Ripples and Consequences
Chapter One: Beginning
Nami No Kuni:
As he looked at his hands, Naruto already knew he'd made a mistake he could never take back.
Covered in blood, his still-lengthened claws reminded him of his failure; both to control the anger and hate within him, and to feel any sorrow for her death.
After watching Sasuke "die" in front of him, Naruto had been unable to control his rage and almost immediately defeated Haku, the opponent they'd been having so much trouble with.
If only that had been enough to stop his rampage.
Naruto was vaguely aware of the chop to the neck that removed him from consciousness.
A Week Later:
"Hokage-Sama, we've returned successfully from our C-rank mission, I'd like to make my report privately." Kakashi's voice cut through the silence in the office.
"Understood. Team 7, minus Kakashi, you're dismissed." At this, both Naruto and Sasuke left the Hokage's office, unsure of how their future would go from here or how this would affect their team.
Since Sakura's death, Naruto had felt bitter and hollow. Not because he had killed the girl he had a crush on, but because he liked it.
Despite how Naruto wanted to slam his fists into a wall, break down in tears and blame the Kyuubi for everything, he knew this was his fault more than anyone else's.
Sasuke meanwhile didn't overly care for the loss of Sakura. Her death was unfortunate, sure, but ultimately, she was a liability to the team, so her death didn't overly impact him.
Neither felt they had anything to say to the other right now, Naruto afraid of both Sasuke and Kakashi's potential reactions to him now, and Sasuke thinking he needs to become stronger so he isn't defeated by an opponent like Haku again.
Truthfully, neither Kakashi or Sasuke blamed Naruto for what had happened. Sakura had rushed into the dome of her own volition when she saw Sasuke hit the ground, and in the shinobi world, actions have consequences.
Despite this, Naruto felt like he'd lost his right to be a member of Team 7, so he decided he would devote himself to training so that he'd never lose someone close to him again.
In the Hokage's Office:
"So that's the full detail of your report, Kakashi?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, suddenly looking his age, a weary frown set upon his face after hearing what Kakashi had to say.
"Hai, Hokage-Sama. Though I don't think the seal is compromised, it's a worrying sign that Naruto was able to tap into so much of the fox's power." Kakashi's own expression wasn't much lighter, feeling the impact of failing to save yet another person who trusted him.
"Let me worry about that. For now, inform Naruto and Sasuke that your team is on standby until further notice, and that they'll both receive the full pay for an A-Rank mission." Lighting his pipe, the aged Hokage dismissed Kakashi.
"Before you go, know that I'll be reviewing your performance and ability as a sensei for your failure to properly prepare your team." Kakashi nodded briefly, a downcast expression on his face, before leaving the Hokage's office.
Training Ground Seven:
Kakashi appeared at the training ground in a swirl of leaves. He observed Naruto and Sasuke, who were sparring on the side of a tree, before calling them down.
Both boys looked questioningly at him, wondering what was happening to their team from here out.
"Team 7 is on standby for the foreseeable future, awaiting further instructions from Hokage-Sama. We're all receiving an A-Ranked mission pay, and I'm ordering both of you to take some time to properly mourn Sakura, I'll come find you both in five days' time."
Having said his piece and seeing that the boys had digested the information, Kakashi left the way he came, heading to the memorial stone to lament his failure as a sensei.
"Hey, Dobe?" Sasuke called out to Naruto who was already starting to walk away.
"What is it, Teme? You heard sensei, we may as well head home for now" replied the blond, before Sasuke cut him off.
"You better not slack off in these five days, I want to spar with you when we next meet" called the raven-haired Uchiha, a smirk on his face.
Naruto appeared surprised at this declaration, before adopting his trademark grin.
"Count on it! Just don't go crying to sensei when I finally knock that stick out of your butt!"
Both looked at each other with determination, their words of challenge ringing out between them.
Sasuke departed shortly after, deciding to return to the Uchiha compound to train, leaving Naruto some time to think.
Sitting against a tree, the blond remembered the times in the academy when Sakura was still alive and thought, really thought, about the profession he'd chosen for the first time.
Despite all the years they'd spent in the academy, the kinds of techniques they were learning and the weapons they used, it still felt to Naruto that the academy hadn't prepared them for what real shinobi life was like.
Romanticising the idea of becoming a shinobi, the academy lured many children into their walls, training them to become soldiers for the village they called their home.
As the container of the nine tailed fox, Naruto wondered if he'd ever really had a choice in becoming a shinobi. He wouldn't choose another lifestyle now. He's a shinobi, a killer, and despite the mental trauma he was suffering, he still hadn't become completely disillusioned with the idea of becoming Hokage.
For the first time, Naruto had doubts in his dream, though he wasn't one to give up so easily. Unconsciously, he was placing some of the blame for Sakura's death on the Yondaime Hokage for sealing the Kyuubi in to him, a new-born infant.
"Why do I want to be Hokage?" Naruto muttered out loud, not even considering that anyone else may be listening.
"Was it to be acknowledged? Did I really want to lead the village just so the people who hate me would finally acknowledge me?" A hurt expression on his face, Naruto continued to question himself and his life choices to date.
"Finally starting to figure out what it means to be a shinobi, kid?" A voice called out from the treeline, causing the blond to look up, though he couldn't see anyone there.
"It takes more than determination to be a real shinobi, brat. Sometimes you'll have to make choices you can't take back. You'll learn the hard way that sometimes protecting one thing means letting go of another." Appearing from the treeline was a woman who Naruto had never seen.
Dressed in provocative attire consisting of a trench coat, a mini skirt, and a netted mesh outfit underneath, likely reinforced in some manner to prevent being easily torn, Anko stepped in to Naruto's field of vision.
Brown eyes meeting blue, Anko made it apparent that she was putting out a challenge to the blond.
Getting to his feet, Naruto got into the stance he'd learned at the academy. Anko scoffed condescendingly in response.
"You call that a stance? Even a first-year academy student could get in a better taijutsu stance than that!" Naruto looked put-out at this, not realising how much his form was lacking.
"Land a hit on me, kid, and I might teach you something to make you a little less pitiful." Not missing the slight on his abilities (though completely missing the one on his height), the blue-eyed blond stepped up to her challenge.
As Anko dropped from the treeline, the blond put his hands into a ram sign and summoned three shadow clones with a cry of "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Hiding her surprise at how much chakra the blond must have, Anko dashed forwards, throwing three kunai simultaneously.
Unable to react in time, Naruto got a cut on his cheek while jumping back as all three of his clones were dispatched by the kunai.
Unperturbed, Anko continued her assault, rushing into a taijutsu battle. She decided to start off simple, throwing a feint with her left leg, before then kicking the blond away with her right when he tried to raise a guard.
Naruto quickly called another ten clones, hoping to overwhelm her with numbers if he couldn't win in direct combat.
His clones all rushed as one, Anko quickly settling in to a stance to fight them off. As the first rushed in with a heavy-handed punch, she stepped to the side, grabbing its arm and using the clone's momentum to throw it into the crowd.
As the clone collided with two of the others, dispelling one of them, another two clones jumped at her, kunai in hand.
"Now you're getting it kid, fight to kill or you just might die!" Anko exclaimed while simultaneously jumping into the air and raining kunai downwards, dispelling the two that had rushed her in a cloud of smoke.
Using the smoke to launch a surprise attack, one clone gave another a leg-up into the air to continue the attack, to no avail as a snake shot out from the trench coat and bit into the clone, dispelling it.
Backflipping and landing on the ground, Anko saw that there were five clones remaining. Wondering briefly where the sixth clone and the original were, she threw a dozen needles in quick succession.
Dodging to the right, two of the clones were able to escape, whilst the other three were skewered by the needles, dispelling them.
While the remaining clones made to rush her, Anko charged back in, delivering a swift punch to the throat of one of the clones whilst backhanding the other away.
As the second bounced off the ground, she belatedly realised that was the original and wondered when he had chance to switch with a clone in the melee.
Again, she pushed forward, attacking the original with quick kicks and punched him in the gut. As the fight went on, it was apparent that the blond was becoming more sluggish.
Suddenly, a pebble that Anko was about to pass over on the ground transformed into a clone, throwing a punch at her.
Unfortunately for Naruto, she had completely seen through this plan, caught the clone's fist and snapped its wrist, dispelling it. She then promptly threw a kunai where she knew the last clone was hidden, taking away Naruto's last hope of winning.
Finally, she kicked his legs out from under him and pinned him.
"Not bad for a brat. But you still lost and that's what's important in the shinobi world." Anko taunted, simultaneously teaching him an important lesson.
"How come it was getting so hard to keep up with you at the end?" Naruto enquired, wondering how he'd been taken out even easier than Kakashi had beaten him in the bell test.
"That first cut to your cheek was coated with poison" the purple haired woman revealed with glee in her eyes.
"Hey, wait, that's cheating!" Naruto cried out, trying to defend his defeat.
"You're right, it is. We're shinobi, brat, cheating to win is what we do. Fact is, you lost that fight in the first move, and the rest from there was just me making a point." Naruto looked downcast at this, realising that she was right and that he couldn't expect others to fight fair in a real battle.
Getting up off of him, Anko had a disappointed frown on her face. That changed to delight when he tried again to attack her, despite the fight being declared over. She grabbed his collar and slammed him into the ground, swiping a kunai from Naruto's pouch and holding it to his throat.
"Vicious kid, I like it. But it's still not enough." Anko was grinning wickedly as she said this, until she saw a smirk on the kid's face, causing her to jump back from him, wary of a trap.
Unfortunately, the reason the blond was smirking was because of the kunai she'd taken from him. As she jumped back and resumed her stance, kunai still in hand, she spotted something on the kunai and quickly threw it away, jumping back as she did so.
Naruto grinned as he set off the exploding tag wrapped around the kunai and Anko was unable to completely avoid it, collapsing into a pile of mud.
At that moment, another Anko stepped out from behind some bushes, slowly clapping and whistled, impressed at the display. Naruto, meanwhile, looked scandalised.
"Good job taking out my mud clone, kid. Well, a deal's a deal so I guess you've got yourself a new sensei." At this, Naruto jumped in the air excitement, pumping his fist, until he saw the sadistic grin on his new sensei's face.
A cold sweat ran down Naruto's back, making him wonder if he shouldn't have just taken the fall instead.
"Don't worry kid, I'll make sure to torture you in to shape." Anko had a bloodthirsty smile on her face as Naruto paled slightly.
"Don't you mean you'll train me in to shape?" Naruto asked, inwardly dreading the answer.
"I know what I said."
At the Memorial Stone:
"I'm sorry sensei, I've failed you yet again." Kakashi spoke quietly to the stone where the heroes of the hidden leaf were mourned.
"I just don't know what I'm supposed to do from here, or how I can teach both Sasuke and your son to become great shinobi when everyone who gets close to me ends up dying."
Kakashi was on the verge of tears, looking on miserably, wondering how he could have become such a failure when everyone said he was a prodigy as a child.
He recoiled in shock when a hand was laid on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw the man he called his closest friend and rival.
"Kakashi, I know now's not the best time for you. I know you're hurting, but you're not a failure. Sometimes, we give our everything to protect something and it still isn't enough." Gai gave Kakashi a reassuring smile.
"You're still in the springtime of your youth, my rival! You just need to get back in to your training and be the shinobi we all know you really are. But most importantly, right now you need to be there for your students." Kakashi nodded in gratitude and walked back to the village with Gai, forgoing his usual shunshin.
In the Hokage's Office:
"There's no choice, I'll have to recall Jiraiya to inspect the seal" stated the Sandaime Hokage to his closest confidant.
"I still think you're too soft on the container, Hiruzen. If you gave him to me, we could have a weapon unlike any other." Danzo said in what he hoped was a convincing tone.
"I believe you Danzo, you could probably turn Naruto in to an excellent weapon. But I have faith that this village and his will of fire will instead turn him into an excellent shinobi." Danzo disagreed with Hiruzen's idealistic view but didn't state it aloud.
"What of Kakashi and the Last Uchiha? What will happen with the team now?" Danzo asked, curious of how Hiruzen planned to deal with this new conundrum, secretly hoping for a chance to put a root spy in to the team roster.
"Sasuke will be apprenticed to Kakashi, as despite his faults, he's still our best bet to teach Sasuke to properly wield his Sharingan while keeping him loyal to the village." Danzo nodded in agreement with this.
"And what of the Jinchuriki?" Danzo followed up, unwilling to let the topic slip.
"Naruto will be apprenticed to another capable ninja, I was potentially thinking Shikaku Nara." Danzo was shocked at this revelation.
"Our Jonin Commander? What do you think he can offer the Jinchuriki's growth?" At this, a shadow seemed to be cast over Hiruzen's eyes.
"I think we can mould young Naruto's mind and make sure the enemy won't know what hit them."
Three Days Later, Forest of Death
"Come on brat, keep up. You'll never beat the Uchiha brat at this rate." Despite being annoyed at being called a brat, Naruto upped his pace to try keep up with Anko. This was their sixth lap around the outskirts of the forest, occasionally having to avoid some of the more hostile wildlife.
Naruto felt like he wasn't learning fast enough, though in actuality they'd covered a lot of ground for a mere three days.
Whereas on the first day, even Naruto's insane stamina had run out after three laps, now his sixth lap he was still able to keep pace with Anko, though he had yet to make it to ten laps.
Of course, it didn't help that he wasn't aware that on the time he'd hit his ninth lap, Anko had used a paralysis poison to knock him out so that he wouldn't overexert and tear his muscles.
He'd mostly been learning the art of stealth and the beginnings of Anko's own taijutsu style. Though he wasn't progressing well in it thus far, his flexibility was quickly developing which would help him get there.
Of course, that wasn't all they worked on. His tree climbing was refined to make sure he could maintain combat even upside-down for an hour, his chakra control had increased significantly from this, though his endless reserves of chakra meant he didn't notice this progress.
Anko also taught him mud clones and instructed him to primarily use them, as while they were less effective than shadow clones, they costed less chakra and would make enemies more likely to underestimate him.
Finally, his kunai and shuriken throwing had been significantly refined, now he was able to hit stationary targets almost every time, as well as moving targets more than half of the time. Still not at a level that Anko was satisfied with, but a massive leap in progress as far as she was concerned.
Not that she ever told him when he was making good progress. Anko's rule of thumb was "underestimate yourself, overestimate your enemies." This meant that the way Naruto was learning to fight was to take out his opponents as quickly as possible, without overly showcasing his abilities unless he needs to.
Although he'd only learned one ninjutsu, which he thought of as just a weaker version of what he already had, Anko had beaten into him, literally beaten into him, how unimportant the amount of jutsu you have is in comparison to how you use them.
However, the biggest change to have come about was to Naruto's personality. Developing more of a shinobi mentality, the blond was now far more mentally prepared for the shinobi lifestyle than he was three days prior. Anko providing him with the attention he'd been wanting led to him somewhat imitating her personality. Namely, he'd become slightly more sadistic and enjoyed teasing the opposite sex.
Coming to a stop alongside Anko at the end of their seventh lap, the blond looked at her questioningly.
"We're going to get you some decent clothes brat. That jumpsuit has been giving me brain damage for a while, plus it reeks and is full of holes" Anko sneered.
"Whose fault is that?" Naruto pointed at her accusingly.
"Yours." Anko responded without missing a beat, causing Naruto to face-fault. "Tone down that attitude of yours, too. You need to conduct yourself like a shinobi."
Naruto nodded, his expression setting into a grim determination.
As they walked back to the village, Naruto piped up.
"Hey Anko?" A kunai was immediately held near his throat. A bead of sweat rolled down his face.
"Anko-sensei?" As quick as it had appeared, the kunai disappeared as though it was never there.
"Yes, brat?" Anko smirked at his change of tone.
"Do you know what's going to happen with my team?" Naruto asked, hoping for an answer from her.
"I don't, kid. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. I'm an assassin, not a babysitter." At this, Naruto deadpanned.
"Well, we're here." Naruto looked up to see Higurashi's Shinobi Store.
Higurashi's Shinobi Store, as the name suggests, is a store that sells shinobi gear, armour and clothing. Naruto had never been to this store before, both because he wasn't a shinobi, also because he was afraid that, like other stores, they'd immediately ban him.
Upon entering the store, there was a booming voice.
"WHAT IN KAMI'S NAME ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Naruto flinched, in preparation to be thrown out of the store, when he noticed the large man had grabbed Anko by the collar and was shaking her violently.
"Uh, Anko-sensei, what did you do?" Naruto questioned the woman, who was still being shaken.
"Wait, did you say Anko-sensei? You're teaching now? That's a riot!" Finally, the man stopped shaking Anko in favour of holding his stomach from laughter.
Standing at a height of 6'6 was an absolute bear of a man. Tanned skin, dark hair, and bulging muscles, he may as well have been the main character of the next series of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.
"Your sensei, brat, made me pay for her last dango spree, which costed more than my store earns in a week." Slightly irritated at being called a brat by yet another adult, Naruto turned a wide-eyed expression to his sensei, whose dango appetite may even rival his own appetite for ramen.
Anko meanwhile, had a faux innocent expression on her face.
"So, kid, what can I do for you? Are we getting something that isn't hideous and orange for you? Please say yes."
"Actually, yes." Naruto said, a little annoyed at the slight against his favourite jumpsuit.
At that moment, the door to the back of the store opened and a girl walked in from it. Twin buns on the top of her head, her brown hair made her look like a panda.
"Higurashi-san, how did a panda get in to your store?" At this, the large man let out an uncharacteristic snicker as a vein throbbed on the young girl's head.
"Well, excuse you! My name is Tenten, I'm not a panda!" A scandalised expression on her face, Tenten put her hands on her hips and stared Naruto down.
"What in Konoha are you wearing? That jumpsuit is almost as bad as my teammate's spandex." At this statement, everyone in the room shuddered, even Naruto, who had no idea who her teammate was.
"That's why I'm here, I was hoping for something more shinobi-like." Tenten grinned in response and grabbed him by the arm.
"I have just the thing!" Naruto had a feeling he had just made a terrible mistake, a feeling he'd been having a lot lately.
Four Hours Later
Finally, Naruto and Tenten re-emerged from the changing area, the latter of whom had a slight blush on her face at the blond's new look.
Naruto wore black shinobi sandals, black trousers tapered with dark orange bandages, and a dark orange overshirt, which could be turned inside out and was black on the inside. Under this was a mesh shirt.
"That's better kid, now you look like a real shinobi" Hideki stated.
Totalling up the price, Hideki levelled Naruto with a sharp look.
"That'll be 5000 yen." Anko quickly stopped Naruto from getting his wallet out.
"Get the kid a sword and a roll of explosive tags, too." Higurashi grabbed a roll of explosive tags, while Tenten grabbed a basic sword.
"This is for your training, brat, so it's on me" Anko said, paying a total of 9000 yen for all of Naruto's new gear.
"Thank you, Anko-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, surprising her with a hug.
Anko, agitated with this response, shoved the blond off her and swept his legs out from under him, making him hit the floor.
Tenten offered him a hand getting up, which Naruto gladly took.
After scowling at his sensei for tripping him, Naruto smiled gratefully at Tenten.
With Naruto in his new getup, both student and sensei left the store after thanking the owner, Naruto cheekily shooting a wink at a blushing Tenten on the way out the door. Anko had taught him that
In the Hokage's Office:
"So, Shikaku, will you apprentice young Naruto and help shape his mind to become the potential future Hokage he dreams of becoming?" Petitioned the Hokage.
"Hokage-Sama, I will train him as well as I can. However, I won't consider him as a Hokage prospect until he proves himself worthy of such a responsibility" Shikaku asserted.
"I understand, Shikaku. Also, the responsibility for training his other skills shall be left to his new sensei, Anko, and my wayward student, Jiraiya." Shikaku nodded in agreement with this plan.
"Wait, Anko is training him? Since when?" Sarutobi couldn't help laughing at this.
"She took it upon herself to start training our resident troublemaker when he impressed her in a spar. With both dealing with their respective burdens and the distaste of the villagers, I think this could be beneficial for them both."
Shikaku completely agreed with Hiruzen's reasoning, though he couldn't help but think that pairing the Jinchuriki together with an ultra-sadist sensei was a terrifying prospect.
A shiver running down his spine, Shikaku assented to the Hokage's plan.
Uchiha Compound:
Sasuke was practicing his fire jutsu down at the lake where he first showed off the jutsu he was practicing to his father. With a cry of "Goukakyu no jutsu" Sasuke let off a large stream of flames above the lake.
Several days of practice had paid off for Sasuke. As all his practice had been independent, he hadn't made leaps and bounds of progress like Naruto had, but he had managed to reduce the chakra consumption of his main jutsu by improving his chakra control.
Above all, Sasuke had mellowed out somewhat following Sakura's death. He had come to realise how quickly life can come to an end on a mission and had made the decision that if his behaviour weakened his teamwork with others, it only lowered his odds of getting his revenge against Itachi.
Two Days Later:
It was around noon and Sasuke was again training, each strike harder and each combination more fluid than the last.
In a flurry of leaves, Kakashi appeared in front of Sasuke.
"Come on Sasuke, we're going to discuss our team's future between us and Hokage-Sama, then afterwards we'll attend Sakura's funeral." Sasuke nodded in assent.
Kakashi grabbed on to his shoulder and they both disappeared in a flurry of leaves.
Ichiraku's Ramen Stand:
"Wait, so you defeated his apprentice all by yourself and still completed the mission?" Ayame asked, pushing her long brown hair out of her face, her dark eyes betraying her doubt of Naruto's re-telling.
"I'm telling you, that's what happened! Sasuke was filled with needles and I was all by myself, but I beat the enemy ninja and saved the day!" Naruto relayed excitedly, conveniently forgetting to mention his rampage or Sakura's death during the mission.
"Okay, okay, I believe you Naruto. Gosh, you're growing up so fast. Before long you'll be cooking your own meals and we'll never see you around here anymore" Ayame stated, a false hurt expression adorning her face.
"Never, Ayame-chan! Ramen is the food of the gods, I'll always come here, even when I'm Hokage!" Naruto exclaimed.
At this statement, there was a fond smile on Ayame's face.
"So, it's Ayame-chan now is it, Na-ru-to-kun?" Ayame teased, provoking a blush from the blond.
"Let him eat his noodles in piece, Ayame." A voice called from the kitchen, drawing a blush from Ayame and increasing Naruto's embarrassment ten-fold.
As he went to resume eating his noodles, he sensed a spike in chakra behind him, immediately spinning with a kunai in hand.
Looking at him in slight shock were his sensei and teammate, surprised by both his reactions and his new attire.
Kakashi eye-smiled at Naruto, thinking 'sensei, your son is well on his way to becoming a real shinobi.'
"Let's go have a chat with the Hokage shall we, Naruto?" Kakashi asked/stated (as Naruto knew there was no real choice to continue eating his ramen.
"Sorry Ayame, we'll catch up some more next time, I promise." Stated Naruto, dropping enough to pay his bill and a little extra as a tip for the waitress.
Ayame nodded unfocusedly, her attention diverted to the Jounin with the silver gravity-defying hair, a blush present on her face.
Kakashi eye-smiled at her, before grabbing hold of both Naruto and Sasuke, using the shunshin to transport them to the Hokage's office.
Hokage's Office:
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at his desk, focused intently on the large piles of paperwork in front of him, a satisfied smile in place at how he'd gotten more than half of his paperwork finished.
As the veteran Hokage leaned back in his seat to take a puff from his pipe, the current main source of his headaches, in the form of the remnants of Team 7, appeared, their arrival knocking all his paperwork on to the floor in a disorganised pile.
Looking like someone had just kicked his puppy, the Sandaime turned a fierce glare on to the arrivals. Kakashi and Naruto both looking sheepish, while Sasuke just looked exasperated at them both.
"I take it you're here for your team re-assignments. Though, Naruto-kun, I see you've already procured yourself a new sensei." At this, both Kakashi and Sasuke turned questioning gazes on to the whiskered blond, whilst he had a similar expression pointed at the Sandaime.
Hiruzen merely drummed his fingers on his desk in amusement at this mixture of reactions in the room.
"It's my job to know these things, Naruto-kun, as one day it may become your job too." Naruto couldn't help but smile at this subtle, yet strong, showing of faith in his ability to achieve his dream of becoming Hokage.
Hiruzen continued, moving past the obvious question that both Kakashi and Sasuke wanted to ask.
"Now then, as of this moment, Team 7 is officially disbanded." Hiruzen calmly stated, though the statement itself led to much stronger reactions from those affected.
"But, what about-" all three of them started at the same time, before being cut off by Hiruzen.
"This is my final decision on the matter. Don't worry though, you'll see each other again in the upcoming Chunin Exams. Naruto, Sasuke, the both of you along with another talented Genin will enter the Chunin Exams being hosted in our village. I expect you to do your utmost to impress me." Hiruzen announced, cutting off any retaliations while making his own expectations clear.
"Who will be training us, then?" Sasuke enquired, wondering if the change would negatively affect his training. His training could not be compromised, that would leave him unable to fight Itachi when the time came.
"Excellent question, Sasuke. You'll be taken on as Kakashi's apprentice, with some emotional training on the side from Inoichi Yamanaka. Naruto, you'll continue with your sensei, Anko, while receiving strategic planning training from Shikaku Nara." At this, Kakashi paled as he once again took in Naruto's new attire.
'Anko is training him? What in the sage's name does Hokage-Sama have planned?' Kakashi thought, fearing for Naruto's sanity.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading the first chapter of my new story, Ripples and Consequences. Review if you feel like it!