Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I do own any and all OCs.

Note: Updates for this story will be sporadic.

Note 2: The cover image will follow Naruto's appearance as the story goes along. I did not draw any of the pictures I will be using; I found them on the internet.

Still Waters Run Deep

The shinobi world is different ...darker. Naruto's mischievous side is hidden under a calm exterior, and he's worked hard to graduate a year early.

He's placed on team four; a team that will become infamous for being more than meets the eye.

Book One

Genin Days

Chapter One

The Beginning

. . . . .

Uzumaki Naruto didn't make a sound as he slowly walked over to the fresh mound of earth. Kneeling down he placed a single white lily on the new gravestone and offered a silent prayer for the shinobi that had died. Checking the dates on the grave marker, the boy let out a heavy sigh. The man had only been in his mid-twenties. Still, many field shinobi never lived to see their mid-thirties. The ones that did were highly respected for their skill.

Often times, Naruto would sit nearby a veteran shinobi and just listen, hoping that they might impart some wisdom if he was patient enough. The other kids his age found this to be weird and often made fun of him for it when they weren't completely shunning him. Ironically, the same adults that would whisper about him behind his back and pull their children away would occasionally stop and give him a considering stare whenever they noticed him doing this. Some would even give an almost imperceptible nod of their heads as if they approved of his actions.

Brushing his fingers reverently along the edge of the gravestone, Naruto got to his feet and slowly proceeded through the rest of the cemetery being careful to not accidentally step on top of any of the graves. He'd learned to respect the dead a long time ago. Eventually, he stopped in front of a grave that was seven years old. After staring at the name for several long moments, Naruto closed his eyes an offered a quick thanks to the shinobi.

The particular grave he was standing in front of belonged to the first person he had ever seen die. He'd been sitting near the village gates when the shinobi's team had returned from a mission gone wrong, shouting at the gate guards to alert the medics about their comrade. Watching the situation, Naruto had met eyes with the bloodied shinobi and had watched as the life fled from them even as his companions begged him not to go.

Unable to get rid of the haunting image of the man's eyes, Naruto convinced the gate guards to give him the name of the shinobi he'd watched die. A few days later he went to the cemetery with a handful of roughly picked flowers in hand to place on the grave. Ever since then he'd formed a habit of visiting the cemetery every week to pay his respects to the fallen. If he knew there was a fresh grave he always made sure to bring a flower to adorn it.

Today wasn't his normal visiting day, but he'd deemed an extra trip necessary because of the hitai-ate that now adorned his forehead. It felt right to come to where so many of his now literal fellow shinobi lay to show them that he too was walking the path they had chosen, and hoping that he wouldn't be joining them in their rest for many years to come. When he knew he couldn't stay any later without being late for team assignments at the academy, Naruto left the cemetery, turning and giving a respectful bow at its entrance before heading down the path.

The ANBU assigned to follow Naruto also paid their respects briefly before shunshining after the boy. Many of the masked shinobi would openly admit that they had gained a greater appreciation for the deceased because of the boy. Older operatives were often assigned to watch him on the days they knew he'd be at the cemetery in order to allow them to pay their own respects. Besides, it was good training for the new ANBU recruits to try and follow the boy around on a normal day since the boy had the uncanny ability to disappear and only reappear when he wanted to be found.

At first his ability to disappear so easily had sent the ANBU into a panic that something had happened. It worked out though as the boy somehow knew he was being tailed and after realizing the trouble it caused when he simply vanished, now gave his invisible escort a warning before it happened as well as telling them where to expect him to reappear. That didn't stop them from trying to find him anyway since it was a shame that the supposed best of the best could be outwitted by an elven year old. The older, more experienced ANBU would occasionally find him, but there was yet to be a rookie ANBU that could track the boy down.

Arriving at the academy, Naruto slipped into the classroom the graduating students were assigned and found himself a seat at the back as the instructor began calling out team assignments. After the first three teams were called, Naruto's ears pricked up at his name. The instructor assigned him to team four along with Kimura Nana and Tachibana Shou. Their sensei was a jonin named Honda Kaido. The only other team Naruto really bothered to take note of was team nine which consisted of Hyuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten.

The instructor barely had time to wish the fresh genin good luck before the classroom door burst open to reveal a man in a green spandex suit with black hair styled in a bowl cut. He took no time introducing himself as Maito Guy, sensei to team nine. Naruto smirked as he watched the team leave. He'd seen Guy-sensei around the village and knew he was a strong shinobi. He and Lee would probably get along really well, but the other two…well, it may take them a while to warm up to their youthful sensei.

Feeling a presence to his left, Naruto glanced up at the girl standing there who was staring down at him with deep purple eyes. She also had dark purple hair that hung to her waist with a few bangs framing her face being held out of the way by bobby pins; her hitai-ate hanging around her neck. Purple actually seemed to be the girl's theme as she wore a pale purple sleeveless hoodie over a short sleeve fishnet shirt. Her apron skirt was also a dark purple in color over her black athletic shorts. The only non-purple things she seemed to be wearing were the fingerless black shinobi gloves over her hands and her black shinobi sandals.

"Hey there," she greeted cheerily as she plopped down on the desk in front of Naruto. "Since you're from the class below, you don't know who I am, so I'll introduce myself. I'm Nana-chan, your new teammate, and that," she said pointing to a boy a few rows in front of them, "is Shou-kun." Hearing his name, the boy turned around and waved giving Naruto a chance to observe him.

Shou had light brown hair that just tickled the base of his neck and pale gray eyes. His shirt was a rich deep green color with the left sleeve missing. His hitai-ate, like Nana's, was worn loosely around his neck and an earring with a short gold chain and blue orb at the end hung from his left ear. Both of his forearms were wrapped in bandages.

"What's up Nana-chan, Whiskers?" Naruto blinked. Whiskers? Shou had to be referring to him because of the birthmarks on his cheeks, but still, nobody had ever called him Whiskers before.

"You'll have to forgive Shou-kun. He's pretty familiar with people if you catch my drift," Nana explained with an exasperated smile on her face. "He'll probably be a real ladies' man once we get a bit older."

"And Nana-chan there is going to be the ultimate fear of males everywhere," Shou joked back in a relaxed manner. "Honestly, I don't know how she does it, but she can charm your tongue into saying things you never meant to say." Nana stuck out her tongue good naturedly making Shou chuckle and shake his head. "So, what about you Whiskers? Besides the fact that you're the only shinobi I've ever seen wearing orange and you graduated a year early, what can you tell us about yourself?"

Glancing down at his orange jacket, Naruto let out a soft chuckle. It was true orange wasn't really a shinobi color, but it was still his favorite for some reason. At least he balanced it out by wearing black pants and sandals, and he could always take the jacket off to reveal the opaque mesh shirt he was wearing underneath it.

"Well, if you want it to be along the lines of what you've told me about each other, I'm an expert on pulling pranks on people without getting caught," Naruto informed them after a moment to decide what would be something interesting to share with them. Nana's face lit up with a grin, and Shou reclined back in his chair, a wily smirk on his face.

"Now this I've gotta hear," he drawled, inviting Naruto to go into a rendition of some of his favorite pranks while they waited for their sensei to show up. It was while he was telling them about a particular prank involving Iruka-sensei, paint balloons, a cat, two pieces of string, and a can of tuna which had his new teammates clutching their sides in laughter that Honda Kaido showed up to collect his team.

Dressed in standard jonin attire, Kaido had his sleeves pushed up past his elbows and fingerless gloves with a metal plate over the knuckles on his hands. On the right glove was an extra piece of metal over the back of his hand with the leaf symbol on it. The jonin was a tall man with a lean frame covered in muscle. His black hair had a light wave to it giving it a slightly unkempt look. On the outside of his right eye a small vertical scar could be seen that gave a harsher look to his blues eyes that roved the classroom.

It only took him a second to identify his genin; two of which were laughing so hard they had taken to supporting themselves on the desks while the third was grinning and talking. Most likely he was the cause of the other two's laughter. Inwardly, Kaido gave a relieved sigh. With an early graduate on his team that also happened to be the village pariah, he wasn't sure how well the three would get along, but it seemed his worries were unfounded as he cleared his throat.

"Team four," he called out, catching their attention. The two laughing did their best to stifle their laughter as their faces lit up realizing their sensei was here. Nodding at them each individually as they made their way down the steps and over to him, Kaido turned and walked back out the door. "Follow me. We're going to a favorite spot of mine where we can get to know each other a bit better."

On the short walk to Kaido's favorite place, he quickly found out why his students had been laughing so hard as Naruto finished telling the story of his prank. Kaido was glad to be walking in front of his students as he wasn't sure he was wearing a respectable look on his face as he choked back his own laughter. Occasionally at the jonin station he'd catch bits and pieces of a prank the kid had pulled, but usually the ones pranked were too embarrassed to share their stories. Now, he could see why.

"Alright, we're here," Kaido said, clearing his throat and schooling his expression before turning to face his genin. "You can share more of your exploits later Naruto-kun, but for now let's all take a seat." Not seeing anywhere to really sit, the trio made themselves comfortable in the middle of the clearing they were in. Nana sat indian style while Shou reclined back on his hands and Naruto sat with his arms around his knees.

"So, now that we're going to be a team, we need to get to know a bit about each other," Kaido explained sitting down with one knee raised that he propped his arm on. "I'll go first so you have an idea of what I'm looking for. I'm Honda Kaido, you'll call me Kaido-sensei. I like to read and take care of my bonsai tree. Outside of training you could also consider those my hobbies. I dislike any kind of sweet food, and my goal is personal so I won't be sharing it. Any questions?" Kaido asked looking at the trio in front of him.

"What kind of books do you like to read?" Nana asked, her fingers playing with the grass beneath them.

"Mainly classics, biographies, history, and poetry for fun, but I also read a lot of shinobi tactical books," Kaido replied easily enough. He was glad that his team actually seemed to be showing interest rather than just breezing through the introductions like most new teams tended to do. Nana nodded in satisfaction, her question asked.

"What made you start taking care of a bonsai tree?" Naruto ventured after a brief pause. Kaido paused a moment to think. It had been so many years it was kind of hard to remember why he'd started in the first place.

"If I remember right, a friend told me it was a good way to relieve stress and add a bit of cheer to my apartment," he responded after several seconds. "Whatever the case, it's a great way to pass the time, and it's nice to nurture something with my hands for a change instead of killing with them." Noticing a bit of tension rising in the air, Kaido wanted to frown. That probably wasn't the best thing to say in front of a bunch of genin who'd never taken a human life before, but they'd have to get used to the thought of it eventually.

"It is good," Naruto whispered quietly, the ghost of a haunting smile on his face. Realizing everyone was now staring at him, he plucked a strand of grass and twirled it between his fingers. "I once overheard an older shinobi say that life is fragile like a blade of grass. In this line of work, we'll have to end lives far more than we save them, so it's good to use your hands for something besides killing to remember that it's not the only thing they can do."

"Those are wise words," Kaido agreed with a nod of his head. Thinking back, he could remember somebody mentioning that the kid had a habit of quietly sitting out of the way by older shinobi and listening to them while the rest of the kids ran around playing. Apparently, there was some use to the strange habit. "On that note, who wants to go next?" Kaido asked, figuring it would be best to move the conversation along.

"I'll go Sensei," Nana piped up. At a nod from Kaido she launched into her introduction. "I'm Kimura Nana. I'm the youngest of seven children, and I love to spend time with my siblings; especially Koji-niisan and Naomi-neesan because they're both shinobi. My hobby would probably have to be cooking which I do with my mom. I don't like giving up, and my goal is to become strong so that I can support my teammates and fight alongside them without being a burden."

At the end of her short monologue, Shou and Naruto were both smiling and Kaido nodded approvingly. Her goal was a worthy goal, but it was also an attainable one as long as she was willing to put in the effort to achieve it. She might have to work a bit harder than her teammates as female shinobi had the natural tendency to be the weak link in a team, but he was sure she could do it.

"You just had to pick a goal that's going to make whatever I say sound pathetic, didn't you," Shou joked. "I guess I'll just go next. I'm Tachibana Shou. My hobbies are people watching," Nana let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like 'stalker' making Shou shoot her a playful glare, "and caring for the messenger hawks my family raises. I like to play cards, and I don't really care for shallow people. My goal would have to be…beating Hyuga Neji in a fair fight since I've never been able to."

"So he's your rival?" Naruto asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Nah, I wouldn't call him my rival exactly, but the guy is hailed as a genius so I'd really like to be able to say that I beat him in a fight. He's really strong too, so I guess you could say that beating him would be a good way to measure my own strength." Naruto nodded thoughtfully. It was kind of similar to how he'd looked at Sasuke in the beginning. That had changed over the years though as they'd developed a rough kind of friendship, but he could understand where Shou was coming from.

"So, what about you Naruto-kun?" Nana prompted. Realizing he was the only one left that needed to do an introduction, Naruto nodded.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like to go eat ramen at Ichiraku's. I guess you could say my hobbies are…well, I guess pulling pranks could fall under that category." Naruto didn't really feel like mentioning his weekly cemetery visits or his habit of hanging around shinobi to hear their stories. "I don't really like…a lot of things I suppose. My goal…" Naruto turned his head slowly in the direction of the Hokage monument where the heads of the first four Hokage were carved. "My goal is to be as strong as the Hokage, or even stronger so that I'll always be able to protect the people around me. It may be an impossible wish, but I'd like to never see any of my comrades die in battle."

A silence fell over the group, but after a few seconds, Shou broke it with a sigh. "Man, you make my goal seem too easy Whiskers. Maybe I should change mine to becoming an ANBU member or something."

"You'd probably still have to beat Neji first anyways," Nana teased. "Beat him and then you can aim for ANBU."

"Ha, and what about you? If you don't want to be a burden to an ANBU and the strongest shinobi in the village you're going to have to work your butt off and then some," Shou shot back with a smirk.

"Then I will," Nana declared without hesitation, "even if I have to surpass Tsunade of the three sannin! I'm not getting left in the dust by either of you. Besides, you'll be working your butts off too."

"She has a point Shou-san," Naruto admitted, glad that neither of them had scoffed at his goal. He already knew that in order to achieve his goal before it was too late he'd have to work his butt off all day every day. He'd rather do that though than spend days mourning in front of the grave of a fallen comrade like he'd seen so many shinobi do.

"That she does Whiskers, and just call me Shou or at least Shou-kun. We're teammates now after all." Smiling when Naruto nodded Shou continued, "Well, if we're all going to become as strong as we say, we'd better stop sitting around and get to training. Right, Kaido-sensei?" The entire trio turned to look at their sensei who'd been watching the exchange between them with some interest.

"Ah, I suppose so," Kaido said, surprised by the apparent work ethic his team would have, "but first, I need to tell you all something."

"What's that Kaido-sensei?" Nana asked.

"It's about your real genin test," Kaido admitted bluntly. Naruto and Shou's eyes narrowed while Nana looked like she was trying hard to remember something.

"What do you mean by real test?" Shou asked in a cautionary voice. Their instructor at the academy had never told them anything about a second test once they were placed in their teams.

"Well, the test you took to graduate the academy proves you have the potential to be genin, but I'm going to test you to see if you'd actually be able to make it out in the field. There's a catch though," Kaido said, making sure he had the trio's complete attention. "Out of all the teams that were made today, only a third of them at the most will actually avoid being sent back to the academy by their senseis. Also, depending on how you do with my test, it's my discretion as your sensei to send any one of you or all three of you back to the academy or have you dropped from the program if I don't think you are ready to be genin."

The trio exchanged looks for a long moment before Naruto nodded, becoming their unofficial spokesman.

"What's the test?"

Kaido's face grew cold as he stood up and brushed himself off. He'd thought for quite a while on how he should go about testing them, and after actually meeting them in person he knew just how he'd do it.

"Meet me at training ground thirteen in two hours and you'll find out. Bring any shinobi tools that you think you'll need, and don't be late." Naruto, Shou, and Nana watched as he jumped up into a nearby tree and disappeared; probably to get ready for their test just like they should.

"How fast can you guys get your stuff ready?" Nana asked as got up.

"Less than half an hour. Why?" Shou asked as he and Naruto also stood up and brushed some stray grass off their pants.

"Something seems off here, but I can't place my finger on it. I think we should get together again before the test and try to come up with a plan of some sort so that we can all pass it."

"I'm cool with that. What about you Whiskers?"

"Sure, but where should we meet?" Nana tapped her chin thoughtfully. If they met at the training ground Kaido-sensei might already be there hiding somewhere so he'd be able to overhear them. It didn't help that something was tugging at the back of her mind about this entire situation. Maybe her dad could help her figure it out.

Suddenly, Nana snapped her fingers, startling her companions. "I got it! Do you two know where the shinobi research archive building is?" When both boys nodded, Nana grinned. "Perfect! Let's meet in front of it in half an hour. My dad works there, so I can take you guys up to his office, and even if he won't help us, we can plan without any risk of Kaido-sensei being around to somehow overhear us."

"Heh, not bad Nana-chan," Shou smirked.

"Alright, we shouldn't waste time since we don't have a lot of it," Naruto said as he sifted through his mental map of Konoha for the fastest way to his apartment. "I'll see you guys in half an hour." Giving his teammates a quick nod, Naruto took off for his apartment, sticking to the alleys and side streets to avoid the heavy traffic of the main roads at this time of day.

His apartment was located in the older part of town where rent was cheaper. Even though he was still on a stipend from the Hokage and would be until he earned enough to cover his own expenses, Naruto hadn't wanted to live in the newer area of town. It was more crowded there, so he came under the intense glare that the villagers seemed to reserve just for him much more frequently than he liked.

Of course, ever since a year ago when Mizuki tricked him with a cleverly planned out pseudo early graduation test, Naruto knew the reasons for the stares and while it didn't make him feel much better, at least he could somewhat understand them now. It had also become easier to ignore the stares in the past year as Iruka-sensei had taken him under his wing to help him properly prepare for the real early graduation test.

Arriving at his apartment, Naruto unlocked his door and let himself in. The inside of his apartment was fairly empty. The only separate room was the bathroom as the kitchen connected to the main room which was decorated with a single table and chair, a bookcase, and his bed. The floors were wood, and the walls that had been painted a pale blue color years ago were beginning to fade and chip in some places.

What caught his eye was a package wrapped in brown paper and tied shut with some string that was sitting on top of his bed. That hadn't been there when he'd left that morning. Walking over, Naruto visually inspected the package before carefully picking it up. Untying the string, he carefully opened the paper, making sure not to tear it. Inside the paper was a brand new kuani and shuriken holder. Surprised, Naruto opened them to find them fully stocked with new, sharp weapons.

"Who…" he trailed off noticing that the inside of the paper had something written on it. Curious, he picked up the paper again. As he read the message, a smile grew on his face. The present was from Iruka-sensei who'd noticed that Naruto's equipment was very hammered and used with most of the weapons having nicks in them. At the end he mentioned that a new shinobi deserved new tools; especially since Naruto had worked so hard to graduate early, and wished him the best of luck.

Grinning, Naruto put on the new holder and pouch. He'd have to stop by the academy after school was out someday soon and thank Iruka-sensei. Folding the paper up and slipping it under the edge of his pillow, Naruto bent down to pull the rest of his equipment out from underneath his bed.

He nearly set his old shuriken and kunai aside, but paused mid-motion, staring at them with some consideration, an idea forming in his head. Years ago, an old shinobi whom Naruto had learned was referred to as the thousand year genin, had let slip an interesting bit of advice. He'd said that shinobi often got in a bind if they found their dominant hand or arm injured in a battle because it kept them from using their weapons. He'd then gone on to lament that if shinobi took time to train two good arms they wouldn't have that problem, but that too many shinobi focused almost solely on jutsu and found such ideas to be a waste of time.

Naruto had thought long and hard about what the man had said though, and had even discussed it with the Hokage on one of his monthly visits to drop off Naruto's stipend. The old man had been surprised at how much Naruto had been thinking about the idea and admitted that it was a good idea, but that few shinobi ever wanted to put in the effort it took to accomplish it. That had been all the motivation Naruto had needed to start training both of his arms and legs, not just his dominant one.

Now, with two sets of shuriken and kunai he could always have one for each hand instead of switching off from day to day. Not wanting to waste precious time by thinking about it too much, Naruto simply strapped them on. He was used to having his equipment set up for either side, but to have two kunai holders and two shuriken pouches on at once felt a bit strange.

Next, Naruto began sifting through the few other shinobi tools he had which were mainly wire and explosive notes. Sorting through them, he decided to take four reels of wire and a healthy dose of tags with him. Looking under his bed one more time he also found a pair of flash bombs which he figured couldn't hurt to bring along.

Satisfied that he was fully equipped for the test, Naruto retied his hitai-ate around his forehead and left for the shinobi research archive building which was about a block from the Hokage tower and the academy.

When he got there Nana was waiting, and a minute later Shou arrived. Not wasting anytime, Nana led them through the front door, down the halls, and up several sets of stairs until they reached her father's office. The door was open, so Nana knocked on the doorframe.

"Hi Dad!" Surprised, Kimura Takeo looked up from his work. He was in his late thirties with dark brown hair and eyes. His face was somewhat drawn, but there were also hints of laugh lines in his face as he smiled widely at his daughter."

"Well, this is a nice surprise Nana. Are those your new teammates behind you?" Nodding, Nana waved Naruto and Shou into the room.

"Dad, this is Uzumaki Naruto and Tachibana Shou. We were wondering if you could help us with something for the next hour if you're not too busy." Meeting each of the boys' eyes with his, Takeo gave them a nod of greeting. He was surprised to see Naruto on his daughter's team as he'd thought the boy was a year younger than her, but it didn't really bother him. Like many people, he'd kept a loose eye on the boy as he'd grown up, and honestly, he couldn't really find reason to hate him like a lot of people could. Turning to his daughter, his gaze became pensive.

"I might be able to help, but it depends on what I'd be helping you with."

"Well, the thing is," Nana began as the boys moved some scrolls out of the way so they could sit down, "our sensei is giving us a test in an hour and a half, and we could use some help coming up with a general plan so that we can all pass it."

"Is that so?" Takeo mused, working hard to keep the smirk off his face and maintain a neutral expression. He knew exactly what the trio was going to be tested on, but if he told them it would destroy the purpose of the test. Still, the fact that the three of them had gotten together to get help beforehand was a good indicator that they'd probably do just fine. "I'm not sure I can be of much help."

"Oh," Nana said, a slight look of disappointment in her eyes. "Could we at least stay here for the next hour to try and figure out a plan ourselves then? We figured if we made a plan here there wouldn't be any chance of Kaido-sensei hearing it."

Takeo smirked. "Sure thing. Just don't get too loud."

"Thanks Dad," Nana beamed as she waved Naruto and Shou over to a corner of the room where a table covered in scrolls stood. The three ended up sitting in a rough semi-circle on the floor after moving a few things out of the way.

"Okay, so what do we know about this test?" Nana asked, looking to her teammates.

"It's the real genin test," Shou proffered with a hint of annoyance.

"And only a third of the teams will pass," Naruto tagged on. "Also, Kaido-sensei mentioned that the academy test proved we had potential, but that the test he's going to give us will test whether we can actually survive as shinobi."

"Hm…" Nana intoned, tapping her chin with her finger. "So…we have potential, but that doesn't mean we can survive?" she asked slowly, confusion dripping off her words.

"I guess, but that doesn't really make sense," Shou said with a frown. "Cause the way I see it, that means we have the potential to survive. I don't really see the difference between the two," he huffed. "You got any ideas Whiskers?"

Backwards lacing his fingers, Naruto rested his hands in his lap and stared at the floor like he often did when trying to think through something. "Give me a few minutes." Shuffling through his memories, Naruto tried to find anything that he'd overheard or seen that might help them. He ignored the memories involving civilians as this was a shinobi matter so he didn't think those memories would help. The problem was, most of his memories dealing with shinobi were either memories of his academy teachers, the ANBU that followed him around, or the shinobi he saw at the cemetery.

This just made Naruto frown. He didn't see how memories of silent black shadows or shinobi weeping over their lost comrades could help them now. Maybe he was going about this all wrong. Iruka-sensei always said it was a shinobi's job to look underneath the underneath.

Watching Naruto sigh, Nana and Shou decided to leave him to his thoughts for a minute or two to see if he could come up with something while they bounced the few terrible ideas they could come up with off each other.

"Maybe he'll tie us up and thrown us in a jonin level training field and say 'see ya later, if you're still alive when I get back you pass'. That would be dealing with survival after all," Shou muttered under his breath after nearly fifteen minutes had passed.

"I highly doubt that," Nana sighed. They weren't getting anywhere with this, and time was slipping away. "Unless Naruto-kun is forming a brilliant idea over there I think we're in trouble."

"Maybe, but I hate to admit defeat before we've even started. Oi, Whiskers! Is your brain coming up with anything?"

Letting out a slow, deep breath Naruto opened his eyes which he'd closed at some point. "Not really, but I think we might be overthinking this. After all, it's a test meant for genin, not jonin. The answer has to be simpler than what we're trying to make it."

"Alright, since we're not getting anywhere, let's try that approach," Nana agreed.

"Okay, so anybody bring a 'how to be a shinobi for dummies' book with them?" Shou joked making Nana smirk while Naruto let out a quiet huff of air, but his eyes were light with laughter.

"No, but how about we try listing off things you need or need to be able to do in order to survive as a shinobi," Naruto suggested. The other two nodded. It wasn't much, but at least it was a starting point. "I'd say kunai and shuriken are important."

"So are skills in nin, gen, and tai jutsu," Nana added.

"Basic survival skills like how to make a fire and hide the fact that you ever camped somewhere," Shou suggested with a shrug. It was a survival test after all. The list continued to grow longer as they listed off stealth, chakra, emergency rations, first aid kits, knowledge of what plants you can and can't eat, and more. Nearly twenty minutes later they'd pretty much exhausted all the answers they could think of, and with less than half an hour until they had to leave for the test, things weren't looking too good.

"Hey Dad," Nana called across the room. She knew her father had been listening in on them even though he appeared to be busy with his work. "Can you think of anything we forgot to list that you need to survive?" Setting down the scroll he was looking over, Takeo peered at the children with mild interest. He had, as his daughter guessed, been listening to their entire meeting, and he had to admit he was rather impressed with the list they'd come up with. Still, they hadn't come up with an answer and so, had no idea how to prepare for the test. Chewing the inside of his lip, he finally decided to give them a rather vague hint that might be able to lead them in the right direction.

"How about the will to survive?" he said, purposely making it sound like a question. Shou looked confused, and Nana sighed obviously not finding his answer very helpful, but Naruto looked thoughtful. Picking the scroll back up, Takeo watched over the top of it as the blond seemed to mull the words over in his head while the other two had easily dismissed them. There was more to Naruto than he'd originally thought if the boy could actually work out his hint.

Rolling Nana's dad's words around in his head, Naruto frowned pensively. He'd heard of the will of fire from the Hokage. That was the belief and trust that each generation of the leaf put in the generation that followed it, but the will to survive? It's not like anybody wanted to die, right? He'd seen the results of when a shinobi failed to survive; it left behind their teammates who were often angry and sad. He could even remember one particular shinobi who yelled at his teammate's grave asking why he'd had to take the hit that had killed him in order to protect the shinobi that had survived.

Thinking about it, Naruto would probably have told the shinobi that it was because his teammate didn't want to be the one standing over his grave instead. Maybe that could be seen as selfish because the shinobi would rather be dead than mourn the dead, but that didn't seem right. It was more like no matter what the outcome was for him, the shinobi that had died had wanted his friend to live, to survive…

Eyes widening, Naruto slowed his thoughts down a bit to make sure he didn't miss something. If… if that shinobi hadn't gotten in the way…his friend would have died. He probably knew he'd died if he took the hit instead, so that meant…that meant he chose his teammate's life over his own. That would mean…Naruto bit the inside of his lip. He knew he was close to figuring something out. It was right there, like he could reach out and touch it.

"Oi, Whiskers," Shou said as he shook Naruto's shoulder. "Come on, we gotta go or we're gonna be late for the test." Groaning as the idea that was forming fled to the back of his mind, Naruto gently knocked Shou's hand away and got up.

"Your timing couldn't be worse Shou-kun. I was this close to figuring something out," Naruto said, holding his thumb and pointer finger millimeters apart.

"Sorry Whiskers. You'll have to see if you can figure it out on the run."

"Yeah, let's go," Nana said ushering them towards the door. "Thanks for letting us use your office Dad."

"You're welcome. I'll see you later tonight," Takeo said, disappointed to see them go. He could tell Naruto had been close to figuring out his clue. If he'd had just a few more minutes… ah well, the test would prove more interesting this way he thought with a chuckle.

The entire jog to the training area, Naruto tried to figure out where his train of thought had been going without success. He knew Nana's dad hadn't said what he said for no reason. He knew what their test was going to be, Naruto had been able to tell that much from his body language; which meant the man had finally tried to give them a clue, vague as it was.

Upon reaching the training ground, Nana stopped the trio gaining curious looks from the two boys.

"Look, I know the planning meeting didn't go very well, but whatever Kaido-sensei's test is, let's kick it in the butt!" Glancing at her teammates, Nana held her hand out, palm down, in the middle of them. "…Together?"

Shou smirked and placed his hand on top of hers. "Together." The two of them turned their heads to look at Naruto.

"Un!" he declared with a sharp bob of his head and a grin as he placed his hand on top of theirs. "Kaido-sensei won't know what hit him, dattebayo!" Shou and Nana both tilted their heads to the side in confusion.

"Dattebayo?" they asked in unison. Rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, Naruto explained it was something he ended up adding to his sentences when he was excited or passionate about something. Nana giggled and said something like "that's funny" while Shou grinned and threw his arm around Naruto's shoulder.

"You sure are an interesting one, Whiskers," he said as the three of them walked into the training ground where Kaido was waiting for them. He nodded at the genin in approval.

"You're right on time. Good job, but that was the only easy part. Now, pay attention because I hate repeating myself, so I'm only going to tell you how this test works once." Three nods met this statement as the genins' faces grew more focused.

"The test will end in three hours when the sun has finished setting," Kaido began, observing his students as they listened. "During those three hours each of you will be avoiding capture by me. Anyone who's caught when the time is up will be sent back to the academy. If I catch all three of you before the test is finished, the test will end early and all of you will be sent back. Basically, it's a game of hide and seek. Any questions?"

"Are there any restrictions as to what we're allowed to do?" Nana asked. Kaido shook his head; it was a good question and he was glad she'd asked.

"No. That's why I said bring any shinobi tools you thought you'd need. Tai, gen, and ninjutsu are also allowed. The same goes for me, and I'm warning you now, if you don't take this seriously you're going to get hurt. Also, you have to stay within this training ground."

Making sure there were no further questions, Kaido shoved his hands into his pockets. "Alright, I'm giving each of you two minutes to get away from here before I start coming after you. Starting… Now!"

In one motion, the three genin disappeared from the clearing leaving Kaido by himself. "Heh, not too shabby," he muttered to himself. He could still tell where they were, but each of them was making tracks to get as far away as possible as quickly as possible. Of course, they'd have to do more than just run away if they wanted to pass this test, but by calling it a game of hide and seek, he'd made them instinctively split up. Focusing in a bit closer on their chakra to trace the direction they were headed in, Kaido blanched when he realized that one of the signatures had seemingly disappeared like it was never there in the first place.

"What the…" he muttered, eyes narrowing. None of them should have the ability to mask their chakra to that degree. Chakra masking wasn't even taught at the academy, not even as part of the advanced early graduation curriculum. Frowning, Kaido let out a sigh. Already one of his genin was proving to be more than what meets the eye. He'd just have to chase down the other two first to learn who the disappearer was. A sadistic smirk slowly lit up Kaido's face; only seventy seconds left before the game of cat and mouse could begin.

. . . .

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

Reviews are appreciated.