Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and I unfortunately don't own the rights to Inuyasha, Hajime no Ippo, Ranma ½, Mahou Sensei Negima, Rurouni Kenshin, and countless other anime series' that ended much too soon.
After a beaming Iruka presented him with the Raiton(Lighting Element) scroll, and to Naruto's continuing surprise, a silver trophy, Naruto stepped out of the ring.
As Naruto heard applause from all around him, he couldn't help but feel warm inside. He had already began to prove himself to the village…
It was a shame though, Naruto thought to himself, idly looking through the crowd.
"I kinda wish Tatsu-sensei was here…"
Still looking left to right, Naruto paused and began to focus on a head of white hair. Jumping up using a Chakra enhanced leap, Naruto nearly fainted in shock for the second time that day. Seeming to go on autopilot, Naruto slowly walked until he reached his destination.
Finally making it to the place he had spotted from his leap, Naruto noticed idly that Sakura, Hinata and a still passed out Ino were waiting for him, along with one other person. Said person gave a beaming smile.
"You've done well…Little One."
Muhi Tatsu had come.
Tears nearly welling in his eyes, Naruto gave a pleased shout of "Tatsu-sensei!" and leapt into the arms of his smiling sensei. Tatsu let out a grunt of surprise, and quickly straightened himself out, the boy having given him a warm hug.
"Tatsu-sensei…you came. Even though you were on that trip you still came…" Naruto said softly.
"Of course I would Little One. You're my precious person after all." Tatsu said in turn. "I always support my precious people."
Sakura, having finally gotten out of her kiss-induced shock, finally realized what she had heard, and gave a gasp.
"Wait a minute…YOU'RE Muhi Tatsu? THE Muhi Tatsu?"
Putting Naruto down, Tatsu raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I don't know any other Muhi Tatsus, so I suppose I am, even though I am not aware of the Tatsu you refer to."
Getting a little irritated, Sakura replied. "Naruto's Sensei, guardian and the man who took care of him for a good portion of his life." She bit out.
Giving a delighted little smile, Tatsu responded. "Oh yes! That's me alright! I suppose you were expecting something else I imagine? A monk maybe?"
Sakura gave Tatsu a sheepish look, confirming his suspicions. Wanting to save the girl some embarrassment, Tatsu decided to ask a question in turn.
"So who might you be young lady? Might you be… Haruno Sakura-san?"
"Ee? Um… yes! How did you know?" Sakura asked in surprise.
Tatsu put an arm against what appeared to be a slightly embarrassed Naruto. "Little One here often talks about you in his letters to me. In fact, he talks about you quite a lot."
While Sakura's bout of blushing renewed due to this comment, Naruto seemed to become irritated.
"Tatsu-sensei! Those letters were private! Don't go blabbing everything you hear!" he yelled.
Tatsu smirked. "Ah, but Little One, where would the fun in that be?"
Ignoring Tatsu, Naruto kept talking. "And another thing! Why do you still call me little? I'm almost as tall as you now!"
Tatsu's smirk grew. "Oh but Naruto-chan, you'll always be my Little One. If you insist though, I suppose 'kouzou' would be okay too."
Sighing at knowing that was the best he was going to get, Naruto noticed that all of his friends were beginning to walk home, and asked them all to gather around. Curious, the eight Genin complied. Naruto, seeing that everyone had come, asked a very important question.
"Everyone…do you all want to celebrate tonight with Tatsu-sensei and I?"
Well, at least important to him.
All of his friends, even Shino seemed to get slightly sad at the question. They all explained to him that they all had prior celebrations or engagements to go to. Some had family dinners, others had clan initiation rituals, and Shikamaru simply wasn't there.
Seeing his Little One disappointed, Tatsu asked if they had anything planned in three days, making the Genin perform a double take. After talking amongst themselves, in fact none of them did have anything planned for that day.
"Then it's settled. We'll all go out to celebrate your graduation in three days." Tatsu concluded.
Bidding his now happier friends goodbye, Naruto looked at Tatsu with a grateful expression, to which Tatsu only smiled again. He took Naruto's hand and began to walk away, but not before a panting Iruka-sensei came up. He informed Naruto that in fact, there WAS a personal training session scheduled for him with Sandaime Hokage in the next week, scheduled five days from then (proving yet again that Sandaime knows all with his 'crystal ball of power'). Naruto thanked Iruka, and Tatsu yet again took his hand. Beginning to walk, Naruto voiced an unspoken thought.
"Tatsu-sensei? Why did you ask my friends to come in three days rather than two or one?"
Tatsu gave a chuckle. "Well, I imagine after the celebration we will be having… we're going to need an extra day or two to sleep."
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Indeed, as Tatsu had predicted, no one saw hide or hair of Naruto or his teacher in the next two days. Even then, when they had come back, the two still looked as if they could sleep for a week.
The pair not only looked tired, with bags beginning to form on their eyes, but also were covered in chicken feathers, tar, goat fur, and what appeared to be cheese fondue. After the Genin had come across the messy pair, no one objected when Naruto tiredly asked if they could hold the celebration off for another day.
Of course, that was after they managed to compose themselves long enough to stop laughing and form a sentence. Even Shino.
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The next day seemed to have done wonders for the pair, as they appeared clean, energetic and free of goat fur. After hearing various suggestions, they all decided to go to the local Barbeque place that Chouji frequented. Looking happy at the size of the party, and especially at the handsome white-haired man, a waitress showed them to a rather large booth. They quickly ordered and began getting comfortable. Various topics were brought up; the difficulty of the exam, various hobbies, their matches in the exhibition, and foods that they liked were all topics breached.
As the conversations began to die down, Tatsu gave Naruto a glance and took out a suspiciously bottle-shaped package. Naruto gave a double take and a wide grin began to form on his face, his eyes widening.
"Tatsu-sensei…is that what I think it is?" Naruto asked in anticipation.
Tatsu merely smirked in response. Kiba began to look excited; Shino raised an eyebrow, Shikamaru muttered 'Mendokuse…', and Chouji and the Kunoichi began to protest.
"Tatsu-san I can't believe you would take out alcohol! We aren't twenty yet, even if you might be!" Ino screeched.
Naruto looked at Tatsu, and he did the same. Both began to chuckle and then eventually break into full blown laughter, hooting and hollering while pounding the booth's table in amusement. Finally regaining his composure while his sensei kept laughing, Naruto rebuffed the statement.
"No, no Ino-chan, Tatsu-sensei didn't bring alcohol. He brought something MUCH nicer. It only looks like liquor from the outside, but it doesn't have any liquor in it."
Curious, Hinata asked, "So… what is it Naruto-kun?"
Finally regaining his composure, Tatsu began to unwrap the package. When he finished, a bottle was revealed. It wasn't liquor, nor was it a juice. The bottle was filled with a blue colored liquid that had bubbles fizzing within. The label read 'ELVEN FIZZ'.
Tatsu quickly asked for glasses from the waitress, and began to pour a little bit of the drink into each glass. Raising his glass, the others raised theirs in turn.
"KANPAI!" they cheered.
Each of Naruto's friends began to drink, and the reactions were amusing to say the least. While at first nothing seemed to happen, after five seconds began to sport looks that made them seem as if they had just come from some rather… 'pleasurable' activities. Nearly all of them had smiles forming that were not associated with normal everyday happiness, and Hinata and Ino could be seen with drool coming out of their mouths. Naruto and Tatsu, having had the drink before, were more in control but still looked happy to the point of insane. Even Shikamaru looked completely content, as if he was sleeping, not just watching his beloved clouds.
"And to think, that was the weak batch!" Tatsu mused.
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After bidding his friends goodbye (but not without a promise of more Elven Fizz for later from all of them, as Tatsu was the only person who knew how to get the stuff.), Naruto's life began to pick up momentum again.
Because he still had a day before his lesson with Sandaime, Naruto decided to take it easy for once, simply relaxing. He spent most of the day asleep; he spent the rest of the day taking a leaf out of Shikamaru's book and watched the clouds. It was rather relaxing he had to admit. No wonder Shikamaru was so laid-back.
After that particularly nice day, Naruto spent his morning anxiously awaiting his lesson. After Iruka-sensei came to escort him through, Naruto was greeted by a cheerful Sandaime, grateful for the reprieve in paperwork. Sandaime looked through his personal scroll shelf, finally taking down none other than what Naruto had read to be Konoha's scroll of forbidden jutsu.
"Naruto, while I am afraid that I cannot instruct you as I wish personally due to work, I can still do something for you. Inside this scroll are Konoha's most powerful and dangerous jutsu, stored by Shodaime himself. Because you have won the academy exhibition matches, shown incredible talent and done a splendid job in aiding your fellow students through teaching, I will allow you to copy down the first technique on this scroll."
Eyes wide, Naruto gazed in wonder at the scroll. "I…I'm honored Hokage-sama."
With shaking hands, Naruto slowly but surely unraveled the scroll, making sure to stop when he saw the title of the scroll's second technique. He hastily took out a scroll and ink brush of his own, and began to copy the technique titled: "KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU".
As he began to read the description of the technique, Naruto wondered why a technique that only made Bushin solid was considered so dangerous. While it did require an amazing amount of Chakra to use, if one was careful they could avoid Chakra depletion. However, as he continued his copying, Naruto read the section detailing other effects of the technique. It could be used to detail any training knowledge or experience gained and give that knowledge back to the user; this could not only be useful for scouting purposes, it seemed to cut training time into such small fractions that nearly any technique could be learned instantaneously if the user had enough Chakra. With that kind of training boost, no wonder it was considered so dangerous! For a village that did enough stamina training, this jutsu could make them unstoppable!
Not only that, but if such an ability were to be combined with Henge no Jutsu… well, needless to say, a person who valued tactics such as Muhi Naruto began to salivate at the possibilities.
Finally finishing after about fifteen minutes, Naruto rose up so quickly that he almost had a head rush. Giving a bow to Sandaime, he began to leave, but Sandaime shouted for him to stop.
"Naruto, before you go, there is one last thing I wish to speak to you about."
Nonplussed, Naruto only nodded to the Hokage. Inhaling sharply on his pipe, Sarutobi exhaled and blew a ring of smoke out before continuing.
"Over the past six months, many people including myself have noticed that you seem to be unusually intelligent and possess great cunning towards Ninjutsu and what is associated with it. Therefore, because of your achievements and your experience as a teacher, I am giving you special status as an 'acting Chuunin'. This gives you several rights that normal Genin do not normally have access to."
Sarutobi again took a sharp inhalation from his pipe, Naruto standing as if he was about to faint.
"These rights mainly deal with being able to teach your fellow Genin when their Jounin instructors are busy with missions or other obligations, not being obligated to stay with one particular team constantly, and gaining Chuunin experience by leading Genin teams on D-rank missions. If you prove yourself, you may even gain the privelage of leading C-rank missions before becoming a Chuunin. As an added benefit, you will gain Chuunin-level access to the Shinobi library, and will be able to check out B-ranked jutsu scrolls."
Naruto, now looking as if he would collapse at any moment, just stood for several seconds as Sandaime gave a wan smile. Finally, Naruto got out of his shock and gave a bow, taking the dogeza position.
"Hokage-sama… Thank you! Thank you so much! I won't let you down!" Naruto beamed triumphantly.
Sandaime gave a chuckle and gave Naruto a pin made in the shape of a leaf. "Pin that next to your forehead protector. Chuunin and Jounin are aware of it's significance, so they won't protest much when you help teach or take out jutsu. And Naruto…" Sarutobi trailed off.
"Yes?"
"Continue to teach and train as well as you have up to this point. Skilled teachers are rare, and the better a student is taught, the less ninja die. I'm counting on you, you know."
Again, Naruto bowed quickly, and with a smile, ran out of the room.
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While Naruto was pleased over his new arrangement as an acting Chuunin teacher, he didn't let it get to his head… well, at least not too much. Naruto knew that the Genin orientation meeting was in three days, and it was then that he would get his true Genin test. Most people and even books didn't mention such a thing, but after consulting Tatsu-sensei and wondering why ninja were put into squads of three, Naruto realized that they were made as such in order to make three people 'one'. Because each Genin was still technically in training and hadn't developed a full set of skills, strengths and weaknesses were complemented by the abilities of teammates. Therefore, they would most likely need teamwork to pass the true Genin test.
Naruto idly imagined that was why so many Genin failed the 'true' test. With the constant conflict that Shinobi dealt with, it was hard to encourage any kind of atmosphere that was positive.
While Naruto began to walk towards the academy building, he wondered what had happened to the seal trap he had set in the forest during training. Naruto had continued to research seals, believing that serious training could wait until his team was finalized. However, as he began to test trap seals he had begun to get lost in making a rather complicated seal, and forgot that it would turn invisible after finishing. Quite worried that someone had gotten hurt, Naruto walked in worry, anxious all the way to the academy.
As he neared the academy, Naruto curiously heard a few snippets of gossip.
"Hey did you hear about that Chuunin teacher who tried to steal the scroll of forbidden seals?"
"Yeah, I heard five ANBU had to attack him all together. That's why he ended up so badly injured!"
"Really? I heard he ended up somehow in front of a stampede of bulls!"
"Well I heard he ended up stupidly walking into a trap that set off an explosion, a barrage of kunai, a stink bomb, AND a laxative!"
The gossipers all stared at the last speaker in disbelief. Naruto continued walking, a spring in his step, now relieved that he hadn't hurt anyone. At least, not anyone important.
His friends greeting him as he sat down, Naruto slumped forward relaxed, knowing that no matter who he got on his team, at least one person he could get along with. He shared a glance with Iruka-sensei, Iruka's eyes widening and then smiling as he saw the leaf pin attached to Naruto's forehead protector. After ten minutes, Iruka started to try and get the class's attention, but normal methods didn't seem to work today. Pulling out an air horn, Iruka was able to quickly gain the attention of his class and shatter a few eardrums in the process.
"Alright settle down everyone, it's now time to announce team assignments. Team One…"
Iruka continued to assign teams, with students groaning, cheering or not doing anything at all sometimes. Finally, Naruto heard his name.
"Team 7: Muhi Naruto, Haruno Sakura –"
Iruka was interrupted as Sakura jumped up, pulling Naruto towards her and beginning a little jig. Naruto began to join her and everyone looked in amusement. Iruka coughed and the two looked a little embarrassed as they sat back down.
" and final teammate, Uchiha Sasuke."
This caused a chain reaction to go throughout the room. All of Naruto's friends groaned at not being placed on a team with their buddy, with Ino and Hinata actually beginning to crack their desks they were clutching so hard. Sakura groaned loudly, putting her head in her hands. Naruto? Well, other than a slight frown he didn't do anything at all.
Iruka continued as if the disturbance had never happened. "Your Jounin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi. Team Eight: Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba."
The three teammates glanced at each other, glad they hadn't been given teammates they could rely upon.
"Team Nine: Shinigami Kage, Nekomichi Kuro, Haiiro Ryu. Team Ten: Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji."
Ino let out a depressed sigh sounding suspiciously like 'Naruto-kun', Shikamaru did the same only his sounded like 'Mendokuse', and Chouji just sat calmly eating his barbeque flavored chips.
Iruka finished, and slowly but surely, Jounin came to pick up their students. An hour later, Team 7 was STILL waiting for their Jounin instructor. Bored, Naruto and Sakura began to talk while Sasuke sat brooding in a corner.
"Ne Naruto, have you been working on anything new lately?" Sakura asked
"Yup. I've been working on seals Sakura-chan, how about you?" Naruto asked in turn.
Sakura smiled. "Oh, I've begun looking into medical scrolls they let me borrow from the hospital. So far I've only gotten up to small cuts and small blood clots."
Naruto began to look enthusiastic. "Still, that's great Sakura-chan! And in only a few days too, you should be proud of yourself! Can you show me how it works?"
Sakura blushed. "Sure Naruto-kun! But first, you need to show me one of your seals. I've always wanted to know how they work."
"Um… okay. Just let me get ready, okay? And as a bonus…" he smirked in an evil fashion. "We can teach a lesson to our instructor about tardiness."
Taking out a small bottle of ink and a calligraphy brush, Naruto began to quickly write symbols around the door. When he finished, Naruto formed a few seals and slammed his palms onto the ground. The symbols all seemed to become absorbed into the big kanji symbol in the seal's center, and when all of the little markings had disappeared, the big one did too.
Sakura gave a look of astonishment. "Wow! That… that was amazing Naruto-kun! What kind of trap does that make?"
Although he couldn't be sure, Naruto swore he saw Sasuke giving a small glance in their direction as he explained. When he finished, Sakura began explaining the intricacies of medical jutsu and how they required an immense level of concentration, even when performing something small. Fascinated, Naruto asked her to elaborate and thus began a long question and answer session, Naruto asking about how disease was removed, brain damage was repaired and other things that Sakura herself had trouble answering but did her best with.
After around another hour, the Q and A session had finished and all three Genin were horrendously bored, Naruto's trap forgotten. Sakura took sat down with her head on a desk, Sasuke still brooded in the corner and Naruto seemed to be sleeping.
Out of nowhere, they heard a loud explosion and a wisp of air. When the smoke cleared, it revealed a frazzled Jounin, soot covering what little could be seen of his face through his facemask, and hair messed up and tangled in vines that came out of what seemed to be nowhere.
Regaining his composure, the Jounin took out a kunai and hacked through the vines, coming up to them.
"My first impression of you guys is… I hate you."
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Having gone up to the academy's roof, the Jounin motioned for them to sit down.
"Now I think it's time we all introduced ourselves. Names, likes and dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future, stuff like that." Kakashi stated. "Why doesn't the one who made that trap start?" Kakashi's eye twitched.
Naruto took that as his cue. "I'm Muhi Naruto. I like manga/anime, teaching, getting to explore new lands, my friends, my guardian Tatsu, and Elven Fizz. I dislike greed and selfishness if they hurt others, prejudice and those who don't try at their own goals. Hobbies… not much, other than learning seal making and watching anime. Dreams for the future… to help my friends and guardian achieve their own dreams, to get married to at least one woman, and to become Hokage, the number one ninja in the village!"
Rather nonplussed, Kakashi motioned to Sakura after a few moments, thinking Naruto was rather interesting.
"I'm Haruno Sakura. I like my friends, training with Naruto-kun and getting stronger in any way. Oh, and I don't like Elven Fizz, I LOVE it." Sakura giggled. "I dislike the same things as Naruto and also Konoha's unfair clan system. Hobbies… learning medical jutsu, watching movies and swimming. My dreams for the future are like Naruto's in helping everyone I care about achieve their own dreams, to find my soul mate and to become a kunoichi better than Tsunade-sama! I also want to help Naruto get rid of the current clan system Konoha is governed by when he becomes Hokage so we can help more first-generation ninja."
Kakashi's visible eye widened, and then closed in an upside down U shape, showing that he was pleased. Rather ambitious, but at least she'll take her duties seriously. Finally he pointed to Sasuke.
"Uchiha Sasuke... I don't like or dislike many things at all. I don't have any hobbies and dreams? Well, they aren't so much dreams as they are ambitions. To resurrect my clan and…" Sasuke took a dramatic pause. "To kill a certain man."
"As I thought, Itachi influenced his behavior."
"I can't honestly see what I saw in this psychopath."
"I think I may need to call the insanity ward soon."
Kakashi stood up abruptly. "Well, you're all fairly interesting. Meet me tomorrow at training ground twelve at seven in the morning. We're going to be conducting a mission. Survival training in fact."
"Sensei, didn't we have survival training in the academy already?" Sakura asked.
"This is a little different. Oh and you should know, this is your real Genin test. There's a failure rate of 66, so come prepared. And don't eat breakfast tomorrow, you'll get so scared you will not only throw up, but wet your pants too!"
With that rather unsettling thought, the three made their way back home, determined even If they were somewhat intimidated. Whatever it was, Naruto knew he couldn't THINK he would pass the test; he WOULD pass the test.
A/N: Thanks again for reading my story. Please review, I'm begging you all! It makes me a lot happier when you do. I hope it is at least somewhat enjoyable, and look forward at least to seeing how many hits I get next. Thanks to you all.