Naruto: The Leaf Shadow, a naruto fanfic

Naruto Fanfic:

Chapter 1: Team 25

If Haryu had been asked at his graduation ceremony to describe his life up to that point with a single word it would have been this: Unspectacular. His entirely life had been one of repetitive emptiness. Sure he had parents (mostly), he had senseis that thought they understood him and he had people who called themselves his friends. But it was all useless.

Haruno Haryu's last day at Konoha Ninja Academy should have been a day of celebration, it certainly was for everyone else: kids were laughing and celebrating with their parents, smiling and showing off their Hitai-ite, proof that were now genin and Shinobi of the village.

But Haryu kept his face cast down and hid his face in the red scarf he constantly wore around his neck. He wanted more than anything to flee the loud celebration, go flitting across the village rooftops and recline in his secret hammock in the forest.

He was tugged unwillingly forwards by his mother, clearly she'd seen a face she recognised and felt that unnatural compulsion that only adults feel that she must converse with them. In this insistence his mother was dragging him to another parent, one who was dressed in the leaf-green flak jacket that marked him as an experienced ninja, from his age he had to be a jonin.

Identifying traits and skills was of the many skills that Haryu possessed but his senseis never saw. If only he often lamented to himself I'd been born into a clan, then people would recognise me.

According to the records of the academy Haryu was indeed an unspectacular student. His taijutsu: average, his ninjutsu: standard and his survival skills: adequate. Good enough to be a genin, but he'd probably never rise to the level of chunin and certainly he'd never be a shinobi to be feared, merely one that should be sent out on the jobs that had to be done. A Nobody.

This shinobi, was laughing, crouching down to his kid's level, who was looking at him with both pride and admiration. The ninja saw Haryu and his mother approaching, and the ninja's face broke a wide smile of familiarity.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" Announced the ninja in a voice louder than most ninja's would consider appropriate, "good to see you! Did your kid graduate as well?" The ninja asked her in a friendly way. However this ninja was he seemed to know Haryu's mother well.

Sakura smiled back and replied, "Yup, Haryu passed the graduation. How did you do Neji?" Now addressing the ninja's kid. He looked a lot like his father, with shocking blue eyes, distinctive whisker marks, spiky hair and a broad smile. The only difference was that Neji's spiky hair was inky black.

"Wow, I haven't seen you in a young time have I Neji? Not since you fell out of that tree and went to hospital." Continued Sakura with the smile that she often used to chastise Haryu and his father.

Neji and his father made identical embarrassed motions of scratching the backs of their necks. "So who's this then?" asked the ninja, peering close at Haryu as if looking for something. "You are Sakura's kid aren't you?"

Haryu nodded reluctantly. He hated this charade people did, feigning interest in things like names before forgetting you forever.

"Wow you've changed a lot since I last saw you!" The blond ninja enthused. This did surprise Haryu, he didn't remember having ever seen this ninja before. He could recall meeting all of his mothers old friends but not this one.

"We should really meet up more, now that the kids are grown up." Said Sakura, addressing the blond ninja. "We haven't done so in years. It would be nice to catch on all that's happened..." and so on. Well you know how parents go on.

At least several minutes of parent talk later, whilst the children impatiently waited, the ninja rounded off. "Sure, I'll talk to the wife about it. I'm sure she'd love to have the four of you round for dinner." As he and his son drew back into the crowd of parents and children and were soon lost from view.

The celebration continued, punctured only by his mother conversing with the parents of the other graduates and Haryu eventually slipped away. Striking across the rooftops of Konohakure to find his favorite hiding spot where he could enjoy the peace and quiet.

0o0o0o0o0

The kids at the graduation seemed so similar to Naruto's graduating class. Uzumaki remembered that he'd watched their smiling facing faces from afar as they graduated and he did not. Like then these kids took the role of genin, super seriously. They considered themselves adults, shinobi of the Leaf. If only they knew. Naruto thought with a smile.

He was part of a group of jonin gathered in the Hokage's office. The room was populated entirely with familiar faces. Most members of the Konoha 12 were still fully functioning shinobi of the Leaf: in this case Naruto himself, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Ino Yamanaka and Rock Lee.

The Hokage herself was also as present looking as young as she had over seventeen years ago when Naruto had first met her. The jutsu she used to mask her age had lasted all that time but it could not hide her slower speed, her wobbling balance and her pained expressions when she exerted herself. Tsunade had lived a life of abusing alcohol and overusing the Byakugo and it had aged her greatly.

Nevertheless she addressed them as authoritatively as she had ever done. She gestured to several files laid across her desk, each one referred to one of the graduating students and their respective skills and abilities. All that remained was to assign the genin into teams and sensei's.

"This year we have enough genin for three separate teams of three genin. I want to know if any of you would be willing to take a group."

"Easy." Naruto chirped, reclining in his chair and putting his feet on the table, "I'll take a combat team since that's what I'm used to. I'll take Uzumaki Neji, Haruno Haryu and a medic-nin if there are any."

"At least do us the credit of reading the reports." Tsunade sighed as she brushed Naruto's feet off the table, "and you can't teach Neji."

"What! Why not?" Exclaimed Naruto. "He's my kid, why shouldn't I teach him?"

"It's precisely because he's your kid that you can't teach him." Explained Shino is his typically bored voice, "shinobi policy states that parents ought not to lead their children's teams, why you ask me: to prevent a sense of favouritism amongst the fellow students and to prevent one becoming remorseful when either parent or child dies."

Naruto hadn't really listened to the entire explanation but he'd got the message and slumped in his chair looking deflated.

"It would be better to assign teams by teaming up students who will work well as a team, have abilities aligned with their sensei and who need a sensei's guidance the most." Tsunade explained. "This is why Kakashi- who taught these genin at the academy has said, and I quote:

"It will be of benefit to Uzumaki Neji to be taught by someone other than Naruto. Neji has clearly adopted some of the flaws that his father had at that age and would require training from someone with focus who could direct them on the path of ninja, I would nominate Rock Lee as the person to do this.""

Tsunade finished, an looked pointedly at Rock Lee. "Assuming that Lee leads a taijutsu specialist team, it would logical for him to have both Uzumaki Neji as well as Hashira Lee since they are both taijutsu users and Nami Hama because she is a medic-nin, which will work well in conjunction with healing and chakra control."

Lee was prone to wearing his feelings on his sleeve but outright fear could barely be contained at the name Hashira Lee.

Naruto noticed and asked "who's Hashira Lee? Why is he called Lee too?"

Ino who was sitting on Naruto's other side elbowed him hard in the ribs to shut him up. "Baka." She whispered "he's his son remember?" Suddenly Naruto did remember, and he paled at his blunder.

He flashed back to when Lee's marriage with that shop keeper had broken up due to his busy training schedule and overzealous work ethic. He hadn't seen his son in years.

It was a bad memory because whilst grieving Lee had gotten drunk, tried to kiss Sakura, then succeeded in kissing Tenten and then challenged Hyuuga Neji to a dual, before remembering that Neji was dead and had broken down in tears. It had taken most of the Konoha 12 to keep Sakura and Tenten from turning Lee to paste and the resulting damage had led to some hefty fines.

Since then Sake-gate was a forbidden topic amongst the Konoha 12.

"I suppose I must teach Hashira since he's like me." Admitted Lee, gulping heavily.

Tsunade nodded, "his underdeveloped chakra coils mean he can only use taijutsu, you're the best person to teach him." Lee still looked pale though, he was staring into the distance as if he was remembering his terrifying ex-wife.

Tsunade cleared her throat "anyway, Naruto I want you to teach Inuzuka Yuna, you've had experience with Inuzuka's before, and their specialisation in ninjutsu will compliment you well, there aren't any other candidates for a scout team so this one will be yours. Since you'll be creating an assault team you will have Ga Akimichi, he wants to be a medic-nin, you've worked well with medic-nins thus you understand their importance to the team and how strong they can become. Finally you will take Haruno Haryu, Maito Gai says that in exercise training he has demonstrated having large amounts of stamina and physical fitness. What's more you understand what potential can come from him." She finished, looking Naruto right in the eye, the importance of her words driving hard home.

Naruto returned the look, now deadly serious.

0o0o0o0o0

Haryu returned home late that day. Now he found himself looking into the mirror in his room, examining his Hitai-ite. Where should he wear it? On the forehead like he was supposed to? But then people might think he stuck to the rules too much. Around the waste like Maito Gai the Academy's exercise instructor, who rolled around the courtyard in his wheelchair faster than the students could run, constantly shouting about the Fires of Youth. No way am I copying him, Haryu thought. He could where it round one of his biceps, but then it might snag or get in the way.

How about round the neck? He thought, I could get rid of my scarf and wear a facemask. After all red isn't a good colour for a ninja to wear, and a scarf is just begging to get grabbed by an enemy. But still... The scarf didn't look like much, but it had been a constant throughout his life, his mother could be home or away, he could have a father or he could not, he could be alone or he could have a sibling, but there would always be the scarf. He closed his eyes determinedly. No, for once he wouldn't let himself get in the way of his future, his pulled the scarf away and threw it on his bed.

Now that he wasn't wearing the scarf he looked very different. His neck looked far more slender and this in turn made himself look taller, taller than most of his classmates. His skin pale like summer clouds, and his eyes unlike his mother's were as dark as his inky hair. In many ways he was a lot like him. His father.

Haryu recalled how Neji's father had talked to him, animatedly and full of life. So unlike Haryu's own father. Who could turn from treating Haryu like an infant to treating him like fellow ninja. It infuriated Haryu, it was one of the reasons that he spent so much time out of the house. He never felt so alive than when he was flying free through the trees and across the rooftops.

He finished tying his Hitai-ite loose around his neck, it worked well. He felt more... professional, more mature in his dark blue uniform, his fingerless gloves backed with sturdy steel. He felt like the textbook ninja that he'd been trained to be by Kakashi-sensei at the academy.

Maybe I should get a facemask like Kakashi-sensei. He pondered. He felt that this was a chance to seize, his chance to break out of the cage of weakness he'd forged around himself. Would he ever have the strength to set himself free and fly away?

0o0o0o0o0

Naruto stood in the moon light amongst the grass blades. The wind whispered to him as he stood, tapping lightly with his foot on the ground. With him was another figure, feminine, with long velvet black hair that sank into the darkness. Naruto reached out slowly and took her idle hand in his own. Hinata returned a gentle squeeze and turned to face him, her lavender eyes shining in the dark. She gave him a small smile and he in turn returned it too.

The house behind them was quiet, all the lights out. The excitable Neji put to sleep with the knowledge that he'd want to be well rested for the day tomorrow. The younger child: Houou had put herself to sleep to avoid her older brother's loud voice.

"I'm not sure where Houou got to be so intolerant" Naruto had once said to Yamamoto, "she certainly can't have gotten it from me."

"Don't be so sure." Replied Yamamoto with a smile, "I remember someone putting up a big fuss at Ichiraku's when they no longer served Ramen." Naruto laughed with embarrassment at the memory and then never spoke of it again.

Two other figures made themselves known, Sakura and Sai, emerging out of the dark to join them.

"Well well, Sakura talk about a surprise, eh" began Naruto, "I meet your kid for the first time in years and the Hokage puts him on my team." He gave the two a grin which Sakura returned, but without the same enthusiasm.

"You do know why she put Haryu on your team right?" Asked Sai, his eyes boring into Naruto's unnervingly. Suddenly Naruto was serious once again.

"Oh course I do. I understand and I will keep his secret." Replied Naruto, unknowingly, tightening his grasp on Hinata's hand.

"Remember," Sakura told him urgently, "he doesn't know himself, so don't give anything away."

"If he goes on missions he'll find out eventually won't he?" Asked Hinata, speaking up for the first time, her brow furrowed.

Sakura knew that even without her her Byakugan eyes Hinata could see through Sakura's face, deep into her inner feelings.

"We can't hide it forever, I know but it's for his own safety that he doesn't know. I just hope he can forgive us when he finds out." Sakura said, her eyes crestfallen. Even Naruto knew not to make a joke at this point.

Sai pressed on, ignoring his wife's expression. "What about Neji, does he know his secret?"

"He does know, but he understands the importance of keeping it hidden, he'd never show it off or tell anyone, but we've been training him how to use it whenever we can." Hinata replied, detaching from Naruto to press her index fingers together, a nervous gesture she hadn't done in many years.

"Listen Sakura-chan," cut in Naruto, catching her eyes, "remember the promise I made, I won't let my team mates die, period. I still mean it now."

Sakura finally smiled truly, when Naruto made a promise like that you knew his was going to keep it. "Then become Hokage?" Sakura asked cheekily.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Hokage-sama is being stubborn. After I released Kurama she wouldn't resign till I was stronger then her. I am now but she won't do it because of the Fire Lord or something. I don't know..." He went on a lot longer, making them all smile widely at his usual antics, even Sai smiled!

0o0o0o0

Haryu laid out his equipment for the next day, complete from long sleeved navy blue jacket to long black chain for defeating enemies. The chain was grim black, sleek and had many attachments for preforming multiple tasks from grappling, climbing and decapitating foes. It was a very useful gift from one of his mother's friends who came visiting, the one called Tenten. The only thing that now worried Haryu as he pulled the facemask over the lower part of his face was this: that he Haruno Haryu was now part of a team.

0o0o0o0

From the other side of the wall Naruto could hear the dull roar of children's voices. It wasn't the same classroom where he'd first met Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei, but it had the same uniform features. With him in the hallway was his previous sensei and now fellow jonin Hatake Kakashi. Kakashi had aged a lot since the fourth great ninja war: the small parts of skin that was visible had pronounced lines, his eyes were now both normal but were masked by thick glasses, which compensated for his strong right eye. But he still wore a face-mask and his hair had the same silver shine. In under his arm he held the dossier he'd gathered on his students.

The previous night, past midnight Naruto had met Kakashi and his eternal rival Maito Gai in a bar and discussed the following day. And the students he'd been assigned. Gai had been insightful saying that Haryu in particular needed his Youthful Fires stoked. Which Kakashi had translated to mean that Haryu: is no genius, he has potential to succeed but he needs training in assertiveness

Naruto had grinned at that statement. There was no one in Konoha who could teach the kid about being assertive better than him.

Kakashi headed into the classroom to calm his class and prepare them to meet their jonin sensei. The excitement within the classroom was palpable to Naruto as the door opened and the loud voices spilled out.

"Akimichi Ga, Haruno Haryu and Inuzuka Yuna. Please come to the front and meet your jonin sensei."

0o0o0o0o0

It was up on the roof that Naruto met his genin for the first time. The three twelve year olds, sat in front just as he, Sakura and Sasuke had many years ago when they met Kakashi sensei. Naruto could feel a bubble of nostalgia rising in his throat as well as a shaky feeling of nerves. He swallowed and opened up with one of his cheery smiles as he examined his students.

Sakura's kid, Haryu had the same dark eyes and hair as his father. The kid appeared to have adopted Kakashi's trademark facemask as well as cold stare, which was drifting dreamily toward the forest. Kakashi had put in the dossier that despite not demonstrating obvious talent for any ninja skill it would be beneficial to observe his skills in a real field test rather than a classroom.

Then there was the kunochi Inuzuka Yuna, the daughter- who like her father had a puppy ever present atop her head. She had long, straight dark brown hair worn in a braid down her back. She like all her clan had red fang tattoos on each of her cheeks. Her puppy Kasai, a small wild looking black and white hound, was sniffing at Naruto suspiciously. It didn't seem to be fond of him. According to Kakashi both the kunoichi and her puppy were ahead were beyond their expected level. Yuna had even been called a genius, the most gifted child her clan had seen in many years, not top in their class but certainly the best in the areas such as taijutsu, shurikan throwing and survival training. She looked straight at him, brimming with confidence and excitement.

The final team member was Akimichi Ga, he looked a lot like his father Choji had at that age but he was shorter and not as... bulky. There was some fat on his skin to be sure but not as much as was normal for the Akimichi clan. He shifted uncomfortably and looked away when Naruto addressed his gaze

"Good to meet the three of you!" Naruto began with tremendous energy, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I am to be your sensei. So that I can get to know you tell me a bit about yourselves: your names, your likes, dislikes, your aspirations." He looked around the faces of the three, aside from Yuna they all looked away. The Inuzuka looked even more excited, and her puppy yipped with enthusiasm. "I'll start shall I?" Naruto began. "I like the ramen at Ichiraku's, I like training and spending time with friends. I don't like the time it takes to make instant ramen, I dislike those who hate our village and the Shinobi Alliance, and my ambition is to be the Sixth Hokage!" That last statement even got the attention of Haryu, who looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Who's next?" Naruto asked, ignoring the look Haryu gave him.

Yuna cut in immediately, barking excitedly "Sensei! My name is Inuzuka Yuna, I like going for walks with my partner Kasai and I dislike those who are scared of dogs or who like cats. I want to learn all my family's unique jutsu and invent my own." She beamed widely addressing both Naruto and her two team mates.

"That's a good ambition" agreed Naruto giving her a thumbs up, "one I'll do my best to help you with. Who else wants to open up?" He asked, looking around at the two boys. Haryu turned his head even further to look away whilst Ga looked like he wanted to sink into the floor.

Eventually when Naruto continued to wait Haryu rolled his eyes reluctantly and mumbled something beneath his face-mask. "My name Haruno Haryu, I like..." there was a long pause as he looked to the sky as if trying to think of something "...relaxing." He finished, as if it was the thing which required the least effort to say. "I dislike like when people ignore me, or think they know me. My ambition?" There was another long pause, "I want people to acknowledge me."

There was yet another silent pause. Naruto remembered feeling the same way when he was the kids age. But he'd wanted people to acknowledge him because he had no parents to love him and because he lived in a village that hated him. How could this kid with two parents, living in a peaceful village that didn't ostracise him feel just as he did? I'll have to have words with Sakura later. Naruto decided.

Yuna had also noticed the strangeness of Haryu's statement. Kasai could literally sniff out lies and he wasn't alerting her, so Haryu wasn't making anything up, he genuinely wanted to be seen by people.

That just left Ga, who squirmed like a caterpillar. He faced the floor and announced in a voice barely more than a whisper: "I'm Akimichi Ga, I like dumplings and... um... roast duck. I don't like people who are mean or expect too much of me. I want... to be a ninja." Even that small admission, seemed to overwhelm him and he edged away fro his new team mates.

Naruto was almost a little disappointed, he'd hoped that the genin would resemble their parents in more than just appearance. At least it seemed Yuna had surpassed her father when he was that age. Perhaps a physical exercise would demonstrate their skill. "Now we've got that out of the way time for your first test" Naruto announced, getting to his feet and pointing to his Hitai-ite, "it's simple: catch me and steal my Hitai-ite." Kakashi had used bells and had preformed the exercise in one of the village's training field's. Instead he was going to do it inside the village itself.

Naruto leapt up to dodge the blur that Inuzuka Yuna had become. She'd sprinted forwards with tremendous speed, swerved as she missed and sprang back for a second lunge. As Naruto leapt to the nearest railing he sidestepped another lunge, this one from Haryu. He wasn't as fast as Yuna but it seemed he'd anticipated the dodge and had gone for where he thought Naruto would be.

Naruto's next bound led him to jump from the railing and to the school courtyard below. Looking up he saw all three of his students staring down at him in amazement, expecting to see him as paste from his great fall. "Come on guys, at least make it challenging. I'm down here!"

Yuna grinned at the challenge, "If he wants us to step up our game then he'll be surprised, won't he Sakai?" She told her puppy, and with one move had hurled herself off the roof and was shimmering down the drainpipe, puppy still on her head. Haryu not wanting to be outdone launched himself from the roof towards the branches of the tree just as he'd practised dozens of times in the woods by himself. The leap was easy, but he scrabbled at branches desperately and was whipped by several branches before halting his fault.

Ga took one more look at the long drop to the group below and the daring methods his team mates had taken to reach it. He gulped, then decided to take the stairs. Branches and drain wouldn't take my weight anyway. He admitted guiltily.

Naruto grinned as Yuna and Sakai dived at him from two sides. It showed a clear understanding of teamwork, especially since she was forcing him back towards the tree where he knew Haryu was hiding, ready to silently attack. Not a bad start. Thought Naruto let's see how good Haryu's attack is.

Haryu's new sensei fell into range his strike and he readied himself to pounce. But he stopped, what if I miss? He fretted if I mess up the first time our team meets they'll think I'm a failure, but if I don't attack they'll think I'm useless! Haryu coiled up for his spring, but the microsecond he'd hesitated meant Naruto was no longer in a perfect line of sight. Desperately Haryu launched himself at Naruto, flying like an arrow, kunai at the ready.

Naruto heard the creak of wood as Haryu launched himself a millisecond too late. Too bad kid Naruto thought as he grimaced and dropped to his haunches. The genin sailed uselessly over Naruto's head, hitting the ground and sliding across his front. The attack was good but it he hesitated and he screwed up the landing big time. "Not bad guys but you'll have to do better than that." Naruto critiqued as he hopped out of reach of Sakai's bite.

Yuna hauled a seething Haryu to his feet by his elbow. Why did he hesitate? Baka! She thought as he regained his balance. "This is sensei's way of testing our abilities." She hissed quietly in his ear, "he wants us to showcase what we learned at the academy as well as our unique skills." She gave him an urgent look, "come on Loner! I saw you at the academy but I have no idea what you can do." As soon as she said this she charged back into the fight, rejoining Sakai as swinging a kick at Naruto's head.

Haryu fumed as his team mate ran ahead, not only had his team mate insulted him but she'd called on him to demonstrate a talent. A talent that he didn't have. It's alright for her. He thought bitterly she was raised in a clan that could teach her unique jutsu, she had friends to spar with. Me? I have nothing. Just practising alone in the woods. His silent kill had failed for precisely that reason, with no one to practise with he'd only been able to attempt such moves on training logs (which had drawbacks for obvious reasons) and trying to sneak up on animals which could always hear or smell him coming.

The only thing he'd excelled at was listening. Listening to Kakashi sensei's lectures. Suddenly Haryu recalled a lecture about fighting more experienced opponents as a team: "Fighting in teams can be crucial when fighting a more experienced opponent." Kakashi sensei had drilled into them. "The various forms of combat can all be employed by separate team members. For example a ninjutsu user can be defended by a taijutsu user whilst a genjutsu can be used to allow the taijutsu user to gain the upper head."

Genjutsu. It was not a subject commonly taught at the academy except in principle but Haryu remembered studying in with furious fascination in the past. Surely it won't work on a jonin, right? Haryu thought to himself even as he began forming the hand seals. Dog, Rat, Bird, Ox. "Konran no Jutsu!"

The effect was momentary but monumental. The genjutsu flipped Naruto's geotropic senses, rather then dragging him down Naruto's brain suddenly thought gravity was pulling him sideways. As Naruto completely lost his balance, instead of casually dodging Naruto was forced to raise his arms to block two incoming attacks. Sakai's bite was easily brushed aside and Yuna's kick met Naruto's unyielding palm. However in his moment of disorientation Yuna saw her chance and jabbed at Naruto's Hitai-ite, her fist just missed, scraping by helplessly.

In a flash Naruto reached a secure crouch position on the floor and bringing his fingers together cancelled the genjutsu. He turned to Haryu and grinned roguishly, "nice attempt Haryu, you nearly had me there." Haryu almost blushed at the compliment.

Yuna and Sakai flitted back to his side, a little breathless but grinning just as wide as their sensei. "Good one loner, I had no idea you were so good at genjutsu."

Haryu had had no idea either, he'd practised the jutsu endlessly but had never had anyone to practise it on. Of course he merely responded with a deeper blush. He had a couple more tricks up his sleeve, especially if his sensei was vulnerable to genjutsu. "I've got another genjutsu I can use but you'll need to use something that has to be dodged for it to work. Something fast and scary." He ordered her, staring dead ahead at Naruto who was waiting patiently for them.

Yuna scowled, she didn't like being bossed around by anyone, especially the academy Loner, just 'cause he had some fancy genjutsu now didn't mean he was in charge of her... but if he had a plan then she was in no place to argue. So she sighed and brought her hands together. "Shikyaku no Jutsu." She growled, descending to all-fours, "Sakai can't do this let so I'll go alone." It seemed that she had a pained look when she said this, as if it were unusual for her to do anything without her partner. "Ready Loner? Gatsuga!" She yelled dashing forwards. As she sped onwards she span like a drill, moving so fast she became a blur with a razor edged scar being cut through the air.

She moved so fast towards Naruto that Haryu barely had enough time time finish the seals hidden inside his long sleeves. Dog, Bird, Horse, Rat, Monkey. Sinkirou no Jutsu!

The genjutsu took hold in Naruto's brain, minimizing the size of the flying kunoichi and making her seem more distant. As Naruto began to doge at the last second, he was struck by Yuna's attack. Naruto had dodged enough to miss her spinning claws, but Yuna improvised and swung out her leg even as she sped by. The kick hit Naruto hard in the stomach and drove him off balance for a second.

Yuna hit the ground on all fours and skidded to a halt. Her attack hadn't worked and Loner hadn't even done anything. Then her eyes widened as she saw a figure appear behind her sensei. Loner had dashed after her and in the seconds where Naruto was off balance and throwing off the affects of the genjutsu, Loner had attacked. Leaping into the air and bringing down a weighted chain at lethal speeds. The chain caught Naruto on the temple and with a sickening crunch felled him to the ground.

There was a brief moment where Haryu looked down at his dead sensei before collapsing to his knees in horror. "What have I done?!" He could barely whisper to himself, his hands shaking. He'd killed his sensei.

POOF! Naruto's corpse vanished in a puff of smoke and left two logs in his wake, one with a decent sized chunk torn out of it. Haryu whirled just in time to see Naruto's fist before it ploughed into his cheek. Haryu was thrown off his feet and hit the floor like a sack of grain.

Yuna had seen Naruto disappear and reappear in an instant. She felt like in that brief moment her sensei had betrayed a tiny portion of his power and skill. He'd used Kawarimi no Jutsu with enough speed that neither she nor Haryu had seen the technique or it's counter attack till it was too late. Kasai was approaching Naruto swiftly from behind, and without thinking she charged in to defend her partner.

It was at this point that Akimichi Ga finally made it to the battle. After making his way down the stairs through the building, ignoring the taunts of "run fatboy run!" and finally making it outside he was totally out of breath. He could watch as Haryu was incapacitated easily and Yuna and her dog attacked from both sides. He couldn't believe how quickly Naruto dodged both of them and countered by tying Yuna up with Haryu's chain and letting her land ungraciously on the floor, whilst her puppy whined and scratched at the chain imprisoning his master. Finally he'd summoned a Kage Bunshin that placed it's foot on Haryu's back and pinned him down.

Ga swallowed, at the academy Yuna had been the top of their class, Haryu wasn't a genius like Yuna but he was still far more competent than Ga. Ga knew that he was bottom of the class since he'd been assigned with the genius Yuna. It was common knowledge that the ninja at the top of the class was put with the ninja at the bottom of the class to balance out the teams. So how could he possibly fight someone who'd handled Yuna like she was nothing?

Naruto looked around at the school door which had just opened. His final student Ga, had at last caught up with his team mates. Naruto had high hopes for Ga, like himself Ga was bottom of the class, and had barely become a genin. He was the group's Hopeless Fool. What's more he was an Akimichi, a clan that was constantly underestimated because they stored chakra as fat and as a result were obese. However despite their appearance they wielded crazy amounts of strength and power. Combine that with medic-nin strength and you had power that would turn Naruto to paste.

Ga fell to his knees and cried out: "I surrender!"

Naruto stared, Yuna cursed and Haryu who was struggling to get to his feet grimaced.

"What do you mean you surrender?!" Demanded Naruto, disappointed that his student had given up before even trying. "You can't surrender before you've even tried!" he called out angrily. Ga flinched at Naruto's anger, but remained kneeling.

Yuna glowered at her team mate. What the hell is wrong with fatty? Can he really be such a failure that he's too scared to fight?

Haryu stared suspiciously, thinking hard: Is this a trap? Is he going to attempt a surprise attack? It was definitely a convincing performance if it was a ruse, it seemed even Naruto was fooled from the way he looked angry at his student. Then as a look of realisation spread across Naruto's face Haryu winced. Crap he figured it out too.

It was a very convincing performance. Thought Naruto smiling inwardly. If this had been a real battle instead of a training exercise I certainly would have been fooled. I may even let him get my Hitai-ite. Naruto mused, it would make for a great lesson about the importance of sneak attacks and lateral thinking.

He stood over the kneeling Akimichi, any second now... Naruto thought excitedly. He reached down to ensnare the genin, leaving himself very open for a counter attack. Now! He shouted in his head, waiting of the young Akimichi to strike with full power... But nothing happened.

Naruto didn't even fully pin him down, he just stood there surprised as the cowed Akimichi knelt and quivered like a leaf. "Hey kid... are you going to attack me or what?" Demanded Naruto brusquely.

"N-no..." replied the Akimichi in a voice barely more than a whisper. "I don't want to fail."

Naruto exhaled grumpily, picked Ga up and carried him over to his fallen comrades.

"Sorry guys" Naruto announced to his students, Haryu rather than surrendering was trying to pull off the Nawanuke no Jutsu despite the fact that it wouldn't work whilst being held down by a clone. Yuna had forgotten her years of ninja training and was scrambling wildly at the chains that bound her whilst Sakai yipped angrily. "Looks like you guys fail."

0o0o0o0o0

"Typical Naruto." Announced a bored sounding voice, to no one in particular. "He can never go easy can he?" Shikamaru was watching Naruto's team's first challenge through a window from one of the academy's upper floors. He was accompanied by Kiba Inuzuka, Yuna's father, who only gave a grunt in response. He'd been boasting about the Inuzuka genius, till she'd been trussed up and dumped unceremoniously to the ground.

"Why did Naruto choose to fight them at the school anyway?!" Complained Kiba in his normal loud and brash voice, annoyed that his prodigy hadn't shown off enough in front of her team mates.

"I imagine that would be because he has just sent his clone to follow Rock Lee and keep an eye on his son's first training session." Shikamaru replied, not really focusing on Kiba. He was really paying close attention to Akimichi Ga, one of the sons of Shikamaru's oldest friend Akimichi Choji. Ga's twin brother had been assigned to the usual Akimichi, Nara, Yamanaka group under Kiba. Not only did Ga lack the ruthlessness that would make him the perfect damage dealer but he was also undernourished (for an Akimichi anyway) this must have been due to being a twin, Ga's brother Kocho had far more meat on his bones, meaning that he must have hogged the nutrients at in the uterus. From what Shikamaru could tell Kocho was far more thuggish than Choji or Ga.

"Why would Naruto send clones after Lee?" Kiba asked puzzled. Shikamaru could only sigh. A lot of people were stupid when compared to Shikamaru but Kiba was really tiresome.

"Come on this is Lee we're talking about, he's probably worried his kid will die of exhaustion." Shikamaru explained, taking a drag on his cigarette, ignoring the sign next to him that said NO SMOKING. Kiba gave a visible wince at the thought of Yuna taking part Lee's training regime. The painful thought of green spandex didn't helpful.

"You'd better go join your team Kiba." Warned Shikamaru. Kiba only laughed and replied:

"Don't let Temari catch you smoking again."

It was Shikamaru's turn to wince painfully.

0o0o0o0o0

It was a familiar scene in familiar training ground. Three defeated genin, one tied to a log, a black stone monument and a disappointed sensei. Ga looked miserable. Of course it would be him who was tied to the log. Who else?

"Now" began Naruto, glowering at his students, "does anyone know why Ga is tied to the log?"

"Because he failed." Muttered Haryu darkly. Receiving a curt nod from Yuna, a bark from Sakai and a whimper from Ga.

"Wrong." Relied Naruto sternly. "He's tied up because he didn't try."

"But if I attacked you I'd have been defeated!" Protested Ga, cutting Naruto off.

"So what?!" Shouted Naruto. "So what would you do instead hmm?" He demanded looking the Akimichi dead in the eye. "What if I was an enemy, what if I was going to kill your team mates? Would you have let me do it?"

Ga opened his mouth to protest but found he couldn't deny it. If Naruto had been a shinobi about to kill Haryu and Yuna... in all honesty he'd have run as far as his stubby legs could take him. "Ninja rules say-" stammered Ga "that in such situations team mates should be abandoned."

"My sensei once told me something very important." Naruto told his students, "those who break the rules may be scum. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."

The words bit deep in all of them. Ga's lip trembled, Haryu clenched his fist, and Yuna held Sakai a little closer to her.

"Sometimes there will be enemies-" Naruto continued, a grim look coming into his sky blue eyes "-that simply are too strong. That you can never defeat alone. It is then that you need companions and unyielding faith in those companions." Naruto walked back towards the titanic black obelisk behind him. "These are names of all those who died in the Fourth Great Ninja War." Naruto told them, his voice becoming hollow. Reaching out he touched one in particular, white, carved deep into the black stone. Hyuuga Neji. "In order to save me this man leapt in front of me so that I may live."

Haryu hastily swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat.

Naruto turned to face them again, his eyes hard as steel. "That man used to hate me, I hated him. But we are ninja and we came to understand each other." Naruto brought his hand to his chest, resting a closed fist over his heart. "He may be dead but he lives on forever, right here."

Naruto's words struck a cord in Haryu and he turned his face away to hide his feelings. Tears were falling unrelentingly down Ga's face. Can't he control himself? Though Yuna and Haryu, both barely suppressing their grief.

"I want the three of you to remember this Nindo. You don't have to follow it but please remember it. "Never Go Back On Your Word and Never Give Up: how else will you succeed if you can't keep promises. Be The Best You Can Be: don't accept what people think of you. Forgive Your Friends and Don't Give Up On Your Friends, they may be lost but they can still find their way." Naruto gave them a final look before he finished with a smile: "So who wants Ramen?"

0o0o0o0o0

"Now" began Naruto, glowering at his students, "does anyone know why Ga is tied to the log?"

"Because he failed." Muttered Haryu darkly. Receiving a curt nod from Yuna, a bark from Sakai and a whimper from Ga.

"Wrong." Relied Naruto sternly. "He's tied up because he didn't try."

"But if I attacked you I'd have been defeated!" Protested Ga, cutting Naruto off.

"My sensei once told me something very important." Naruto told his students, "those who break the rules may be scum. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."

The words bit deep in all of them. Ga's lip trembled, Haryu clenched his fist, and Yuna held Sakai a little closer to her.

Haryu hastily swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat.

XxXxXxXxX

Editing is a nightmare. I swear I spent more time editing this chapter than writing it.

I thought I might take on a new story to split up up revision and Aizen the Benevolent (which I have not given up on writing.)

This is something I'd been thinking about whilst waiting for new Naruto chapters. I'd had some characters and ideas that I really wanted to write and to honest I just couldn't help writing it.

In this series I want to approach what I feel would happen next in Naruto in terms of the Konoha 12, the pairings, their kids and the Allied Shinobi Forces.

I want to try something new and write a bit of romance between the characters. Something I haven't properly done before. It's quite exciting to stretch my creative limbs and write something totally new. Also throwing in old 'memories' of the Konoha 12's adult life is super fun. I feel that Sake Gate may be the start of something beautiful. In fact in your messages why not send me ideas for events that may have occurred in between the Shippuden Timeline and my own. :) I promise I will credit your input and may send you a thank you.

Please let me nknow what you think. Do you my characters? Do you have any speculations about what has and will occur? Tell me in your reviews and messages.

Thank you very much

Oceanstorm.

Jutsu- Technique

Kage Bunshin no jutsu- Shadow Clone Jutsu

Nawanuke no Jutsu- Rope Escape Justu

Shikyaku no Jutsu- Down on All Fours Justu

Gatsuga- Fang Over Fang

Sinkirou no Jutsu- Mirage Jutsu

Konran no Jutsu- Chaos/Confusion Technique