Here we go...
Uzumaki Naruto
Leaf Village–Jounin
Elements: Wind, Earth, & Water (Shadow)
Specialties: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, Shunshin no Jutsu, Rasengan, Yamakatta no Jutsu, Iwahou no Jutsu, Suiro no Jutsu, Uzumaki Naruto Renda
Orders: RUN ON SIGHT!!!
Team: Team Uzumaki–regular leader
"Well, the info on me is accurate," Naruto said as he looked at the Bingo Book Deividdo decoded, "But where's Sakura?"
Naruto turned the pages of the book to Haruno. If they had Sakura listed there, this Bingo Book was over a year old. Sakura's page was as such:
Haruno Sakura
Leaf Village–Jounin
Elements: Water & Lightning (Light)
Specialties: metical ninjutsu, genjutsu, Mizuhou no Jutsu, Denami no Jutsu, Denkou Shirukin Barrage, Chidori
Orders: Capture for interrogation
Team: Team Uzumaki–medic
"It's a little off," Kakashi said, "I don't understand why the Hyuuga style taijutsu she knows wouldn't be listed. Neji taught her those moves over four years ago."
"I know," Naruto replied, "And Sasuke should know full well what Sakura's abilities are. He found out first hand."
"What is he up to?" Kakashi said, "This is quite strange. He also wants her captured, but knows full well you would find and free her if she was."
"I know. Could he have been leading Deividdo into false pretenses?"
"If he thought Deividdo was a liability, why did he even bother with the guy?" Kakashi asked bluntly.
"Looks like we'll have to wait for Karin to cave," Naruto said, "She'll have a better idea of what's going on. How's that going?"
"Not well," Kakashi said, "She just won't crack. We may have to wait a few weeks to see if she's willing to talk later."
"Guess I don't need to come here anymore," Naruto said, standing up.
"By the way," Kakashi said, "I'll be arranging the squads today at 3. Be at my office at that time."
"Sure thing," Naruto said, walking away.
[Inside the Hokage's office at 3]
"Uzumake Naruto," Kakashi said, "Here are the files on squad seven. Let me know how you feel about them."
"Nii Neisan," Naruto read on the top file.
That was obvious. Neisan already looked up to Naruto and viewed him as a Sensei. Naruto didn't even bother reading the file. He supplied more than half the information in it, after all.
"Hyuuga Haruki?" Naruto asked.
"I recommended him for your squad," Kiba said, "You'll understand when you meet him."
"There's nothing in here about his Kekkei Genkai," Naruto pointed out.
"That's because he doesn't have it," Kakashi said.
Naruto was surprised. Almost all members of the Hyuuga clan had the Byakugan, but there were exceptions. Sakura was Hinata's second cousin once removed, and she didn't have the clan's Kekkei Genkai. But Naruto had gotten used to people who carried that clan's name to have it's Kekkei Genkai. He looked at the last one.
"That's just cruel, Kaka-sensei," Naruto said grimly, "You're just getting me back for all the trouble I put you through, aren't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kakashi said with an obvious smile under his mask, "Inka-san graduated with the lowest scores. I thought you'd be best for handling her."
"I don't buy that excuse for on second," Naruto said, "And you know it."
[Later...]
After all the squads were assigned, Naruto decided that he should try to find out more about Haruki. He remembered hearing about a kid named "Haruki" a few times when he visited the Hyuuga Mansion. They didn't say much. Maybe it was because he didn't have their Kekkei Genkai. Naruto hoped they weren't hard on the kid about it.
"Show me! Show me," Naruto heard the Hyuuga with his name say from the woods surrounding the mansion.
"All right," said another voice, "Just this once."
Naruto sneaked through the brush to see. With Hyuuga Naruto was a thirteen-year-old member of the Hyuuga clan with black eyes. He was holding two short staffs.
"Now, Kiba-sensei taught me this," the black-eyed kid said, "I was able to pass the final exam because of it."
"Come on and show me, Haruki," little Naruto said.
Haruki placed his staffs together and focused his chakra. After a second he threw the staffs to the ground and made a hand sign.
"Kishokubi Bunshin no Jutsu!"
[Wood-Catalyst Clone Technique]
Two Shadow Clones appeared were the staffs were, holding them. Naruto laughed and came out of hiding.
"Clever," Naruto said, "You can't focus chakra outside of your body, so you pump it into the wood and use that to make the clones. It was something the Second Hokage devised. I can see how Kiba could have thought of it."
"Nato-sama," little Naruto said, "Did you see that? Wasn't Haru cool?"
"Whatever," Naruto said, ruffling the other's hair, "He's okay."
"Okay?" Haruki said with anger, "I'm not sure who you are, but I'm like a super-ninja. You just watch, someday I'll become Hokage! Then everyone in the village will have to stop disrespecting me."
A few moments after hearing that, Naruto busted out laughing.
"What's wrong!? You don't think I can do it!?"
"It's not that," Naruto said, holding back his laughter, "You just remind me of someone I knew when I was a kid. He kept saying exactly what you just said. It annoyed his friends a lot. I'm surprised they put up with him."
"Who was he?" Haruki asked.
"Maybe I can tell you some other time," Naruto said, ruffling Haruki's hair.
"Hey," Haruki said, pushing Naruto's hand away, "Don't do that! And what this about telling me later? I want to know. What's the big deal? Who is it I remind you of?"
Naruto sighed and said, "I'll tell you this much: he will become Hokage. He was not quite cut out for the job before, but he grew and will one day be ready for it."
"But that doesn't tell me anything," Haruki wined.
"It tells you that he's still alive, and still believes in his dream. Although, he's found new reasons to become Hokage. I'll tell you who he is some day."
As Naruto walked away, Haruki said, "Hey wait. Who are you, anyway?"
Naruto looked over his shoulder, smiled, and said, "Maybe I'll tell you that someday too."
"HEY," Haruki shouted after him, "What kind of answer is that? What's with you and all the secrets?"
[The next day at the graveyard.]
Uzumake Naruto thought it was time he visited his father again. He'd done that yesterday, but he still felt a little uneasy about being a sensei. "Talking" with his dad about it again would help. Naruto wondered for the billionth time what his father would think of him. Would he be proud of him? Naruto never stopped running this through his mind. It was something that he always had in his head. Wondering if he would have the approval of someone who wasn't alive anymore.
As Naruto came towards his father's grave, he saw Shikamaru. The other was standing by Asuma's grave. By Asuma were his father, mother, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. Naruto's heart sank. Masashi had it bad. He had no father, grandparents, uncle, or even a cousin. But at least he had his mom, and Shikamaru. The kid was unlucky, but not as much a Naruto was. That was one reason he wanted to become Hokage. He wanted to keep people from going through what he went through.
"Sure wish you were still here, Asuma-sensei," Shikamaru said, "I could use your advice."
"I probably could too," Naruto said, standing by his friend, "He helped me master the wind element, after all. He probably knew a lot of cool wind jutsu that he could have taught me."
"It's been five years now. And I still miss him. That smile he gave whenever he said he'd treat us to barbecue, playing games of shogi with him, and even the smell of his cigarets. I can't believe I miss the smell of his damn cigarets."
Naruto placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Just never forget him. You have to tell Masashi how cool his dad was, remember?"
"Yeah," Shikamaru said with a smile, "Hey, Naruto, can I...ask you something?"
"Sure," Naruto said, removing his hand (he could tell this was serious).
"I don't know what to do. I think...I think I'm in love with Temari and–"
"That's great," Naruto interrupted, "Wait 'til I tell–"
"Don't tell anyone!"
After Naruto nodded, Shikamaru continued, "I do know that I want to be with her, but I can't just leave the Leaf Village. There's to much for me to do here. And I can't ask her to leave her village. That'd just be selfish. What should I do?"
"That is a tough one," Naruto said.
"Think I don't know that? This is the hardest thing for me to think about. It's not like some puzzle that I can solve in 15 minutes. This is my life, and her's. I want her to be happy; but, even if I make her happy, I don't want to make her sacrifice for me."
"I understand where you're coming from."
"Not quite," Shikamaru said, "You were lucky to fall for someone so close to home. You didn't have to give up any dreams for Sakura."
"You're right," Naruto said, "I am lucky. I didn't have to give up any dreams for Sakura. But I almost did. You remember don't you?"
"You mean...when you promised her you'd bring Sasuke back?"
"Yeah," Naruto said with a small frown, "I was torn up inside, I have to admit. I hated him for leaving her. I hated him for being the one she loved instead of me. I hated him for making her cry.
"Inside, I was screaming, 'Forget that jerk! He'll never love you like I do.'
"I really wanted to say that, but..but I couldn't. I could stop her crying. I could finally make her happy. I was going to give up my happiness, my dream of being with her someday; just to see her smile again, and know I put the smile there."
"That was, without a doubt, the dumbest thing you ever did, Naruto."
"Maybe," Naruto said, "But even now, I don't wish I did anything different. It helped me grow. And it helped her grow. I didn't have to sacrifice anything in the end, but I thought I'd have to. And I would have, without a second thought."
"You're insane," Shikamaru said with a smile, "But what do you think I should do?"
"Have you talked with Temari about this?"
"No."
"Well, you should. She probably feels the same way. Maybe you two can work out a compromise."
"Like what?" Shikamaru said.
"You're the smart one," Naruto said, "Why don't you figure it out. The Sand Village isn't that far away. We've improved the roads in the past few years. It can take less than two days to get there now. Just ask Kakashi-sensei for a week off to go and see her."
Naruto walked away and said, over his shoulder, "And, who knows, maybe I won't be the only lucky one."
"But I can't let her leave her village just for me," Shikamaru said, "I'd feel terrible."
"When Sakura first told me she loved me," Naruto said, "I wasn't happy at all."
"What?"
"I was sad," Naruto said, turning to face Shikamaru again, "I thought she was giving up on finding Sasuke. I thought she wanted me to take Sasuke's place. I thought she was just doing it as a favor to me."
"That's why you tried to leave the village, isn't it?"
"Part of it. I also thought it'd protect her from the Akatski, and I wanted to protect the village too. So many people died to protect me. I hated myself for that."
Shikamaru smiled and said, "You want to know that last thing Asuma said to me?"
Naruto just looked at him with confusion.
"We'd been playing a game of Shogi before the mission, and had been talking about the pieces. He said I was a knight, since I was diverse and cunning, but he was just a sacrificial piece. When I asked him who the king was, he wouldn't tell me."
"But...that's the Hokage, right?" Naruto asked.
"I thought so at first," Shikamaru said, "So did he. But before he died, he told me who the king was."
Naruto frowned at the dramatic pause and said, "Who?"
"It's the future of the village. If you lose the king, the game is over and the enemy has won. If you don't protect the children, the future of the village, you're going to do nothing but lose. That's what you were to this village. You were the future of the Leaf Village. You became our hope. They like to call you "The Fox Ninja" or "The Great Toad Sage", but I prefer to call you "Light of Hope"."
"It's not all that cool," Naruto said, fighting back tears of happiness, "But I like it, all the same. Thanks, Shikamaru. I'll do my best to protect the king."
"You will?" Shikamaru said with a smile that knew what was coming next.
"I promise you. And I always stay true to my word. That's my Nindo."
"Weren't you going to visit someone?" Shikamaru said as they left.
"Don't need to," Naruto said, "I already know what he'd tell me."
Shikamaru smiled and said, "You know, I don't know the first thing about the Fourth Hokage. But, if he had a heart at all, he'd be very proud of you."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I even thought I'd name my first son after you, but everyone is going to be doing that after you become Hokage. It'll just be some lame trend. It'd be such a drag."
Well, I think that's a good place to stop. Well see squad 7's examination by Naruto in the next chapter. The Denami no Jutsu and Kishokubi Bunshin no Jutsu are my own creations. Hope you liked it.
