Alright, Chapter 4.
Not sure if anyone actually reads these or not, so I'll keep it brief.
This chapter does contain the time-skip to the start of the manga, so we're entering canon territory here. It's very exciting for me, especially since this is my first fanfiction.
Alright, Without further ado, let's get into the meat of this story!
Chapter 4: Half-Baked Schemes and Brand New Teams
3 Years Later
In the Hokage's office, smoking a pipe and doing his best to unwind after a long and painful day of signing papers, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat silently.
Although the day itself hadn't been amazing, and his back hurt like nobody's business, he couldn't help but smile as he basked in the evening air. He'd always loved night's like this one. No Anbu appearing to yell news at him, no troubles to worry about in the village, and no advisor's hounding him about what to do with the Jinchuuriki.
Life was good.
It was, perhaps, too quiet. It should have been the first sign that something was about to go horribly wrong.
An Anbu appeared in front of him, and Hiruzen mentally prayed that whatever was going on, he had no need to become involved.
"Sir, there's trouble in the village!"
OK, sure, that wasn't good for his evening's chances, but at least he could hope that Naruto wasn't-
"It's Naruto, he's stolen the Scroll of Sealings, sir! What's worse, he had help!"
Hiruzen took one last draw of his pipe, before, with a worldly sigh, he looked towards the Anbu in front of him.
"And who would that be, exactly?"
\-\
"OK, so we've got the scroll, now what?"
Naruto understood his friend's haste; they probably wouldn't have very long before the Hokage's guards noticed they'd taken it.
"Now," Naruto licked his lips, and unfurled the monstrous parchment before him, revealing symbols and descriptions of powerful techniques. "I get to learn some killer new Jutsu!"
Sasuke's hand fell onto his left shoulder.
"Naruto." His friend seemed calm, and to an outsider, Naruto imagined he would have come off as just that. Naruto could tell though, having hung out with Sasuke for over 3 years, that the boy was not amused.
"Ehehe," He swallowed nervously, trying to maintain eye-contact. "Yeah, Sasuke?"
The hand on his shoulder tightened.
"You told me that, what was it? Oh yes." Sasuke smiled, and Naruto didn't think there had ever been something so terrifying in all the world. "'Someone's after the scroll of seals! We have to go take it before they can get their grubby hands on it!"'
Honestly, who's fault was it that Sasuke had believed that?
They'd stolen the scroll easily enough, which should've been the tip off for Naruto that something was probably up, and were able to sneak into the forests just beyond Konoha without much problem. The real issue he was running into was that the Third Hokage could be crazily psychic sometimes and often caught Naruto even when he didn't leave a trail for his pranks.
Still though, if he could keep Sasuke believing his lie for a little while longer, they could probably have the scroll back before anyone caught them, and thusly be able to deny it was them.
It was a perfect plan.
Or it would have been, if he had a clue what any of these Jutsu were meant to do.
There were roughly 10 Jutsu in the scroll, one which caught his eye immediately was the Shadow Clone Jutsu. He had, to his and Sasuke's confusion, never been able to use the clone jutsu, despite his best efforts.
But the others?
Ultimate Death Jutsu, a Yang-type release (And what the hell was that anyways!?) that allowed the user to concentrate their chakra into a deadly wave in front of them?
That sounded cool if you had like, a million chakra.
Naruto was pretty sure he had 500, at best.
Somewhere within him, something laughed.
That was weird.
And hey! this Jutsu was just another form of Ultimate Death, but this one was more focused on a single target!?
Why was this even sealed away, anyways, it seemed like the kind of thing a powerful ninja could use, but why bother locking it up? Was every strong jutsu sealed away?
Honestly this whole thing was giving him a headache.
He was just about to try and make the hand-signs for the shadow clone, when a set of shuriken hit directly next to his leg, sinking into the dirt beside him.
He felt most people would've been scared knowing they could've been killed mere moments ago, they probably wouldn't have looked to their friend and whispered "See, someone was trying to take it!"
"Oh, you had no clue!" The other boy whispered back
"I'll thank you to give me that scroll, Naruto!"
Sasuke gasped as the man who'd thrown the shuriken stepped into the moonlight, and his face was revealed.
Naruto turned around, his eyes wide, and found-
"Uhm, do I… know you?"
The man stiffened, and for a brief moment Naruto thought he looked offended.
"It's me!"
There was a pregnant pause.
"Mizuki! Me!"
"Right, yeah! Mizuki!"
Sasuke looked towards Naruto, eyes narrowed.
"Naruto, you do know who he is, right?"
Naruto felt some sweat begin to form on his brow.
"O-of course! He's Mizuki!"
"Naruto."
"Y-yeah?"
"What does Mizuki do, exactly?"
A single droplet of sweat rolled down his forehead, resting on his cheek.
"H-he's… uhm…"
Sasuke sighed.
"I knew you hadn't been paying attention in class."
Naruto rounded on his friend, sputtering wildly.
"W-what has that got to do with anything!?"
"This man is one of our teachers!" Sasuke shouted, looking exasperated.
"Yes! Finally!" Mizuki shouted above them, seeming just as fed up as Sasuke.
"Alright," Naruto shouted, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I get it, I get it. I'll pay more attention in class."
"Uh, that's really not what this is about!" Mizuki spoke up, now furious. He drew the large shuriken on his back, and held it out in front of him, poised to strike.
Naruto and Sasuke both looked back towards him, but it was Naruto who spoke first.
"OK, Mizuki, if that is your real name."
"What do you mean 'If that is my real name'!?"
"Like I told my friend here," Naruto ignored the man entirely, instead beginning to pace in front of the scroll that he'd set down on the ground. "I already knew someone was going to try and steal this scroll tonight."
That got Mizuki's attention, and the man's eyes narrowed, his posture stiffened.
"How'd you know about that!?"
I was bullshitting, really, Naruto thought, but apparently luck is trying to make up for all my missed birthday's.
"I'm perceptive, Mizuki." Behind him, Sasuke stared at him like one would a puzzle. "You might have been able to fool everyone else," Sasuke's bullshit detectors seemed to be going crazy. "But you can't fool me."
Above him, Mizuki shivered, the shuriken in his hands shaking as the man fought to keep his fear in check.
"But I'm afraid I need to test my new Jutsu, Mizuki," Naruto grinned, and he brought his hands in front of him to create the shadow clone sign. "And you seem eager to volunteer!"
Mizuki whimpered.
Sasuke groaned.
\-\
"So, we caught him trying to make off with the scroll, and then I used my super jutsu to beat him up and capture him!"
The Anbu didn't seem to believe him.
No, that wasn't entirely accurate, it was more that they didn't want to accept that the boy in front of them, who had just stolen the scroll of seals right out from under their noses, was about to get away with it, too.
"Oh, and Sasuke helped."
The boy in question sighed wearily.
"And why, exactly," An Anbu, one wearing a bird mask, spoke up. "Are there about 50 shadow clones behind you?" Naruto couldn't see the man's face, but he was pretty sure the guy wasn't amused. "A jutsu that was sealed away in the scroll of seals, not meant to be learned by anyone below Jonin?"
"So, it is just for high-ranked Jutsu!"
"What?"
"Uhm, nothing!" Naruto shouted, he looked desperately around for Sasuke, and found him standing with his back against a tree, trying to stay as far away from this conversation as possible. Their eyes met, and Naruto mouthed 'Help me!'
Sasuke gave him a look that he was pretty sure meant 'you got yourself into this, get yourself out.'
"Well, the thing is, Mizuki was a Jonin-"
"Chuunin" Sasuke coughed out from beside him.
"A chuunin level ninja, so of course the two of us weren't able to compete against his super skills." Naruto explained.
The Anbu in front of him looked down at Naruto's clothes, which had not a single nick or tear in them, and to Sasuke's, which looked much the same.
"Yes, it seems like you struggled heavily."
"Right!? So, anyways, there we are, fighting for our lives against one of the most powerful ninja the worlds' ever seen," Sasuke lowered his head to rest in his hands, gently massaging his skull. "And Sasuke's just fainted after a stray shuriken almost hit him."
The boy in question somehow managed to look even more annoyed than he had previously, which Naruto thought was probably an achievement.
"I'm at the end of my rope, Mizuki's closing in. He's got his mega-shuriken drawn, and he's ready to strike! But then," Naruto paused for dramatic effect, ignoring that only one of the Anbu was still standing there listening, the rest having arrested Mizuki and taken him away, probably having seen a good excuse to leave. "I saw the abandoned scroll of seals before me, and I looked into its contents for something that could save my life."
"So, you learned the shadow clone to protect yourself, then?" The Anbu sighed, before he picked up the scroll from before the two of them and slung it around his back. "I guess that's fine then. You guys can go, but we'll be dropping by to get your statements later once Mr. Yamanaka looks through his memories."
"Wait! Don't you want to hear the rest of my story!?"
The Anbu looked back at him.
"Not particularly."
And he flash-stepped away.
"Sheesh, what a jerk." He turned towards his friend, who had refrained from speaking in front of the Anbu. "Am I right, Sasuke?"
The glare the boy fixed onto him had Naruto paling instantly. He could sense death itself in those eyes.
"So, I fainted when a shuriken nearly hit me, huh?"
Oh, Naruto laughed nervously, did I say that?
"Hey, Naruto?"
He swallowed.
"Yeah, Sasuke?"
"Want to spar with me for a little bit?"
"...No?"
"Well, why not? After all, I'm just some scaredy-cat who faints at the first sign of trouble, it's not like you'll have any problem defeating me."
If one were to look at the record of their duels, they would find the score about 60 to 1.
In Sasuke's favor.
"Because you're going to kill me."
"Kill you!? No, no." Sasuke shook his head, an expression on his face that seemed appalled at the very notion.
Naruto could tell he was faking it.
"That would be too kind."
\-\
It was graduation day, and every single part of Naruto's body hurt.
Sasuke wasn't very kind, Naruto thought, wincing as he tried in vain to move his left arm, which responded to him with dull ache and nothing more, Not very kind at all.
Even so, Naruto thought, looking down at the Forehead Protector in front of him, proudly baring the symbol of the leaf village, and smiling brightly. I can't really be upset right now.
He'd passed this morning, along with every other student in Iruka's class. The teacher had, with some reluctance, taken the shadow clone jutsu as 'an acceptable substitute'.
"Shikamaru?" Iruka Sensei called from the front of the room, eyes laser-focused.
"Here." The boy in question lazily waved a hand, though he continued to rest his head on his other arm, not bothering to look up.
"Get with it, Shikamaru," The teacher spoke up, not with his usual annoyed expression he had when dealing with the lazy child, but one of slight glee. "I may put up with your actions, but I highly doubt your mother will."
The boy went from half asleep to sitting ramrod straight in about half a second, and Naruto could actually hear his back crack, and he winced as Shikamaru tried to bite back a groan of pain.
Parents are here, today.
It wasn't a happy thought, but it was still the truth, almost everyone else in the class had at least one of their guardians waiting outside for their graduation from ninjas in training to Genin. It was, after all, a once in a life time occasion, and one many parents had taken the day off work or missions to attend.
Naruto had no one, however.
His parents, whoever they were, had gotten themselves killed somehow, and though Old-man Third had never once told him who they were, he had admitted that they both died on the day of his birth.
Just his luck, to have killed the both of them. Maybe that was why everyone in the village hated him so much, because he was just bad luck.
Although, at the very least,
"Sasuke?"
I'm not alone.
"Here."
The boy had a few bruises along his cheeks, and a few more on his stomach that his outfit did a good job of hiding. Naruto grinned slightly when Sasuke put his hand down and immediately began to massage his left arm, hissing slightly as he touched the bruises.
Yeah, I got some good licks in there, too.
He'd still lost, and quite definitively at that, but it felt good to see concrete proof of his progress. At the very beginning, when they'd first began to spar over 3 years ago, he'd been clumsy and easily knocked over, just plain terrible. He was glad to be able to look back and see just how bad he'd been, even if it did cause him to groan at just how dumb he'd acted back then.
"Naruto?"
"Here!" he stood at his name being called, raising his hand as far in the air as it would go, and smiling wildly.
Iruka's face molded into a soft smile, before he affectionately added "Sit down, Naruto."
He did as asked, grumbling a little bit as a few people giggled to themselves.
Iruka Sensei called out 2 or 3 more names, before he looked over all of them, face panning across the room.
"Well, here we are, all of you, our last day as student and teacher."
Hey, wait, Naruto thought, as something funny began to happen with his eyes.
"We'll be having our 'Most-Likely-To' awards in a second, but before we end it out on a high note," Their teacher paused, as a small smile, that was perhaps just the slightest bit sad, appeared on his face. "I'd just like to say a few words."
Wait, no, Naruto thought, as something welled up behind his eyes, that's not cool.
Iruka began to slowly pace a few feet from the front row, his eyes surveying all of the students in the classroom.
"Throughout our years here, I've gotten the opportunity to learn all about you all."
"We've had our bad times, our petty squabbles, and our darkest hours." He didn't so much as breathe in Sasuke's direction, but it was obvious from the way the room felt colder, even to him, that it was what their teacher had meant by it.
"But we've also had our good times, our achievements, and those who managed to excel beyond my wildest expectations." His eyes wandered towards Naruto, and he felt an immense pride hit him all at once, though it came with the growing of the feeling behind his eyes as well. They roamed over Sasuke too, and the black-haired boy couldn't help but shrink slightly as the attention in the room shifted to him.
"And now, here we are." He held his hands out, as if meaning to embrace them all. "At the very end."
A few sniffled at that, and Naruto was both surprised and appalled to find himself among them.
"If you take away one thing from your time as my students, I'd like it to be some grand dream, perhaps you'd like to be a painter, or own a flower shop." he smiled at Ino, and the girl gave him a toothy grin in return. "Perhaps you'll carry on your clan's name, whatever form that may take." Sasuke, Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji all sat a little taller in their seats, while Hinata seemed a bit smaller.
"Perhaps, even," He smiled nostalgically, looking straight at Naruto. "You're aiming to become Hokage one day."
That got most everyone laughing, but even that was sedated by the gargantuan feeling of time's passing.
"I'd love for you to carry these dreams with you, for your entire lives, and think about me every once in a while." He paused, clearing his throat, and then looked up at them all again. "But if you don't have some grand dream, some terribly important goal you're working towards yet, then I'd at least like you to take with you some knowledge."
A few of them groaned, expecting a final lecture, and Iruka smiled knowingly, even if his eyes were watering a bit.
"I'd like you all to know," Every single student, even those normally inattentive, sat a little bit forward in their seats, perhaps subconsciously. "That I am so very proud of each and every one of you."
Noooo! Naruto shouted internally, tears beginning to run down his face, don't cry now! You were doing so well!
Though judging from what he could hear, he wasn't the only one crying, hell, even Sasuke was looking solemn!
"Now," Iruka had paused for a bit to let his words sink in, and if, secretly, the man had shed a few tears of his own? Well, they wouldn't judge him for it. "I wanted to save this for the end so we could all leave on a high note!"
Their teacher brought out a paper from behind him, containing what looked to be a few questions, though since there seemed to be only the one copy, Naruto figured it wasn't homework.
"It's time for us to award our classes' "Most-Likely-To's!"
A few kids managed to smile and sit up, though a couple were still crying into their hands, but being a bit quieter about it than before.
"These will be awarded right now by class participation, so don't be afraid to shout out your answers, even if it goes against everything I've ever taught you!"
Now he had the rest of the class giggling as well, fully recovered from the impromptu crying session.
"First off, most eligible bachelor!"
A few names were screamed out, with those who did so blushing madly, but Iruka didn't let it go on for more than a few seconds before he interjected.
"Oh, what's that?" The teacher was clearly trying not to crack up at his own joke, but to no avail. "Mr. Iruka? Why, you shouldn't have!"
Naruto himself laughed, along with everyone else, as the teacher awarded himself most eligible bachelor, and they continued onward.
"Most likely to succeed?"
A few voices shouted out a variety of names, but the girls could be a doozy when they all voted for one person, and a nearly unanimous shout of "Sasuke!" erupted from Sakura and Ino's section of the classroom.
The boy in question wilted slightly, but the smile on his face, not to mention the blushing cheeks, was hard to miss.
"Most likely to fall asleep in class?"
Shikamaru himself took the playful jab in stride, laughing along with everyone else as they pointed towards him.
"Most likely to wear a dog as a hat?"
Kiba let out a raucous laugh, Akamaru chirping on top of his head, as everyone pointed at him as well, enjoying the atmosphere.
They went on like that for a while, the teacher making fun of them all in a way that had the whole class cracking up, until he arrived at the end of his list.
"And finally," Iruka Sensei looked down at his paper, gave a small snicker, and then shouted out as loud as he could…
"Most likely to become Hokage!?"
He couldn't help but laugh, really, as every head in the classroom turned towards him, all smiling. There was Sakura, her short pink hair waving slightly as she giggled into her hand. Then Ino, the girl's best friend, giving him a look that reminded him vaguely of a sunny day. There was, of course, Sasuke, his best friend, giving him that small smirk that meant he was in a good mood, and the boy inclined his head towards him.
Then there were other faces he knew less well, Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba. Hinata and Shino, along with so many others.
He stood up, tied his forehead protector to the back of his head, and smiled as wide as he could, as everyone in the class took a breath at once.
"NARUTO!" They shouted in near perfect unison.
"You know it!" He yelled back.
\-\
"Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi," Their teacher, Iruka, called out from the front of the room. "You three shall form Team 10."
Sasuke stayed silent, along with everyone else, as the newly christened Team 10 made their way up to the front of the room, Ino grumbling not too quietly about how she was less than happy with her teammates.
He had a feeling that would fade with time, given what the girl was like. Bubbly, happy, and most of all open to change. It was what made her so easy to get to know. Team 10 would probably be friends within a week.
Besides, it wasn't like they didn't already know each other, from what Sasuke had seen. Though begrudgingly, the three did seem to hang out with each other's families a lot, and their formation, the Ino-Shika-Cho, was a cornerstone of the Leaf's military strength.
"I hope we're on a team together." Naruto whispered to his left.
The boy had been adamant about being together on a team for months now, ever since Iruka had explained how they were set up, and Sasuke had honestly heard enough about it to last a lifetime. Still though, he wasn't exactly the most social of people, so he too hoped he'd be on a team with Naruto.
And, if I'm lucky, Sasuke thought, looking towards the pink-haired girl in front of him, who was chewing nervously on her fingernail, I could get both.
Though he kept his hopes up, the chances of him being able to get both of his friends on the same team struck him as a bit far-fetched.
"Next!" Iruka called from the front of the room, the man's eyes roaming over to his own. "Sasuke Uchiha!"
Well, moment of truth.
"Sakura Haruno!"
He pumped his fist in front of him, at the very least, he could start his tenure on his team with one friend, which was about 1 more than he'd thought he'd have.
Still, he couldn't help but be a bit sad for Naruto, as the boy seemed to deflate slightly in his seat. The chances of him being their third member were-
"And Naruto Uzumaki!"
The boy in question turned to face him with an expression that mirrored the sun, and he shouted out "Yeah!"
"You three shall form Team 7, you will all wait in this room for your Jonin teacher to arrive after I have finished assigning teams. Next!"
The man proceeded to call off a few more teams, but honestly, Sasuke couldn't help but zone him out.
He was on a team with Naruto and Sakura! It was more than he could have hoped for, given that they accounted for two thirds of his entire list of friends. Still, if he was going to be stuck with teammates for the rest of his life, he had wanted them to be people he knew he'd get along with.
By the time everyone else in the class left, and the three were alone, they all mirrored Naruto's expression.
"Well," Sakura spoke up, as she walked over to them and sat down in the row below Naruto and Sasuke, turning her chair to face them. "That worked out better than expected."
"Hell yeah! I can't believe we all got on the same team together!"
"Naruto, could you not scream directly into my ear?" Sasuke spoke up, still hearing a small ringing in the back of his head.
"It's one of my favorite things to do though." The blonde boy pouted slightly, though the smile that broke through a few seconds later betrayed his true feelings.
They talked for a while about this and that, and Sasuke was glad that he no longer passed out from exhaustion whenever he spoke for longer than 30 minutes. That had been a minor roadblock towards making friends, he'd discovered. Apparently it wasn't normal to ask if you could go to bed an hour into a sleepover. At 7 o'clock.
As they droned on for quite a while, one thing came to the forefront of all of their minds.
Naruto looked around, face perplexed, before he spoke up.
"Hey, where's our Jonin Sensei?"
\-\
Kakashi sneezed violently, which did terrible, terrible things to the inside of a facemask.
As he tried to avoid vomiting whilst picking out another, he idly realized that he probably should arrive to greet the team he'd been loaded with this year.
Lord Third had been adamant about making him into an instructor, and while he was pretty sure the old man was crazy, he also wasn't about to go against his decisions. Kakashi respected him more than enough to go along with whatever weird plan he had for him.
He finished getting dressed, brought his forehead protector down over Obito's left eye, and left his apartment.
As he made his way to the academy, walking calmly through the half-full streets instead of gliding along the rooftops like he probably should've been, he thought about the kids he'd been given this time.
Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki.
They were interesting, to say the least, though some more than others.
Minato's son…
Kakashi tried to keep his thoughts from dwelling in that direction, if only to hold onto whatever was left of his sanity.
He'd been given not just the son of his former mentor, but one of the last two remaining Uchiha, along with…
Just a random girl, actually, which didn't seem very fair for her.
He made his way into the academy, waved at the secretary, who was cute in a stuck-up kind of way, and pathed towards Iruka's classroom. He was a bit later than he'd meant to be, by about an hour, but that was fine. If his students couldn't handle his being late, well…
Then their relationship wouldn't last very long, anyways.
He opened the door and had two immediate thoughts.
One; that the students in front of him seemed to be getting along rather well, discussing topics quite fervently. Kakashi had been given teams of friends before, but it wasn't like that made much of a difference, if they couldn't work well as a unit, then any advantage friendship could've given them was already null.
And Two; that there was a dusty eraser currently plummeting towards his head. He could have stopped it, thought about it, too, but if this were the result of teamwork between the three of them, then he wanted to let it happen, to see their reactions.
So, it was with some remorse that an eraser bonked him on the top of his head and spread dusty chalk into his hair.
Minato's kid, who looked strikingly like the man in question, tried to hold in his laugh, along with the girl next to him, who must've been Sakura. The black-haired boy, Sasuke, didn't laugh, but Kakashi couldn't miss the small grin on the boy's face.
"H-hey Sensei!" Naruto spoke up, face a mess as he tried and failed to hold in his laughter.
"Naruto!" Sakura hissed, trying to keep her voice down, though it was ineffective through her snickering. "I told you not do that."
"What!?" Naruto had apparently never heard of stealth in his life, for he spoke freely, in a voice that might as well have been a yell. "You gave me a thumbs up!"
Kakashi cleared his throat, finding himself slightly amused. So, the eraser was an act of teamwork?
Then perhaps this could be interesting after all.
\-\
Sakura had no idea what to make of their Sensei as the four of them arrived on top of the academy's roof. It really wasn't a normal location for talking about one's life goals and aspirations, and she felt that deserved more attention, but apparently she was the crazy one.
"Things I like?" Naruto scratched his chin, thinking long and hard about what he would say. "I like Sasuke, and Sakura, and Ino… Oh, and Lord Third, and Ramen! So many different kinds, like tonkotsu, and-"
"Ok," Kakashi smartly interrupted before the boy could start a sermon about ramen, and he turned towards the resident Uchiha. "Sasuke, how about you?"
The boy in question pondered the question, resting his head on one of his hands, looking a bit bored with the situation.
"I guess I like… mnph."
"What was that?" Kakashi looked mildly amused, leaning towards the boy with an eyebrow raised. "You trailed off at the end."
Sasuke blushed.
"I s-said I liked… my friends…"
Their sensei's smile was evident, even from behind the mask he always seemed to have on.
What would he do if he sneezed? Sakura thought, morbidly intrigued.
"And do you have any dislikes?"
She snorted.
Oh yeah, just a few.
"I don't like a lot of things, but I guess… I don't like hot and sunny days. I don't like sweet foods, and I don't like people very much, nor do I appreciate interacting with them. I don't like when people make fun of my friends for not doing anything wrong, and I don't like-"
Kakashi clapped his hands together
"Ok, we'll cut that off there. How about dreams, goals?"
The air seemed to cool instantly, taking on a bitter edge. Sasuke always seemed to have that effect whenever his goal was brought up. It was like an entire side of himself, one that he kept locked away inside, was suddenly dredged up to the surface.
Sakura hoped it never got loose.
"I wouldn't call it a dream, not really. It's more… I suppose an ambition would be a better word for it. I'm going to get revenge for the slaughter of my family, and then, resurrect the Uchiha clan."
The boy spoke the words purposefully, as he always did. It never failed to send a chill down her spine, and judging by the look on Naruto's face, he was having similar thoughts.
They had learned very early on that Sasuke did not like having the Uchiha brought up in any regard. He had never really gotten over what happened to his clan, and Sakura thought that was more than fair. He hadn't obsessed over it either, though, and that was important. Naruto kept the boy far too busy for him to go back to brooding as he had the first few months after his families deaths.
She couldn't imagine what Sasuke would've been like without Naruto's positive influence.
Kakashi Sensei cleared his throat, and the pressure that had hung over the four of them dissipated somewhat.
Sasuke breaking out of his own head a second later caused the pressure to disappear entirely.
"Well," the silver-haired man seemed to not quite know how to recover the situation, and instead gestured to her. "How about you, Sakura?"
"I guess I like my friends, specifically my best friend, Ino," She paused slightly to think of more things, and found herself drawing a blank. What exactly did she do all of the time? Was she really that boring? "I guess I like to draw sometimes."
"That's nice, drawing is nice." Kakashi seemed desperate to grasp onto anything remotely normal between the three of them. "How about dislikes?"
Eh…
"I don't really dislike anything in particular… I guess the people in the shopping district who are mean to Naruto," the boy in question shrunk slightly, cheeks aflame. "But other than that… I don't know."
"Goals?"
"I'd like to be… A strong ninja, I think." She spoke loud enough for the three others to hear, but she couldn't help but be a bit nervous. "T-that's really all."
It wasn't, but she was too embarrassed to admit the rest.
"Alright." Kakashi seemed to want to say a few things, probably thought about it as well, and yet came up empty. "Well, you're each… unique."
He cleared his throat.
"We'll be having our first mission tomorrow." He walked to the edge of the building. "come to training ground 3 tomorrow at around… let's say 8 o'clock. Oh, and one more thing!"
He turned back towards the three of them, eyes glinting with barely concealed mirth.
"Make sure not to eat anything before tomorrow, the task ahead can be quite… ugly. I wouldn't want any of you to be sick."
He faux-laughed into his hand, turned and leapt off the building.
The three remaining members of Team 7 said nothing as he left and faced each other with complicated expressions.
"Huh." Naruto spoke, squinting his eyes and looking a bit confused. "He was weird."
\-\
Kakashi grumbled as he sat up out of his bed, looking for all the world a moving corpse. He felt that way sometimes, too. Still, today he had a job, even if it was one that he took a secret amount of enjoyment in.
It was time to beat up some kids.
And really, what could be more entertaining than that?
By the time he arrived at the training ground, his three students looked ready to rip his throat out, which was good, they'd need that killing intent if they were planning on earning his respect, let alone taking a bell.
"Sensei!" Sakura turned towards him first, spotting him from a larger distance than he'd thought she'd be able to, which really should've been the first sign that today was going to go differently than he'd thought it would. "You said to arrive at 8 o'clock!"
"Yes, I did." Kakashi tried to mask his amusement, which he felt it should've been easier given that he was actually wearing a mask.
"It is nearly noon, Sensei!" He wasn't sure if the girl in front of him realized, but her voice had a certain growl to it, like that of a feral animal.
"Well sure, I said you three were to arrive at 8, I never said anything about when I'd arrive."
Sakura's eye twitched, and he briefly thought she was going to attempt to kill him then and there, but the girl, through some godlike show of self-control, held back, and walked over to stand with her 2 friends, shooting him an intense glare the entire time.
"Alright, let's lay down some ground rules before we get into it."
He took out the two bells he'd had in his back pocket, jingling them in front of his body, and drawing the team's attention once more.
"Your objective today is simple; you'll be attempting to steal these two bells from me. How you go about it is up to you. The two students who are able to take one from me will get lunch at 3 o'clock. If you are unable to secure a bell, you will be unable to eat. Also, if you do not secure a bell by the end of the test, you will-"
He sensed more than he heard a hand whizzing towards one of the bells and dodged to the left just in time for Naruto to go skyrocketing past him.
Where the hell had he come from?
Kakashi looked towards the boy and watched as he disappeared into a puff of white smoke.
Wait, was that a shadow clone!?
OK, so that was interesting, time to get back on track with-
He juked two shuriken, and a fireball that nearly managed to singe the front of his jacket. He looked towards where both had originated and saw that Sakura and Sasuke had launched a combined attack on him, looking quite satisfied with themselves.
Oh, so you think this is funny, do you?
"As I was saying-"
Three more Naruto's charged out at him, kunai in hand, though they were hardly a threat. He took each on with minimalist movements and watched as the three clones disappeared in puffs of smoke. He'd wanted to break out 'Icha-Icha' and read a little, but it seemed this was going to require more of his attention than he'd initially thought.
It was time to go on the offensive, these kids needed to learn that when the time came that they were faced with a superior opponent, they needed to be able to recognize that, and adapt to it.
He rocketed towards his three students, and, giving them enough time to notice his presence, and react to it, chopped Sasuke on the back of his neck, thinking him to be the strongest opponent.
So imagine Kakashi's surprise when the Sasuke he'd attacked exploded into a puff of smoke, and the two remaining children merely smiled at him.
Oh. Kakashi thought, feeling Sasuke's chakra behind him begin to charge up another fireball jutsu, and watching as the Sakura in front of him transformed into another Naruto.
I shouldn't have given them four hours.
\-\
Kakashi panted heavily as he sat down next to the three of his students, all of whom were collapsed on the ground, hands splayed at their sides.
They hadn't managed to take a bell throughout the entire day, though not for lack of trying.
At the same time though, Kakashi noted, breathing heavily as he took out Icha-Icha Paradise and began to read, I don't think I could fail them after that.
He'd come into the day thinking that hunger would make them desperate, that he'd teach them the lesson that without teamwork, they stood no chance against him.
They had, apparently, already known that.
Kakashi laughed, more exhausted then he'd been in a long while. Defeating the three of them would've been easy, of course. He could've killed them in his sleep. But trying to avoid every single attack they threw at him, whilst never really being allowed to incapacitate or defeat them for the purpose of the test?
That was slightly more difficult.
And they had been relentless to boot. They were never down for more than 15 minutes, coming at him time and time again. What was worse, or for them, better, was that they had never attacked him without all three of them ready to strike, and when they had done techniques with only two, it had just been a diversion for the other member to try and take a bell.
He was impressed, and for that, they'd earned his respect.
"OK, you guys pass. Congratulations and everything."
Sakura raised her hand in victory, though it fell half a second later, her being too exhausted to truly keep it there. Naruto let out a small "Whoop." But his voice cracked at least 3 times, and it was lacking any of his usual energy.
Kakashi was fairly sure Sasuke had fallen asleep.
"Well, this has been eventful. I'll see you all tomorrow for our first mission." He stood up, dusted himself off, and flash stepped away.
He just missed Sakura mutter "I hate him."
\-\
In the Hokage's office, signing paperwork and trying to avoid talking with his advisors, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat silently.
A knock struck against his door, and he let out a melancholy "enter", knowing that he was about to have a very unwanted conversation with Danzo, and-
"It's me, sir." A ninja with silver hair knelt in front of him, and Hiruzen had to hide his smile at seeing someone he actually did want to talk to.
"Kakashi, what brings you here?"
The man in front of him raised him head, nodded once to show compliance, and began to speak.
"I wanted to let you know that Team 7 has passed my test, I will take them on as their Jonin Sensei effective immediately."
Now that was good news. He had expected those three to be different and was delighted to hear that his prediction had proven correct. Though something about Kakashi's expression told him the ninja wasn't done.
"Is that all, Kakashi?"
"No sir, I had a question, actually."
"Speak, then."
The scarecrow looked up at him, his eyes trying to read into Hiruzen's own, and seemed to find nothing there.
"Did you plan this?"
A small smile bloomed onto the Hokage's face.
"What are you talking about, Kakashi? Please, explain."
"This team… it seems awfully similar in structure to two others I know of," Kakashi was looking towards the floor, but the Kage could see his brow furrow. "It just… doesn't strike me as a coincidence, sir."
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat back in his chair. He placed one hand on his desk, and the other drew his pipe to his lips. As smoke billowed out of his mouth, he looked towards the ninja in front of him, and gave him a wry smile.
"Why, Kakashi," He spoke, eyes glinting with some unforeseen scheme.
"I'm certain I have no idea what you mean."
End Chapter 4
Alright, so that was Chapter 4!
I actually had this chapter ready to go on Monday, but I wanted to stick to my schedule of updating on Wednesdays. If you'd like to see more sporadic, but occasionally more frequent updates, feel free to let me know.
This is really more of a transitional chapter before we get into the Land of Waves Arc, where some of the first major effects of Naruto and Sasuke's meeting will be seen.
Alright, see you guys in a week!
