Chapter 10
Several days later, Naruto was resting on a rooftop from training and soft footsteps sounded from the left from him and the steps stopped until there were a few steps away from Naruto's prone form. Before the person could speak, Naruto spoke first, "Hello Uchiha..."
"Hmph, dobe..." Sasuke said, staring down at Naruto's lying form with a harsh glare.
"What do you want, Uchiha?" Naruto asked, sitting up
Sasuke replied with a punch that was caught by Naruto, who was now standing up and placed him in a restraining hold.
"Any reason why you are trying to attack me, Uchiha?"
"Trying to see if you are still the dobe, I remember," He said, removing himself from Naruto's hold.
"I think me having my headband, begs the differ," Naruto quipped
Sasuke growled as he remembered what Iruka said as he stared at the dead last one-upping him by getting his headband first.
[Flashback] [Iruka's classroom]
Iruka entered the loud classroom as he looked at all his loud students and sadly frowned, as he thought of Naruto. The boy, he thought that would not amount to anything, usurping everyone in the class.
He let out a sigh as he knew he was under orders to inform his class that Naruto had his headband and many people would not be happy about that, especially Sasuke, Sakura, and Kiba.
The scarred chunin flipped through several hand signs for his signature jutsu and yelled, "Shut it, you little brats!"
Causing everyone to rush to their seats and stare at their instructor waiting for the class to start.
"Now, before we begin, I was ordered to tell you that one of our students has passed their exams and obtained their headband."
Ino raised her hand and asked, "Who was it?"
Iruka took a breath and waited for the chaos, "Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto. Uzumaki.
That name made everyone silent for a total of five seconds until a loud roar of refusals, denials, and curses rang out through the room as people were in shock and denial.
'How could the dobe get his headband first?!' Sasuke snarled
'That baka, he shouldn't have even passed!' Sakura shrieked
'Troublesome...' Shikamaru groaned
'It seems Uzumaki has a lot more up his sleeves...' Shino muttered
'Naruto-kun got his headband?' Hinata said, blushing at the thought of her crush
[Flashback ends]
"Apparently, they give the headband to just anyone. Did you annoy your new teacher enough that they gave you a headband to shut you up?"
"No, I earned my headband through blood and sweat. I don't have connections like you, but I rather do things on my own and earn my titles, not have the council and my teachers spoon-feed me jutsu like they do with you," Naruto smirked
Sasuke growled at the blow, inwardly knowing it was true.
"Considering that at least I had a family and I wasn't abandoned like you," Sasuke smirked
"Oooh~, low blow, Uchiha. But, considering how you turned out, I am pretty they wouldn't want to see your emo ass either. Now, if you are done trying to soothe and inflate your massive ego, I need to meet with my team. You know, something that you won't be able to experience until four months from now. Now runoff, you cute little academy student," Naruto cooed, before leaving the Uchiha alone.
Sasuke stood on the rooftop with a red blush on his face.
'I will crush you Naruto. I swear it and you will be there in your usual place, in my shadow, choking on my dust,' Sasuke said, his eyes flashing red in anger before going to his compound to train to catch up with Naruto and get his headband.
[Present]
(Hokage Office)
Hiruzen Sarutobi was doing paperwork until his door was opened by a very irate Kakashi Hakate.
Said jounin slammed the door shut as he stomped his way over the Hokage who put his pen to the side as he waited for Kakashi to start speaking.
"Yes?" He questioned
"How could you put Naruto on a team?" Kakashi said lividly
"Excuse you?"
"How could you put Naruto on a team?" He repeated
"Why, that is simple Kakashi. He passed his genin exam and I placed him a team with two other teammates and a jounin instructor," Hiruzen said, already knowing where this is going.
"I thought he was under Iruka's instruction? He wasn't supposed to graduate until four months from now!" The jounin said
"Well, Naruto met several students in an accident who lead them to a classroom and he met their teacher who actually gave him a chance to study under unbiased teachers where he was able to catch up on his studies and graduate and on the top tier of his class as well," Hiruzen said with a hint of pride at his adopted grandson
"But, you know whose son he is!" Kakashi said with force
"I am well-aware of whose son he is, Kakashi," Hiruzen said, looking at him as if he was an idiot.
"But, he needs to be with me..." He trailed off, thinking of his sensei's son
"Kakashi he has already graduated, what do you expect me to do, hold him back?" Hiruzen questioned
"Yes!" Kakashi said as if the answer was obvious
"No! I will not hold him back four months just to sate you. Why the hell should I?" Hiruzen said, glaring at him.
"He would help a desperate person create more ties to the village," Kakashi said
Hiruzen stared at him blank-faced as he watched the jounin stiffen from underneath his state.
"Dammit, Kakashi, I will not hold Naruto back so you can have him on your team with the Uchiha."
"But Sasuke-"
"Sasuke already has enough help from with the academy, plus I know of the hate, not rivalship between the two of them and I will not allow you to go into your dreamworld of having Sasuke being you and Naruto being Obito just to sate your ragged conscience."
"Hokage-sama-"
Hiruzen was about to say no until his mind came up with an idea, "Alright Kakashi, you have one chance, but only if you manage to convince Naruto to hold himself back."
"What?"
"What? Did you expect me to tell him that I was going to hold him back because a jounin who shall remain nameless wanted me to so you be on his team? No, thank you. I will not be on the edge of my seat because of his revenge pranks for the next six months, that is your job. If you want something you need to do it yourself. Dismissed, Kakashi," Hiruzen said, returning to his paperwork
"But, Hokage-sama?"
"Dismissed, Jounin Hakate," Hiruzen growled
Kakashi left in a swirl of leaves, thankfully not messing up his stacks of paperwork as the Third sighed and glanced to the side of the portraits of the last Hokage were placed.
"You would be very ashamed of him, you and Kushina would give him an ass kicking everyone would pity him for, I just know it," He replied, going back to his paperwork.
The fourth's portrait looked sad but firm as if it was disappointed at the state of Kakashi and his choices in life.
Kakashi then appeared on the rooftop and made his way to the ramen stand, his target frequent haunt to try and get his way.
[Ramen stand]
Ayame is manning the front waiting to take orders and finds a grey-haired man enter their stall and she said, "Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen, what can I get for you today?"
Kakashi said, "I want a salt ramen, please."
"Coming right up!" She chirped, going to her father to give the order
Kakashi spent time basking in silence as his eye landed on a picture frame of his target and with his new friends and he imagined himself standing behind Naruto with Sasuke behind at his side along with Sakura.
Soon Ayame arrived with the bowl of ramen and placed it down in front of him.
"Enjoy your meal, sir."
Kakashi gave her an eye smile and then slightly took off his mask, making her a bit curious, but just went back to work and waited for the jounin to finish her meal.
After he finished, he placed his chopsticks on the bowl, clasped his hands together and thanked her and the chef for the meal, paid and then left, leaving to his target.
He then went to search the training grounds and finally found Naruto on of the hidden training grounds just out of sight, if you didn't know what you were looking for.
[Training Ground]
Naruto was chucking kunai at a tree fifty feet away from him, creating a perfect Uzumaki swirl.
The newly minted students smiled at his work until he sensed somebody was watching him and he slowly turned his head towards the position of whoever was staring at him, but not exactly staring at his exact location.
"Whoever you are, you better come out now. I am not afraid to skewer with many kunai!" Naruto announced.
Kakashi slowly made himself known and Naruto took in his appearance, "Who are you?"
"My name is Kakashi Hakate..." 'and I am the student of your father.' Kakashi finished mentally
"I see, but what does a jounin want with me?" Naruto asked
"How did you know I was a jounin?" Kakashi questioned
"Your vest is a big give away," Naruto said, pointing at his vest with an 'are you stupid stare.'
Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "Yeah."
"Anyways, what do you want with me?"
Kakashi then decided to cut to the chase, "I want you to be on my genin team."
"You want to me to be on your team?"
"Yes."
"Sorry, but I already got a team and an instructor."
"But you can transfer teams."
"And would I do that?"
"Don't you want to be with your rival and your crush?"
"Apparently, your information is lacking, Hakate-san. My so-called crush was just that, a crush. I beat my rival in a spar and I found out that I no longer cared to participate in matches that he would do nothing but beat the crap out of me and insult me in. I am on a team with two people that I know that they will have my back and a teacher that will train me to a ninja so I can go my own way."
Kakashi inwardly winced, as he saw both of the boy's parents behind him, Minato's wit with Kushina's stubbornness were shining through him like a blazing sun.
"Are you sure you do not want to be on my team?" Kakashi tried once again
"Yes, I am very sure. Please do not ask me again," Naruto said, dismissing the matter, taking all his kunai and leaving the training ground leaving Kakashi alone.
'Naruto, you will be on my team sooner or later. You are needed, you are the only one that can help Sasuke and connect with him to get him to stay in the village,' Kakashi thought as he went home.
[Catching that damn cat]
Team 13 under the supervision of Kisuke Kurosaki were given their first mission of catching the demon cat that has been plaguing Konoha and has been called the hidden tenth biju in disguise.
Naruto called out, "Tricker at location A."
Sasha called out, "Knight at location B."
Shu called out, "Slasher at location C."
"All heard and clear, now capture the target," Kurosaki ordered
"Yes!"
Sasha and Naruto came out from their hiding places to secure their target, but their objective was fast and knew the area very well and was just about to escape until it was caught in a wire trap set by Shu.
The wire trap restrained its' arms and legs preventing the cat who would scratch them all if it wasn't restrained and Naruto held the restrained cat and started to pet it softly making it relax as the team walked towards the Hokage tower to report the success of their first mission.
The cat started to wiggle out of its trap and before the team entered the office, Naruto undid the trap, handing the wires to Shu and started to pet the cat to calm her down.
Their teacher knocked twice and the Hokage invited them in and the Daimyo's wife ran up to them and grabbing the cat and started to hug and squeeze the poor creature to death.
'No wonder that cat always runs away...' The three students thought with a sweatdrop until Naruto sighed
"Ma'am?" Naruto said, cutting through the woman's babbling to her cat
"Yes, young man?"
"I wanted to tell you there may be a reason why your cat must be running away."
"Are you going to say it is my fault?!" She said, shocked
"No, ma'am. Your cat is hurting, look at her," Naruto said, calming her down as the woman looked at her uncomfortable cat.
"Oh!" She said, nearly dropping her cat, but the animal was able to wiggle out of her grip and go to Naruto who started to pet her cat and picked her up gently.
Naruto continued on saying, "Cats like to be pampered, which I am sure you do a great job of, but cats like to be petted softly and be near their owners, but do not like to be squeezed."
"Really..." She said in thought
"Yes, do you see how I am holding her?" Naruto said as the cat purred in pleasure
Naruto spent a few minutes teaching the woman the correct way as the woman smiled as she heard her cat purring in content and even looked at Naruto with gratefulness.
"I see, thank you, young man. Apparently, this village is still producing strong and reliant ninja, especially if they are able to talk to me about something I am sensitive about, especially my precious baby," She said, nuzzling her cat
"You wanted someone to talk to you about your cat?" Kurosaki asked, politely
"Yes, all ninja need to face adversity and I am glad there is still genin with spunk in them like you. May I ask for your name?"
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, ma'am."
Her eyes widened and then settled as she recognized the name and how it must be her son, "I see. I expect to hear of your accomplishments in the future, understand, young man?"
"Of course, my Lady," Naruto bowed in respect as his teacher and teammates bowed as well.
The Daimyo's wife smiled at Naruto and then left with her happy cat and paying triple the amount for the mission and adding a bonus for Naruto.
[Weeding out the gardens]
Team 13 are helping the tourist's part of the village by weeding out the large gardens that took all day. All three genin were paid very well for their services as the three were covered in dirt, manure, and weeds in their hair.
[Three months later] [Hokage's Office]
Team 13 is standing in front of the Hokage who smiled at them.
"Well Team 13, you have done a lot of good work, having 50 D-ranks under your belt, all completed to the best of your abilities, no complaints, and I have records of the training that your teacher have given me and I have decided that you are ready for your first C-ranked mission."
Naruto and his teammates high-fived each other as their teacher and the Hokage allowed them to have their little moment.
"Do you accept?"
"Yes!" They announced
"The mission will be an escort mission to the Village of Hidden Trees. You are to escort a father and his daughter safely and the second part of the mission is to establish trade between the Hidden Tree and the Leaves. However, in the village, there has been rumors of brawls between two fractions unique to the village so be careful and if it is too much, please terminate the mission immediately, understand?"
"Of course, Hokage-sama!" The three genin said, proudly
"We accept, Hokage-sama," Kurosaki said, gently
"The people you will escorting to hidden tree village will meet you at the East gate of the village, now get some rest you will take an early start tomorrow. You are dismissed."
Team 13 left and made their way home to get a headstart for the early morning and the team arrived first and waited for the people they would be escorting.
Their teacher arrived soon arrived with two people, the girl stood a bit shorter than Sasha, she was wearing a simple white sailor uniform with white sneakers, her skin was fair with unique, but silently off-putting blue eyes as if they were glazed over, her sandy blonde hair fell straight down her back and she stood with her hands behind her back.
The man stood tall wearing a black suit with black loafers, his hair was brushed back, his skin was fair along with his daughter's, but the strange thing about him was his eyes, they were yellow, a sickly yellow like that of a rapid animal and he was smoking from a wooden black pipe.
"So~, you are three that are going to be leading us to our destination, correct?" The man said, staring at them, his unique yellow eyes boring into each of them.
"Yes, sir. I speak for my teammates when I say, can we say ask for your names?" Naruto questioned
The man looked at them and said, "My name is Benedict Uno, my daughter beside me is Ashley, she is my adopted daughter."
"Thank you," Naruto said, bowing in respect in which the two returned
"Alright, let us go forward, we need to take a short walk to arrive at the station that will take us to their village," Kurosaki said, standing next Benedict with Shu as Sasha and Naruto stood beside Ashley as the group walked towards their destination.
As the group was leaving they were being watched by two angry black eyes watching them faded into the distance.
Ending it! The KND part of the fanfic has arrived! Sorry for the wait! Anyways the next chapter will be on traveling to the Village of Hidden Trees. Father and his adopted daughter make a mission to have ninja help them take over their village. Kids vs Teenagers vs Adults in a three-way battle that could tear the village apart and spill into the Elemental Nations. The mission is going to be very interesting. Laters!
~Kourtney Uzu Yato