mizuki. She wanted to know what this mental case was up to, so she abruptly stood and told Naruto she’d see him later, to which he only nodded. She caught one glimpse of the third Hokage and Iruka talking with each other before she bolted off into the shadows. She planted her feet into the ground as her body was engulfed in black flames. Her body twisted and cracked sickeningly, but as the flames dispersed the Phantom Wolf was left in its wake. Her crimson paws silently left the ground and into the trees where she could get a perfect view of Mizuki and Naruto talking. She listened in carefully to every word, and panicked once she heard Mizuki’s plan. She needed to tell the Hokage just what Mizuki was doing.
By the time Phantom had gotten to the Hokage he had just scattered the ninja to find Naruto. Phantom ran up to Hiruzen’s side as she nudged him roughly.
“Hokage! I need to speak with you!”
Phantom yelled, almost panicked. Hiruzen glanced up at her in shock, he had never known Kuro could speak while in her Phantom form.
“None of this is Naruto’s fault! It’s Mizuki’s! I heard them talking. Mizuki wants the scroll for himself.”
Phantom explained as Hiruzen nodded a few times.
“I still need you to find Naruto. He doesn’t know what that scroll could do to the Nine Tailed Fox. It could unleash it and destroy the village.”
Hiruzen spoke, but stopped quickly when he felt the ground rumbling under Phantom’s growl. Her eyes were now red looking up at him before she narrowed her eyes.
“Enough with the Fox! Are you not worried about Naruto and what would happen to him?”
Phantom yelled frustrated with the old man as she jumped out his window. Her massive paws hitting the ground and taking off like a speeding locomotive. Her massive body moving faster and faster. She could sense just where Naruto was, and she was bound and determined to find him. She could smell blood, which worried her a lot, but her curse mark wasn’t burning too badly, so that meant Naruto was ok.
As she neared the scent of blood she caught sight of something she thought she would never see. Naruto held his hands in front of his face, and in an instant more Narutos than ever imagined appeared from nowhere. He had perfected the forbidden Shadow Clone Jutsu. Phantom smiled eagerly as she watched him pummel Mizuki’s face. She stayed back in the shadows, as to not be seen, and watched the easy fight and saw Iruka’s priceless face.
Once it was all said and done Iruka called Naruto over. Phantom watched with curiosity as Iruka reached behind his head. Within a moment the headband that was previously on Iruka’s head was now on Naruto’s, replacing those silly green goggles. Phantom grinned widely, her long, sharp teeth glimmering in the light of the night. She backed farther up into the shadows as she watched Naruto help Iruka to the hospital to get his wounds treated, and amazingly, because of the Nine Tails, Naruto was already healed. He walked out proudly out into the night, his new headband shining along with his smile. Phantom walked out of the brush and walked up to Naruto. Her tail wagged as she played dumb and ran over and sniffed the headband on his head. He got super excited as he jumped up and threw his arms around Phantom’s neck.
“You will never guess all the happened today Phantom! Come on I’ll tell you on the way home!”
Naruto exclaimed as she jumped up onto her lowered back, gripping her fur softly. Phantom only walked as fast as she needed to while Naruto’s rushed words filled her ears, but a calm filled her mind. She would react to certain key tones in his voice as if she were listening, but of course she had no need to, she was there the whole time just not to Naruto’s knowledge. He kept talking even as they walked into his gloomy apartment, his happy voice filling Phantom’s heart up with her own glee. Phantom climbed into Naruto’s bed like she had been doing for the last few years since she met him. She took up most of the bed but tried her best to cram against the wall. Naruto’s voice was still echoing through his apartment as he got ready for bed. Phantom could tell just how much that simple headband meant to him. It meant more than a piece of metal with a symbol on it, and even more because Iruka gave it to him. It meant that he was one step closer from achieving his dream, and Phantom fully believed that his dream would come true.
As Naruto jumped onto the bed and curled up into Phantom’s lush, warm, midnight black fur a wrapped up his story. Phantom’s tail thudded on the bed as she licked the top of his head excitedly, telling him how happy she was for him. She noticed he still had his headband on and chuckled quietly, sounding more like a huffing sound in her wolf form. She grabbed it and gently tugged it off Naruto’s head and placed it on the side table by his clock. He began to protest but Phantom barked firmly, quieting him down. He frowned but snuggled into her. She wrapped her tail around him like she did every night to keep him safe and warm. She never slept, so she always mindlessly watched Naruto sleep, or she would glance out the window Naruto would leave open for her to get out. Phantom felt bad that she did disappear before every morning, but she needed to keep this form and her human form, Kuro, separate. She knew it would be difficult but in the moment, keeping the young Uzumaki safe was her forever first priority.

Description
Chapter 6: Graduation Day

~3rd person POV~
The next day, Kuro walked into the classroom like any other day. The girls were squealing over Sasuke and the guys were all staring at Kuro. Today was the graduation test, but of course Kuro had no worries. She went over to her typical seat only to find it occupied by Sasuke. She groaned inwardly as she sat of the far side, completely away from his sulky self. She felt a change in the air as several girls approached her with attempts at scary glares. Kuro merely turned an unamused glare right back at them, sending some of them retreating to their seat. But then there were the bubblegum haired girl and Ino. Ino had previously been a…well…a friend of sorts to Kuro in the past but ever since the girls all acquired a liking to Sasuke, Kuro was like their enemy. Although Kuro had no interest in the Uchiha boy, he usually spoke to her because she never bothered him. Kuro rolled her eyes and laid her head on her desk as she heard the shrill, whiney voice of the bubblegum haired girl, Sakura.
“Excuse you! Who do you think you are sitting with MY Sasuke?!”
Kuro groaned as she looked up to see a furious Sakura and an even more furious Ino.
“What did you say billboard brow?!”
Ino’s shrill, angry voice screeched. Kuro slammed her forehead onto the desk as she heard a faint chuckling sound from her left. She shot the Uchiha a glare, to which he returned a quick smirk.
“I said Sasuke is MINE Ino-Pig!”
After several moments of bickering back and forth Kuro was getting agitated. Which in turn stirred up Fumetsu, leaving Kuro feeling rather vulnerable. Plus, Naruto wasn’t here yet to satisfy her curse’s need. She abruptly stood up, shorter than the two girls by a bit, but still intimidating nonetheless. With a strong glare the two girls quieted down before Kuro shoved them onto their butts on the ground, towering over them.
“If you two don’t shut up for once so I can have a little bit of peace, I swear with no hesitation I will reach into your mouths and rip your tongues out so I never have to hear you speak again. Do I make myself very clear?”
Kuro’s angelic tone was lost in that instant, the entire classroom glanced over, afraid to even breathe. Iruka shot a glance up, but even he was too afraid to move anywhere near her. Ino and Sakura looked up to Kuro with big, watery eyes before looking longingly at Saskue once more, hoping he’d recuse them from this monster Kuro. As Kuro cleared her throat the two girls scurried back to their original seats. Kuro plopped back down in her seat as Sasuke sent an amused glance over to her. In a strange way he felt like he was protected by her, but he knew she really didn’t have much interest in him, but for some reason he was entirely interested by her.
Only a moment later Naruto burst into the classroom and went over to his normal seat to see the same thing Kuro did when she walked in. Naruto put on a pouty face as Kuro rolled her eyes and scooted over toward the Uchiha. She knew Naruto harbored a strong disliking to this boy, and it was understandable. Sasuke got all the attention by doing nothing, while Naruto poured his heart and soul into gaining anyone’s attention but everyone ignored him. He sent Sasuke a glare which was deflected by Kuro’s. Naruto normally wasn’t scared of her, but he could tell something had already annoyed her today, so he dropped his pouty attitude and grinned sheepishly at her. Sasuke made a single chuckling sound as Kuro slammed her head back onto the table at their childish antics. Iruka stood quietly and started the test, calling one person at a time into the testing room. Kuro frowned when she heard the test was on clones. She and Naruto had been still working on this for weeks now and he had yet to create a good enough clone to pass, let alone three clones.
“Miss Kuro, it’s your turn.”
An instructor called as he soon vanished from the room. Naruto looked over and grinned at his friend, knowing full well that she would pass. As she stood and strode out the door all eyes were on her. Even after all this time she was still such a creature of mystery to everyone, a mystery they all wanted to solve. Naruto’s smile faded as glared over at Sasuke, soon being thrown to the floor by all the admiring fangirls. Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he scooted over to a vacant seat, not knowing that a lavender pair of eyes was silently observing his every move.
In the testing room, Kuro had easily filled the room with perfect shadow clones. Mizuki looked on in awe, but Kuro glared heavily at him. Something about this shinobi threw off calm senses, and she didn’t like it one bit. Iruka smiled proudly at his student as he handed her the headband, which she tied around her hips like a belt. Iruka stared at her oddly as she shrugged and walked out.
After the testing was over and the people gathered with their families in front of the school raving about how they were now ninjas, Naruto sat alone on his swing. He was the only one who had not passed the graduation test. Kuro stared sadly at him, wanting to do something to take his pain away. Her curse mark seared her hip as she strode over to him and sat on the ground beside him.
“Hey Naruto.”
Kuro’s quiet and innocent voice tried to draw him out of his depressed stage, but that seemed impossible at the moment. She let her gaze fall to the ground as the wind blew around her face. She held her bangs down in place as she got a wiff of a strange human nearby, silently watching. She recognized the scent immediately, Mizuki. She wanted to know what this mental case was up to, so she abruptly stood and told Naruto she’d see him later, to which he only nodded. She caught one glimpse of the third Hokage and Iruka talking with each other before she bolted off into the shadows. She planted her feet into the ground as her body was engulfed in black flames. Her body twisted and cracked sickeningly, but as the flames dispersed the Phantom Wolf was left in its wake. Her crimson paws silently left the ground and into the trees where she could get a perfect view of Mizuki and Naruto talking. She listened in carefully to every word, and panicked once she heard Mizuki’s plan. She needed to tell the Hokage just what Mizuki was doing.
By the time Phantom had gotten to the Hokage he had just scattered the ninja to find Naruto. Phantom ran up to Hiruzen’s side as she nudged him roughly.
“Hokage! I need to speak with you!”
Phantom yelled, almost panicked. Hiruzen glanced up at her in shock, he had never known Kuro could speak while in her Phantom form.
“None of this is Naruto’s fault! It’s Mizuki’s! I heard them talking. Mizuki wants the scroll for himself.”
Phantom explained as Hiruzen nodded a few times.
“I still need you to find Naruto. He doesn’t know what that scroll could do to the Nine Tailed Fox. It could unleash it and destroy the village.”
Hiruzen spoke, but stopped quickly when he felt the ground rumbling under Phantom’s growl. Her eyes were now red looking up at him before she narrowed her eyes.
“Enough with the Fox! Are you not worried about Naruto and what would happen to him?”
Phantom yelled frustrated with the old man as she jumped out his window. Her massive paws hitting the ground and taking off like a speeding locomotive. Her massive body moving faster and faster. She could sense just where Naruto was, and she was bound and determined to find him. She could smell blood, which worried her a lot, but her curse mark wasn’t burning too badly, so that meant Naruto was ok.
As she neared the scent of blood she caught sight of something she thought she would never see. Naruto held his hands in front of his face, and in an instant more Narutos than ever imagined appeared from nowhere. He had perfected the forbidden Shadow Clone Jutsu. Phantom smiled eagerly as she watched him pummel Mizuki’s face. She stayed back in the shadows, as to not be seen, and watched the easy fight and saw Iruka’s priceless face.
Once it was all said and done Iruka called Naruto over. Phantom watched with curiosity as Iruka reached behind his head. Within a moment the headband that was previously on Iruka’s head was now on Naruto’s, replacing those silly green goggles. Phantom grinned widely, her long, sharp teeth glimmering in the light of the night. She backed farther up into the shadows as she watched Naruto help Iruka to the hospital to get his wounds treated, and amazingly, because of the Nine Tails, Naruto was already healed. He walked out proudly out into the night, his new headband shining along with his smile. Phantom walked out of the brush and walked up to Naruto. Her tail wagged as she played dumb and ran over and sniffed the headband on his head. He got super excited as he jumped up and threw his arms around Phantom’s neck.
“You will never guess all the happened today Phantom! Come on I’ll tell you on the way home!”
Naruto exclaimed as she jumped up onto her lowered back, gripping her fur softly. Phantom only walked as fast as she needed to while Naruto’s rushed words filled her ears, but a calm filled her mind. She would react to certain key tones in his voice as if she were listening, but of course she had no need to, she was there the whole time just not to Naruto’s knowledge. He kept talking even as they walked into his gloomy apartment, his happy voice filling Phantom’s heart up with her own glee. Phantom climbed into Naruto’s bed like she had been doing for the last few years since she met him. She took up most of the bed but tried her best to cram against the wall. Naruto’s voice was still echoing through his apartment as he got ready for bed. Phantom could tell just how much that simple headband meant to him. It meant more than a piece of metal with a symbol on it, and even more because Iruka gave it to him. It meant that he was one step closer from achieving his dream, and Phantom fully believed that his dream would come true.
As Naruto jumped onto the bed and curled up into Phantom’s lush, warm, midnight black fur a wrapped up his story. Phantom’s tail thudded on the bed as she licked the top of his head excitedly, telling him how happy she was for him. She noticed he still had his headband on and chuckled quietly, sounding more like a huffing sound in her wolf form. She grabbed it and gently tugged it off Naruto’s head and placed it on the side table by his clock. He began to protest but Phantom barked firmly, quieting him down. He frowned but snuggled into her. She wrapped her tail around him like she did every night to keep him safe and warm. She never slept, so she always mindlessly watched Naruto sleep, or she would glance out the window Naruto would leave open for her to get out. Phantom felt bad that she did disappear before every morning, but she needed to keep this form and her human form, Kuro, separate. She knew it would be difficult but in the moment, keeping the young Uzumaki safe was her forever first priority.