Team seven wasn't what Sasuke was hoping for when he graduated the Academy. But learning more about Naruto gives him thoughts that maybe there's more to life than charging after the shadow of his brother. M/M
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Sasuke scowled as the teams were named. Sakura! and Naruto?! A ditzy fan girl and the most incompetent idiot in the class. Sakura though she scored well on tests, had one of the worst practical scores and seemed to lose her head around him. Naruto well, the guy had the worst test scores in the class and couldn't throw a kunai straight. Not to mention Naruto had a ridiculous grudge against Sasuke and seemed to go out of his way to challenge him. Well he thought, Itachi only lasted as a genin for a year and afterward he didn't have much to do with his team so hopefully Sasuke could do the same.
Two hours later and he was getting impatient. This was ridiculous. What kind of Jounin instructor was late by two hours? He hadn't thought to bring any scrolls from his family library so instead of spending the time productively he was left to try channeling chakra around his eyes. It was documented in one the family scrolls he'd read years ago that though triggering the Sharingan for the first time required certain circumstances, he could strengthen the eye muscles and make the Sharingan easier to use if he practiced channeling chakra to his eyes. At the moment howerver, it was difficult to tell if whatever he was doing was helping any, other than letting him see a little more clearly and giving him a massive headache.
Finally the door opened and a man stepped in, only to fall directly into one of the traps that Naruto had set up in his boredom. Sasuke squinted suspiciously. No way could he have actually fallen for that. Either he was the most incompetent Jounin ever and likely to die very soon, or he had done it on purpose, perhaps to test them. Sasuke mulled that over as the man opened his mouth and said.
"Meet me on the roof in 5 minutes" and disappeared in a small puff of smoke. Not completely incompetent Sasuke amended seeing the Flash step. Most likely a test then. But for what purpose?
Once they were on the roof the jounin asked to start introductions and Sakura asked him to start.
"My name is Hatake Kakashi, my likes and dislikes are private and my dreams are none of your business".
Hatake Kakashi! Sasuke recognized the name. Before The Incident, his family had made sure he knew who were the top ninja Konoha and Hatake was definitely amount the strongest 20. In a village of over three thousand ninja this was no small feat. Furthermore Sasuke knew his instructor was the Fourth Hokage himself, meaning that he was qualified for the Hokage position himself and furthermore it put the three of them in contention for the position should they prove powerful enough by extension.
Why though? His family had often gripped about how no Uchiha was ever considered for anything related to the Hokages position. Itachi had been shunted off to a powerful but completely politically unconnected Jounin, an insult that Sasuke's family had taken personally. Was this some attempt at easing a village guilty conscience? Give the last survivor of a clan the acclaim the clan always wished for? Keep him loyal to the village? But likely the same reasons that they applied to the clans unsuitability for Hokage would extend to him as well. So why throw away their last possible Jounin instructor for a Hokage candidate? Unless they meant to do away with the tradition altogether? But that still wouldn't make any sense since the system existed for a reason. Having the most powerful mentor the next generation of the most powerful was a useful system in insuring that they reached their full potential. Furthermore there were rumored things that were passed specifically from Hokage candidate to Hokage candidate and they were groomed specifically for leadership and command, unlike other teams that had to learn to obey orders immediately from any superior officer. Why then was Sasuke chosen? Unless it wasn't Sasuke that they were choosing. Sasuke flicked a glance over his teammates. Sakura was a civilian though she must have shown quite a bit of promise for the Hokage to choose her for this team, she didn't have the political connections to the Hokage role, furthermore civilian ninja were typically a lot less powerful than their pedigreed clan counterparts. In Sasuke's eyes it seemed more an attempt to appease the civilian council and encouraging recruitment. By placing her on the Hokage candidate team, she was guaranteed to become strong and would draw in other civilian children who would try to emulate her. If it wasn't her however… Sasuke turned considering eyes on Naruto.
Naruto. An orphan with publically announced unknown parents. But they couldn't be unknown, not if Naruto was on this team. They weren't likely to be village enemies, Hokage candidates had to be loyal. Konoha could not afford another powerful traitor like Orochimaru. They had to be powerful and there had to be a reason that the village council kept the knowledge secret. Naruto, it seemed was much more than he appeared to be.
After they went through the introductions Hatake announced the test tomorrow. Some of Sasuke's confusion cleared. Of course there would be a further test. Psyche profiles and test scores aside, there had to be some further test on whether or not they deserved the honor. How best to pass the test then? Hatake disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Sakura was on him immediately badgering him for dinner. He opened his mouth to tell her no before he paused. The test tomorrow. For a best chance at passing they would probably have to work together. Teams were always a group of three and though the other two could likely not do anything useful it would be remiss of him to not at least check. Well then…
"Okay Dinner. But Naruto, you're coming too." Sakura's face went from ecstatic to confused while Naruto's was frozen in an expression of shock. Before either of them could recover Sasuke stood up and walked over to the stair well.
"Anyone hate sushi?" he said stepping down the first stair. Naruto was the first to recover. "Why the hell do you want me to come to dinner, bastard?" Naruto shouted as he bound after Sasuke. "We'll talk about this at Dinner" Sasuke replied.