"How did you know I wasn't Iruka," asked Mizuki.
Then Naruto turned into the scared chunin.
"Because I'm Iruka."
"I don't see why you're not helping me kill that monster. He killed your parents! You saw the way he looked. That was the look of a monster with no remorse for the lives he has taken. Help me kill him and together we can take the scroll and become powerful."
"You're right," said Iruka. "Monsters do kill without remorse and the do terrible things."
In his hiding place, Naruto began to sink into despair. Iruka thought of him as a monster as well. However, he was amazed at what he said next.
"But, that's not what Naruto is. He's nothing like the demon fox: he is a kind and hard working boy that everyone ignores. He is one of the finest students I have ever taught and will become a great shinobi one day!"
"You are a fool, Iruka. Now die," said Mizuki as he reached to his back to pull out his other shuriken. That's when Naruto's foot impacted his face. Mizuki was thrown back several feet but did not fall down. "Thanks for saving me the trouble of looking for you." Naruto ignored him rushed over to his sensei.
"I'm sorry sensei," he said.
"That's O.K., Naruto."
"How nice," said Mizuki. "Now I can kill you both at the same time!" As soon as he said that, a powerful wind erupted from Naruto that halted his movements. Branches broke and animals took shelter from its force. Slowly Naruto turned around to stare at the traitor.
"Normally, I don't go into a fight with a grudge or seeking blood. But it's too late for that. I won't let you hurt Iruka-sensei," he said. Iruka was surprised in how Naruto said it. It was calm, as if he knew there was no way he would lose. He then made the ram sign that we all know. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" and with that the field was full of Naruto's.
"Is that all you got," said Mizuki. While he was acting tough, he truly was starting to sweat. This wasn't good at all. Deciding that his best course of action was to attack first and get them by surprise. He threw his shuriken and destroyed several clones. He got creeped out when Naruto just laughed.
"You know, sensei," he said. "I learned one other jutsu . . ." Mizuki then heard a noise behind him and on instinct threw a kunai at the Naruto that was attacking from behind. However, when it hit the clone, it did not go puff. It went boom and Mizuki was thrown by the force. "I also learned Bunshin Daibakuha." When Mizuki landed all of the remaining clones moved to keep him in the perimeter. Naruto then moved over to him quickly and proceed in punching the man in the gut repeatedly until he could no longer hear the man's bones breaking.
Needless to say, when it was done, Iruka was impressed that his student had learned two powerful jutsu.
"Hey Naruto, close your eyes," said Iruka. Naruto complied and when he opened them, he noticed the Iruka's hitai-ate was no longer on Iruka's head. It was on his. Naruto began to jump for joy and his happiness was infectious.
In his office, the Hokage smiled. He had watched the whole thing through his crystal ball and understood why Naruto did what he did. How could he blame the boy for listening and believing what his sensei told him?
But know he had to make the teams. While he wanted Naruto to be happy, he couldn't put him with both Hinata and Anko. That would cause more rumors and they would doubtlessly spread like wild fire. Also, he believed that Hinata would be better suited on the recon team led by Kurenai. With her speed and bloodline, she would be perfect. Not to mention that the new jonin practically demanded her to be on her team. He had thought to put Anko in team 4 but decided that Sakura should be put in that team instead.
Then an idea came to mind when he saw the team 7 slot. The council had made a powerful case that Sasuke be taught by Kakashi. In principle, Sarutobi agreed that that was the best choice. Kakashi was the only person in the village who could teach the boy. Sadly, Kakashi had his flaws. The old Hokage had a long standing belief that the one eyed jonin had been failing his previous teams on purpose so that he could be Sasuke's sensei. Also, he was very lazy and would most likely ignore his other two students. When he voiced this to the council they had insisted that the Uchiha was more important. So Sarutobi was having a hard time deciding who to put in that team. He thought of Sakura first because she didn't seem to care about her training anyways, but she was now out of the picture. He needed two people who were already highly skilled above their age group who would need a sensei that could be there when they were over their heads. And there were only two that he knew of.
On Monday morning, Naruto sat with the others as Iruka went over the list of teams. He heard Sakura whine when she wasn't placed on Sasuke's team. Then Iruka got to team 7.
"Team 7 will be Uzumaki Naruto, Mitarashi Anko, and Uchiha Sasuke. Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake. Team 8 will be Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hinata. Your sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai. Team 10 will be Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Choji. Your sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma."
"Hey wait a minute," screeched Sakura. "How come Naruto gets to be on the same team as Sasuke-kun when he failed the exam." There was a group of nods with this statement.
"Naruto took a make-up test that was ten times harder and passed," said Iruka as he set his clipboard down. "Also, these teams were selected by the Hokage himself. If you have a problem with it you can take it up with him. Now, you may go to lunch now and when you are done please wait here for your new sensei's to arrive. I wish you all the best of luck."