Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 2
Naruto sat in front of the old man's office and mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do. Over the years, his jiji had slowly gotten immune to his prompting and acting. While he found that he could get Iruka to practically do anything, the old kage seemed to have figured out his game.
It was times like this when he had wished it worked again. While he did love pranking those who had it coming, the repercussions were a lot easier before the leader of the village figured out his manipulation tactics.
He mentally went through the situation ahead and planned the possible reactions the Sandaime could have. While all the plans seemed to have the same outcome, he decided to go with a classic. He quietly waited for the secretary to allow him to come in.
When he was given the "go ahead," he welled up his tear ducts and entered the office bawling. He had to resist the urge to smirk at the shocked and worried expression on his grandfather's face. He sniffled and wiped his nose. When he made sure he had the needed attention, he slowly walked to the couch and sat down.
He looked up at the Hokage with glassy eyes, "You wanted to see me?" he sniffled.
Hiruzen smiled warmly, "What's wrong?" he asked. "Does this have something to do with the prank you did earlier?"
Naruto wiped his nose again, "They said I could never be a ninja," he paused before looking down and adding quietly, "I didn't want to believe them."
The old man just looked down, his smile remaining constant, "and you expect me to believe that?" he sat back up and lit his pipe, as the blonde looked around nervously, he merely chuckled, "If it was that easy to make you doubt yourself, you would have quit long ago."
The Uzumaki lowered his head in shame. He knew he was caught, "Damn," he swore quietly. He looked back up, all traces of sorrow gone from his expression, "What did you want to see me about?"
Hiruzen couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped his lips at the boy's sudden change, "While I don't approve of the prank you pulled, I think that I should leave the punishment to Iruka," ignoring the horrified expression on the blonde, he continued, "As for why I have called you here, I have something that I need to share with you…"
He trailed off, as if he was trying to find the right words to phrase whet he was trying to say. Finally, he sighed, activating some privacy seals, he took another drag from his pipe and opened with a question, "Naruto, what can you tell me about Kyuubi no Kitsune?"
"The Nine-tails fox attacked Konoha about twelve years ago and nearly destroyed the village before the Yondaime Hokage killed it." Naruto said, his tone of voice showing a mixture of confusion at being asked such a random question.
Hiruzen sighed, "Not quite," he paused, "He was able to defeat Kyuubi. Not kill it."
The blonde frowned. "Then..."
"The history that is taught the shinobi academy and civilian schools has been changed for several purposes. The end result is the same though; a demon was defeated at the cost of a well-loved Hokage. The truth is much more complicated. In reality, the Kyuubi was not a life form that could be truly killed. Thus the Yondaime devised a different method of dealing with the demon.
He created a seal capable of sealing the fox away. However, due to the fox's immense power, he couldn't simply seal it into an urn, like Kumogakure had done theirs. He needed something that was alive. He needed something that had a chakra system, one that was not yet mature and would grow to adapt to the Kyuubi." he gave the blonde a pointed look, "Naruto, do you understand what I'm telling you, and more importantly, why?"
Naruto frowned, his mind piecing together the hints that were given. Something with chakra; that would be a person then? Not yet mature probably meant someone recently born. But what did that have to do with him?
Suddenly, the truth hit him and he started to tremble. If the fox was sealed into a newborn and he was the only one born on that day, then the connection wasn't that hard to make. If he had a demon sealed inside of him, was there a chance of him losing it and having the fox kill everyone?
Sensing his distress, the old man held up a hand, "Now don't worry, the Yondaime was a seals master, so there it is highly unlikely that the Kyuubi would be able to get out."
Naruto was glad for the reassurance, so he gave an awkward smile in thanks, but had to resist the urge to shake his head, "Wait," he said, I thought you said my chakra system was destroyed the day I was born! If that's true, then how did it get sealed in me?"
Sarutobi looked around as if bothered. Naruto almost thought he wasn't going to get an answer, but the old man interrupted, "There was a malfunction with the seal. A man tampered with it and it ruined your chakra system. That is why you still have chakra, but not enough to fully utilize it."
"Oh," he responded awkwardly. A long silence fell over the two.
After some time, the third took another drag and leaned forward, "Now, I talked to the council again about letting you be a shinobi.
Naruto nodded, happy for the subject change.
Sarutobi smiled, "It looks like they finally gave in." The hyperactive teen resisted to dance around the room, but instead waited for the old man to continue, "With reassurance from Hayate, Gai, and Inoichi, you were put in a good enough light to give you a chance."
Naruto frowned, "But the academy has already held graduation. How am I going to be able to be on a team?"
Sarutobi brightened, "You're in luck!" he smiled, "due to the uneven number of academy students, there was a team that was short on member," he reached into his desk and pulled out a slip of paper that he handed to the curious blonde, "The information is on the paper; meet your sensei and teammates then and there tomorrow morning."
The blonde preteen jumped up and gave a brilliant smile, "Thanks, old man!" He waved and ran out of the building, headed straight toward the usual training ground. As he approached, he couldn't help but shudder at the killing intent that seemed to be directed at him.
He quickly whipped around and came face to face with one of the chūnin from his earlier "escapade." He chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head, "What's up?" he asked.
His greeting seemed to be enough to snap the angry ninja out of his rage induced stupor and he was barely able to avoid a punch aimed directly at him. He danced back, avoiding each sloppy swing as the chūnin roared in protest.
He quickly turned around and made a break for it. He reached up and grabbed a ninja wire and yanked it as he was passing. He was satisfied when he heard the splash that came from where the chūnin fell through the trapdoor into the hole full of paint.
He walked over to it and looked down at the fuming shinobi, clicking his teeth and shaking his head, "That wasn't very professional," he scolded.
The chūnin responded by lifting his finger into the universal sign for not "I love you."
Naruto ran away laughing until he found the object of his search. His green clad friend was in a nearby training ground, beating up a stump. He looked down at the splintered mess and whistled, "Be sure to remind me to never do whatever it is that log did." He said.
Lee jumped and turned around, "Hello," he said, "I did not see you there. How did the talk with the Hokage go?"
Naruto tried to hide his look of discomfort by shrugging, "meh," he said, "More importantly, what's wrong?" he pointed to the splintered mess that was left of the log, "or should I assume that that log really had that coming?"
Lee chuckled, "In truth, I was just a little upset by Neji's harping. He seems to have taken a liking to trying to discourage me," he gave a nice-guy pose, "However; I will not be taken down so easily!" he went back to massacring the stump.
Naruto sighed and put his hand on his friend's shoulder, "Don't listen to him," he said, "You know as well as I that Neji's full of hot air. Just give him some time; you'll get to him soon."
Lee sighed, smiling at the blonde, "Thanks," he said, "I really needed that," he paused, "But I doubt that the reason you came to me was to comfort me for something you just heard."
Naruto brightened, "Oh yeah!" he said; "The old man said that I could finally join a genin team!" he beamed.
"That is great!" Lee said, adding another nice-guy pose, "Now you are only a year behind me!" he paused, giving a hopeful look, "we'll still be able to spar now and then, right?"
Naruto scoffed and waved his concern off, "of course," he said, "I mean, it wouldn't be as satisfying if I was unable to still combat the genius of hard work."
Lee blushed and Naruto barked out a loud laugh.
They jumped back and began their next spar, laughing as they went.
XxOxX
Naruto woke up the next morning barely able to contain his excitement. Imagine, him, Uzumaki Naruto, finally a genin of Konohagakure no Sato. He jumped up and threw on his beloved orange jumpsuit and ran downstairs.
Iruka smiled and waved at him as he left. He would have stopped for breakfast, but he was too excited and he couldn't wait for his genin test. He reached the training ground to find two other kids waiting for him.
The girl was pretty. She had long pink hair that was cut off at her shoulder blades. Her Hitai-ate was tied up as a headband that kept her bangs away from her admittedly large forehead. She had green eyes and a pink dress. Her whole demeanor just screamed "civilian," but he was not one to underestimate his opponents, so he decided to give her the benefit of a doubt. He would have to measure her skills later.
The boy seemed opposite to her in every way. Where she gave off an air of happiness and innocents, he seemed dark and oppressive, if not scary. He had black hair and obsidian eyes. He had his Hitai-ate tied as a headband. His shirt was blue with a red and white fan insignia on the back. As Naruto walked towards them, the boy seemed to examine his white shorts in an attempt to avoid socializing.
"Hello!" he said, waving.
The girl perked up at seeing him, "Oh, hello!" she chirped, "Are you the one that Kakashi-sensei told us about?" she asked.
Naruto frowned. He did remember reading about a Hatake Kakashi as the instructor, but just to make sure, he said, "I'm supposed to be your new team member."
The girl smiled and tilted her head cutely, "I'm Haruno Sakura. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Naruto nodded his head I acceptance, "I am Uzumaki Naruto, and I look forward to working with you."
"What can you do to contribute?" the boy interrupted in a tone bordering on rude.
Naruto rolled his eyes, "Jeeze, teme, why not let me get settled in before interrogating me?
The boy huffed and the girl looked livid, "Naruto!" she yelled, "Don't be mean to Sasuke-kun!" She huddled over by him and began to fawn over him.
So much for a benefit of a doubt. Damn fan girls. He ignored her and turned to Sasuke, "Nice to meet you Sasuke-kun." He said, stressing the title.
He grunted in response.
Naruto looked around, "Hey, where's our sensei? I was told 8:00 was the meeting time and its 8:30 now."
Sakura turned to him and shrugged, "Maybe he's a little late?" she supplied.
Naruto sighed and walked over to the tree. He turned to talk to the others, but they seemed so preoccupied with each other (Sakura fawning over Sasuke and Sasuke ignoring her) that he just decided to take a nap. They'd wake him up when it was time for the test.
END
Thanks for the story alerts, favorites, reviews, ect. Really. I wasn't too sure about the story at first, but I guess it's not COMPLETELY bad. I guess this chapter didn't get to the action like I originally planned, but I realized more back story was required. I'm not sure if you noticed or not, but I suck at writing fight scenes, so if there is someone out there willing to write them for me, (ha! Stolen fight scenes too!) it would be helpful. Also, I was given a requirement that I was not supposed to bash characters, so if suggestions are sent in, that cannot be included. *koff* again *koff*
Anywho…Read and review.
