Hello everyone! Welcome to my second story! Now, I know some of you may be thinking," Why are you starting another story when you just started your other one back up?" And the answer to that is simple! I have ideas that are overloading my mind and distracting me from my other story. So Forest Dweller is not going to be discontinued. I just need something else to focus on while I think of other ideas.
Few things before we get into this one. First of all is that this is going to be major A.U. Akatsuki is not going to exist in this story. Now, actually, that's not the right way to word it. Akatsuki will exist but not in the way that Obito ends up making it. So Madara and Obito are actually dead. No surprise revives here. So Akatsuki will only exist in Ame where it was created and meant to be. There will not be anyone hunting the Jinchuriki down so they will be in their villages, in exile, hated, etc. The reason I am doing this is because I want to explore a universe where the five nations were not brought together due to Obito and Madara trying to use Mugen Tsukiyomi. This can lead to some interesting things down the road. The second thing is that the members of Akatsuki, Kakuzu, Hidan, Itatchi, etc., are now simply missing nin.
The final thing is that there is going to be a minor change to Naruto's character. He is still rash, annoying, and full of tricks, but I sadly don't really know how to write Naruto the way that Naruto actually is. So in this he is slightly smarter. He is dead last due to sabotage and the general dislike for him, but he isn't a complete idiot. This story is going to pick up right after the Genin test because I honestly don't want to write that out and I don't know how many times I've had to read it. Naruto knows the Kage Bunshin and that's it. Hope you enjoy the story!
XXXXX
'Thoughts'
"Speech"
'Biju thoughts'
"Biju speaking"
XXXXX The Sage Summoners of Konoha XXXXX
Kakashi stared at the monument stone sitting in front of him. He looked up at the sky, noticing a significant lack of clouds. A beautiful day if ever there was one.
'Sensei, Obito, Rin... I wish you all could be here to enjoy this beautiful day.' Kakashi let a small sigh escape him. He wasn't good enough to save any of them. Namikaze Minato died sealing the Kyuubi away into Naruto. Obito died saving him and Rin during the Third Great Ninja War. His hand absently went up to his Sharingan. A gift that he had used well in the years that followed. Rin... he allowed his right hand to close tightly as a tear fell down his visible eye. A terrible thing had happened. She had been used as the Jinchuriki of the Sanbi. Kiri was going to use her as a weapon to cripple Konoha. She knew this and when he went to use his Chidori on an enemy, Rin slipped in front of him and died by his hand. The seal that was used on her broke and the Sanbi was released in Mizu no kuni. Kakashi had barely been able to escape with his life intact. The Kiri ninja that had been chasing them however, were not as lucky.
Kakashi let his grip go as his mind wandered to his new Genin team. Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and finally, Uzumaki Naruto. To be honest, he hadn't wanted to pass them. He knew that he owed it to two of them having been on a team with Uchiha Obito and Naruto's father being his sensei. He wanted to fail them. He wanted to fail them like he had the other teams. But for the first time, a team actually managed to grasp the concept of teamwork. They weren't going to let him starve one of them. They took care of each other and settled their differences. Kakashi knew that he had to not only pass them but that he was obligated to train them. He was the only one that could show Sasuke how to unlock and use his Sharingan, the only one that could teach Naruto the morals and code that his father had passed to him. He thought long and hard and decided that he had plenty of time. They were new Genin anyway. No need to make them monsters yet. Let them enjoy the childhood that he never had. Kakashi frowned slightly as he felt someone coming up behind him.
"Ne, Naruto? I told you that training was over and to meet at training ground seven at ten." Naruto came up next to Kakashi and stared at the memorial stone.
"I've been here a few times you know. Trying to find my parent's names on the stone. Never really could though. Don't have the patience to really sit down and go name by name." Kakashi frowned at that. The reason he couldn't find his parents names were because they were buried in the graveyard. Their bodies had each been given a special tomb due to their status. Naruto probably never bothered to actually check any of the graves. He looked down at the boy and smiled slightly. He was the spitting image of a young Minato. The resemblance was uncanny.
"Why do you come here Kakashi-sensei?" The question was innocent enough but Kakashi wasn't sure he wanted to answer it.
"I come here to visit friends. I pay them respect and keep them company." He looked at Naruto and noticed him thinking very hard about something.
"Is this why you're late all the time?"
Kakashi gave him an eye smile. "This may be one of the reasons yes." Naruto let out a little huff and turned to him. "Why do you spend so much time here Kakashi-sensei? Don't you think that they would rather you do your best to protect the other people in the village rather than spend all of your time here?"
The question hit Kakashi like a sack of bricks. He went to open his mouth and give an answer but found that he didn't have one. "I...I stay because its my fault some of them are here." Kakashi cringed as he said it. He hadn't admitted that to anyone besides the Hokage and that had been years ago. Naruto's eyes seemed to soften a bit at the revelation.
"Well don't you think that you should focus on helping your friends now become stronger so that it doesn't happen again? Making sure that you are strong enough and making those around you strong will let us all kick ass together!" Naruto pumped his fist into the air and looked at Kakashi expecting a response.
Kakashi was actually shocked. The logic made sense and he had thought of that himself, but it wasn't easy to just do it. Or was it? "Thank you Naruto. Perhaps you're right. We'll find out tomorrow. I'll see you around." He turned to leave, putting his hand on Naruto's head and messed up his hair before disappearing in a shunshin. On a tree looking at Naruto by the stone, Kakashi smiled.
'Thank you Naruto. You are right. I can't just let those around me fall because I wasn't strong enough. I have to help them become strong.' Jumping off the tree heading towards the Hokage's office, Kakashi realized exactly what he needed to do.
XXXXX
Hiruzen looked at the Jounin instructors in front of him. Each of them with the exception of a few, had trained Genin before and had oral reports ready as they filed in. Looking to the left of his office he saw the Jounin instructors he was waiting for. Yuuhi Kurenai, the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha; and Sarutobi Asuma, one of the twelve guardian ninja as well as his son and heir to the Sarutobi name.
Hiruzen looked them all over with an expectant eye. "I am ready to hear the reports. We'll start with team one and move up. You may begin when ready." And so began the explanations of each team. Teams one through six were failed. They either didn't have the necessary skills or didn't show an understanding of teamwork. As they were about to go to team eight however, Kakashi walked through the door and walked through to stand by Asuma and Kurenai.
Kakashi gave a lazy wave as he walked up. "Sorry I'm late Hokage-sama, a black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way around to avoid any bad luck." Hiruzen looked at Kakashi, stunned for the moment. That man had been at least two hours late to every meeting since the death of his teammates. Hiruzen looked at the clock and saw that they had only been here for half an hour. He coughed slightly as he look at Kakashi. "It is alright Kakashi. We were just going over which teams passed and failed. Team seven was next appropriately. How did they do ?"
Everyone around Kakashi sighed. Everyone knew that he failed his teams on purpose. Kakashi looked at the Hokage and gave him his infamous eye smile.
"My team consisting of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto...Passed." Hiruzen smiled hearing this. The Jounin around him however, were all looking at him like he had ten heads. Very quickly everyone in the office started to talk about how he had never passed a team and what had changed. The questions would have gotten more troublesome, but luckily Hiruzen spoke to Kurenai.
"My dear, your team? How did they do?" It took Kurenai a moment to realize he was talking to her.
"Well sir, my team consisting of Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino passed with flying colors." Hiruzen nodded, smiling at another rookie team passing. That only left one more. The Jounin of team nine stepped forward and said that his team had failed miserably. Hiruzen's smile quickly left his face. How had so many teams failed this year? Before he could ask any more questions, Asuma stepped forward.
"My team consisting of Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Chouji, passed." There was no bragging, no excitement, he simply stated the facts. But as he stepped back he saw a slight smirk appear on his son's face. Hiruzen smiled once more as he looked over all the Jounin in the room.
"I am pleased to hear that at least three teams have passed. Please allow me a few minutes with the new Jounin sensei and I will see the rest of you at the briefing tomorrow. A chorus of yes Hokage-sama was heard as the seven Jounin that failed their teams used the shunshin to disappear.
"Now, do any of you have any questions?" Seeing all of them shake their heads he nodded and turned his chair to look out the window. "Very well, you are all dismissed. Kakashi, wait a moment before you go."
Asuma and Kurenai left quietly, leaving Kakashi and Hiruzen alone. Kakashi stepped forward and stood next to Hiruzen as he looked out the window at his village. Hiruzen looked up at him from his chair and smiled.
"Something about you is different Kakashi. You were only thirty minutes late. Care to explain that to me?" He heard Kakashi chuckle a little bit.
"I am going to make them the strongest the village has seen." Hiruzen's eyebrow rose at that.
"I take it you mean your team? What brought this on?" Kakashi looked at him and smiled.
"Naruto reminds me so much of sensei. He has the same mindset, same looks, hell, I bet he probably will fight like him. He approached me at the memorial stone and we had a very revealing talk."
Hiruzen smiled. "So I take it you will have them as Chunin sooner rather than later?" He felt Kakashi chuckle again.
"I'm going to do to them what you did to the Sannin." Hiruzen's eyes went wide at that! What had Naruto said to Kakashi to get him so motivated?
"Kakashi, why do you desire to make them so strong? This is all rather new so I hope you don't mind that I'm asking you so many questions."
"Not at all. There needs to be a new person that will help save others. Protect others. I am going to train them to do what I wasn't able to. Now if you'll excuse me Hokage-sama, I have a few preparations to make." With that, Kakashi disappeared through the open window and Hiruzen was left alone with his thoughts. Taking out his pipe and slowly packing the tobacco in, he took a match and lit the leaves. Taking a deep drag, Hiruzen was left with a smile.
'What an interesting change of events. Naruto my boy, you are destined for great things.' A chuckle escaped his lips as he went back to his paperwork.
XXXXX At training ground seven, ten am the next morning
Naruto yawned as he sat down next to the post, his back leaning against it. Sasuke and Sakura were doing the same thing only on the other sides of the post. He gave a big sigh before leaning over and whispering to Sakura. " When do you think Kakashi-sensei is going to get here?"
Sakura frowned and looked Naruto dead in the eye. "Naruto, I am not going to warn you again. This is the sixth time you've asked. He will get here when he gets here. Its only ten so he should be here any minute."
Naruto frowned and leaned back on his side. " What do you think teme?" Naruto felt Sasuke get annoyed more than he actually saw it.
"I don't know dobe and if you ask again I will shove a kunai right up your a..." just as Sasuke was going to finish his threat, Kakashi showed up on top of the post squatting and scared them.
Naruto was the first to respond. "What the hell sensei! You nearly scared us to death!" Sakura and Sasuke stayed quiet but they both agreed with Naruto for once.
Kakashi thought to himself for a moment before he nodded. "If I had been an enemy you all could have been dead. Unacceptable." He pointed at the outskirts of the training ground. "Ten laps, all of you."
They all raised a brow at that. Sakura raised her hand. Kakashi shook his head slightly. "This isn't school Sakura just say what you need to." Blushing, Sakura turned to him. "Why are we going to run laps sensei?" Kakashi smiled. "Because I said so! Now get to it!" None of them moved and Kakashi sighed.
"Alright, here is how things are going to work from now on. If I tell you to do something, you're going to do it. I am now directly in charge of all three of you. That means that minus killing you, I can do whatever I see fit. I am now going to be training you all. And to be completely honest, you all suck miserably." Naruto and Sasuke both went to object this, but Kakashi was quick to shut them down.
"Naruto I could, in five seconds mind you, get behind you, pierce you through with a kunai, and toss your corpse in the river. Sasuke I could, in ten seconds, restrain you, rip out your eyes, and burn them." Both Naruto and Sasuke swallowed rather loudly and closed their mouths.
"I am one of the most elite Jounin in this village. I will protect it with my life and that is exactly what I expect from all three of you. Nothing I have you do will be to make you suffer without reason. If I tell you to run it may be a punishment, but you'll also be working on your stamina. If I have you fight me, it isn't to embarrass you. Its so I can get a grasp of your fighting styles and what I can do to modify it." He looked at each of them and saw that the hesitation was gone.
"I will protect and train all of you until I cannot do so anymore or you are all ready to defend others. Now, ten laps. Go!."
His three students leaped up and moved to run around the training ground. Kakashi watched with a careful eye. Sasuke moved quickly to the front at a sprint and ran around multiple times, lapping Sakura and Naruto once before slowing down significantly. Naruto set a pace immediately and never stopped that pace. It was a steady run that allowed him to not only catch up to Sasuke, but lap him. 'Stamina boost from being an Uzumaki no doubt.' As the ten laps slowly ran out, Sakura was clearly the least physical of the three. Panting heavily, Sakura stopped just shy of eight laps and looked over to Kakashi.
"That's enough! All of you can come back over here." Naruto kept his same pace and ran over to him. Sasuke tried to keep a steady jog but ended up walking the last few feet. Sakura, the poor girl, was left dragging herself over to where they all were.
"Now, what do you all know about chakra exercises?" None of their hand went up immediately, but Sakura was the first one to speak. "There is the leaf spinning exercise. It trains us to keep focus on one point and then control of our chakra to rotate the leaf slowly."
Kakashi nodded. "Very good Sakura. Now do any of you know the more advanced exercises?" Kakashi heard the crickets chirping. "Alright, there are a few of them that you will need to know. These will not only train your reserves up, but also increase your reserves so that you can handle more advanced techniques." He let the information sink in before he continued on.
"The first is called tree climbing. And before you say anything, you do not know how to climb trees like this." Sakura immediately closed her mouth and watched. Kakashi walked over to where the first big tree was and walked right up it like gravity didn't mean a thing.
Naruto sat their with his mouth wide open, Sasuke's eyes went slightly wide, and Sakura simply smiled. Walking back down to his students, took out a few kunai and set them at their feet. "Use those to mark your progress. The trick is to send chakra through your feet and use them to stick to the tree. Now try it out and I will guide you as you go."
Sakura was actually the first to get to a tree. Putting out her foot gingerly, Sakura surprised herself as she quickly walked up the tree. As she came back down Kakashi was waiting.
"I did it Kakashi-sensei! I did it on my first try!" Kakashi couldn't help but smile at her. He put a hand on her shoulder and leaned in to whisper in her ear.
"Sakura it was so easy because of two things. One, is that you happen to have very good control. The second is that you don't have a lot of chakra to control in the first place. Now keep climbing and going up and down. You're going to run out of chakra very quickly. Go for as long as you can." Sakura looked slightly dejected but she turned around and started walking up and down the tree.
Naruto and Sasuke both looked at each other before rushing their respective trees. They both reached their trees at the same time and two things happened. One is that Sasuke got two steps up the tree and fell flat on his ass. At that same moment however, Naruto was blown away from the tree by the sheer force of his chakra. Kakashi looked at the two on the ground and smirked. This was going to be great to watch.
"Naruto, Sasuke, the trick is to use the proper amount of chakra. Too much and you get blown off the tree due to it breaking. Too little and you wont even make it up the tree. Try again and instead of running, stick your foot to the trunk and see how much you'll need before you rush it."
Kakashi watched as the two boys both spend ten minutes trying to adjust their chakra. No surprise that as soon as Sasuke decided to give it a try, so did Naruto. Clearly that little rivalry didn't die. They both rushed the trees again and to his surprise they both made it about twelve steps up the tree before they had to jump off and land. It seems the rivalry between the two makes them both want to do better. They took off again and this time Sasuke made it fifteen steps and Naruto thirteen. He nodded to himself. Sasuke was apparently a genius. He would pick up on everything that he threw at him. Naruto clearly was not due to his grades but he saw that as Sasuke did better, it made him want to exceed his own goals. Naruto was going to be the type of person who persevered due to sheer will.
Watching his students train, Kakashi realized that he had a pretty balanced team. Sakura was, at this point, the weakest of the three. Her near perfect chakra control was due to the fact that she had next to no reserves to speak of. This was both a blessing and a curse. This made her the ideal genjutsu user and medic for the team. Sasuke, he had to admit, was very much like himself. He was fast but didn't have massive reserves. Sasuke would easily be the finesse fighter of the team. Using both ninjutsu, taijutsu, as well as whatever tricks he could show him with weapons. Naruto...Well he was going to be the muscle. His chakra reserves alone made him the ideal ninjutsu specialist for the team. As well as his stamina and ability to keep going, this made him a very potent front line fighter. Give him the knowledge to use his clones In a smarter way, he could easily be the scout as well. Not to mention that he had the Kyuubi...
Kakashi smiled. This team was going to be destined for greatness. He was going to make sure of that. "Kids that's enough for now. Come down here." Naruto ran over as he had before, Sasuke walked, and Sakura jumped from the tree landing next to Kakashi.
"Now, guess what you get to do now kids?" None of them liked the chipper tone that had entered Kakashi's voice. At that moment though, Sakura's eyes went wide. "Oh no... It's not D ranked missions is it?" Kakashi eye smiled at them. "It's D rank time!" He turned and waved them over. "Lets move out kiddies we have some missions to do!" Naruto and Sasuke simply frowned not getting what the big deal was. Sakura, having read about it at the library, was not too happy to hear that this is what they were going to be doing now.
Kakashi grinned under his mask. Having a team wasn't so bad after all!
XXXXX Training ground seven, eight thirty pm
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura sat once again around the middle post. They were all exhausted. Kakashi hadn't just made them do one D rank... He had made them do seven. Seven! What was he trying to do, kill them? Kakashi was sitting cross legged in front of Sakura, reading a little orange book.
"Now kids, want to tell me why I had you do seven D ranks in a row?" Naruto looked at him angrily.
"Is it because you're a sadist?" Kakashi smirked at that one.
"Oh that's a big word Naruto! Where did you learn that one?" Naruto growled at him as the other two stayed quiet. Kakashi shook his head at them.
"Teamwork. To be successful as a shinobi you cant just be all power and no teamwork. You have to grow as a team before you can grow as shinobi. As such, I have decided a few things for you. First off, none of you are allowed to sleep at home without the other two. They all looked at Kakashi with wide eyes. " That's right. If you are to become a team you can no longer simply be strangers. You will eat together, sleep under the same roof, breathe the same air, all of it. Secondly, we will do a minimum of seven D ranks a day. As your team work gets better, you will see that the D ranks will melt away. The final thing is that we will train everyday. You are now full time shinobi. You don't get to take it easy right away. You have things to learn, people to meet, missions to run. Unless you are specifically given leave by the Hokage, you are working. My plan is to make you three the strongest shinobi to come out of Konoha since the Sannin."
All three members of team seven looked at Kakashi and sighed. Kakashi looked at the three of them and reached into his pouch, pulling out three scrolls. One was yellow, one was pink, and the other was black. Throwing them at their respective members, Kakashi smiled at them.
"We are done for the day. You will meet me here again at eight tomorrow. The things I just mentioned start tonight. You will sleep under the same roof or I will make sure you don't sleep at all. Now, the scrolls I have given you are ones that I made up while you three were focused on the D ranks. Each scroll has a handful of tips for what I believe you should focus on, what you need to improve, and a single technique. I have the same one on all three and you three have until the end of the week to learn it. You three will learn the same moves. You will be able to help each other learn and grow. And once I have deemed you goo enough with the basics, we will begin your specializations. Until tomorrow, you three are dismissed." As an after thought, Kakashi made two Kage Bunshin and sent them to each of his students while he personally went over to Sakura.
XXXXX With Sakura
Kakashi took Sakura and brought her over to a tree by the river. Sakura looked at him and was worried. She hoped this wasn't training!
"Sakura, do you know what happens when there is a relationship within a team?" Sakura looked up at him, blushed, and shook her head as she looked over at Sasuke. Kakashi stepped over and blocked her view of him. "Sakura, as soon as you put that headband on you became a shinobi of Konohagakure. As such, you are going to be held to a certain set of rules. Now while I don't think that it would be a bad thing for the two of you to be together, at this point in time, it is probably bad if you two tried to be together. He doesn't have the same feeling that you think you have for him and if you try to force something it may ruin what you could possibly have." Sakura's eyes went wide and she put her head down, feeling a little sad for herself.
"Hey, listen, all I think is that you should focus on making yourself stronger rather than trying to impress a boy who is obsessed with revenge. He respects strength Sakura. If you want him you have to prove that you are his equal. Now come on, the others are finished talking."
XXXXX With Naruto
Kakashi's clone took Naruto in the opposite direction of Sasuke and stood in front of him. Naruto wasn't too happy at the moment. Today had been hell. Even if he wanted to become Hokage, training like they did today everyday was going to be rough.
"Naruto listen to me. I know you have feelings for Sakura, but where do you think that is going to lead right now?" Naruto looked at him, gaping like a fish.
"I just have to show her how strong I can be!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air and stared at Kakashi defiantly.
"Naruto, listen to me please," he emphasized the please," If you were to try and get involved with Sakura right now it would ruin the team dynamic that is starting to form. I need you to focus on yourself right now. I need you to focus on being a part of this team. Can you do that for me?"
Naruto pouted as he sat down, crossing his arms and looking away from Kakashi. "Why should I? You've been mean to us since we became a team."
Kakashi sighed. He didn't think he would be this childish about it. "Naruto I'll make you a deal. If you can focus on yourself, the team, and leave romance out of it, I'll take you out to get as much ramen as you want. Deal?" Naruto's eyes went wide with delight.
"Sensei you have yourself a deal! And when I'm done learning how to be awesome I'll win Sakura over that way!" Kakashi nodded and the clone popped out of existence leaving Naruto looking at an approaching Kakashi and Sakura. Naruto smiled and walked over to them.
XXXXX With Sasuke
Kakashi's clone simply stood there waiting for the other two to go away. He looked at Sasuke and frowned. The boy was clearly mad, but wouldn't do anything about it.
"Do you know what I'm about to ask of you?" Sasuke shook his head in a negative.
"I know of your desire for revenge. You want revenge on Itatchi for what happened to your clan. I need a few things from you however, and one of them is giving up on Itatchi for the time being."
Sasuke looked at Kakashi and the disgust and anger was now clearly on his face. "Just give up? Just let my clan become a smudge in the history books? You wish Sensei." He spat the work sensei like it was venom.
Kakashi frowned at the boy but slowly reached up to his headband and revealed to Sasuke that he possessed the Sharingan. Sasuke let out a sharp hiss of breath and looked at him expecting answers. "How did you get the Sharingan!? You're not an Uchiha!" Sasuke's anger was not really a surprise to Kakashi. When it came to his clan, it was the only thing that actually DID get Sasuke riled up.
"It was a gift from a friend who died during the war. Now listen to me. I don't want you to give up on Itatchi forever. I want you to wait for a few years. You aren't strong enough now, but with my training, you will be. I need you to let those two in. Don't shut them out. Let them become your friends and learn from them. I need you to focus on teamwork and becoming a better person. Don't let Itatchi rule your life."
Sasuke looked down before looking Kakashi in the eyes. "I want the story behind that Sharingan when we have time. And the only promise I will make is that I wont inherently shut them out. If they annoy me, or try to ask things that they shouldn't, I will no respond well."
Kakashi nodded. "That's about as much as I expected. Thank you Sasuke." With that, The clone burst into smoke and Sasuke saw that Kakashi and Sakura were walking over to meet up again. Looking over, he saw Naruto walking over as well.
'Might as well get this over with.' Sasuke frowned and walked over.
XXXXX With Team Seven
Kakashi walked over with Sakura as the two boys finished their little chats and walked towards them. He eyed them each and noticed that the way they looked at each other had changed. "Now that we've had our talks, I would like each of you to spend a little time with each other. So pick one of your houses and get to talking." He eye smiled as he began to walk away. "See you all tomorrow!" And with a small poof of smoke, Kakashi was gone.
The rest of team seven uneasily looked at each other. Sasuke looked at Naruto and Sakura and tried to decide if he could let them into his life like Kakashi-sensei wanted. Naruto looked at Sakura and realized that he wasn't allowed to try and get her to go out with him like he had been trying to do that past few, well, years. He then looked at Sasuke and tried to figure out if the two of them could get along. Sakura looked at Sasuke and frowned sadly. She knew that she was weak, and she also knew that Sasuke hated weakness. She nodded absently to herself. She would become stronger and win his love! Naruto however. She sighed. She would put up with him and give him a fair shot instead of just shooting him down.
As the trio each struggled with what they were going to do, Naruto's stomach let out a loud growl. He reached for his stomach and let out a groan. "Awe man... We haven't eaten since this afternoon! Are you guys hungry?" As if guided by Kami, both Sakura and Sasuke's stomachs began growling in protest. Naruto chuckled at his new teammates and smiled.
"I know the perfect place to get some good food! You guys want to come with me?" Now while both of them would have originally said no, neither of them was in any rush to go home, also seeing as they had to get to know one another, what better way than over food? The two of them nodded and Naruto began the trek into the village towards a very specific ramen stand...
XXXXX Ichiraku Ramen, ten pm
Laughter could be heard coming from the ramen stand in hysterical bunches. Inside the stand Naruto could be heard recounting some of his more original pranks. He had Sakura laughing hysterically and even Sasuke let out a chuckle or two. The story in question was when he was a young boy and had dug a ditch for a merchant to fall into. Seeing that he had fallen for his trick, Naruto did what any boy his age would have done. He pissed on his head.
Wiping her eyes, Sakura looked at Naruto as another fit of laughs came out. "Naruto seriously? What is wrong with you? That's not funny at all!" while she said that, Sakura couldn't help but laugh.
Naruto grinned. "I'm telling you the bastard deserved it!" He stopped talking for a few minutes to drain his bowl of broth. As he finished he looked to Sasuke and Sakura with a neutral expression.
"So I know we have to sleep under the same roof, so if you wanted we could use my house. No one else lives with me and I know the landlord wont mind. She kind of leaves me be anyway."
Sasuke and Sakura looked at one another and shrugged. Sasuke spoke up first. "Do you have more than one bed? Or something that we can sleep on?"
Naruto frowned. "Actually I don't. Just my bed and a small couch. Is that okay?" Sasuke shook his head and thought to himself for a minute. He spoke calmly but it seemed a bit strained. "You both will stay at my home for tonight. I have extra rooms and it will be more comfortable."
Naruto shrugged and nodded, motioning for him to lead the way. Sakura looked at Naruto and frowned. "Naruto who is going to pay for this?" At that moment, an older gentleman appeared by the counter. He smiled at Naruto.
"Oh don't worry little miss. Me and Naruto have an agreement. This bit of food is on the house." Sakura looked at him and bowed. " Thank you very much for the food mister..." The old man laughed. "Ah, that's good. Names Teuchi. Teuchi Ichiraku." Sakura smiled at him and the three of them entered the streets following Sasuke to his home.
XXXXX Uchiha Clan District, ten thirty pm
Sasuke led them through the village to one of the more prominent districts. Konoha had twenty one districts in it. Districts one through seven were for civilians. Eight through fifteen were for shops and other commercial buildings. Sixteen through twenty one were for shinobi and training grounds. Sasuke took them through district eighteen and up to a walled off area of the village. Right above the open gate was the Uchiha Clan crest. Sasuke led them into the Uchiha clan grounds right up the road and slightly to the right. Sasuke stopped at the door and turned to look at his teammates.
"This is my home. What I say here goes. If you have a problem with that you can sleep outside, understand?" He saw the two of them nod and he walked inside.
Pointing immediately to his left he pointed to a closed room. "No one goes in there. Ever. If that door opens you will be thrown out." Continuing down the hall way he showed Naruto and Sakura to their rooms. "I will be up at six. I cook breakfast usually for myself only. If you want something you better wake up and make it yourself. Do not break anything and don't wake me up unless it's an emergency." As he started to walk away, he stopped abruptly and turned around. "Goodnight, sleep well." With that he turned around and went to his own room and closed the door.
Naruto and Sakura slowly made their way over to the beds and began to get comfortable. After laying down and realizing how tired they actually were, they both slipped into blissful sleep.
XXXXX Uchiha Clan District, eleven pm
Kakashi looked down approvingly at his Genin squad. He didn't think that they would take to his training conditions so quickly. He never left them when he left the training grounds. He had shadowed them to the ramen stand and after that to the Uchiha Clan District. He was honestly proud of the little brats. They took direction well. When the time came he was sure that they would become very influential members of the village. Shaking his head, Kakashi made his way over towards district nineteen, where his home was located. Jumping leisurely from rooftop to rooftop, Kakashi realized that he was excited. He couldn't wait to train his team and make them the best that they could be. He made one final promise to his deceased friends.
'I won't let what happened to you happen to anyone else. That's a promise.'
XXXXX
And that's chapter one! Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I would greatly appreciate some constructive reviews! I'm trying to become a better writer and I wont do that if no one tells me how I suck! I will not promise on a set time limit to update but I will attempt to keep it somewhat regular. Well, until next time!
-D.K