Haru walked up to the desk. This was definitely Naruto's best chance at becoming a genin...and the Hokage had made very sure that they would be on the same team.
"Haru, pass!" said Iruka firmly.
Haru paused on the way out, seeing something that definitely should not be on Naruto. With a little slight of hand he swiped something off his back.
After he sat down he realized what he had in his hand and held back a snarl.
It was a fairly simple, yet incredibly powerful chakra suppressant. Combining that with the fox inside Naruto, and that was asking for trouble. Naruto had enough issues with his control, and he didn't need more dammit!
Haru waited eagerly for Naruto to pass.
"Naruto, PASS!" said Iruka with no little amount of relief. Haru could practically feel the vibrations from Naruto's hyper mood. He had finally passed, after so long!
And the first thing he did once he had his new headband around his neck was to tackle Haru.
"OOF!"
"THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!"said Naruto, clinging to Haru so tightly he had difficulty breathing.
"Fox...boy...AIR..." gasped Haru.
"If you hadn't taught me that other clone jutsu, I would have failed again!" said Naruto.
To Haru's relief, Naruto did let him breathe...
"What other clone jutsu?" demanded Sasuke.
"Water clone. Tested out Naruto's affinity and it turned out he had two. One of which is water. His chakra control is horrendous, but I got him good enough to pull a water clone with almost no trouble," said Haru proudly.
"So let me get this straight... According the Mizuki, there is a special secondary graduating exam which if completed without getting caught allows the genin to take C ranks instead of the chore that is D ranks..." said Haru slowly. He had done a few D ranks, and since he mostly henged his clones so no one noticed, he got away with it.
He had the fastest time catching Tora, and the cat was unusually docile...though according to the owner Tora fought like it was possessed if anyone put it near water.
Whenever someone looked at him for that, he would whistle innocently and fooled no one.
He was the only one-man genin team in Konoha, not that anyone aside from the few jounin knew that. He was never allowed to take any missions that would allow him outside Leaf village territory until he had a proper genin team.
"Well what are we waiting for? Just let me meet up with you at Ichiraku's before we do this together," said Haru with false cheer.
Naruto fell for that bait easily, and had no idea Haru was going to expose a traitor.
"Hello Haru, congratulations on passing for a change, instead of skipping," said the Hokage easily.
"Hokage-sama, we have a traitor in the Academy. With your permission, I would like to have Naruto help me in exposing him," said Haru seriously.
It took little time to explain the situation, and the Hokage admitted it was a sound plan. Plus it would make up for some of the issues that had come about because he never revealed Naruto's parentage.
An hour after dusk fell, Haru and Naruto made their way into the Hokage tower to steal an important scroll. The Hokage had given Haru full permission to copy any water jutsu he wanted, so long as they caught Mizuki for them.
With that kind of endorsement, Haru used his odd power to copy jutsu left and right once they got a safe distance.
By some quirk of fate, Haru lead Naruto into the infamous Forest of Death. The river lead straight to the Valley of the End, and thanks to Haru, Naruto could hold his breath for hours while swimming underwater.
By the time Mizuki figured out where the two went (he was somewhat annoyed that the boys hadn't gone to the place he designated) Iruka had long since caught up with them, and was in on their scheme to reveal the traitor.
Iruka would hide nearby, then make it look like he had just arrived. They still couldn't prove that Mizuki was a traitor, since people would claim that Naruto had tricked the two, so Haru was going to attempt a different strategy.
He heard about the Third's law from Teuchi at Ichiraku's. Anyone stupid enough to mention the fox inside Naruto got an immediate arrest warrant and possible execution, depending how much they blabbed.
Mizuki sneered at the two, and it didn't take much to trick him into revealing the fox to Naruto.
Naruto was in total shock, but looked at his best friend.
"I already knew for a few years now. You really think I care about the Fox? Besides, I'm not even from Konoha, remember?"
Iruka, while surprised that Haru already knew about the fox, admitted the last bit made a lot of sense. Because he wasn't from Konoha, he never developed any hate towards Naruto or inherited prejudice from the adults towards the fox. He was also considered an outsider because of the fact that he was a Hyuuga, but was never born inside the clan.
No one actually knew where he originally came from, except a select few close the Hokage. Not even Naruto really knew.
Once Mizuki blew his only chance to escape with his life, Haru smirked cruelly. They were right next to the river for a reason.
"Water style: Great Dragon Bullet!" cried Haru. They never even saw his hand signs.
The amount of water that erupted from the river was shocking...but what Haru did next really bothered Iruka for weeks.
"Water style: Water Imprisonment Jutsu!"
Out of the water that erupted an entire sphere covered Mizuki. There was no escape, though any ninja his level could hold their breath until they left the forest.
Mizuki, in a desperate bid for freedom, managed to break free just as they reached the border.
Naruto, angry over what Mizuki tried to do to him, unleashed the shadow clone on his ass.
Iruka stared at the thousand plus clones Naruto let loose, and he wasn't even breathing hard after. The ANBU sent to retrieve Mizuki and take the boys to the Hokage stared in shock too...and dread.
Shock, because Naruto used an A class kinjutsu without breaking a sweat...and dread because all hell would break loose with a thousand Naruto's running around with their pranks. It had been bad enough after Haru showed him the Water Clone jutsu...
"Well done, Haru, Naruto. I must admit, I was surprised that you already knew about the Kyuubi Haru."
"I have my internal sources. Can't say too much about it though..." said Haru.
The Hokage raised an eyebrow at that, but Haru wouldn't say any more. At least not until he could confirm actual privacy.
A few days later he used his favorite instant cave jutsu to tell the Hokage what he did know about the demon inside of him. Learning that the boy he had allowed into the village as an Academy Student was the willing container for the real three tails was a complete shock...even more so when the boy revealed that the three tails was the one to seal itself inside him...not the other way around.
Since he now knew that the boy was exactly like Naruto, only not known as a jinchuriki, it explained so much.
"This explains that odd report from Mizu..."
"Yeah, he said he ditched his old form and a butt load of chakra to fool the jerks in Kiri when he sealed himself in me. It's partly his fault I can practically breath underwater."
"Just to let you know, Naruto will be on your team, but you can work independently on D ranks."
"So the same arrangement as always until the team I'm on goes on a C rank?"
"Yes. And Naruto can join you as long as he leaves a clone to take his place."
"Woohoo!"
"Team Seven, you will be Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki and Haru."
"Sensei, why do we have four members instead of only three like everyone else?"
"Haru is an independent genin, and is only attached to your squad in name only. There aren't any two man squads of genin who were willing to take him, and he works well enough with Naruto not to drag your team down. Coincidentally, should your sensei be taken out of action for any reason, Haru would be in charge, since he's had more missions than you," said Iruka.
"How can an idiot like him be our senior?" snorted Sasuke. Sakura was quick to join his side, to Haru's annoyance.
"Because before I came to this village I was already a genin dumbass. I only joined the Academy because it was easier than waiting for another team to lose a member and no one wanted me as an apprentice within two years. And by the way, back in my old home I had already completed 3 B rank missions and 15 C, so if you don't want me to kick your ass from here to Kiri, shut the hell up," snapped Haru.
"Like a Hyuuga cast off would ever beat me..." sneered Sasuke.
Haru glared at him so venomously that it was a miracle the Uchiha didn't burst into flame.
Naruto and Haru waited impatiently in the trees. Haru had brought a copy of the scroll they had taken. He had been more concerned about copying jutsu at the time than training. Only Naruto had bothered to train using shadow clone, and that because he was so damn bored waiting for the traitor to finally show up.
They had both eaten breakfast, as they had broken any reflex to throw up early on thanks to Haru. All those hellish years under Kisame finally payed off.
Sasuke and Sakura had shown up bright and early...unlike the two jinchuriki who had shown up at their own pace. Haru had met Kakashi a few times, and knew the man had a chronic problem of being late...alongside being a pervert.
They already had a plan for him.
Three hours later...
"Sorry I'm late, I got lost on the road of life."
"I cry bullshit!" yelled Haru from the tree he was hanging upside down from.
He had shocked the two annoying pests by reading upside down without hooking his legs on the branch. Naruto had further surprised him by copying Haru after a moments thought.
It had led to a bit of a shout fest that had Kakashi's ears ringing from his hiding place, though he was impressed by the insults that Haru and Naruto used on the other two.
"Before I forget, Haru, you'll have to sit this one out. This is a test for them, not you," said Kakashi.
"...Can I at least leave one water clone for Naruto?" he asked hopefully.
"No this is a test for them," he said.
"Sorry Naruto, I tried," said Haru.
"It's alright aniki!" said Naruto cheerfully.
"I have two bells. The fool who doesn't acquire one is going back to the Academy. You have until noon!"
Naruto was bouncing on his heels, but made no move towards Kakashi. All it had taken to convince him to take his time was to mention to Naruto a few things he had learned about the man...like the fact he was an ex-ANBU operative, and therefore could take some of his more...destructive pranks.
As a result, Naruto was loaded down with pranks that he was about to unleash. Including one that would later have Haru laughing so hard that he wet himself.
"Um, what happens if you leave the training ground before we get a bell?" asked Naruto.
"Then you automatically pass. Why?" asked Kakashi suspiciously.
"Just curious."
"Begin!"
Sasuke and Sakura bolted, hiding in different spots. Naruto, on the other hand, put his hands into an odd sequence before declaring...
"I-set-your-house-on-fire no jutsu!" said Naruto proudly.
"What?" asked Kakashi without comprehension, before a loud explosion was heard...proceeded by a large column of smoke.
"I set your house on fire no jutsu, my newest personal jutsu!" said Naruto without hesitating.
Kakashi took one look at the direction it was in, and completely panicked.
"MY HOUSE!"
He vanished from the training ground like Naruto whenever there was an all-you-can-eat at Ichiraku's.
Haru walked up to his surrogate brother and looked him in the eye.
"Did you really blow up his house?"
"Smoke pellets and a sound tag set to explosive boom...plus a clone with a radio. Interestingly, we now have unlimited blackmail material on our new sensei," said Naruto pleased.
Haru put an arm around his brother's shoulder and said "Do tell..."
"I have his entire collection hostage."
The unholy cackle the two let off sent shivers down the other genin's spines. Though they were quickly knocked out. Sakura was hogtied and dropped in an Inuzuka kennel with catnip tied around her neck. Sasuke, on the other hand, was stripped to his skivvies and oiled up, then dropped at his second most vocal fan's house while Naruto and Haru raided his home for blackmail material.
It would take them weeks to finally live down the embarrassment while their teamwork improved far beyond what it could have been for the Emo avenger and his banshee like fan girl.
It was another rough week. After the initial pranks, Kakashi spent most of the time trying to improve the rather horrible teamwork his team had. While Sasuke and Sakura worked well enough together (they had bonded over the rather graphic ideas that they came up with to get revenge on the other two) they refused to work with either Naruto or Haru. Haru and Naruto, on the other hand, worked like a well oiled machine and were miles ahead of the other pair in terms of actual skill.
It infuriated Sasuke and Sakura that Haru and Naruto were allowed to take separate missions, and often did so to avoid some of the more tedious ones.
Though once Haru had paid for a D rank for the two to give the retired shinobi sponge baths... And no more was ever said of the matter.
Kakashi attempted to mend bridges by having Haru train the weaker duo, which he replied that he would do so only if Sasuke got the huge stick out of his ass and Sakura got rid of her unhealthy obsession with the Uchiha and lost her banshee voice.
An entire month after forming Team 7, Kakashi was about ready to snap.
Which is when he was finally allowed to ask for a C rank in the hopes of shutting his two opposing teams up. He had no idea of the hell he was about to unleash on himself or the result of going so close to Kiri...