Oh hi. New chapter already? Well, most of it was already done, so here it is. Whee!
The three newly christened Genin stared at their self proclaimed sensei with a mixture of shock, disbelief, utter confusion (and, in one case, a searing sensation in her chest of which she could not truly discern what it was). Sasuke and Sakura would have called bullshit, were it not for the fact that he was wearing a Jonin vest.
"... Well, you three sure are quiet," Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head in an amused manner.
"What are you doing here?!" Sakura yelled, as if in defiance of his earlier proclamation.
Naruto simply chuckled. "Nice to see you too, Sakura," he shook his head a bit at the actions of his former crush. Sakura, for her part, was too bewildered to hit him, or even respond.
Instead, the three of them simply stood there in shock, so many questions running through their heads, yet none running through their mouths.
Naruto shook his head. "Training Field 16, ten minutes. Or else."
With that, he vanished in a flash of leaves, leaving his three supposed genin completely and utterly oblivious. For a second, they considered not listening to this absurd request, but they knew it would be unwise to ignore the wishes of someone wearing a Jonin vest. Thus, considering how long they had been waiting anyway, they all decided to do as he said and go to the training field.
… Though it would seem they would have some cargo, as Hinata just fainted.
Naruto waited patiently, hoping his new genins would not have inherited his own lateness. He still found it hard to believe he was already a Jonin sensei, and had his former classmates as students. And one of them was Sasuke, for pete's sake! He could only hope he could help him with his darkness… for his sake.
Finally, with nine minutes and forty two seconds on the clock, he saw his team walking toward him. Well, two of them were, as the Uchiha Heir was carrying the Hyuga heiress over his shoulder while muttering about "Useless women". Whether he meant the fainted girl he was carrying or the girl who was doing nothing to help him, Naruto could not say.
"Well, I see you're… er, all here…" Naruto declared, motioning toward the unconscious Hinata.
"Cut the crap, Naruto," Sasuke snapped,"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked aggressively, unceremoniously dropping Hinata to the ground.
However, before she could hit the ground, they found her being cradled by a pissed off looking Naruto. "Hey, don't treat your teammates like that!" he snapped, glaring at Sasuke.
Sasuke and Sakura, however, simply stared at him in shock. "H-how did you…?" Sakura stuttered, completely floored by such speed.
"I'm a Jonin, remember?" Naruto reminded them, before gently placing Hinata on the ground. "Now, would you mind telling me why she's passed out?"
Upon hearing this, Sasuke once more began to shake in rage. Well, shook as much as he could. "What? Why don't you tell me why you've appeared all of a sudden? And why you're telling us that you're our Sensei?"
Naruto sighed. "Because I am your Sensei. And I'd appreciate it if you don't talk like that to me."
Sasuke grunted in frustration, a sensation that was quite unfamiliar to him. Sakura, meanwhile, did find it hard to believe that someone their age was their Sensei, and that it was Naruto to boot! However, she was pragmatic, and knew that it would be best to not anger their supposed Sensei.
"So, uh, Naruto… er, Sensei…" Sakura said, still finding it hard to say these words. "What exactly was it you planned for us to do…?"
Naruto smiled as he turned to his former crush, still carrying the unconscious Hinata in his arms. "Oh, I didn't expect you to come to terms with me being your Sensei so quickly."
Sakura gritted her teeth, as she had not in fact come to terms with this fact. She merely knew that she had no choice in the matter.
Regardless, Naruto continued on without waiting for her response. "For now, I suppose we just have to wait for your teammate to wake up."
Luckily for them, he began to feel her twitching in his arms. He looked down at her her, eagerly awaiting her awakening so they could finally get started.
It had been quite a while since Hinata had had one of her fainting episodes, and it took her a while to return to the land of the living. She found this to be hard, as pleasant dreams of Naruto finally returning and bringing some sun to her cold, depressing life filled her head… but she knew that this would have been just a dream. Just like all of the other ones. But this one was more cruel, as it had had him having achieved his dreams and being her Sensei. Truly a cruel and twisted dream.
However as she began to open her eyes, she stared into a pair of blue depth and a dreamy smile marked by unforgettable whisker marks…
In a flash almost invisible to him, Naruto found the girl in his arms leaped out of his arms and facing anywhere but his direction. He didn't see it, but he knew she was blushing heavily.
"Um… anyway…" Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head confusedly. "Let's begin then."
Both Sasuke and Sakura awaited eagerly to see just what their supposed Sensei had to say, while Hinata was taking deep breaths a short distance away.
"Well… Okay, what should I do first…"
The two self aware genin to be would have faceplanted at this, were such a thing possible. Instead, they just stared at him incredulously.
"Haha, I'm only kidding," Naruto chuckled, before rubbing his hands together. "Okay! So, first up, introductions, introductions… Hey, Hinata! Get over here!"
Hinata eeped at the sound of her name, but she nonetheless found the courage to join the other preteens, red faced though she was. She stood a few feet away from the others as Naruto looked down- well, up- at his squad to be.
"Alright, so we are Team Seven," he declared. "So, as a team, I think it's important we get to know each other a bit better. "I'll start and give you an example. As you know, I am Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen, training, and going on missions. Next, uh, you, Sasuke."
Sasuke flinched his eyes at Naruto's blatant refusal to account for the obvious. In anger, he decided to speak up. "Alright, Naruto," he said, crossing his arms in defiance. "If you really are supposed to be our Sensei, you're going to have to give us a good-"
He wasn't able to finish his statement, as he was sent flying faster than he could could see toward a tree. Sakura and Hinata gaped in shock, staring back and forth from Naruto to Sasuke, neither of them having been able to see Naruto move at all. Finally, Sakura realized what just happened, and ran racing toward Sasuke and shouting his name, having seemingly forgotten about her earlier predicament, at least for the moment.
Sasuke brushed her aside as he got back up, a look of annoyance on his face. Grunting, he walked back over to Naruto, Sakura right behind him. Despite his anger, he knew better than to argue against him again.
Sakura, however, had no such restraint. "Hey! What the hell! Why did you punch Sasuke out of nowhere like that!"
Naruto, however, simply looked nonchalant as he cleaned his ears with his pinkie. "Hey, he wanted a demonstration of why I'm your Sensei, and I gave it to him."
"B-but… to punch him out of nowhere…"
"Is nothing compared to what a real ninja has to face," Naruto stated blankly, before clapping his hands together. "Alright! So, back to introductions. Sasuke, if you would?"
Sasuke looked incredulously at him, still seething in embarrassment at that act of humiliation. Regardless, he took a moment to compose himself before deciding to answer. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I intend to be the best ninja I can be in order to achieve a very specific goal." He didn't seem interested in divulging more than that.
'Oh, so cool!' Sakura squealed to herself, her fangirlish instincts coming to the forefront once more.
Naruto coughed. "Um, alright then. Sakura, you go."
Sakura was still fangirling over Sasuke, however, and Naruto saw he wouldn't get a sighed.
"Um, ok. Hinata, you go."
Hinata eeped at the mention of her name, blushing at her new Sensei as she struggled to think of words. "Well… I'm… Hinata… I… I want to… be the best ninja I can be…" She looked downcast as she found it impossible to say anything more.
Naruto shook his head. 'Sasuke's an emo wreck, Sakura's still a fangirl, and Hinata can barely string two words together. I really should fail them all on the spot… But I can't afford to fail Sasuke...'
"Well, I guess that's it, then," Naruto said, clapping his hands together. "We are now officially Team Seven!"
Sakura raised her eyes in confusion. "Is that it? Shouldn't you… I don't know, test us or something?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well, to be honest, there's no point testing you right now. All three of you obviously suck at being ninjas."
Hinata looked downcast at this statement, while Sasuke and Sakura were seething in rage. "What did you say?" Sakura snapped at him.
"Exactly what I said," Naruto shook his head, adopting a lecturing position. "Sakura, you have book smarts, no doubt about that. But honestly, that's the least important part of being a shinobi. It's what you can do on the field that's important. But then again, that's something we can work on. what's really a problem is your obsession with Sasuke. I'm going to tell you this right now: If you want to be a ninja, then you need to wake up, because this life isn't a fairy tale."
Sakura maintained her look of anger, but seemed to have calmed down a bit. It would seem that, at the very least, some of those words got through to her. Naruto allowed himself a moment of relief before moving on to Sasuke. "As for you, Sasuke. You push everyone else out and insist that you can do everything alone. I've seen first hand people dying because they won't accept their comrades help."
Sasuke seemed unmoved. 'Of course,' Naruto sighed, before turning to face Hinata. "As for you, Hinata… You have issues with your self esteem. Doubting yourself on the battlefield is a mistake that can lead to death."
Hinata looked even more downcast at this statement, and Naruto frowned. He would really need to work on that with her.
"But, if that's how you feel," Sakura said in confusion. "Then why are you passing us?"
"Mostly cause I don't get a choice," Naruto said candidly, shrugging his shoulders. His students looked confused at this statement, but he didn't give him time to respond. "Alright, meet me here at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning!" With that, he vanished in a flash of leaves, leaving his students alone.
"Well, that was… interesting," Sakura commented dryly, still unsure that what had just transpired actually happened.
"Hn," Sasuke grunted, before storming away. He had some very heavy brooding to do after today.
At ffirst, Sakura was about to run after him. However, what he said earlier that day made her reconsider. Her gaze shifted to her fellow female teammate and supposed dead weight. Maybe, if Naruto was their Sensei, then maybe…
She shook off that thought, before running home herself. She had some very serious thinking to do.
Hinata simply stared at the place where Naruto had vanished, still amazed at what had jsut happened. 'N-Naruto… I always knew you'd be a great ninja...' she thought, allowing the joy in him achieving his dream to brighten her mood. 'I'm so happy… I can see you again...' Her face blushed bright red, as she fantasized about what might happen now that the sun had returned to her life.
Naruto stretched as he reentered his apartment, thinking back at the day. It was an odd day, but he honestly expected it to be. He was mostly just disappointed that, in the two years since he last saw them, their problems had simply multiplied.
After he reached into his refrigerator to pull out some milk, he closed it, only to find his silver haired guardian staring at him with his one visible eye, a smile visible even through his mask.
"You really unloaded a basket full of problems on me, Kakashi," Naruto chuckled, not even bothering to act surprised at his sudden appearance.
"Oh, they can't be that bad, can they?" Kakashi said, smiling at the boy.
Naruto shook his head as he poured himself a glass of milk. "Sasuke's a prick, Sakura's a fangirl, and Hinata's a nervous wreck. You really lucked out big time," he said, chuckling.
"Not really. I do have a reconnaissance mission to go on. Might run into some Mist Shinobi. Very dangerous," Kakashi said, as if it was just another day in the world. Which it was, really.
"Sounds fun," Naruto said, shaking his head.
Kakashi frowned a tad, not that Naruto could see. "I would have thought you'd be happy to be with kids your own age again. Besides, don't you have a crush on that Sakura girl, anyway?"
Naruto seemed to wince a bit. "Yeah, maybe before, but I'm past that. Besides," he said, with a hint of a smirk. "Training with two perverts has made me more… appreciative of the proper female figure."
"So you're saying she doesn't have big enough breasts for you," Kakashi said blankly.
Naruto sighed, not even bothering to argue. "A bit, I guess," he shrugged, finally taking a drink of his glass of milk. "Besides, they're my students now. Can't really form relationships with them, even if I wanted to."
"That may be true," Kakashi drolled on. "But you are their age,so it wouldn't really be that big a deal…"
Naruto rolled his eyes. Sometimes, there was no arguing with that man.
Seeing that interfering with the young man's love life wasn't going to happen, Kakashi decided to talk about the one person on his team Naruto would certainly ahve no interest in. "How about Sasuke? How's he doing?"
"Like I said, still a total prick," Naruto grunted. "Honestly, he shouldn't be a ninja. None of them should. But, whether I like it or not, I have to make sure I help Sasuke the best I can."
"Because the elders want you to?" Kakashi asked.
"No," Naruto vehemently denied. "Because I made a promise."
Nodding in approval, Kakashi turned around. "Well, it's been fun, but I best be off. That mission, remember."
Naruto nodded before finishing off his cup. "Take care, Cyclops."
"You too, whiskers," Kakashi nodded, before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.
Naruto shook his head before going to grab a cup of instant ramen. 'Well, hopefully this team can at the very least improve… Guess I'l need to wait and see.'
