Changing the Score
Disclaimer: This is a story idea that I've been mulling around in my head for a while now, and I finally decided to do something about it. It's basically a butterfly effect story, so lets see what I can do with it. The premise is that Naruto didn't totally fail his exam, and what would happen with the storyline if he didn't. Keep in my mind that this is my first proper fanfic, so if it's a bit unpolished then that's why.
Oh yeah, and I don't own Naruto, unfortunately. I apparently have to say that, which is a heavy burden on my mind and soul.
Chapter One: Time to Cram!
One Uzumaki Naruto walked into the classroom with his chin held high and his Konoha forehead protector proudly in its place on his head, earning a few questioning looks from the people already in there. A lazy looking boy with his hair in a pineapple fashion spoke up as Naruto passed him on his way down to his desk, "Hey Naruto, why are you here? This is only for people that graduated."
Naruto turned to him and grinned, flicking the metal plate tied to his head and producing a pinging noise. "See this Shikamaru? This means that I graduated, and that I have just as much right to be here as any of you." Naruto said with pride. Shikamaru was about to question him on how he graduated but seemingly thought better of it and slumped back down on his desk.
"Maa, too troublesome. I don't care. Now let me sleep." Naruto looked down on Shikamaru's prone form with a twitching eye as small snoring noises emanated from him, before shrugging and continuing on up to his usual seat next to Sasuke. He gave the boy a scowl, which was returned with a classic "Hn." Oh, he was so glad that he wasn't going to be on Sasuke's team anymore or else he might wind up having to kick his duck-butt ass. Or he could always do it anyway. That could work.
Naruto had turned his attention to the doorway in boredom just a girl with pretty dark blue hair walked into the classroom and habitually panned her eyes down to his desk, expecting to see no-one, only to gasp at the sight of Naruto sitting at his desk seemingly looking up at her, 'Naruto-kun passed after all! I'm so happy for him! Maybe… maybe I'll get to be on a team with him…' Hinata's face turned beet-red at the thought of being on the same team as Naruto and she started to push her fingers together, looking down and away from Naruto lest he see her face. However this didn't stop the object of her thoughts noticing the colouration of her face and shouting down to her with concern, completely oblivious to the nature of her thoughts.
"Hey Hinata, are you okay? Your face suddenly changed colour." Hinata's head snapped upwards at his shouting, and she looked at him for a second with her blush turning even darker before fainting and hitting the ground with a thud, causing Naruto's eyes to widen with shock before he vaulted over his desk to the floor to see if she was alright.
Quickly checking her pulse and confirming she was alright and only knocked out (Thank Kami), his fingers in front of her face a few times to see if he could get a reaction, and when he didn't Naruto picked up the unconscious Hyuuga heiress bridal-style and called her name a few times. Sighing to himself when he saw she was out cold, Naruto walked back up the stairs and placed her down in her seat carefully, checking her over once more before turning back to go to his own. At least that was the plan until a female voice shouted out behind him.
"Ha, take that Ino-pig I got here first!"
Naruto turned his attention to the door where a pink haired girl was standing, panting and out of breath. As he watched, Yamanaka Ino barged into her back as a blur of purple and blonde hair, sending them both sprawling to the ground at his feet. They both immediately got to their feet and started jostling their way and pushing their way down the stairs, completely blanking Naruto even as he stepped forward eagerly to greet Sakura, his long time crush.
"Hey Sakura-chan! Hey I was wondering, since we're both genin now, how about you and me go on a date sometime?"
Sakura didn't even stop in her wrestling with Ino as she answered, "As if Naruto!" She shouted while at the same time shoving the blonde boy out of the way. Sakura's push did next to nothing to him, but Naruto stepped back anyway, a hurt look on his face.
Naruto turned away as the girls finally got to Sasuke and started fawning, as per usual. He sighed as he sat down in an empty seat next to Hinata, who was still out cold. 'I don't get why they like that teme so much. Oh well, at least I'm not gonna be on a team with him anymore. Sakura-chan still will be though, seeing as how she graduated as top kunoichi…' Naruto thought back to the conversation with Iruka that led him to this point.
(Flashback)
Around One Week Earlier
Naruto and Iruka were currently situated inside of Ichiraku Ramen, respectively eating said ramen energetically and watching in despair, because Iruka had said that he would take Naruto out for ramen after his latest stunt. The reason Iruka was watching in despair was because he had promised to pay for Naruto, this was his fifteenth bowl of ramen, and Naruto showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. Oh, his wallet was going to be hurting for sure after this.
"Ne, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto momentarily looked up from attacking his bowl as a thought struck him, getting Iruka to sigh in relief before his attention was fully captivated by Naruto's question, "What team do you reckon I'll be on when I pass the exam?"
The question momentarily caught Iruka by surprise, "What, you mean who will you be with on your team?" Naruto nodded and looked at him expectantly, 'Hmm… I really shouldn't tell him this but I can't just not answer…'"Well Naruto, I couldn't tell you who your jounin-sensei will be, but there's a long-standing tradition that the Dead-last of the year will be paired with the Rookie of the Year and the top kunoichi, so if you pass you'll be with-"
"Sasuke-teme!" Naruto exclaimed, standing up without warning and surprising Teuchi and Ayame behind the counter, "Oh, no way, I am not being with Sasuke on a team, nuh-uh, nope, never!" He said vehemently. He was smart enough to realise that he was on track to be the dobe of the year, and Naruto was sure that the fan-girls would stage an uprising if Sasuke didn't get top spot.
Naruto turned to Iruka with big, quivering eyes, "Iruka-sensei, is there anyway and can not be on Sasuke-teme's team?" There had to be a way. If he was stuck on a team with Sasuke then… well, he didn't know what would happen, but it would certainly be bad.
Iruka just stared at Naruto and opened his mouth as if to speak before Naruto suddenly pounded his fist into his palm, "That's it! I'll just have study more and ace the final exam next week, dattebayo! Sorry Iruka-sensei, I gotta get home and study! Bye Teuchi-ojisan, Ayame-neesan!" And with that he quickly slurped down the last of his ramen before running off out of the restaurant.
Iruka let off a sweatdrop as he watched Naruto recede into the night, 'He does realise that Sakura is probably going to be the top kunoichi of the year doesn't he? Doesn't he like her or something?' With a sigh he turned back to the counter and got out his wallet, looking up at the ramen chef behind it, "So how much do I owe you, Ichiraku-san?" Upon hearing the amount Iruka visibly deflated and simply tipped out the entire contents of his wallet into Teuchi's waiting hand before walking out.
XxX
Naruto had gotten home to his apartment in record time, panting slightly he had run so fast as he flopped down on his bed. Why had he decided to get home so fast again, away from his ramen? He pushed himself off the bed explosively, ending up standing on it as he remembered. He had to study so he wouldn't end up with Sasuke!
With that thought in mind, Naruto jumped off his bed and opened his closet. Behind the unnecessary amount of orange jumpsuits in there lay an old frayed box, which Naruto grabbed and hefted out, coughing from the dust that billowed up as he did so. Dropping the box on the floor with a clunk, Naruto plopped down next to it and opened it, revealing its contents.
Inside the box was a mess of scrolls, each labelled with different subjects from the Academy. Iruka had given these to Naruto for revision, so of course Naruto stuck them in a box in the back of his closet, never to see the light of day. Until now.
Picking up and opening the first scroll in the box Naruto read the title out loud, "Basic Language Studies. Pfft, I don't need this, I can speak just as gooder as anyone else.' Realising what he had just said, Naruto looked down at the scroll in his hands again, 'Hmm, maybe I should start with this one then."
He would study, and he would study hard, And Kami help him, by the end of the week Naruto Uzumaki would be the dobe no longer!
One Week Later
Naruto sat at his desk and cracked his knuckles as the written part of the genin exam was handed out, 'Aright, lets hope all that studying didn't go waste. I'll ace this and then the practical part of this exam, dattebayo!'
Naruto hadn't been out of his house except for school, food and visits to his grandfather figure, the Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, all through the past week. He had raced through those long-forgotten revision scrolls as quickly as he thought he was able while retaining the knowledge, and had actually gotten through a decent chunk of them before the test. Never let it be said that Naruto Uzumaki was not a hard worker when he wanted to be. He had found out that there was so much he had neglected to learn when he had either been skipping school or sleeping through Iruka's lectures, and some of it was actually useful, like the physical and spiritual aspects of chakra, and like which plants were deadly poisonous to humans in Hi no Kuni.
Yeah… that could have been bad.
When he had actually been to school, Naruto had paid full attention to class, even taking notes at points, which had surprised quite a few of the teachers and students, except for Iruka. When he saw Naruto was actually paying attention to his lectures in class Iruka just smiled at seeing Naruto seemingly following through on his promise at the Ramen stand. It might not change anything, but it would do Naruto some good to listen for once.
And instead of simply talking to the Hokage about everything and anything as usual, Naruto had started drilling him for knowledge every time he came around. He asked about all the things that he couldn't quite grasp from the scrolls, and about the various shinobi arts that he needed help with… like everything. All the things that couldn't be learnt properly from a scroll, like chakra control and ninjutsu, were explained in a basic way to Naruto.
He couldn't say that Naruto had simply been sleeping through class because you were basically required to be awake to learn the more physical parts of the ninja arts, and he knew Naruto hadn't skipped school that often via the use of the crystal ball in his desk. When the old Professor had realised what was going on he had resolved to look more thoroughly into the education of his village. If the teachers of the academy were deliberately sabotaging Naruto's education then there would some heads rolling, metaphorically of course. Or not.
Nevertheless, Sarutobi had foregone trying to build upon Naruto's existing knowledge seeing as he had next to none, and instead had worked upon fixing what he knew. He had attempted to correct his shoddy taijutsu stances as much as he could, and had got him started on basic chakra control, although the latter didn't go very well.
But alas, there is only so much one can teach in a week.
And so it was that Naruto was sat behind his desk, watching as the papers were handed out. Naruto spared once last glance at Sasuke as his arrived a his desk, strengthening his resolve, before flipping his paper over at Iruka's, "Hajime!" Naruto flipped over his paper and read the first question, ''Name the three largest countries in the Elemental Nations. Bonus points if it's in order.' Shit, I don't know this, I never paid atten- Oh wait, yes I do, there was that map in the geography scroll Iruka-sensei gave me' Naruto thought as he remembered what he read in the scroll. 'Tsuchi no Kuni (Land of Earth), Kaze no Kuni (Land of Wind) and Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire), in that order.' Naruto wrote down as such and moved on to the next question, surprising Iruka at how quickly he was writing answers down.
He would be more surprised when he reviewed the results and saw Naruto's score.
(Flashback End)
Naruto grinned to himself at the thought of how much he had dodged a bullet by avoiding being on the teme's team, before his grin died at the memory of what had happened after the written test, his good mood deflating in an instant. He had been tricked by Mizuki into stealing the Scroll of Seals, and learnt that he contained within his gut the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the nine-tailed demon fox that attacked the village a decade before. His mood returned quickly returned though; it was better to know than to not, and he had learnt a really cool jutsu after all.
Naruto idly listened as Iruka talked about how they were now Genin of the village and how they should be 'proud they had come this far' until he got to the part about team assignments, at which point Naruto sat bolt upright and paid rapt attention, "Alright, so now we will assign you into teams."
Naruto kept his attention focused on Iruka's words as he rattled off the list of teams and their sensei's until he came to Team 7, "Team 7, under Kakashi Hatake, will be Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno…" Naruto visibly flinched at Iruka's words. He just knew he was going to be on this team, he knew it, "…And Kiba Inuzuka." Naruto breathed a huge sigh of relief at that. He wasn't with Sasuke, his plan had worked! He heard Sasuke mutter a 'Hn' under his breath, while Sakura Stood up and cheered that she was going to be on Sasuke's team, and Kiba growled angrily at his bad luck, the small white dog on his head doing the same.
Meanwhile, all the Jounin in the room were laughing as all three stood up expectantly. They stood there awkwardly as the older shinobi continued to laugh, even Iruka chuckling a bit, until Sakura spoke up, "Hey, where's our sensei? Isn't he supposed to pick us up?"
One of the jounin stopped laughing for long enough to answer her, a tall man with spiky dark hair and a cigar hanging out of his mouth, "You might as well sit down, you're gonna be here for a while. Kakashi's due to be here in, oh, about two hours time." The man said, glancing at his watch. At seeing the genins confused, and in Sasuke's case indifferent, looks, the man laughed again, "He's always late, you might as well get used to it."
As the three genin sat down, annoyed, Iruka looked at his list once again, "Moving on, Team 8, under Kurenai Yuuhi, will be Choji Akimichi, Shino Aburame and Ino Yamanaka." Ino immediately stood up and started shout about 'gluttons and creepy bug kids', while Choji, a large boy with spiral markings on his cheeks, picked up his bag of chips and made to follow their sensei, a pretty woman with black hair and red eyes, out of the room. Shino, a boy with sunglasses that seemed to be perpetually on his face and a coat with the collar turned up, revealing very little of his face, followed suit, with Ino soon reluctantly following.
Iruka continued on, "Next we have Team 10, since Team 9 is still in circulation, which will be Naruto Uzumaki…" Naruto's head snapped up, "… Shikamaru Nara and Hinata Hyuuga, under Sarutobi Asuma." Naruto and Shikamaru stood and looked at their teacher, the same man who had spoken to Team 7 before. Naruto made to go down the steps, but suddenly remembered Hinata sitting next to him. He turned around and found that the girl was still out cold. Blushing in embarrassment, Naruto quickly picked the girl up and walked down the steps, getting a raised eyebrow from Asuma before he turned and walked through the door.
A few seconds later Naruto's voice could be heard floating back through the door as a certain piece of information registered in his mind, "EEEHH? I could have been on Sakura-chan's team!?"
That is the first chapter of this story. Sorry it wasn't very interesting, and very short, but I wanted to get the premise out of the way first before I did anything. And this always happens in my stories, it gets way better later on, trust me.
I've always wanted to mix up the teams a little, but I ended up giving them a complete overhaul here. I'm excited to see where I can go with this though, I've got all these ideas in my head that I need to write down for the world to see how awesome they are! I'm also flying by the seat of my pants here too guys, I've no real plan or anything.
Anyway, reviews help, as do certain flames, all that jazz.
UI
