Authors Note: I spent a little more time and drew a better "genin Kanoko". The link is below and on my profile. Please check it out!
(Please remove the spaces)
krista06 . deviantart art/Nara-Kanoko-Genin-638984813
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Kanoko slowly ate her food that morning, thinking about the last four years. Things hadn't changed that much from when she first started the academy. She never bothered to make any friends and many of the children she didn't even interact with.
She looked over at Shikamaru. His attire had changed a bit. He now wore tan three-quarter pants, a fishnet shirt with a Nara Clan half jacket over top. Outside of his clothes, he hadn't changed at all. It nearly drove Kanoko insane that he never once bothered to complete any of the school work assigned to him. He defended himself, stating that the act of putting pen to paper was a drag.
It was also a drag to have a twin brother, who, from an outside perspective, was as dumb as Naruto.
The only black mark on her hard worked and perfect record.
Thinking of Naruto, he hadn't changed at all either.
He still pulled pranks, many of which, were aimed at her.
That was another thing. Kanoko had hoped when Naruto got into his first fight with the Uchiha, his rivalry with her would end. After all, two rivalries? No sane person would place that burden on themselves.
She, however, overlooked the fact that Naruto is not sane. And contraire to what other people tell you, Naruto can hold a grudge.
It didn't help that Kanoko and Sasuke were continently preforming above class standards. Honestly, Kanoko is just lucky that Sasuke hasn't pursued her as a rival.
Well, he tried, but Kanoko acted as if the Uchiha didn't exist. If she thought Naruto could hold onto a silly grudge, she knew an Uchiha would be ten times worse.
There was also the fact that Sasuke looked just like an Uchiha she once skewered with a sword. A lot of good that turned into be…
Kanoko took one last look at her before heading out of the bathroom.
She was a genin now and as such, was granted a headband.
In her past, she wore a face guard. To her, it was much more practical, but very few genin wore a face guard. She opted to keep the headband and wore it over her forehead.
She turned her head to the side, taking a look at her hair. Her dark brown hair had grown even longer and now reached the middle of her back. However, she still wore it in a bun. Kanoko also now had bangs that reached to her chin and framed both sides of her face.
Her eyes have gotten sharper and were starting to lighten to an orange color. When she was Tobirama, she was born with dark brown eyes that, over time, turned into a flat crimson color. It seemed this trait carried over.
Kanoko then took a look at her outfit. She had convinced her mother to allow her less frilly clothes to wear.
She had on a pair of dark brown cargo shorts that ended just before her knee. On both thighs were kunai pouches that stored a variety of sealing scrolls, kunai, and explosive tags.
On top, she wore a tight black turtle-neck shirt. Over the shirt was dark brown, short sleeve jacket that had the Nara Clan crest in green on the back. Also over her shirt was armor plating. It was dark gray and had three pieces, the bottom piece hanging a bit below her shirt line. Around her neck was a simple necklace with the Nara Clan crest at the end.
She wasn't wearing any gloves, but she had dark gray plates on her forearms, sticking a little bit passed her elbows.
She wore the standard navy blue sandals. Even if it bothered her slightly that it didn't match…
Last, strapped to her back was a sword. In her past life, she had won many battles and developed a lot of her strategies around her sword.
At first she tried sparing without a sword, but soon found she kept grasping air, looking for her sword to use.
Becoming tired, she finally relented and asked her father for a sword.
A sword meant close combat. Nara's don't do close combat. To say her father was hesitant was an understatement. With enough begging (nagging), he finally relented and promised he would get her a sword if he promised to take lessons.
Kanoko was not pleased. She had been proficient with a sword before Shikaku's father learned how to walk, and yet he was telling her that she needed lessons?
Ok, maybe he didn't know that she was also Senju Tobirama, but Kanoko didn't feel like being rational at the time.
By the time Kanoko had graduated from the academy, she had her sword and completed her, "training", so she was satisfied.
Taking once last look at herself, she proceeded to bid her mother and father a farewell before leaving for the academy building.
Leaving her brother in the dust.
Kanoko chuckled to herself lowly with a smirk plastered on her face.
Iruka-sensei was standing in the teacher's room, thinking about his class. He didn't like thinking what would be in store for them next. He had done the best he could to get them ready for the world outside, but was it enough? Did he really do a good job? Did he miss something critical that would cost one of them their lives?
Suddenly a small smile appeared on his face. He thought about Naruto and the incident that occurred last night. He was so proud of him. Naruto might have not been the best student, but he had the will of fire running through him and worked so hard every day to make his dream come true.
At first, when he was chasing after him, he was terrified for Naruto. He honestly didn't think Naruto would be able to protect himself, but at the end of the night, Naruto had protected Iruka.
Iruka then thought back to the events earlier that night, when the Third Hokage was deciding teams.
Flashback
"So, Iruka, I would like your thoughts on the group distributions." The Hokage told him flatly with his elbows on the desk and hands clasped in front of his mouth.
Iruka stared at the Hokage in shock, "Uhh. Huh? You would like my opinion?" Iruka couldn't get over his shock. The Hokage always decided the teams and he had never once asked Iruka. Was it different this time because he was there homeroom teacher? Was that common?
The Hokage laughed slightly before say, "Hai. You see, I had all the teams decided, but then one of your students was selected to receive training for a special tracking unit."
Iruka looked up from the list shock and asked, "Who?"
The Hokage thought for a second before stating, "Aburame Shino. He has shown great potential and with the gap in our ANBU ranks, our special units commander would like to see him trained sooner, rather than later."
Iruka was still a little shocked, but when he thought about it, it may some sense to him. Shino was always by the book, worked hard, and showed great promise in his family's jutsus. Though, if Iruka thought anyone would be selected for the ANBU track, it would be Uchiha Sasuke.
He would suggest Nara Kanoko as well, but knew her father would quickly put a kibosh on it. Those of higher rank or were close to the Naras knew that Shikaku's daughter was the apple of his eye. He may not outwardly show it like Yamanaka Inochi, but many had heard the stories about the few that crossed him.
Iruka looked back at the team selections in front of him. He put his hand on his chin before saying, "Well, there is one student that would greatly benefit from Kurenai's teachings in genjustu."
The Hokage look up at Iruka curious, "Oh? Hmmm." The Hokage looked at the paper and made a few scribbles on it before holding it up and running his eyes over the names again. "I believe you are right Iruka. Here, the teams have been decided. I will announce it to the jounin tonight, but take a copy for your records. It may not be the exact combination I was hoping for, but it has potential."
The Third Hokage handed the paper over to Iruka. Iruka grabbed it and bowed.
"Thank you Lord Hokage."
End Flashback
Iruka looked back down at the list.
Today was the day his class would be assigned teams.
The room was dark with garbage all over the table and floor. The day had long since started, so most were outside their homes, going about their day.
Inside this room, however, a discussion was taking place.
One of the men in the room picked up a discarded carton of milk. He held it up to his nose and took a sniff.
"This is way passed its expiration date." The man said, placing it back down on the table.
Sitting at the table, facing him, was another man. This one, much older and dressed in red and white robes.
"He's a fool, but it would be best if you looked after him." The older man said before continuing, "You have good instincts Kakashi."
Kakashi looked a bit sheepish before answering with, "…sure."
The robed man stared at the floor behind Kakashi while saying, "And also…"
Kakashi sighed, interrupting him before stating, "Hai. I know."
The old man sighed as well before getting up and telling Kakashi, "Keep an eye on that one."
This time, they weren't talking about Naruto.
And with that, the robed man left, leaving Kakashi to his thoughts.
"You really caught yourself into the middle of something this time Kakashi." Kakashi thought, still staring at the ramen cup mess on the table.
Kanoko was leaning against the window, watching all of her classmates make their way in.
When she saw Ino and Sakura run in panting, she turned her head away. Kanoko had no interest in watching those two compete for the Uchiha. Thankfully today would be the last day she would have to deal with either of them.
Kanoko thought it was a bit sexist that only one kunoichi was on each team. Sure, the three kunoichi she knew were a bit boy crazy, but back in her day, the Senju Clan was filled with powerful and capable kunoichi. The Senju Clan would have never held their own against the Uchiha without them. To see kunoichi degraded in this day and age set Kanoko on edge.
Kanoko then turned her gaze to the blonde shinobi giggling in his seat.
"I thought he didn't pass…" Kanoko thought. Her brother must have had the same idea because he walked over to Naruto and said, "Naruto, what are you doing here? This only for ninjas that passed graduation."
"Do you see this headband?! Huh Shikamaru?! I'm a full fledge ninja! Believe it!" Naruto yelled back at him standing up.
Shikamaru just shrugged and walked away.
Kanoko just closed her eyes and extended out her senses to take a head count of the room instead.
"Inuzuka, Akimichi, Yamanka, Haruno, Uchiha, Hyuuga, and of course Uzumaki. Where's Aburame?" Kanoko opened her eyes to scan the room. She could find him anywhere. "That's odd, I was sure he passed." She thought when the class suddenly went silent.
She twisted her head to where Naruto was (as it always involves him) and was flabbergasted at what she was witness to:
Naruto kissing Sasuke.
.
.
.
"Didn't see that coming." Was all Kanoko thought as Naruto and Sasuke started gagging.
Kanoko decided that even though the last four years had been long and tenuous, she would miss these moments as she watched Naruto get the snot beaten out of him by the girls.
The whole class was now quiet. Everyone was on the edge of their seats, curious whom they would be paired with. Iruka-sensei stood at the front of the class, listing off team 5's members and sensei.
Kanoko took a look around the room and starting listing off which teams wouldn't make it past the first round. Kanoko was under no illusion that this was the last step in becoming a ninja. She created the academy after all. As Tobirama, she was one of the first ninja's to form a team of upcoming ninjas from different clans – something that was previously unheard of.
Kanoko focused back on Iruka-sensei, berating herself from getting sidetracked. Hopefully she hasn't missed her assignment.
"Ok! Team 7 will be Uzumaki Naruto…"
Naruto's head jerk upwards at the mention of his name.
"…Haruno Sakura…"
"YEAHHH!" "NOOOOO!" Naruto and Sakura yelled simultaneously, with Naruto jumping up in joy and Sakura slumping in depression.
"Hahaha! Nice job forehead!" Ino said, joining in before snickering some more.
"Now that's a combination. I feel sorry for the poor soul who is stuck with them..." Kanoko gaze shifted to Sasuke. "It'll probably be him. I vaguely remember a practice of sticking the best performer with the worst." Kanoko thought breathing a sigh of relief. She wasn't too concerned with the team she would be assigned, but she most certainly didn't want to be on Naruto's team. She chuckled a little at how horrible that combination would be for everyone involved.
"…And Nara Kanoko, under Jounin Hatake Kakashi."
.
.
.
What?
.
.
.
Kanoko's eyes looked like blank white holes. She turned a pale shade of gray as the atmosphere around her turned dark.
Naruto went rigid before slowly turning around with a heated glare. Flames of promise rose in the background before Naruto yelled at Iruka-sensei, "What?! How come an awesome ninja like me has to be on a team with a loser?!" Naruto finished by pointing angrily at Kanoko.
Kanoko's face still hadn't changed and her brother was worried she'd had a heart attack. Shikamaru poked her from behind with a pencil. Slowly Kanoko fell sideways, still as rigid as a log, before hitting the ground. When she hit the ground, her soul was seen leaving her body.
For this reason, Kanoko didn't hear the explanation give to Naruto about Team 7's selection.
Or who was on the next three teams.
.
.
.
She later learned that Hinata, Kiba, and Sasuke were on Team 8 with a jounin named Kurenai, and Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji were on Team 10 with a jounin named Asuma.
Kanoko spent the break period before meeting their new sensei's in the classroom – recuperating.
After everyone filed in, the sensei's started showing up.
Kanoko waited, curious about her own sensei. She had used Hatake Kakashi's name to manipulate Gai, but never actually sought out the man himself. Kanoko reasoned that she likely already met him through her father's position, but dismissed it as it made no difference now.
And again, a ninja didn't make jounin without intelligence, skill, and will. She actually looked forward to having a strict and experienced teacher who took their job seriously. The academy was to encourage loyalty to the village and hope for a better future. It would be a nice change to learn the harsh realities of this new time.
Kanoko decided, with a small smirk, that even though she was stuck with Naruto, this was a good thing.
Several Hours Later
"HOW. HARD. IS. IT. TO. BE. ON. TIME." Kanoko thought snapping the pencil in her hand in half. Her face didn't reveal how she was really feeling, but her patience had just snapped with that pencil.
It was so late that even Iruka-sensei abandoned them.
If that only wasn't bad enough, Naruto would. Not. Shut. Up.
Which got Sakura going; having to correct him.
Every.
Time.
She hated them both.
No.
.
She hated all three of them.
.
"Naruto! Stop it! You're going to make sensei mad!" Sakura yelled at Naruto from her seat in the classroom.
"Serves him right! Even Iruka-sensei didn't stick around!" Naruto responded placing the chalk filled eraser above the door.
Sakura huffed and turned around to Kanoko and whined, "Kanoko! Tell Naruto to stop! He's going to get us in trouble!"
Kanoko didn't even bother to open her eyes, knowing she wouldn't be able to hold her emotions in. She let go of a large breath, to calm herself down, before sternly responding with, "Naruto. You are a ninja now. Act like it."
Naruto was about to yell back at Kanoko when the door opened suddenly.
*poof*
The eraser landed right on top of his silver-haired head.
Kanoko and Sakura sweat-dropped while Naruto started laughing loudly, "You fell for it! Haha!"
Kakashi just stared at them blankly before saying, "My first impression of you all… I hate you."
Team 7 just stared blankly back.
"Don't worry. The feeling is mutual." Kanoko thought before her sensei informed them to meet on the roof.
Sitting down on the roof, Kanoko was in the middle with Naruto on her left and Sakura on her right.
Kakashi was leaning on the railing behind him before he said, "Ok! Let's start with introductions."
Sakura looked back at her sensei and asked, "Introductions? What do you mean?"
"Your name, things you like, things you dislike, hobbies, and dreams for the future, stuff like that." Kakashi respond with a bored voice.
Naruto stare at Kakashi before asking, "Why don't you tell us about you, so we know how this works!"
Kakashi pointed to himself, "Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate? I don't feel like telling you that…"
Naruto and Sakura looked up with a confused look.
"…dreams for the future? Never really thought about it. As for my hobbies? I have lots of hobbies." Kakashi finished.
"Great, we learned nothing!" Sakura complained to Naruto and Kanoko.
"I have a feeling that's going to be the theme of this apprenticeship." Kanoko mutter lowly back.
Naruto responded, whispering, "I don't understand. What does that mean?"
Kanoko sign lightly before saying, "Nothing…"
"Ok! Your turn. You on the right, you're first." Kakashi said folding his arms.
Naruto adjusted his headband with a grin before saying, "Alright! Believe it! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like instant ramen and I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei buys me from Ichiraku's! I hate the 3 minutes it takes to heat up ramen. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them! And my future dream is…"
Naruto stood up before shouting, "To be the greatest Hokage! That way the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like somebody! Somebody important!"
"He's grown up in a very interesting way." Kakashi thought gazing at Naruto. "Ok! Next."
Sakura started grinning and said, "My name is Haruno Sakura! What I like… uhh.. I mean who I like…" She started shifting around, not looking anyone in the eye. "…my hobby is uhhh… my dream for the future is…" And then she squealed.
"What is wrong with her?!" Kanoko thought, staring bewildered at Sakura.
"…And… What do you hate?" Kakashi asked.
"Naruto!" She responded immediately.
"Ehh?!" Naruto asked, looking crushed.
Kakashi just sighed before thinking, "Girls her age are more interested in boys than ninjutsu training."
Kakashi moved his gaze to Kanoko. "Ok, you in the middle."
Kanoko stared back at him, not impressed at all.
Closing her eyes, she simply said, "My name is Nara Kanoko. You don't really care about what I like, and I dislike disloyalty... and tardiness... My hobbies are training, and my dream is to protect the Village Hidden in the Leaves."
"Well. That was boring." Kakashi thought before talking again, "Good. You are each unique with your own ideas. You have your first mission tomorrow."
"A mission?! Ooo! Are we going to rescue a princess or fight samurai?" Naruto asked raising his hand in the air.
"Not quite. This will be a survival mission." Kakashi explained slowly.
"Survival? I thought we would go on real missions. We did stuff like that in the academy!" Sakura asked unsure.
Kakashi simply said, "This is not like your previous training."
"What kind of training is it?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi just started chuckling, until it got louder and louder.
"Hey! That's a normal question. What's so funny?" Sakura asked a little peeved.
"If you told you, you wouldn't like the answer." Kakashi simply replied. "Of the 27 graduates, only 9 will make genin. In other words, this is a make it or break it – pass, fail test. And the chance that you'll fail is at least 66%."
Naruto and Sakura went white.
"Whaaaat?!"
"That's it. I decide whether you pass or fail." Kakashi added with a grin. "Meet me at the designated training grounds at 5am tomorrow morning. And bring your ninja gear."
Before running away, Kakashi added one last piece of advice, "Oh. And tomorrow you better skip breakfast or you'll puke." And with that he left with a teleportation jutsu.
Naruto got up and yelled, "Ugg! This is so unfair!"
Kanoko dragged herself through the door to her home before searching for her father's chakra signature.
When she found it, she moved to sit next to him, glaring at his back.
"How can I help you Kanoko-chan?" Shikaku ask simply without moving from his position at the Shogi board.
Kanoko huffed slightly before saying, "An early death would be ideal, but I'll settle with an explanation."
Shikaku chuckled lowly, "Sorry. Can't help you there. This was the Hokage decision. We learned of it just before you did."
Kanoko gave her father a blank look, "You daughter ends up with the legendary copy nin as a sensei and your son's team's sensei is the Hokage's own son, and you had nothing to do with it?"
"Why are you always so mean to your Tou-san, Noko-chan?" Shikaku asked with a grin.
Kanoko crossed her arms and closed her eyes muttering under her breath about troublesome fathers.
"Haha! Just wait until Shikamaru hears that you said his favorite word." Her father stated with a loud and deep laugh.
"He will hear no such thing." Kanoko said with a pointed look before smirking, "Or I'll show Kaa-san what you are hiding in the back of your closet."
All the color in Shikaku's face drained.
"Deal."
Kanoko started walking carefully into the training ground at 4am sharp. She had been to this training field many times, but wanted to set up traps and surveil the land for possible traps left by Kakashi.
After all, one of her first lessons to her students was be aware of your surroundings 100% of the time.
After she set a few traps and completed her search of the surrounding area, she sat down in front of three practice logs and start on some stretches. It was a little before 5am when Naruto and Sakura showed up, looking liked they just rolled out of bed.
"I will have to teach them to be constantly vigilant." Kanoko thought, gazing that the two of them.
Both of them greeted Kanoko with a yawn before sitting down nearby.
Six Hours Later
Kanoko had taken to a mediating stance, focusing on her chakra and the chakra around her.
Naruto and Sakura were leaning against one and another, stuck between awake and asleep.
"Yo!" Kakashi greeted as he teleported in front of them.
"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto and Sakura yelled at Kakashi. Kakashi started on some kind of excused that Naruto and Sakura didn't believe before pulling out an alarm clock.
Kakashi walked over and set it down on a stump, before clicking it and saying, "Ok! It's set for noon."
"Huh?"
Kakashi then pulled out two bells and waved them around, "Your job is to get one of these bells from me." He looked over to the stumps, "If you can't get them by noon, you will be tied to those poles and you'll watch while I eat my lunch."
Two stomachs growled at the announcement.
"But sensei! There's three of us and only two bells!" Sakura asked sensei, astonished.
Kakashi chuckled, "That way, at least one of you fails." Kakashi rang the bells before continuing, "You can use any weapons, including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't take the bells."
Sakura was shocked, "But sensei! We could hurt you!"
"Haha! Especially since you couldn't dodge that eraser!" Naruto laughed at Kakashi.
Kakashi looked at Naruto, saying, "Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them. Lowest scores. Losers."
"Shit! Kakashi is sabotaging us! I have to say something and quick." Kanoko thought.
"We don't have one of those on Team 7, so why don't you stop gossiping like a cooped up house wife and start the test already?" Kanoko tried to sound extra mean to her sensei to appease Naruto's ego. After all, she was going to need both of them to pull this off.
There was no way she would lose to this man, at her own damn test.
"Holy shit!" Kanoko thought in a small amount of panic.
Here she was, going from tree to tree, with leaves in her hair, running from her own sensei.
He was on a particular kind of war path – his eyes promising death on impact.
Kanoko cursed her luck. She had to have the #1 knucklehead and the #1 fangirl on her team.
Naruto had run ahead before she could grab him and started fighting Kakashi, in hand to hand combat. Kanoko then ran after Sakura, to inform her of the plan Kanoko was forming in her head, but Sakura kept running away from her.
By the time Kanoko had caught up, she saw Kakashi form signs of a fire-style jutsu behind Naruto. Kanoko threw several kunai at Kakashi, while running to Naruto to pull him out of the way. Apparently, Kakashi wasn't forming the hand signs for a fire jutsu, but for a jutsu called, "Thousand Years of Pain" – whatever that was.
After saving Naruto's behind, he pushed her off and went for the bell that Kakashi "dropped".
Kanoko almost laughed out loud at her own misery. This was her teammate. A special kind of idiot, who falls for traps civilian babies wouldn't fall for.
But again, Kanoko invented this pathetically simple and obvious test, so she grinded her teeth and went in to help Naruto.
After cutting him down and getting shoved (again), then waking up Sakura from a genjutsu (also receiving a shove from her - what the hell is with her teammates and shoving her?!), Kanoko was done.
She
Was.
Done.
Kanoko roughly grabbed Sakura by the back of her dress, found Naruto and pulled him up by the collar, and tossed them both on the ground in a safe spot away from Kakashi-sensei.
"If you both don't sit down and shut up, I swear on my honor as a shinobi of the leaf village, I will burn down Ichiraku Ramen and slit Uchiha Sasuke's throat!" Kanoko said with force, pulling her sword off of her back as a show of power.
Both Naruto and Sakura turned white before they sat down and waited for Kanoko to continue.
Kanoko breathed in and out before saying, "This is a test of teamwork! It's so basic, Kiba and Choji could have figured it out in a number of seconds! The only way we are becoming genin, is if we can show that we can work together, as a team, to complete our mission!"
"Kanoko-" Sakura started to say nervously.
"No! No interruptions! I've had enough of your childlike behaviors! We are ninjas of the leaf village and you will act as such!"
"Uhh, Kanoko-" Naruto started as well, moving his hand to gesture behind her.
"That doesn't mean you can talk either Naruto! If you really want to be Hokage, you need to learn how to work with others and that starts here!" Kanoko growled waving her sword up and down.
"Kanoko-chan?" Said a voice behind her.
Kanoko was so lost in her rage at this point.
How dare someone interrupt her while she was making a point! Couldn't they see she was busy?!
She yelled, "Can't you see your interrupting?!" while swinging her sword around to person behind her.
Cutting an orange book in half.
.
.
.
Naruto and Sakura had looks of amazement on their faces – that Kanoko was able to catch Kakashi-sensei off guard like that and land a blow (even if he, physically, wasn't hit).
Kanoko just straightened back into a standing position with a frown, berating herself for losing her control on her emotions and forgetting to always remain aware of her surroundings.
Kakashi however…
He was staring at the pages floating away in the wind…
.
He couldn't read his book anymore.
It was ruined.
FOREVER.
.
.
.
Kanoko started to turn around to grab Naruto and Sakura, so they could plan, away from Kakashi when she felt a sharp spike in negative energy flowing behind her.
She quickly jerked back around, while jumping back to where Naruto and Sakura were.
"It ruined…" Kakashi said in a lost, childlike voice.
.
That was the only warning Kanoko got, before a lightning fist flew her way.
.
Which is how she found herself at this moment, running through the woods.
Away from her sensei.
Who was trying to kill her.
.
In the end, Naruto, Sakura, and Kanoko proved they could work as a team (the fear of death was a powerful motivator) and all three of them were officially promoted to genin.
But no one on Team 7 ever talked about the events that took place in what was now dubbed as "Why Icha Icha Paradise is off limits".
And Kanoko…
She refused to answer any of her mother's questions when she fell, face first, at the front door; hair singed, clothes scorched with kunai holes, shoes full of dirt, and all of her supplies gone.
.
.
.
At least now she knew her Chakra Stealing Seal worked.