Time moved on after that and as the sun began it’s daily journey over the horizon Naruto finally showed up.
“Don’t keep us in suspense , how’d it go?” I asked eagerly and Teuchi was also listening.
“I passed all of the normal tests, even the written one but I still have to complete one more to officially prove my worthiness to becoming a ninja!” Naruto said with a wide smile.
Teuchi who wasn’t familiar with the process of graduating merely congratulated Naruto proudly but I frowned as what he said was wrong. I knew for a fact that there was no extra test beyond what was standard. My sensei even explained to me that if anything the only “test” left was to see if the students were a match for the sensei’s themselves. Even then those tests were not something that truly effected whether or not one became a ninja, only whether or not your first assigned sensei was willing to teach your assigned squad. If you failed those tests then you’d simply get a different sensei based on the feedback of the first that should be a better fit.-
“Naruto who told you that you’d have another test to pass and what exactly was this test?” I asked seriously and but my blonde friend and Teuchi looked at me confused.
“Eh? It was Mizuki sensei. He said I needed to infiltrate the Hokage building and bring him a scroll of some sort to pass the test. Is something wrong?” Naruto asked confused.
‘Mizuki? He hates Naruto though and barely kept up the façade of civility around him and yet he told Naruto something like this? I smell foul play. But what scroll could he possibly want that he couldn’t find himself?’ I pondered for a moment before one came to mind and the plan of Mizuki all made sense now.
He was sabotaging Naruto before taking the forbidden scroll and betraying Konoha. The moment i figured this out I grew angry and had to stop myself from snarling at Naruto in the process but my facial muscles twitched.
“Naruto I need you to listen very closely to me, regardless of what Mizuki said DON’T steal that scroll. I can’t explain it right now but I need to report this to the Hokage immediately, stay here until I get back.” I said sternly and but Naruto and Teuchi realized that something was wrong but chose to listen to what I said.
I flickered away and cloaked myself in natural energy while moving through the shadows using my cats ability to prevent anyone noticing my approach to the Hokage building. The old man was sitting behind his desk and tensed when I stepped out of the shadows of his office and four Anbu in animal masks had kunai to my throat in the blink of an eye. I ignored that though and made eye contact with the old man.
“Release him, he seems to have an urgent report given his expression.” he said and the kunai at my throat were withdrawn.
“I have solid reason to believe that academy instructor Mizuki has chosen to betray Konoha.” I said seriously and the old man had a stern expression.
“That is a serious accusation so I hope you have some form of evidence to back it up for your sake.” he said seriously and I nodded before explaining what Naruto told me and what I figured out on my own.
“If what you have said is true then there truly is a high chance that he has indeed chosen to betray Konoha. But in order to be absolutely certain we will have Naruto go through with the theft though obviously with a fake scroll of course and if Mizuki truly is a traitor i trust that you are capable of detaining him?” the Hokage said seriously and I flared my chakra causing the room to shake.
“He won’t even be able to resist.” I said firmly.
“Very well, Owl, Fox shadow Naruto to ensure his safety while Kenzo handles Mizuki.” the old man commanded.
“”Yes lord Hokage!”” two of the anbu that had masks matching their chosen animal names said simultaneously.
The old man then nodded at me firmly and all three of us slipped into the shadows of the room and snuck out of the building. I separated from the other two and snug back into Ichiraku where Naruto and Teuchi were waiting nervously.
“Naruto, I have spoken with Lord Hokage and it has been decided that you will move to take the scroll as instructed before meeting up with Mizuki. It was just a false alarm on my part sorry about that.” I said with a fake smile since this plan likely wouldn’t work if Naruto acted suspiciously.
They both sighed in relief “That’s a relief, you had us worried sick this whole time.” Teuchi said relieved.
“Yeah sorry about that, I just thought it was suspicious since I myself didn’t have any test similar to this but the Lord Hokage assured me to I was just the exception rather than the rule.” I lied with a heavy heart and they both bought it easily.
“In that case lets celebrate Narutos success early with ramen on the house!” Teuchi said with a wide smile and Naruto fist punched the air excitedly.
Despite how much it pained me to have to lie to Naruto like this and betray his trust in me I knew that this was for his own good in the end. If I had to carry this sin to remove this threat to him I’d gladly do so. I’d of course apologize profusely afterwards but I would also understand if Naruto wanted nothing to do with me after this betrayal. With this on my mind I feigned enjoyment as I celebrated with these two but it was hollow and even the usually spectacular ramen had no taste to me.-
Finally the time came and Naruto left on his “mission” and the game was afoot. I and the two Anbu shadowed him secretly as he made his way to the Hokage building and Naruto stole a large scroll without a hitch. I felt the Hokages gaze on me but ignored it as it was to be expected given the nature of the situation. Mizuki had apparently set the meeting place for Naruto to drop off the scroll as one of the empty forest styled training grounds known as training ground thirteen. It was located near the edge of the village which made sense considering Mizuki was likely planning to flee with the scroll.-
My heart ached as Naruto naively strolled right into the training ground and waited for Mizuki to show up while mischievously taking a peek of the contents of the scroll. To my surprise it appeared to actually house the multishadow clone jutsu at the start which Naruto eagerly went to try and learn. When Mizuki showed up and arrogantly began his monologue I started making my way to him stealthily while suppressing my shock at the revelations he was spewing to mock Naruto as a fool.