A/N: Okay so this is my second fanfiction, and I think that Sharingan Awakened will still be my priority. Still, writing this one in the meantime will help me when I get writer's block so, yeah :) Anyway, I'm not quite sure how much this will follow canon, but I do know that it will definitely end up AU.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
It was finally orientation day, so I grabbed an banana off the counter before grabbing my gear. I stopped for a second to kiss my pointer and middle finger before pressing them to a picture of my mother, father, and brother and, finally, rushed out the door. Along the way Ino and Sakura rushed past pushed so close together I'm surprised neither one fell down. Of course my class was always rowdy so when I entered my classroom I was greeted with a large argument going on between most of the girls about who would get to sit next to Sasuke. Rather than get caught up with the meaningless fight, I took a seat a couple seats from Shikamaru.
Eventually, after Naruto was thoroughly beaten for kissing Sasuke, Iruka sensei walked in and calmed the classroom down. He then proceeded to give us an immensely boring speech about how 'our journey hasn't ended' bla bla bla. The only thing that really caught my attention was the fact that we were on three man squads. Ino, who sat between Shikarmaru and I, began talking to Sakura about who would get on Sasuke's team. I didn't care what team I was on as long as they didn't get in my way. In fact I was hoping that whoever I got on a team with would be able to help me improve. I knew I wasn't best in the class, but I was going to be sure to change that.
Iruka sensei began calling out the teams, "Squad 7: Naruto Uzumaki, Hitori Anaka, and Sasuke Uchiha." I noticed a lot of glares directed toward me after hearing I was on the same team as Sasuke. Two other teams were announced before Iruka sensei told us we were dismissed for lunch and that when we came back we would meet our new senseis.
After a quiet lunch I went back into a classroom only to watch every team but mine leave with their senseis. Meanwhile Sasuke, Naruto, and I waited in an empty classroom for a teacher who was more than an hour late. Naruto, still being his idiot self after he inexplicably passed, decided to pass the time by wedging an eraser in the door to fall on our sensei. "Seriously?" I asked him.
He looked at me, "All the other teams already met their senseis and took off on some adventure, this is what he gets for being late!"
Sasuke looked at him, "Our teacher is a jounin, do you really think he'll fall for that?"
"Whatever," was Naruto's only reply as he looked anxiously at the door. It didn't take longer than a few seconds before a silver-haired masked man opened the door and allowed the eraser to drop on his head.
Naruto immediately burst into fits of laughter while Sasuke and I just stared at our new sensei. The silver-haired masked man took the eraser in his hand and looked like he was examining it before he turned and looked us to speak, "How can I say this? My first impression of this group is: you're all idiots." I glared at him while he motioned for us to follow him up to the roof. Once there he spoke again, "Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves? One at a time."
"What are we supposed to say?" Naruto asked after a second of silence.
"Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies. Things like that." Our sensei replied with a bored tone.
"You go first, you know, so we can see how it's supposed to go." Naruto suggested.
He gave an exasperated sigh before, just barely, complying. "Me? I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate? I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future… never really thought about it. As for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies… Now it's your turn smart guy. Introduce yourself."
"Believe it! I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen Iruka Sensei got me at the Ichiraku noodle shop! But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them. And my future dream is: to be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody, somebody important."
"Why would you want to be Hokage? Is your role model really some old guy who can't do much besides sit there?"
Naruto glared at me, "The Hokage are the strongest ninja in the village, and I'm gonna surpass them all!"
"Wouldn't take much." I muttered softly before Kakashi spoke up.
"Why don't you introduce yourself then?"
"Fine, I'm Hitori Anaka. I like family and dislike those who make promises they can't keep. I don't have a hobby besides training, and the only thing you need to know about my dream is that I will be a hunter."
If Kakashi thought anything of what I said he didn't show it through his one visible eye as he moved on to Sasuke, "Alright, your turn."
Sasuke kept his voice stoic as he spoke, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and destroy a certain someone."
"Kakashi was silent for one second before speaking, "Well now that we are all introduced, we will have our first mission tomorrow."
"Ooooh, a mission. What kind is it?" Naruto asked excitedly.
"Something all four of us are going to do together," Kakashi told us almost as if he was avoiding answering the question.
Of course Naruto took the bait, "What what what whaaat!?"
"A survival exercise."
"Survival exercise?" Naruto questioned.
"What happened to Iruka sensei's big speech about how we are real ninjas now?" I asked. "aren't missions what the academy trained us for?"
"This isn't like your previous training." Kakashi told us cryptically
"So, what's it like then?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi began chuckling in an eery manner, "Well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it." He continued his eerie chuckling. When we looked at him with questions in our gaze he finally answered, "Of the twenty eight graduates who just came here only nine will actually be accepted as genin. The other eighteen will weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it pass-fail test, and the chance that you'll fail is at least 66%" Looking at our shocked faces he concluded, "See? Didn't I tell you, you weren't going to like it?"
"But we worked hard to get here!" Naruto protested, "what was that graduation test for then?"
"Oh that was just to see who might become genin." Kakashi answered, "that's how it is. I decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated ground by five a.m. and bring your ninja gear."
I will definitely pass this test, I thought to myself, if I don't everything I worked for will be for nothing.
While we were all lost in our thoughts Kakashi spoke up again, "That's it, you're dismissed. Oh, tomorrow you better skip breakfast, or else… you'll puke."
/(^o^)/ NARUTO \(^o^)\
The next morning I trudged to the training ground with a grumbling stomach. Sasuke and Naruto walked over at the same time I did, and frankly I was a bit annoyed at how Sasuke didn't seem tired at all. We waited for hours, it was probably eight a.m. before Kakashi showed up and casually spoke, "Morning everyone, ready for your first day?"
"You're late!" Naruto yelled at the silver-haired jounin.
"Well a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way." Kakashi said not even trying to make it sound believable. Naruto growled but said nothing. "Well," Kakashi cleared his throat, "let's get started." He set a clock on a post a clicked the button, "Here we go. It's set for noon." Two bells jingled as he pulled them out. "Your assignment is very simple; you just have to take these bells from me. That's all there is to it." He jingled the bells again, "If you can't get them by noon you go without lunch. You'll be tied to those posts, and you'll watch as I eat my lunch in front of you." Everyone's stomach, but Kakashi's, growled as we realized why he told us not to eat breakfast.
"Sensei, why are there only two bells if there is three of us?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
He gave what I can only describe as a smile as he answered, "Well that way at least one of you gets tied to a post and sent back to the academy. Then again, all three of you could fail and all of you will be tied to a post. You can use any weapons including shuriken; if you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells."
Naruto laughed, "This'll be easy! You couldn't even dodge that eraser."
"Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them. Lowest scores. Losers." our sensei stated simply. Naruto growled at him again. "When I say start you can begin." Naruto continued growling, and without even waiting for Kakashi-sensei to say start he rushed toward him with a kunai. Faster than any of us could see the jounin spun Naruto around and twisted his arm so that the kunai he held faced the back of his head. "Don't be in such a hurry." Kakashi sensei chastised him. "I didn't say start yet." He finally let go of Naruto. "But you came at me with the full intention of destroying me, so how can I say this… I'm actually starting to like you guys." He paused for a fraction of a second, "Get ready. And… START!"
I rushed into the trees behind Kakashi sensei where I could easily see him, but he couldn't see me. I watched as Naruto made a spectacle of himself being beaten by a masked man reading a book. After watching Naruto get thrown into a lake I realized the only information I was going to get out of the fight is how good Kakashi was at taijutsu. I decided to go further into the forest until I found a second clearing. I made a walk-around to check the place out before setting up traps throughout the clearing. As soon I was done I went back to the clearing where Kakashi and Naruto were brawling earlier only to find it empty other than Naruto hanging from a tree. I deemed it best to leave him there and moved stealthily through the forest in hopes of finding the one-eyed jounin.
Before I found him sensei found me instead. As I turned around ready to face him he made a hand-sign and seemed to disappear behind a curtain of leaves. When the leaves disappeared I saw my brother crouching before me with kunai and shuriken lodged almost everywhere in his body. I steeled my heart as he begged for help and put my hand in the same sign as Kakashi did and released the gen-jutsu. After seeing that I knew I had to get the bells… there was no way I was going to let anyone use my memories of my family against me.
By the time I found him I was just in time to see Sasuke graze a bell. As Kakashi slid back I took my opportunity to throw myself behind him and kick him into the air. Then I took a running jump and using a tree branch to propel me I got above him and clenched my hands together to throw him back down. It might have been an excellent maneuver if his body hadn't shattered into logs when it reached the ground. I did my best landing, and immediately looked around for any sign of the jounin. I saw Sasuke do the same thing, but neither of us saw the silver-haired man. The next thing I knew I was pulled underground by a gloved hand. Sasuke immediately jumped to the trees to avoid having the same thing happen to him, and as soon as he had a clear shot I saw his hands morph into several hand-signs. I didn't follow them very well, but I caught that the last one was tiger and right as he released the jutsu my mind made the connection that it was for a fire jutsu.
Either Sasuke had great control over the jutsu, or I was extremely lucky not to get burnt with how close the fire got to my skin. It didn't really matter because Kakashi was out of sight when the flame dissipated. Determined to be useful I built up chakra in my hands and did my best to dig myself out of the hole. When our sensei didn't come back into view for a little while Sasuke ran off leaving me stuck in the hole glaring daggers at his back.
/(^o^)/ NARUTO \(^o^)\
By the time I got out of there the lunch bell had rang and grudgingly dragged my feet toward the poles where we began. Naruto was the only one who got tied to a pole because he had apparently tried to steal the food earlier. All of stomachs growled so Kakashi spoke up, "Uh oh, stomachs growling, that's too bad." Kakashi said while we all sat in front of him, "Oh, by the way, about this exercise. Well, I've decided I'm not sending any of you back to the academy."
"Th-that means all three of us!" Naruto was much too excited to finish what he was saying.
The jounin closed his eye and looked like he was smiling, "Yes, all three of you… Are being dropped from the program… permanently!" Naruto's cheering instantly ceased and his face morphed to show his surprise.
"Are you kidding!?" I screamed at him, "There is no way I'm going back after all this hard work!" At the same time Naruto was kicking from his post and protesting similar things.
"Drop us from the program!? That means we can never be ninja! You said if we couldn't get the bells we'd be sent back to the academy! You can't just change your mind and kick us out, why would you do that!?"
"Because you don't think like ninja, you think like little kids, like brats." Kakashi informed us sternly. All of us were irritated, but Sasuke was the one to make a move as he rushed forward to attack Kakashi. The jounin was quickly on top of him with his foot on his head and his arm twisted behind his back. "You think it's all about you." The ninja continued his speech from where he left off. "You don't know what it means to be a ninja. You think it's a game, huh? Why do you think we put you on squads? Did you consider that question for one moment?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, too annoyed with the man to actually think about what he was asking.
"I mean you never figured out what this test was about, not even close." Kakashi informed us.
"What it's about?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, that's what determines whether you pass or fail." Kakashi was staring at us as if daring us to come up with the answer.
"Then tell us!" I practically ordered the silver-headed man who was still on top of Sasuke.
Kakashi scoffed, "use your head. Three people on a squad why do you think we would do that?"
Naruto screamed, "why are supposed to know why you picked three people? We didn't make the rules!"
"It's so basic," the jounin informed us, "TEAMWORK!" I nearly smacked myself for not making the connection.
"So you expected three of us to work together to get two bells when whoever didn't get a bell would fail? Of course we weren't going to work together! All of us wanted to pass!" I shouted at Kakashi.
"Exactly," the silver-haired man said, sounding exasperated again. " If you three had all worked together you might have been able to get a bell, but I purposely pitted you against each other." He paused while Naruto looked confused, "I wanted to see if you could overcome that and put the squad ahead of yourselves. A genin should have a natural feel for teamwork. But you, it never even crossed your mind. Hitori!" I flinched, "You set up traps in an area of a forest, and you could have freed Naruto to help lure me there. Instead you left him there and rushed head long into a fight without communicating!" I glared at the man. "Naruto!" he looked up, "You do everything on your own, everything!" Naruto looked to the ground. "And you Sasuke," Sasuke grunted as Kakashi put pressure on his head with his foot. "Also thought the others were below you, so far beneath you they were worthless. You didn't even make sure Hitori was out of the way of your fireball… arrogance."
Kakashi sensei looked back at us, "ninja missions are carried out in squads. Of course you need individual skills, but teamwork is the most essential element. Every shinobi understands this. When individuals put themselves above the squad this can lead to failure and death. For example," he reached into his shuriken pouch and pulled out a kunai, "Hitori, kill Naruto now or Sasuke dies!" he held the kunai at Sasuke's throat as he finished. I couldn't hold back the look of surprise that flashed across my feature as I looked from our sensei, to Sasuke, to Naruto. "That's what happens on a mission." I relaxed my tense body as Kakashi removed the kunai.
The jounin swirled the kunai on his finger as he continued his speech, "the enemy takes a hostage, and you've got an impossible choice. And someone ends up dead." He stopped spinning the kunai and put it back in his pouch, "on every mission your life is on the line." He finally got off of Sasuke and began to walk towards the stone that held our lunch, "did you look at this stone? The names engraved on it? They are all ninja that are honored as heroes in our village."
"That's it that's it!" Naruto exclaimed, "Now I know! I decided I'm gonna have my name engraved on the stone!" he announced. "I'm not gonna live and die for nothing like a dog! I'm gonna be a hero! A hero!"
Kakashi looked back at the blond-haired idiot, "They are… a special kind of hero." He told the
"huh?" Naruto asked, "What kind of heroes are they? Tell us!" When Kakashi didn't answer right away Naruto pushed further, "Well!? Well!?"
"They are all KIA." He informed us sadly
"Oooh," Naruto sounded awed, "that sounds real cool" Naruto thought out loud.
I looked at the stupid boy with small sense of pity, "It means killed in action, they all died." I told him. For once the blond-haired idiot was silent in what seemed like sadness or possibly fear. I softened my gaze as memories came flooding back to me. I noticed even Sasuke didn't have the hard look he usually did.
"This is a memorial stone. The names of my closest friends are engraved here." For once I could feel pity, even understanding, for the man instead of irritation, anger, and hate. I felt the sadness reverberating from everyone around me as well. Naruto even sounded like he was trying to hold back tears. "Alright, I'm giving you one more chance." Our sensei told us in a moment of kindness, "But I'm going to make it much harder on you. You'll have three hours to get a bell. Eat lunch now to build up strength, but. Naruto doesn't get any." When Naruto growled Kakashi explained, "It's your punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat by yourself. And if anyone tries to feed him that person will immediately fail." Kakashi had glare and his voice darkened, "I make the rules, you follow them. Got it?"
We were eating our lunch comfortably around the posts when we heard Naruto's stomach growl. "This is no big deal, I can go without eating for days, for weeks! Believe it! This is no big deal!" Naruto was probably trying to assure himself more than us; it didn't work either way because his stomach growled a second time as soon as he was done with his speech.
"Here," Sasuke offered his lunch to the idiot while I looked at him curiously.
"You're going to go against what Kakashi sensei said?" I questioned him.
"Kakashi's gone," Sasuke informed me as if I didn't know, "we need to get those bells as a team. If Naruto's hungry he'll be weak and ineffective. That hurts the team and jeopardizes the mission." Naruto looked at Sasuke in awe.
"In that case I'll give mine to him." This time it was Sasuke's turn to look at me with questions. "I'm a girl so I eat less than you, so it will do less damage to the team, right?" I grinned at him. I held up my bento to Naruto.
"But isn't that your lunch?" Naruto looked at me with tears filling his eyes.
"Just eat it." I ordered him.
"B-but guys…" Naruto started while we looked at him, "I can't move my hands."
I sighed and walked toward Naruto while my chopsticks held food and brought it to his mouth. He ate the piece of rice gratefully before we were all surprised by the poof of smoke in front him, causing me to whip around and face the jounin that stared at us.
"YOU!" Kakashi shouted dangerously. A strong wind came toward us forcing us to hold our hands in front of our face in an attempt to see. "You broke the rules, I hope you're ready for the punishment." Kakashi stood straight in front of us as he began forming hand seals. Thunderous clouds formed over us as Kakashi asked, "Any last words?"
Naruto spoke through chattering teeth, "B-but you s-said…"
"Yes?" Kakashi questioned
"You said that there were three of us!" Naruto shouted, gaining courage. "That's what you said and that's why Hitori and…" he trailed off, losing his momentary boldness.
"We're all on this squad and we're all in it together!" Sasuke finished for him
"Exactly! The three of us are one!" I shouted in agreement.
Naruto glance between the two of us standing around him, "Yeah yeah yeah!" Naruto screamed louder than any of us, "Believe it! That's right!"
The jounin walked menacingly toward us, "The three of you are one? That's your excuse?" He asked leaning toward us. We stood firm, while staring at him. His eye closed, making look like he was smiling, "You pass."
"Huh?" Naruto asked while I stared at the man waiting for another trick.
"You. Pass." He confirmed
"How?" I inquired.
"You're the first squad that ever succeeded." The silver-haired jounin informed us. "The others did exactly what I said, and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world those who break the rules are scum, that's true. But, those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." Naruto started to tear up, I had a small grin, and Sasuke just gave an approving smirk. "Squad 7 starts its first mission tomorrow!" Kakashi announced. After Naruto finished his excited screaming Kakashi said, "Let's go home." We left Naruto with smug looks on our faces ignoring his shouting behind us.
A/N: Yeah, so I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter :) If you see anything that needs changed or just to show your support please review 'cuz I really appreciate it ;)
*Hitori can mean "one person" or "alone" so keep that in mind... especially as the chunin exams get closer.