Naruto of the Seven Swords

Chapter 1

The Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, looked at two of her subordinates. 'Go ahead with these targets. They are the candidates for the last slots on the team. And whatever you do, make sure that you persuade them with reason no matter what, especially for the first one. Understood?'

The two Kirigakure ninja sent on the mission nodded. 'Yes, Mei-sama.'

'Good. Now go.' Mei commanded, as the two Kirigakure ninja Body Flickered away.

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Naruto shouldered the Scroll of Seals as he ran into the forest. He knew that the villagers hated him, which was why his dream was to become the Hokage and earn their recognition and respect. And the first step he needed to take to become Hokage was to graduate from the Academy. Mizuki had told him to take the Scroll of Seals to graduate, so the Konoha ninja-in-training had snuck into the Hokage Tower to obtain it and graduate.

The dark forest lay ahead of Naruto, the trees towering over the young jinchuuriki. The meeting point with Mizuki was close by. Naruto ran forward, but unbeknownst to him, a pair of bloodshot round eyes were focused on him.

'How did this not-even-genin ninja sneak into Hokage Tower and steal something wearing that bright orange jumpsuit in the middle of the night?' The person staring at Naruto said, smelling the scent of the blond ninja-in-training. 'And he's also a jinchuuriki... I need to improvise. This guy is probably a better fit for the squad than the second candidate that Mei-sama suggested.'

The mysterious Kirigakure ninja jumped down to confront Naruto.

'How did you sense me?' Naruto asked, grabbing a kunai knife.

'I smelled you.' The Kiri-nin said, his scaly, blue skin showing under the moonlight. 'Do you want to become a genin?'

'Yeah.' Naruto said. 'I failed the ninja exam, so I would take any chance to be a genin. Which is why I'm borrowing this from the Hokage to give to Mizuki, so I can become a genin!'

The sword behind the scaly man growled. The Kiri-nin, the famous wielder of Samehada Kisame Hoshigaki chuckled. 'Well, this Mizuki is definitely lying.'

'Really?' Naruto asked, and the nodding of Kisame's head confirmed it. 'Then... How am I going to become a genin? How am I going to become the Hokage?'

'Give up on becoming Hokage. I have an even better deal for you. One that will involve you becoming a ninja.' Kisame said in his gruff voice.

'Never!' Naruto hollered, as he entered a fighting stance.

Naruto weaved one hand seal, using the ninjutsu he had learned from the Scroll of Seals: the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

'Impressive.' Kisame said, but he quickly counterattacked, sending out water sharks from the ground to attack Naruto's clones. 'Should you accept, you'll be trained so that you can be as strong as me, perhaps even stronger.'

Naruto prepared another attack, drawing from his near unlimited chakra pool. More clones appeared, surrounding Kisame from all angles. Again, the Kirigakure swordsman sent out water sharks to defeat Naruto's clones. Suddenly, a huge shuriken appeared out of nowhere.

'I've got you now, demon brat.' Mizuki said, jumping out of the forest. 'I've got you cornered. You never will become a genin. I'll use this scroll to become very powerful!'

Naruto braced himself, unsure of what to do. Fortunately for Naruto, the blow never came. Kisame had blocked the shuriken with his sword, knocking the oversized shuriken to the ground.

'Now, it's time for you to go.' Kisame said, as he sliced at Mizuki.

With one slash, Mizuki was dead. That one attack was enough to convince Naruto to accept.

'Yeah. I'm coming.' Naruto said.

'Good.' Kisame said. 'We're heading to Kirigakure.'

The two disappeared into the night.

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The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi woke up to the calling of an ANBU officer, Tiger. Hiruzen looked around, unsure as to why Tiger was calling him in the middle of the night. He had fallen asleep on his desk doing paperwork, and deep in his heart, he hoped that the wake-up call was not about the papers he had to skim through and sign. The call wasn't about paperwork. It was much worse.

'Hokage-sama! The Scroll of Seals has disappeared!' Tiger said, the Third Hokage instantly upping his guard. 'Also, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is gone!'

'Naruto!' Hiruzen thought to himself, shocked by the disappearance of one of his pupil's children and a valuable Konoha artefact written by the First Hokage as well as his sensei's brother, Hashirama Senju himself. 'Have I already failed you, Minato?'

Hiruzen's train of thought was cut off almost instantaneously by the entry of one of his former friends, Danzo Shimura.

'Hurry up and act. We need the weapon back, as well as the scroll of Konoha Forbidden Jutsus.' Danzo barked.

'Don't call Naruto a weapon. He's a human, and a valuable asset to the village.' Hiruzen said firmly. 'Tiger, send an platoon of 3 ANBU, Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, and Asuma Sarutobi to retrieve Naruto Uzumaki and bring him back to Konoha.'

'Yes sir!' Tiger said, as he instantly darted away to perform his duty.

Danzo scoffed at Hiruzen, before walking away himself.

'I wonder what happens in his brain.' Hiruzen thought. 'Danzo is not to be trusted. And I suspect that ROOT is still active...'

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Ao, the sole Byakugan user not from Konohagakure, ran out of Konoha with a companion following after. The experienced ninja ran towards the forest outside of Konohagakure, the rendezvous point with his accomplice, Kisame. The trees towered above Ao's head, but he kept on running, until he reached Kisame.

'Oi. You got the brat?' Kisame asked Ao, who replied with a silent nod.

'Wasn't your brat supposed to be Sasuke Uchiha?' Ao inquired, curious as to why Kisame would change his target in the middle of the mission.

'Long story. I'll explain later.' Kisame said. 'Let's go, before Konoha comes looking for their scroll... and their jinchuuriki.'

At that very moment, as they ran off towards Kirigakure, a Konoha search party emerged from the shadows.

'Someone was here just now.' The sensory ANBU officer, Eagle, reported. 'I think I see them.'

'Let's go.' Kakashi Hatake barked, as the squadron began the pursuit of Naruto Uzumaki and the Scroll of Seals.