Forbidden

Summary: "Kage Bushin no Justsu!" Mizuki, I'll kill you for hurting Iruka-sensi! No, Naruto-kun, we'll kill him for hurting Iruka-sensei. There's a reason the Kage Bushin Justsu is forbidden.

Naruto ran silently through the night. 'I did it! I'm a ninja now! A real ninja!' The scroll was heavy on his back, but Naruto carried the weight with glee.

Naruto remember failing the Genin exam earlier that day, and the thought caused a frown to appear of the blond ninja's face. Naruto didn't let the thought bother him for long, though. His next step caused the scroll to bounce, and it put a grin back on his face. 'Iruka-sensei will be so proud!' That one thought consumed Naruto's entire being.

He remembered clearly, painfully clearly, the look of utter disappointment he had seen concealed behind Iruka's weak smile. He knew how much it hurt Iruka when one of his students failed; he had told Naruto, once, while they were out eating Ramen. (If you had asked Iruka he would have said that he was eating ramen while Naruto inhaled his.)

It was the same old routine, the one they both knew and loved so much. But the mood turned serious, almost in an instant. Naruto, ever the oblivious one, kept slurping away for several moments before noticing the dark look Iruka was wearing.

"Hey, what's wrong, Iruka-sensei?" It wasn't just an idle question; Naruto genuinely cared about the man he often wished was his father and was worried about what could make his look so sad. And it was only because Naruto cared so much, and because Iruka knew it, that Iruka decided to tell.

"Have you ever tried to teach, Naruto?" Iruka asked.

"Hmm… nope! Can't say that I have! Most everyone knows more than I do, anyways."

Iruka let out a feeble grin before becoming serious again. "It's not as easy as you would think. When you're a teacher, you aren't just teaching because it's something that needs to be done, you're teaching because you love to teach. You want every single one of your students to succeed in life. And you hope that what you teach them will keep them alive just a little longer."

Iruka sighed. Naruto felt the words, heavy with emotion, settling oppressively around him.

"Whenever someone fails… it feels like it's my fault. Like I wasn't a good enough teacher; like if I had tried harder, they would have tried harder; like if I had –"

"I think you're a good teacher, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouted. And Iruka smiled, a true smile, but Naruto's smile was larger still, masking the pain of his failure, and the knowledge that it was no longer just hurting him.

"Thanks, Naruto. I needed that." And for Iruka, that was everything. He hadn't been talking about Naruto, and somewhere deep inside, Naruto knew that. But deeper still lay the knowledge that even if he wasn't the person Iruka had been thinking about, he was still a part of it.

"Ouch! I think I ate too much, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto was loud, and Iruka was oblivious.

"Haha, typical Naruto." He said, reaching for his wallet.

Naruto almost tripped on a protruding root, but managed to keep running. That memory still hurt whenever he thought about it. But not anymore!

He slowed to a stop in the middle of a small clearing. 'I'll learn one super-cool jutsu, and then I'll go show Mizuki-sensei!'

And with that, Naruto sat himself down on the ground and began destroying himself.

Naruto tried, again, to create just one clone.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" There was a poof of smoke, and a burst of chakra, but no clone. Just wasted energy.

'Damn it… there's just one hand sign! Why can't I get this?!' He took a steadying breath and formed the hand seal one more time. 'Again. This time I've got it for sure.'

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" There was a poof of smoke, and a burst of chakra, and as the smoke cleared, there were two Narutos.

The original blinked in disbelief before letting out a cheer. The second Naruto, catching the other's mood, quickly joined in the celebration.

'Success!' thought Naruto.

'I can't believe I really did it! I have to show Iruka-sensei!' thought Naruto.

It didn't take long for the clone to dispel. Naruto's chakra control was sub-par at best, and this was his first time creating a kage bushin. He didn't care, though. The taste of victory was still fresh in his mouth, and nothing in the world could take that away from him.

"It's over, Naruto! I found you."

"Iruka-sensei! Boy are you quick! I've only had time to learn one technique from the scroll! But I'm gonna show it to you and you're gonna let me pass and everything will be okay again!"

"Who gave you that idea?"

"Mizuki-sensei did. He told me where to find this scroll, and how to find this place, and about the special way to graduate!"

Iruka's survival sense kicked in. You didn't survive as a ninja if you didn't trust your instincts, and Iruka's warned him just in time. He pushed Naruto out of the way of Mizuki's kunai. He was not so fortunate; one had stabbed him in the right thigh, and many others pinned him to the wall of the nearby shed.

"I see you found our little hide-away," said Mizuki. He was crouched in a tree, sneering down Iruka.

Naruto was shocked. 'Iruka-sensei… he's bleeding! Mizuki-sensei… why?' So betrayed. Naruto felt so betrayed. And even though it was an emotion he was well acquainted with it never hurt any less than every other time.

And suddenly they were both talking to him and someone was lying and he didn't know whom to trust and he couldn't move and he had to FOCUS because there was no time to do nothing! And yet…

"They've been lying to you your whole life, Naruto."

"Mizuki, don't!" Iruka yelled.

"Ever since the decree twelve years ago. YOU have the nine-tailed fox sealed within! Now DIE, demon!"

And in the time it took to blink Iruka was kneeling over Naruto, protecting him. And he felt safe. As crazy as it was, as dangerous a situation as it was, Naruto felt safe in Iruka's arms.

"Run, Naruto. Don't let Mizuki get the scroll."

With a feeble nod of his shaking head Naruto stood up and ran as fast as he could. He ran and ran and ran until his legs gave out beneath him, until there was no more left in his lungs, until he was sure that he was far enough from Konoha that he would never have to see another hateful glare his entire life. 'How did this happen?' he thought miserably. 'You were so happy… you were so proud of that new jutsu… yes, just how DID it come to this?'

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. Another voice?

But Iruka and Mizuki had caught up, and they distracted him.

Naruto's eyes filled with tears as Iruka defended him. 'He thinks I'm an excellent ninja? He's proud of me, even though I failed?'

But Mizuki was speaking again. "I take back what I said earlier. I think I'll kill you now. Die!"

'No. No! I can't let that happen!' Naruto was moving, even before he knew what he was doing. His knee found its way to Mizuki's face, and the spinning blade veered off course, away from Iruka.

"Don't lay a finger on Iruka-sensei. If you do… I'll kill you!" 'No, Naruto-kun. WE'LL kill him.'

"Why don't you just try it, monster fox!"

Naruto frowned, and brought his fingers up into the seal. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Thousands of Naruto's popped into existence. Mizuki didn't stand a chance.

The rest of the day blurred into little more than a blur of emotions. Naruto remembered Iruka giving him his headband, and he remembered being overjoyed, but it was a tainted joy. He couldn't let go of the idea that he contained the nine-tailed demon fox, the Kyuubi, within himself.

His mood was worsened by the nagging thought that there had been another voice in his head back when he fought Mizuki. He couldn't be sure of it, but he was afraid all the same.

Needless to say, Naruto was an exhausted bundle of emotions by the time he got back home to his pathetic excuse for an apartment. 'The graffiti makes more sense now.' Naruto thought belatedly.

He unlocked the door and stepped inside with a sigh. After closing the door and carefully relocking it, Naruto dragged himself into his bedroom. Whatever problems he had could certainly wait until morning. Nothing was more important than sleep right now.

Alas, fate had other plans. No sooner had Naruto gotten warm under the covers than someone knocked on his door.

'Why God, why!?' thought Naruto, as comical tears streamed down his face. 'I'm so comfortable! The bed is warm; I've found that perfect spot… I know!' The hand sign was quickly becoming familiar to Naruto. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

A single clone poofed into existence. The person at the door started pounding harder. "For the love God, get the door…" Naruto was only semi-conscious, and if this person didn't have a damn good reason for being there… Naruto couldn't even think of dire enough consequences.

'But I can…'

Naruto's eyes flew open as he salt straight up in bed. All thoughts of sleep fled from his mind. 'I KNOW I heard that one!'

"You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Naruto's neck almost broke as he snapped his head towards the speaker. He had completely forgotten that there was someone at his door. Two someones, in fact.

Naruto jumped out of bed. "Iruka-sensei, Old Man, what are you two doing here so late?"

'Maybe they want ramen!'

'No, they want to teach us a new jutsu!'

'No… they're here for blood! Run!'

Naruto almost broke down right then and there. The voices he kept hearing were very, very real. 'No matter what, I can't let Iruka-sensei or the Old Man know about the voices, not after I just passed the genin exam. Not after they are finally so proud of me!

"Naruto-kun," began the Hokage, "have you… been hearing anything strange of late?" A dark look passed between him and Iruka.

Naruto was proud of the fact that he didn't let the panic show on his face. 'How do they know already? How could they possibly have figured it out before I did!?' Naruto steeled himself, preparing to lie to his two most precious people. It would hurt, it would hurt more than actually ripping his heart in two, but not nearly as much as disappointing them both.

"Anything strange? Hm… nope! Why? What's going on?"

"Ah, nothing Naruto!" said Iruka, a little too quickly to be believed. The Hokage and Iruka glanced at each other once again, both of them alarmed by what Naruto had told them. It didn't make sense… the Kage Bushin no Jutsu was forbidden for a very good reason, but Naruto claimed that he wasn't feeling the symptoms.

"Well, Naruto-kun, it's time you went to bed, wouldn't you say? You've got a big day tomorrow!" Though the Hokage managed to sound unconcerned, his mind was ablaze with concern and curiosity.

"That's right! I'm gonna be on a team tomorrow! I've gotta go to sleep right now!" Naruto knew that he was far too wound up to even hope of going to sleep, but he desperately wanted to be left along to figure out just what the heck was going on. How would he fix it? How would he cover up the fact that he heard voices? How would he, god forbid it, break the news to his teammates? They would hate him, just like everyone else did. Only this time, they would have a reason, and that made it worse.

Naruto's antics brought a small smile to Iruka's face. 'That Naruto… he's still the same as ever. I don't know why, but maybe, just maybe, the jutsu hasn't affected him."

The Hokage's thoughts ran along a similar track. 'Is it the Kyuubi? There's no way to know for sure, but with any luck the demon has protected Naruto from the adverse effects. I can only hope so, for Naruto's sake.'

As Naruto crawled back into bed Iruka and Sarutobi left. Each ninja was involved in his own private thoughts. Well, Iruka and the Hokage, at least. Naruto's thoughts were no longer private.

'Who ARE you?'

'Well that's an easy question.'

'We're YOU. Well, I guess technically we're us as well as you. Um… I'm not really good at explaining this.'

'You most certainly are not, you buffoon. To put it in terms that even the most moronic of simpletons could understand, each of us is a new you, a Naruto that could have been but is not. We are-'

'FOOLS! Does that really matter? Naruto, why didn't you run? That old man could have destroyed us! Everyone is an enemy! Everyone is out to hurt us! I refuse to die for your incompetence!'

And soon all of the voices were yelling at each other, yelling at Naruto, yelling just to be heard. Naruto passed out into blissful silence.

The Hokage, commonly known as the Professor, sat pensive in his office. 'The Kage Bushin no Jutsu… a replication technique that produces a solid clone. The justu requires very little chakra and only minimal chakra control in order to produce clones. The technique is easy to learn, consisting of only one hand sign. The jutsu has only one drawback, serious enough to qualify the jutsu as "forbidden." Every clone produced creates an alternate identity that resides in the user's conscience.'

The Hokage sighed. If what Iruka had told him was correct, then Naruto had created, at the very least, 50 clones in the forest, plus one to open the door when they arrived for a grand total of 51 new persons in Naruto's head.

'I find it hard to believe that Naruto could hide such a dramatic change in his psyche. No… though the idea that the demon somehow protected him is not much more appealing, it is the most likely solution.'

At least, Sarutobi hoped that such was the case. Very few ninja could survive such mental trauma with their sanity still intact. In fact, the only person known to have accomplished that particular feat was Kakashi, the Copy Ninja. And some people even debated whether he qualified as "sane."

The Hokage let loose a deep sigh and hoped for the best.

The next day Iruka paid special attention to Naruto, who looked like he hadn't slept a wink last night. 'Though that could just be me making a big deal out of nothing. Heh, I didn't sleep the night before my team assignments, either.' Nevertheless, Iruka vowed to keep a close eye on the blond all day.

As the day wore on Iruka relaxed more and more. Naruto was still loud and still obnoxious. He seemed determined to tell everyone that he had passed at least 20 times in his most earsplitting voice. If not for Iruka's concern about the Kage Bushin no Jutsu, he would be yelling at Naruto along with the rest of the class. As it were, he was just relieved that everything was as it should be.

Naruto saw the day in a completely different light.

'I just gotta keep being loud. Oh, what would I normally say to something like that?!'

A cacophony of voices yelled out possible responses. Some of them were useful, most of them weren't, and not a single suggestion could be discerned by Naruto.

"Haha, you know me, Sakura-chan! I'm gonna be Hokage one day! There's no way I'd fail a genin exam!"

"Pfft, you mean like those three other genin exams that you 'didn't fail?'"

'Kill, kill! Rip his mouth off!' 'Will you let him get away with that?' 'Honestly, who fails the genin exam THREE TIMES?! You miserable excuse for a human being!' 'Don't do it Naruto, don't do it!' 'No, Naruto, you MUST do it! Do it now, before it's too late!'

'Shut UP! Shut up and leave me alone!'

'Oh Naruto, you don't really mean that, do you? No, you don't want to be alone…' And Naruto knew it was true.

"Shut up, Sasuke! I'm still gonna be Hokage, you'll see!"

For Naruto, the entire morning was a battle to stay sane, both in the eyes of his peers, and in his own eyes. He was fighting a losing battle.

"What!? You think I didn't earn this headband? Ha, I'll show you! Kage Bushin no Jutsu! Ha, whadda ya think now, huh? Pretty impressive, right?"

The cacophony inside Naruto's head only got louder.

"Just SHUT UP!"

Sakura blinked in surprise, her mouth hanging open, and even Sasuke was shocked enough to stare at the blond. They had been waiting Kakashi for just under an hour now, though Naruto had lost track of time by this point. Though Sasuke had been trying to tune his two "teammates" out, he was still aware of the fact that Sakura had only been trying to make polite conversation with Naruto.

"Naruto, you jerk! We're supposed to be teammates now! I was just trying to get to know you!"

Naruto's eyes swam with tears. How could he have yelled at Sakura-chan? How could he have blown his one chance with her, the one time she was actually trying to talk to him?

'You could take her, right here and now. She's too weak to stop you.' 'Yes, Naruto-kun. He's right. You're strong enough.' 'Naruto, no! You mustn't! What would the Hokage think?'

'You stupid voices! You're ruining my life! I can't keep living like this!'

'Then end it, weakling.' 'No, pathetic brat. Let me take over! I could make us invincible!' 'LIES! You lie, filthy worm! All of you LIE! Everyone lies! Death is the only safe haven…'

"Yo, dobe, what's wrong with you? Aren't you going to apologize?"

Naruto snapped back to reality. "I'm so sorry Sakura-chan! I didn't mean it!" Naruto's apologies, though numerous and heartfelt, fell upon seemingly deaf ears.

"Well well, what do we have here?" muttered Kakashi. "A whiz kid fangirl, a love-sick prankster, and a messed up prodigy. I certainly have my work cut out for me."

Sasuke, who had been focused on looking like he wasn't paying attention to Naruto and Sakura, suddenly noticed Kakashi. The other two, sensing Sasuke's newfound object of attention, stopped their verbal dance and turned to face the newcomer.

After a tense moment of sizing each other up, Kakashi broke the silence. "Hello everyone! Meet me on the roof. Now." And he poofed away.

"W-What?!" Sakura stuttered. "Was that our sensei!?"

"Hey what gives! He's over an hour late!"

Sasuke refrained from saying anything at all, instead opting to start heading to the roof. The other two followed. Oh, if only they knew the irony. 'History repeats itself.' There are no exceptions, only victims.

And Naruto, the infamous prankster, had completely forgotten about the eraser he had hidden in the doorway.

They found Kakashi waiting on the roof with his nose hidden in a suspicious looking book.

'Oh, I like him,' a feminine voice said, and a chorus of giggles agreed with her.

'Please,' Naruto begged. 'Please make things go back to the way they were before, I'll do anything!' And the voices paused to think about it.

Naruto didn't know whether he was more disturbed by the fact that his sensei read highly inappropriate books or the fact that some of his other selves were girls. Girls with a crush on his sensei, no less. Naruto felt as if all this good and sane in the world no longer existed. Instead, there was chaos and panic.

'No time for that! Pay attention and answer the questions!'

'Huh? What questions!?'

'The ones your sensei just asked you. What, you think you're better than him? You think you can just ignore him, like he's not worth your time?' 'Insolent little-! Show some respect!' 'I can help you, Naruto, but in return…' 'No, don't listen to him! I'm the one you want to help!'

Naruto closed his eyes and clamped his hands over his ears. It was too much! They didn't stop; they will never stop. His head felt like it was about to explode from the pressure. His eyes snapped open, feeling the gazes everyone. Sakura looked on with a curious fear. Was this really her teammate? Sasuke watched with trepidation. Would he have to fight the dead-last? And Kakashi, the Copy Ninja, the Man of a Thousand Jutsus, the former ANBU Captain, the only one who thought he knew what Naruto was hiding, was the most terrified of them all. Was this the rebirth of the Kyuubi? Was this… the end?

"Heh heh… sorry guys, I got hungry waiting! What were the questions again?"

The tension broke. "Naruto!" Sakura reprimanded. "Really, how did you manage to graduate? Kakashi-sensei wants to know your name, your likes, your dislikes, and your goals in life!" Sakura glanced at Kakashi, looking for some sign of approval. She had given the right answer, after all. The right answer in Kakashi's exact words, for that matter. Poor Sakura. No such approval ever came, for Kakashi knows better than most that the "right" choice isn't always the "best" choice, and that rules will only ever get you so far.

"Those're easy! My name's Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm gonna be Hokage! I like ramen, and I can't stand the three minutes you have to wait for it to heat up!" Kakashi already knew all of this. But Naruto wasn't finished. "But more than that, I really hate when people won't be quiet." This caught Kakashi by surprise, and caused Sakura to burst into laughter.

She said, panting for breath, "What do you, haha, what, ha, think you're, ahaha, saying?" Even Sasuke let out a couple chuckles at the utter hypocrisy of what Naruto had just said. Really, since when did Konoha's loudest ninja-wannabe care about noise?

'What could have brought this on?' pondered Kakashi. "Okay, next."

As Sakura and Sasuke took their turns, Naruto tried to wrestle with his inner demons. 'What do you want from me? What do I have to do to make you stop?' Naruto truly expected a sensible reply.

'Control!' 'Glory in battle!' 'Honorable suicide!' "A life of piety!' 'Blood !' 'Your soul, wretched human!' Naruto couldn't even hope to pick out a unified desire.

But time had moved on, and Kakashi was speaking again. "We're going to begin a mission tomorrow." And Naruto, clinging to the last bit of his old self, was excited.

"What is it?! What is it!?"

"Survival training. Meeting me at the training grounds. Bring your equipment at be there at 5 A.M.! Oh, and don't eat breakfast. You'll throw it up. See ya!"

'No… I can't get sent back now! Not after I worked so hard to get here!' 'He can't do that to us!' ' Not after failing so many times! Not after so much effort!' 'Not after so much blood and so many tears.' 'No…' thought Naruto, and the voices echoed, 'we won't let him, no matter what the cost.'

The next day began bright and early for three very unhappy ninjas, and only got worse from there. Kakashi was over five hours late to their survival training.

'We'll kill him! Slaughter him! Rip him limb from limb!' 'What right does he have to keep us waiting here?' 'We'll show him. We'll show them all!'

Naruto couldn't deal with them. He had barely slept all night; the voices, it seemed, had no need for sleep and certainly had no reason to stop talking. Naruto was exhausted, and was just about ready to collapse. And now, with all of the mental and physical strain on his body, he was forced to endure another five solid hours of the voices working themselves into a frenzy. He couldn't take it anymore!

"Hi guys. Good morning."

"You're LATE!" screamed Sakura and Naruto.

"Sorry about that. You see, a black cat crossed my path, so…" Kakashi didn't even bother to finish explaining why his new route took over 5 hours. The voices yelled louder. Naruto grew angrier.

"You must come at me with the intent to kill. We will begin when I say 'start.'" And that was all the invitation Naruto needed. In his rage induced haze, he charged at Kakashi. In the blink of an eye Naruto was incapacitated. Kakashi, miraculously, was behind him, holding up Naruto's own Kunai to the back of his throat. Naruto's hatred burned hotter.

"But you were ready to kill me, so I'll let it slide this time. Now… ready, start!"

The idea of hiding never even crossed Naruto's mind. He was going to fight Kakashi. Now. Rematch. To the death if he could. For once the voices weren't arguing with him, but encouraging him. This was the right thing to do.

But it was the wrong thing to do. And it worked. Team Seven, the only students ever passed by the infamous Kakashi. Who gets credit for that particular feat? Naruto? Sakura? Maybe even Sasuke? Or possibly the voices, whose actions influenced Naruto so greatly?

Naruto never was able to quiet the uproar in his head. He never was able to ignore them.

He couldn't bargain with them; he couldn't threaten them. All he could do was live with them.

The Kage Bushin no Jutsu is a forbidden technique for a very good reason. Whole is Naruto Uzumaki, really? The world will never know, for he was lost long ago to the demons of his own creation.

He can never sleep easy. The voices keep him up at night. But he is never alone, and he couldn't have wished for a better gift. Old man Hokage still looks at him funny, but he's learned how to hide his pain. Iruka sensei knows that something has changed, but he never lets him know what. "How does the world look through one pair of eyes?" he asks. He has forgotten long ago.

Does he ever wish that he had never learned that cursed technique? Every day. But it is too late, now. He cannot imagine a day of peace, a day of quiet. The voices are a part of him, have always been a part of him. He's insane; he knows it, but it doesn't matter. So long as he can save his friends, Naruto Uzumaki will break every rule in the book, no matter the consequences.

A/N: And there you have it. Forbidden has been in my head for a while, and I'm so glad I got it onto paper. So far as I know, the idea is completely original. I am very, very proud of it. IMPORTANT: I don't mind if you use the idea, but please give me credit for it. Also, I'd appreciate a link to the story, if you don't mind. The warm and fuzzy feeling called pride that I'd get from such an experience would leave me happy for days.

Dedication: Now I'd like to do something different for this particular one shot. I'm dedicating Forbidden to HowlingAngel. Happy (slightly) belated birthday, Angel!

The facts: This is my longest one shot to date, and is also currently my longest work of writing on fanfiction. Childhood ranks number 2, with just under 5,000 words, if you don't count the Author's Notes at the end of each chapter. I'm proud to know that I can write this much. Hopefully breaking this boundary will make it easier to write longer chapters. Now that school is (almost) over, I'll have more time for living life. That includes writing more often. I know, I've made this promise before, but that was during the school year! Yeah... I'm sensing some skeptics in the audience. Well, I'll just have to prove that things are different.

What happened to Childhood, you ask? I actually wrote the next chapter for it, but my computer got wrecked so it's lost. Rather than rewrite it, I decided to give someting new a try, to do something different. I will get back to Childhood, I just don't know when. I'm kinda feelin' another one-shot coming on. We'll see!

I tried to keep this fairly close to the storyline of the show, but I took some creative liberties (if you couldn't tell, heh). Still, I think that the story was back on track by the end. The very end got a little surreal, but the mood felt right and the words flowed, so I won't question it.

Word Count: 4,459

Thank you all for reading Forbidden. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated. Though I really like the concept behind the story, I want to know what you all thought of the medium. Was the story too comical? Not surreal enough? Not long enough? Please, tell me what you thought! Once again, thank you for reading.

PIIR-Pierrot