The Hokage sat back from peering into his scrying glass, satisfied at the outcome of the battle between Iruka and Mizuki. He summoned his ANBU to call off the search for Naruto and dispatch two teams, one medical and one from the Intel department, to deal with the two Chunin. Once that had been done, he ran a practiced eye over the paperwork on his desk, knowing that he was not yet finished for the night. Due to the uneven number of graduates in Iruka's class, originally two teams this year were to be comprised of four genin each. It was unusual but not unheard of; particularly if one of the genin was likely to specialize in a field such as medical ninjutsu, which required extended training by a fellow specialist outside the team. Now, with Naruto having earned his headband, the Hokage had to reassign those graduates into the more common teams of three.
Mind already working furiously to re-balance team strengths and specialties, the Hokage paused to search through his paperwork for Iruka's student recommendations. He had always seen great promise in the young teacher but thought Iruka was unusually soft for a shinobi and had viewed his recommendations in that light. However, after what the Hokage had just witnessed via his scrying glass, he wanted to give them another look. Perhaps Iruka's success with Naruto was an omen that his perceived softness was instead an uncommonly perceptive insight into the hearts of his students.
Flipping through the folder he'd been looking for, the Hokage familiarized himself with its' contents once more. Unlike many of the Academy teachers who focused only on their student's strengths and weaknesses in the shinobi arts, Iruka had included extensive notes on the psychological traits, social interactions, and even the personality quirks of those within his class. Weighing the teams he and the council already assigned against those notes, the Hokage was not pleased with what he found. Several recommendations had been ignored during the formation of potential teams, including ones regarding especially important students such as Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto himself.
In the case of Naruto's psychological profile, rudimentary as it was, conclusions such as "desperate for attention, even if negative" and "susceptible to false affection" had been starkly confirmed by Mizuki's manipulations that day. Despite having already read those words of caution and in some cases having come the same conclusions himself, the Hokage had originally entertained the idea of putting Naruto on the team led by Kakashi Hatake if he passed the graduation test. The Jonin had led a life of service and loyalty beyond measure to the village and in return had experienced more tragedy than most other shinobi. The Hokage had hoped that mentoring his own teacher's son would bring some measure of peace and happiness to Kakashi's life. However, he knew that the deeply damaged man was very likely not capable of providing the emotional support Naruto had shown he desperately needed. If anything, Mizuki's revelation of his status as a Jinchuriki would only increase the boy's need for acceptance and stability. No, Kakashi would not be a suitable fit for Naruto's sensei at this point in time.
Ironically, the Hokage almost regretted allowing Kakashi's self-proclaimed rival Maito Gai to take on a team the previous year. While the man's training methods were odd and some questioned his mental stability, his perpetually positive personality and openly affectionate relationship with his students would have meshed well with Naruto's needs. But Gai had begged for a team in his normal overenthusiastic manner and had his heart set on a particular graduate. By all accounts, he'd transformed that boy from a near-dropout who couldn't utilize ninjutsu or genjutsu into a valuable asset for the village, so the Hokage did not regret his decision to give in to the man's pleas the previous year.
However, that still left the question of which Jonin sensei he should assign Naruto to. The Hokage grabbed another file, this one containing the psychological evaluations of the shinobi who had been assigned teams this year. He riffled through a few, eliminating any that were completely unsuitable, and stopped when he found a familiar name that brought a smile to his face. He'd known Kurenai Yuhi for a very long time. She'd been a childhood friend of his son, Asuma, and he had always been fond of her as a girl. He hadn't paid much attention to her file because his council advisors, Koharu and Homura, had already compiled an acceptable team for her before he'd even arrived to the meeting. She'd been specifically requested by the Hyuga clan as the Jonin sensei for their presumed heiress, Hinata, and the only thing the placement had needed was his signature.
The Hokage took a moment to straighten his aching back and sighed. Once upon a time, he had known the ins and outs of every shinobi under his command and never would have just signed off on a pre-assembled team without double checking the placements. As more and more things slipped out of his grasp or required the assistance of his council to manage, there was no doubt in his mind that his time as Hokage was drawing to a close. The only reason he hadn't already stepped down was the lack of a suitable successor to keep the more blood-thirsty elements in Konoha from seizing control. Maybe one of these graduates will be the person to take over for me, he softly smiled at the pictures of bright-eyed, eager children on the graduate profiles.
Turning back to Kurenai's paperwork, he was not surprised by what he found. It appeared to be the full manifestation of exactly who she'd been as a child. She was a very skilled young woman with a level head, an impressive talent for genjutsu, and a solid mission record. Fighting in the 3rd Shinobi World War as a young girl had left its' scars on her, of course. The Hokage recalled she'd spent much of her youth drinking her way through Fire County after missions, though he hadn't heard talk of any similar behavior in years and it had never been reported to have impaired her work.
Psychologically, she was more inclined to caution and defense than most shinobi, but that was well suited to her specialty. Most genjutsu specialists preferred to stay back and get a feel for their target, to maximize the effect of their genjutsu attack; but it appeared that once Kurenai made the decision to strike, it was with just a much force and lethality as any shinobi. Reflecting further upon a lifetime's worth of information on the woman, it seemed the most reckless aspect of her personality was the one that spoke most highly for her. Kurenai was not afraid to flout social trends when it came to the people she surrounded herself with. She was good friends with Anko Mitarashi and, even as a teenager, had continued to stand by and defend the younger girl when Anko's connection with Orochimaru- however tenuous a connection being abused and abandoned by someone is- had caused others to cut off all contact with her.
She defends those she cares about no matter how the public views them and doesn't believe in guilt-by-association. As a genjutsu specialist, she is adept at picking up on psychological weaknesses. She could use that to comfort and strengthen her students emotionally. The Hokage's felt the beginnings of satisfaction lift his exhaustion. Yes, she would be an excellent teacher for Naruto.
However, he wanted to temper his enthusiasm for the moment, as he knew this wouldn't be an easy assignment. The first obstacle he'd have to overcome would likely be the council, the ones who'd come up with the assignments for Kurenai's current team formation. Given that Kurenai had specifically been requested as a sensei for Hinata Hyuga, they'd built the rest of the team to focus on tracking and retrieval. However, the notion of Naruto utilizing the tracking requisites of "patience" and "silence" almost surpassed the limits of the imagination. They'd have to change the focus of the team entirely, which would leave an opening for Koharu and Homura to argue against the placement. The Hokage knew that Konoha always needed a wide variety of teams and, though it would take some effort to explain wasting a Byakugan-user on anything but a tracking and retrieval team, he was confident he'd persuade them.
He'd also likely face protest from the Hyuga clan themselves for putting Naruto and Hinata on the same team. For a clan that could see though solid objects, the Hyuga were surprisingly preoccupied with appearances. Just as Kurenai ignored social opinions about the people closest to her, Hinata's family was overly concerned with public perception. They were highly sensitive to slights, real or imagined, against their clan name or honor. Placing the village outcast and Hyuga heiress together could very well be taken as an insult. However, the Hokage had shown he was willing to compromise when he granted their request for Kurenai to be Hinata's sensei and he thought that would go a long way in keeping the clan from pushing the issue. They knew their own place, just as they made certain to know everyone else's, and he was willing to gamble they wouldn't overstep their bounds on Hinata's behalf; particularly if some of the rumors he'd heard regarding her position as presumed heir were true.
Last, and perhaps the greatest obstacle he might face, was Kurenai herself. He had not forgotten that her father had died in the Kyubi attack and even if he'd never heard of her expressing ill-will towards Naruto, that didn't mean she'd agree to be the sensei of the boy containing her father's killer. He could simply order her to accept the placement but he'd long ago discovered that those kinds of strong-arm tactics rarely yielded satisfactory results. He did, however, have an idea on how he might sweeten the deal for her. Kurenai's greatest passion in life was undoubtedly her genjutsu and, in the team assignment meeting earlier that night, he had not missed how her eyes immediately sought out the genjutsu section of her students' evaluation files. While none of the graduates assigned to her were particularly inclined to the craft, there had been another girl in Iruka's class whose strengths leaned strongly towards that area.
Lost in thought, he tapped the folder containing the Academy records of a student name Sakura Haruno, already familiar with what laid within. According to her evaluations, Sakura was a very bright girl with a lot of potential; although Iruka had noted a tendency towards shallowness and an outright obsession with Sasuke Uchiha, both of which she'd likely grow out of given time. The Academy teacher had noted her to be the most vocal of Sasuke's fans, rivaled only by the heiress to the Yamanaka clan, and that she persisted in her romantic pursuits to a possibly unhealthy level, even in the face of a total lack of interest on the part of her target.
Iruka had strongly discouraged placing Sasuke on the same team as any of the female classmates, for good reason it appeared. However, Koharu and Homura had been adamant about wanting this particular girl as Sasuke's teammate and the Hokage believed he had an inkling why. There was more than one group in Konoha impatiently waiting for the continuation of the Uchiha line and, more importantly to most of them, the restoration of the military might the Sharingan brought to Konoha. He'd shot down any attempt to force the boy the reproduce as soon as biologically possible but that couldn't stop more subtle manipulations towards their goal.
Given the strong bonds Konoha encouraged between teammates, it wasn't unusual for romance to blossom between two members. And if the council wished to encourage such a development in Sasuke's case, the Hokage could see why Sakura would be a prized candidate for his team. She'd passed the required Academy health exams with flying colors, was of a known lineage free from genetic defect or competing kekkei genkai, and her family had lived in Konoha for generations so she was unquestionably loyal to the village; yet she was not from a prominent clan whose influence over the last Uchiha might threaten to surpass the council's own. She also seemed to have no long-term personal goals for her career as a kunoichi; aspirations which were often incompatible with motherhood for many of the women within their ranks.
The Hokage was not above manipulating team placements to encourage certain bonds between village shinobi. The long-standing Ino-Shika-Cho team formation with a member of his own clan acting as sensei to the clans' heirs was just one of many such arrangements that reinforced the social foundations of Konoha. However, he found the motivations of his councilors highly distasteful in this situation. Building a team that benefited all the members and was far stronger as a whole than the sum of its' parts was a very different thing than pairing a love-addled, obsessed girl and an angry, traumatized boy together in the hopes she'd quit her career early to produce a few spare kekkei genkai users before he got himself killed. Disgraceful.
Placing Sakura Haruno on the same team as Sasuke Uchiha would only sabotage the both of them. After what he'd experienced the night of the Uchiha clan massacre, Sasuke needed teammates he could learn to trust in without fearing an ulterior motive to their kindness and friendship. And while Sakura had great potential, she would never reach her full capability if she were too distracted by an Academy crush to train properly.
Such circumstances were pitiable for the graduates involved but they'd turned into a stroke of luck for him. Sakura's greatest aptitude was for genjutsu and the Hokage had a feeling if he offered up the pair- Naruto and Sakura- Kurenai wouldn't let herself turn it down, even if she wasn't happy about having to take the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi in the exchange.
Having decided the course of action he would take with Naruto, the Hokage returned to the Iruka's student recommendations and immediately grimaced as he felt the return of his somber mood. Much of Iruka's evaluation of Sasuke Uchiha was a mirror reflection of Naruto's. While one boy desperately reached out to the world, begging for acknowledgement; the other retreated within himself, burrowing deeper and deeper until only the glowing embers of hatred and vengeance could still be seen by the outside world
Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do with regard to the boy's placement on Kakashi's team. Unsuited though he may be to address Sasuke's emotional needs, the Copy-nin was the only shinobi inside Konoha who could train him when his Sharingan finally awoke. The most the Hokage could do was hope that placing the two graduates from Kurenai's team, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame, with Sasuke would provide him with much-needed ties to the village. Though each boy had his rough edges, Kiba's fierceness untamed by experience and Shino's coldness unthawed by the bonds of comradery; the Inuzuka naturally viewed their companions as part of the pack and the Aburame were incredibly loyal to those close to them. Both boys would be good for Sasuke in their own way; and the team would be good for Kakashi.
All the same, the Hokage decided, I'm going to keep an eye out for joint missions for them.
Most D-rank missions only required one team to complete and that was by design. Shinobi tended to be a forceful bunch and the dynamics between the members of multiple teams could be difficult to manage for inexperienced Genin. While being able to work with any other Konoha shinobi was a necessity, most sensei didn't start honing those skills in their students until they were almost ready for promotion to Chunin. Joint D-rank missions, which required more than one team, were good experience in such cases. In other cases, the Hokage used such missions to provide village connections to the members of teams who were more isolated than most. It would do no good to bring someone like Kakashi in from the cold by giving him a team, only to find that his students had become more cut off from Konoha as a result.
All it took was shuffling a few more graduates around and a handful of signatures on the accompanying paperwork and his work was done. As his eyes traveled down the revised list of teams that would be officially formed tomorrow, he lingered for a moment:
Team 7
Kakashi Hatake
Sasuke Uchiha
Kiba Inuzuka
Shino Aburame
Team 8
Kurenai Yuhi
Hinata Hyuga
Naruto Uzumaki
Sakura Haruno
Yes, that will do nicely.