Naruto Age Four
The small blonde boy sat contentedly upon the mattress that was covered by books. His head was currently hidden behind the covers of a book entitled The Basics of Sealing, and he was scribbling furiously in the margins. The topic seemed particularly complex for a boy of only four, but this was not your run-of-the-mill child.
This was the son of Konoha's Yellow Flash and the Red Death, he was born to be great. Even if he did not know that he was born into greatness, he felt that he was called to something higher than just being an average person. Even being an average shinobi would not do. He would change the world, revolutionize it in ways that had been unheard of since the Sage of Six Paths taught man the first ninja techniques.
The only way he could do that, the boy thought, was with knowledge. So he read. He read everything he could get his hands on, which was a considerable amount since the matron of the orphanage he was staying at was more than happy for him to spend the majority of his time at the public library. Even though she herself held no ill will towards the boy, whenever he was around, adoption rates declined, and her duty was not just to one boy; no matter who he was.
Said boy was currently convinced of a few fundamental truths. The first being that only way to surpass the Sage of Six Paths was to somehow create a change that would cause a greater impact than the introduction of chakra to mankind. The second was that there was something that made him different than all the other members of Konoha, if the way they treated him was any indicator. The third truth was that he was smarter than most children his age, the librarian had almost wanted to stop him from checking out certain books that seemed too high level for him. The fourth and final truth, the one that he had just recently learned when the Hokage had given him this book, was that the Art of Sealing was extremely powerful and he wanted to be able to utilize that power for himself.
Shaking his head, he broke himself of his internal monologue and continued his reading, until he came upon a very interesting passage within his book. What it said seemed impossible, but it was actually making a large amount of sense. "The pinnacle of the Sealing Arts was realized years ago when Mito Uzumaki sealed the Nine Tailed Beasts into human vessels, creating seals that allowed for cooperation between Chakra Beast and vessel, but also kept the Beasts locked away for the duration of the vessel's lives."
Naruto was shocked. He almost dropped his book, and he did drop his pen. He had read about the Tailed Beasts and their vessels in his studies of history, they were always extremely powerful. They single-handedly turned the tides of battles, the existence of these vessels made the existence of shinobi on par with them such as the Legendary Three or the Fourth Hokage so special.
Which forced Naruto's hyper-intelligent mind to ask why the Fourth Hokage had supposedly killed the Kyūbi, by far the strongest of the Tailed Beasts, instead of sealing it inside a new born. Naruto remembered that the Tailed Beasts were simply beings of sentient chakra, so unless the Fourth had, in the midst of battle with a foe that had been compared to walking force of nature, figured out how to permanently disperse chakra, he had indeed sealed the Kyūbi.
Naruto thought about what he knew of the day the Kyūbi had attacked the Hidden Leaf Village, and what he knew of previous vessels. It was his birthday. The Fourth Hokage died. Usually vessels held close ties to the leaders of the village, to ensure loyalty. Naruto was visited monthly by the Hokage; he had even received the book that had so enthralled him earlier from the old man. The villagers all treated him with caution as if there was something dangerous about him. It made too much sense.
This time Naruto did drop the book. He shot out of his room, and sprinted down the stairs of the orphanage. He made it three feet out the door before the ANBU who watched him around the clock appeared in his way. Calculating his options for escape, he realized rather quickly he had none when he felt a pressure on his neck.
Blue eyes shot open, absorbing their surroundings as quickly as they could. His memories from earlier were still sharp, he had much to ask of the Hokage and he needed the answers to his questions. Finding himself in the office of the man he was looking for, and the man he who he had so many questions to ask calmly filling out paperwork behind his desk, he got up and walked into view.
If the older man had noticed his presence, he hadn't made mention of it, though that was usual of the Hokage in relation to Naruto. The boy was very articulate, and he would say exactly what he meant to say, no matter how long it took him to gather his thoughts. Naruto quickly figured out how he wanted to broach the subject and began.
"Lord Hokage, I was reading the book you gave me earlier. It was very interesting. I enjoy the Sealing Arts very much, and I would like to learn them one day soon…" The blonde paused, as if unsure of how the elder man would take what he had to say next.
"But the book did create a question for me. Do you mind if I ask it?"
"Of course not, you know you are like a grandson to me Naruto." The Hokage responded. Naruto flinched at the mention of his relationship with the elder man. It hurt to think that it could only be because he happened to be the vessel of a Tailed Beast.
"Actually, it kind of involves that. Am I the vessel for the Nine Tails?" The elder man chuckled at the blunt nature of the question. He was prepared for this scenario, one didn't get to being the Hokage without being prepared for almost everything, and he had given the boy the book so that he could connect the dots.
"I am afraid that you are Naruto. I know that it is a heavy burden, but the Fourth believed in you. He believed that you could conquer the hate in the shinobi world, and that conquering all that hate would start with conquering the Nine Tails' hate." The Hokage answered, hoping the knowledge of being a vessel would stop the blonde from asking why the Fourth entrusted him with such a burden.
"I won't let him down. I'm going to change the world. I'm going to make it so that people won't even want to seal the Tailed Beasts into people anymore. Believe it."
Sasuke Age 12
The black haired preteen ran home as quickly as he could. The sun had gone down half an hour ago and his mother was sure to be angry with him for being out while it was dark. Cursing his stupid, perfect older brother for being so good that he had to work twice as hard as all the other children at the Academy.
Arriving at the large gates that led into the Uchiha district, he found himself wondering if he had forgotten an important clan gathering. It was silent. Feeling unnerved by the unnatural quiet, the black-eyed boy ran faster, trying to get to his house as soon as possible. His mother would be waiting for him with dinner, and she would nag him and all would be right with the world.
Arriving at his house, he opened the door as quickly as he possibly he could, only to find his older brother standing over the corpses of his parents. His young mind tried to process the situation as quickly as it could, but the best solution it had in that moment was to ask his older brother what had happened, and ask he did.
"Itachi, why'd you do this?"
"To test the limits of my abilities." The answer he received was cold and sadistic, so different from the older brother that he had grown up with. The lights throughout the house began to flicker, though neither brother noticed.
"You're telling me that was the reason you butchered every single member of our clan?" Sasuke asked again, confusion clear in his voice. His head had begun to hurt, and for some reason, he was fluctuating between being angry at Itachi and understanding him. Grunting in disgust at himself, he awaited his older brother's answer.
"It was of great importance." With his piece said, Itachi Uchiha had then planned upon using the Tsukuyomi to ensure that his younger brother would seek revenge upon him. But as he activated his Mangekyou Sharingan, his brother let out a guttural roar and a blast of what appeared to be lightning was sent straight at his chest. Only years of training saved him from an early demise, but he had still taken a solid blow to his arm, and electrical burns were extremely detrimental to have in a fight. Cutting his losses, Itachi left; unable to see the burning red Sharingan in his younger brother's eyes before he passed out.
Two weeks later, Sasuke returned to the Academy a changed man in more ways than one. He had awakened his now-extinct clan's precious Bloodline Limit, but he also had awakened another ability that no other Uchiha had ever been recorded as having. It had the potential for great power, but he was unable to control it, and without that control, it was extremely noticeable. It would make living in normal society extremely difficult, even more so than it already would have been.
When he had been forced to talk to the Third Hokage about his problem, the elder man had simply said that the issue would be resolved when he arrived at the Academy. He arrived early to said Academy, as he had been instructed, and his issues with his newfound abilities still existed. Then the blonde-haired boy who did nothing to stand out, but gave the distinct impression that he wasn't putting forth any meaningful effort, walked towards him with a pair of heavy looking gauntlets.
"Oy, you Sasuke?" He had gruffly asked. Nodding in response, the blue-eyed preteen continued.
"Alright, the Hokage contracted me to make you these. Said you had an issue with controlling a certain ability that, from what he had gathered, seemed to take in electricity from sources around you, and absorb and convert it into Lightning Release chakra within your coils. The conversion obviously is all well and good, and from your reports with training with it, you can discharge the chakra in a burst or blast, which is great. The negative is the symptoms you will obviously be feeling from this, which should be your mind racing, your nervous system glitching out on ya, your ability to speak being a tad impaired, things like that. Am I right so far?"
Sasuke had to contain his awe. He had gathered all of that just from the Hokage's analysis of his ability. The boy must be a genius on par with any single shinobi the village had ever produced, or so Sasuke thought. Nodding again, the blonde, who's name he remembered as being Naruto, started again.
"Well, these gauntlets should help you with that. They'll still let you do your fancy little blast technique, and anything else you could do with your ability, since they won't interfere with the conversion of electricity to Lightning Release chakra. What they will do, however, is regulate the rate of conversion, so you don't store too much when you don't want any, and you can fire off consecutive blasts quickly when you need to. Just use the dials, play around with them."
"Was a right bitch to come up with them, especially in a week. Though those might just be my most advanced work yet, for an invention that is completely devoid of Seals at least." He added as an afterthought, walking away to his seat before Sasuke could even thank him.
As Naruto sat down, Sasuke observed him, taking in his appearance. He wore a plain white tee-shirt, with blue pants that were reminiscent of the Konoha fatigues. His one defining piece of clothing was an accessory, and it was the green goggles that rested on top of his forehead.
It appeared that the blonde had noticed him staring, and urged him to put on his gauntlets. They were bulky, and wouldn't allow for him to make handseals easily, not that that was a problem. The only Ninjutsu he knew were Fire Release, and he had been struggling with them since he had awoken his new ability. Though it would be nice if he had the ability to easily throw kunai and shuriken, so he mentally made a note to talk to the Uzumaki after class.
The school day had been long and tedious, though they were designed that way to ensure that future shinobi would be able to pay attention during boring mission debriefs. The reason for the lesson structure was covered on the first day of classes, and Sasuke had been more than happy to soak up any knowledge the teachers could supply him. He had needed to graduate quickly to surpass his brother, but he didn't have that goal anymore. What did he have anymore…
Shaking himself of such dark thoughts, he ran after the quickly retreating back of his newly made acquaintance. Upon catching up with him, he was surprised to find the blonde with his nose in a book, jotting along the margins, and highlighting where he saw fit. Stunned at the sight of the normally lazy student apparently working, he almost let the other preteen get away, before he regained his wits and called out to him.
"Naruto, I have a request to make for the gauntlets." The Uzumaki stopped in his tracks, and Sasuke assumed that was a sign for him to go on.
"Can you make them less bulky? More like gloves, and less like gauntlets so I can still make handseals and use throwing weapons?" Sasuke pitched his idea hopefully, using the logic for the ideas he had thought up earlier.
"I'll get to it as soon as I can." Was his only reply. Then the blonde vanished in a puff of smoke. Anxious to practice with his new weapons, Sasuke sprinted home, vowing to get to know the enigma that was Uzumaki Naruto sooner rather than later.
Sakura Age 14
Sakura had always been more emotional than the other girls at the Academy. Even with shinobi parents, she was unable to efficiently deaden her emotional responses like the other girls in her class. They all were capable of separating themselves from the mission, and getting the job done with whatever means were necessary. But she simply could not.
Volatile shinobi were not allowed in the ranks, everyone knew it. Her instability was the only thing keeping her from being the highest ranked female in their year, and she had spent the past four years working on curbing her outbursts. But emotions were a part of life, and she felt hers very deeply and strongly and she was proud of that.
After a particularly good day at the Academy (in the course of one of his arguments with Naruto, Sasuke had said she "wasn't as useless as your fangirls," which pretty much meant that Sasuke thought she was a worthwhile person to be around, in her mind) she wandered over to the top of the Hokage monument. She sat on top of the Second Hokage's head, imagining what it would be like to jump off and discover that she could fly.
In a spur of the moment decision, she decided she didn't want to imagine, so she walked to the edge of Tobirama Senju's head, and jumped. As soon as she did it, she knew that she was going to die. There was no way she would survive a fall from the top of the monument all the way to the bottom, and she wasn't actually capable of flight, or so she had thought.
In an effort to angle herself to possibly survive, she began to shift her body to decrease the speed of her fall. When she began to fall faster, she instantly knew something was amiss. She was less aerodynamic than she had been before she changed her position, why wasn't she slowed down in any way at all. In fact, she felt like she was accelerating.
As the ground came closer, in a last ditch effort she tried to will herself to shoot away from the ground. Closing her eyes, she prepared for her inevitable collision with the ground. When five seconds had passed, and no discernible feeling of being flattened against the unforgiving streets of the village she loved, she opened her eyes to find herself flying a few feet above eye-level over the streets of Konoha.
There was a rainbow colored trail of energy behind her, and she was going incredibly fast, faster than most shinobi she had ever seen move. She probably wouldn't even register as a blur, just as a rainbow trail to anyone who saw her moving at the moment. However, she didn't want to take any risks flying so low to the ground in a shinobi village, lest she be discovered by someone with advanced ocular prowess, so she angled her body upwards and flew towards the clouds.
Once she was at a height she was comfortable with, two miles above the village, she indulged her emotions of joy. She began doing aerial flips, aileron rolls, and barrel rolls, a chorus of laughter ringing out from her mouth all the while. Eventually, she had to go home, and she managed to land without incident in a seemingly empty training ground on the outskirts of the village. In her elated state, she didn't notice the pair of red eyes that followed her movement out of the clearing, watching her from the forestry.
The entirety of her next day at the Academy Sakura spent thinking about all the flying and experimenting she would do after class. She would see how fast she could go, test if she could manipulate the properties of the rainbow tail that tagged behind her when she flew, and any number of things she could now attempt. She might even visit the beach, a thought that made her giggle in delight.
When the day ended, she was so excited to leave that when the object of her affection called out to her, she almost blew him off in her rush. Then she remembered who it was that called her, and she realized that flying could wait a while, Uchiha Sasuke had never tried to talk to anybody in their class except for the blonde enigma Uzumaki Naruto. This was an opportunity too good to pass up.
Hurrying over, she contemplated all of the things he could possibly want. Maybe he wanted to go out to eat, or wanted to review one of the cryptography homework problems with her, since he had noticed that she was doing exceptionally well at that portion of the curriculum. There were a number of fantasies that drifted through the green-eyed shinobi-to-be's mind as she sauntered over to the black-haired teen who had so captivated her.
"What can I do for you, Sasuke?" She asked, batting her eyelashes in an attempt to be seductive. For his part, the Uchiha managed to keep his eyes on his figurative prize, and didn't even flinch at the unnerving sight.
"Naruto and I have a few questions for you, do you mind coming over to his apartment with us for a little bit?" Sasuke responded, getting straight to the heart of the issue. If he hadn't seen what this girl could do with his own eyes, he wouldn't have even spent the time of day on her, but she could prove to be a useful resource.
He was not too proud to admit talent when he saw it, and Sakura Haruno practically glowed with talent. So, when she happily agreed to answer their questions, he directed her to his blonde ally's home. He was happily surprised when she didn't ask any questions on the way, though that very well could have been a result of him walking at such a speed that she had to work to keep up with him lest she risk becoming lost.
Upon their arrival, Sasuke opened the door and stepped inside, waving her inside with him. Once he closed the door, the blue-eyed resident of the apartment appeared almost out of nowhere, without a hint that he hadn't been standing right in front of them all along. Sasuke grunted a greeting, and at Sakura's questioning glance, pointed her at Naruto to explain.
"Ah, sorry for the unceremonious gathering Sakura. I must say, you do look simply radiant today. However, there are important issues that need to be discussed. Namely, you." The blonde opened, his signature smile disarming the girl.
"What about me?" She asked, a small blush on her face from his compliment, and her curiosity piqued.
"Well, first we have an admission to make. Sasuke saw you flying yesterday. You are in good company, however, as the abilities you displayed are extraordinary and we would simply like to run a small test. We unfortunately need a vial of your blood." Naruto responded, smile never wavering, though he had attained a seriousness about him that she had never seen the blonde have before.
This was a problem that even her prodigious brain was having trouble working through. The boy she was currently infatuated with, and his only known associate, had seen her exhibit her freakish abilities yesterday. Not only had they seen them, but they wanted to run a test on her as if they had some knowledge as to what could be the source of her abilities, and the test involved blood, which every shinobi knew never to give out unless absolutely necessary.
It became a battle between her mind and her heart. She had always been an emotional girl.
"I'll take your test."
"Great, we'll just get the vial and run it and we should have the results pretty quickly." As the jinchūriki said that, he grabbed a syringe and motioned for her to give him her arm. When she complied, he began checking for veins around the inner elbow, before finding one and inserting it.
"Thank you so much, by the way. This might lead to some very interesting findings. So, first question, did your flight drain chakra?" Naruto asked as he took the now full syringe out of her arm and handed it to Sasuke. Sakura sputtered at his unorthodox nickname for her crush, but answered honestly.
"I didn't actively notice a drain. But now that you mention it, when I got home I felt like my reserves were more depleted than when I left the Academy that day." She answered truthfully. Sasuke placed the vial within the middle of a complicated Seal that she could barely understand. Though she maintained her trust in the two boys.
"Interesting, that trail that you emit, do you consciously make that or is it just there?" The blonde sent back, though his focus was now mostly on the Seal. After a moment with her blood in the middle, it lit up and Naruto let out a small cheer and Sasuke smirked a little.
"I don't do it consciously, it's just there. I assume you got the results you wanted?" She queried, curious for her results.
"That we did indeed Sakura, that we did. Now, what I'm about to tell you is all super hush-hush, top-secret, some of it the Hokage doesn't even know about yet. Can you handle that?" Sakura gasped. To be actively keeping secrets from the village's leader was treasonous. The boys clearly trusted her, but treason was the quickest way to end up dead in a shinobi village. She had read about many a shinobi that had been killed for less egregious offenses than keeping secrets from a military leader.
"Naruto, that's treason!" She whisper-shouted at him, hoping to get the importance of that charge into his brain.
"What we're going to tell you is bigger than Konoha. Though, if you're that worried, the Hokage knows I'm conducting research into Sasuke's and my abilities, and he hasn't asked for any specific updates so it isn't really treason. Besides, this is life-changing stuff here." Naruto quipped, annoyed at her lack of faith in them. When Sakura reluctantly nodded her assent to hearing the information, he continued.
"On your 23rd sex chromosome, a mutation occurred. Currently, our hypothesis is that it was as a result of the Kyūbi attack and all of that super dense chakra being exposed to your DNA in infancy. This mutation, which will from here on out be called the X-gene, gave you your flight. It also gave Sasuke the ability to absorb and discharge static electricity, and it gave me my mind. Are you following?" Though she was shocked at the revelations being told to her, she was very much invested in what he was saying so she waved him on to keep speaking.
"Our abilities all require some chakra, well not mine but that's irrelevant, and they don't appear to be inheritable since the X-gene appears the same in all of our DNA. Essentially, the three of us, and probably a whole bunch of other people in the village, have this mutation that gives us an extra advantage in the shinobi world. Our current course of action should be to ensure that the three of us end up on the same team, which was already practically guaranteed to happen." Naruto finished, almost out of breath.
"Wait, the three of us are going to be on a team? How do you know?" Sakura challenged, disbelieving at the idea.
"Ino-Shika-Cho has always been a combination, and usually taught by a Sarutobi so we won't even get Asuma, which sucks for me. Kiba, Hinata, and Shino will all be on a team, since last year's Academy crop didn't produce any track-and-attack teams, pretty much forces the Old Man's hand. Sasuke has to pass, I have to pass, the higher-ups won't want to let any weaklings through by separating the two of us, and you have already stood out to the teachers as someone with true potential, so you'll earn the spot on the only other guaranteed to pass team." Naruto explained.
Sakura was shocked at his information gathering ability, but was more curious about one thing that he had said.
"Eh, why are you guaranteed to pass?" Naruto's feral grin made her quiver a little.
"I'm the jinchūriki for the Nine Tails. Even if I were deliberately sabotaged so that I couldn't read, nobody gave me the scroll for an alternative clone technique, and my chakra control was so bad that it was a legitimate security risk for me to use practically any jutsu, I would graduate somehow." He answered.
Knowledge of his status as a container for one of the Nine Tailed Beasts wasn't off-putting for the pink-haired girl. It was practically an extra shinobi rule that jinchūriki were not to be trifled with because of the insane amounts of power that they wielded. Only shoddy Seals allowed for any meaningful interaction between prisoner and warden outside of life and death situations or at the wardens will, and most seals powerful enough to contain a Bijū, much less the most powerful of the Bijū, would have to be damn good.
'Looks like I don't have much of a choice in the matter,' Sakura thought to herself. Decision made, she joined the much lighter conversation that had struck up between the two boys, and by the time she had to go home, she felt as if she were a part of something greater.
Two Years Later
The Hokage's Office was empty except for the Third Hokage, and a silver-haired man with the majority of his face covered, dressed in standard Jōnin attire. The two remained in silence for a few moments, each one reading from their respective copy of Make Out: Paradise. After a few seconds passed the silver-haired man snapped his book shut and stood at attention, ready to speak to his military leader.
"Kakashi, you were given your team assignment last week. Tomorrow they will officially be yours to do with as you wish. I would caution you, they have developed a strong bond over the years. The bell test may not be as useful a trial for them, though I am sure Naruto would see through it in a heartbeat. His brain is often too big for his shoulders, I fear. You've read their files, now you will meet them in person. May the deity you worship help you." The Hokage said wearily. This new iteration of Team Seven could be as great as any of the other Team Seven's, without any of the tragedy, he prayed.
"I think I'm good enough to handle a couple of fresh genin." Kakashi responded, discarding the warning that his superior was giving him.
"That you are, Kakashi, that you are. Now leave, and may the Will of Fire burn bright within you."
"As it should in you."
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were sprawled across desks all around the classroom. Their teacher, a scarred Chūnin by the name of Iruka, had given them their team assignments earlier that day. They had gone as Naruto had predicted two years ago, though that was not a surprise to any one of the new members of Team Seven.
As they waited for their teachers, they were forced to come up with ways to keep themselves amused. Sasuke continued fidgeting with the Mark V version of his gauntlets. Though gauntlets would be a generous word to describe what he was wearing on his arms. It appeared as though the metallic coverings were prosthetics in place of his actual arms due to how tightly they fit and the range of motion he had.
The silver contrasted nicely with his all-black outfit that consisted of: ANBU standard black pants, with his weapon holster taped to his left thigh, a loose-fitting high-necked black tee-shirt that had the Uchiha crest on the back, and a chōkuto that was strapped around his right hip. His eyes lazily scanned the room for something to entertain himself with before he began throwing kunai at either one of his teammates, just to fight the immense boredom he was feeling.
Sakura was napping on the top of one of the desks, her pink locks blanketing her face as her chest softly moved up and down in rhythm with her breathing. She had developed into a beautiful young woman, and had graduated the Academy considered to be, rather crudely by the male members of her year, as one of the two 'hottest' kunoichi in the class. She had on a pink, sleeveless, and zippered blouse and skin tight black shorts. She had a specifically designed flight suit that she could wear, but she only used that on special occasions, and it was in a Seal on her left shoulder.
Thoughts of Seals brought the Uchiha's eyes over to his blonde teammate, who was writing in a notebook, his back propped up by the wall while the rest of his body laid on the desk. The Uzumaki wore a long-sleeved, white tee-shirt with a red spiral over his sternum, and a pair of orange pants with two black stripes running down either side. After a few more moments of furious scribbling, the jinchūriki slammed his notebook shut, and looked over to his two teammates.
The green-eyed girl was rubbing her eyes and lazily stretching, while Sasuke had simply sat up from his perilous position of hanging half-way out of the window. Having gained their attention, he spoke.
"Scarecrow incoming, be prepared for anything." He warned seriously, though the twinkle in his eye betrayed his excitement. The now alert duo nodded, before filing into chairs. After half a minute of silence, a silver-haired man entered the room, waving at them.
"Ah, my first impression of you three, is that you're really boring. Meet me on the roof in five minutes." He spoke, before disappearing in a puff of smoke. He was surprised to find that by the time the disorienting effects of his Body Flicker had worn off, his three students-to-be were already waiting for him.
"My, aren't you three quick?" He complimented them, though all three knew the unspoken questions he must've had for them.
"I'm the quickest though," the blonde offered, enjoying the muttered obscenities his two best friends shot at him. Kakashi quirked an eyebrow at the scene, before moving on to the reason they had been brought to the rooftop in the first place.
"How about we all get to know each other better? Tell everyone your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and your dreams for the future, starting with the speedster." Kakashi said, amused at the agitation his other two students showed when he referred to the blonde as the fastest, though he was slightly confused by the accusation that the blonde cheated. There was only one true way to cheat when getting between one place and another was involved, and he was sure the blonde didn't have the means to do that.
"Ah, sensei, I'm not gonna tell you all of that information about me that you could potentially use to manipulate me with unless you give me a name at least. You're gonna have to try harder than that." The blonde shot back. So the kid was feisty, no matter. He could play.
"Fair enough, blondie. My name is Kakashi Hatake, you can call me Kakashi-sensei. My likes are inappropriate for 16-year olds, my dislikes are deeply personal, my hobbies are… hm… and my dreams for the future are none of your business." He was surprised when none of his potential genin blanched at the blatant lack of information he had given them, but he was astonished when the blonde one responded.
"Kakashi Hatake, Elite Jōnin. Supposedly likes reading porn in public. Dislikes are unconfirmed as of this moment but suspected to be teaching, since records indicate he has never passed a genin team. His hobbies are generally unknown, though it is fairly safe to assume he enjoys training. Dreams for the future, well, I don't know everything."
"Mah, Naruto, you know so much about me already, I think it's only fair that you tell me about yourself now, don't you think?" The elder man responded, though it was taking all of his training in controlling his emotions to not outwardly show his surprise.
"Good point. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My likes are those two slowpokes sitting next to me, ramen, the Art of Sealing, Kurama, gathering information and training. I dislike whenever Sakura and Sasuke get hurt, and a lot of other things. My hobbies are making new Seals, inventing, research, and reading. My dream is to surpass the Sage of Six Paths." Naruto answered.
"Interesting, now onto you emerald-eye's."
"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like these two idiots, my alone time, rainbows, training, and probably Ino sometimes. My dislikes are seeing Naruto and Sasuke hurt, and when Sasuke forgets to buy groceries so all we have left is instant ramen. My hobby is reading medical journals. My dream is to help as many people as I can, while ensuring the safety of the Leaf." She answered lazily, obviously still only half awake.
"You're very excited to be here obviously, now you go cyborg."
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. My likes are my two best friends and training. My dislikes are not being able to control certain things, Itachi, and a whole lot of other things. I don't really have any hobbies. My dream for the future is to bring the Uchiha clan back to relevance on the strength of all my abilities, not just my eyes." Sasuke answered evenly, his eyes barely flickering up to Kakashi's lone visible one at any point throughout.
"Huh, an Uchiha who isn't obsessed with the Sharingan, who would've thought? Alright you three, meet me at training ground twelve tomorrow morning at 6 A.M. sharp, you'll be taking your real genin test there. Survival training with me, don't eat breakfast unless you want to throw-up. See you then!" Having said his piece, Kakashi disappeared in another cloud of smoke.
"You guys wanna stay the night at my place? We can game plan for this test." Naruto offered. His two teammates thought about the answer for a moment before Sakura answered.
"If we're staying the night at your house than we're getting take-out." She warned, having had her fill of instant ramen over the past two years of being close friends with the blonde.
"Agreed," seconded Sasuke quickly, leaving no room for Naruto to negotiate. Sighing, the blonde grabbed onto his two friends and disappeared, leaving three streaks of light, one yellow, one pink, and the other black. They also unknowingly left behind a very stunned Jōnin sensei.
Naruto cursed inwardly as the silver-haired man avoided the palm of another one of his clones. They were in the midst of their genin test, and their sensei seemed intent upon making their job as hard as it possibly could be. Sighing, he made a mental note to look into creating a seal that would allow for a limited form of telepathy between he, Sakura and Sasuke, before he set off to go find them. Once he got the two of them together, he began speaking.
"Alright, we need a new plan. My clones are keeping him occupied at the moment, but they haven't been able to tag him with my technique formula yet, so we're in limbo as far as that goes at the moment. It isn't worth losing the element of surprise for either of your abilities yet, and we might as well assume the worst and say that Kakashi knows I can do the Flying Thunder God." Naruto remarked.
"If he knows, you might as well start using your other more potent attacks to buy us more time and get him off guard." Sasuke pointed out.
"Fair, since we think we know what the point of this test really is, we might as well execute a team attack or two. I'll tag a kunai and then we can use Speed Parade. Agreed?" Naruto proposed.
The other two members of Team Seven nodded and Naruto grinned. This would be their first field test of any of their combination techniques, and he was excited to see the results. He unsealed a kunai from his right thigh, and placed his index finger on the wrappings around the handle. He channeled his chakra to his finger, and a small spiral made out of kanji appeared on the wrappings.
Kakashi had been having a hard time with the clones of his blonde student. Dispelling them without being touched was a chore, especially when taking into account just how good the Uzumaki apparently was with taijutsu. His reflexes were extremely quick, and probably better than most Chūnin he knew, and he was faster than the average genin. But one doesn't train with Maito Gai for years on end to not be able to handle a fresh-out-the-academy genin in taijutsu, no matter how quick he was.
He had only managed to land blows that dispelled the shadow clones on ten of the fifty clones the jinchūriki had created, and their numbers were giving them a distinct advantage. The Jōnin was so distracted, he didn't notice twelve clones fall back and create a circle around the man fighting the mob of blue-eyed geniuses. The twelve clones touched their hands to the ground, and tiny spirals appeared where they had placed their hands.
As soon as the spirals were placed, all the Naruto's in the area threw up multiple kunai. Tri-pronged kunai. Kunai that he recognized all too well, and their potential to do damage was too great. He went on the offensive, lashing out at all the Naruto's that were near him in an effort to create enough space for him to safely Substitute himself with a nearby tree branch.
Suddenly, as Kakashi was throwing one Naruto over his shoulder while avoiding a kick aimed at his head from another, his body was wracked with pain as electricity began to course through it. Before he could figure where the source of his electrical prison was from he felt something hit him in the face with the force of a freight train. Reeling from shock, he almost missed the kunai that was flying right for his face.
He managed to move his head out of the way through the pain, though it accentuated the agony. Suddenly a flash of yellow light flew by his face and Naruto was standing behind him. Before he could move to defend himself against the blonde, he was hit in the face once more. The force behind the punch was the same, but this time he noticed a small trail of rainbow light that quickly disappeared from view that he hadn't noticed last time.
After another two seconds of being electrocuted, the lightning coursing through his body receded, and he stumbled forwards. His three students were standing in front of him, all looking rather smug at what he could only imagine was his ragged appearance. Naruto held up the bells.
"So, do we pass, sensei?" Kakashi promptly blacked out.
"Maa, my cute little genin. Are you ready for a day full of hard work?" Kakashi opened with when he arrived at the training ground the next day. The sadistic glint in his sole visible eye was unnerving to the trio, and they were sure that this was somehow going to be payback for what happened during their test yesterday.
"Yes, sensei," all three chorused, though they sounded a little unsure. The older man chuckled darkly at his student's terrified expressions. He loved it when his reputation preceded him.
"Good. Today will be chakra control exercises. Something tells me you three already know tree walking, and probably even water walking." Sasuke's scoff of indignation was all he needed to hear for confirmation.
"Then I guess we have no choice but to go to the next stage of chakra control training. All three of you, go sit on the river and meditate," he ordered, pointing his hand to the tributary that ran through the training ground. The trio of novice shinobi listened to their teacher, and made to the small river with haste.
They had been peacefully sitting on the water for five minutes when a small wave came and submerged them in the frigid stream. The three came up sputtering and gasping for air, though they maintained the energy to glare at their superior officer. Kakashi simply levied an eye smile back at them, and told them to get back to it.
They spent their day being randomly submerged in freezing water until they had learned to focus enough to remain seated even when they couldn't see the shifts in water coming at them. The silver-haired man commanded that this exercise be done every day during the time that they waited for him for Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura, was given a different task to complete.
"Sakura, you completed that little exercise first, and your chakra control is easily the greatest out of all of ours. So what you're going to do is increase your reserves, and create the waves for your ever-eager teammates every morning. The technique I used is called Water Release: Great Waves," he demonstrated the hand seals and then spat out a small shot of water that then formed into a wave.
"You use it to create waves for the boys, and while you're doing that, twist your chakra inside your body and spin it into a tight spiral. It'll help increase your reserves and you'll be able to make use of the techniques you three eventually gleam from me, understood?" The tone of his voice offered no room for discussion, so she simply nodded her assent, a move mirrored by her teammates.
"Now, we get to the fun part. Everyone gets to individually spar with me, while the other two work on their Nature Transformation exercises," the Jōnin brandished three scrolls and tossed one to each of them. Not waiting for them to read their scrolls, he went on with his speech.
"Any techniques you want to learn; you have to learn from observation. Then, if I deem the technique fit to be taught to you, you will give me seven ways to use said technique in any given scenario. If your reasoning is up to snuff, you'll be taught the technique. Got it? I don't want mindless drones in combat, you have to be able to think for yourself that."
"Sakura, you've already received a technique pro bono, so you're not going to spar today. Uchiha, you're up first." The Copy-Nin stated. Sasuke lined up with a determined look on his face. 'This'll be interesting,' Kakashi thought to himself before flinging a kunai at the younger man.
Team Seven had settled into a routine of training on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while taking D-rank missions on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They had taken the occasional C-rank, mostly uneventful escort missions or clearing out aggressive animals, after they had been a team for a little over a month.
Three months into the process, all three felt as if they were improving at great rates. Kakashi didn't let them use their unique abilities unless the situation absolutely called for it, and they had been humbled to learn how much they relied on their powers. Even Naruto was affected, since he had grown so accustomed to creating plans of attack with his teammates using their powers, it had thrown them all for a loop initially.
They quickly came up to speed, however. None of them was interested in letting their sensei down, and they had all taken to studying even during their times off. While the trio had been fairly reclusive during their academy days, except for Sakura who only became shut off from the other students after becoming friends with Naruto and Sasuke, they now only left their homes for training, food, and to get more reading material.
Their routine was interrupted when they were summoned by ANBU to the Hokage's office. All four members of Team Seven arrived prepared for a long term mission within ten minutes of the summons, as was standard protocol when retrieved by ANBU members. They were greeted by the Hokage, his normally warm and caring expression schooled into the serious visage of a military leader.
"Team Seven, another group of rookie genin have been put into a perilous position on a mission. It is my son's team, and his assessment of the situation created quite the dilemma. His team was attacked by two C-rank missing-nin, with the expectation of a higher level combatant in the future of the mission. The benefits of their mission being completed are too great for it to be abandoned completely, however it is something Asuma will not be able to complete if he is tasked with guarding his team and the client."
"You have two separate missions, one for Kakashi, and one for you three genin. Kakashi, you are to give the client these revised terms of mission acceptance, and are to accomplish the original mission with Jōnin Sarutobi. Genin, you are to retrieve the genin of Team Ten and bring them back to the village safely. Your team is being specifically picked for this mission because of your ability to make haste. In the battle with the missing-nin genin Yamanaka was injured by a weapon that was believed to be poisoned. You three are uniquely equipped to both move quickly and treat the poison in a limited capacity." He finished, eyes never leaving the quartet in front of him.
"At your leave, Lord Hokage." Kakashi spoke for his team as he retrieved the revised terms of acceptance and the mission parameters from the lone administrative Chūnin. There was no room for arguments or questions, this was time sensitive, and with an injured clan heir, they would need all the time they would get.
The foursome sprinted out of the Hokage's office and used the roof to begin their trek towards the village gates while their sensei barked directives at them. They would immediately travel south from the gates, and wouldn't stop until they reached Team Ten's position. They had only left the village a day prior at civilian speed, so they should be caught up by midday at the speed Team Seven could move.
"You three got all that?" He asked for confirmation. Receiving three nods, he continued his dead sprint out of the village. It took four hours of running, but Team Seven soon caught up to their targets. Kakashi was proud to note that none of his charges looked particularly worn out from keeping up with him going at full speed for that long. Naruto was a natural stamina-freak and that would've tired even him out at the beginning of their time together, more-so his other two students. It was a testament to the hard work they had put in that they could maintain the pace they had with minimal chakra use.
Asuma Sarutobi cut an imposing figure, even though he was wrought with worry. He was running his fingers through his hair as the quartet landed next to him and his group of genin. His usually well-kept facial hair was in disarray, Kakashi noted, an assurance of his troubled mental state. The reason for that worry was obviously the unnaturally pale blonde that he kept vigil over, along with his two other teammates.
"Asuma, new orders. Mine are to escort yours back to the village, you and I are going to finish this mission. Provided your client agrees to the new terms that our Lord Hokage has so kindly drawn up for him," the silver-haired man shot a pointed glare at the balding older man as he concluded his statement. The client smelled strongly of sake, and was clearly afraid of the two Jōnin.
"I'll accept any terms as long as it means you super ninjas will protect me," the client, a man named Tazuna if the intel was to be believed, stammered out. Filing that away for later, he shifted his attention over to his students, specifically his pink-haired genin. She had unsealed a device that appeared to be a vial attached to a large mechanical device, though the needle made its purpose fairly clear.
His theory was confirmed when she jabbed the needle into the arm of the unconscious blonde girl, the vial filling up with a small amount of blood. Curious whirring sounds began to be emitted from the device, and after a moment the blood sample turned white.
This news was apparently shocking to his three students, since they all reacted with tell-tale signs of surprise, though they were subdued so only those who were looking for them would see them. Kakashi figured that he should take the initiative in the conversation about the Yamanaka girl's health, lest her teammates or sensei allow their emotions to cloud their judgment. His students only seemed surprised, not worried in any way.
"What does that mean?" He asked bluntly, hoping to ease the tensions in the unconscious kunoichi's teammates with a quick response. Sakura, the most professional of his three students, answered immediately.
"The bloodgun-lite checks for neurotoxins, since they're the most lethal and used mostly by the Cloud and Stone, our two greatest enemies. White means that she is clear of any neurotoxins, but it means something else entirely for our own research. I'm going to do a more in-depth analysis of the poison now." She quickly took another vial of blood, though this time she formed hand-seals before focusing her chakra and drawing a purple substance from the blood.
Everyone was transfixed as she unsealed another scroll from her pouch, rolled it out, and placed the poison in the center of a complicated-looking ring of Seals. When the second ring started to glow with a blue light, she immediately rushed over to Ino and ripped off the bandages from the wound on her shoulder. She then began sucking out blood from the cut, and spitting it off to the side.
Naruto, being a Seal Master himself, finished deciphering what the second row of Seals meant, and instantly unscrewed the lid to his canteen, ripped off the sleeve of his shirt, doused it in the cold water, and pressed it to Ino's face. Sakura moved her eyes to him to express her gratitude, but he waved the gesture off. The remaining shinobi sat around wordless, curious as to what was going on. The jinchūriki, reading the mood, explained.
"The poison used would cause Ino's heart rate to increase, and eventually her heart would explode. It's a standard of snake bites, I'm confident that the Leaf has an antidote to this stuff. As soon as Sakura gets her to a somewhat stable condition, we can begin to move out."
"We don't have the luxury of waiting for her Naruto, Asuma and I have to leave. You four should be enough to defend them until they are safe to move. Naruto, can you use space-time ninjutsu to get them back to the village?" The one-eyed man asked.
"No, Ino's condition pretty much rules that out as an option. The… amount of chakra it would take to move all six of us would assuredly make any nin sensitive to chakra's heart race. I'm still fairly new to the Thunder God, I'm nowhere near as good as the Fourth or Second were with it yet." He lamented, hoping the two senior nin would recognize why he couldn't transport them all back to the village. Drawing on Kurama's chakra was a surefire way to get Ino's blood pumping the poison through her veins right to her heart.
"Alright, we'll continue towards Wave. You all get back to the village on foot. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, we haven't really practiced team maneuvers too much, since your teamwork is already above par – but this is a time where you'll need to be use them. I would recommend a straight line with Sakura carrying Ino in the middle, Sasuke in front, and Naruto in the back. Choji and Shikamaru should remain on your flanks and maintain a watch." The Copy-Nin recommended. Naruto nodded, and watched as the duo continued down the path with the client, though at a much quicker pace. Sending a small wish for their safety, he turned back towards his teammates and their new additions.
"Sakura, how much longer until we can move?" He asked sharply. It was time for business, and as Team Seven's de facto leader, he refused to let either of his best friends be hurt by any lack of diligence on his part.
"Two and a half minutes, I've gotten rid of all the poison that I can. We just have to wait for her body to relax more before we can safely move at a reasonable speed." She responded just as seriously. Quickly mulling over the possibilities, he formulated a plan for their return. He made the now-familiar cross hand seal, and created 30 shadow clones. They paired off, and began scouting their way back to the village.
"What's the speed we'll be able to move at?" He asked his pink teammate, noting that they only had a minute and a half till their departure.
"About 50% of our full unenhanced speed. Puts ETA at around midnight, and that's assuming Ino remains stable for the entirety of the run." She answered promptly again. Naruto cursed under his breath before looking to his other teammate, who had been silent to this point.
"Sasuke, I need you to layer us with a concealing genjutsu. Just something minor, to dissuade bandits and the like. Whatever formation you need us in that makes that as minimally chakra-intensive as possible, tell me. We'll need you ready to go if we run into anything, you're the spear in any of our offensive attacks, after all." The Uzumaki ordered, blue eyes staring into black.
"Triangle, I'll have to be in the center with Sakura. I'd recommend you take point and the Nara and Akimichi make up the base points." He offered, eyes darting over to the genin in question, who had visibly bristled at the assumptions that their team was inferior.
"Naruto, we can move now." Sakura spoke up.
"Alright, everyone, let's move out. Get in the formation that Sasuke wanted, we should be prepared for any confrontation that we might have since my clones are clearing the way, but be prepared for anything. There are four high-profile targets that anyone with the right information will be chomping at the bit to come get at." He pointed out, before stepping two yards in front of Sakura, who had picked up her unconscious friend. Once everyone was in position, they started the trek back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
The trip was uneventful, until they were a mile from the village. They came upon two young men walking down the road, whom Sakura immediately recognized as having larger than average chakra signatures. Once she had relayed the information to Naruto and Sasuke, Naruto gave the Leaf hand signal to slow down.
The pair were dressed similarly, with black shirts that were cut off at the midriff, and black pants. They both had red straps over their shoulders as well. One had short black hair, and the other had light-blue hair that went down to his chin.
Sasuke began to layer genjutsu on the two teens, in the hopes that the large group would be able to slip by. They were all disappointed when a tiger made of ink came roaring at them off of the pen and scroll of the teen with black hair.
Naruto immediately reacted, forming ten shadow clones, two to deal with the tiger, and the rest to attack the combatants directly. Sasuke ordered Shikamaru and Choji to continue with Sakura to the village, before shooting a Lightning Release: Thunderbolt, at the black haired teen who had taken to the skies on the back of a papery bird.
Shikamaru quickly convinced his teammate to continue with him and Sakura, even though the Akimichi was wont to stay and fight alongside his comrades. When the four escaped the clearing, the blue haired boy spoke.
"The Uchiha and the Jinchūriki are more valuable than the Akimichi and the Nara." He said loud enough for his comrade to hear. He wasn't given any time to check for his partner's response before Naruto's clones were upon him.
The original blonde sat back and observed the fight from the surrounding shrubbery, palming a kunai with his technique formula on it. His opponent appeared to be well-versed in close combat, having dispatched the first three shadow clones that reached him with skill and ease. However, he had more trouble with the next five, until he weaved a genjutsu over them, using the sounds from his recently revealed tanto as it struck his clone's kunai as the medium.
That was no mean feat, sound based genjutsu was difficult to begin with. Being able to weave his chakra through sounds that were as short as metal striking metal was nothing short of prodigious. Whoever their opponents were, they knew what they were doing. Luckily for Sasuke and Naruto, so did they.
Naruto teleported to the Seal on Sasuke's left arm when the Uchiha landed on a tree branch some forty yards away. As soon as he appeared he flashed through the Dragon, Tiger, and Hare hand seals. Once he finished them he brought his hands up to his mouth, and directed the flow of water that was now coming from his mouth up towards the shinobi flying on the ink bird.
The high velocity water technique splattered harmlessly against the shinobi, serving to only soak him. Naruto continued the technique, some of his clones limiting the flying shinobi's mobility with kunai. The airbound shinobi seemed content to remain in the spray of his technique, which would be his doom. Sasuke gathered Lightning Release chakra in his hand, and then placed it in the flow of Naruto's technique.
The flying shinobi was suddenly falling to the ground as his ink technique was dispersed when he was knocked unconscious by the electricity coursing through his body. Sasuke leapt and caught the nin before he hit the ground, and bound him, also applying chakra suppression seals that Naruto had designed to also induce a deep sleep.
The blonde shinobi had returned to his original opponent, who was still fighting his remaining two clones. The whiskered teen flung his marked kunai at the side of the shinobi's head, teleporting to it when it passed him by. Once he appeared behind the pale blue-haired shinobi, it took minimal effort to knock him out with the blunt end of his kunai.
After binding the young man, and suppressing his chakra, he unsealed a small tag that would slow blood flow to a certain area by sealing off the chakra flow in the applied area. Large scale it wasn't worth the risk of use, he could permanently stop blood flow to a part of someone's body if he wasn't exact in his placement, really he only used it on the tongues of prisoners. Worst case scenario, they couldn't talk and were just as susceptible to a mind sweep.
As he went to apply the seal to the first prisoner, he noticed a different Seal already on his tongue. Just by the density, he could assume it was a Cursed Seal. It was a small distinction really, but the only difference between a normal Seal and a Cursed Seal was the form the Seal took after it was applied. Normal Seals showed kanji, as a sign of good faith for other practitioners of the good art to study their Seals, or if ever a time came when their Seal needed to be modified or removed it would be easy to do so.
The forms that Cursed Seals took didn't allow for any type of study. If they did, every two-bit missing-nin who had ever read a beginner Sealing Manual would try and steal the Byakugan from a branch member. By their natures they weren't evil, they were just secretive and often had a certain stigma within his clan members, the foremost authority on the Sealing Art. It was no surprise that stigma had leaked out from his clan out into the rest of the world, really. Human nature was what it was.
Luckily, the ability to decipher Cursed Seals quickly was a bar that Naruto had decided would separate true Uzumaki Sealmasters, from mere fakers. His hours of study hadn't gone to waste, he applied his chakra to the Cursed Seal, and watched as the hexagram rearranged itself into kanji. When that process was done, Naruto let out a soft whistle. He recognized the kanji from a set of notes that had come from a rather important information gathering session.
It had been the largest information grab in his life to date. Danzō had ordered the Third Hokage's assassination after Kurama attacked the village. Naruto still mulled over the implications of that fact. Danzō's continued existence left three possibilities in Naruto's mind. The Third was incompetent and somehow didn't realize the old war hawk had ordered his death, Danzō was just that important to Konoha's security, or the Third had thought his punishment (a simple order to disband ROOT, the old man hadn't had anyone oversee the organizations destruction, so of course Danzō hadn't complied) had been effective. None were particularly positive outcomes, in Naruto's opinion.
Snapping out of his reverie, he went back to deciphering the newly unraveled Cursed Seal. It was fairly tame as far as Cursed Seal's went, it would only paralyze the shinobi and prevent them from talking if they attempted to speak about Danzō or ROOT. Naruto suspected that it was only a Cursed Seal because of the very direct connection that it had to Danzō. A connection that Naruto had suddenly unearthed.
The gravity of the situation suddenly became very real to Naruto. He had concrete proof that Danzō was willing to act with total disregard for any limits that the Hokage had set for him. What he lacked was a leader that was strong enough to do anything with his information. The jinchūriki sincerely doubted that the elder Hokage would be willing to do something to the war hawk now if he hadn't been willing to do something about it when the man had tried to have him killed.
Naruto felt a headache coming on. Kakashi wouldn't be back in the village for at least a week, he would have the necessary experience for him to draw upon in this situation. Regaining his focus, he unsealed a small camera from the massive Storage Seal inside his weapons pouch. He took a picture of the tongue with the unraveled Cursed Seal on it, before moving over to the other ROOT nin.
He opened the extremely pale teen's mouth, and took a picture of the Cursed Seal when it was in its natural hexagram form. He then unraveled the Cursed Seal, and painted a separate array over it with the brush and ink he always kept sealed inside his right hip. When he was finished, he channeled his chakra into the ink making it glow. After a moment, the light died down, and there was no longer a seal of any kind on the pale shinobi's tongue.
Naruto went to repeat the process with the other ROOT shinobi. While he was painting the seal, Sakura landed in the clearing with them, her face wrought with worry. She calmed down a little as she saw the two genin's relative state of good health, but she was still anxious for them to return home. Once Naruto released the pale blue-haired shinobi from his Cursed Seal, he picked him up, and nodded towards his teammates. They gathered around him, and he focused on the Flying Thunder God marker in his apartment. Once he felt his chakra securely anchored, he enveloped all of them in his chakra, and they vanished.
A/N: Boy am I impatient as a writer? I cannot develop things slowly, which is rather sad. I like reading those stories the most, they usually have the highest quality writing. But that's okay, I don't think I'm a particularly quality writer. So, this is the Akun-50 Power-Up challenge, believe it or not. You wouldn't believe how many changes I went through for who's powers they got. I'll give you a hint, all of Team Seven's characters are from the Marvel universe. Though recently one of the characters I chose got a super duper power up that won't have any bearing on this fic. I actually really enjoy competent Naruto, I'm on a super NaruIno kick at the moment, but I'm going to try and avoid pairings for the moment. Let them grow up some more. Except, I can totally start pairing them up now. They're 16, not 12-13. It's great. Everything generally just got moved up three years to fit my schedule in case you were wondering about that.
Now, more story based stuff. I wanted to make the Third competent, but the more we learned in Shippuden about what went down during his second go-round as Hokage, the harder it was to take him seriously. Letting a jinchūriki go completely to waste during a period in which they're rebuilding is one thing, letting everyone walk all over him is another. He makes those fanfics where the Council are some omnipotent entity seem realistic. Maybe there are some leadership changes coming to Konoha sooner than everyone thinks...
Why isn't Shin very very very dead? Because being forced to kill someone you grew up with as a brother is a great way to breed emotional trauma and resentment. Not undying loyalty. At the very least you won't get emotionless killers, you'll get traumatized, marginally effective pseudo-soldiers. Also, Fu and Torune have been partners forever, their abilities compliment one another to a certain degree I guess. Sai and Shin compliment each other perfectly. Shin can weave a genjutsu that makes you think Sai has made thousands of ink things and they're swarming you and by the time you've figured out it's just a ruse the one real lion has snapped your head off. And so on and so forth.
UPDATE: WOW HOLY FORMATTING BATMAN! Yeah, sorry I didn't put in horizontal lines, that's my bad. Thank you to Leilsel97 for reviewing! Pointing out the specific grammatical error made me want to come back and fix it and any others that I could spot, but then I saw how there were no line breaks or anything and I almost died right there. I don't know how any of you made sense of that, props to you guys. I'll totally re-shout you out next chapter too though. And I'll try and clean up my errors too, but I'm super lazy, so I won't promise anything. Well, adios amigos
Next Chapter: Kakashi Returns! The Power of the Jōnin Commander, Revealed!