Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and only use it for entertainment purposes.
It was the day after the Academy Graduation and the everywhere Konoha was getting ready for the day. At the Hyuuga compound Naruto approached the Dinning Room at the Clan Head's residence. A couple of years ago Hiashi had invited his brother and his brother's family to dine with his family, it was just one more step in Hiashi had been using to mend the rift between the two Houses. Naruto being Hizashi's ward was also invited to join them. It was known among just about every member of the Hyuuga Clan that the twins held the Kyuubi Container in high regard for what he did when he was a young child. As such he was treated with respect with in the Hyuuga Compound, except for the Elders that is, outside the Compound was a different matter however as most of the Village were like the Elders of the Hyuuga Clan and still thought of him as the demon that caused so much destruction and loss. As he entered he took note that Hinata and Hanabi were already there and waiting for everyone else to show up, "Good morning Hinata, Hanabi," Naruto greeted.
"Hello Naruto-kun," Hinata responded. "Outosan (Father) and Hizashi-ojisan (uncle) should be joining us soon. Outosan is watching Hizashi-ojisan spar with Neji-niisan (brother) to see how he has improved in the last few weeks."
Naruto nodded as he took his place near the end of the table. As soon as he was seated the three people that were absent until now came into the room and took their places. Once they were settled the servants entered and placed food on the table and the meal began. The meal was ate in silence and when finished was carried off by the servants. With the table cleared conversation began with Hiashi stating, "Your progress is coming along quite well Neji. A bit more control and you should be ready to learn Kaiten."
"I look forward to it Hiashi-sama," Neji replied.
"Who do you think will be on your team Onesan?" Hanabi asked.
"I am not sure," Hinata answered honestly. "The teams are balanced so it could be just about anyone I suppose. Well expect for Uchiha Sasuke, we were too close in over all score so I doubt we will be on the same team."
"A fare assessment," Hizashi commented. "Even if your scores were further off they would not put you on the same team."
"Why do you say that Hizashi-sama?" Naruto asked.
"Konoha has never put the it's most powerful Bloodlines on the same Gennin team," Hiashi answered. "Having both the Byakugan and the Sharingan on the same Gennin team would make the team unbalanced compared to the others."
There was a knock at the door and one of the servants from earlier entered the room, "Hiashi-sama, it is almost time for Hinata-sama to leave for the Academy."
Hiashi nodded and the servant left. "You should go and prepare yourself Hinata," Hiashi said to his eldest daughter.
"Yes Outosan," Hinata stood and left the room.
"And you should also leave as well Naruto," Hiashi suggested. "The Hokage will wish to speak with you on how you will be doing Missions." Naruto nodded and left the room as well.
An hour later Hinata walked calmly into the classroom and noticed that the only other person that had arrived was Uchiha Sasuke. Not bothering to greet the Rookie of the Year, because she knew he would ignore her just like everyone else, Hinata took her seat to wait for the rest of the Graduates to show up. Not more than fifteen minutes later most of the class had arrived with every other girl greeting Sasuke, which he ignored. The last person to arrive was Nara Shikamaru. No one was surprised at this simply because he was the laziest person in the Village. Umino Iruka arrived, who arrived just before Shikamaru, called for everyone to quite down and listen to the announcement of the teams. Quickly everyone in the room directed their attention to the Chunin as he began, "Today you will all be divided among teams of three. We have set the teams up so that no one team will be more powerful than another," at this Iruka was interrupted by various groans and complaints about how unfair it was. Hinata was one of only two people, the other being Sasuke, that did not make a comment because she had been informed of balancing the Gennin Teams long ago. "Quite!" Iruka shouted over the complaints silencing the class, "As I was saying you will be on teams that are balanced in strength. Now pay attention as I call out your teams."
For the next few minutes there was various groans and a few cheers as the names were called. The groans were mostly by various girls, as they were not put on the same team as Sasuke. "Team Seven; Uchiha Sasuke," every girl in the room became quite, either in anticipation or to hear which person they would focus their jealousy on. "Haruna Sakura," all the girls stared banefully as Sakura cheered at her apparent victory, "And Nara Shikamaru." Shikamaru did not make any kind of comment simply because it would require too much effort to say anything.
Iruka moved on before any more interruptions made themselves known. "Team Eight; Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji and Arubame Shino." The only reaction out of the three called was Ino shuddering at the thought of Shino's bugs. "There is still a Gennin Team with the designation Team Nine so the next team will be Team 10; Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Gin Noa." After the names were called Iruka closed his notebook and then gave out his final instructions, "Report back here after lunch to meet your Jounin Sensei. Until then you are free to do as you wish."
Lunch was rather uneventful for Hinata. She already knew her teammates rather well from her observations she made through the years, even though they never really knew. She had become quite adept at watching people with her Byakugan. She had begun to watch people around the classroom as a way to develop her blood limit when she was younger. At this point she still did not have the range as her elder cousin but she was getting close to 350 degrees at this point.
Out of curiosity of what everyone was doing Hinata activated her eyes and began to search the others around her. The first person she spotted was Sasuke who was avoiding every girl because every girl, except her, was searching for him to give him a lunch. The next two people she saw were Ino and Sakura who had at this point started to argue over who would feed Sasuke first. After that she scanned away from the building and saw her new teammate Kiba apparently yelling at Shino because Shino was collecting some bugs off the puppy. Finally after a few more searches she found her last teammate Noa working hard on his Kawarimi, his known worst skill. Hinata knew that Noa was not the most skilled of the recent graduates but he worked hard nonetheless. That aspect somewhat reminded her of Neji's teammate Rock Lee, so she gave Noa the benefit of the doubt that he might be a good shinobi in the future.
Thinking about people doing hard training made her think of Naruto. With the two seals on his body he had to train exceptionally hard to control his chakra. In her opinion that was why he picked Impact to begin with. The style was developed by a Konoha shinobi during the Nidaime's time as Hokage. It was a combination of Jyuken (Gentle Fist) and Gouken (Iron Fist), using charka to deal internal and external damage. Even though the internal damage could not penetrate nearly as far or had the accuracy of Jyuken and did not have the sheer speed of Gouken it was still a devastating fighting style. She still remembered the day when Naruto was able to perform the first chakra enhanced strike…
Hinata, looking about nine years old, was watching Naruto stand before a stack of bricks with Hizashi and her cousin Neji looking on. Naruto was in deep concentration focusing his charka into his fist. When he felt he had enough Naruto struck the top the brick shattering and continued through too the third one shattering it along with the second. It was within the blink of an eye that the fifth brick shattered leaving the forth only cracked in the center. This was the base principle of Impact style, for when it was used on a person or free standing object would produce enough force to send them flying several meters and if the strike missed and hit wall or the ground it would produce a small focused impact crater, thus giving the style the name.
Naruto with a broad smile on his face looked towards the Head of the Branch House, "I did it!" he proclaimed proudly. "It happened just like the scroll said it would."
"Very impressive Naruto," Hizashi said. "But that is merely the first step in learning your Taijutsu style. Now you must learn to do it when fighting and with your other hand and feet as well." Hizashi then stood and motioned for Naruto to follow, "Now you must get cleaned up lunch will start soon." Naruto nodded and followed him and Neji into the Branch House Section of the Compound.
After the two left, Hinata gave a small smile at Naruto's accomplishments, "Good job Naruto-kun."
Hinata brought herself out of her memories, as it was time for the new Gennin to meet their Jounin-senseis. When she arrived at the classroom there were already two or three people there. After taking her seat she waited for everyone to show up including the Jounins. A couple of minutes passed and a woman with long dark hair and red eyes entered the class room, "I am Yuuhi Kurenai and I am here to pick up Team 10. Please follow me." Hinata, Kiba and Noa then stood and followed the female Jounin out of the classroom.
The newly formed team 10 exited the Academy building and made a short walk across the street to a small restaurant. When they arrived Kurenai was the first to speak, "Ok first we'll get to know each other a little better. I'll start first, my name is Yuuhi Kurenai and I'm a new Jounin that specializes in Genjutsu. I like to read and the forests around the village. I hate perverted shinobi that are always late and my dream is to get Icha Icha Paradise banned from the world." The three Gennins exchanged an odd look wondering what Icha Icha Paradise was. "Now lets here about all of you. The Hyuuga can go first."
"I am Hyuuga Hinata, I specialize in my family Taijutsu style Jyuken. I like my immediate family and closest friend Naruto. I hate the people who don't give others a chance to prove themselves and certain seals. My dream is lead my Clan with honor and compassion"
"So she's friends with the Container," Kurenai thought, "I wonder if she knows?" "Ok the Inuzuka can go next."
"I'm Inuzuka Kiba," Kiba replied brashly. "I like dogs especially Akamaru here," Kiba indicated to the puppy on his head. "What I hate are bugs that get in Akamaru's fur and people that can control them. My dream is to beat every show off there is!"
"Well he's certainly passionate," Kurenai thought. "And finally Gin."
"I'm Gin Noa," Noa began. "I'm the first person in my family to be a shinobi. I like working at my parents' bookstore. But I dislike it when a certain kiss up sunglasses wearing Jounin comes in to the store and says selling adult books is wrong and then comes back in half an hour in a bad disguise to buy an entire stack of them. My dream is to make my family proud by being the first Shinobi of our family."
"Must be talking about Ebisu," Kurenai thought. "Well now that we've introduced ourselves I should tell you that tomorrow we're going to have an exercise to see which of you will be true Gennin."
"What?" Noa and Kiba yelled, Kiba more than Noa. Hinata knew this was coming after hearing a bit about it from Neji a year previously.
"Calm down and I'll explain," Kurenai said. Kiba and Noa complied, "The Gennin Exam was to see which of you would have the skill necessary to make it as a shinobi. What we're going to do tomorrow is the real test. Think of it as a practical exam. Now I'll warn you a head of time. The Exam has a sixty-six percent failure rate so of the twenty-seven that Graduated from the Academy only nine will become true Gennins. Those that don't pass will be sent back to the Academy. Meat me at training field 14 tomorrow at eight o'clock and bring everything you think you'll need." Kurenai then disappeared leaving the Gennin alone.
"This sucks," Kiba said. "Why the hell do we have to take another test?"
"Because Konoha only wants the best," Hinata answered. "And the best way to see which are the best is to have a practical exam to test the skills of the Graduates."
"I'm not too sure I'm going to do so well," Noa admitted. "I mean I really didn't do all that well at the Academy."
"It is not a matter of what you know, it's a matter of how well you perform," Hinata replied.
"You seem to know a lot about this Hinata," Kiba stated. "How do you know so much?"
"My elder cousin passed the Exam last year," Hinata answered.
"You got any pointers for us for tomorrow?" Noa asked.
"Not really," Hinata answered. "Each exam is up to the Jounin."
"So we should expect anything then," Noa concluded and Hinata nodded in confirmation.
"Well I'm going home to get ready for tomorrow I'll see you later," Kiba said waving while he left the restaurant.
While Hinata was meeting with her team and new Jounin-sensei Naruto reported to the Hokage's Office. When he arrived Naruto was told to wait as the Hokage was in an important meeting at the moment. Naruto had to wait almost an hour and then finally saw about a half dozen Jounins leaving the Hokage's Office. "Their probably the Jounin Sensei's. Must be going to the Academy," Naruto thought. "I wonder which one Hinata will get."
The Hokage followed the Jounins out and saw Naruto waiting by the door. After looking as if he was trying to find someone the Hokage gestured for Naruto to come inside. The two took a seat and got down to business, "Tomorrow after the teams are officially selected and the Rookie Nine are decided I'll start giving you missions. You won't have an official ranking as a shinobi but I'll list you as a resident Mercenary. To start off you probably will not get too many missions and they probably won't pay all that much. But I can assign you to assist some of the Gennin Teams in their missions and that should help you get more and better missions later."
"A lot of the citizens won't like me going on missions with the Gennin team Hokage-sama," Naruto stated. "All they have to do is refuse to allow me on their property and I won't be able to participate and thus not get paid."
"True," Sandaime agreed. "But you won't be doing those missions. You'll be helping those Gennin teams that take missions outside the village, though still relatively close. Those missions, even at D-Rank often need a little more help because of the distance needed to travel. After you complete a few D-Rank Missions so some of the Gennins can get to know your abilities I'll start assigning you to some C-Rank with some of the veteran Gennins."
"Sounds like a pretty good idea," Naruto said. "Though when you start giving me more than D-Rank missions you think you can start me off with Neji's team?"
"I don't suppose there would be a problem with that," the Hokage answered. "Gai is familiar with you as he's seen you spar with Neji in the past. Why do you request his team? Is it because your friends with Neji?"
"Well that is part of it," Naruto admitted. "Neji has been like a brother to me for years but that's not my only reason. Neji is currently ranked as the strongest Gennin in Konoha. If I do well on missions with him it will give me credit for people hiring me on my own. I know that a lot of people that request C-Rank missions ask for his team because of him and his teammates' strengths."
"I see you've put some thought into this," Sarutobi said. "Very well after you've completed some D-Rank missions and I feel you're ready for the responsibility of C-Rank I'll make your first mission with Gai's team." The old shinobi master stood up and went around his desk to Naruto, "It's good to see that you've developed a sharp mind as well as a strong body."
"With you, Hiashi-sama and Hizashi-sama as tutors how can I not have one?" Naruto asked with a smile.
The Hokage gave Naruto a hearty laugh in response. "I suppose so," he said. "Now you should head back I've still got some work to do."
"Ok Hokage-sama," Naruto said. "I'll see you tomorrow for any mission you might have for me." Naruto made his way to the door and just before he reached it opened and a Jounin wearing a facemask and his Hitai Ate coving one eye entered reading an orange book.
"Yo," the Jounin waved. "So which team am I getting this year?"
"Late as usual Kakashi," the Hokage stated flatly. Naruto seeing that this had nothing to do with him left the room. Just before the doors closed he heard, "You'll be in charge of Uchiha Sasuke, Haru…"
"So he's taking going to be teaching Uchiha," Naruto thought. "That must mean he's Copy Cat Kakashi that Hiashi-sama and Hizashi told me about. Guess it makes sense really, he is the only one that can teach him to use the Sharingan." Naruto then glanced at the clock, "Hhmmm, Hinata should have finished meeting with her team by now. Think I'll head back to the Compound then go get something to eat at Ichiruka later."
