An Altered Path
Chapter 3: Team Seven
AN: Hello all it's been a while. I know I said I'd do the Uchiha Massacre this chapter but I changed my mind since it was too damn hard to do. In other news it seems Kishimoto is trying to make up for his fowl ups with Naruto but I think it's a bit too late. Anyway I don't have much to say so here's the long awaited third chapter.
Start Now:
It was a bright and beautiful day in Konohagakure no Sato. Birds sang as the citizens of the village went about their daily business. Eight years have passed since the attempted kidnapping of Hyuga Hinata and much has changed. One of the biggest changes to the village had been what had become known as the Uchiha Massacre. It was called this as in the span of one night the entire Uchiha clan was destroyed leaving only two survivors.
This event however affected the village greatly as the Uchiha Clan had made up Konoha's police force. Because of this ANBU had been moved in to fill this void when they could be put to better use in the field doing the high class missions they were trained for. The two survivors were brothers and the children of the deceased clan head Itachi and Sasuke.
Itachi who had been an ANBU captain at the time had been away from the village on a mission and had only arrived the next morning. Sasuke who had been only eight at the time had passed out after training and had only been found the following morning by a pair of chuunin who had just happened to be walking by. All in all many believed that the two survivors had survived through sheer luck.
Regardless today was a bright day for the village as today was the day that the Leaf Village's newly graduated gennin received their assigned teams. As Umino Iruka looked at the gathered graduates he couldn't help but smile in pride. Of course some of those gathered held far more promise than majority of the others, but that was expected with the lineage those few held. Clearing his throat the chuunin went through two quick seals before unleashing his well known technique.
"SHUT UP YOU BRATS." Roared Iruka loudly his head becoming several sizes larger as fire seemed to light up within his eyes. This was Iruka's famous 'Kyotou no jutsu (Big Head Technique). The effects, as always, were instant as the entire class miraculously appeared in their seats and were quiet enough that one could hear a pen drop.
"Alright firstly I'd like to once again congratulate all of you for making it this far. You are now gennin of our village be proud of that fact. From this point on however things will only be harder for you and I earnestly pray for most of you." Said Iruka calmly successfully scaring more than a few of those gathered.
Unfortunately we had an unbalanced number of graduates this year so two of you will be placed with a more experienced gennin." Finished Iruka shocking the gathered graduates.
"With that said I will now be announcing the teams each of you will be placed in. Team 1…" from here Iruka was ignored by many as the gathered gennin waited to hear their name called.
"Team Eight will consist of Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino. Your jounin instructor will be Yuhi Kurenei." Stated Iruka before moving down the list.
Hinata's head perked up at this. The now twelve year old Hinata had changed a lot over the years though she still greatly resembled her mother. Standing at a height of five feet even she now wore a pair of dark blue pants and a short sleeved shirt of the same color which contained her small C-cup breast. She had grown her hair out and now let it hang to her mid back. She had her newly gained hitae-tae tied around her neck showing her unmarred forehead, and status as a Hyuga Main House member while a small smile graced her face.
Though the years had changed Hinata had remained mostly the same. Though the thing that had changed however was she no longer displayed any of the nervous habits she'd had as a child, mostly due to all the time spent around Naruto. She was still the kind girl she had always been though it was well known within her clan she wasn't one that you wanted to fight since even if you put her down she wouldn't stay down.
Her lavender eyes moved over to her teammates and she inwardly frowned at one of them. Inuzuka Kiba was loud, brash, and overconfident and while she didn't mind loud people Kiba was another subject entirely. The Inuzuka heir was a known pervert and like all females she didn't approve of it. The boy had even been caught peeping in on the girls changing room before; she'd also caught him leering at her breast a few times. She sighed at that she'd have to start wearing a coat from now on.
Shino on the other hand was an enigma. The boy had spent most of his time in the academy by himself, and though there were several rumors they were far too farfetched for her to put much stock into them. What she did know however was that Shino was quiet and only spoke when necessary and as few words as necessary as well.
"Team Ten will consist of Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, and Yamanaka Ino. Your jounin sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma." Said Iruka getting a scream of horror from Ino.
Hinata smirked at that. Ino was one of those females that gave kunoichi a bad name as she would rather shop, gossip, or think about boys than train. The sad fact about it was that every other female in her class was the same way. The only thing Ino had up on them was that she actually had clan techniques, though this did little since as stated before she'd rater waste time than train.
Shikamaru could only be described as lazy. All she'd ever seen the boy do was sleep. It didn't matter what they were doing the Nara boy would sleep through it. This was probably why he was ranked dead last in the class. There wasn't much to say about Choji though. He was kind and had the most raw physical strength in the academy even if he was a bit… larger than most. If there was one thing she knew about Choji or any Akimichi though it was to never call them fat, there were easier and less painful ways of committing suicide.
As Iruka looked over the list for the last few names a bright smile lit up his face at one of the names on the list catching the attention of the entire class. That smile however faded when certain things played through his mind when he remembered why that name was there.
"As for Sasuke and Sakura you two will form the new Team 7 along with Kazama Naruto. Your jounin instructor will be Hatake Kakashi." Said Iruka getting mixed reactions from the gathered graduates.
Hinata herself would've let her jaw drop if she thought it wouldn't get back to her father. She and Naruto had been best friends since they were four years old so of course she'd known he would be assigned to a new team. Still she had believed that Naruto would get more experienced teammates. If it wasn't for that she'd have gone to her father to have her placed with Naruto instead of being stuck with the pervert that was Kiba.
Within the meeting chamber of the Hokage Tower the gathered jounin looked at the scene in a sort of shock thanks to the Sandaime's crystal ball. Sarutobi chuckled at the looks that the gathered jounin had on their faces. Even his own son Asuma was in a state of shock his cigarette haven fallen from his mouth while his jaws hung open.
As he looked around he noticed that only one of the gathered jounin seemed unmoved and that was Kakashi himself. While he couldn't see behind his mask just the fact that he hadn't even glanced up from the pages of his ever present orange book was enough of a clue. He suppose he should have expected as much though since all of those gathered knew of the boy's history. Shaking himself from his thoughts he cleared his throat loudly successfully gaining the attention of the gathered shinobi.
"Alright you all know which squads you have. And while I know some of you may be disappointed with your assigned teams please remember they were chosen for a reason. You are to pick up your gennin from the Academy in an hours time. Dismissed." Stated the Sandaime just before the room was covered in smoke as each of the gathered jounin dispersed leaving only two people remaining within the room.
Four hours later found only two people left in the academy classroom, Sasuke and Sakura. It had been three hours since every other jounin instructors had arrived to pick up their teams leaving the two alone. Both of them were glaring at the door when it opened to show a tall jounin with his silver hair sticking up at an angle. He wore the standard Konoha shinobi uniform with his hitae-tae slanted to cover his right eye.
'So he's not here.' Thought Kakashi with a sigh as he ignored the glares and weak killing intent directed at him.
"Well my first impression of you is…" started the jounin causing the two to perk up.
"…I hate you." Finished the man his visible eye curving into a smile as the two students face faulted.
"Anyway follow me."
With that said the man turned and left the two students quickly following after him. As soon as they exited the school grounds he hit the rooftops headed straight for the Hokage Monument. Twenty minutes later the trio exited the staircase that lead to the top of the Monument and quickly headed towards the head of the Yondaime.
"What do you want Hatake-san, and who are the brats?" questioned a voice catching the attention of the two students.
Walking to Kakashi's sides both were surprised at the sight that greeted them. Lying in front of them was a boy who looked to be the same age as them. He had short spiky blonde hair and wore a pair of black pants with a dark red short sleeved shirt. A Konoha hitae-tae was tied around his right arm, a black cloth replacing the standard blue. Finally
he wore an open black vest with a pair of black shinobi sandals on his feet.
"I was just coming to speak with you Naruto-kun. As for these two they're two of the students I got this year Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura." Stated Kakashi only for Naruto to snort while a smirk formed on his face.
"I've heard of those two. According to rumor the Uchiha is an emo and was a favorite to be this year's number one rookie. The Haruno is supposedly a pink haired half harpy fangirl at least from what I've been told." Stated the blonde with a smirk while the two mentioned students began to fume.
"Make's no difference really though, they'll be back in the academy in a few days along with whoever was unfortunate enough to be the other teammate. After all they got you for sensei." Finished the blonde not even glancing at them.
"What's that supposed to mean?" questioned Sasuke glaring slightly getting a bigger smirk from the blonde.
"So Cyclopes didn't tell you. Basically you have to pass two tests in order to become a real gennin. The first is given by the academy to see if you have the skill to become a gennin. The second is given by the sensei's to see if you actually deserve to be one. Those who don't pass are either sent back to the academy or dropped from the program altogether. According to rumor in seven years Kakashi has never passed a team. So you two should get ready to return those hitae-tae." He finished and smirked at the audible gulp he heard from behind him.
"I-is this true Kakashi-sensei?" questioned Sakura a slight stutter in her voice.
"Yep. The test for our squad has a failure rate of 66.6 percent and will be held at training ground seven. Be there at 6 am and don't eat breakfast you'll just throw up. That's all I need you guys for, dismissed. " Said Kakashi with his face buried within the pages of a small orange book. Once he felt the two academy students leave he placed his book away before turning to the young blonde gennin.
"Ma Naruto there was no need to scare them. I mean they could pass, you are on their team after all." Stated Kakashi only to freeze as the boy's eyes snapped open showing a pair of raging blue eyes.
"I'm sorry Hatake but I think I heard you wrong. For a second it sounded as if you just told me I was placed with a pair of academy students." Said Naruto as his blue eyes glared into the jounin's single exposed eye.
"I did, Hokage-sama believes that it would be in your best interest to have me as a sensei." Stated Kakashi expertly ignoring the glare from the young gennin
"Sorry Hatake but I have no desire to play ninja with a couple brats who don't even know the meaning of the word." Stated the blonde as his eyes closed once
"So you'd rather stay in the village and not do missions?" asked the Cyclopes only for the boy to snort.
"D-ranks aren't missions." Stated the boy simply.
"Still this is the only way for you to get out of this village and back into action. Otherwise you'll be stuck here and most likely remain a gennin even longer." Returned Kakashi.
The blonde didn't even twitch at the Copy Nin's words. In fact if Kakashi didn't know any better he'd swear the boy was asleep. Sighing Kakashi turned to leave though before he did he stopped and spoke once more.
'
"Look Naruto I know this isn't the ideal situation that your in. I also know that you're well informed about the…quirks of your teammates. Still Hokage-sama believed this would be the best team for you. You've always trusted his judgment before, why doubt him now." Stated Kakashi before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Naruto scowled as Kakashi left knowing that what he said had been true. He had never once doubted his grandfather's judgment, though after that day he wished that he had. Such thoughts however were broken as yet another shadow covered him blocking the rays from the sun. Opening only one of his eyes a smile slid across his face at seeing Hinata standing before him. Motioning to his side he was unsurprised when the Hyuga girl moved to lye on his right side, as she always did when he was here.
"Ne Naru-kun do you want to go out tonight?" asked the girl as she shifted to look at him.
"How many times do I have to ask you not to call me that?" asked the blonde with a sigh.
Hinata giggled at that knowing how much he hated the nickname. Of course it helped that nearly no one ever called him by his first name always referring to him as 'Kazama'. In fact as far as she knew only a few people ever called him by his first name. Yet at the same time she knew he would never really make her stop as long as she didn't call him that in front of anyone.
Naruto himself hid a smile as the girl giggled to herself. He didn't have many people that he could actually call real friends. In fact aside from his family Hinata was all he really had now that he could call an actual friend. He'd never really been that close to the children of his graduating class, mostly because of his age. The fact that he was two years younger than everyone else was a sore spot for some of his classmates who had alienated him because of it. The female half however is what had originally made up his fan club which has since grown significantly.
"So how do you like your team?" questioned the boy breaking the silence. With a small smile he listened quietly as Hinata informed him of how things went and her opinion of her team.
The next day found the boy arriving at training ground seven a little after 9 o'clock. As he walked up he smirked at the obvious discontent that his so called teammates were displaying. He inwardly snickered at that, they obviously hadn't done their research on Kakashi otherwise they'd have known he was always at least three hours late.
As he casually walked up both of the freshly graduated gennin noticed him coming. Sasuke stayed silent as ever while his eyebrow began to twitch. Sakura however took in a breath prepared to reproach the blonde for his tardiness when a puff of smoke cut her off before she could say a word. When the smoke cleared Kakashi stood in the clearing with his nose buried within the pages of his book.
'Hm so he came after all.' Thought the masked jounin smirking beneath his mask.
"YOU'RE LATE!" screamed out Sakura at the jounin who'd had her waiting since six o'clock.
"Sorry a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way." Stated Kakashi as his eye turned up in a smile.
"Anyway since we didn't do this yesterday we're going to go through some introductions. Tell me your name, likes, dislikes, and dreams for the future." Said Kakashi.
"Hm sensei why don't you go first and show us how it's done." Said Sakura causing Naruto to snort at the girls stupidity.
"Ok well my name is Hatake Kakashi. I have a few likes, a few dislikes, and as for dreams…well I have a few hobbies. Now why don't you go pinky." Stated Kakashi with another eye smile.
"My name is Haruno Sakura. My likes are… (glances at Sasuke and giggles) my dislikes are Ino-pig. My dream for the future (glances at Sasuke again and giggles)."
'Girls these days are more interested in romance than ninjutsu.' thought Kakashi with a sigh.
'...' thought Sasuke not even paying attention to the girl.
'Yep definitely a fangirl.' Thought Naruto with a sigh.
"Alright broody your up." Called Kakashi getting a weak glare from the boy.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have no likes and I dislike everything including my fangirls. My dream is more of an ambition and that is to hunt down the killer of my clan and kill them." Said Sasuke.
'Hm seems like an avenger, this will be good.' Thought Kakashi with a mental sigh.
'Sasuke-kun is so cool.' Thought Sakura with hearts in her eyes.
'Definitely an emo. Hinata-chan really knows how to call them.' Thought Naruto.
"Alright blondie your turn." Stated Kakashi breaking the blonde from his thoughts.
"The names Kazama Naruto. Since I don't know or like any of you you'll call me Kazama. My likes aren't really any of your concern. I dislike getting involved with things that aren't my problem along with a host of other things. Oh and Iwa-nin I can't forget those blockheads. As far as dreams are concerned well that's not really any of your business now is it." finished Naruto with a smirk.
'Kid's good. He disguised the fact that he doesn't like his teammates by not allowing them to call him by his first name and didn't give up anything that could be used against him. His dislike for Iwa-nin is expected especially for a leaf nin even if he's only a gennin. He was defiantly trained well.' Thought Kakashi.
'Damn it we didn't learn anything at all.' Thought both Sakura and Sasuke in regards to their blonde teammate.
"Alright with that out of the way lets get on with this test." Stated Kakashi before pulling out two small bells.
AN: Alright third chapter is done. I'm not doing the test because we all know it and know that they pass. Along with that I don't want to give away too much about Naruto just yet. Next chapter things are going to start heating up nicely and I'll have a nice little timeskip for you guys. Thanks for reading and please review. Till next time LATER.