Hey! More reviewers~! xD I can't tell you how awesome it is that the reviews just keep climbing! I guess you're all excited as me to get to the genin days... Sorry for the short chapter, but ten thousand words is pretty bad for me. It just doesn't seem right or something. So it was kind of cop-out, because technically we haven't gotten to the good part like I said. My bad. :x

But I'll update soon, so don't worry too much about it? :D PLEASEDON'TKILLME.

Enjoy. And happy birthday, Naruto~! xDDD


Naruto crouched before the two men, mind slowly going over and repeating what Mizuki had just said to him. That morning he'd been fairly confident that he would make that bunshin work; Rae didn't want to wear a pink dress, after all! And when he failed Mizuki coming up to him and offering an alternative was like a gift from Kami himself.

Until Iruka and Mizuki had caught him, and then Mizuki had revealed the reason Konoha had always hated him.

It's not true. It can't be. But somewhere in his mind Naruto also thought about how people would treat him, with cold eyes and harsh words and fierce blows.

"Iruka is the same!" Mizuki howled in triumph, swinging a giant shuriken over his arm. "He actually hates you!" Naruto didn't notice, every cruel word going over in his mind, every glare from each and every person- "Nobody will ever accept you!" That made Naruto stop short.

But... wasn't there-

"That was the scroll used to seal you!" Mizuki swung his arm around, metal flying towards the still-frozen Naruto-

"Naruto!"

Thunk!

Naruto stared with wide eyes at the chunin standing over him, blood spilling from his mouth and breathing heavily. The shuriken lodged itself in Iruka's back as he crouched over Naruto.

"I was... once like you," Iruka gasped out, looking directly at Naruto. "My parents... after they died... I wanted acknowledgement too. But you..." He grimaced, then offered a weak smile to Naruto. "You found acknowledgement, Naruto. You found Rae-san, and you... you found me." He turned his head to the side and coughed out blood. "And I'm so... so proud of you. Not of Kyuubi, but of Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha's future Hokage!" Iruka grinned proudly. "Don't make Rae go back on her word, Naruto." He said hoarsely. "She always believed in you too."

"And don't get me started on that little demon wench!" Mizuki snarled, twirling the second shuriken over his arm. "I don't know where the hell she came from, but only those from hell itself can stand to be near the Kyuubi brat like that!" He snarled. "Both she and you should just go to hell!" He crowed, aiming the shuriken at Naruto.

Something snapped in Naruto.

Naruto rolled out from underneath Iruka, dropping the scroll in his previous position and standing in front of Iruka.

"Naruto!" Iruka choked out, eyes wide. "What the hell are you doing? Run!"

"Rae-chan always called me a hero, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto snapped back at him. "I'd be making her go back on her word if I left you with this... this bastard! And Rae-chan never goes back on her word! And neither will I!" Naruto snarled as he looked up at Mizuki. "If you touch Iruka-sensei, I'll kill you myself!" Mizuki snarled back.

"Then die, damn you!" He let loose the shuriken directly towards Naruto, who only held up his fists and concentrated.

Deflect to side. The first thing Rae had pounded in his head, and the first thing she'd said to do if you couldn't get away. Naruto's eyes narrowed and he let out a cry as he gave a roundhouse kick just before the shuriken reached him, deflecting the flying metal by only an inch. It sailed past him harmlessly, burying itself in a tree behind him.

Mizuki stared with wide eyes as Naruto then put his hands in a certain seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"


Rae gaped openly as the scene on the crystal ball faded from Naruto's tackling of Iruka, hitai-ate on his forehead and very broken Mizuki on the side.

"That... was different." Rae finally said, slouching as she stared with wide eyes at the Hokage. He raised an eyebrow.

"How so?"

"Naruto... he ran away." Rae shook her head. "He was so scared when he heard about Kyuubi, and he just... couldn't handle it. Iruka and Mizuki then chased after him, and Iruka then said something that made Naruto protect him after being cornered by Mizuki. But that move with the shuriken... And all those ways he hit Mizuki." Rae suddenly chuckled under her breath. "He's been modifying my teachings, coming up with new moves that technically are the same style, but they're moves meant for people with a bit more strength and flexibility, and just that more useful. He's a little genius like that." The Hokage hmmed.

"Then I suppose this whole thing means you were telling the truth." He said after a bit. "The details of the encounter were off, but the initial happening was still there. Though I'm a bit surprised." He said, leaning back. "Most people wouldn't let something so traumatizing happen to someone they care about, especially when it could have gone wrong in so many places." Rae hesitated, nodding in agreement.

"A part of me still wants to lock him up in a box and tell him no more ninja." She said, an ironic smirk on her lips. "But there's so much shit coming, not just for him, but for Konoha. There's so many people he needs to save, so many things he needs to learn on his own." Rae fingered the edge of her jacket. "I almost went to pick him up at the academy instead of coming here." She said after a pause. "I really didn't care if you believed me. I just want him to be safe and happy." Her eyes closed. "But he's going to be Hokage someday. I can't take that away from the world."

Sarutobi smiled.

"Then I suppose you could wait here for Iruka to come and give his report." He said mildly. "No doubt Naruto will come. It should be any..."

A knock sounded at the door, and Sarutobi exchanged a glance with Rae before raising his voice. "Enter." Rae stood to the side as Iruka opened the door, Naruto bounding in behind him and grinning like the sun. They both stared incredulously at Rae.

"... Rae-chan, what are you doing here?" Naruto finally asked in surprise. Rae smirked, jabbing a thumb behind her to the crystal ball still sitting out.

"Watching the show." She said mildly. Naruto flinched.

"You... you knew?" He asked quietly. "I mean... I always thought..."

"That because I wasn't from here I wouldn't know about the Kyuubi?" Rae asked quietly. Naruto nodded and she walked forward, pulling him in a hug. "Stupid little otouto." She murmured. "I've always known. I just didn't care. Just like Iruka-san and Hokage-sama." Naruto beamed up at Rae, then grinned widely.

"Hey, Rae-chan!" He said suddenly. "Notice anything different about me? Huh?" Rae hmmed, tapping her chin in thought.

"Hmmm... Did you get a new haircut?" Naruto's expression fell into a scowl.

"RAE-CHAN!" He yelled, rubbing the back of his ear. Rae hadn't noticed he'd done that before, but it was now rather obvious. "I'm a ninja now!" He said in excitement, pointing at his hitai-ate. "I really did it! Now you don't have to wear a pink dress for a year!"

Rae smirked. "Then I guess you know the answer to my question, eh hero?" She asked lightly. Naruto nodded seriously.

"You get strong when you protect your precious people!" He said solemnly, looking up at Rae. "That's what makes a ninja strong! When they protect a village of precious people!" Rae smiled, ruffling his hair.

"I knew you'd figure it out." She said. "Even if it took me calling you 'hero' all the damn time. You're rather slow sometimes."

"Oi!" Naruto then reached into his pocket and pulled out something. "Neh, nee-chan. Close your eyes!" Rae blinked but shrugged and complied. Her eyebrows furrowed when she felt something being slipped on her head. "Okay, open them!"

Rae opened her eyes and reached up, blinking rapidly as she felt the round shapes and worn leather. "Is that...?"

"Yeah! They're my old goggles!" Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't need them anymore, but I don't want to get rid of them! So you can take care of them for me! Believe it!" Rae fingered the goggles gently.

"Ah, Naruto..." She grinned down at him. "Thanks. I'll make sure they stay safe." Behind the two, Iruka finished his account of the night's events. The Hokage nodded, and Iruka finally came up to the two, not batting an eye at Rae's new accessory.

"Come on," He said, ruffling Naruto's hair. "Naruto wanted to look for you before getting ramen, so he told Teuchi-san to make a new pot of miso ramen." He said to Rae.

"Let's go eat!" Naruto cheered, all but dragging Iruka out the door. Rae smirked and began to follow after.

"Ah, Kuroda-san." The Hokage called after Rae, making her pause in the doorway. "Come in tomorrow morning at ten. We have some things we need to discuss."

Rae nodded before Naruto snatched her arm, dragging her away and into the night.


"So did ya see how I kicked that bastard's ass?" Naruto asked in excitement, putting down his third bowl and looking at Rae. Rae smiled from the stool next to him, Iruka on Naruto's other side still eating.

"I did." She said; she'd payed extra attention to that part. "I noticed how you used that move you came up with on the shuriken. Did I ever mention you were a genius with martial arts?" Rae joked. "And you even remembered every last place on the human body I told you to hit!"

Iruka choked, and Naruto blinked and pat his back before turning back to Rae.

"Yeah!" Naruto grinned. "It was a lot easier when there was way more of me! The kage bunshin is awesome! Here!" Naruto's hands almost formed the seal before Rae pulled them apart.

"Let's... not do that in here." She said nervously. "I don't know if you have enough control over it to not create a small army again, and I'm sure Teuchi-san doesn't have that much ramen."

Teuchi nodded. "I can barely feed one of you," He joked, though his face betrayed his confusion. Rae only shrugged.

"So I suppose you'll get a jounin instructor now?" She asked Naruto, looking at Iruka for confirmation. Iruka nodded.

"With Naruto's graduation, there's just enough students to make all the necessary three genin cells." He said cheerfully. Naruto looked excited.

"Really?" He asked. "Can I be on a team with Hinata-chan? Can I? Can I?" He looked pleadingly at Iruka, who only shrugged.

"That's up to the Hokage." He said. Naruto then turned his eyes on Rae, who cringed at the look.

"... What?"

"You're meeting with the Oji-san tomorrow." Naruto said seriously. "So can you ask him to put me in the same team as Hinata-chan?" Rae sighed, she was actually going to make sure he was with Sakura and Sasuke. The one in his class that Naruto seemed to like the least and the girl that didn't give a damn about him.

Poor little guy. She almost felt like she was betraying him.

"It's not up to me, hero." She said finally. "I don't know what I can do, so I wouldn't hold your breath. There's probably a system that Hokage-sama uses to divide teams." Iruka nodded.

"I can probably already guess who Naruto will be placed with," He said thoughtfully. "Based on that system. But it's a surprise." He added at Naruto's triumphant grin.

Naruto scowled.

"Well, whoever they are, I'll show them that I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto declared. "And I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage in the history of Konoha! Believe it!" Rae ruffled his hair.

"That'll do, hero." She said, leaning against the counter and closing her eyes. "That'll do."


Rae dressed quickly the next morning, fingering Naruto's old goggles before putting them on her forehead like he had worn them. She frowned momentarily in the mirror, but then shrugged. All the best anime characters wore them. They were pretty cool anyway.

The dark-haired woman walked to the Hokage tower, flipping through her notebook and reviewing what she planned to say to the Hokage. Truth be told, she was honestly thinking that she would simply tell him everything. She'd never been much of a planning person anyway.

Look where her first attempts got her. Rae crammed all the information like she had an exam, dodging around poles and people that gave her funny looks. She ignored them as she read up on Orochimaru's Hidden Village of Sound, Sasuke's eventual betrayal of the village, Akatsuki, and finally, Uchiha Madara's Moon Eye plan.

Which was a really big, really nasty can of worms that Rae knew she'd have to suck up and present to the Hokage in all its glory. Along with telling him about Orochimaru murdering him and running off. That was going to be real nasty.

But still. Rae's eyes darted up momentarily—she could afford to cheat—and she tiptoed past a group of tittering civilian women. One of whom made a louder, likely-meant-to-be-overheard comment about how she hoped that Rae was reading something better than the trash she usually had her nose in.

Just to mess with her, Rae turned and gave her a wide, it's-so-much-worse-than-you-think smirk she once gave her parents. The effect was the same in that it sent the lady rocking back on her heels, shaking her head in disapproving horror. When she turned and informed her little group of this new development, they all began sadly shaking their heads and started up their fussing, stealing glances at her every once in a while.

Rae almost giggled.

Finally reaching the tower, she nodded at the receptionist who immediately took her to the same room. Rae idly thought that she was getting almost as comfortable as Naruto around here.

"Ah, Kuroda-san." Rae bowed as the receptionist closed the door behind her.

"Hokage-sama." She said politely. The Hokage nodded.

"Sit down, Rae-san." He said, gesturing at the seat in front of his desk. "I believe we have much to talk about." Rae swallowed and nodded before taking the seat. There was a long, awkward silence before the Hokage coughed. "What's in that notebook?" He asked, gesturing to the book Rae was still holding. "It's in an odd language." Rae nodded.

"The... vision was a very long one." She said awkwardly. "And it spanned over the next three years. I was... cut off before it could finish, so I'm still not sure about what happens after that. But it spanned over many different subjects and people. I have issues with memory," She held up the book. "So I wrote everything I could remember. And it still has holes in it. Not to mention that it's still changing." The Hokage nodded.

"I see." He murmured. "And you feel... safe in sharing what you know?" Rae shook her head.

"Not at all." She said honestly. "But I don't really think I'm the best judge of that. And you, well, you've been Hokage for Kami-knows-how-long. I can tell you the events that happened originally, and personally I like things at a more predictable level, but otherwise I have fairly biased judgment on the whole thing." Sarutobi hmmed, folding his hands together.

"You've put quite some thought into this." He said with a raised eyebrow. Rae shrugged.

"It's a whole world at stake, Hokage-sama." She said mildly. "Literally. I don't want to jeopardize that because of my pride issue."

"Hm..." The Hokage leaned back in his chair. "Then why don't you begin?"

Rae breathed deeply and nodded, fingering her goggles. "I guess I can divide the problems into five different categories." She began, hoping that this wasn't a mistake. "The most immediate, but also the least of them all, being Orochimaru. Otokage of Sound."

The Hokage listened solemnly as Rae spoke of how Orochimaru would infiltrate the second part of the chunin exams and inflict Uchiha Sasuke with a cursed seal, then invaded Konoha during the third part and (Rae swallowed heavily) would kill the Sandaime.

"As far as I remember, you did something to him that made his... current body useless."

"Current body?" The Hokage asked incredulously. "He completed... that technique?" Sarutobi closed his eyes mournfully when Rae nodded. "... I see. And he wished to use Uchiha Sasuke for that, then, because of the Sharingan." Rae nodded.

"I think at first he wanted Itachi, seeing how the guy was a prodigy and had those higher level Sharingan." She said, finger making a little circle around her own eye. "Those pinwheel ones. But he's with Akatsuki, so even Orochimaru had a hard time with him. Instead his plan is to curse the emo and tempt him with the offer of making him strong enough to kill Itachi. Which leads me to the second problem: Uchiha Sasuke."

Rae was cut off by a quick knock on the door and a figure poofed into existence right next to Rae, making her start in her seat.

"Sorry I'm late." A voice said cheerfully. "I had to get some itching powder out of my hair." Rae stared open-mouthed at the silver-haired man standing next to her as the Hokage simply sighed.

She snickered, holding a hand to her mouth and trying not to simply laugh out loud.

"And what, pray tell, is so funny?" Hatake Kakashi asked, single eye staring at the odd woman that was very clearly holding in a laugh.

"I- I- I just..." Rae gasped in a breath and snickered again. "Y-You met N-Naruto, didn't you?" Kakashi's eyebrow raised incredulously, reaching up and feeling where a chalkboard eraser with that suspicious dust had clipped him.

"... Maybe." He turned to the Hokage. "You called, Hokage-sama?" He asked. Sarutobi nodded.

"I'd like to introduce you to Kuroda Rae." He said, indicating the still half-hysterical girl. Kakashi sweat dropped.

"Nice to... meet you." He monotoned. "You know Naruto?" Rae finally managed to control her snickers down to a smug smirk.

"I'm the one who gave him the itching powder." Kakashi twitched, reaching up and scratching a phantom itch on his head.

"... Hokage-sama, is there a point to this?" He finally asked the old man. Rae smirk dropped into a scowl, grumbling under her breath. The Hokage sighed.

"Yes, Kakashi, there is. Kuroda-san has certain... gifts that are beneficial to Konoha."

"Hm." Kakashi looked skeptically at Rae, who scowled back. "Not a ninja." He said decisively.

"No." The Hokage nodded. "But still beneficial to us, especially concerning Team Seven." Kakashi sighed.

"Truth be told, Hokage-sama." He said. "I'm not sure there's going to be a Team Seven this year either. The Uchiha's nothing but 'revenge', that pink-haired girl's a silly little fangirl, and Naruto..." Kakashi shrugged. "To be frank, Hokage-sama, he's a ramen-loving moron." Rae opened her mouth to protest...

"Anything to correct Kakashi on, Rae-san?" The Hokage asked in bemusement.

And snapped it shut after a thought. "Actually, that's all true." She admitted sheepishly. The other two sweat dropped.

"Now, Kuroda-san is quite close to Naruto, and has been his taijutsu instructor for the past three years." The Hokage said formally. At Rae's confused look, he explained "When a jounin sensei tests his genin, they are usually given a file on their capabilities by their previous sensei beforehand. You did not have a file officially marking you as Naruto's sensei, so it will have to be done the old fashioned way." Rae fidgeted under Kakashi's expectant stare.

"Ah..." She hmmed in thought. "I'd say Naruto is... about a green belt." The two men gave her blank looks. "It's the third level in the ranking system." She elaborated. "There are eight levels. Master is the highest."

"And what level are you?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm a brown belt. That's only the fifth level." Rae said. The Hokage nodded for her to go on. "Naruto developed his own moves in the style, but they're fairly sloppy. He's skilled in targets and levers, but when it comes to form he has to concentrate to keep himself in check."

"And what taijutsu is this?" Kakashi asked.

"It's not actually a taijutsu..." Rae trailed off thoughtfully. "Unless you count martial arts as a ninja thing. Which it isn't. There's no base stance to the style, and it's designed to be a more hit-and-run thing. But Naruto always failed in academy taijutsu, so... Yeah." She finished awkwardly. The Hokage hmmed.

"Care to show us some of this style, Rae-san?" Rae blinked.

"I'm not sure I could..." Another poof and suddenly Kakashi was directly behind her. Rae stared at him before looking at the Kakashi standing beside her. She stood and poked the one behind her.

... Weird.

"Um..." Rae looked at Kakashi. "Will he kill me? Because I can only hold my own against drunk civilian speed. This is just asking for a kunai to my throat." At the thought Rae reached up and fingered the old scar on her throat, then shivered. The Hokage raised an eyebrow.

"Kakashi's kage bunshin will not fight back." He reassured her. "He will move at civilian speed, feign reactions, and will take a bit of damage before dispersing. You will be fine." Only when Kakashi nodded in agreement did Rae breath out, standing in front of the clone with a scowl.

"Here goes suicide." She muttered darkly as the clone slowly, very slowly, began to punch her.

Hand deflect fist to side. Grab arm, other hand giving open palm to clone's throat. Grip still on arm, roundhouse to leg nerve. When the clone stumbled on the failed leg, Rae stepped in a triangle formation towards his back and whipped the arm behind him, placing a foot on his neck and simultaneously pulling and pushing.

The clone dispersed just as the wet tearing sound of ligaments ripping reached their ears. Behind Rae, Kakashi hmmed and rubbed his shoulder.

"Ouch." He said mildly. "Anyone of higher civilian strength would have been torn apart. Literally." Kakashi blinked when Rae slowly turned, a green tinge to her face.

"I..." Rae shuddered and placed a hand to her stomach. "I hate that noise." She breathed slowly and deeply before nodding, turning to the two men. "Sorry." She muttered. "I'm kind of squeamish about ripping someone's arm off." Kakashi raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Rae tapped her goggles weakly. "Non ninja." She said, flashing a peace sign. Rae shuddered again. "Ugh."

"Are you ill, Kuroda-san?" Hiruzan asked. Rae shook her head even as she slowly sank to the floor.

"I'll be fine in a minute." She waved them off. "Go on without me." Rae reached in her pocket and tugged out her covered book, desperately trying to lose herself in Akiko's turmoil.

Kakashi shrugged and turned to the Hokage. "I've never seen a style like that." He said. "But it looked to be like a blend of older taijutsu. You'd probably want to ask Gai though." Kakashi shuddered at the thought. "Otherwise I think I can see the basics of the style. I'm quite curious to see how Naruto uses it."

"It's always different." Rae spoke up, nose still in book and regular color slowly returning to her face. "I taught Naruto every move for his level," She explained, flipping a page. "But it all depends on the user. Some people go for the nerves, some people go for breaking bones, some go for bruising organs. There are always different options, so Naruto may use it a lot more differently than me." The Hokage raised an eyebrow.

"A personalized style then?" He asked. Rae didn't look up.

"Exactly." Kakashi hmmed.

"Interesting, but I have a genin squad to prepare a test for. By your leave, Hokage-sama. Rae-san." Kakashi curved his eye in a friendly smile before vanishing. Rae shook her head.

"There are days I wish I were a ninja just so I could learn to do that." She muttered, finally closing the book and standing. She sat back in her chair and rubbed her arms. The Hokage looked at her.

"Recovered?" He asked. Rae nodded.

"I would have tried to avoid a move like that," She said sheepishly. "But it's all based on a split second decision, you know? I don't usually do... that."

"Understandable." Sarutobi inclined his head. "Now, I'm assuming Kakashi passes Team Seven tomorrow?" Rae nodded.

"So long as it all goes right." She said. "But as I was saying, there's a certain unhinged emo that you may want to keep an eye on in the near future..."


Naruto huffed as he recounted the details of his team members to Rae. "And when I asked them if he wanted to train with me, that teme called me a dobe and Sakura did the same!" He ranted, scowling at the bowl of ramen in front of him. Rae sat on the stool beside him, swirling her own ramen.

"And what did you think of your teacher?" She asked casually. Naruto scowled even harder.

"He's weird, nee-chan." Naruto said. "He was late by almost an entire hour, so I put itching powder in a chalkboard eraser and put it over the door. Even though he was scratching his head the entire time, he looked all bored. And he didn't say anything but his name!" Rae tried to seem like she didn't know.

"And his name?"

"Hatake Kakashi." Rae tried to seem surprised.

"The Hatake Kakashi?" Rae said in fake awe. "As in Copycat Kakashi, the one who graduated the academy when he was five?" Naruto looked up at Rae with saucer-like eyes.

"That lazy bastard?" Naruto demanded in disbelief. "The one that barely even reacted with half a bottle of itching powder in his head?" Rae coughed.

"Overdoing things, are we?"

"I was bored!"

"Anyway." Rae shook her head. No wonder Kakashi had seemed so upset about it. "I think having a jounin instructor will be good. I can't teach you anything about being a ninja, and Iruka had too many students to teach you on the things you needed help with individually. And Hatake is supposed to be the best of the best." Naruto scowled, folding his arms.

"I don't believe it." He said. "There's no way that baka is so great!" Rae shook her head sadly.

"Naruto." She scolded lightly. "There's always going to be someone stronger than you. He might be an idiot, but he's one hell of a ninja and is way out of your league. You said he mentioned survival training against himself?" When Naruto nodded Rae shook her head. "I'm not gonna lie, hero. You'll die."

"WHAT?" Rae scowled and placed a hand over her ear.

"Dammit Naruto, what have I said about yelling in other people's faces?" She snarled, then sighed as the ringing settled down. "He's a jounin, Naruto. You're a genin. There are other jounin out there that can't match Hatake. There's no way in hell you'd survive if he came after you. That's why you have a new team-"

"But they don't like me!" Naruto cut in, scowling. "They don't want anything to do with me!" Rae raised an eyebrow.

"Then they'll die too." She said simply. "And you'll get sent back to the academy and have to wait another year to be a ninja. It's your pride or your dream, Naruto." Rae sighed when Naruto only looked away. "You said he was late, right?" Naruto nodded. "Then if he's like that the first day, then he'll probably be late again. You, however, should be on time."

"But why?" Naruto whined. Rae slapped her forehead.

"Because I'm pretty sure your teammates will be there on time." She said seriously. "You are going to wake up tomorrow, eat a good, healthy breakfast-"

"But he said not to eat if we don't wanna throw up!" Naruto said. Rae raised an eyebrow.

"Then you'll all be very, very hungry while trying to survive something that is absolutely impossible." She said dryly. "What makes you think you'll throw up?"

Naruto's mouth opened and closed a few times before his jaw dropped.

"That bastard." He finally said. Rae sighed.

"Naruto, there are some things you need to think about yourself. Blind obedience versus common sense. Don't lose yourself to being the best damned ninja because you were nothing but a tool." She said sternly. "That's not living. That's one foot in the grave and following orders like some kind of zombie. Living people aren't like that. You aren't like that." Rae said firmly. "Promise?" Naruto finally sighed, nodding.

"I promise."

"Good. Now remember what I said about pride. There's a difference between it and stupidity. And do you remember that condition when I taught you martial arts? About when to use it?" When Naruto nodded Rae smirked. "If Hatake says to use your full capabilities, don't hold back at all."

"But... but you said-"

"As your instructor, I gave you specific orders on how to use my teachings." Rae said sternly. "I want you to have Hatake teach you, and his orders override mine. If he says something about being a ninja that I say is wrong, then he's most likely right. I may know more about my particular style of martial arts, but I want you to take it a step further. Master your own style of it. You're a ninja now, hero." She said, tapping his hitai-ate. "I want you to make your own name and be the greatest Hokage in history. But you can't do that without help from a team. The Hokage wouldn't put you on a team otherwise, neh?" Naruto grinned.

"Right! I'll be the best team member ever! And I'll show that baka sensei!" He declared. "Believe it!"

Rae only rolled her eyes and wondered if unleashing Naruto on his new team was some form of attempted murder.


Ha, probably. XD YAY KAKASHI IS HERE~! *throws confetti* TO MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE ANIME CHARACTER, YO! And yes, to those that realized that this fic would be an eventual RaexKakashi, kudos to you! It was put on my profile and Kakashi was listed as the second character, but still good job. :D Besides, Kakashi was technically the first Naruto character to appear in this fic! Briefly, with one line and he vanished almost immediately, but still. (Yes I'm talking about the unnamed ANBU member that fixed Rae after she was held hostage in the first chapter) And I didn't put it in the story's summary because any hint of romance is so far off I'd be making you guys wait for a while. I'm talking 'not even a hint of a fuzzy feeling until months after the incident with Orochimaru' kind of far off.

But do you know what really gets me about your guys' reviews? I can understand you enjoying the idea of an OC-insert. I can possibly fathom you liking mine, though I'm not sure to the level your reviews seem to claim. There's a distinct, one-in-a-million chance that my updates make you guys just as frantic for them as your reviews sound. But there's one thing that I must call out a major lie on: you people actually claim to like the OC herself! When I thought up a character like Rae, I was just going for the 'believable woman with a different kind of shitty background'. Not the kind that had their family slaughtered or survived some kind of rape attempt that made them cringe at male contact, but a kind of event that I have never seen attempted and what I've actually heard about. And have been warned against.

... No, I'm not telling you just yet. But the point is I was just going for a non-exactly-outstanding character that would just make believable actions. And I gave her a scar because it SCARS ARE COOL. And I didn't want Konoha to welcome her with open arms or anything. It's still a village full of mercenaries and child assassins. xD But anyway, I hope that whatever imbalance in your brain that makes you seem to like Rae... doesn't go away. If you want to like her, go right ahead. I'll just keep my opinions away from you about that *coughcoughNUTScough* and let you roll along.

Sorry for the long AN again, and thanks again to Sousie! Peace out.