DAYUM, folks, it's been a while! Three years since my last update on anything. Did ya miss me? Probably not, because there are loads of other authors on this website who actually HAVE talent! Hahaha. At any rate, this is the reboot of Kyuubi-chan, my most successful story to date. I don't know how many of you will like what I'm doing with the reboot, but I didn't like the direction I took with the last one. The whole Trelief thing? Bit too much of a, "Here's a story!" situation for me.
TL;DR version: I'm back, baby.
Also. Because I heartily disagree with putting twelve year olds into the ninja force, people are going to be fifteen (15) when they graduate for the purpose of this fic, and therefore are 15 now, as this begins directly after graduation. Okay, I'll stop talking now, story time.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Pay attention, because this is only going to be said once (unless, of course, that changes.)
The apartment was better than the orphanage. That much was certain. It wasn't great, but it was something. Naruto's heart was hit with a sudden pang of sorrow. The Hokage had authorized bimonthly stipends of money to the older orphans because the orphanage was getting too full to hold them all. Mostly, the newcomers were children of ninjas. They were scared, confused, and sad.
Just another reason to push myself, thought Naruto. If I can become a great ninja, maybe I can stop the deaths.
Naruto got out of bed and headed over to the kitchen area. He opened up the fridge and pulled out some eggs. He looked around the inside of the fridge for a moment, but it was relatively empty. He got his stipend today, though, so he'd be able to do some much-needed shopping. He shut the fridge and cracked the eggs over a pan. Cooking had been one of the responsibilities taken on by the older orphans in the weeks before the Stipend Act, so Naruto was familiar with making scrambled eggs.
As an afterthought, Naruto checked on top of the fridge to see if he had any bread left. There was a tiny bit of a loaf, but it was only end pieces. It'd have to do. Naruto plopped them soft-side down on the grate on top of his stove burner, as he didn't have a toaster.
Today was the day on which teams would be formed out of this year's academy graduates. More than anything, Naruto hoped he wouldn't be placed on the same team as Sasuke.
Fifteen years ago, maybe a day or two after Naruto was born, there was a civil war in Konoha. Rumors were circulating about an Uchiha uprising against the Hokage. The Fourth was looking into the matter when the Uchihas, fearing their plans had actually been discovered, launched the first strike. The Hokage didn't survive the night, though most of the Uchiha didn't either. Many people were orphaned that day, including Naruto. He was told his parents were killed defending the Hokage. Shortly after the attempted coup, there was a retaliatory strike against the rest of the Uchiha. The only survivors were a seven-year-old Sasuke, and his older brother, Itachi. Itachi fled the city the same night, making him highly suspect for the murders of his own family, as he alone among the fighting-age Uchiha had not participated in the coup.
And yet somehow, Sasuke still managed to become the village idol without even trying. Any time someone brought up his family, the response was, "Oh, he was too young," or some crap like that. The subsequent slaughter of them always brought out the, "Oh, poor dear," comments. And so, he got special treatment – even instant adoption by a wealthy family – while the rest of the orphans, children of loyal Konoha citizens and Shinobi, got shoveled into the orphanage.
It made Naruto sick.
He dumped the pan of eggs out onto a paper plate, grabbed his end piece toast, and sat down at the table to eat.
It was too bad, really; Naruto was looking forward to the possibility to being on the same team as Sakura, but she hadn't graduated. While she had the best marks on anything written or spoken, and even the jutsu they were taught, her taijutsu skills were nonexistent. The examiners decided that, while she had the makings of an excellent ninja, she would have to wait for the next graduation exam so that she could get better marks at taijutsu. As it was, they said, she wouldn't survive a fight for long in her current shape.
So, who did that leave as possibility for teammates? There was...the dog kid. He'd be interesting to have on his team. He was kind of weird smelling, but he was cool, from the interactions he'd actually had with...Keyer? No, that wasn't right. Then there was Ino, the chick Sakura was always hanging out with. Naruto didn't really like her; she was kind of a bitch. Her mind transfer bit was cool, though, and Naruto could see a lot of applications for it in battle. Then there was Cho-something, the fat –
Naruto's alarm rang, letting him know he had ten minutes until he had to be in the classroom for team assignments. He yelped in surprise, scarfed down the rest of his food, smacked the off button on the alarm, and dashed out the door.
He then ran back into the apartment, took off his pajamas, put on his headband and his green Shinobi surplus fatigues, and left again.
As Naruto ran down the streets of Konoha, he passed people he knew. His passing earned him such comments as, "Good job on graduating!" and, "Keep up the good work, you'll make a fine ninja!" He also passed several of the orphans out with one of the matrons. The young orphans cheered at him, and the matron, a young woman named Iya, waved to him with a smile.
Passing the orphans put a smile on Naruto's hurried face. Ninjas were the ultimate heroes to any orphan, because so many orphans become ninjas. Naruto knew the feeling. It gave you a sense of purpose, of meaning. It meant that even though you had no parents, and no family at all to call your own, you still had a chance of being successful in life. You could still be great, be known, be important. You still had hope, even though you were just one small kid in a very large world.
Today is for you guys, Naruto thought. I'm doing this for you.
Naruto skidded to a halt before the Academy door, barely not crashing into it. He took a step back so that his nose no longer touched the door, opened it, and went inside.
Being a Saturday, no classes were taking place. The only sign of life in the building were the muffled voices from inside the classroom were team assignments were happening. Naruto entered, and the clock on the wall glared at him: 8:58. Almost didn't make it.
Unfortunately, after tearing his eyes away from the clock's indignant gaze, the first thing he saw was Sasuke brooding.
Freaking Sasuke. Asshole.
Naruto took a seat in the third row of desks.
While he was waiting for Iruka to start, Naruto's mind wandered to how dangerously close he was to joining Sakura in the Academy for the next year. While his Taijutsu skills were above average, his jutsu scores had been low. The ones they wanted the students to perform were more about control than anything, and Naruto was heavy on the amount of chakra he could push, but lacking on fine control. His results were low, but not bad; just enough to disqualify him by three percent.
Of course, then there was the whole escapade with Mizuki and the scroll, the Shadow Clone jutsu, and-
The clock chimed nine, and Naruto was ripped out of his reverie and the last few days lay forgotten as he leaned forward in anticipation.
Iruka began calling off names of people he didn't know and organizing them into their teams. After four teams, Naruto's name had not been called, and he started to lose interest. A few names came by that he knew – Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji. Chouji! That was his name! He didn't really recognize the next two, but the third name called was Kiba, to which Naruto snapped his mental fingers in immediate recognition.
All of a sudden, Naruto heard his name called, and he sat straight up in his chair (When did I start slouching?). The next name was Tsumeki Shuro. Naruto knew her; she was from the orphanage, like him. She was cute, a redhead, and was maturing nicely. She was just a bit shorter than Naruto, probably about 5'6". She was shy, though. She never really talked to anyone, even in the orphanage, and she had a constantly sad look on her face.
Before Naruto had more time to think about his new teammate, the third name was called.
Sasuke Uchiha.
And behold! How Naruto's day was ruined!
When their sensei, Kakashi Hatake, had finally arrived, they were brought to the roof of the Academy building. The three genin all took a seat on the ground, while Kakashi leaned against the railing.
"All right," he said. "The first thing we're going to do is get to know each other. Tell us a bit about yourself." He pointed at Naruto. "You start."
Naruto blinked. "Uh. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen and taijutsu. I'm kind of loud and sometimes obnoxious."
Kakashi continued to look at him.
Naruto took this as a sign to continue. "I don't have a ton of chakra control, but I have loads of chakra. I have really good stamina, too. My dream is to become the Hokage one day."
Kakashi nodded and turned to Sasuke. "You next."
Naruto tuned out every word that Sasuke said. He had no interest in what Sasuke had to say.
Bastard.
"Now you," Kakashi said to Tsumeki.
"My name is Tsumeki," she said, her voice quiet. "I like orchestra music, being outside, and practicing to be a better ninja. I'm good at...stealth, I guess. Being quick. A little genjutsu, but nothing big. One day, I want to..." she choked up for a minute. "...Nevermind, I don't want to talk about it."
Naruto furrowed his brow, concerned. She looked like she was about to cry.
Kakashi gave a noncommittal, "Mm," and then said, "Tomorrow, meet me at training ground forty-one at nine o'clock sharp. Don't be late. And don't eat breakfast. You'll puke."
"Wait, Sensei, aren't you going to intro-"
"Dismissed," Kakashi said. He then disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"-duce yourself?" Naruto finished.
Sasuke got up and, without a word, sulked off of the roof, presumably heading back to his fancy-pants mansion with his family.
Dickhead.
Tsumeki, on the other hand, hadn't moved from the position she sat in. Naruto watched her for a moment. She still looked like she might cry. Naruto slid over to where she sat.
"Hey there."
Tsumeki jumped a bit, but otherwise gave no reaction to his presence.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Please...just leave me alone," she said, her voice cracking.
Naruto sat there for a moment, awkwardly. He hardly knew how to comfort a girl, much less one that didn't want him around. "Well...uhm...okay." He got up and started to walk away, but then turned back for a moment. "If you...uh...need to talk, or something...let me know."
She was silent.
"...Yeah. Well. Uhm. Okay. Bye."
His hands in his pockets, Naruto walked down the stairs from the roof back into the building. As was his custom for staircases, he skipped the last step. As he was walking out, he was stopped by Iruka.
"Hey, Naruto, come here for a minute."
Naruto went towards him. "Yeah?"
"About the other day, with Mizuki. I just thought you'd want to know that he's in prison now. They're considering charges of treason, but they haven't reached a verdict on that yet. As of right now, he's just got assault, theft, and two counts of attempted murder. He's not getting out any time soon."
"Oh. Okay. Thanks."
"No problem. Like the Hokage said you would be, you're clear of any charges. You were mislead and had no idea what you were doing wasn't a sanctioned form of testing."
As they were chatting, Tsumeki walked by. She didn't look like she was going to cry anymore, but still had her usual somber expression on.
"Hey, Naruto," Iruka said when she had left the building. "You take care of her."
"Huh?"
"That girl is a diagnosis away from depression. I don't know what her story is, but she might have trouble adjusting to ninja life. It's a lot more fast paced and unforgiving than I think she realizes it will be."
"Well, what do you want me to do about it?"
"Just...make sure she doesn't get too down, yeah? I don't know if she's the suicidal type or not, but your age is when a lot of people who can go that route do."
"Yeah, I'll...I'll do what I can."
Iruka smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "Good man. That's all I have for you." He waved his hand towards the exit of the building. "Go have some fun. You'll need it tonight; tomorrow's going to suck, if Kakashi's still doing the bell test."
"The what?"
Iruka bit his lip. "Said too much. You heard nothing from me."
Naruto looked at Iruka skeptically. "If you say so." He turned to leave the building. "Later, Iruka."
"See you around, Naruto."
After receiving his stipend money from the Hokage Tower, Naruto made his way toward the market district. He needed to buy some food, and he was in a bit of a mood to celebrate. It obviously couldn't be anything too fancy, given his monetary situation, but he had something in mind. Naruto smiled for a moment and took off his headband. He pocketed it and began to weave through the crowd, making his way towards his favorite place to eat.
Ichiraku Ramen was a family owned business, a small stand which sat six people at the counter. The proprietors were Old Man Ichiraku and his daughter, Ayame. All of their ramen was homemade, using noodles that were made from start to finish in the stand and fresh ingredients. They didn't have a huge customer base, and didn't make a ton of money, but they made enough money to live comfortably and occasionally expand their stand a bit. Their biggest concern was making quality ramen for their customers.
And oh, was it quality ramen.
Naruto went into the stand and sat down at the counter, on a stool next to a wall.
He was instantly greeted by the owners. "Heyyy, if it isn't Naruto!" said Ichiraku.
"Hiya, Naruto!" said Ayame.
Without asking what kind of ramen Naruto wanted (the answer was always the same, after all), Ichiraku began preparing him a bowl. "So, the big test was just the other day, wasn't it?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, it was."
"Ohhh, how'd you do?" asked Ayame. She leaned up against the counter, excited.
"Welp," Naruto said. "I took the test, and I failed."
Ichiraku stopped, and Ayame's face fell. "Oh...Naruto," she said, reaching a hand out in comfort.
"But!" Naruto said, grinning and reaching into his pocket. "I made it up with extra credit." He held up his headband.
Ichiraku's grin stretched up to his eyes, and Ayame squealed in excitement. "Oh, good job, Naruto!" she exclaimed. "I knew you could do it!"
"Well done, Naruto! Here, have this bowl on the house." Ichiraku placed the finished ramen in front of Naruto.
"Well, in that case, I'll have two!" Naruto said, offering up payment for the second bowl. "And why not, let's try a new flavor. Hit me with whatever you think is best."
"Oh, I can't pick favorites," Ichiraku said, turning to grab another bowl. "They're all my children."
Ayame frowned, looked over her shoulder at her father, and kicked him lightly in the leg.
The old man laughed. "Oh, but you're my favorite out of all of them, dear."
Naruto would have laughed, but that would have led to him choking on his ramen. After he swallowed a mouthful, he looked at Ayame. "Hey, Ayame, you're a girl."
"Well spotted," she said, chopping up some vegetables.
"I need some advice."
Her head snapped around so quickly Naruto was amazed she didn't have whiplash. "What? Advice? Advice on girls? A girl? You have a girlfriend? What's her name? What's she like? Is she pretty? She's not a brat, is she? Not going to trod on your heart like that Sakura?" Her questions were spilled out so fast that Naruto had to take a moment to sift through them individually.
"No, no, it's not like that," Naruto said. "We got placed into our teams today, and one of my teammates is a girl."
Ayame looked a bit disappointed, but nodded for him to continue.
"I've never really talked to her before now, but I've seen her around the orphanage and in class. She's got this permanently sad look on her face, and today, when we were all introducing ourselves, she almost burst into tears. Afterward, I tried to go and comfort her, but she asked me to leave her alone."
Ayame narrowed her eyes, still chopping the vegetables without looking at them. "Did you?"
"Well...yeah. She asked me to."
"Oh, Naruto..." Ayame sighed. "If a girl asks you to leave her alone, you NEVER leave her alone."
Naruto's face contorted with confusion. "But...that's...why would you...that makes no sense! Why wouldn't she just say she didn't want to be left alone?"
"Because she's a girl, Naruto. Girls don't work like that."
"Well, what should I have done?"
"You should have stayed there and talked to her. Anything would do. You get her talking, and then you slowly work towards the question of what's bothering her."
"But why didn't just asking her work?"
"Because she's a GIRL," Ayame repeated, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Don't you get it?"
"No," Naruto said confidently. "No I don't."
Ichiraku placed the second bowl of ramen in front of Naruto, and Naruto dug into it.
"Well, now that you've gone and bungled the situation," Ayame said, "You can't just go straight back into it next time you see her. When do you see her next, anyways?"
"Tomorrow. Our team has another test or something tomorrow, early in the morning."
"Why? Do other teams have tests like that?"
Naruto shrugged.
Ayame waved her hand in dismissal and began chopping more vegetables for the order of another customer who just came in. Ichiraku was striking up conversation with him as he prepared the rest of the ingredients.
"Anyways," she said, "just be friendly for now. Talk to her. Don't bring up what happened today. Wait for either her to bring it up or for her to start crying again. Then it's okay to bring it up. And then," she said, looking at Naruto and gesturing at him seriously with the knife in her hand, "you do what I told you. Got it?"
Naruto nodded, but didn't say anything, as he was in the middle of slurping up some noodles.
Ayame nodded back, and then returned to cutting vegetables. "And you let me know when she's your girlfriend. Promise you'll bring her here when it happens."
Naruto swallowed. "Ayame, I don't think-"
She looked at him, pointing the knife again. "Promise."
He sighed. "I promise that if she ever becomes my girlfriend, I will bring her here."
Ayame smiled. "Good!"
The man next to Naruto looked at him. "Looking to get yourself a girl, eh?" he said.
"Not exac-"
"Well, if she says yes, or better yet, when you decide to ask her, you come down to my shop. We sell flowers. Just mention that you met me at Ichiraku, I'll give you a discount."
"Uhm...thanks," said Naruto.
The man smiled, waved, and took his ramen to go.
When Naruto had finished the second bowl, he got up. "Thanks, guys. It was a great meal. And hey, you'll probably see me around here a little more often now that I'm a ninja and will be getting actual pay."
"That'd be great!" said Ichiraku. "We always love seeing our customers more often."
Naruto smiled. "Well, thanks again. I'll see you later!"
"Good bye, Naruto!" said Ichiraku.
"Bye!" called Ayame.
It was dark out when Naruto finally returned to the apartment. He had several bags of groceries in his arms, as well as one from a clothing store, where he had picked up some good boots and another pair of surplus fatigues, this time in black. It had taken a chunk out of his stipend that he hadn't planned on spending, but he needed some more heavy duty clothing that would stand up to the abuses ninja life would put them through. Besides, he was a ninja now. He'd be going on missions and getting a paycheck.
The thought made Naruto smile. Finally, he was able to not only support himself, but give something back. Soon, he would be able to refuse the stipend, and it could go towards someone else who needed it.
He opened the fridge and began placing the food inside of it. What didn't go inside the fridge went inside the pantry, except for the fruit. The fruit (which he didn't have much of; it was a bit more expensive right now) went in a bowl on top of the microwave. He undressed and tossed his clothes into a laundry basket, which was getting dangerously full.
"Laundry tomorrow," he noted out loud. "After whatever sensei has in store for us." Naruto's stomach rumbled a bit. "No breakfast tomorrow. Guess I'll just eat a bigger dinner tonight, to make up for it." He fixed himself up some chicken and rice, ate that, and then slipped into one of his pairs of pajamas and climbed into bed.
After he turned out the light, Naruto kept his eyes open for a bit. At first he stared at his ceiling, but his eyes gradually moved out toward the window. He watched the stars for a moment.
Tsumeki. I really hope I can help you.
With that thought, Naruto rolled over and shut his eyes to go to sleep.
Naruto approached training ground forty-one. He was just a few minutes early. Tsumeki and Sasuke (Freaking asshole) were already there. He paid no mind to Sasuke, and instead headed toward Tsumeki, intent on making conversation, with Ayame's advice fresh in his mind.
As he got closer, it looked like she was asleep, leaning against one of the posts in the training ground. Naruto didn't bother her. He just slid down the post into a sitting position and watched the clouds. She stirred almost as soon as he did, and she opened her bleary eyes to look at him.
"Good morning," Naruto said, grinning.
"Morning," she said back, sitting up straight.
"How're you?"
Tsumeki seemed kind of surprised at the question. "I'm...tired. Didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Loud people in the apartment next door."
Naruto winced. "I'm sorry."
They sat in silence for a moment. Then Tsumeki asked, "Why are you here?"
"Because Kakashi told us to be here?"
"No, I mean here. Talking to me."
Naruto furrowed his brow. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because...I don't know, because nobody ever seems to make an effort to talk to me."
"Well, we're teammates now. No point in not making friends."
She looked at him, head cocked slightly. "You don't seem that intent on being friendly with Sasuke over there." She gestured at the brooding Uchiha, twentyish feet away.
"That's different. He's an asshole."
Tsumeki said nothing.
"Why are you so shy all the time?" Naruto asked, not letting the silence turn into anything lasting.
Tsumeki didn't seem sure how to respond. "I...because...I..." she sighed. "Because I'm different, I guess."
"Different how? Your hair? Let me tell you a secret. Sakura's pink hair? That's natural. And there was a girl in our class with blue hair. Yours is way more normal than either of those." Naruto grinned. "C'mon, it's okay. You aren't different."
Tsumeki curled her legs up to her chest, put her arms around them, and rested her face on her knees. "It's not that, it's...I don't want to talk about it. Can we change the subject?"
"Yeah, sure, not a problem," Naruto said, a little unsure of himself. He hadn't meant to bring up something touchy. "Why, uh..." he fumbled for a new topic. "Why'd you choose to become a ninja?"
"Because it's what all the others seemed to be doing. And it seemed like something I might be good at."
"That's all?"
"Well...I guess it's because ninjas are someone to look up to. They're...they're heroes. They protect people. Give people hope. As long as you can exhibit some control over your chakra network, you can be a ninja. It's a place to go, it's a place to...to..."
"Belong?" Naruto offered.
Tsumeki though on this for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes. It's a place to belong." She looked at Naruto. "What about you?"
"Me? I wanted to become a ninja because of my parents. I'm told they were both great ninjas. They died protecting the Hokage during the Uchiha uprising."
A little light of understanding went up in Tsumeki's eyes.
Naruto went on. "Plus, the orphans...They look up to the ninjas, like you said. They idolize them. A ninja is everything an orphan could possibly dream of. And if the village has enough good ninjas, then they can stop people from dying as much. And that means there'll be less orphans. And a world with less orphans is a better world."
Tsumeki looked at him, slightly awed. "You're becoming a ninja because you want to help orphans?"
Naruto nodded. "Nobody should have to live in an orphanage. It's not impersonal, but...it's not a family, either. I mean, it can be a family, in a way, but it can never replace a mother and a father. Or even just some relative who's willing to take you in. That's why I need to be a great ninja. Because then, I can protect other ninjas, and keep them from dying, so that they can go home to their children." Naruto's eyes began to water a bit. "They can go home and say, 'I love you, son', and put them to bed..." His voice cracked a bit. "They can have lives." Naruto wiped his eyes and regained his composure after a minute.
Tsumeki was still staring at him. "That's...beautiful," she said. "That's...I don't even..." She thought for a moment. "You're a rare kind of person, Naruto."
He smiled. "Thanks."
Again, silence began to fall between them. Naruto cut it off once more. "So, how's the apartment? Versus the orphanage, I mean."
"It's...weird," she said.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, it is. I've lived there my whole life. It's nice to have my own space and all, but..." he trailed off. "It's just weird."
Tsumeki nodded.
"Okay," he said, "He's got to be late by now. Do you have a watch or something? Check what time it is?"
She nodded and opened up a bag that was resting against the post beside her. She rummaged around it for a moment before pulling out a plain, metallic wristwatch. "9:20," she said.
"Late," Naruto said. "Late, late, late, he is so late." He watched as Tsumeki put the watch back into her bag. "You know that's meant to go on your wrist, right?"
For just a second, Naruto saw a small smile curl up at the corners of her mouth. "I know. But I don't want it to be damaged during whatever it is we're doing today."
"I heard it's some kind of test," Naruto said. "The Bell Test or something like that."
Tsumeki furrowed her brow. "Bell test? What are we supposed to do involving bells?"
Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. It's just what I heard."
Silence began to creep back in, but before it could form, Tsumeki spoke. "Either way, I need to get some more sleep if I can, so could you please wake me when he gets here?"
Naruto was a bit disappointed. He was enjoying talking to Tsumeki. "Yeah. Yeah, sure, no problem."
"Thank you," she said, before slouching back down against the pole.
Naruto looked up and watched the clouds. He itched for Kakashi to get here so he could get up, move around, and do something...
Well, why wait for Kakashi?
Naruto got up and began to run through taijutsu sets. First he went through his offensive stances, then his defensive stances. He finished up with the grappling stances. When he was done with them, he went through them a second time. It had to have taken him about twenty minutes, total. Kakashi still wasn't here.
Naruto blew out a sigh of irritation before beginning a jog around the part of the training ground he was in. The training ground was big, and it took him a while to get around it once. He wasn't even breathing hard at the end, so he decided to go around again, stepping up the pace a little. He could feel his muscles waking up and starting to really work.
As he ran, his thoughts drifted to Tsumeki. Naruto felt bad for her, he really did. He didn't know what it was that had her looking so sad all the time, but he knew that he wanted to help her with it. She was his teammate, after all.
With that thought, Naruto shook his head. No, being his teammate didn't matter. This is something he really should have started doing a long time ago. He was becoming a ninja to help people; he didn't have to wait to become a ninja to start. That was a mistake, he thought, and I plan to make it right by her.
After having gone around the field three times, Kakashi still hadn't arrived. Naruto sighed and looked up. Judging by the position of the sun, it was about...
Hell, I don't know.
Regardless of the time, Kakashi was way late, and Naruto was getting irritated. He could keep exercising, but he didn't want to tire himself out too much before the Bell Test. So, Naruto just paced around the three posts his other teammates were near.
It seemed like an eternity later when Kakashi finally arrived. He strolled into the training ground, reading his little book.
"SENSEI!" yelled Naruto, releasing a lot of the pent-up frustration that boiled up as he paced about. "YOU'RE LATE!"
Kakashi looked up from his book. "Am I?"
Tsumeki, who had been awakened by Naruto's indignant shouting, pulled her watch out of her bag. She looked at it for a moment, a confused expression on her face. She rubbed her eyes, and then looked at it again. "It's almost 11:30, sensei."
"Hm. I'm sorry, I suppose I just got lost, wandering on the road of life..."
"What the HELL kind of excuse is that?" Naruto demanded.
"The kind I give," Kakashi said plainly, going back to his book.
The three genin all watched Kakashi for a moment, but he showed no signs of surfacing to the real world any time soon.
"Sensei? Why are we here?" asked Tsumeki quietly.
"Hm? Oh, I did call you here, didn't I?"
Naruto and Tsumeki sighed. Sasuke continued to brood.
Prick.
Kakashi closed his book and placed it gently in his pocket. "Today, you'll be taking a test to determine if you can become genin."
"What?!" shouted Naruto. "We already did that!"
"That was a test to determine if you could take this test."
"What? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"
Kakashi ignored Naruto. "Your test is to get one of these bells from me." Kakashi held up two bells on a string. "If you can get one, you get lunch. If you don't get one... Well. You'll be seeing some friends at the Academy."
Naruto and Tsumeki's eyes widened in surprise. Even Sasuke quit brooding for a moment to look alarmed.
"But there are only two bells," Naruto said.
"Exactly. Meaning one of you will be going back to the Academy."
Naruto gulped, but he steeled himself. He'd get one of the bells for himself, and do whatever he could to make sure Tsumeki was the one to get the other bell. That way, Sasuke wouldn't be on his team anymore.
"I will warn you," continued Kakashi, "even though there are two bells, this test has a sixty-six percent failure rate. In case you aren't that good at probability, it means that most likely, only one of you is actually going to be a ninja at the end of the day."
This time, the gulp was shared among the three teammates.
Kakashi set a small alarm clock on a stump. "This is set to go off at noon. You'd best hurry up and get the bells before then." Kakashi attached the string with the bells to his belt, and then pulled out his book.
"So...When do we start?" asked Naruto.
"Right now."
"But you're reading."
"So?"
Naruto grinned. "Well. This should be easy, then." He ran forward and aimed a sweeping kick at Kakashi's knees. Without any effort at all, Kakashi hopped over Naruto's leg. Naruto frowned and unleashed a full set of his best taijutsu on Kakashi. The older ninja blocked every single one of them without even looking up.
Naruto growled. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he shouted. Four copies of him poofed into existence. All at once, they bum rushed Kakashi.
Kakashi giggled slightly at whatever he was reading before backhanding one of the Naruto clones. It flew back and popped into a cloud of smoke. Kakashi did several other kicks and punches, easily dispatching the other Naruto clones and then delivered a swift uppercut to the real Naruto's jaw, sending him flying backwards.
Naruto grunted and hoisted himself off the ground. "This isn't going to work," he muttered. He made his best speed to the edge of the forest. Sasuke, who had been watching Naruto get pummeled with a small smile on his face, did the same, heading towards the other side.
"Wait, guys," said Tsumeki. "I think we're-"
It was too late. They were already gone.
Tsumeki sighed. She looked at Kakashi. He was still reading, and didn't look like he had any plans to come after her, for the moment. Then she looked left and right, after her other teammates, and ran after Naruto after a moment of thought.
Naruto watched Kakashi from the trees. He was still reading his little book.
What's so good about that little book, anyways?
Naruto made a mental note to swipe it from Kakashi sometime to check it out.
From across the clearing, at the other edge of the forest, Naruto caught the glint of steel flying through the air. Several kunai and shuriken had been thrown at Kakashi's back. Their sensei made no effort to dodge. The weapons buried themselves deep in his back, and Naruto's eyes widened. A split second later, there was a poof of smoke, and where Kakashi had been a moment before, there was now only a log.
"A substitution jutsu?" Naruto said. "When?"
Naruto saw Sasuke leap backwards out of the trees, throwing more kunai back into the treeline. Kakashi followed shortly after, his book put away.
This is perfect! Thought Naruto. I just have to wait for Kakashi to put his back to me, and then I can sneak in and snatch a bell while he isn't paying attention!
Naruto made to jump down from the tree, but there was a hand on his shoulder.
"Naruto," said Tsumeki, "I think there's something else to this test."
He tore his eyes away from the fight to look at Tsumeki. "How do you mean?"
"I think it's supposed to be a teamwork thing. I was watching you fight Kakashi by yourself, and you didn't stand a chance."
"Gee, thanks," Naruto grumbled.
"Naruto, listen to me. I think we have to work together to get the bells, so we need to make a plan."
Naruto sighed. "All right. What've you got?"
Sasuke's body was now completely underground, save for his upper neck and head. Kakashi stood before him, dusting his hands off. "Good performance, Sasuke, but not quite good enough." He touched a hand to the bells at his belt, just to double check that they were still there.
"Hey! Sensei!"
Kakashi turned around to see Naruto standing out in the open. "Haven't we already done this?" he drawled.
"I wasn't warmed up last time! Now I'm ready, and I'm going to beat the crap out of you and take those bells!"
Kakashi sighed. He had been hoping that Naruto would have learned his lesson already.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" called Naruto. This time, there were ten Narutos, all charging him.
Kakashi sighed again, and he began to dodge and punch, easily dispersing a clone about every four seconds. It wasn't even a challenge. "Naruto, I hope that this time-" Kakashi looked around. There was no Naruto. "All clones?" he murmured. "Clever... but that means..."
Kakashi whirled around and did an axe kick downward, knocking a startled Tsumeki onto the ground. She hit the dirt without making a sound.
"Very good," he said. "You got behind me without me knowing, and sneaked up very well. Not well, enough, though."
Tsumeki made another desperate grab for the bells, but Kakashi smacked her hand away. Suddenly, there was a tug on his belt. Kakashi whirled around to punch...Tsumeki?
It was too late, though. She already had a grip on the bells, and they came off of Kakashi's belt with a quiet snap of string. His fist impacted with her stomach, and she flew backward. She never hit the ground, however. Naruto came out of the trees where Sasuke had been before, used Kakashi's head as a springboard, and landed in time to catch the flying girl. Tsumeki gave him a breathless smile and attempted to speak, but the wind had been totally knocked out of her. Instead, she offered up a bell. Naruto took it gratefully.
Kakashi gave them a slight applause. "Very good. You used the clones to distract me while Tsumeki came up behind me." he looked at the ground again, and Tsumeki was no longer there. "How'd you go about doing that bit, anyways?"
The girl, now back on her feet and breathing properly, spoke. "It was just a little genjutsu. I didn't do the sound part right, though. I could tell she didn't make any noise like I had wanted her to, when she hit the ground."
Kakashi nodded. "And you sneaked up behind me again while I was dealing with your genjutsu. Well done, by the way, I didn't even think to check for genjutsu from fresh academy students."
Tsumeki smiled, blushing slightly. "Thank you," she said, a little more confidently than usual.
"And I'm assuming the real Naruto was a reserve in case your actual attempt at the bells failed?"
Naruto nodded. "I was about to come down from the trees as soon as you axe kicked the genjutsu, but Tsumeki already had her hands on the bells."
"Well done, then. And without a minute to spare," Kakashi noted, as the alarm could be heard from its stump on the other end of the training field.
A moment later found Sasuke tied to a post while Kakashi provided the other two with a small meal. "Eat up. But don't give Sasuke any, or you'll fail the test anyways. I have to go and check on something really quick. I'll be back in five or ten minutes." With that, Kakashi had teleported away.
Naruto took a few bites of his food. It wasn't very good. Still, it was food. He scarfed a few more bites down before looking at Tsumeki.
She was offering her food to Sasuke.
"Here, quickly, eat this. I brought my own food."
The Uchiha seemed leery, at first, but an angry growling from his stomach convinced him to take the food.
Naruto looked at his own dish. Well. I guess he does need to eat, and I had a big dinner last night, so I'm not that hungry... Naruto grudgingly got up and placed the dish near Sasuke. "Here."
Sasuke managed to work the chopsticks somewhat with his feet and started to eat clumsily. Tsumeki was eating a small sandwich she had brought. She looked at Naruto, who was just sitting there and watching the clouds, before she dug in her bag a bit. She withdrew an apple and a bag of chips.
"Naruto, here. Take these."
"Hm? What? Oh, no, thanks. I had a big dinner last night, and I don't want to take your lunch."
"No, please. You need to eat."
Naruto's stomach did rumble a bit, and so he conceded. It was a good apple.
All of a sudden, in a poof of rage and smoke, Kakashi was back. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU TO DO?!"
All three genin let out a small, "Meep!"
"WELL?!"
"N-not to give Sasuke any food?" Tsumeki said, nervously.
"AND WHAT DID YOU GO AND DO?!"
"Gave him food," Naruto said, slightly scared.
Sasuke managed not to choke on the food that had been in his mouth and swallowed it.
"And WHY did you give him food, even though I SPECIFICALLY told you not to?!"
"Because he needed to eat," Tsumeki said, sounding less scared than before. "We couldn't just let him go hungry."
Kakashi nodded. "Good. You all pass."
"Wha- H-hang on, what?" stammered Naruto.
"I thought you said one of us was going to fail," said Sasuke.
"I did," Kakashi said, "But I lied. This was a teamwork exercise, and even though Sasuke failed to get a bell, it seems he – and you two, as well – have finally grasped the purpose of this test. Teamwork." The older ninja cut Sasuke down from his post. "Now, we're done for the day. Tomorrow, you will meet me outside the Hokage tower at noon for our first mission assignment."
"All right!" said Naruto. "Our first mission!"
Tsumeki smiled slightly. Sasuke got up and continued to eat the food his teammates had given him, though he watched Kakashi as he ate.
"Before you go, though, let me leave you with this: Those who break the rules are scum. Those who leave their teammates behind, however, are lower than scum. Your team should be as important to you as yourself." Kakashi took out his book again. "Dismissed." With that, he disappeared.
Naruto finished the food Tsumeki gave him. "Thank you, Tsumeki."
She smiled. "Of course. Couldn't have you going hungry, either."
"Well, see you guys tomorrow," Naruto said, waving behind him as he walked away.
"Wait, Naruto," Tsumeki called.
He stopped and turned around. She had run over to where he was. "Yeah?"
"I just wanted to say...thank you. For talking to me. It's nice to have a friend to talk to."
Naruto grinned. "Of course, no problem." He clapped her on the shoulder. "You come and talk to me whenever you need to, all right? I'm rarely doing anything important."
She smiled at him. "Thank you. It means a lot."
Then, Tsumeki did something Naruto never would have expected.
She hugged him.
Naruto stood there for a second, surprised and unsure of how to proceed. Then, he slowly and awkwardly hugged her back.
She broke off the hug first. "See you tomorrow," she said, going back for her bag.
"Yeah...see you."
All right! Here's the chapter! It came out a lot longer than I expected it to. I also didn't expect to have three and a half pages just on the visit to Ichiraku. That part just flowed, man. It flowed.
So! You might have a few questions, so we'll recap here:
Kyuubi never attacked Konoha. The deaths that would have been caused by Kyuubi were caused by the Uchiha uprising, which orphaned Naruto.
Yes, this also means there is no demon sealed in Naruto. However, I'm still having him retain the traits it gave him, such as his endurance, huge chakra reserve, his relative lack of chakra control, etc. We're attributing them to natural development now, is all. Also, he still has whiskers. Just because it's Naruto and he needs them.
Naruto is a bit less obnoxious because he grew up in the orphanage. As I stated, they started to get really full, so he started having to take on more responsibilities than normal, so he's more developed as far as maturity goes.
Also, his lack of abuse and torment because of Kyuubi is nonexistent, meaning that he isn't the village pariah and has never been hated, abused, etc. In case you didn't get it, he has the same sort of devotion to the village because of his experiences in the orphanage. He wants to make the village a better place by reducing the number of admittances to the orphanage. Or something like that.
And, finally, if any of you are freaking out about Tsumeki (who is obviously Kyuubi) not paralleling her in the other Kyuubi-chan, just wait until next chapter. All will be revealed.
If you have any questions that I didn't answer, as always, feel free to leave them in a review or send me a PM. I'll try to update somewhat regularly, but with college kicking me in the rear, I might not be able to hold to that. Be strong; I'm back until I'm done with this story, at least, even if it does take me a while to finish it.
I apologize for the excessively long author's notes this chapter. I just wanted to clear up things that might cause reader confusion. That said, I'll conclude this. Thanks for reading, everyone.
