Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor am I affiliated in any way with it, other than being a fan. Those rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I do own the OC's and any techniques and weapons I add to the story.
A/N: Finally, the graduation exams and team placements! Now I can stop rushing through the story! I have wanted to get to this part for soooooooo long!
Chapter 7: Teams and Troubling Rumors
"Today's the day!" an excited Naruto told Sasuke as they headed towards the academy for their graduation exams. They were both a little nervous, but confident that they would be able to pass, even with the academy's new rule that for graduation, not only the academy three jutsu would be required, but an additional jutsu of the student's choosing would be required to pass and become a ninja. Minato was serious about raising the standards of the academy, so that genin would be more prepared for the shinobi world.
They took their seats and the written part of the test began. Of course, it was easy, even if Naruto did not specialize in this area. Next, came the shuriken and kunai proficiency aspect of the test, which both Naruto and Sasuke both passed with perfect scores, nailing the bulls eyes every time. They both went back into the building, pleased with themselves thus far.
One by one, each student was called into the exam room and exited with their new forehead protectors while Naruto and Sasuke waited somewhat impatiently for their turn. Naruto gave Hinata thumbs up as she exited the exam room wearing her forehead protector around her neck. She blushed and returned to her seat.
"You're in luck Kit; it seems that she has a crush on you again this time as well. I guess some things are just meant to be," Kurama chortled.
"Don't say that, you'll make me think the future is going to go to hell again," Naruto mentally replied.
Kurama snorted and said, "Please. I know that it would take more than me jinxing things to stop you from changing things, hopefully for the better."
"Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka called.
"Good luck, not that you'll need it," Naruto confidently told Sasuke, who smirked in response before entering the exam room. Sure enough he was back out before long, wearing his forehead protector with a look of pride on his face. Naruto noted that all the rest of the Rookie 9 had passed as well, even Sakura, who he had his doubts about due to the new requirements. Finally…
"Naruto Namikaze," Iruka beckoned. With a confident grin, Naruto entered the exam room. "All right then Naruto, show me a basic Transformation. Without hesitation, Naruto took on the form of Minato (he was tempted to use his Sexy Jutsu since that would technically pass the exam, and in a fun way, but he decided to be serious for a change). "Good, now try a Substitution with that chair when I toss this book at you." As expected, Naruto performed it flawlessly. "Okay, now for your Clone technique."
"I hope you don't mind if I use shadow clones instead of regular ones," Naruto replied as he produced three perfect copies of himself.
"No of course not Naruto, your father informed me of your reserves and besides, Shadow Clones are more useful." Mizuki scowled at this as Naruto dispelled his clones.
"I almost forgot about Mizuki. What to do about him?" Naruto wondered.
"Now all you need to graduate is any other jutsu of your choosing," Iruka said. "Let's see what you've got."
Naruto nodded and upturned his palm. "Rasengan." With that, the technique materialized into his hand. Over the past few years, Minato and Felix had been taking an active role in Naruto's training. One of the major things they had worked on was getting rid of Naruto's glaring weakness of needing a clone's assistance to form the technique. He still needed one to form the Rasenshuriken, but that was definitely progress. He had also learned some basic wind style jutsu, and Felix had helped him learn to use earth element techniques.
Minato and Kushina also started Naruto on fuinjutsu. The sealing arts proved to be extremely complex, but Naruto somehow had a natural knack for it. It was most likely due to his Uzumaki blood, as well as his father being a fuinjutsu master. He had already learned how to store objects within seals, as well as create exploding tags. Another useful trick he learned was the Finger Carving Seal, a jutsu that allowed the user to apply writing to any surface they chose. With a pang, Naruto recognized it as the jutsu Jiraiya had used to write his last code on Fukasaku's back before being killed by Pain.
Minato had decided to try teaching Naruto the Hiraishin as well, though Kushina was against it at first, declaring she had enough problems with a single Yellow Flash going all over the place with no warning. She relented when Minato pointed out that the way Akari was growing up, there would be a second coming of the Bloody Habanero. So far, Naruto was making decent progress.
"That's… amazing," Iruka said as he took in Naruto's Rasengan. "I never would have thought that you had already mastered your father's jutsu, Naruto." He grabbed one of the forehead protectors and tossed it to Naruto. "Congratulations on passing Naruto. You are now a shinobi of the Leaf, a title I know you will bear with pride."
"Thanks Iruka-sensei," Naruto replied. He exited the room as he tied the headband around his forehead.
"Looks like you passed too," Sasuke said.
"Of course I did," Naruto responded with a smug look. "Was there ever any doubt?"
"Well, let's go, our families are waiting for us at Ichiraku's. We wouldn't want to keep them waiting with good news now would we?
…..
"Look, Mommy, big brother and his weird haired friend are here!" Akari declared as Naruto and Sasuke approached, earning a chuckle from everyone else present while Sasuke developed a tick mark.
"My hair is not weird, you little rascal!" Sasuke retorted at the four year old, only to make everyone to laugh a little harder.
"Another bowl please, Teuchi-sama!" Both Akari and Kushina demanded at once, holding out their empty bowls. To Teuchi's eternal delight, both of Kushina's children had inherited her seemingly endless appetite for ramen, and on a day where all three of them were around, he raked it in.
"Coming right up!" Teuchi declared as he and Ayame quickly busied themselves.
"One for me too please!" Naruto requested.
"And by one, you mean one dozen, right?" Sasuke asked after he placed his order.
"Maybe."
Sasuke laughed as he turned to his sibling and mother, only to be quickly smothered by a crushing hug from his mother. "I can't believe you've graduated Sasuke, you're growing up so fast!"
"Mom, geroff me," Sasuke begged as he was once again the subject of everyone's laughter. "Hey, give me that camera, Naruto!"
"No way," Naruto responded gleefully as he avoided Sasuke after the latter broke free of his mother. "This is going into the scrapbook of your embarrassment."
"Get back here!" A short chase around the area ensued, before Kushina shouted at both boys to settle down and get their ramen before it got cold.
Naruto quickly finished his first bowl, and Teuchi already had his next one ready, having learned by then about that appetite that ran in the family. "It's good that you are a ninja at last Naruto, though I'm curious. Why aren't you wearing your headband on your head? I would have thought that you wold be proud to show it off."
"Huh?" Naruto replied, confused. "What are you talking about, old timer, I'm wearing it right…WHAT?!" Sure enough, said forehead protector was missing. "Where did it go? Where's my headband?" Naruto asked frantically as he started to panic.
"Look Mommy, look Daddy, I'm a ninja!" Akari squealed in delight as she ran around the stand, with (you guessed it) Naruto's forehead protector having somehow gone from his head to hers.
"Why, you little! Come back here with that!" Needless to say, another chase ensued around the stand, everyone else laughing.
"I got a scrapbook of my own," Sasuke remarked as he snapped a picture of Naruto right behind his cackling sister, his arms outstretched and falling just short of laying hands on her.
"Your friend's sister is quite a handful," Itachi noted.
"You have no idea," Minato and Kushina both deadpanned when Naruto finally caught the said bundle of energy. With a pout, Akari relinquished his headband.
"Oh, by the way Naruto, once we are done eating," Minato began. "Felix said that he had something for you after you graduated."
"Sweet," Naruto replied, already on his fourth bowl, knowing anything Felix had to offer had to be good.
….
"What'd you get me? What'd you get me?" The excited blonde asked upon entering Felix's home.
"I didn't get you nothing," Felix replied. "I actually made this." With that, he pulled out a sheathed katana that was about three and a half feet in length. "I hear that the Uzumakis were fairly skilled with kenjutsu, so…"
"Awesome!" Naruto declared as he swiped the weapon away and drew it. "What the?" Despite the sheath being three and a half feet long, the sword itself was about a foot shorter. "What gives?"
"That is a ninjato. A scaledown version of a katana, made for more speedy attacks, while retaining some of the cutting power. It's short like that because it is really the right shape for you, and it is traditional for a ninja, at least in the Elder Dimension with that class of fighter."
"Okay, but why is the sheath so long then?"
"Surprise. A more analytical opponent will try to judge the likely amount of time it will take for their enemies to draw their blades. You'll be able to get yours free of the sheath a split second sooner than those enemies would anticipate. And on the battlefield, a split second could save your life."
"I like that idea."
"Good, because I don't have enough cash to afford any more of the chakra conducting metals I would need to lengthen the thing , not after the last time I made the mistake of treating you to Ichiraku's," Felix said jokingly. "If you want the blade to be longer, all you have to do is run a little wind chakra through it anyway. And that is not all the sword can do, either. With some help from your parents, I put some seals on the weapon. Any chakra based attack that you can block with the weapon will be sealed within it, for you to release against your enemies later, though it won't be able to hold the chakra for very long before it disperses."
"Okay then. What's this sword's name?"
"I thought that you should give it its name, since you will be its first wielder. And I hope that it is a blade that will earn some fame and be passed down with honor."
"Alright, I'll see what I can come up with."
"And I also recreated the blade Sasuke had used last time. Mind giving it to him for me?"
"No problem."
….
It was about a week later when Minato had decided all the team placements. He had decided to spend a little more time actually trying to make the teams with the best matchups possible, rather than simply putting the dead last with the top boy and girl. He wanted to make teammates that would have the best chances of working together, so when deciding his son's team, he did not hesitate for a second before putting Naruto and Sasuke together. Kami knows, they were as devious as hell when they collaborated with those underhanded jokes of theirs.
The third teammate was a bit of a dilemma, but Minato ultimately decided on Hinata. Not only did it seem that she and Naruto seemed to like each other, encouraging them to work together, but Minato had noticed that she had a good deal of potential. She was simply too shy and reserved to let it show, and would need some combat experience before she could become stronger. Naruto and Sasuke had the best chance of keeping her alive until then.
As for their jonin instructor, he had a strange request regarding that. He had originally intended to put Team 7 with Kakashi, but he had to admit that the one who requested to be the teacher would be a good choice as well. That person and Kakashi had already discussed it, and Kakashi agreed to surrender Team 7 to them, and rejoin ANBU. With a sigh of relief, Minato finished writing down the team placements before handing the folder to Iruka ,who was in his office waiting for the choices.
….
Iruka entered the academy room and noted everyone was there. He nodded to Naruto and Sasuke, a little surprised to see them both wearing swords strapped to their backs, though he had to admit that they probably did have some potential in kenjutsu.
Naruto was grinning and wondering who he would be placed with this time, seeing as he was no longer the dead last this time, so he realized his chances of being placed with Sasuke would be slim. Sasuke was hoping to be placed with Naruto himself, and praying to Kami that they would not be stuck with one of the fan girls. Speaking of which, Sakura and Ino were busy fighting over the seat next to Sasuke. "Please, Kami," Sasuke thought, revising his thinking. "I'll take any teammates, even fan girls, just please not one of those two, or heaven forbid, BOTH OF THEM." Sasuke shuddered at the extremely unpleasant thought before turning to Naruto, who was in the other seat next to him and saying in an undertone, "Naruto, if I end up on a team with one of those two, or both of them, I want you to kill me immediately, without a second thought. Don't hesitate, it will be the kindest thing you could do for me."
"You don't even have to ask," Naruto replied jokingly, placing his hand near the hilt of his sword, which he had named Arashikatta (Tempest Cutter). Sasuke had yet to name his weapon, because nothing good came to mind. "You shouldn't tempt me like that, Sasuke. Just promise to do the same for me if I end up with two of MY fangirls."
"Agreed."
"Alright everyone, settle down," Iruka called. "I am about to tell you all your team placements. This year, the methods of selection were a little different, as the Yondaime Hokage personally decided to take more of a hand in selecting the teams to ensure the best possible results. I am about to call them out. Team 1 will be…"
Naruto was not paying much attention to this, just listening for the names of the Rookie 9. He had pretty much given up on the idea of being placed with Sasuke, though he had some hope of being placed with Hinata. His thoughts were interrupted when Iruka called, "Team 7 will be Naruto Namikaze, Hinata Hyuuga and Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto's heart skipped a beat as his wildest hopes of being on a team had come true, Sasuke also breathing out a major sigh of relief. He almost did not notice Sakura and Ino trying to hang themselves in the back of the room until a panic stricken Iruka tried to stop them. Once order had been restored, Iruka continued, "Your jonin instructor will be Itachi Uchiha." This shocked both Naruto and Sasuke.
…..
After the teams had finally been finished with the announcing, the only other difference to the Rookie 9 was a sobbing Sakura being placed on Kurenai's team with Kiba and Shino. Asuma's Team 10 was the same as last time. Naruto wanted the whole team to eat at Ichiraku's to celebrate, but Sasuke had insisted on going different for a change. They eventually found themselves at the barbeque area that Team 10 was celebrating at.
Ino was looking depressed until Sasuke came into view. "Oh, Sasuke, over here, come sit here!" She shouted as she kicked an unfortunate Shikamaru halfway across the stand from the seat next to her.
"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, while rubbing the lump on his head.
"I changed my mind, we can go to Ichiraku's after all," Sasuke whispered to his two teammates, making Hinata giggle nervously.
Before Naruto could agree with this stroke of luck however, Felix showed up out of nowhere. "I'm sorry Naruto, but could you come with me? It's urgent."
Naruto sighed. "Sorry to bail on you two, but duty calls." Both Hinata and Sasuke nodded reluctantly at this. As they set off, Naruto asked "What is so important?"
"I don't know yet, but one of my old friends from the Elder Dimension showed up with news that she needs to tell everyone else in this dimension who I have informed about the Elder Dimension. It does not seem good."
Naruto nodded and did not say anything else until they reached the Hokage's office. Kushina was already there, along with a woman with bright purple hair cut just above her shoulders and intense blue eyes and a figure that was somewhere between the future Sakura's and Ino's. She wore a plain black headband, as a simple grey kimono with a sash around the waist.
The woman looked up as Felix and Naruto entered the room. "Just three people Felix?" she asked. "I know that your pride has been wounded by having to resort to time travel to defeat the enemy you were sent to handle, but you should have at least a couple more people within this circle, and only the one you used to turn the clock back has all his memories."
"I actually have four in on this Ceilia," Felix responded. "We are just going to have to go into the mindscape of this one here if you want the fourth to be included in this conversation."
"All right then," she replied as she put her hand on Naruto's head, followed by Minato, Kushina and Felix. They all found themselves in the room that once held Kurama's cage with said tenant waking up to this intrusion.
"What's this?" Kurama yawned. "Another meeting in here? Let's make this quick, I was taking a nap. And who is that?"he asked upon catching sight of Ceilia.
"Another friend from the Elder Dimension, just like Felix," Minato responded. "Perhaps we should introduce ourselves to her first."
Everyone agreed to this, and after said introductions were done with, Ceilia nodded. "Before I tell you anything about me, or why I am here, I am going to make sure that you are all trustworthy," she said as she undid her headband. Before anyone could ask what she meant, they noticed that she had a horizontal slit on her forehead that had been covered by the headband. She closed her eyes as the slit opened to reveal a third eye with a scarlet pupil. Everyone was shocked except for Felix, who had already known about this.
Naruto froze as the eye's gaze fell upon him, having the strange feeling that his soul itself was being watched. The felling passed as Ceilia turned away to view the others. With a nod, she closed the eye and opened her normal ones, replacing the headband. "Sorry about that," she said. "It seems that I can trust you all with my information. My name is Ceilia Aki. What you just saw was the Tamashi Kensaku Me (Soul Search Eye). As the name implies, it allows the bearer to glimpse into the character of whoever it's gaze falls upon, but don't worry, I can't read your mind or access your private thoughts. It also allows me to have an understanding of any jutsu or technique I come across, though not on the same level as this dimension's Sharingan, so I can't copy them without practicing them first, though I can easily figure out strengths and weaknesses of said abilities and how best to counter them. I can also spot traps with it with no problems.
"What I like most about this though is that I can understand any language I read with it, including the sealing arts. As you might expect, those of us with this third eye are considered fuinjutsu masters of the highest order in the Elder Dimension, and we are the only ones who can make seals as complex as the one that Felix used to turn time back. In fact, I am the one who wrote his. The biggest drawback is that the eye automatically consumes chakra when it is open, and it only takes about 30 minutes for the user to be completely drained, closer to 10 if we're fighting. "
"I see," Minato said. "That is a very impressive Kekkei Genkai."
"It's not a Kekkei Genkai," Felix said. "It was developed about half a century ago by one of our most brilliant scientists, and it is not all that difficult to manufacture. The reason it is so rare for someone to have one is because it kills about 80 percent of all people it is tried to be implanted in, and drives most of the survivors insane. It is also supposed to be excruciatingly painful, even with sedatives, which is part of the reason for the last two potential side effects. It also erases any Kekkei Genkai the recipient may have.
"It was almost banned from being implanted any more after final results, but those who acquired it proved so useful that very restricted attempts are still allowed, not a single one lightly. Currently, Ceilia is one of only three that are on active duty with it, and one of them, while not insane enough to be a danger to others or himself, did get a little crazy from the procedure. How even he saw logic in trying to plant chickens to grow eggs, I will never know." Everyone sweat dropped at this last comment.
"Four actually," Ceilia said. "Another one was added while you were gone, but we digress. What I am about to tell you is very important. Just three days ago, we came across a sort of cult. Their uniform was somewhat simple, mostly black hooded robes that hid their faces. They were oppressing a small village, so we took care of it and captured one of them alive for interrogation. His mind was protected by some strong seals of course, one that even covered the Pulse Imprint Jutsu."
"What's that?" Naruto asked.
"Remember when I said I viewed your memories, Naruto?" Felix asked. "That was what I used. It is a highly advanced and delicate technique. The idea is to send a pulse of electricity or lighting chakra into the subject's head to their hippocampus, the part of the brain that stores memories. It then basically creates an imprint of all that is stored there before it flows back to the user and overlaps their hippocampus, storing copies of the memories there. Simple, yet effective. If used properly, it is also capable of reawakening suppressed memories, such as the ones that still exist after time is turned back as a faint echo. The seal you used automatically did this for you."
"Back to the topic," Ceilia continued. "By the time we broke through his seals, his mind was broken beyond repair. However, we were still able to pick out a few coherent words, three of which seem to be in the same context, and alarmed everyone who was privy to them." She gazed at all of them intently before she continued, "They were Lord Genshukuayatsuri, followed soon after by Jyuubi."
Felix and Naruto both paled after hearing this with Kurama growling. Minato and Kushina just looked confused. "What exactly is so bad about the Genshukuayatsuri part?" Kushina asked. "And the Jyuubi is long gone after what the Rikudou Sennin did."
Naruto and Felix both proceeded to explain that the future had gone to hell because Obito's final goal involved bringing back the Jyuubi and succeeded, albeit an incomplete version. Then Felix explained about the legends of a Genshukuayatsuri. He finished with the statement, "If one of them really is alive and has designs on the Jyuubi, most likely planning on sealing it within himself, then not even the Elder Dimension would be safe if he were to succeed. He would be virtually unstoppable, if virtually can even be used in the statement. The Jyuubi nearly destroyed both of our worlds if you remember, and the Genshukuayatsuris were easily the most powerful human beings to ever exist, with the possible exceptions of the Rinnegan bearers, not counting a particular one you knew, Naruto. He has barely scratched the surface of its full potential."
"And the worst part is, most of the Elder Dimension's council does not wish to believe the rumors of this," Ceilia growled. "They would rather pretend nothing was wrong, because the alternative is too scary for them to bear. The most decisive action they have yet taken was sending me here to investigate the rumors and tip you off. I do admit that the rumors are rather unlikely though. It was a cult we took down after all, and they probably just viewed the Genshukuayatsuris and the Jyuubi as gods of destruction, and the one whose mind we read was in bad mental shape. Plus the Genshukuayatsuris were supposed to all be dead for centuries, and I don't think that our ancestors would have stopped hunting them until absolutely certain that the threat was gone forever."
"I agree," Felix said. "The chance that a Genshukuayatsuri survived all this time is slim at best. However, we should still treat this situation as though the rumors are true. If there is even the slightest chance of a member of that clan getting his hands on the Jyuubi, we must make sure that it does not happen."
"Agreed," everyone else said at once.
A/N: And that is an ominous ending to chapter 7.
To answer Anon's review of my poker scene, when I said ace flush, I meant a normal flush with the suit being aces, not a royal flush. Sorry if I confused too many people with this.
So, how many people were expecting Itachi to be the sensei? No one seemed to because I did not get a single guess to it. Things are going to get very interesting from here…
38 reviews people! That's an average of more than five per chapter I have already posted! I was thinking about holding chapters after the tenth for ransom until I had 50 reviews, but it does not look like I will have to. My story must be pretty good, thanks so much for your support guys! I am shooting for 150 reviews by chapter 20, at this rate I should be in good shape.
So read, enjoy and review, review, review!
