Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on the Naruto world, created by Masashi Kishimoto. Except few of my own created characters like Hiro Utagawa all of the characters belong to Kishimoto. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story.

Readers are suggested to read the author's note at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 2: The (un)Remarkable Team Four

After waking up, Hiro realized he forgot to put one unimaginably crucial point inside the list. So he brought out the paper and wrote one single line:

8. Find an unerasable dye to color hair white.

Seriously, how can you be like Jiraiya if you don't have the signature white hair? Besides, his ninja registration id already had a white haired picture of himself. He haven't found an unerasable dye yet, so he had to apply a Transformation jutsu.

In fact, Hiro had decided to put on a Transformation for the whole day until he finds that unerasable white dye. It had a few added advantages.

For every shinobi few skills and qualities are extremely important, among them are the ability to regulate chakra in the most optimized way possible. In other words, a good chakra control.

Chakra control is a mental ability. Of course, according to the second law of chakra regulation by Kato Hyuga, it has an inverse relationship with physical chakra capacity. More chakra you have, harder it is to control. But there is a catch, after a specific level is passed the amount of chakra in your body doesn't actually have much effect on the ability to control it. Jonins for example has far more chakra than a genin, still they find it easier to cast a genjutsu.

There have been many researches on which traits actually effect chakra regulation performance, lots of theories has been given, none completely proven yet. Experiments have shown that calm and reserved people usually have better control. That's why clans whose techniques need a certain amount of refinement try to imprint certain traits over its members from childhood. Hyugas become stoic, Naras lazy, Aburames anti-social.

Iruka sensei only mentioned this briefly in class once, most people probably didn't even hear it. But Hiro always paid attention. That's why he started to become quiet.

Continuously using chakra also helps with control and even increases chakra capacity. A smart idea is to always keep performing a low level technique like tranformation jutsu, 0-grade genjutsu or elementary nature transformation. But few people do so as it requires extreme patience and focus. Among those who try these are people with below average chakra capacity, trying to become a medic-nin or specialize in genjutsu. According to rumors, princess Tsunade still follows this practice called 'Nintai Tsukau'. To use patience.

Hiro has already decided to focus on ninjutsu and fuinjutsu like Jiraiya, so he doesn't actually need to practice Nintai Tsukau. But he has to do it anyway to keep up the white hair.

So he made a hand sign, "Transformation Jutsu: Jiraiya's Hair." His hair turned white, and then he went to take breakfast.

Konomi raised an eyebrow seeing him, "Hiro, don't you think you are taking this too far? I get that you want to become like Jiraiya, but you don't actually need to change your appearance."

"I am not imitating Jiraiya Mama."

"Then what are you doing?"

"I am a devoted practitioner of Nintai Tsukau."

Konomi smacked her forehead in frustration. But Hiro's father was intrigued, "Aha, I see you have given your hair a new look."

Hiro sat down and took a bowl in hand, "Yes."

"That's very good.", said Kunisada Utagawa, "An artist must keep an open mind. If you want to try something new, you should do it. Don't worry about what other people might think. Remember Hiro, freedom can't be attained unless it is practiced."

Hiro liked his father. He was a creative person with very strong moral values. Artists like him are always busy with themselves and their work, still he always tried to find some time for his little boy to teach him how to draw. Where Hiro's mother gave him knowledge, his father gave wisdom.

If this world was ruled by art instead of strength, Kunisada Utagawa would be the kind of person to become Hokage.

Soon Hiro finished his meal and left for the academy. It wasn't a long walk from their house. Still, there were lots to see. Shinobi as well as civilians laughing together. Group of kids running around the village. People going to work. And on top of everything there were the stone faced hokages, with their no nonsense looks, as if trying to say, "We are watching you, don't try anything funny." Hiro likes to think they are saying, "Don't worry Hiro, we are watching over you."

It could be argued whether they were watching over Naruto though, because Hiro was welcomed with the scene of Naruto getting beaten up by a bunch of girls just as he entered the classroom. What a poor guy. "They shouldn't beat Naruto just because he came here even after failing to graduate."

The boy closest to the door heard Hiro, "Heh, Naruto graduated alright. Now don't ask me how. This girls are punishing him for stealing Sasuke's first kiss."

Hiro had his eyes bugged out, "Sorry, but I don't think I heard you right. You said Naruto stole Sasuke's first kiss."

The boy started laughing to himself, "No, you correctly understood me. Naruto accidently kissed Sasuke's lips. It was a riot!" Hiro couldn't find the courage to ask anything else and quickly took the first empty sit.

Iruka came in after a while and started giving his speech, "My precious students. As of today you all have become full-fledged ninjas. However, you are still a genin. The tough part is about to come. From here on, you will be in a three man squad and carry out your missions under you jonin teacher."

Some of the students looked confused. Hiro didn't know what was so surprising. It has always been a three man squad. In fact, the three shinobi squad rule was created by Tobirama Senju himself. Well, this information wasn't actually part of their curriculam, they were included in the extra reading materials. Still, everyone should have heard of hokage and the village elders, the three Sannins and Ino-Shika-Cho. Don't people pay attention in class?

Three is the smallest possible number of people that can be used to build a well-rounded shinobi team. Tobirama called it 'Two Okonomiyaki Team Rule' that teams shouldn't be larger than what two okonomiyaki can feed. Considering the jonin sensei the number was decided to be four, but actual combat squads consists of 3 ninja. The optimal triangle, it is called. For example, one common strategy is to have a taijutsu specialist, one ninjutsu specialist and one genjustu specialist. It can be two active fighters along with a fast medic-nin. There are exceptions though. For example, barrier teams may consist of four to five members.

Iruka continued, "Groups have been determined so that the strength of the groups will be balanced. Now I am going to announce the teams. Now for the assignments!"

Iruka sensei announced first two teams. Apparently there is already a team three, so no squad was given that number. That's strange, Hiro thought. Why is there a team three if there isn't a team one or two? Highly suspicious.

Iruka said, "Okay then, group four. Saito Takayasu, Hiro Utagawa and Asami Abe."

Hiro tried to find them in class. He knows Saito a little, but not enough. Asami belongs to the group who were beating up Naruto a while ago. There goes his dream of being paired with geniuses like Orochimaru and Tsunade.

Team five and six were announced. Hiro's neighbor Sasaki went to team six, along with two girls. Both of Sasaki's parents were civilians. Iruka said strength of the groups were going to be balanced. Sasaki's team, in fact none of the teams yet, seemed very impressive but he looked happy to be paired with two girls.

Iruka said, "Next is group 7. Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno." At this Naruto leapt for joy and Sakura looked utterly depressed. "And Sasuke Uchiha."

At this Sakura leapt for joy and Naruto looked utterly depressed.

Hiro was a little sad too. Truth is, he wouldn't mind being in the same team with Naruto or Sasuke. Sasuke because he was the genius of their class and a possible replacement of Orochimaru. That he wished to be in Naruto's team surprised even himself. All his childhood wishes to one day speak some kind words to the lonely boy probably never went away.

"Next is group 8. Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame." Why these three? Something is not right.

Team nine was also unavailable. "Group 10. Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi." The perfect Ino-Shika-Cho.

And suddenly Hiro understood.

Group 7 consists of Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto. Sasuke is the last loyal member of the Uchiha clan. Sakura didn't read as much as Hiro, but gave her time to the textbooks and always got good marks in written exams. She had grace and beauty. Naruto is nothing special, but he has creativity and for some weird reason a strange friendship with the hokage himself.

Group 9 and 10 had all the other major clan members. Hinata, Shino, Choji, Shikamaru and Ino all were clan heirs, the next leaders of the village. Kiba isn't a heir himself but his mother is the clan head. In a way these 9 are the elites, the best in the class. Ones with the most potential.

Just then Naruto stood up and asked why he was put with Sasuke. Iruka said it was because they were the first and the last of the class, it was done to balance out the team. But everyone knows Naruto isn't as talentless as his marks suggested.

Very few students in every year are considered above average or important enough to have a second look at. So the fair strategy would be for every team to have one exceptional student along with two others. This way all of the groups have a fighting chance.

Hiro's was an extraordinary class. It has some very talented students. Clan heirs to geniuses. So for them it would be even easier to balance the teams. Everyone would have a chance. But it wasn't done.

Konomi always tells Hiro one thing, "The strength of a village is not determined by the quantity of shinobi it has, but by the quality of the shinobi." Supposedly it was part of fourth hokage's inauguration speech.

Iruka has finished announcing all the teams. Team three, nine, eleven, twelve and thirteen were left out. Why? Why only these teams, what happened to others? Hiro mentally considered the possibilities:

1. They died.
2. They became chunin/jonin.
3. There weren't any other teams.
4. They were expelled.

Teams do not die out in one year, nor do they all become chunins. Of course there were other teams, no one assigns team numbers randomly. Getting expelled from the force is a big news, even for a genin. None of the above is true.

So there is only one other answer. Except 15 students from 5 teams, others didn't even become genin! There must be something else. A second test. Another filtering. Some kind of evaluation.

Question two. Why are three teams significantly better than the others? It's simple once you consider the members of the team, mostly for group 8 and 10. Clan heirs were put in the same team to form bonds among themselves. In fact, all these 9 members from 3 elite groups are expected to form a bond among themselves. This probably doesn't happen every year. But this year is different. These three teams will probably pass even if there is a second exam.

So what does it say for the other teams? No one probably put much thought into their formation. Groups of average and below average students? What happens to them? What is expected of them?

Hiro Utagawa had a sharp and curious mind. Maybe he was born with it, possibly not. Maybe he was influenced by his mother who is a jonin or his father who is a grandmaster artist. Hiro may not be an overly talented shinobi, but he is intelligent. It didn't take much time for Hiro to realize what was actually expected.

His team was expected to fail!

Author's Note: As readers probably have realized, these story will have an analytical nature. There may be facts never existing in the original series (or a fact existing in the original series but missed by me, which is very possible).

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese food. 'Two Okonomiyaki Team Rule' was based on 'Two Pizza Team Rule'. Something like that really does exist. If anybody is interested they can look it up.

The name Saito Takayasu was inspired by another famous person from Japan. I am not going to say who he was. However, curiosity always leaves an answer.

"If this world was ruled by art instead of strength, Kunisada Utagawa would be the kind of person to become Hokage." This has a symbolic meaning.