Naruto could barely believe it. He'd passed the Academy Exam to be a Genin, first try! He was incredibly excited to meet his Jounin-Sensei, whoever that may be. All he knew right now is that he had a good feeling about tomorrow.
Naruto was dead-tired. A lot had happened the night previous, such as him learning about the Nine-Tails, him stealing the scroll back from one of his old sensei, Mizuki... it was almost not worth learning Shadow Clone Jutsu. Almost.
He rolled out of bed after finding he couldn't go back to sleep, getting dressed as he prepared for the day. He almost put his goggles on, when he smiled after remembering that he had his headband. He had earned that headband by his own skill, not by anyone's trying to make him a weapon... right?
Brushing those thoughts aside, Naruto finished getting dressed. He went off to the Academy once more to meet his Jounin-Sensei.
To say the least, he was impressed, disturbed, and disappointed at the same time.
Naruto was teamed up with the weapons-specialist, Tenten, and the chakra-deficient Taijutsu Specialist-in-the-making Rock Lee. That wasn't the bad part, really. Rock Lee was a pretty noble guy, and Tenten was just kinda quiet and in the background as of now.
What got him was their Sensei.
Might Gai, the apparent "Sublime Green Beast of Konoha", was so over-the-top melodramatic that Naruto couldn't help but try to get him to shut up. The man was unperturbed, his green jumpsuit and Jounin vest only adding to the haunting image still in Naruto's mind. Rock Lee had apparently already met Gai, and was already lost to his "flames of youth" ideals. Tenten was apparent confused and amused at the same time.
Gai told them to meet him at the training grounds in an hour, and they all agreed. They left, Naruto noticing only three Genin being left- one of them being Neji Hyuuga.
Shrugging, Naruto went off to the training grounds as Gai had told him to.
Might Gai was an interesting character. He spouted about "the power of the flames of youth" one moment, then got all serious and demanded to know "your ambitions in life". Naruto blinked before Rock Lee nearly burst out into his ambition.
"I want to be a splendid ninja even though I can use only Taijutsu! That is my dream and ambition!"
Rock Lee gave an eerily gleaming smile to everyone, who grew slightly concerned for him (not Gai, of course). Tenten went next.
"My ambition is to become a legendary kunoichi, like Tsunade of the Sannin! Failing that, I'll become a legendary kunoichi in my own right!"
Then all the eyes turned to Naruto. He had been pretty quiet, which was strange for him.
"My dream is to become the best ninja in Konoha, the Hokage. I know that path is a long one, and I doubt I won't need help. I will get there one day though! Believe it!"
Might Gai nodded at all this, and smiled. "Alright! You have proclaimed your ambitions. Now test your commitment to them!" He flipped backward and drops into a stance as he lands. "Come! Let us have a spar! Show me the power of your youth!"
With the spar over, and the poor Genin of Team Gai (as their sensei wished to call the team this) were heavily bruised and battered from their... ahem, "spar". Might Gai grinned, not wounded or tired in the least. "Good job everyone! Let us meet here tomorrow for team training, and from every day forward!"
Naruto groaned. This was going to be a long road to Hokage.