Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated with the manga, or anime. I only own this story.
Hey everyone, thanks for stopping back in to read this chapter. This story has more than surpassed my expectations for it, so thanks to everyone for reading. Thanks for the support on the last chapter. 56 reviews, 114 favorites, 157 followers, and 10,865 views. 1 community.
Tobi Wants a Cookie: Thanks for the review, and yes swords for everyone.
Lucianourg: I'm not sure if Haku is going to be a female in this story so that pairing will not be in the poll. Thanks for the review.
Butterflypuss: Thank you for reviewing, I will try to keep it good.
Jhonie: I still haven't decided on Naruto with Mokuton or not yet, but I'm really considering it. Yamato hasn't fully mastered every aspect of it yet, so Mokuton could still be a further bonding experience for the two. Yamato and Naruto will have plenty more bonding experiences coming up.
On a separate note, I am absolutely horrible at drawing, and have no talent in that form of art. I would like to ask if anyone is willing to draw a cover for this story. If so please either review, or pm me. Thanks for the help.
This chapter will reveal the third member of squad 7 as voted on during the poll. I would like to thank everyone who voted. The results, if you would like to see them, will be shown after the end of this chapter. Thanks for reading and please review, I really appreciate the feedback.
The poll for Who will be Naruto's Pairing in this story is going well. I have 35 voters so far. I decided to end this poll on July 7th. Warning! There will be no NaruSaku, NaruSasu, or NaruHina as they are all so overdone. As much as I enjoy the NaruHina pair, I have another story that has it already and I want to do something new, that I do not see often. The poll is now open and is on my profile.
Ryuuzetsu: 14
Ten Ten: 9
Yakumo: 6
Kin: 4
OC: 2
If you don't like who is in the lead place your vote.
A Hero's DNA
Chapter 9: Genin Formation: Squad 7 revealed.
When he got back to his house, Naruto opened the front door and walked in alongside Yamato. Tsunade and Shizune were waiting for the two of them to arrive and Tsunade had a big smile on her face. When she saw him, Tsunade ran up and pulled Naruto into her arms.
"I am so proud of you, you know that!"
"Mom come on. It's not that big of a deal."
You pass the Genin Exams at the top of your class, tied with an Uchiha, and you don't think it's a big deal? Naruto you passed with a better score than I did." She said to him.
"Really, I thought you were one of the top kunoichi in your class."
"I was, but my scores were still lower than yours. You definitely kicked Shizune's scores to the curb."
"I'm sitting right here you know." Shizune said rolling her eyes.
"Well what about Yamato mom. He is gonna be the new Anbu Captain of his squad."
Tsunade looked over to Yamato with big eyes. She had no idea.
"Yamato, is that true?"
"Yeah but it isn't that big of a deal." He said rubbing the back of his head.
"How do you figure?"
"Well I'm 19 right now. Kakashi Hatake my former captain became one when he was younger than me. And Itachi was a captain at 13. It isn't that great of an achievement compared to them."
"Yamato don't sell yourself short. You are powerful, intelligent, and I know that you will be an amazing captain. Next time tell me."
"Sorry Tsunade."
Tsunade was slightly disappointed that Yamato still wouldn't call her mom. She knew that he had always been a little uncomfortable with it, but she had hoped he would let go and he wasn't. At least he stopped referring to her as Lady Tsunade though. Thinking back to the day she first adopted the two boys Tsunade couldn't believe how much she had grown to care for both of them. Naruto was outgoing, intelligent, and wore his heart on his sleeve. Yamato though was far more reserved. He kept to himself most of the time, especially since the massacre. He was distant to everyone except Naruto, and Itachi. But when she saw him when he didn't think anyone watched she saw a man filled with love for all things in Nature. She felt that he was more at him in the trees that he was at the compound, and she knew that he was so much more than he let on. She only wished that he would show his true self, always.
"Well Naruto I have a few things for you now that you are a Genin. And there are a couple other people here as well."
Hiruzen and Jiraiya walked in alongside Kakashi. They all had smiles on their faces and they sat in the room next to the others.
"Congratulations Naruto, I hope to see the will of fire burn brightly in you."
"Good job kid. Your dad would have been so proud. Your mom too."
"I was impressed to hear about your scores Naruto, top of the class. My sensei would have been so excited to hear that."
Naruto was happy as he sat with all his loved ones and they talked about his future as a ninja of Konoha. He couldn't help but think about how things would have been if his parents had been alive, but he wouldn't have the family he had now if they were, so he was torn. He figure he would be happy with what he had, and he would keep his birth parents alive in his heart.
"Well kid, we all have some things for you. I'll go first." Jiraiya said. "Here go Naruto."
Jiraiya handed the blonde a scroll. Naruto opened it up and found a seal, so he put his chakra into it. In its placed was a large set of sealing materials. And three large books on Fuinjutsu. There was also a small journal next to the other books.
"That paper is specialized chakra paper made to enhance the power of seals. The ink was made from Mt. Myoboku, like the seals I placed on your wrists. It is extremely powerful ink and once applied, the seal is permanent. Most people would use this for seal tattoos. Both of those materials are extremely valuable and hard to come by, so be careful with them. The books were actually a set that I managed to secure before they were destroyed. They were written by the Uzumaki clan, before they were wiped out. You will learn more from those than you ever would from me. Finally that journal was written by your father, Minato Namikaze. It is all of his notes on seals that I could find. I would read the first book at least before messing with your dads notes."
Naruto stood up and ran to hug Jiraiya.
"Thank you uncle Jiraiya. This means a lot to me."
"I know kid. Just don't go becoming a better seal master than me too quickly, it might hurt my pride." He laughed.
"My turn then Naruto." Hiruzen stated as he pulled out a small box. "These belonged to your parents, and I think they would have wanted you to have them."
Naruto opened the box and found too headbands inside, one with the leaf insignia and the other with a swirled insignia.
"The leaf headband was your fathers. And the other is the last item your mother had of her parents. It was the headband of Uzushiogakure. I thought that you would want them."
Naruto tried not to cry as he held the headbands in his hands. He had something of theirs now and he never wanted to be without them. He took his fathers and tied it around his right arm, and tied his mother's around his left.
"There, now I have them by my side." Naruto hugged Hiruzen tightly. "Thank you Lord Hokage."
"Now, now, there is no need for these formalities Naruto."
"I am simply showing you the respect you have always deserved from me."
"Thank you Naruto."
Kakashi stepped forward.
"This isn't much but, your father gave it to me when I was younger. He promised to always protect me when he did, so…" He pulled out a three pronged kunai and gave it to Naruto."…I promise to protect you, Naruto, in remembrance of my sensei, Minato Namikaze."
"Thank you so much Kakashi." Naruto was awestruck at the gifts he had been given today. It was truly an honor to him, to have so many great loved ones.
"Yamato thank you for the sword, again."
"Sword?" Tsunade asked slightly worried.
"Yamato gave me a chakra conducting Chokuto." Naruto told her.
"Yamato, do you know how expensive those are?" She asked completely astonished.
"Well, I have been performing more missions lately, and I saved up for it. I think my brother is worth it." He said smiling towards Naruto.
"Ok my turn!" Shizune said excitedly. "It's not as flashy as everyone else's but here you go."
Naruto opened the box she handed him, and found a new pair of gloves. These had a metal plate on them with carved in seals.
"The right hand hold a set of poisons that you can use with your weapons. The left holds the antidotes, to them as well as other poisons I have come across. You can never be too careful right."
"Thank you sis."
Shizune rolled her eyes at the nickname Naruto had given her several years ago. Tsunade was the final person left so she pulled out three medium sized boxes and handed them to Naruto. He opened the first box to find two sets of kunai, shuriken, and senbon needles. As he picked them up he found that there was a slight weight discrepancy between the two sets.
"The first set are regular weapons, the second like your sword, conduct chakra."
When he opened the second box he pulled out several scrolls. He unsealed the first scroll and found an exact copy of his current outfit.
"All the scrolls contain the same clothes. These are more reinforced than your current attire. Better for ninja work."
Naruto opened the third and final box to find a few books on human anatomy. All of them written by Tsunade.
"I am not sure if you are planning on continuing your medical training or not, but these will teach you skills and knowledge that will suit you well as a shinobi. You would do well to memorize them."
Naruto couldn't help but pulling Tsunade into another hug. He was so ecstatic about everything at the moment he could barely contain himself. He though that he would explode.
"Thank you for everything mom. I can't fully show you how much I really appreciate it. And of course I'm going to continue my medical training. I might not be amazing at it, but I want to learn as much as I can."
"Then I will just have to make sure you do."
"I love you mom."
"I love you too Naruto."
…
Yamato waited until after everyone had left to grab Tsunade and pull her aside.
"What's on your mind Yamato?"
"I know that this might not be easy, but now that Naruto is a Genin, I think that it's time for me to find a place of my own."
Tsunade knew that this topic would be brought up, but part of her didn't want him to actually leave. She knew how much she, and Naruto would miss having him around.
"Are you sure Yamato?"
"Yes, I need to find my own path now. I love you and Naruto, but I need to find myself now. I will still be here for both of you, and of course I still want to help Naruto but I believe that this is the right time."
Tsunade fought back tears, and she walked over to a small desk. She opened it up and pulled out a set of keys.
"I knew that this would be coming soon. Here, these are keys to a house a few doors down. If you want to continue living in the clan compound, then the house will be yours."
"Are you sure?"
"You are my son, and by birth or not, you are a Senju. I would want nothing more than for you to live in this compound."
"Thank you Tsunade." Yamato said as he pulled her into a hug. Tsunade didn't let him see her frown.
"You have to tell Naruto though."
"I will, after his test. I don't want to cloud his mind."
"Ok, good."
…
Naruto sat on his floor and meditated. He had spoken to everyone that he cared about except for one. As he meditated he felt himself go into his mind scape. He sat in front the large cell, in the sewer, that contained Kurama.
"Hello Kit."
"Hey Kurama."
"I see that you passed your Genin Exams, good job, but I hope you don't think your home free yet."
"I don't Kurama, I know that there is more to come." Naruto looked around and frowned. "This place is so dark, and wet. How can you stand it in here Kurama?"
"Well no one has really cared about my living conditions before, so I am fairly used to it Kit."
"Kurama, you know that I want you to be comfortable in here. Is there anything that I can do to help?"
"Kit, this is your mindscape. If you wanted to change it, you could."
"Really?"
Naruto closed his eyes and pictured the room he was in right now. Kurama watched with fascination as the bricks that held the room together began to fly away from the wall, each one releasing light into the dark and dreary room. The wet ground began to evaporate away and was replaced by blades of grass that emerged from the cracking floor. The bars in front of him began to disappear and he felt a collar form around his neck. Once all of the bricks had been pulled away, Kurama had to shield his eyes from the blinding light. Once he finally looked he saw a wide open field with a large forest to one side and a lake to the other. He was astonished at how peaceful and serene everything looked.
"Is this better Kurama?"
"Kit, this is….I…..thank you Naruto."
Naruto smiled up at the happy towering fox in front of him. He suddenly felt very tired though so he decided to cut this visit short.
"Well Kurama, tomorrow I find out what my team will be so, I'm gonna get some sleep."
"Ok Kit, I'll be enjoying myself a little more." Kurama said as he ran into the forest.
Naruto shook his head and left his mind scape. It didn't take him long at all to fall asleep.
…
The next day Naruto sat in his chair alongside Sasuke waiting for everyone else to show up. The two talked about what happened at each other's homes after graduation. Naruto was currently admiring his sword, while Sasuke looked his over as well.
"Hey Naruto, Sasuke, you guys are here already."
Naruto looked over to see a yawning Shikamaru walk in with Choji.
"Hey guys."
"Whatcha got there Naruto." Choji asked as he pulled out some chips.
"Oh Itachi, and Yamato got me and Sasuke chokuto's." He answered.
"That's cool." Choji replied.
"So you guys are gonna learn some kenjutsu, what a drag. As if you guys aren't strong enough already."
"You're just jealous Nara." Sasuke jabbed jokingly.
"Of you Uchiha, you wish." Shikamaru replied.
More Genin began to filter their way into the room as they waited for Iruka to show up.
"Hi Sasuke, Hi Naruto."
Naruto looked up to find Sakura Haruno walking towards the two of them. He was glad that she wasn't one of those annoying fan girls of his and Sasuke's, even more so knowing her skills in medical Ninjutsu. He also noticed that her normally long hair had been cut.
"Hey Sakura, what's up? Did you cut your hair?"
"Yeah, I figured that it would be easier to work, and train without worrying about it getting tangled in things. Why do you have on three headbands Naruto?"
"Yeah, I was wondering that myself." Shikamaru added in.
"Well, this one belonged to my father Minato Namikaze, and the other to my mother Kushina Uzumaki."
"So why wear all three?" She asked.
"These ones so I have my parents with me and this one is to show myself the rewards of all of my hard work. I earned this Headband, so it is mine to wear."
Shikamaru, and Sakura nodded at the response in understanding.
"Sakura, I assume that you easily detected that Genjustu right?" Sasuke asked the pink haired girl.
"Uh…yeah Sasuke, why do you ask?"
"I was just making sure. You always were the best of us at Genjustu. I figured it wouldn't have tripped you up."
"Thanks Sasuke."
Naruto looked at the clock and saw that they had roughly five minutes before Iruka would be there. The door opened again and Naruto watched as the black haired Akihiko walked in. He had never really spoken to the guy so he figured he might as well say hello. Akihiko wore dark brown shinobi pants with a white shirt and a dark red jacket over top.
"Hey, Akihiko right?"
"Yes Akihiko Minori. Why do ask?"
"I just figured I would say hi, and congratulate you on passing."
"Thanks, but it was unnecessary. You are of the elite shinobi families, and I of the civilian peasantry. It is beneath you to associate yourself with me."
"Umm, what are you talking about?"
"It is simple, you're the son of the honorable fourth Hokage, hero of the village, and adopted son of Tsunade Senju, medical expert from a clan considered almost royalty in this village. I come from a lower rate family, and you consorting with me would look bad upon you."
"I don't care about those things Akihiko."
"You have never spoken to me before, why would you start now?" He said simply.
Naruto didn't know how to respond and before he could Iruka walked into the room.
"Ok everyone please take your seats."
Naruto walked back over to Sasuke, still confused by Akihiko's reaction. Iruka waited until everyone sat and he smiled up at the class.
"I would like to start by saying how proud I am of each and every one of you. You have surpassed my expectations and I would like to wish you luck as you join the ninja world. I ask that you all continue to look underneath the underneath and follow the will of fire. The will of fire is what makes our village so strong and as long as you all continue to work together you can overcome any obstacle in your way."
Everyone silently sat and took in Iruka's words, showing their teacher their respect.
"I will now read off the team rosters. Your Jonin sensei will be by shortly to meet with you. Squad 1…."
Naruto listened as each team of three was called. He wondered who would be on his Squad, but as long as Sasuke was one of them he would be happy.
"Squad six will be Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Sai."
Hinata looked over to Kiba, who smiled back at her and gave her a thumbs up, and Sai who kept his face neutral to the situation.
"Squad 7 will be Naruto Senju-Namikaze, Sasuke Uchiha, and Yakumo Kurama."
Naruto looked over to Sasuke and the two friends smiled at each other. He remembered the brown haired girl he met the previous day and looked over to her. She had a slight smile on her face but mostly she just looked nervous. Sasuke scoffed at the fan girls who all groaned from the reveal of Sasuke's team.
"Squad 8 will be Sakura Haruno, Shino Aburame, and Akihiko Minori."
Sakura looked around for her teammates and saw Shino silently looking forward, and she thought she saw a bug flying around his head. Akihiko simply nodded at the assigned team and readied himself for the life of a shinobi.
Squad 10 will be Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka."
Shikamaru realized that they were basically copying the team formation of their parents, who had been fairly well known, so he guesses it was a tactical decision. Choji was happy with his team and continued munching on chips. Ino was slightly depressed at the realization that her teammates were the laziest kid in class and the one who never stopped eating, but since she knew of their strong clans she got over it quickly.
"I am proud of all of you. Continue to be the best shinobi you can be." Iruka bowed slightly before he left the room and the Genin got into their respective teams.
"Squad 7 you're with me."
Naruto, Sasuke and Yakumo looked to the door to see their new sensei. Naruto and Sasuke raised their eyes as they saw…
…
Cliffhanger….sorry. Brownie points to anyone who can correctly guess who I chose as their Jonin teacher. Thanks to everyone for reading the chapter, I hope that you enjoyed it. Below are the final results of the poll for the third member of squad 7, if you wanted to see the results. Please review, I loved hearing your thoughts on my writing.
Next time, Squad 7's test: teamwork inaction.
Poll Results. Third member of Squad 7.
Yakumo Kurama: 24
Hinata Hyuga: 23
Shikamaru Nara: 21
Ino Yamanaka: 8
Sai: 7
Shino Aburame: 6
Sakura Haruno: 5
OC: 5
Choji Akimichi: 1
Kiba Inuzuka: 1
Other: 0
Voters: 56