Konohagakure no Sato. Within the continent known as the elemental nations that name was associated with power, both political and military. It was one of the many ninja villages that dominated the landmass.
However Konoha was considered one of the five main hidden villages, alongside Kirigakure, Kumogakure, Iwagakure and Sunagakure. The reason for Konoha's place among those five was not it's raw power like Kumogakure, it was not the number of ninja's within its wall like Iwagakure, it was not it's master assassins like Kirigakure nor it's skilled ninja like Sunagakure, no, Konohagakure no sato was famous for one thing, it's unrivalled teamwork.
That is not to say it didn't have what the other villages had, however the part that cemented its place as one of the strongest five villages was the teamwork that its shinobi displayed.
It was because of that reason the graduation exam used to decide which children were skilled enough to become ninja's and which weren't was immediately followed by a separate test that was used to decide which teams could work together and therefore survive on the field as opposed to the classroom.
Uzumaki Naruto, within Konoha that name was immediately associated with several words, mainly prankster, demon, failure and murderer. He had known for years why he was called a prankster and a failure, however it had only been three nights ago that he had discovered the reason behind demon and murderer.
He had trusted his instructor at the academy and in the dead of night, he had broken into the village leaders office and found a large scroll marked 'forbidden'. His sensei had told him about the scroll and when he had asked why it was forbidden, the man had told him that a genuine forbidden scroll wouldn't advertise itself like that and that the scroll he was going to be stealing was just a prop for the graduation exam.
Naruto had listened to the man and proceeded to steal the scroll for the makeup exam he had been told about.
However that didn't work.
He had been saved by his other sensei when he discovered there was no makeup exam and the man he had trusted was a traitor. It was at that point he discovered the truth. Sealed within his gut was a monster of unimaginable power, one that had nearly crushed the village twelve years ago, it's name, the Kyūbi no kitsune.
The shock of the revelation was immense, all he had been capable of doing was staring into space before fleeing the scene as his mind was overcome with grief. But he had been saved. Iruka-sensei had managed to guide him out of his darkness and in doing so, allowed him to understand the truth of the situation… he had been entrusted with a great burden that the Yondaime Hokage had for some reason or another, believed he could handle, his hero had believed in him and he would be damned if he was just going to give in.
Defeating his treacherous sensei had probably been the easiest part of that night, the man had simply been overwhelmed by the jutsu he had learned from the scroll, then again fighting a sea of orange clad blonds wasn't the easiest thing to do for someone that lacked skills of their own.
It was after he had defeated the teacher turned traitor that it had happened. He had received his hitae-ate, the mark that he had graduated the academy.
He had been so ecstatic over the piece of cloth with the metal plaque, he was finally a ninja, he had thought that would be enough.
However yesterday he had discovered that there was still one more test to go, one administered by the appointed Jōnin sensei's each team was assigned… and today it had happened.
His team may have passed but it was by the skin of their teeth and purely because of the boy he considered his rival. Uchiha Sasuke. The test had been to examine their teamwork but none of them had realised it until they had already lost. He had ended up tied to a log while his sensei had given his teammates a pair of bento's with the instructions of 'do not feed him'. Sasuke had gone against those instructions… and they had passed.
He was finally a genin of Konohagakure no Sato… but for some reason he didn't feel as happy as he thought he would, if anything he felt depressed.
So here he was, slowly walking along the central business area of the village, his head held low and his usual expression of excitement and happiness absent from his face, as his mind tried to come up with the reason behind his lack of happiness, or rather, trying to figure out why it hurt so much.
His team may have passed the test but it didn't feel like he really passed. All he had done was get fed, he might have tried to get the bells their sensei was using as targets but in the end, he was completely outclassed.
He had originally charged straight at the man, ready to beat him to a pulp like the traitor on that fateful night, however things hadn't gone even close to plan. His new sensei was named Hatake Kakashi, a tall and lanky man with gravity defying silver hair that wore the standard Konoha military garb of dark clothes and an olive flak jacket, with the only deviation being the mask made of cloth that covered everything from his eyes down, with his hitae-ate slanted over his left eye.
What the man did had led towards his current state of mind. Instead of defending himself seriously when he saw his blond student charge at him, he had pulled out a book and started reading. Despite putting his best effort into attacking the man, Kakashi had never once looked up from his little orange book or used his left hand.
When he had realised that the Jōnin was too strong for him to defeat one on one, he had formed several Kage Bunshin, only to find that the man had replaced himself with one of HIS clones. The experience was humiliating to say the least, the fact he had believed the man had used a henge instead of a Kawarimi had made him attack his own copies, wasting his strength even more than necessary while simultaneously making him look like an idiot in front of the girl he had been chasing for years.
He had thought the humiliation would end there, but instead he had fallen for an obvious trap that anyone with half a brain cell would've avoided.
In the end, he had been nothing like a ninja during that test.
That realisation had genuinely hit him with more force than anything before, even discovering that he was the prison for the beast that had terrorised the village the day he was born had hit him with less force than this. At least with the Kyūbi it was something that he had no say in, that couldn't be changed even if he wanted, but to realise that your own talent was non-existent and that the strength he had been convinced he possessed didn't exist was something else entirely.
He let out a tired sigh as he continued to walk along the street, ignoring the cold stares he received from the majority of the public as he kept his hands firmly within the pockets of his neon orange jumpsuit.
It wasn't even halfway through the day and he had nothing to do since his sensei had dismissed them for the day, why the man had done so he didn't know, they could've easily started training or even get their first mission as a team but the Jōnin had decided that that was all he wanted from them for the day.
Thinking about his sensei he came to a simple conclusion. The man had been over two hours late both days they had met him, he seemed to lack any form of enthusiasm for the team and he didn't even bother to start anything when it was only just past midday, his mind leaned towards a single sentence 'Kakashi-sensei is lazy'.
This may not have sounded like much but Naruto knew what it meant, he couldn't rely on his new sensei to teach him.
That realisation was not seen by anyone however, the only change in his expression being a single blink as his face lacked the ability to look more depressed than he already was.
"Hello Naruto-kun, what can I get for you today?" a familiar voice interrupted his musings as he became aware where he had walked.
He was currently standing in a small stand, it was a quaint little establishment, possessing nothing more than a counter with several stools as a middle aged man and a young woman both wore chef's clothing as they prepared the noodle based meals their stand was known for.
It was also Naruto's favourite place in Konoha and the one place he was made to feel welcome, if anywhere could make him feel better it would be here.
"Hey Teuchi-ojisan, can I get a large miso with roasted pork fillet?" came the boy's call, with only a hint of his depression seeping into his tone, however it was enough for the older man to notice as he started preparing the ingredients for the child's order.
"So what's wrong Naruto-kun? You've got a hitae-ate so it's obvious you didn't fail again so what's got you down?" the owner asked as he put the ingredients in a pot to cook for the young boy.
"There was another test," the blue eyed child said as his face took its previous look of depression, causing the owner of the ramen stand to raise an eyebrow.
"You still have your hitae-ate so you're still a ninja aren't you?" the owner of the little ramen stand asked as he finished putting the blonds order in a bowl and giving it to him over the counter.
"Yeah, itadakimasu," came the boy's reply, his usual enthusiasm nowhere to be seen as he proceeded to eat at a pace the middle aged chef had never seen him eat at before.
"So what's got you so down?" the kind man asked as he leaned on the counter, hoping the blond would be prepared to tell him what had gone wrong.
Letting out a large sigh, Naruto started to talk to the older man.
"The test wasn't like the academy tests, Kakashi-sensei told us to go at him with the intent to kill," he started, earning a curt nod off the owner of the ramen stand, Kakashi was well known within Konoha as one of the three strongest ninjas that normally stayed within the village, he may not have been on par with Jiraiya or Tsunade but he was still a very strong shinobi.
"I take it he beat you pretty badly huh?" Teuchi may not have been a ninja but he was one of the few civilians that understood how strong ninja really were, he'd delivered more than his fare share of takeouts to the training fields after all.
"He… he completely humiliated me," the young blond muttered quietly as he hung his head in shame at the conflict that had occurred earlier, "I threw everything I had against him and he never once took his eyes off that damned book of his."
There was an emotion in Naruto's voice that the far more experience man had never once heard from the boy before, it was something to told him exactly what was wrong with the child, he was ashamed.
"Well Kakashi-san is supposed to be VERY strong," came a feminine voice as Teuchi's daughter decided to join in on the conversation.
"He took Sasuke seriously," it may have only been a mutter but the duo of ramen chefs both heard it clearly and neither believed that the legendary 'Sharingan no Kakashi' would take a newly graduated genin seriously.
"Did he use his left eye?" Teuchi asked, his knowledge of the man telling him that the blond had misjudged his strength.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" came the confusion ridden response to the question.
"Kakashi is known to have a special eye hidden under his hitae-ate, they say he's one of the best at using that type of eye as well," the ramen chef responded, earning a pair of wide eyes off the blond in the process, "I take it that he didn't use it then, which also means he wasn't taking Sasuke seriously either."
"He was still more serious than when he fought me…" the silence that followed was palpable, despite the owners intention of making his favourite customer happier, he had failed, even his ramen wasn't working its usual magic this time.
Once he had finished his first bowl, Naruto did something he rarely ever did after only one bowl of ramen, with a hefty sigh, he pulled out his favourite frog wallet and paid for the dish, "see ya Teuchi-ojisan," it was then that Teuchi realised just how hard the boy had been hit by his revelation as he watched the child leave the stand after only his first bowl of ramen.
Naruto was also doing another thing he rarely ever did under normal circumstances, he was thinking. It might not sound like a lot but he was known to jump first, ask if he could survive the landing later, so the fact that he was currently so deep in thought that he was unable to even notice the cold stares sent his way, was actually saying quite a lot.
His thoughts hadn't changed much, he was still thinking about the total humiliation he had suffered at the hands of Kakashi-sensei earlier. It was as if all his hours of hard work and effort had amounted to nothing, that no matter how hard he tried he would never be a 'true' ninja.
Other fights he had gotten into suddenly appeared in the front of his mind, within the graduating class he had never once beaten a boy of his own age group in a spar (well, except Shikamaru but that was because he forfeit before a single punch had been thrown), he had only managed to beat Mizuki because he had the element of surprise with the Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, he had only beaten that closet pervert of a private tutor courtesy of his Harem no Jutsu which was worth nothing in a real fight.
The more he thought about it, the more he realised he had been in denial all this time. He had believed he would become Hokage and be respected by the village but with his complete lack of talent and skill, was it even possible to reach Chūnin let alone Hokage.
"I quit that kind of stuff already," came a voice that peaked Naruto's interest, he recognised that voice as belonging to the Hokages grandson, Konohamaru.
"That's right, you finally understand don't you? Doing as I say is your shortcut to becoming Hokage," came another voice the boy had heard before. However unlike the brotherly affection he had for the little boy, the feelings he felt upon hearing this voice were closer to contempt. The man was yet another member of Konoha that looked down on him, that treated him with the same cold stare as everyone else… he was also the only person he had used his harem no jutsu against and the man had fallen for it effortlessly.
"There aren't any shortcuts," Konohamaru's voice said quietly, causing Naruto to let out a small smile at the child's words, words he himself had passed onto the boy, "Naruto-niichan told me, if you want to become Hokage, you have to accept it."
Suddenly his day didn't seem as bad as he had thought, sure he had been humiliated but just then, he had seen that despite his loudmouth exterior, despite his lack of skills, despite his inability to grasp concepts, he had been able to set a good example for his junior.
Suddenly a thought struck him. He had never seen this man's true skills. Sure he had beaten the arrogant tutor with his perverted technique but he had managed to knock out the Hokage with one, so all it really did was show just how perverted a person was, it had nothing to do with their strength in combat.
This man, despite his perversion, had been assigned by the Hokage himself to train his grandson, why would the aged leader assign a weakling to train one of his most important people? The answer was obvious, the man wasn't as weak as he appeared… either that or he was more like Sakura with lots of book smarts and no real strength.
But then again, you didn't need to be strong to teach, you only needed a good grasp of the basics to teach someone how to get stronger. Realising this, Naruto figured out what he had to do… the only question was how to do it?
"Hey Konohamaru, closet perv, what'cha doing?" Naruto called out as he walked over to the duo.
"Naruto-niichan!" Konohamaru almost shouted as he jumped up from his push ups with more energy that he appeared to have, while the Tokubetsu Jōnin called Ebisu spluttered indignantly, "I'm training really hard, I'll become Hokage long before you!"
If Naruto had taken any offense at that statement he didn't show a single hint of it as playfully patted the younger boy on the head.
"You might become Hokage, but that'll be after me," came the playful taunt from the whiskered boy as his eyes shifted to the Jōnin for just a second. However being a Jōnin (even if only Tokubetsu) means that you're capable of seeing such signs and Ebisu prepared himself for whatever was to come.
"Honourable grandson, I think it would be worth doing some running to build your cardiovascular system, after all, you need stamina if you want to be a strong ninja," the man stated, his eyes hidden behind his circular sunglasses.
"Wha? Do I have to do it now?" the youngest of the group asked, wondering why he was being told to run just when his big brother figure had arrived.
"Listen to the closet perv," Naruto said, resulting in the tokubetsu Jōnin spluttering once again in indignation, "stamina is really important so you should work on it."
"Okay…" the young child said with a moan, he was certain something was going on and he didn't want to be left out of it, which it appeared even his big brother didn't want him present for whatever was going to happen.
"Now honourable grandson, you must run at least one lap around the village, I'm sure you already know of the stairs up the mountain don't you?" the private tutor told the young boy as he used his index finger to push his glasses up and hide his eyes.
"Hai sensei…" and lacking his previous enthusiasm, the young boy proceeded to leave the clearing where he had been training and started his lap of the village.
A tense silence followed as neither party seemed prepared to make the first move in their latest encounter, Ebisu because he didn't know what to expect from the boy in front of him, and Naruto because he didn't want to shatter whatever remained of his pride.
In the end, the stalemate was broken by the older of the two, his suspicions growing with every second that passed in the tense silence.
"Alright, explain yourself, I saw you glance at me so you've obviously come to try something," the darkly dressed man stated, his body ready to react at the first sign of danger… or those damned perverted jutsu's the boy made.
"I want a rematch."
The teachers danger senses tingled, he just knew that it wouldn't be that simple, the child would probably try to beat him with those transformations again… little did he know that the man before him had already prepared a method of beating the technique.
"And why would I accept such a ludicrous request?" the older man asked, still trying to figure out what the child was playing at.
"Do you want everyone in Konoha to know that you lost to a deadlast genin?" the smirk the whiskered boy emitted upon saying that simple question showed the older ninja that he was more than happy to let everyone know about that incident.
"I see.. so what are the conditions for this contest?" Ebisu asked as his eyes locked onto the child, although they could not be seen behind his spectacles.
"It's simple, we fight with everything we have, if you win I keep quiet about your loss to a genin, if I win the whole village will know just how weak you really are," that was all the proof he needed, Uzumaki Naruto was planning something. The child had no reason to fight him over this, he could simply tell everyone what had happened and potentially ruin the older man's reputation in the process.
"Fine, you're on," the Jōnin stated before he was once again shocked by the blond, this time from the simple fact he had charged straight at him.
The longer the fight continued, the more worried the Jōnin became, despite his obvious lack of skill, finesse, speed or power, the child was surprisingly adaptive, especially with the use of his bunshin and henge.
However it was the complete lack of one specific henge that was worrying the man, the last time they had met he had immediately been surrounded by naked women when the blond had decided to create his 'harem no jutsu' however this time there was not even a hint of the distraction technique.
Even when the blond was visibly drained and covered in bruises he refused to let his guard down, he was certain that the boy noticed his guard and was just waiting for him to drop it before pulling out his pathetic jutsu.
"I… I give up," that one sentence rung through the tutors head, Uzumaki Naruto had given up, something was definitely fishy now, "I won't tell anyone about you being beaten by me," Ebisu couldn't help but blink in surprise, the Uzumaki boy was actually planning on sticking to his word, "that doesn't mean I won't tell anyone about you being a closet perv though."
Suddenly the Jōnin's world stood still. He had won against the boy in battle but now the child was going to ruin his reputation in another way instead, he should have seen this coming a mile off and he had walked straight into it.
"There is a way you can make me shut up though," the whiskered boy said with a confident smirk, once again causing the man to question the boy's motives.
"And what is it you want off me?" the tokubetsu Jōnin made absolutely no effort to hide the suspicion present in his voice as the boy sat in front of him essentially grabbed him by the balls and was ready to start twisting any moment.
"Help."
Once again the tutor was caught off guard by his blond nemesis as he said the one word he had not expected it to say in response to his question.
Noticing the confusion on the tokubetsu Jōnin's face, Naruto decided to explain his situation and motives to the best of his ability, hopefully with the blackmail he had the man wouldn't risk being condescending in fear of retribution.
Letting out a deep sigh, he proceeded to talk to the older man.
"Earlier today I had my true genin exam and my team passed. But when I fought Kakashi-sensei…" he just couldn't bring himself to admit the difference between himself and his sensei in front of this man, however he had given enough information for the closet pervert to figure out what had happened.
"I see… so he completely humiliated you and you want revenge, so you've come to me to help you," the tone used was flat and unfeeling, despite his love of his reputation he wouldn't do anything to harm a fellow shinobi out of petty revenge.
"I don't care about revenge," the statement once again surprised the darkly dressed man as his mind wondered what the boy wanted, until he finally realised what the child had done and decided that Uzumaki Naruto was indeed far smarter than he appeared.
"Hehe, I can't believe it took me so long to see what you were after," this time it was Naruto that looked surprised, he had thought the man would've picked up on it I as soon as he had asked for help, then again, he should've known that his reputation as a prankster and their previous encounter would've changed how it played out, "you want me to train you don't you?"
"Not really, I don't know enough about you and probably won't have enough time to find you and train every day," the spiky haired boy told the man as he simply sat on the grass of the training ground, his face back to the frown that it had been marred by until he arrived in the clearing.
Several seconds of silence reigned as the more experienced man thought over what he had seen. The boy had below average taijutsu, with most of his passing grade made out of his unpredictability as opposed to actual skill, strength or power, however on the battlefield that unpredictability was nowhere near great enough to take on many ninja's that possessed far more power, speed and greater reflexes courtesy of better training, more developed bodies and real combat experience. His chakra control was simply appalling, the amount of chakra he wasted creating something as simple as a Kage Bunshin was truly amazing, if anything though it just made his ability to create as many as he did even more impressive.
If the professional tutor was honest, he would admit that the blonds kunai throwing was possibly on par with some of the lower ranking Jōnin he had met, while his henge and Kage bunshin were used in inspired and sometimes amazing ways. However apart from those and his immense stamina, he had no good qualities when it came down to being a shinobi and he wasn't prepared to lie about something like that.
"I will be honest with you, you have an immense amount of stamina, your accuracy with kunai and shuriken is impressive even for a Chūnin, your henge is superb and you have the brains to use it in conjunction with your kage bunshin to impressive effect," Ebisu stated, causing the blond to suddenly go wide eyed at what the man was telling him, he had never been praised like that before, "however, every other area is substandard at best, horrific at worst, it is absolutely no surprise Kakashi-sempai was capable of completely humiliating you in combat."
Suddenly the spark that had appeared in Naruto's eyes vanished as he realised the man wasn't really praising him, if anything he felt even worse upon hearing that statement, especially considering how much time he put into his taijutsu.
His interest was suddenly piqued as he noticed the man he had beaten with his harem no jutsu suddenly pulled out a pen and paper which he happily started to write with. Naruto couldn't help but feel curious at what the man was doing, why was he writing? It didn't really make any sense to him, that is until the closet pervert finished and passed the piece of paper to him.
"I know you said you didn't want to train under me, I'm not stupid enough to not see why, despite what you said you simply don't want Konohamaru to see you coming to me for help," Naruto's eyes widened upon hearing this statement, he couldn't believe the man had seen through him that easily, "what I've done instead is write a list of books you should borrow from the library, if you truly are serious about getting stronger then you'll be prepared to read."
Upon hearing the words 'book' and 'library' Naruto couldn't help but let out a pained expression. Despite his desperation to get stronger he had wanted to avoid those two things, however as it stood, he guessed that he didn't really have much choice in the matter, it was either read or lose his pride… and despite the number of times he had made a fool out of himself in the past, he had always had his pride.
"I have one question for you now," the glasses wearing Jōnin said, causing the boy to look up at him, wondering what the man was planning on asking, "have you ever heard of the seven deadly sins?"
It was a simple question and it made the boy look at him in confusion, it was obvious to anyone watching that that was the first time he had even heard the phrase, more importantly it told Ebisu that the boy needed to be taught about them.
"The seven deadly sins are a series of character faults that can be a person's downfall if they ever grow too large… and I can tell that you've fallen to one of them already," the statement caught Naruto off guard, he had already fallen to one of these 'sins'? "the seven deadly sins are known as Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Sloth, Envy and the one that you have almost completely succumbed to… Pride."
Confusion racked the blonds brain as he wondered why pride was considered one of the seven deadly sins, it not like it hurt him or anything… right?
"I can see you don't understand why pride is a bad thing to have too much of, tell me, how many people have you asked for help?" despite asking the question, Ebisu already had an idea of what the answer would be, however he wanted the boy to figure it out himself.
Naruto's face suddenly took on an air of surprise before shifting into a concentrated frown, his mind trying to recall each time he had asked for help before now. Each time he came across a memory where he didn't understand something, instead of asking the teachers to help him, he had always ignored it and carried on doing things the way he always had… and that was when it struck him.
The reason he was so weak wasn't a lack of hard work or talent, it was his inability to ask others to help him because of his pride. His pride had destroyed his education and because no-one had warned him about it he had never realised it was a problem. Finally understanding this his face took on an even more depressed scowl as the realisation that it was his pride that hindered his growth, not his talent.
"Have you finally realised why your pride is a problem?" the darkly dressed tutor asked upon seeing the change in the boys expression, earning a nod of confirmation off the child as he simply sat on the grass, unmoving as he finally understood the reason for his lack of strength, "pride in itself isn't a bad thing, after all, having pride in being a Konoha Shinobi can help you fight harder and complete your missions more efficiently… but as you can see, having too much pride, or having pride in the wrong thing can be dangerous for a ninja."
Silence reigned as Naruto simply continued sitting, his mind still blown by the revelations of the day, not only was he weak but it was his own fault, not for lack of effort but because he was too prideful to ask for help.
Looking at his hand, he finally noticed the biggest achievement of his life so far. It was not earning his hitae-ate, it was not painting the Hokage monument in broad daylight, it was not becoming a genin or anything else, it was getting this one piece of paper. His greatest achievement was swallowing his pride and finally asking someone for help… and it looked like he had gotten it.
"Thank you, Ebisu-sensei," it was quiet and he hated calling this closet pervert something as respectful as sensei but the man had literally given him something with which he could get stronger and even more importantly, he had revealed his greatest flaw.
Ebisu on the other hand was completely taken aback by the boy's thank you, not only because he had never expected the boy to thank him but also the fact that he had shown him some form of respect. Quickly schooling his expression into one of cold and calculating apathy, he thought something he had never considered before, that the boy in front of him may one day become a great ninja, he already appeared to be trying to tackle his greatest flaw if the thanks he gave was anything to go by.
"I am a professional tutor, I may not be the strongest in terms of actual combat, however I am a master of the basics," it may have been a pride filled statement but even Naruto could understand that the man wasn't bragging about being the strongest, merely that he believed he was one of the best teachers in the village.
"I guess I should get going… I don't want Konohamaru to see me like this," the spiky haired blond said as he jumped to his feet, the small rest he managed to receive restoring most of his strength.
"Then I bid you farewell Naruto-san," it may have only been a simple farewell but it was enough to tell the blond that the older man's opinion of him had changed since the last time he met him and going by their conversation, he was pretty sure that it was for the better, as opposed to for the worse.
"See ya," and with a small wave, the orange clad blond headed for the tree line where he quickly disappeared, his destination, the one place he never thought he would ever visit, the library.
XXX XXX XXX
Haruno Sakura was only a young girl. Unlike so many konoichi within the shinobi ranks of Konohagakure no Sato she had not yet witnessed the true terror being on the front line could create.
Just like Naruto she had taken her true genin exam earlier that day but unlike him, she never confronted her sensei head on. Her performance was if possible, even more humiliating than her teammates, in that she didn't even try to take a bell from her sensei, instead falling for an obvious genjutsu and passing out due to her obsession with her third teammate, one Uchiha Sasuke.
While Naruto may have had blond hair and wear what many of the class described as a 'kill me orange' jumpsuit, she had an even more ridiculous colour scheme. She wore a bright red dress that ended about half way up her thighs while the sides from the waist down were slitted to allow easy movement. Under her dress she wore a simple pair of black shorts to make up for her dresses inability to cover her, while regular shinobi sandals adorned her feet. Despite the bright nature of her dress, her hair was even harder to hide, long pink hair, held back by her hitae-ate, reached halfway down her back while a pair of bangs framed her face.
Despite her lacking performance in the genin exam, she couldn't have been happier. She was finally going to get Uchiha Sasuke to herself without her main rival interfering like she always did before, in other words nothing could spoil this moment, the moment that she was finally given the chance to woo the top of her class, one on one.
However her thoughts soon deflated upon remembering her 'other' teammate. Out of all the people that she could've gotten on the same team as herself and Sasuke, why did it have to be Naruto? While Sasuke was the epitome of cool, a dark haired pretty boy with unrivalled talent and a loner attitude, Naruto was the epitome of loser, a blond haired idiot with no attitude that kept trying to get the same girl to date him… she wouldn't have cared as much if she wasn't the girl he kept pestering.
Of course she had rejected him on many occasions and despite her best efforts he simply wouldn't stop, she may have tried to get him away from her nicely at one point but when he never ceased, she proceeded to resort to violence and he still rejected her rejections. That relationship had become almost completely ingrained into her now, after several years of trying to get the boy to leave her alone it had become second nature to lash out at him. She was anything but proud of that fact, however he still refused to accept that she didn't have any interest in him and the more he bothered her, the less likely it became that her habit would change.
In the end though, they were now on the same team and as long as he didn't get in her or Sasuke's way, she would at least try to work with him, she just hoped that he wouldn't take her cooperation as anything more than her accepting the unfortunate fact that he was her teammate and nothing she did would change it.
She couldn't help but giggle a bit when her mind wandered back to the idea that she was now both a genin and on Sasuke's team, it was everything she wanted when she attended the team announcements, well excluding having Naruto with them. Then there was also the fact that tomorrow would be their first mission as genin team 7, knowing about that made images fly through her head of what sorts of danger they would face, or what sort of enemy they would have to fight, all in all, her imagination was beginning to overexert itself.
Of course she had already prepared herself for whatever she would have to deal with tomorrow, all their sensei had told them was that they wouldn't be leaving the village, which meant she didn't have to pack for a trip, just the supplies in case they got into any fights or one of them got injured.
Once again her imagination began to run rampant as she imagined Sasuke defeating a crime boss, suffering a series of major injuries courtesy of the man's henchman, causing her to tend to his wounds before he declared his love to her.
Of course she was going to be in for a disappointment when they actually did get their mission.
XXX XXX XXX
Uchiha Sasuke was once just another member of the infamous Uchiha clan, regularly considered to be one of the greatest clans within the village. However due to one night involving one person, everything changed.
No longer was he just another Uchiha, he was now the only Uchiha within Konoha. That night five years ago, when he came home late from school one day, only to be met with his clans streets, flowing with blood while corpses littered the ground he walked on. Just like any other child, the first thing to come to his mind was his parents and in a panicked hurry, he ran to his home… his home, the place that would forever haunt his nightmares, as he witnessed his parents, both laying in heaps while his big brother simply stood over them, a bloodied ninjato gripped within his hand.
It was that nightmarish scene that had forever changed the raven haired boy, gone was the happy child whose only desire was to play with his brother and impress his father… in his place was a boy whose mind focused solely on revenge. He would kill his brother for destroying his life, he would kill that man for everything he taken from him and when he was finished with that goal, the Uchiha would rise from the ashes and once again take their place as the villages strongest clan.
However he needed to get stronger, much, much stronger. The genin exam had only further cemented the fact that he was weak, if Kakashi could defeat him then so could that man, if he wasn't strong enough to beat that man then he would never avenge his family's deaths.
With this realisation, he once again took to one of the training areas within the deserted Uchiha district where he immediately started to practice his katas against one of the many training posts in an attempt to improve his taijutsu. Every hit he made, he imagined the face of that man on the posts, every hit he put his full power behind, with every hit he tried to shatter the face that haunted his nightmares.
Hatred. That was his strength. It was what he had used to fuel his growth ever since that day. It was the only motivation he needed to get stronger, it was the reason for his existence, his only reason to survive that night was so he could kill that man and allow his family to rest in peace, knowing that their killer had come to justice.
Unlike his teammates, he didn't care about the team, he had only given Naruto his bento because he figured out that that was the only way they would pass, what he wanted was the training his new sensei could give him, with true training, he may actually stand a chance against his brother and become one step closer to his ambition.
XXX XXX XXX
Hatake Kakashi wasn't the sort of man that would get annoyed easily but he had found himself quickly growing tired of the other Jōnin when he had attended the standard meeting to inform the Hokage which teams had passed their true genin exam.
This year he was one of the three Jōnin that had passed their team, something that had caused quite a stir given that the last seven teams he had tested had all failed. He had heard several people mutter that it was because he had the 'last Uchiha' on that team and although he had wanted to kick them where the sun doesn't shine for insinuating that he was in anyway biased, he had managed to hold himself in check.
It was easy to see why others had come to that conclusion however, his best friend had been an Uchiha and had even given him his eye as his dying wish on the one mission where they had finally become a true team, the guilt he felt over that mission still plagued him every day. If he had only gone with Obito straight away instead of putting the mission first, his entire team may still be alive… well apart from Minato-sensei but he died for a very different reason.
What had annoyed him however was that people were calling him biased behind his back for using what had become known as 'the bell test', an exam created by the Sandaime Hokage himself and passed along his line of students and their students, he himself had been tested by the same test with the same results so if he had failed the team for doing what had allowed his team to pass nearly two decades ago then he would have been spitting in what had become known as the greatest test for displaying the value of teamwork.
Right now he had to accept what the other Jōnin thought of his decision to pass his first team despite the inaccuracy of their beliefs, he had something more important to do.
People would stop and either stare or glare at him in the middle of the street as he calmly made his way to apartment, he knew why people looked at him that way, it was the book he would constantly read.
'Icha Icha' was a small series of books written by Jiraiya of the Sannin over his travels and it held a reputation as being written by a pervert for perverts. What only the people who actually read it knew however was that it wasn't exactly pornographic. The book followed the adventures of a fictional man that was loosely based off the author as he attempted to find love and romance, most of the time with very little success if any at all.
What had given it its reputation was its age rating, which was decided by the strong language and the numerous sex references contained within it as the main character tried to seduce the many women he encountered, generally receiving a beating as opposed to what he actually wanted.
Unfortunately it made reading the book a taboo despite its complete lack of actually pornographic material. It was because of that reason that Kakashi was the only man in the village that didn't hide his copy of the little orange book and if a women ever took it from him he would convince them to read it one way or another and in doing so, clear the books reputation in the process.
Finally arriving at the front door of his apartment, the Jōnin pulled out his keys, channelled chakra into them and with a simple turn within the keyhole, deactivated the many seal based traps that guarded his home.
Making a mental note of which page he was up to, Kakashi closed his favourite book and searched for the sheets of paper he kept within his home, finding a pen he was finally ready to write what he had planned to before arriving back at his small flat.
He wasn't going to train his students in anything but teamwork exercises during the time he had assigned for training, however he hoped that they would at least be prepared to take the initiative and ask him for help outside of their standard practice. That was why he was doing this. Three sheets of paper each with exercises or tips that could help each genin improve should they ever ask him for training.
Of course, he was planning on teaching like Minato-sensei taught him, he had to ask if he ever wanted to learn something new and even more importantly, he had to know what he wanted to learn. Doing so would prepare them for life as a Chūnin, once a genin had been promoted their Jōnin sensei would no longer be there to tell them what they needed to learn or teach them every day, so getting them into the habit of asking for help would help them in the long run.
That was how the Yondaime did it and he was the only man Kakashi had ever trained under, so he would be damned if he just threw his sensei's teaching style out of the window.
XXX XXX XXX
Naruto may have wanted to become stronger but at the same time, he didn't want to have to read, despite his lack of enthusiasm concerning the method of learning he was going to be performing, he decided that the sooner he had read the books, the sooner he wouldn't have to worry about them.
That is why he was now heading towards his small apartment while carrying three books, 'The Foundations Of Taijutsu', 'The Basics Of Chakra' and 'Stealth For Dummies', out of all the books the one he resented the most right now was the last of the three, the title alone succeeded in earning his ire.
Of course he understood that he needed to relearn the basic stuff he was supposed to pay attention to during the academy, however that didn't mean he liked that fact. While he may have wanted to learn cool new ninjutsu that could wipe out any enemy he chose to fight, he realised that simply getting the basics down would help him in the long run.
Finally reaching his apartment, Naruto opened the door, revealing a decent sized room that looked smaller than it actually was courtesy of the kitchen being placed along two of the walls, while a round table, large enough for four people took up space at the other side of the room, a small television resting one it, facing away from the wall.
There were two doors leading out of the room, the exit that led to the corridor that connected it to the outside world, while the other led to his bedroom with a small en-suite.
Instead of going straight to his bedroom like he usually did, he proceed to place the trio of books on the table before taking 'The Foundations Of Taijutsu' and opening to the first page.
'Many people say that taijutsu is the art of using only your body to inflict damage, however make no mistake, taijutsu simply refers to beating your enemy until they can't fight back.'
Naruto had to blink at that statement several times. He had to admit that that was how he had always thought of taijutsu when he was in the academy. Deciding that there was probably more to it than that, he proceeded to read more.
Despite the first statement, the book was anything but a brawlers guide, instead of simply telling him to swing and hope for the best like he had always done, it said that defeating an opponent in taijutsu meant being capable of expending less energy to receive more devastating results, that taking large swings like he always made allowed enemies plenty of time to see the attack and prepare for it.
What the book told him, was that a good taijutsu style was one that involved quick and concise attacks, minimising the amount of time the opponent has to respond to the strike.
That was the first rule of taijutsu, 'make it simple and small.'
With that rule in mind, the blond sat up from his table as he walked over to his bedroom door and with a quick turn of the handle, he was greeted by the sight of his bed, surrounded by the equipment he had accumulated over the years to help with his training.
Looking at his training dummy, he let out a small grin as the punching bag stood in the middle of a clearing in his room, dressed just how he liked it… in a mockery of his new teammate, Uchiha Sasuke.
He had decorated the object to help with his frustration aimed towards the dark haired boy, the one that all the girls doted over, including the object of his affections, Haruno Sakura.
He knew why the girls obsessed over him but his pride refused to let him admit that, as far as he was concerned Sasuke had nothing he didn't, even if deep down he knew it was a lie. Sasuke beat him in everything and the genin exam earlier had further proven that point when the raven haired prodigy had actually managed to touch one of the bells they were supposed to steal from their sensei.
Remembering that event, Naruto couldn't help but feel his anger well up as he faced the dummy, his muscles burning to be used to smash it's face in… and he was more than happy to accept.
Just as he was about to throw a wide right, a single sentence popped into his head, 'make it simple and small', immediately he put his arm down before putting his arms up in front of him and with a simple focus, he extended his right. The results were obvious, where before he would've knocked the dummy to the side, now it didn't move at all.
Once again anger welled up inside him, a punch like that was worthless, so why would the book tell him to do something like that? Storming out of his room he once again opened the book.
As he continued to read, his anger began to die down, the book itself said that a simple extension of your arm or leg wouldn't have much power behind it, making the attacks almost completely useless for anything except interrupting your opponents rhythm. Instead it told him the important part on how to put power behind a strike, that in order to make a punch or kick powerful, the user must put their body behind the strike.
With a punch it was necessary to put the strength of your legs and back into it, by using both to extend the attack and put a proper sense of power into a strike, they called it the second rule 'use your whole body.'
And with that rule in his mind, he once again decided to practice against his dummy.
Several hours passed as the blond proceeded to practice punching and kicking in ways he hadn't before, his strikes putting his full weight behind each one as he learned punches that would help him improve as he began to discover just how to put his body into each blow, quickly learning how to twist his body into a punch.
Naruto didn't know what to make of the punch he had stumbled across, the power behind it was so immense that he wondered just how much it would hurt to get struck by it. He understood roughly how he did it but at the same time, it wasn't something he was at all used to, so he did what was normal for him, he proceeded to practice the punch, over and over again, hoping that he would get it down and be capable of pulling it off when it truly counted.
The corkscrew blow would be something he would master.
Time passed quickly for the young boy as he practiced non-stop in an attempt to master the punch he had just learned, however in the end, hunger decided that he needed to stop.
His stomach growled in protest to his continued practice, he had started to feel hungry over an hour ago but in his obsession with mastering the punch he had thrown had caused him to put off his hunger as a minor annoyance, however it had finally decided that enough was enough and with a mighty roar let him know that it wanted to be filled NOW.
So with a reluctance the blond poured water into a pan before putting it on his cooker to boil while he retrieved a packet of instant ramen from one of his cupboards.
As he waited for the water to boil, three words began to grate on his nerves… 'Stealth For Dummies'. Simply having the book in the same room as he was in made him feel even more stupid than before, so with a heavy heart, he decided to get the annoyance over and done with.
'chapter 1: how to not be seen.'
Immediately his eye began to twitch as he read the title of the chapter, it simply made him feel like the book thought he was a mockery, which given the fact he had managed to evade ANBU patrols before, seriously began to piss him off.
'Do not stand up.'
Once again he book managed to grate on his nerves as he read just a single, simple sentence which was such common knowledge that anyone could realise that they should do it.
'Do not hide somewhere obvious.'
'Do not wear bright colours.'
Once again he began to hate the book even more, stating such obvious things that could make hiding fail, before he realised why Ebisu had recommended the book. Looking at his arm, he saw something that the book advised against, a bright colour.
He had already decided that he was going to take being a ninja seriously and despite his fondness of the jumpsuit he was currently wearing, he had to admit that it was impractical for a ninja to wear neon orange.
Looking at the clock, he couldn't help but realise that it was too late to buy new clothes now. Letting out a sigh he proceeded to write a note reminding him to buy new clothes tomorrow, leaving it on the door of his refrigerator before proceeding to finish making his dinner, a single cup of instant ramen.
Instead of simply focusing on the noodle dish, Naruto decided to continue reading 'Stealth For Dummies' hoping that it would at least get a bit better later on. Finishing chapter one, the blond couldn't help but feel that the book seemed to have already covered the basics of hiding and had taught him nothing, even if it had made him realise something important.
Finally finished with his meal and his stomach once again happy, he once again headed to his bedroom where he once again began to practice twisting his body into each punch he threw, trying his hardest to put all his power into each strike while making the strike quick and hard to predict. He was beginning to get a straight right down, however he soon found that adjusting his twist for each different direction of punch was harder than he thought as his body began to feel the wear and tear of constant strain.
However he persevered, if he was right then his rapid healing was courtesy of the fox sealed within his gut and simple strain caused by training wouldn't cause any serious harm to him and despite everything, he wanted nothing more than to at least get one part of his taijutsu down before he retired for the night.
Hours past as he pushed his body further and further and despite of the pain he was beginning to feel he refused to give up his practice, he wouldn't go to bed until he could hit the dummy right twenty times in a row.
Several hours after the sun had finally set, his fist connected with the dummy just as Naruto wanted it to for the twentieth time in a row, he had finally reached his goal, he had finally gotten his punch down to a point where he could use it successfully most of the time… and with that he finally let his body collapse onto his bed as he let the burn leave his body.
His first day of being a ninja and relearning the basics was finally over.