A/N: I found a picture on deviant art of what someone thought Naruto would look like as a Jounin and I happen to agree. Just go to my profile for the link.
0o0o0o0o0
Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, former AMBU captain and Jounin of Konohagakure, sat atop the head of his father and the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, where it was carved from the rock face that made up the Hokage monument. In his gloved hands was a piece of paper detailing his latest assignment, which he wished he could just toss away but couldn't.
"Why did I agree to this?" He muttered, scanning the document once more. Oh, that was right; the old woman that was the Godaime Hokage had ordered it.
(Flashback)
Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage, sat behind her desk going over the thing that was the bane of every Kage in all the Elemental Nations…paperwork. She glared down at the documents scattered across her desk balefully as she waited for Naruto to arrive for the scheduled appointment she had set up with him the other day. Well, she had more ordered him to show up than actually arranged anything with him. Just then she felt an all too familiar presence in front of her desk.
"Hello, Naruto-kun, how nice of you to come," she said without looking up, currently signing a form relating to taxes within the village. Said young man stood with his hands on his hips, frowning slightly.
"What's the big deal, baa-chan?" He asked, a little annoyed. "I was just about to grab some lunch." A familiar tick started in the older woman's left eyebrow, a sure sign of displeasure.
"Stop calling me that, gaki," she told him, sounding less than pleased. "I am your Hokage, so show me some respect!" The blond across from her desk waved a hand in dismissal.
"Yeah, sure baa-chan," he said absently, smiling slightly as the tick got worse. "Now what is this important assignment you have for me?" She answered his question by handing him a slip of paper, the Jounin reading it carefully. "Wait, what? Me?!"
"Yes, gaki, of course you," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Frankly I've been getting a little tired of watching you mope around, as have your friends…we're all worried about you." Naruto shook his head at her.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said unconvincingly, at least to anyone that knew him.
"That's bull and you know it, Naruto-kun," she spat, standing so she could look him in the eyes. "You've been slipping lately. You hardly smile anymore, you rarely laugh, you often don't speak to your friends…if there's nothing wrong with you then I hate to see when something actually is." She sat down once more, hands folding together on top of her desk. "Now, this isn't a suggestion. You will carry out your assignment, am I understood?" Naruto sighed in defeat.
"Hai, baa-chan."
(Flashback end)
Naruto sighed, rolling up the slip of paper and placing it in an empty scroll compartment in his flak vest, staring out over the village for a long time afterwards.
"Kami, me a teacher?" He snorted, shaking his head in disbelief. "Maybe I should take a page from Kakashi-sensei's non-perverted book." With another sigh he leapt from the monument and down to the village he called home.
0o0o0o0o0
Takeshi Onimaru grinned from ear to ear, genuinely pleased with himself. He had done it! He had graduated from the ninja academy, and as one of the top ten students no less! He felt so happy he could start jumping for joy, his newly acquired regulation headband gleaming as the sun hit the metal plate engraved with the symbol of Konoha on it. Finally, his father would have reason to be proud of him for once…it was one of the most fantastic things that had happened to him, as far as he was concerned. The boy wasn't exactly tall, standing just over five feet in height, his build lean and wiry. His auburn hair came just barely down past his ears, his eyes a shade of lavender that would make most flowers envious…a fact he hated more than anything, since it had earned him much in the way of ridicule while growing up. He was dressed in a black shirt under a dark blue, sleeveless vest, with black khaki shorts and blue ninja sandals, a kunai holster on his left hip and an equipment pouch hooked to the back of his belt. He thought about what team he was assigned to, the teacher having told the class prior to their dismissal for the day.
'Oh yeah, Team Nine,' he thought, remembering it at last. Just then he spotted his parents, the preteen running towards them. "Mom, Dad, I passed!"
0o0o0o0o0
Sanato Aki sat on a bench outside the academy, watching as a boy ran to his parents, evidently sharing the news that he had passed, feeling slightly envious. The girl realized that her parents were often busy as ninja, her mother a medic in the hospital and her father a Jounin, but it still sucked.
"You'd think they would at least show up on time for their daughter's graduation," she grumbled, flicking a strand of her long, white hair out of her face, hazel eyes scanning the crowd for said parents as she did so. No such luck. Tying her headband around her head to keep her bangs out of the way, she stood and started to leave, eyes on the ground as she went. She wore a red, short sleeved shirt, blue jeans and white running shoes today instead of her usual attire, having not really required it or her weapon pouches. Tools had been provided during the tests, after all. She stumbled suddenly, another girl having shoved her way past.
"Hey!" She exclaimed, the girl ignoring her. "Psh, what's her problem?"
0o0o0o0o0
Kenzuki Nanami stalked across the yard in front of the academy, ignoring the girl she had bumped into as she went. She was neither tall nor short, her black hair coming down to her shoulders and her brown eyes devoid of any life at all. She had thrown on a long sleeved, white shirt, black pants and matching ankle high boots that morning, the only sign she was a ninja her headband tied around her left bicep. She further ignored how one boy was being praised by his parents nearby, head high as she reminded herself that her own parents, had they been alive, would be proud of her as well.
0o0o0o0o0
The next day…
Onimaru, Nanami and Aki, the three of them on the same team by some great coincidence (cough, cough), sat in their former classroom, the last of the genin waiting for their sensei to arrive and take them under his/her wing. The door slid open, a Jounin with spiky hair with his nose buried in a copy of Teaching for Dummies walking inside.
'What the hell?' Onimaru thought incredulously, obviously less than impressed with the man. What kind of Jounin needed a book on teaching, after all?
"Hey," the blond greeted them in a flat tone, not looking up from his chosen reading material. "If you three are team nine then I'm your instructor, Namikaze Naruto, and it's nice to meet you all, blah, blah, blah." He turned the page in his book. "Okay, says here we should all get better acquainted by introducing ourselves, etc." He pointed straight at Onimaru without having to look. "Go."
"Well, I'm Takeshi Onimaru," the boy introduced himself, shifting in his seat. The Jounin made a gesture for him to continue. "What?"
"Tell us about yourself, like your hobbies," Naruto supplied helpfully, the boy rolling his eyes. "I saw that."
"Anyway," the genin went on, "I like to train, work on new techniques, stuff like that…um, and I also plan to become a great shinobi like my father someday." Naruto nodded his approval, pointing to Aki next.
"Well, I'm Sanato Aki," she told them, twirling a strand of her hair idly. "I like to cook, work on my taijutsu, since I still kind of suck at it and tend my garden on the weekends. As for what I want in the future…eh, I think I'll try to become a great kunoichi, like Tsunade-sama, or something." Naruto then pointed to Nanami.
"I am Kenzuki Nanami," she stated flatly, obviously not enthused by all this. "I enjoy working on all my skills as a ninja and…well, reading I guess. As for the future," she shrugged, "I haven't really bothered to think that far ahead yet."
"Yeah, that's all great," Naruto said, sounding like he cared even less than Nanami did. "But now, it's time for us to get going." Onimaru raised his hand by reflex. "You're not in class anymore, Onimaru-kun, you can just ask me if something is on your mind." The boy flushed in embarrassment.
"Well, I was just wondering when we're going to start on missions," he murmured, his team mates wondering the very same thing.
"As soon as you pass my test we'll start our first mission," the blond told him, shutting his book at last. "And before you ask, the academy is merely a means by which those with absolutely no talent for being a ninja are screened out…every Jounin sensei gives a test to the team they have been assigned, to determine whether the genin in question can handle the life of a shinobi." He smiled coldly. "I should tell you that this test has a sixty six percent failure rate…so expect to go back to academy tomorrow." He stood, looking down at them for a few silent moments. "Show up at training field seven at 0700 hours. Dismissed…and don't eat breakfast, unless you enjoy the taste of vomit." Then he vanished in a swirl of leaves and a puff of smoke.
"Is it just me, or is our sensei an asshole?" Onimaru asked once the Jounin was gone, causing Aki to snort in mild amusement.
"He's an asshole," she agreed, getting to her feet. "Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm outta here…laters." She then left, the door sliding shut behind her. Onimaru glanced surreptitiously at Nanami, thinking of something to say to her.
"So, what's your take on…?" He trailed off, the girl having just slipped out the nearby window, ignoring him entirely. "Wow…what a bitch."
0o0o0o0o0
The following morning found the three genin of squad nine at training field seven, a small river flowing just beyond three, human sized wooden posts. Onimaru's attire was the same, but Aki and Nanami had chosen more field practical outfits this time. Aki wore a red tank t-shirt, cut off jean short shorts and black ninja sandals, her equipment pouch on her left hip, while her kunai holster was secured to her right thigh, white bandages underneath to prevent chafing. Nanami, meanwhile, wore black pants that came down to just above her ankles, blue sandals and a short sleeved black shirt with the phrase "If I wanted your opinion I would have read your entrails" in white on the back, equipment pouch on the back of her belt and a kunai holster strapped to both thighs. Soon after they arrived their Jounin sensei appeared behind them, nose once again buried in his copy of Teaching for Dummies.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're all punctual," he said idly, turning the page. "So, here are the details of the test." He walked over to the posts, setting two bento boxes in front of it and an alarm clock on top of it. "The objective is simple. You have till noon to secure one of two bells from my possession." He held them up for them to see before attaching them to his belt. "Those that get a bell pass and can have lunch, but those that don't get tied to one of these posts while the others eat in front of them." He looked up to make sure they were paying attention. "Questions?"
"There are only two bells…does that mean one of is going to fail?" Aki asked, not liking that prospect. Naruto nodded, smiling without warmth or humor.
"Very good, Aki-san," he praised her observation skills wryly. "One of you is most definitely going back to the academy, or all of you depending on how well you do." The book vanished behind his back. "Also, I suggest you come at me with the intent to kill or you shall never succeed in completing this test." He slapped the alarm clock on. "Begin!" He was mildly pleased when all three of them vanished. "Good, at least none of them are like I was at their age," he muttered, frowning as he thought back to those days. "Bah, whatever…now to wait for one of them to work up the courage to come after me."
0o0o0o0o0
Onimaru stared at the blond Jounin, the boy hidden in some foliage near where the Jounin was currently relaxing under a tree, reading his book again.
'Why did we get stuck with such a dork?' He thought to himself, drawing a kunai from the holster on his left hip. The man looked like his guard was down, but he had gained the rank of Jounin, a task that wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination. So how to attack? He decided to create a simple bunshin, hoping to use it to create a distraction. The fake Onimaru slipped out of hiding twenty feet away, a kunai in each hand.
"What is this?" Naruto asked the clone, having obviously noticed its presence. "Deciding to attack me head on? Not very bright of you, Onimaru-kun." The bunshin didn't reply, charging the Jounin head on while the real Onimaru made his way around behind the Jounin as the blond rose to meet the charge with obvious disdain. Now perched in the very tree that Naruto had just been sitting under, the boy watched as his bunshin swung at his target. The Jounin, of course, easily dodged the strike, making to counter. The simple bunshin, of course, went up in smoke at the barest touch. "Eh?"
'Now!' Onimaru shouted internally, leaping down at the blond with a kunai in each hand, stabbing downwards. He felt his blows connect, would later swear the blood that sprayed into his face had seemed so real, only to have the Naruto he had attacked to go up in smoke. "What?" He gasped, obviously stunned.
"That was pretty clever of you, Onimaru-kun, using the bunshin to distract me while you maneuvered to launch a sneak attack while I was off guard," the real Naruto complimented him, stepping around the same tree that he had seemed to be sitting under just moments ago. "I can see why you were in the top ten percentile of your graduating class, but you forgot one thing." The blond smiled chillingly. "I'm a Jounin and not likely to fall for such tricks."
"Shut it!" The genin snarled, pissed off by the man's condescending attitude, launching the kunai in his hands at him before starting a series of hand signs. Naruto, naturally, was able to avoid the attack, but Onimaru hadn't really counted on it connecting. "Doton: Iwa Kasui no Jutsu!" He spat, stomping the ground on the last word, causing a pointy, earthen projectile to launch itself at the Jounin's head. Even as Naruto dodged Onimaru was on the attack again, drawing another pair of kunai and turning into a dervish of slashes and kicks, hoping to put the blond off balance. The Jounin was able to either dodge or block each strike, using his book to slap aside a thrusting kunai before kicking the boy in the chest, launching him into the very same tree he had launched his attack from.
"Wow," the Jounin murmured as the genin struck it hard enough to be knocked out. "If his team mates are anything like him in terms of talent then this little test might just be interesting." He went to open his book, only to see the kunai he had deflected with it had slashed it nearly in half. "Well, at least he keeps his equipment in good shape." That said, he tossed the book aside and went on his way.
0o0o0o0o0
Nanami had watched the entire confrontation, mildly impressed by her male team mate…very mildly. She started tailing the Jounin assigned as their sensei, moving with nary a sound, moving from tree to tree, careful to avoid any fallen branches or clumps of thick brush, not wanting alert her target. She prepared a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it, waiting till he was near another tree before throwing it, the blade embedding itself into the wood, the tag hissing loudly.
"Gah!" Naruto cried out as the tag exploded, splinters of wood flying in all directions, like an overly large fragmentation grenade on steroids. Nanami waited, knowing the Jounin hadn't truly been caught in the blast. "Well, I'm glad you guys are coming at me like you want to kill me," he said from above her, hanging down from a limb above her head. "Shows that you're committed to passing this." Nanami smirked.
"Bang," she whispered, jumping away from the tree, revealing another explosive tag stuck to it. The following explosion ripped through the forest, the girl barely making it behind cover in time. She waited a few moments before coming out again, dusting herself off as she went, looking around for some sign of their sensei. A light cough from behind her let her know he had escaped the blast.
"I'm impressed so far…what else have you got?" He asked mildly, arms crossed over his chest as he waited. The girl cursed mentally, having hoped he would have been at least a little hurt by the last one. She made several hand signs with her back to him, gathering her chakra.
"Katon: Shouidon no Jutsu!" She exclaimed as she spun, expelling a burst of white flame from her mouth that rocketing towards the blond Jounin, engulfing him an explosion that rivaled the ones caused by the tags. She staggered afterwards, her chakra nearly drained by that one attack, peering into the smoke for some sign that her attack had done the job. It slowly cleared, revealing nothing but burnt forest. "What?! Where is he?!" She asked in frustration, showing more emotion than she had all day.
"Right here," a muffled voice replied from beneath her, a hand grabbing her left ankle and pulling her down into the ground up to her chin. Naruto appeared in front of her afterwards, dusting off his uniform. "That was quite impressive, but it cost you nearly all your chakra to use it, which is never good," he chided her, crouching down in front of her. "Don't feel too bad about it…you almost surprised me with that one." He patted her head before straitening and heading off. "Better luck next time!"
0o0o0o0o0
Aki was waiting in the clearing with the clock, lunches and posts, twiddling her thumbs in hope of staving off boredom. She had heard the explosions not too far off, seen the smoke, knowing that Naruto would most likely be along shortly. She had everything all set, so now she just needed to be patient. Sure enough, not ten minutes went by and the Jounin came strolling casually into the clearing, whistling some jaunty tune noisily.
"Hello, sensei," she greeted him politely, giving a short wave and a smile. The blond stopped, looking around a bit before starting towards her.
"Not going to attack me, Aki-san?" He asked, sounding disbelieving. "I mean, you do need a bell in order to pass." She nodded.
"I know that, sensei, but you're a Jounin," she pointed out, hands clasped behind her back. "I mean, what chance does a newly graduated genin have of beating someone with your training?" She asked, then answered her own question. "None."
"So you're just not going to try?" He asked in turn, hands on his hips. "I must say I'm disappointed but…well, it's your decision to fail, after all." The blond then made to move past her, only to find he had just tripped a metal wire hidden in the grass. "Eh?" Aki suddenly hit the deck, just as a barrage of shuriken came flying out of the tree line at them both. Naruto made a wet, gurgling sound, blood bubbling past his lips, his chest and stomach riddled with the deadly projectiles…then he exploded into smoke, leaving a heavily abused log in his place.
"Damn, a substitution," she muttered, staying low as she searched for him with her eyes. "Where did he go?" Her question was answered by a sharp whistle to her left. The Jounin stood there, grinning from ear to ear.
"Wow, you guys sure are vicious," he admitted cheerfully, chuckling afterwards. "That was pretty good, luring me in like that by making me think you had given up."
"It would have been better had it worked," she said sullenly, getting back to her feet. "Guess I go with plan B." Naruto tilted his head to the side slightly.
"Plan B?" He asked, sounding curious. "What's plan B, then?" She grinned at his question.
"Just this." She hurled a kunai at a spot to the Jounin's left, cutting another wire hidden there.
"Crap!" He exclaimed, barely avoiding a long, wooden spear that came flying at him from behind. "Well, do you have a plan…C?" He stared in shock as he saw that Aki had just been impaled by her own trap, the girl on her knees, the spear through her stomach.
"Ugh," she gasped, blood leaking out of her mouth. "S-sensei…" She trailed off, collapsing onto her side.
"Oh, shit, baa-chan is gonna kill me!" Naruto exclaimed, going over to check her out. Then she went poof, leaving only the spear in her place. "What?!"
"Fuuton: Daikama no Jutsu!" Aki cried from her hiding place, a small, sharp plain of air shooting out at the blond man at high speed. Naruto managed to roll out of its path in time, a slight jingle signaling that a bell had been cut from his belt. "Yes!" The girl exclaimed, diving for it…only to find herself suddenly pinned to the ground by the Jounin she had very nearly tricked.
"That was by far the most impressive deception I've seen a genin use," he told her truthfully, taking the bell up from where it had fallen. "Shame it didn't work." Then he was gone in a swirl of leaves and smoke. Aki thumped the back of her head against the ground in frustration.
"Damn."
A/N: so there's the new first chapter, hope you all like it. As always, review, and if you have something negative to say at least let it have some relation to a mistake in the story. If you don't like it don't waste either my or your own time by writing a pointless flame. Have a nice day!
Jutsu List:
Doton: Iwa Kasui no Jutsu (Earth Release: Rock Spike Technique)
Katon: Shouidon no Jutsu (Fire Release: Firebomb Technique)
Fuuton: Daikama no Jutsu (Wind Release: Scythe Technique)
