𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙚 (ARC 1)

twelve years ago, a vicious tailed beast known as the Nine-Tails attacked the shinobi village of Konohagakure. Many shinobi fought the beast but killed all those standing before it. The Fourth Hokage saved the town by sealing the beast with an infant boy at the cost of his own life. In the present, Naruto Uzumaki is a prankster who is constantly causing trouble throughout Konohagakure, most recently having placed graffiti all over the Hokage Rock. Much of the village dislikes him, but he enjoys the attention garnered from reprimands, as he has no parents or friends due to the villagers abusing him daily. Despite claiming to be a talented shinobi who would someday become Hokage, Naruto cannot perform basic techniques such as the Clone Technique. When this leaves him unable to graduate from the Academy, one of his instructors, Mizuki, tells Naruto that if he could steal the Scroll of Seals and learn one of its secret techniques, he would be allowed to continue the ranks of the ninja anyway and graduate.After successfully stealing the scroll, instructor Iruka Umino finds Naruto, who realises that Mizuki has tricked Naruto. Mizuki arrives and asks Naruto for the scroll, to which Iruka ordered Naruto not to, as Mizuki lied and only wanted the scroll for himself. Mizuki then tells Naruto that he wasn't the one lying, explaining since the day he was born, Nine-Tails has been sealed inside him and that is the reason the villagers hate him so much. He explains that Iruka must hate him the most because the Nine-tails was the one who killed his parents. However, Iruka refutes the accusation, saying he did not blame Naruto for the beast's actions and that he, having grown up also craving attention, sympathised with him. Naruto believing Iruka, uses his newly-mastered Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to defeat Mizuki. Amazed by the complicated technique that Naruto has learned, Iruka officially makes Naruto a ninja by giving him his forehead protector. He says that he may one day have the potential to become Hokage. Naruto takes a bizarre photo to use for his Ninja Registration Form, causing the Third Hokage to order him to retake it. However, Naruto refuses, and tries to persuade the Third with the Sexy Technique, which gives the latter a nose bleed and falls. Suddenly, the Third's grandson comes charging into the room, wishing to challenge him for the title as Hokage, but slips and falls. Konohamaru tries to claim Naruto made him trip, angering Naruto. Konohamaru chastises Naruto, believing that since he's the grandson of the Third Hokage, Naruto wouldn't harm him. However, Naruto replies that he doesn't care and punches the boy.After Naruto leaves, Ebisu, Konohamaru's trainer, informs the boy not to let Naruto bother him, as he is beneath him. He carries on to say that if he wished to quickly be the next Hokage, he needs to stick by him. However, during his speech, Konohamaru left to follow Naruto without him noticing. Ebisu panics and rushes off to find him. While walking through Konohagakure, Naruto is followed by Konohamaru who tries to avoid being spotted. However, Naruto realises this, seeing through Konohamaru's disguises. Impressed by this, Konohamaru orders Naruto to train him. While seeming uninterested at first, after Konohamaru refers to Naruto as "boss", he accepts. After training, Konohamaru explains to Naruto that the reason he wants to be the next Hokage was so that people can see him as more than just the grandson of the Third Hokage. Elsewhere, on the rooftop of the Hokage's office, the Third is seen looking up at the Fourth Hokage's monument. After Iruka appears and explains how Naruto believes that becoming a genin will change things, the Third explains that people don't change easily. The Third goes on to say that due to Naruto containing the Nine-Tailed Fox within himself, people fear the beast could take over or that Naruto may be the beast. Ebisu finally finds Konohamaru and Naruto. Ebisu tells Konohamaru to come with him, but Konohamaru refuses. After announcing that he is learning how to beat his grandfather in order to become Hokage, Konohamaru performs the Sexy Technique. Worried that Konohamaru is becoming a delinquent due to Naruto, Ebisu tries to pull Konohamaru away with him. However, Naruto tries to stop him by using the Shadow Clone Technique to battle Ebisu. As Ebisu prepares himself, he is surprised when Naruto and his clones use the Sexy Technique, causing the latter to have a huge nose bleed and fall unconscious. Naruto then tells Konohamaru that there is no shortcut to becoming the Hokage, exclaiming that they would be rivals, and that they would fight one day for the title. All of the genin graduates arrive at the Academy for their orientation. Sakura spots Sasuke sitting down and runs over to him, knocking down Naruto in the process, and asks if she could sit next to him. However, Ino comes over and states that she should be the one to sit next to Sasuke before many of the other girls do the same thing. Upset over the attention Sasuke is getting from the girls, Naruto gets on top of the desk and glares at Sasuke, with the latter returning the favour. Suddenly, Tobio accidentally bumps into Naruto, causing him to fall forward and kiss Sasuke, much to the girls' dismay. As a result, Naruto gets pummelled by them, because they were angry that they weren't Sasuke's first kiss.After Iruka arrives, he explains the next step that the genin will take, explaining that they will be in a team of three led by a jōnin. He then announces that Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke will be Team 7; Hinata, Kiba and Shino will be Team 8; and Ino, Shikamaru and Chōji will be Team 10. Naruto abruptly asks Iruka why he had to be on a team with Sasuke before being told that he had the worst scores of all the graduates, while Sasuke had the best, so in turn, they were put together to create a balanced group. During lunchtime, Sakura tries to find to Sasuke to ask him to have lunch with her to no avail. She then runs into Naruto who asks her to have lunch with him, but she coldly dismisses him. Angered yet again, Naruto ambushes Sasuke through an open window. The ending results shows Sasuke standing over a gagged and bound Naruto, but is later revealed that Sasuke only defeated a substitution before the real Naruto overpowers him with the Shadow Clone Technique. Naruto then transforms into Sasuke and heads out to find Sakura. When he finds her, he asks her what she thought of Naruto. She replies by saying that he was annoying. Sakura then leans in to kiss Sasuke, but as they are about to kiss, Sasuke is forced to go to the bathroom. When the real Sasuke manages to escape, he runs into Sakura and asks if she's seen Naruto. Brushing off what he asked, she proceeds to mock him, believing that he's so annoying because he had no parents to teach him how to behave and that he was all alone. This sparks Sasuke to remark that Sakura had no idea what it felt like to be alone before saying that she was annoying. This causes Sakura to have some resolve for Naruto, deciding to be nicer to him. After Naruto finishes using the bathroom, he runs into Sasuke, much to his surprise. Naruto uses the Shadow Clone Technique in an attempt to attack Sasuke, but is unable to proceed due to having to use the bathroom again. After finishing, he spots Sakura who is strangely being nice to him. This leads him to believe that it was Sasuke transformed as her, and is prepared to face off against her until he has to use the bathroom yet again. At Naruto's house, the Third Hokage briefs Kakashi on the team he will be leading, Team 7. Kakashi examines a carton of milk and states that it was spoiled, which is the reason Naruto had to run to the bathroom so much. Kakashi then comments on how much of a problem Naruto would be. Inside a classroom at the Academy, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura wait for their jōnin sensei Kakashi to arrive. As punishment for running late, Naruto decides to pull a prank on him by putting a chalkboard eraser in between the opening of the door to have it fall on him when he opens the door. Sasuke points out that an elite ninja will never fall for something like that, but to his surprise, he does, amusing Naruto and secretly Sakura as well. This action causes Kakashi to ridicule them by calling them "idiots", much to their dismay.Kakashi has the team introduce themselves: Naruto says that he wants to be Hokage one day, Sakura merely blushes and glances at Sasuke, and Sasuke declares that his goal is to kill a certain someone. Kakashi then tells them that they will undergo a survival test tomorrow morning, which will determine which of 27 graduates will be sent to the Academy, with the chances of failing being 66%. Before dismissing them, he also tells them to skip breakfast or else they'd puke. At 5am the next day, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura arrive at the designated area as instructed. However, once again, Kakashi arrives late, upsetting them. Kakashi claims that a black cat passed his way so he had to go the long way. Kakashi then tells them that they will have to retrieve a bell from him by noon, and since there are only two, one of them will be not only fail but will be tied to a tree post and watch as everyone else eats. Sakura deduces that Kakashi made them skip breakfast to make the test more difficult. Once the test begins, the three of them go off and hide. Elsewhere, Iruka discusses with the Third Hokage about his concerns of Kakashi and the training his former students will endure after hearing rumours. The Third understands and gives Iruka a book detailing the trainees who have passed and failed under Kakashi's wing. To Iruka's surprise, none of them have passed. Back at the training ground, just as Kakashi comments that his team has hidden well, Naruto makes his presence known and charges at him. Kakashi nonchalantly takes out his Icha Icha book and evades all of Naruto's attacks, before appearing behind him and using the One Thousand Years of Death to send him flying into the water. Naruto returns uses the Shadow Clone Technique to cleverly distract Kakashi as he had one sneak up behind him. To Naruto's surprise, as he prepares to a punch on the restrained Kakashi, Kakashi confuses Naruto having him think he turned himself into Naruto's clone. This caused the clones to attack one another, but in actuality, Kakashi used the Body Flicker Technique to switch one of Naruto's clones with himself. After Naruto disperses his clones, he spots a bell on the ground and joyfully picks it up, but it turned out to be a trap as Naruto is hung upside down by a rope attached to a tree. Kakashi appears and lectures him. Sasuke takes this opportunity to attack Kakashi from the trees with shuriken and kunai that strike the jōnin. Kakashi evades Sasuke's attack with the Body Replacement Technique. After revealing his position, Sasuke moves out to avoid being found by Kakashi. A worried Sakura runs off to find Sasuke, only to be caught by Kakashi's genjutsu that makes her believe that Sasuke is seriously injured, which causes her to scream and faint. Sasuke confronts Kakashi and forces him to stop reading Icha Icha and use both hands to defend against his string of taijutsu attacks. Sasuke then launches a giant fireball at Kakashi, which the jōnin manages to avoid by burrowing underground before dragging Sasuke down, leaving only his head to be seen.Naruto manages to free himself from the tree he was hanging from and spots the food for lunch. Before he can try to snag a bite, Kakashi appears and ties him to a tree post. Elsewhere, Sakura wakes up and goes to look for Sasuke, whom she believes is still injured. She finds him buried from the neck down and comes to the conclusion that he was decapitated, before fainting again. Sasuke manages to free himself and awakens Sakura, who is relieved to see he is unharmed. Despite time running out, Sasuke is still set on getting a bell, informing Sakura that he came close to doing so. Knowing that she is not capable of getting a bell and worried that she'll be separated from Sasuke if he does, Sakura tries to convince him to give up and try next year. Sasuke dismisses the idea, explaining that he is an avenger and doesn't need any setbacks. However, just then, the timer for the exercise goes off. Kakashi meets with the three genin and tells them that he won't be sending them back to the Academy. Naruto and Sakura share in the happy news until Kakashi goes on to say that they will be dropped from being a ninja permanently. Naruto is outraged and demands an explanation, and Kakashi explains that they don't think like ninja, thinking more like "little kids". Sasuke then charges at Kakashi, but is easily restrained. Kakashi further explains that teamwork was the key in retrieving a bell, and notes that each of them were so self-entitled throughout the challenge: Naruto recklessly tried to face a foe who clearly outmatched him alone without even a real plan, Sakura focused all her interest on Sasuke while making no effort to help Naruto when she was able to do so, and Sasuke arrogantly believed his teammates were a burden to him and that he would only focus on himself. After showing them Konoha's Memorial Stone, Kakashi decides to give them another chance. Kakashi tells Sasuke and Sakura to eat lunch and replenish their energy; however, since Naruto broke the rules and tried to eat before the test was complete, he is forced to remain tied to the post and watch. Before he leaves, Kakashi warns them that if they feed Naruto, they will immediately fail. After Kakashi leaves, Sasuke and Sakura begin eating their food, while Naruto's stomach growls of hunger. Sasuke decides to share his food with Naruto, stating that since they have to retrieve the bells as a team, he needs Naruto to operate at good strength, which Naruto cannot do if he is hungry. Sakura hesitates, but decides to share her food as well, stating that she is on a diet and eats less than Sasuke. As Sasuke resumes eating his food, Sakura is forced to feed Naruto since his arms are tied. Kakashi then suddenly appears and tells them that they will be punished for not breaking his rules. However, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura band together to state that they are a team, and to their surprise, are rewarded with Kakashi stating they have passed. He explains that those who break the rules are considered scum, but those who abandon their friends are even worse than scum. He notifies the they are the only team he has passed, since they were the only ones to realize that breaking rules to help your friends is necessary whereas his previous students merely followed his orders. Kakashi tells them to go home and that they will have their first mission together; as Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura leaves, Naruto yells at them to free him from the tree post. After Team 7 successfully finds Tora, the lost cat of the Fire Daimyō's wife, they return it back to her. With their mission successfully completed, the Third Hokage informs them of the available D-rank missions, such as babysitting the chief counsellor's three-year-old. Naruto expresses that he wants to go on a real mission that's exciting and challenging. Iruka lectures him, stating that like every beginner genin with no experience, he must start with simpler missions to develop his skills. The Third goes on to explain that with a higher-ranked mission comes higher difficulty and greater risk to the shinobi. However, Naruto exclaims that he is a ninja now and wants to be treated as such. Amused at his statement, the Third decides to give the team a C-rank mission to escort Tazuna, a master bridge builder, to the Land of Waves. When Tazuna meets the team, he expresses disbelief in the fact that kids are going to be guarding him but works with them nonetheless.As they make their way to the Land of Waves, two chūnin-level Kiri-nin emerge from a puddle and binds Kakashi with shuriken-laced chains, before pulling and ripping him apart. With Kakashi "defeated", the duo turns their attention to Naruto, who freezes up. Before they can land an attack, Sasuke intervenes and saves Naruto. The duo split up, leaving one behind as the other charges at Tazuna. Sakura steps in front of Tazuna to defend him before Sasuke appears in front of her to aid. Before anything further can happen, Kakashi appears and effortlessly defeats the duo, though Naruto does attain a small scratch from one of their Metal Gauntlets, which contained poison. It is revealed that Kakashi used the Body Replacement Technique to escape the duo's initial attack, suspecting an ambush when he discovered their puddle on a clear day. Kakashi compliments Sasuke and Sakura for their courage but expresses disappointment in Naruto with how poorly he handled the situation. Tazuna questions why Kakashi took so long to help, with the latter explaining that he could have defeated them quickly but needed to know who their target was. Kakashi points out that their target was Tazuna and that had he told them that he would be hunted by ninja, the mission would be a B-rank or higher, and a different team would have been assigned. Sakura suggests they quit the mission, not only due to the higher difficulty but because of Naruto's wound. Unwilling to jeopardise the mission, Naruto decides to take out a kunai and uses it to remove the poison from his hand. He then makes an oath that he will never run away or back down from any mission, threat, or enemy, as well as not lose to Sasuke. After this, Kakashi bandages Naruto's wound so he doesn't bleed out, but discovers that it had already begun to heal due to the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Elsewhere, Gatō, the man who hired the Demon Brothers to eliminate Tazuna, complains about their failure to Zabuza, the duo's apparent boss. Zabuza raises his Kubikiribōchō at Gatō to shut him up, and states that he will handle it himself. Gatō informs him that they will be expecting another assault and that a high-level ninja is accompanying Tazuna. This doesn't faze Zabuza, who just replies that he is the "Demon of the Hidden Mist". Team 7 is on a motorboat, owned by Kaji, headed towards the Land of Waves. Kakashi threatens to abandon the mission if Tazuna does not provide an adequate explanation for lying about the mission's difficulty level. He tells them that an extremely wealthy businessman called Gatō was responsible for his country's struggles, and could not afford any high ranked missions. Later as they are walking, Kakashi suddenly tells everyone to duck just before a giant sword spins over them, and a ninja appears on the handle of it. The ninja identifies himself to be Zabuza Momochi, a missing-nin from Kirigakure. He demands to have Tazuna, to which Kakashi refuses.Kakashi’s forced to use his Sharingan, and Sasuke immediately recognises it, explaining along with Zabuza, that Sharingan is a dōjutsu that can immediately see and anticipate all ninjutsu and genjutsu. Sasuke’s confused though, as only members of his clan wielded it. Zabuza then summons a thick veil of mist, and Kakashi informs his team to protect Tazuna. The tension between the two jōnin causes Sasuke to have a panic attack, but Kakashi is able to calm him down. Zabuza prepares to strike the group with his sword, but Kakashi races toward them just in time. He stabs Zabuza with his kunai, but it’s revealed he merely used a water clone. In turn, Zabuza slices Kakashi in half, who also turns out to be a clone. Appearing behind him, Kakashi catches Zabuza off guard, holding a kunai to his throat. With Kakashi captured in Zabuza's Water Prison Technique, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are forced to defend against Zabuza's attacks. Kakashi tells them to run. Naruto instinctively moves to flee, but feels the pain in his hand, remembering his oath. He decides to fight to save Kakashi and keep Tazuna alive