AN: This idea has been plaguing my mind for a while, and I wanted to get it down on paper before I end up forgetting about it. I will be using characters that have little or no screen time, so for the most part, their personalities will be molded to my liking. I will try to keep the main characters true to their cannon personalities, but if I fail...well, I guess you'll have to deal with it.
Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan based rendition of the Naruto manga series. All characters are owned by Masashi Kishimoto.
In the Hidden Village of Konoha, just a few moments after Naruto learned about his Jinchuriki status from the Mizuki incident, we find our beloved Chunin Iruka arriving at the nearest hospital to treat his wounds from the earlier scrimmage that night.
"Ah, you must be Iruka." a young, attractive clerk said irritably as Iruka limped his way to the front desk.
"...Have we met?" he asked.
"No, not really. It's just that an ANBU patrol came in here to inform me that you were on your way, and that you needed medical attention as soon as possible...That was about two hours ago." She said with a slight edge towards the end. "Not that it's any of my business, but what the heck where you doing all this time?" She asked.
"Uh, getting an early ramen breakfast?" he tried.
The woman sighed. "Honestly, I can't believe you ninjas!" she exclaimed as she prepared Iruka's medical file. "How could you neglect your serious injuries in favor of a morning ramen snack! Don't you even know how serious your injuries are?" The clerk chastised as she filled in the necessary paperwork.
Iruka chuckled nervously as he stood there cradling his injured arm. "I didn't think my wounds were life threatening...besides, I was hungry." he said lamely.
"Not life threatening!" She shrieked as she threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "According to the ANBU guy, you where skewered with several kunai AND a giant shuriken for Kami's sake! Honestly, your lack of urgency will be the death to you all."
Iruka had the decency to feel embarrassed. He didn't know what the big deal was. He made sure Naruto applied first aid treatment before they even arrived at Ichiraku's, but apparently, that wasn't enough for the aspiring nurse. The young woman sighed once again as she finished the last of the paperwork, clearly not wanting to carry on the conversation any further. She pointed to a general area across the hall.
"Go wait in room 127, the doctor will see you in a few minutes...and don't touch anything while you're waiting in there!"
"Ah, Thank you." Iruka said as he bowed awkwardly towards the clerk.
As Iruka walked by, he took notice of all the rooms, making sure he didn't pass his designated room. As he did so, he couldn't help but think about his earlier incident with Mizuki. He frowned at the thought. Mizuki was one of his childhood friends. Granted, they never hung out much, but it was still depressing knowing someone you grew up with turned against the village for a ludicrous reason. He knew many people disliked Naruto. Heck, he himself didn't like him at times, but to go out of your way and make a grand scheme just to get a chance to kill the boy? Mizuki gave up friends and a potential family, all for the sake of getting rid of someone who was innocent. How long has he been holding a grudge against Naruto? One doesn't just decide to turn traitor on a whim. Well, in retrospect, he suppose people could, but Mizuki wasn't one of those guys that lived in the moment. From what he remembered during past missions along side his former comrade, Mizuki liked to have things planned out ahead of time, going over many scenarios and weighing out his options. That got him thinking...was he working alone, or was he simply taking orders from someone? If so, then who? Ibiki was sure to be one of the first to find out.
"IRUKA!" the clerk screamed from afar.
He abruptly stopped his train of thoughts and flinched from the shear volume of the voice. He then turned around apprehensively.
"Yes...?" he asked, fearful of what she might say.
"Pay more attention to what you're doing, you passed it up." she said aloud with an amused smile.
Iruka looked at the nearest room, which happened to be room 129. Once again, Iruka was caught doing something stupid and had no choice but to chuckle nervously.
"Ah, I see...sorry about that." he said.
"Just get in there, you idiot."
"Yes ma'am!"
Iruka closed the door as fast as he could without injuring himself and sighed in relief once he was out of the woman's wrath. 'Glad that over with' he thought.
"Rough day my boy?"
Said chunin flinched in surprise at hearing the Hokage's voice ring out from behind him.
"H-Hokage-sama! What are you doing here?" he asked.
Hiruzen smiled as he reached for his pipe and lit it, ignoring the smoke ban that was surely in effect at this hospital. Staying awake until the early morning tends to make you not give a fuck. After a few puffs, he said, "Well, I would've been sleeping if it weren't for a certain Chunin passing an academy student at the last possible moment. Care to explain why I, of all people, had to go out of my way to form a suitable team for him, all while you neglected to report anything about the mission I gave you?" He said sternly, pausing for a response.
'Oh shit!' Iruka thought. "I-I-I..didn't think reporting in w-was actually urgent. Naruto was safe and sound, and the ANBU patrols showed up to take Mizuki in, so I figured they'd let you know if Naruto was okay or not."
Hiruzen stayed silent for a while before he spoke again. "Iruka, do you realize the trouble I had to go through? Not only did I had to find an extra Jounin who was willing to take on a team, not only that, but I also had to find two other academy hopefuls that failed the test by a margin in order to keep the Jounin-Genin ratio intact. Let me tell ya, parents don't like it when the academy make horrible mistakes, such as failing their children. Their only consolation was that it was me, the Hokage, who found out about this 'mistake' and were glad to have such a wonderful leader who always looked out for their well being."
Iruka was sweating bullets now. Having the Hokage pissed at you was never a good thing.
Hiruzen must have caught on to Iruka's distress, since he softened his gaze considerably. "Look, Iruka, I know you have nothing but good intentions for the boy, but the way you handled the situation was irresponsible to say the least. What if he showed up yesterday, only to realize that he was the only one without a team? What do you think will happen to him if that were the case?"
Iruka's eyes widen in shock. He hadn't realized the full extent of his actions until now.
"I see that you've caught on. He would be forced to wait until a suitable position is opened, and considering that Genin only do D-rank missions for the most part, it would take a while for that to happen."
"I-I'm sorry Hokage-sama. I was only trying to-" Hiruzen raised his hand up to silence him.
"I know, my boy, I know. You've had a rough night, probably more so than me. I'll let it slide this time, but make sure you fully understand everything that could happen before you act." he said as he stood up, walking towards the door.
"Um, Hokage-sama?"
Hiruzen turned his head slightly in acknowledgment.
"What's going to happen to Mizuki."
Hiruzen averted his gaze from Iruka, a downcast expression written all over his face. Hiruzen always treated every shinobi from the leaf as one of his own children. Seeing one of your own attack a member of the village, no matter the reason, was always disheartening.
"...I understand, There's nothing we can do for him, is there?"
with a sigh and a heavy heart, Hiruzen walked out of the hospital, fully intending to relieve some stress by getting some well deserved sleep.
Elsewhere, around the time Naruto was just proclaimed a ninja by Iruka.
"...It's raining again." a young woman noted to herself as she glanced towards a window from her apartment.
It had in fact been raining on and off for the past few days now. At first, it was a welcome change. The village was starting to show signs of a drought, so a rainy day was a blessing. but there's only so much the land can take before it's starts deteriorating. 'Ask and you shall receive, I suppose.' The woman thought. If this keeps up, people would have to start worrying about floods.
As the woman approached the window, the soft pitter-patter of the raindrops could be heard, causing her to feel a sense of tranquility. The raindrop's continuous rhythm was not only soothing, but captivating as well. The woman could feel her eyelids becoming increasingly heavy with each passing second as she continued to stare off into the village, slowly succumbing to the trance like sensation she was feeling.
She could see some villagers huddling inside the huts of the local street vendors, apparently choosing them as safe havens for the time being. Some of them even decided to order some food, preferring to make the best out of the situation. Yep, the vendors that stayed open despite the rain were sure to make a good profit this morning.
As she admired the calming scenery, a soft, bird-like shrill disrupted the moment and caused her to advert her attention towards the sky. 'Why would any bird be flying around in this weather?' she asked herself. When she spotted the source of the sound, she instantly recognized the type of bird it was; more specifically, it's purpose. It was a carrier hawk...and from the looks of it, the hawk was heading straight towards her.
A sudden sense of urgency filled her very being as realization hit home. It had been many years since anyone from Konoha had tried to contact her, and nothing short of a disaster would cause a message to be delivered during such poor weather conditions. 'Why would the village need me now?' she thought as her heart rate increased with each passing second. Shaking any morbid thoughts that were sure to come, the woman opened the window and outstretched her upper body and arm as far as she could, trying to give the hawk as much assistance as possible. She winced slightly when the hawk embedded it's talons to her forearm, which effectively perched the hawk to her arm, despite the awkward landing.
Once inside, she did her best to keep the tired hawk comfortable. She even gave it her leftover dinner from last night. Wasting no time, she reached for the note and began reading.
"First and foremost, the village isn't in any danger. The reason I sent the fastest carrier was for the sole purpose of receiving a hasty response from you, so you do not need to fret."
She sighed in relief. That certainly took a huge load of her mind. Curious as to what the letter was about, she continued reading.
"As you may know, It's that time of the year when the academy produces a new set of Genin hopefuls. There has been much anticipation this year since many clan members have children that are expected to pass. While that in itself is great news, the fact that so many Genin are passing also means that many Jounin will not be available for missions suitable for their rank. Here's where you come in. The village is requesting your assistance. Since we're currently short on Jonins who are willing to teach, we require someone with the valuable skills needed to pass on the will of fire. It would be an..."
"God, damn it Professor!" She screamed as she crumbled the paper up and threw it on the floor in frustration. She could already tell where this was going. "It would be an honor if you were to train a set of those hopefuls!" She said mockingly in her best Hiruzen impression. "Not only do you give me a damn near heart attack, but you have the audacity to ask me to train a Genin team after the shit you pulled on me! I will take no part in it!" she yelled as she stared down at the paper with all the hate she could muster.
She ran her hand through her jet black hair harshly, clearly doing so to relieve some stress. She looked at the paper in contemplation, silently weighing in her options. She then looked at the hawk...then at the paper again, and once again at the hawk...who opted to tilt it's head at her.
"Ugh, Fine!" she said exasperated. With one fluid motion, she picked up the paper, straightened it out and wrote down her response. 'You owe me big time for this one old man!' she thought angrily as she wrote. She resealed the note onto the hawk and sent it off, knowing full well that It'll arrive in Konoha faster than she will.
Minutes before the academy class was in session...Ami's house
"Ami, honey, wake up! I got some good news to tell you!" a woman said excitingly as she tried to wake her child up.
Ami drowsily turned towards her mother, failing to see her due to the brightness of the room. "Ugh, mom...what! What do you want?" she said irritably as she rubbed her eyes with her palms. It was hard not to feel miffed when you're being woken up so goddamn early.
The woman laughed excitingly. She was practically bouncing off the balls of her feet. "The Hokage came in this morning to tell me something important about your test scores from yesterday. You won't believe what he said!"
'great, just great.' Ami thought as she let herself fall back to her bed, placing the bed covers over her head to get rid of the blinding light.
"Mom, just don't, okay? It's too early in the morning. I'm sure that whatever it is, it could wait until later."
Ami was definitely not in the mood for one of her lectures, especially this early in the morning. It was bad enough having to fail the academy as it is. There's no need to add salt to the wound.
"No, it can't, you need to wake up right now and get ready to meet your team. You passed the test honey!" she yelled with excitement.
"...What did you say!" Ami asked as she bolted up to a sitting position.
Her mother smirked triumphantly. "You heard me, you passed the test with flying colors! Apparently, there was some sort of mix up with the test scores. I'm not sure about the details, but the Hokage himself came in here this morning to let me know that the problem was being corrected. You should of seen the look on his face honey, he was so mad about the whole situation. Honestly, if looks could kill, I think I'd be dead, even though the anger wasn't focused on me. Anyways, he came in to let me know you passed the exam, and reassured me that something like this will never happen again."
"The...the Hokage came in here to tell you I passed!" Ami asked incredulously.
"Is that so hard to believe?" her mom countered.
Ami didn't know what to think. She had done a decent job on her written portion of the test, but applying everything that she knew to the field wasn't an easy task to say the least. It was difficult doing what her teachers demanded her to do considering that she was just an ordinary girl without any prior knowledge of the shinobi arts. Hell, her first time holding a kunai was during the final weeks of her last year. Did she really have it in her to become a Kunoichi?
Ami's mother caught her off guard by giving her a bone crushing hug.
"Mom, what are you..?"
sniff...sniff...
"...Mom?"
"Ever since you told me you wanted to be a kunoichi, I had my doubts about your dream. I knew you were a strong girl, but still, I often worried about your well being. You are my daughter you know, I couldn't help but feel a little overprotective." She said as she nestled her head on her daughter's shoulder. "I knew I'd have to let you make your own decisions some day, and when you did, I silently cheered you on from afar, not wanting to discourage you from your dream. As you grew older, you kept pressing on, growing stronger day by day, never letting the competition slow you down. You've grown to become a beautiful young girl, and your choice to be a guardian of this village is an honorable one. I'm so proud of you honey!" she said teary eyed.
"...Thanks mom..." Ami said, getting a little emotional herself. Oh, she was ready all right. She couldn't back down now that she had her mother's approval.
Her mom smiled broadly as she stood up and made herself more presentable. She reached for her purse to get a hold of a cloth that was given to her by the Hokage. "I believe this belongs to you." She said.
Amy took the piece of cloth and stared at it in disbelief. All doubts of this being a trick had vanished once she caught sight of the leaf insignia on the metal plate. This in itself was proof enough that she had became a Genin of Konoha.
"Now, let's get you some breakfast and get you ready to meet your new team!"
"Hai!"
Minutes before the academy class was in session...Tobio's house
It was early in the morning when Tobio was awaken abruptly from his deep slumber by none other than his mortal enemy...his alarm clock. Using reflexes he gained from repetition, he swiftly turned the annoying tone off and prepared himself for the day to come.
While he was getting dressed, he mentally went over what he needed to do. He remembered failing the academy test yesterday, but he wasn't letting that fact get to him. After all, there was always next year. If anything, it will give him an extra year to master the skills he needed to work on in order to pass. As he was getting ready for the day, he had this nagging thought that crossed his mind. Did the people who failed the test need to show up, or would the academy treat this as a day off for the flunkies? He shrugged it off.
'Well, I'll need to head to the academy either way, seeing that I'll need to get another registration form for next year. I might as well get one for Futaba too; she's bound to want to go now that she's old enough.'
as he headed downstairs to get his breakfast, he was greeted by the sight of his family doing their morning ritual. He could see his mother in the kitchen preparing food for the family. His little sister was in the dining table, looking bored as hell as her father diligently read the morning paper, waiting patiently until his wife would serve him his breakfast.
" 'morning everyone." Tobio said as he walked towards the dining table.
"Hey, 'morning son." His father said briefly before putting his full attention to the newspaper once again.
" 'ello big brother!" Futaba practically yelled as she pulled out a chair that was near her in order to offer it to Tobio.
Tobio caught the subtle hint and sat near her sister, despite how much he didn't want to.
"Good morning Tobio. Would you like to eat with us today? Or will you get some breakfast at the academy?" His mother asked.
"Yeah, about that...I don't think I'll be there all day today, seeing as I failed the test yesterday."
His father peeked a glance at him with a raised eyebrow.
"What do you mean you failed?"
Tobio felt his father's gaze and felt a little nervous. "Well, you see...I managed to do great on the physical aspect of the test, but my overall grades weren't good enough for me to pass, so I'll have to take the whole course again next year." he said in shame.
"Does this mean I'll get to walk with you to the academy next year?" Futaba asked with hopeful eyes.
"...Looks like it." He said with slight annoyance.
"YAY!" She screamed with joy as she hugged Tobio's arm.
Tobio just rolled his eyes at his sister's enthusiasm. "Anyways, mom, since I'm going to the academy to re-enlist, would you like for me to get Futaba's registration papers, or do you want to do that yourself later?"
his mother smirked knowingly. "Oh, you don't have to worry about Futaba's papers, I'll take care of that personally. You, on the other hand, should be worried about getting to the academy as quickly as you can. I wouldn't want to be late missing my team selections if I where you."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Tobio asked.
"Honey..." she said as she directed her attention towards her husband. "...would you like to take care of this one?"
"Yeah, sure." He said as he folded his newspaper. He reached for something on his back pocket and pulled out a blue-ish cloth, tossing it towards Tobio.
When it hit the table, Tobio instantly recognized it as a standard hitai-ate.
"Take it, it's yours." his father said nonchalantly as he went back to reading his newspaper.
"Does this mean I passed?" Tobio said in mild shock.
"Ooooh, let me see, let me see!" Futaba begged, wanting to get a good grasp of the cloth. Tobio absentmindedly handed her his hitai-ate. Futaba placed it on her forehead and began playing ninja.
"Yes, yes it does." his mother responded. "The Hokage came over last night and told us that there were a few mistakes in the answer key for the test you guys took. Apparently, a few other students ended up failing because of it as well."
"The...the Hokage!" he asked bewildered.
Futaba interrupted by running past them, slashing imaginary shinobi that crossed her path.
"Yes, for some reason, he decided to look over this years exams and noticed a discrepancy with how many students were failing. He didn't like the results, so he's going to implement a new set of standards in order to prevent something like this from happening again." Tobio's mother said.
Tobio's dad chose this moment to stand up. "Well, I better go, it's about that time I head out." Tobio's dad said as he tossed the paper aside and grabbed his coat.
"Here, don't forget your luch!"
"Ah, thanks honey." He said as he gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek. As he walked towards the door, he stopped to give his son a few parting words.
"Take care of yourself son. We may not be shinobi, but we do understand what type of job it is. Don't do anything you'll regret." he said, doing his best to give his son some encouraging words.
"I won't dad, I promise." Tobio said as he nodded towards his dad.
"Alright, you might want to head on out there yourself. It looks like class will begin anytime soon." He said as he looked as his watch.
Futaba was dramatically crawling on the floor, as if mortally wounded. She grabbed her dad's pants and hung her head back to look up at her father with despair. "Please...help me!" she said teary eyed.
Tobio's dad chuckled and picked her up. "Futaba, sweetie, give your brother his hitai-ate back. There will be plenty of time to play ninja later."
"Awwwwww." she whined. Nevertheless, she conceded with her father's request and gave Tobio his hitai-ate back.
"Hurry up and come back Tobio. It's boring here without you." Futaba said as she crossed her arms.
Tobio chuckled as he rubbed her head playfully. "Don't worry, I'll be back sooner of later. Take care of mom while I'm gone. Bye mom!"
"Bye sweetie!" She yelled from across the kitchen.
Tobio tied his Hitai-ate across his forehead, and with a new goal on his mind, he set his sights on the academy.