Author's Note: This is, as you may or may not have guessed, the rewrite of The Untitled Naruto Story. I've done all I can with it, and while you might think it's too soon to even think about starting over, it did what it was meant to do, namely help me flesh out my ideas and determine whether people would actually read my work. Now that I have reached a satisfactory conclusion, I feel confident enough to put the original work aside, incomplete though it might be, and begin anew.

Without further ado, I give you the story and hope you all enjoy it as much as its predecessor.

October tenth. Ten years old. Another year, another day that nobody wanted to acknowledge. Naruto watched his reflection in the glass as the rain pattered down. It seemed that even the sky hated him. Sighing quietly, the boy kicked off his shoes and flopped onto the bed in his small apartment, flicking on the television to see if it would bother picking anything up in this weather. October was supposed to be a sunny month, one of the brightest months of the whole year even if the days were shorter.

Today it was as if everyone, even the gods, wanted him to suffer. At least nobody had thrown sticks this time, on the way home from the Academy. Dreary though the weather might be, it was keeping everyone else's spirits down, as well, and nobody had harassed him much today, seeming to think it too much effort for once. Oh yes, the names still came, and he still got chased, but only when he had tried to seek shelter from the downpour. At least his books and scrolls weren't wet, though the same couldn't be said for his clothes.

A blue and orange jacket he'd gotten out of the garbage of all things was hung up in the shower to dry after he'd washed it, getting as much of the soil out of it as possible; it and a pair of orange pants had been unceremoniously dumped into a trash can despite being in pristine condition, and then buried over with some more refuse, mostly spoiled food. Ignorant of the rain, of their dampness, he'd fished the articles out and brought them home, washing himself first, then the clothes he'd gotten soaked and dirty in, along with his new prizes. Long black pants and a grey shirt were his garments for now, waiting for the water to boil so he could put on some noodles and have something besides old field rations for dinner. Ramen and fruit wasn't the best combination but it beat starving.

While he watched the program on channel six through a haze of snow, Naruto grumbled inwardly. Everyone was stupid, and they pissed him off. He never did anything to them! Why did they always have to act like he'd killed their pet or something? Remembering the looks he got from people on the street, and from teachers of all people, just managed to infuriate him. Then there was a loud rumble of thunder before the lights flickered and went out.

"Oh, that's just fucking great!" he yelled to nobody in particular, banging around in his darkened room to find a flashlight. His anger was peaking at all the injustice.

"Boy." Looking around in confusion, eyes slowly adapting to the darkness, Naruto scratched his head. As far as he knew, he was alone in the apartment, hell, alone in the whole building. The other tenants would be out at a time like this, getting drunk or spending time with friends. He supposed he could try to head out to the Inuzuka house, or the Nara estate, and yet at the same time knew it was a bad idea.

"Boy. I know you can hear me."

"Who's there?"

"Inside…look inside…"

"Inside where?"

"Inside your head, stupid. Close your eyes and count to ten…" Seeing no reason why he shouldn't (other than the fact that he was listening to a voice that wasn't there), Naruto closed his eyes, noting very little change given how nothing that required electricity was currently functioning, and began to count. When he reached ten, he opened his eyes and noted that things were considerably off.

He stood inside a large concrete bunker of sorts, decorated with pipes and valves and all sorts of other machinery related to the flow and control of water. The floor was slightly wet, a warm spray hissing out of a damaged pipe allowing the ground to become saturated. Several other pipes were leaking as well, some more vigorously than others; one in particular was outright broken, water spilling from it at a steady rate to generate a constant dripping noise. At the far end of the room was a large steel door set into an even larger grate that stretched from floor to ceiling, many of the pipes originating from a darkened room beyond the door.

Approaching it Naruto saw that, instead of a doorknob, there was a paper tag bearing the word "seal" on it, and for a moment that puzzled him, until a pair of glowing yellow-gold eyes appeared in the gloom beyond the grating.

"So you're here at last. At first I thought you would appear in the control room…but that would assume you had any control to begin with." The voice was loud in Naruto's head, placing a pressure on him that he'd never experienced before in his life. It wasn't a bad voice, to his ears, as it wasn't calling him names (yet), but even so he knew there was something off about it. Every word was laced with malice, unfettered hatred of a sort even he was unaccustomed to. Somehow he could tell that the hate was not directed at him specifically, but at the world in general; small comfort though as he started to feel like he should know who this voice belonged to.

"Yeah, and what's that supposed to mean, big-eyes?"

"Such a bold little human, aren't you, Naruto?" the voice chuckled. "It means exactly what it sounds like. Your chakra control sucks."

"Feh, I don't need to come inside my own head to get chewed on. If I wanted that I'd just hang a steak around my neck and pull Kuromaru's tail."

"Snide comments aside, I need you to do something for me, boy. Those leaky pipes are getting everything wet—so fix them."

"And how in the heck am I supposed to do that? I'm not a plumber!"

"This is your body, idiot. And that broken pipe goes directly to your head, though I don't know why it bothers. Even if you repaired it, you'd probably still be an idiot. I can help you, though. You already have the tools you need; all you require now is the will to use them."

"What's the catch?" Naruto narrowed his eyes at the floating eyeballs suspiciously, taking a step back from the door as a row of gleaming fangs appeared Cheshire-like in the darkness.

"No catch. This helps you and me alike. If you don't fix the leak now, others will soon follow, and that will be detrimental to us both. And since I am locked in here I can't do the work myself. Know this, little man. What happens to you affects me as well, and I happen to like not wallowing in stagnant water."

"Fine, you win. What do I have to do, furball?" There was a slight rumble of surprise from beyond the gate, the teeth disappearing and the eyes almost vanishing as well as it was their turn to constrict at the speaker warily.

"You know what I am, boy?"

"I have a few guesses. I don't like any of them, but even if none of them are true and you're just some weird split personality of mine, the possibilities help explain why everyone hates me. Whatever my ideas are, that's not important right now. Let's just get to work fixing me so I don't end up exploding or something."


The Kyuubi no Kitsune watched as his jailor bustled to and fro, fixing what he could and patching what he couldn't. It was more than he expected from the boy, actually, and he had to admit some perverse admiration for his unwavering spirit. True, the damage to the kid's chakra network was his prisoner's fault, though indirectly; Naruto's anger had been growing as of late, allowing more of the prodigious energy that the fox possessed to enter the system, and at this stage the network couldn't handle the strain, allowing damage to occur. It wasn't as if it were intentional, of course. The seal maker had meant for a greater amount of the Kyuubi's chakra to be absorbed by his host in times of great need, just not this early. If it weren't for those stupid, ignorant villagers he might not be experiencing the required sentiments at all.

He supposed he could also blame it on the boy's confrontational nature. Naruto didn't go actively picking fights, but his heightened emotional states when challenged caused those failsafe measures to activate, which in the fox's opinion was dumb as hell. Of course there hadn't been time to make the seal smarter and short of giving Naruto direct control of the system (which simply wouldn't have been possible while the boy was still a newborn) the only option available had been to allow the valves to open on their own to alleviate the back-pressure.

Of course, that meant that some of them were going to break under the strain; the worst incident had been three years ago, and an outside source at that. Someone either very skilled or very lucky had caught Naruto unawares and thrashed him pretty soundly; although ninjutsu were forbidden to use on civilians, the man had, and in the process interrupted parts of the network, including the flow to Naruto's brain. The blood loss was bad enough but for the spiritual energy to not be reaching its destination was hazardous in more ways than one.

Kyuubi actually did fear for Naruto, though not in the way a parent or friend might; it was more of a self-preservation sort of terror. At the very least it would aid Naruto's memory retention to have that particular pipe fixed, though the harm to his cognitive and learning ability might already have been done, and was likely permanent if it had. While Naruto was busy working, Kyuubi directed him as best he was able, having a complete set of plans to the child's chakra pathways, of course. He also kept an eye on the outside world, looking, listening for danger. Soon—he didn't know how long it had been—there came a knocking at Naruto's door. It was probably that one-armed kunoichi that was always escorting him to school.

"That's enough for now, Naruto. We'll work on the rest later."

"How do I get out? I don't see an exit door—oh, there it is. Well, thanks for all your help, I guess. Even if you are doing it to save your own hide it helps me too, right?"

"Indeed. And Naruto, there is one more thing. Do not tell anyone you know of my existence. I know you have your suspicions of who and what I am. That said, you must keep this a secret for now. Trust me."

"Yes sir. I'll be back later!" And then there was silence. At least that annoying dripping had stopped.


Iruka watched the students shuffling out of his classroom in twos and threes, at the end of another long day of studies. They were hard workers, most of them, each and every one showing more potential than he'd seen in six years of teaching. He'd landed a position as an Academy instructor at the Hokage's request, and put forth his best effort every day to teach his students the guiding principles of Konoha, as well as the basic skills they would all need, their foundations as shinobi.

The newest crop of students was set to be some of the best and brightest in years, with rare exception, and although more than a few of them came from civilian families each of them showed the drive and determination to excel in their studies. Well, most of the time. Grinning wryly, Iruka rotated his throwing arm through some stretches, shoulder sore from all the times he had to throw erasers at Nara and Uzumaki to make them pay attention. The pair of them liked to goof off, and Naruto in particular had the uncanny ability to convince people (usually) to go along with his ideas. If that sort of charisma persisted into his teenage years, the boy could wind up a real terror, and not just because of the secret he held.

Originally, Iruka had no love lost for the jinchuuriki, the demon container a living reminder of the pain and fear that had existed in the days preceding his birth and persisted with the knowledge that the terrible monster was not dead, but alive and well, if sealed away. None of the children knew, of course, least of all Naruto himself, and truthfully Iruka saw a lot of himself in the kid. Shrugging at nothing in particular, Iruka abandoned his thoughts and turned his eyes down to the stack of essays that had been turned in by the second-years.

The majority of his students didn't display any particular quirks or desires in their reports, but a few of them did stand out, the ones that Iruka thought had the highest possibility making genin on the first try—if they graduated, that is. Haruno's writing, as usual, was trim and proper, as was Yamanaka's (despite the doodles in the margins of her kissing Uchiha while a certain pink-haired girl watched in envy), reflecting their precise control and intense rivalry with each other.

Inuzuka and Uzumaki both had energetic scrawls reflecting their impatient natures, contrasted to Hyuuga and Nara, both who seemed as if they were expending the bare minimum of effort required and nothing else. Akimichi and Aburame treated the assignment with the appropriate measure of respect, even if Chouji was making excessive food references and Shino apparently decided to forgo writing and let his kikai bugs etch the paper instead; the last one, Uchiha, had a rather aggressive tilt to his lettering that belied the bored and detached attitude he normally displayed.

The essays themselves were more telling, and again it was those nine that he reviewed last that caught his attention the most. He'd be interested in seeing how they measured up in a couple of years, how they performed at the end of all their studies. Each one was different, and yet so alike that the words themselves didn't tell him anything significant. The subtle differences, that's where he'd find the real information he needed about each of them.

Naruto in particular had a goal evident in mind, even if he claimed not to know what it was. He knew people didn't like him, if not why, and as hard as the youth fought to get people to acknowledge him, Iruka wouldn't be surprised if he ended up settling for something outrageous to get that attention he so desired. The strangest thing was that, in recent weeks, Naruto's grades actually seemed to be improving, somewhat. His scores weren't going to approach Haruno's or Uchiha's by a long shot but they were good enough that he wasn't dead-last anymore, either.

Reading over the papers again in the fading afternoon light, Iruka began to think about how he could shape these students to reach their goals, without turning them into something that they weren't. He still had two years or so with them; that was plenty of time to start them on the right path, or so he believed. Iruka was a hands-on teacher, by way of his life experiences. When he could, where he could, he'd give them the guidance they needed, whether they were aware of it or not, whether they wanted it or not.

And he was going to do his best to make sure Naruto passed, no matter what.


Kakashi's attention was divided, as was his chakra. If Sasuke ever noticed that he was being watched by a clone, he didn't let on, and if it bothered him that it was a clone and not a real person, he didn't let that show, either. An ordinary person might think he was a stalker, sitting outside the windows of Academy students like this; he always kept a respectable distance, close enough that it could be said he was watching, far enough that the average citizen would hopefully assume (correctly) that he was simply standing guard.

It wasn't costing him any sleep, not really. Kakashi didn't have anybody to train and wasn't accepting all that many missions, having plenty of money to keep his rent paid and his cupboard full for awhile, and besides that, he had a problem. He simply couldn't sleep until he was sure that the two boys he took it upon himself to look after, even in secret, were safe for another night. So what if he slept in as a result? He wasn't taking missions and he wasn't letting those ANBU think they could slack off.

Sasuke was still on suicide watch, for some idiotic reason; the child was not going to kill himself, at least not like that. Though he might decide to take on his brother before he was truly capable of it, and that in itself could be construed as suicide, the way that some people decided they wanted to die but didn't have the courage to do it by their own hand. And if he did run off half-cocked it would be his job to bring him back.

Naruto, on the other hand, wasn't in any danger from himself, unless one counted his habit of eating nothing but ramen for most of his meals. Once a week, while he was at school, Kakashi snuck in and replaced all the spoiled or slightly out of date food in the effervescent child's refrigerator with fresher stock. If Naruto realized that something was going on, he wasn't telling anyone about it.

A presence beside him didn't distract the Sharingan from peering through the window at the Kyuubi container. He didn't need to look, anyway.

"Mitarashi."

"Hatake. A little late to be out peeping, isn't it?" Her foot nudged the pouch holding his Icha Icha novel.

"I don't really feel right leaving these two alone." Kakashi didn't see it, but he knew that Anko had nodded in response, and after a moment she sat down on the roof next to him, hunched over in roughly the same position.

"One that nobody wants, and one that wants nobody. Think we should shove them together?"

"Not a good idea. I wish that there was more I could do for them; right now I can only hope things turn around for them soon. They talk, from time to time. Spend time training after school together, every so often. I wouldn't exactly call them friends, though."

"Not like us, eh, scarecrow?" Kakashi didn't move as the special jounin rested the weight of her upper body against his torso, and was grateful that she left off her usual teasing. Nor did he stiffen when her breath tickled against his neck, a wistful sigh escaping Anko's lips. "Maybe we should step in, you know? Keep these kids from getting more fucked up than they are already. We can be one big happy dysfunctional family. Poor brat doesn't even have a clue."

Kakashi nodded, and after a short internal debate draped his arm on Anko's shoulders, pulling her a little closer as they both watched Naruto sleeping. Contentment always settled over her when she did this, looking at the cadmium blond at rest, the only time his mask was ever off, and in her mind could see herself doing the same thing with her own children, someday. She knew that elsewhere her own copy was doing the same with the clone Kakashi had left overseeing Sasuke.

"Sometimes I wonder if I should have volunteered to take him in. It worked with you."

"I don't know, Kakashi. I doubt the council would have let either of us get that close to him. You were Minato-sama's star pupil and me, well, I'm the experiment that didn't fail. No, they'd worry that one of us would end up damaging him somehow. He's doing well enough as it is. Sasuke, too, I guess. Is three years enough time to forget losing everything you ever cared about?"

"Thirty years isn't enough time, Anko. Too late for second-guessing ourselves, though."

"Yeah…I'd better get back before my guards notice I'm missing. Keep our kid out of trouble, huh? I'd hate to see that spirit of his get dampened any further than it has already."

"He'll be alright. He's got Iruka, after all. They both do." Hatake tradition demanded that members of the family who were also active shinobi never remove their masks around others, even those you were intimate with. Kakashi broke tradition, pulling his mask down and pulling Anko in for a quick yet intense kiss. If word got out that the two of them were seeing each other…actually, Kakashi didn't care about that at all.

"They should have more than that. He should have more than that. But there's nothing we can do about it, is there?" Catching the hurt in Anko's eyes, Kakashi shook his head, frowning as his mask went back into place and the hitai-ite went over Obito's Sharingan once more.

"I wish there was, Anko." Dispelling their clones, the two parted ways, each looking forward to the next chance for a midnight rendezvous. The waiting was torture, wanting, needing to show to everyone that he liked this woman, cared about her. He knew how much it hurt her that he couldn't, and it angered him to no end, as much as it did when he saw people cheating Naruto out of what little he had. Someday soon, he promised himself. If he could work up the courage to tell Anko he loved her, then he should certainly be able to work up the courage to show it in front of people, Hatake tradition be damned. He understood though that old habits were hard to break. It was a problem he was constantly contending with.

His mind drifted back, as it often did, to the letter he had received on Naruto's third birthday. Why it took so long getting to him Kakashi would never know, as if someone or something didn't want him to interfere with the way things were. It was a letter from his sensei, Minato, composed mere days before his death.

Kakashi:

If you're reading this then it means something has befallen Kushina or I, maybe both of us, and if that is the case then I want you to listen closely. Look after our son. Look after Naruto. I don't care what you have to do, how many skulls you have to bash in; just make sure he isn't alone. Make me proud to have been your teacher; as I have instructed you, teach him as well. And don't let him get roped into any marriage contracts; Kushina would kill me if he did.

Minato

So far he'd managed to fail drastically, the letter come far too late for him to do anything about the anger and revulsion people turned on his sensei's only child. The lone visible eye on the man's face turned to the heavens, wondering if Minato was mourning the state of affairs in whatever afterlife he now existed in, or if he was angry at the people that treated his son so cruelly. At the same time he took some comfort in the fact that he hadn't been a total letdown to his teacher and that despite the world's best efforts Naruto was cared for, even if it was only by a few people rather than the dozens of friends and companions that he could have had.

He had his suspicions of course, inklings that elements within Konoha's shinobi and civilian society were intentionally blocking his efforts regarding Naruto. More than once he, among a few others that he knew of, had applied to take him in as family and somehow, some way, the documents kept getting lost or misfiled, suggesting that there was active rebellion against the boy's presence, against the Third's law. Well, whatever other people did, he was going to do his best to make sure that Naruto was looked after, even if he had to do it in secret. And he was especially glad to have Anko on his side, as well.

They'd picked each other up after the tragedies of twelve years ago, after all, and trusted each other implicitly. Both wore masks, that they only ever let down in each others' presence. One lost soul to another, seeing in each other what they could never find in anyone else.


"I thought I said I didn't want to see you again."

"You're a terrible liar. And you're drunk."

"My prerogative…what day is it?"

"Thursday, I think. Getting close to October. Can I count on you to provide a gift this year?"

"I still don't see the point in getting presents for a dead person."

"Humor me. You're honoring his spirit that way."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Alright then, here, take this."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Wrap it up in a box with nice paper or something. I don't really care if you bury it with him or pawn it or whatever. It's bad luck and I don't want to see it anymore."

"I can't take this from you."

"Well, it's all I have to give right now. Call it a loan, if you want. So long as I never see it again in this lifetime."

"I was thinking something less sentimental, like a jutsu scroll perhaps…"

"The dead have no need of jutsu. And I have no need of that."

"You're an odd woman sometimes."

"Aren't you leaving yet? To go do some 'research' perhaps?"

"Tomorrow. Tonight we drink to the memory of the departed."

"Fine, but only if you're buying."


October tenth, eleventh birthday. It felt like only yesterday that he was turning ten, and now another year had gone by. As usual, nobody noticed, nobody mentioned, and nobody celebrated. All right, that wasn't exactly true; they celebrated, yes, but it wasn't for him and he wasn't invited. Festival days, the day that the Yondaime defeated the monster demon, Kyuubi, and the day he died. Naruto actually hated his birthday, mostly because nobody chose to see it as such, but also because it was the day a beloved leader was taken away from the city.

On this day, the village hidden in the leaves had lost a warrior unlike any other. One that was strong and compassionate, powerful and wise despite his youth. A man of the people, he knew that much. Or at least he had been until a monster attacked. Three days of fighting later and the beast was dead, as was the Yondaime. At least, that's what everyone told him. Naruto, of course, knew better; he just played along for now, letting them pretend that he was ignorant of the reason that they hated him.

On this day, while everyone was out celebrating, or getting piss drunk, Naruto snuck off to the graveyard and the fancy memorial stone therein, looking at his reflection in the polished obsidian of the marker. Most ninja were cremated, and then laid to rest in family shrines; in times of war or disaster mass graves were dug in battlefields, their names etched into monuments like the one that had gone up a month after the Kyuubi attack. Naruto knew all about it, since it had its own special area in the graveyard, almost a shrine unto itself. Rarely, a ninja would earn enough respect or renown to warrant something like the cenotaph he looked at now. Being the Hokage was a pretty good way to get a marker like that.

Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, Hero to Konoha, Slayer of the Demon, read the plaque. It didn't list him as being survived by anybody, naturally; such a thing was a matter for the Hall of Records. What it did offer was the duration of his life, and the duration of his leadership. Eight years, during which time he'd completely restructured the way Konoha operated, and was still operating. It had even allowed a pathetic foundling like himself the chance to be something more than an orphan.

Naruto believed he came from a ninja family, and every year on his birthday he searched the various memorial stones and monuments for someone sharing his family name. Try as he might, though, it never changed. If there were other Uzumaki in the world, they weren't written down. If it was because of the beast slumbering inside him, or some other reason, it still bothered him that there were no others here in the graveyard, to his knowledge anyway. An hour of searching the graveyard passed, and eventually he gave up on finding someone related to him. He couldn't ask the record keepers for information; they always told him the same thing, that the proof he sought was not available, and then gently but firmly had him removed.

Returning to his apartment as the sun began to set, the apprentice ninja ignored the drunken belching coming from the alleyway, the clatter of dice not interesting him tonight and neither the promise of mahjong or cards. The old fart with the wet cough wasn't hanging around the foyer to bother him, so he must be out at the hospital again. Naruto kept telling the geezer to spend his money on treatment instead of booze, but hell if he could make him listen. He understood, too; some days, drowning in alcohol was the only way for the old man to forget his pain.

Unlocking his door, Naruto disarmed the traps and went to check on his stash, moving the floorboard aside. Good, everything was still there. Shucking his jacket onto the bed and wandering out into the kitchen to prepare some food, Naruto paused, looking at the small pile of gifts sitting on the table.

"It's too early for New Year's," he commented to nobody in particular. "Let's see who the gifts are from. No name, no name, Old Man, Miyuki, Iruka-sensei, no name… "Well, might as well open them up." Out of the corner of his eye Naruto spotted a small cake in a plastic box, waiting for him to cut into it. Opening the first and smallest box, the golden-haired boy stared at the green crystal necklace. It was from one of the no-names, and had no card, either; with a shrug, Naruto put it on, adjusting easily to the miniscule weight. Having the charm felt…right somehow, as if it belonged here with him.

His second gift was a brace of kunai, high-quality steel at that, and a calligraphy set, as well; again without a name but the card was written in Sasuke's style, telling him to get stronger as soon as possible. The third gift had to be from Miyuki. She'd gotten him a cookbook, of all things, and a note telling him not to eat so much ramen all the time. Briefly he wondered if the former kunoichi was the one who brought him the fresh food every week, then put the thought out of his mind to open the gift from Iruka. And what a doozy it turned out to be.

"Iruka…thanks." Inside the large box was a new outfit to replace the slowly degrading orange and blue that the aspiring shinobi wore. Taking it out and looking it over, Naruto then folded it up with shaky hands, placing the clothes back into the box from whence they'd come, and the box itself to go into the hiding spot underneath his floor.

From the Hokage he'd been given a jutsu scroll, something to fiddle with in his spare time, and another book, this one on sealing techniques. The note said it had once belonged to his father, and for that it went right next to the outfit and his strongbox. He'd be taking it out regularly, though, along with the scroll, to read and practice in his free time (of which he had plenty). His last gift was somewhat odd; a half-finished book, that when Naruto read through some of the pages left him scarlet-faced with embarrassment. The note included wasn't in any handwriting that Naruto recognized, despite being crisp and clean, easy to mimic.

Sorry to give you something like this, it read, though I figured I'd let you finish the story for me. I've been having some writer's block lately and what I think I need is a fresh perspective. If it sells well, I'll give you a cut of the profits and a writing credit on the next one, if I happen to need your help with that as well.

When you're done, just leave it with the Old Man. He'll make sure I get it. Oh, and make absolutely every effort to use my handwriting if you can; it'll be good training for later. Word has it your henge skills are beyond comparison, and for an aspiring shinobi deception of that level is a good skill to have. Remember, the life of a ninja isn't all power techniques and flashy combat moves. From one ninja to another, a bit of advice: subtlety equals substance. Hopefully you'll get what that means.

Shrugging again, Naruto folded up the boxes that the presents had come in and set the wrapping paper aside, opening the cake and taking it out of the box. He'd only take a single slice for himself; the rest he'd share with Iruka and Miyuki, probably the only two adults in his life besides the Hokage who didn't look down on him. His classmates were more tolerable—actively friends with Kiba and Chouji, while Shikamaru was just sort of there—despite the fact that as many kids as adults apparently shunned him. Oh well, they didn't have to like him, not really, as long as they accepted the truth of his existence.

As long as he had that, it would be enough.


"I still feel like he should have people celebrating it with him. It's not right to go it alone like that."

"Well at least he gets presents. From people that actually care about him, somewhat. I'm wondering who gave him that necklace, though."

"It wasn't you?"

"No, I didn't have time to get him a gift this year, and I know you didn't, either."

"I'm not too good at picking out presents. Plucking out eyeballs, maybe, but I don't think he'd want those on his kitchen table."

"Probably not. I'm going to go visit Sensei. Are you coming along?"

"No, I'm going home and getting drunk. What are you getting me for my birthday?"

"How about a mission out of the city, with only one guard…someplace secluded, like the coast?"

"It sounds nice, but I can't. You know I can't, damn it. I wish I could, I really do. What do you see in me, anyway?"

"A lot of things, really. Mostly, I see someone I care about too much to leave alone."

"Maybe if you can get them to lift the surveillance, I'll consider it."

"We'll see what I can manage. The old man owes me a favor anyway. You've been behaving yourself."

"Liar. You're just saying that to get into my underpants."

"I don't need to lie to get your pants off."

"True enough. Join me for a drink?"

"Gladly."


"Well, I've got the final roster of graduates here. Take time to look it over, and get back to me as soon as possible with your selections." Iruka grinned broadly at the gathered jounin. Technically, they outranked him, but for a few days more the thirty genin-elect were still his students, and if any of the ten shinobi selected to test this batch of graduates fussed over it, well, Naruto wasn't the only one who could pull crazy shit. "You've got a week to think about it so don't hurt yourselves trying." Teachers needling instructors was a time-honored tradition, especially since many of the students weren't going to survive the trials they faced—sometimes literally. He'd done his best to prepare them; from here on out it was up to the jounin to make sure they prospered.

Waiting until Iruka had left to peruse the list of candidates, Kakashi fought back a smile that would've torn through his mask. So, the little brat made it through, huh? And with the Shadow Clone no less. Impressive, given that anyone else would've died trying. And using it to beat the tar out of Mizuki—he should get paid for a B-rank, at least. Still, he needs a hell of a lot more work; he definitely takes after his mother. Looking at the names, Kakashi wondered about who should fill the other two slots on his team. It was almost a given that the others would try to pawn Sasuke off on him, purely because of the Sharingan. To him that was a rather foolish move, as he hadn't even manifested it yet, and if the Uchiha survivor did manage to at some point it wasn't as if Kakashi really understood all that much about it beyond what he'd learned through trial and error. No, he decided he wasn't going to take Sasuke. If and when he developed the Sharingan, then he could volunteer for extra training beyond whatever he got from whomever he ended up with. Kurenai was a good choice.

"I think I've made up my mind already," the copycat said after a mean ten minutes of deliberation. The others stopped their discussion briefly to look at him, with varying levels of amusement. Of the ten gathered he figured seven thought he was picking early so he could get them early and fail them early. The actual team announcements weren't to be made for a week, but that didn't stop some people from trying to get a head-start. "I'll take…Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and…Hyuuga Hinata."

Kurenai blanched noticeably and stepped forward to address Kakashi directly, velvet-red eyes glaring at a point somewhere two inches above his nose. She definitely did not look pleased, and was actively trying to burn a hole in his frontal lobe with her stare, or so it would seem.

"Any reason why you want to take Hinata away from me, Kakashi?" Oh, those smooth tones…but no, he was already promised to another.

"Simple: Naruto has power, but no control, while Sakura has control, but no power. I figure that if I put Hinata in there to balance them out, they might actually see where they're lacking. That and I don't really want to take Sasuke, or put him on a team with anyone who will spend more time crushing on him than training." He was well aware that in her own observations Kurenai had come to much the same conclusion as the others who stood the best chance of passing, and between himself, Asuma and Kurenai, being the most experienced, they got first pick.

"Then why not take Shino or Kiba instead of sticking Uzumaki with two girls? Or, hell, put Hinata, Sakura and Ino on the same team and shuffle everyone else around randomly?"

"Because for one those two would spend more time fighting than training and also…I think it would be good for them. I'm pretty sure nobody's going to try to break up the Ino-Shika-Cho combination; it works too well. Why don't you take it before Asuma snaps them up?" Kurenai looked thoughtful, as if she could see Kakashi's reasoning. It would be good for Hinata to be set with someone she looked up to, yes, and maybe her attitude would push Sakura into improving as well… And she knew damn well that if Asuma grabbed the Ino-Shika-Cho that they'd probably just sit around all day twiddling their thumbs.

"I don't really pretend to know what's going on inside your head, Kakashi, but alright. I'll take them and…Asuma gets stuck with Sasuke, Kiba and Shino." The man Anko Mitarashi so affectionately called "scarecrow" grinned. It was imperceptible, though it was there. Asuma's life just got a lot harder.

"Don't I get a say in this?" the bearded jounin asked.

"No!" everyone else chorused.


"You knew already?"

"I've known since my tenth birthday. It actually made dealing with all those idiots easier. Not really more pleasant, but easier. It still sucks, but knowing the reasons behind things is less hurtful than thinking I've done something wrong just by being alive."

"So you figured it out early, huh? And you still want to protect these people."

"Sure, why not? It's what the Fourth picked me for, right? And if I don't get stronger, if I can't keep the fox from breaking free to take his revenge, then I'm not really living up to his hopes for me, am I?"

"That's one way to look at it…"

"Besides, even if they say stupid and hurtful things, they're still people. I can forgive them. I just have to prove I'm my own person, not the fox, right? And then they'll see they were wrong and I'll have already forgiven them, and they can go on with their lives without regret."

"That's how you're going to play it, then? I can put my support into that. But…who told you that you were…you?"

"The Kyuubi did, actually. It took me a couple of days to figure out that it was him, of course; then again he was helping me fix some problems so I was too busy doing that to complain too much about having a monster stuck in my belly. And then remember the module on genjutsu? How everyone had to get placed under one to figure out how to identify and escape from it? Well…"

"I recall you were catatonic for the rest of the day and we had to take you to the hospital to make sure you hadn't been inadvertently injured."

"Nah, I got out of it after about ten minutes—a lot slower than everyone else, I know—but I was…inside my head-space, talking to him. Just kind of getting to know him. I don't think anyone's tried to do that before."

"So it's a 'he', huh?"

"I don't know, for sure. He said something about being 'above the concept of gender', but for the sake of argument, yeah. I think he just likes jerking me around. He's got some damn good prank ideas, though!"

"Is that right?"

"Yup! Not as good as mine of course but asking him to think them up keeps him occupied. I think more than anything else he's glad to have someone to talk to."

"Sounds like you've got it all worked out, then."

"Not a chance! You know me, sensei. Take things as they come and hope for the best."


Gone was the orange and blue jacket with matching neon orange pants, and thankfully he'd decided against the Bunraku paint. It wasn't really his style anyway. To get his picture taken, Naruto had surmised that he should go with something a little less…crazy for a change. Oh, he still had his favorite outfit, sure, but he was wearing his birthday gift today instead, getting his ID photo taken in the clothes Iruka had given to him on his eleventh birthday, that he felt somewhat ashamed to only be wearing now. He'd told his teacher that he treasured it too much to mess it up during training or one of the many, many fights he got into…at least it still fit, apparently.

His 'new' outfit kept the black undershirt he liked to wear, and the jacket sported the elastic collar and red spiral emblem on the back, same as his old orange and blue garb; the similarities ended there. Naruto's favorite person had supplied him with a jacket that was so blue it bordered on indigo, and a particularly dark shade at that; it had some color to it, brownish-orange panels on the outside that went from his ribs down to his waist; the dark pants were of a similar color, cut loose to allow him quite a bit of freedom of movement, legs belled out to fit over the sandals that all ninja wore. Even the weapons pouches and sandals were darker in hue, the same color as the cloth of the hitai-ite he'd been given by Iruka. Headbands were available in a wide variety of colors and lengths, although most people stuck with the default Academy Blue that new ones came affixed to. Iruka's was a darker color, though, matching the shade of his chuunin uniform tint for tint. And that meant it matched Naruto's new clothes, also.

It wouldn't give the Old Man cause to make him re-take the photo, and it would look good in whatever publication he ended up in, provided he managed to gain that sort of notoriety. Of course, Naruto expected that from here on out he'd have more than just one picture of him taken, willfully or otherwise, and thoroughly planned to try and avoid winding up in any village's Bingo Book. That was one sort of attention he didn't want.

Clasping the crystal hanging from his neck one last time, Naruto made sure it was visible and then squared his shoulders while affixing a confident smile to his face, staring at the cameraman impatiently. He tried not to let it show, though he was practically bursting with energy. Giddy with excitement, he could swear he felt his life changing already. Over and over, actually; Naruto was excited to see what else would change now that he was a real ninja.

Miyuki was waiting for him when he left the registration office, bonking him on the head good-naturedly. With only one hand she couldn't teach him any jutsu, but like promised he'd managed to become a genin-elect and she was going to teach him some exercises and simple sign-free techniques.

"So, squirt, you got this far, think you've got what it takes to go all the way?" The brown-eyed kunoichi with the lavender streaks in her black hair grinned down at the boy, still wearing her own hitai-ite even if she wasn't on active duty anymore. "Things are just going to get tougher from here on out, you know; sure you're up for it?"

"Hey, you bet your ass, Miyu-chan." Falling into step beside the woman who treated him like a little brother, Naruto flashed one of his famously infectious grins. "You know what, we should go out to celebrate or something, yeah!"

"Whoa, kid, don't get too worked up." Miyuki's heart-shaped face drew tight into a scowl, stopping him in mid-stride. "Just because you've got that headband doesn't mean you've made it, not yet. I saw how many graduated this year, enough for ten full teams and there aren't that many jounin to go around. Usually when this happens they have a secondary test to weed out the ones who aren't ready to advance."

"This isn't like that bullshit Mizuki told me, is it?"

"When have I ever lied to you, Naruto?"

"There was that time you said that cat found an owner when it had actually died…"

"You were five, squirt, I didn't want to break your cute little heart. No, I'm not bullshitting you. My graduating class was big, too, and I actually got sent back twice. Between you and me, I didn't graduate until I was fourteen. Still, hard work pays off and sooner or later you learn the stuff they can't teach you."

"Wow, really? You never told me that. I guess I should've pried a bit more, huh?"

Miyuki shrugged, toying with a lavender strand that was only a few shades darker than the periwinkle hue of a Hyuuga's irises. "Probably, but there is such a thing as being too inquisitive. Say, why don't we go get some dango, kid? My treat!"

"Ramen!"

"Dango!"

"Flip you for it."

"Okay." Before Naruto could protest Miyuki had kicked his feet out from under him and sent him somersaulting, landing on his back after two full rotations. "I win! Dango it is!"

"So…not…fair…" Picking himself up and dusting off his clothes, Naruto chased after her, racing Miyuki to her favorite dango stand. Green pendant glinting in the sunlight, eagerness flashing in his blue eyes, he pulled ahead of her and turned to throw a taunt, moments before crashing into a mesh-clad torso. "Oh shit, um, sorry!" The box his victim had been carrying tumbled but didn't open, and that was probably the only reason that he didn't have a kunai pressed to his neck, or worse, his wallet.

"Naruto, you should really watch where you're going! Sorry, Mitarashi-san, he's sort of a bonehead."

"Don't I know it," the slightly younger female grumbled, hauling Naruto up by his collar from where he'd landed on his back for the second time that day. There was a slight trickle of blood from his nose, that wasn't from accidentally having seen up Anko's skirt; the young Uzumaki had rewritten the mystery book he'd been given on his eleventh birthday from scratch, and it took more than a flash of skin to get him worked up. Running headfirst into rock-hard abs covered by armor mesh on the other hand could and did cause some injury, however slight.

"Why is it everywhere I go people are after my neck?" the whiskered boy asked, to nobody specific. "At least you didn't drop your dango…Mitarashi-san, you said? And um, if you did I would've bought you a fresh box and eaten the dirtied stuff, I promise!"

"Naruto," Miyuki began to scold him, "don't promise things like that! You shouldn't be eating food off the ground anyway!" She got a tongue in response, as he could and did: Naruto hated to waste food more than an Akimichi.

"I'd make him do it, believe me." Anko narrowed her eyes and finally drew Miyuki's name out of memory. There weren't that many one-armed kunoichi going around that she knew of. "Weren't you supposed to be keeping the kid out of trouble?"

"Mitarashi-san, this is Naruto we're talking about. 'Trouble' is probably his code-name."

"Hello, you two, I'm right here!" The kunoichi pair ignored him and, frustrated, Naruto reached into his waist pouch, past the original draft of Icha Icha Midnight (which he thought sucked and was glad that his version was the one selling like hotcakes among both sexes) and into the compartment holding his tags. Drawing out a pair of sutras, he stuck one inside the lid of the dropped dango box and slipped the other one in the waist of Miyuki's pants, before wandering away from the scene.

Twenty seconds later the tags went off, filling the area with smoke. Naruto grinned and performed a henge while the chaos reigned, thanking that book on fuinjutsu once more for all that it had taught him. It was time to get scarce for a few hours, and prepare for the true genin exam. First things first, though, he needed to get his team and assignments were still three days away. Well, he'd show some patience. This time.


"Aerosolized paint sealed into exploding tags?"

"Pretty damn good, too. I know they don't sell those at the ninja supply store so they had to have been hand-crafted."

"It would explain why everything within fifty feet of you is currently whiter than hospital linens. But not how he managed to get you with them."

"Hid the tag in the lid of my dango box. At least the food didn't get painted; I'd have killed him, ANBU or not."

"And…how did you manage to avoid getting painted, Tachibana-san?"

"I'm practically his big sister and I felt his hand on my butt, so I henged a log and swapped with it before the tag could stick. The basic skills are always the best."

"Of course. First Iruka, now him. I wonder if Umino-san was secretly teaching some of his pranking skills to the boy."

"Iruka, a prankster? I find that hard to believe."

"Oh, yes, he was, one of the best. The paint that sticks to everything but food was one of his inventions as a matter of fact. Interesting little twist on it, though."

"Is that why he's stuck teaching instead of running missions? Because he pulled one prank too many?"

"Believe it or not, he's an Academy instructor at his own request. This conversation isn't about Iruka though."

"Right. What sort of punishment do we give him?"

"Kakashi Hatake."

"That's very cruel, sir."


"My first impression of you is…that I don't like you very much." As a matter of fact, he was lying through his teeth, but they didn't need to know that. Swiping the chalk dust out of his hair, Kakashi fixed the trio with a hard stare. Sakura was looking crestfallen that she hadn't been put on a team with "Sasuke-kun", while Hinata…looked relieved to be on a team at all. Only Naruto was showing any real emotion in his reaction, scowling at the jounin as if he'd stepped in something foul. Knowing the boy as he did, though, Kakashi saw a deeper disappointment in the lad's eyes. He clearly thought that his new teacher was somewhat of an ass.

The Hyuuga girl was harder to read, on the surface appearing impassive and a few levels down, as well; at her core, though, he saw an almost fanatical eagerness to please, a willingness to sacrifice everything she was for the slightest demand made to her by a particular other… Contrast that to Haruno, the petal-hued scholar who had incredible control but was so pathetically easy to figure out. Of the three, he felt only Naruto had any real potential right off the bat—the others had it as well, but he'd have to work to bring it out.

Why'd I have to take the Hyuuga? If I'd left the original assignments alone, then Naruto and Sasuke would probably have ended up pushing each other and I wouldn't have had to do a thing, and the only real hitch in the group would be miss flower over here… Palming his face inwardly, Kakashi rolled his shoulders in silent resignation.

"Whether I like you or not, however, is not why I'm here. Come along. And Naruto? That won't work on me." Caught out, the blond fixed a real scowl on his face, dispelling the shadow clone that had been sneaking up behind the jounin instructor with a pair of tags, one a stinkbomb and the other a flash-bang.

Damn it, this guy's good, he thought to himself, maintaining the scowl if for no other reason than to make it so his surprise didn't register to the two kunoichi. That arrogant attitude really pisses me off!

Leading them away from the classroom where they'd been waiting for him, Kakashi finally stopped in a small park, sitting down on a bench, leaving the three to take seats on the grass, looking up at him, or as he preferred to think of it, looking up to him. The rooftop garden was rather nice, and a good place for them to get to know each other, and if they made the cut then hopefully this would become one of their favorite spots, the place they came when they needed, as a team, to stop and relax.

"Alright then, I think it's time we introduced ourselves to each other. My name is Kakashi Hatake, jounin instructor. I don't feel like telling you about my hobbies, likes or dislikes, but I'll tell you that I specialize in ninjutsu. I'm sure you know each other from the Academy, but how well do you know each other? Hinata, tell me about Sakura." Suddenly singled out, the lavender-hued girl blushed and swallowed her apprehension, poking her fingers together as she fought to remember some details about her new teammate.

"Um…s-she likes...Sasuke-kun and um…painting…and…trivia games? And she specializes in… I don't know. I'm sorry."

"Well, you got at least one thing right. I'll bet you didn't know that she uses the trivia games as a means to improve the speed at which she can memorize and recall information." Two sets of eyes swung over to the rapidly self-conscious Sakura, making her shrink into herself somewhat. "Since we're focused on you now, Sakura, why don't you tell us some things about Naruto?"

"Let's see…uh…he likes ramen to a fault, and he's friends with a one-armed ninja named Miyuki… His specialties are…pulling pranks and henge?" Naruto was just shaking his head with a grin, leaned back to stare at the sky. Guessing that he'd be called on after Kakashi spilled some beans about him, he began to prepare himself mentally.

"So you do pay a little bit of attention to him, after all, despite all that violence I hear you enact against him. I bet you don't know that he enjoys horticulture and writes his own tags, do you?"

"No, sensei, I didn't know that…"

"Naruto—"

"My turn, huh? So who do I dish info on? You or Hinata-chan?"

"Hinata, if you please."

"Are you sure? I might know more than I let on and I wouldn't want to make Sakura-chan feel inadequate. I'm the dead-last, remember? What could I possibly know about these two that would be even close to right?"

"Just say something, why don't you? This is to figure out how much you know about each other."

"Okay, okay, fine. Hinata-chan, you're five years older than your sister, Hanabi, dislike seafood, especially crab and shrimp, and your favorite activity is pressing flowers." Finished, Naruto glared at the jounin for making him give up some of his hard-won information like that. "There, are you happy, scarecrow? Oh yeah next time you're late because you were out in the woods near the Nara compound necking with someone who likes to bite, have the decency to be honest about it!"

"H-how would you know something like that, Naruto-kun?" Hinata ventured the question out of genuine curiosity, blushing as she asked the question and not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"His left eye is covered, Hinata-chan, so he has to turn his head to look at something outside the peripheral vision of his right eye, and when he turns his head to the right he does it slower than to the left. There are also crushed leaves on his shoes, and that particular variety of tree is grown and planted specifically by Shikamaru's family because it keeps its leaves year-round, offering plenty of food for the deer they keep around."

Thwack. Sakura's fist left a knot growing on top of Naruto's skull, and he started rubbing it with a sullen look on his face. "Whatcha go and do that for?"

"What the hell do you mean what did I do that for? You're telling me you were just playing dumb the whole time in the Academy?"

"N-not at all, Sakura-chan, honest! I just…well, I pick up on people easier, that's all. I sorta had to learn how when I was younger. I didn't mean to…upset you…" Voice quiet, Naruto stood and addressed Kakashi directly. "Sorry, sensei. I'm sure you're a good teacher but I don't think I can work on this team."

"Not so fast, Naruto. You quit when I say you can, not before. Now that we're all friends, why don't we have a little test?"

"Test, sensei..?" Hinata sounded as small as Naruto felt, looking up at their instructor timidly. "Oh, that's right. To sort us out, and see if we get made full genin, provisional genin, or sent back to the Academy."

"Huh?" A certain red and black-clad boy squinted at the faintly scarlet girl throughout her recitation. "You mean we're not ninja yet?"

"No, Naruto, you aren't. The number of students that graduate is usually much lower, but this year we have to run secondary tests. As far as the screening process is concerned, there are far too many to make full genin. Like Hinata said, most of the graduates aren't going to become full genin, for various reasons as determined by the jounin assigned to judge them. We have to keep the number of active ninja down so there's enough work for everyone."

"Oh, I get it. So the Academy is there to make sure we have the basic skills we need to operate as shinobi, and the jounin-sensei exist to teach us more advanced stuff and watch our progress? Pretty neat! We'll just have to work hard to earn your approval so you'll pass us, then, won't we?"

Watching Naruto's grin, Kakashi was wondering if he'd been playing dumb again; Sakura, listening to Naruto's determination, found herself hard-pressed to disagree. He seemed so certain, so assured that they'd pass Kakashi's test and earn a place among the elite society of Konoha, that they'd become strong and respected, that in the end she couldn't say no to the eager look he held. How does he manage that, anyway? Idiot. Disparaging thoughts aside, though, she had to admit that he did have a surprising amount of observational skill, apparently, that he'd somehow kept hidden from everyone who claimed to matter to him. She had a feeling, though, that if pressed he'd claim, rightly so, that nobody ever bothered to ask and nobody wanted to learn anything about him.

Except for maybe Hinata. Sakura couldn't help but notice how her fellow kunoichi's eyes kept sliding over to the scar-cheeked boy, who to her own memory was remarkably different from the brightly-colored goofball who was always skipping out on classes. He looked so serious now, even if he were still wearing that take-me-or-leave-me smile; if she had to say anything, Sakura would think he looked determined in a way that she'd never seen before and for the first time in years she felt…inadequate. Kakashi was saying something, so she tuned back in.


Walking besides Hinata while Naruto took the fore, badgering Kakashi with questions as they headed to some training ground or another that rested atop and just beyond the Hokage Monument, Sakura suppressed a frown as she contemplated the young man in the muted tones. She supposed that the colors could still be considered orange and blue, just much darker than what he normally wore. Hinata nudged her shoulder, indicating the insatiably noisy Naruto with a blush.

"Yeah, Hinata-san? What about him?"

"H-how much do you know about Naruto-kun, anyway? You…um…you looked pretty unsure of yourself during the introductions."

"Ah, I can't say I know him that well at all, really. If we pass this test though I'll probably have to learn more. If we're going to be a team we'll probably have to spend a lot of time together so we'll likely end up knowing things about each other that people don't usually find out until they get married or something."

"I was wondering something." Used to hearing shyness from the easily-flustered girl, Sakura was surprised to note an undercurrent of fortitude in the alabaster-eyed Hinata's voice. "Why do you always hit Naruto-kun so much?"

"Why wouldn't I? He's loud, obnoxious, always pulling pranks, never seems to shut up and is always asking me out on dates…as if I'd want to do that when there's Sasuke to consider!" She didn't put too much thought into her words, letting them come without hesitation while staring at the sky and so missed the ire on Hinata's face while she spoke her grievances. "He's always getting into trouble and everyone's saying he's the worst kind of delinquent. I'm sure you've seen him being chased by ANBU and angry villagers before."

"That's the Naruto you see, Sakura-san? Just what people want you to see?"

"What else is there?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. You, Haruno-san, are just like everyone else who doesn't see what a good person Naruto can be and so…I hate you." Lips set in a thin line Hinata picked up the pace until she walked alongside the blond, listening as he told some off-color joke and laughing with him even though it was a little outside her tastes. Sakura strayed behind, bewildered by the Hyuuga's unexpected attitude.

What was that all about? It's just Naruto. Everyone knows he's a disaster waiting to happen. Hell, it took him three tries to graduate! Some ninja he'll turn out to be…


"Ugh, I am dog-tired."

"You look like you got run over by a cart."

"It would be pretty accurate. That crazy asshole kept us awake for twenty-four hours straight, attacking us the whole time. I think he gave us about an hour break somewhere after midnight, but other than that none of us got any sleep."

"But you passed though, right? I didn't see any of you adding your names to the provisional roster or headed to the registration office to apply for another year at the Academy."

"Yeah, we passed, first team in ten years that he's given his seal of approval to. You lucked out; not only is your sensei attractive as all hell but you actually got some rest last night."

"No we didn't."

"Huh? Don't tell me she pulled the same stuff that scarecrow did."

"Worse. We spent the night escaping genjutsu and evading traps she set up while we were under her spells."

"Ouch. Everyone's okay though, I take it."

"Yup. And beardo passed his team, too. So Teams Seven, Eight and Ten are all full genin with everyone else…I was expecting as much, though. Though I thought for sure they were going to put you on a team with…"

"Don't mention that jerk's name to me, please? If I hear it one more time in any context I'll have to kill him on principle."

"Try not to get me involved, eh? Explaining to my old man why I just so happen to have aided and abetted in the untimely demise of a fellow shinobi is too much effort."

"Didn't mean literally."

"I did. You're right about one thing, though."

"What's that?"

"She is attractive as all hell. Then again you got two of the top-rated kunoichi of our class on your team…I pity you."

"Eh, they're not so bad. Easily distracted, maybe, but good enough to keep up."

"Wait three years. You'll wish you were in duck-butt's place."


It was a tired Sakura Haruno that staggered through the door of her home after nearly forty hours of being awake. First he had put them through twenty-four hours of constant hell, picking apart their weaknesses one by one and more than once she'd thought she was going to die. Kakashi Hatake was, in her opinion, a madman of the highest caliber. Not only had he been doing his level best to finish them off, but things actually got worse for her when she'd been separated from the rest of her squad. Fortunately Hinata's Byakugan had allowed them to locate her quickly and then Naruto had released her from the genjutsu, letting her terrified fists beat against his chest ineffectually; after that things had been a little smoother for them. At the end of the day he'd announced that the three genin had passed, saying he had been testing their teamwork abilities or some bullshit like that.

And then he'd given them an hour to eat and get washed up before having them report to the Hokage's office for a mission—a simple D-rank of course, nothing more than pocket money. It was demeaning but after the nightmare of Kakashi's test painting fences was a comparative paradise. Neither Hinata nor Naruto objected, either, though she could tell that the normally loudmouthed boy was secretly simmering. Out of all of them he'd gotten the worst punishment and yet, aside from a few tears in his jacket he bore no signs of the struggle. Odd.

So tired was Sakura that she actually found herself incapable of sleep, so she ignored her parents for the moment to head upstairs and take a much-needed bath; the hour that Kakashi granted them earlier had only been enough for a quick shower, and some very calorie-rich foods. For once she was glad of Naruto's ramen obsession, as the noodles were a relative godsend: filling, easy on the stomach and tasty. Her stomach rumbled again at the thought and she cursed her diet, and thanked the stars that her teammates were knowledgeable about edible plants and berries, or else she might have collapsed due to hunger.

Sitting in the bathtub, letting the hot water ease the ache out of her bones (though it could do nothing for her cuts and bruises), Sakura reflected on Hinata's words to her with a frown. What did she mean by them, anyway? As far as she could tell Hinata had never expressed distaste towards anyone before in her life. Thankfully it didn't seem to get in the way of her teamwork ability but still, to be told by the shyest girl in their academy class that she hated Sakura didn't make any sense at all.

And Naruto…where did he get all that stamina from? How could he heal so quickly, despite all the injuries inflicted on him? More than once he'd thrown himself in the way of an attack, sheltering the two girls so they could launch a counterassault on Kakashi. Did he think they were weak, did he think she was weak, needing to be protected all the time? The way he looked at Hinata in between skirmishes didn't suggest that he did, so why would he do something so foolish?

The answer was not forthcoming and would not for some time. Sakura, in the meanwhile, fell asleep in the bath.


A less-than-fresh Hinata Hyuuga stumbled through the gates of the family manor, not bothering to hide her fatigue from her father or anyone else that might be observing her. She was far too gone to care at the moment. All through the last year at the academy she had been getting hints that she would end up on Kurenai's team (there was no doubt that Hinata would pass, naturally, being a Hyuuga); to have that expectation shattered was quite a shock to the girl. She hadn't had much time to dwell on it, though, as Kakashi was apparently dead-set on keeping them occupied. During their first mission she had the opportunity to reflect on some of the rumors floating around—civilians liked to gossip, after all—and while painting the fences, a juicy one had met her ears.

It concerned a particular individual that the general population referred to, colloquially, as the 'demon brat', an appellation she'd heard tossed around by more than a few senior shinobi as well. More than once the civilian eyes had been turned toward the third member of Team Seven as they spoke those two particular words, reminding Hinata that most people weren't too fond of Naruto; the rumor, however, was that he'd managed to break into the Hokage's tower without help, steal a scroll and learn a forbidden technique from it.

The rumor did have some corroboration, if the second genin test had been any indication. Naruto, she'd discovered, knew a technique that was at least A-rank if not higher, and had apparently used this more complex clone technique to gain a passing grade from Iruka. She already knew from classroom antics that Naruto's henge technique was several grades above Academy standards, and Hinata knew from her own observations that he had energy potential way beyond any of his peers. She hadn't known that he was so good at infiltration, though, as the Hokage's tower was usually quite heavily guarded. It was possible that he'd used his transformation skill to gain entry, though not likely.

All of these things were on her mind as she knelt in front of her father, dead tired and only barely managing to hang on to some shred of the proper decorum demanded of the Main House. Some days she wished he would just have her branded and get it over with so she could stop pretending to be something she wasn't. Her irritation must have shone through on her face because she heard some very uncharacteristic words from her father.

"Is something wrong?" Hiashi asked of her. The casualness of his question hid the concern he felt. Some might accuse Hiashi of being cold and unfeeling, and some even went as far as to claim that he was intentionally abusive towards his older daughter. It was not true in the slightest.

"No, father," was the soft reply. "I was merely thinking of recent events. Kakashi-sensei is a hard taskmaster. Nothing I am not familiar with."

"You are not with Yuuhi, then?" Stroking his chin, the clan head lost himself in thought momentarily. He had been certain that Hinata would be placed under the kunoichi, not Hatake. It was unusual for a clan head's request to be ignored, but not unprecedented, either. "Very well. Your squadmates?"

"Haruno Sakura," she answered calmly, regaining her composure. "I do not think I like her much. She is book-smart, but lacks practical skill."

"And the other genin?" Hiashi expected to hear the name of another kunoichi, hopefully one from a respected ninja family. She did not have to be from a clan to be skilled.

"Uzumaki Naruto. I…believe he will surprise those who disregard him. I know his Academy scores weren't the best, but I have faith that he will not hinder his team."

"And why do you think that, daughter? Please do not tell me that you have personal feelings for him." Paling visibly, which for a Hyuuga is nothing short of amazing, Hinata began poking her fingers together in the nervous habit she'd developed in her early days at the Academy.

"He is hard-working and learns quickly, father, when anyone bothers to actually spend any effort on him. In my personal opinion they both have decent potential to excel. Moreso than me."

"Don't sell yourself short, Hinata. You have done well enough. Go clean up and rest. I will have Hitomi bring you a meal to eat at your leisure. You are excused." Hinata brightened slightly, even after she noticed the slightly aggravated expression on his face. It was subtle and had to be actively searched for; even so she could see it, and was relieved that for once she did not seem to be the reason for his annoyance.

Hiashi for his part was mulling over the two ninja assigned to work with his daughter. Haruno he knew little enough about, other than that she performed well on the academic portion of the preliminary examination and was reported to have the highest control of any graduate in thirteen years; the bigger concern was Uzumaki. He had been there the night that the sealed infant had been found and was well aware of who the boy's mother was, and if he was anything like her the next few years were going to get interesting. It still perturbed him that Kushina had turned down each and every attempt to court her, although Shiori was a welcome substitute that Hiashi was glad that Hinata took after. He only hoped that the girl developed her mother's strength soon.

Otherwise he might have to pull her from the shinobi forces for her own safety. Too many desired the Hyuuga eyes for themselves, and Hinata could always be trained for other duties. He would have to keep a very close eye on Uzumaki, though. He had a tendency to cause trouble.


The boy in question was not as tired as he should be, all things considered, but he still desired sleep. As he finished washing up and laid his half-dressed body on the thin mattress he'd scrounged up from a second-hand store, and for sticker price at that, he felt the subtle tug at his consciousness indicating that his passenger wanted to have a little chat with him.

Stop it, fox. The mind needs to rest as much as the body. Still the call came, despite his protests, despite his desire to simply sleep; he should have been ready, though, to speak with the Kyuubi after all the hell he'd just been put through. His guest had the ability to monitor his chakra network, though, and if he wanted to talk, then perhaps something had been knocked loose. Sighing in resignation, Naruto let his body succumb, while his mind delved into the soulspace where his prisoner lurked.

"What is it this time?" he grumbled, appearing before the sluice gate that blocked the immense energies of the Kyuubi from escaping into the world. "Nothing looks broken."

"Of course nothing is broken. I reinforced your coils against damage from inept ninja, remember? That's not what I wanted to talk to you about. How would you like to know a little about your bloodline?" Kyuubi smirked behind the bars, reading his jailor's expression. He'd caught the little human's interest on the first try. Good.