Four Years Later

"Nervous, Naruto-kun?"

"Not on your life, Tou-san." Naruto smiled at his father, perfectly relaxed. The twelve year old had begun to come into his own now, the beginnings of his first growth spurt causing his pants to be just a little too short. The flak jacket he wore was his second this year, him outgrowing the previous two as he sprouted. His frame was lean, wiry, more built for more agility and quicktrigger strength than power. His baby fat had melted away, partly by the onset of puberty and partly due to the ridiculous physical regime he had put himself through over the past few years, his cheekbones more pronounced now. His deep, cerulean eyes still held their same, almost hypnotic quality, windows to the Hatake's very soul.

Kakashi marveled at the growth his son had undergone throughout the four years in the Acadmey. What was once frenetic, restless energy was carefully controlled now, his body coiled and tensed, ready to be unleashed. His son's personality had matured as well, from the infectiously positive and optimistic boy to a well-mannered, composed young man. His blonde hair was worn shorter now, still a wild, gravity defying mess, but neater, less prone to getting in his eyes. He truly did resemble Kakashi, and all that was missing was his hitai-ate, something that Naruto was ready to rectify.

"You're more than ready for this exam, Naruto-kun. Still, I expect you to take it seriously."

"Hai, Tou-san. Don't worry, I'll be seeing you later, as a ninja of Konoha." He gave his father a thumbs up, before turning to step into the Academy. Kakashi hadn't sent his son to school since his first week, all those years ago. Today was special, Kakashi mused. It was the last time his son would truly be a child. After today, he would be a Shinobi, a soldier of Konoha.

Not that Naruto had any business remaining a child, Kakashi reflected. The boy was truly disgustingly talented, learning as fast as Kakashi could teach.

"Still can't get it down?"

"I can make a hundred thousand Bunshin if you want, but the exam only asks for two.."

"Alright... have you heard of the Kage Bunshin?"

Kakashi remembered the day he had taught his son what had become the boy's favorite Jutsu. His son was simply incapable of using the Bunshin no Jutsu in any practical fashion, it was ridiculous, but as the boy matured, his chakra reserves grew almost faster than he could learn to control it. So Kakashi had improvised, teaching his son the Kinjutsu, Kage Bunshin. Naruto had the ungodly chakra reserves to make practical use of the demanding clone technique, and had mastered it within a day.

"Come on dad, you gotta teach me more advanced stuff. Iruka-sensei's been teaching us all about chakra affinities, and I want to get my hands on some of that!" His father had been hesitant to teach him such advanced, potentially dangerous techniques, but the boy had pestered him into submission.

Kakashi handed him a piece of affinity testing paper.

"Channel your chakra through the paper, Naruto-kun. We'll figure out what we can work with."

The paper had crumpled up before it was shredded by an almost tangible rush of wind chakra, shocking Kakashi.

"Is that supposed to happen?"

Of course his son would have two Elemental affinities, and both extremely rare in Fire Country. Halfway into teaching his son about Elemental Ninjutsu however, Kakashi had discovered a serious problem. The boy had far too vast chakra reserves to work with anything remotely safe at his age. Even a harmless D-ranked Raiton Jutsu like Electromagnet Pulse became an uncontrollably devastating supercharged shockwave that fried everything in a twenty meter radius. Kakashi had promised to teach Naruto some more Jutsu once his control had grown better, but it was just unbelievable. He figured his son would never be able to use anything weaker than a B-ranked ninjutsu practically, and he wasn't about to teach his son how to throw massive hurricane-force winds around or summon lighting bolts from the sky anytime soon.

He had gone back to working with his son on the fundamentals of being a ninja, the same fundamentals that had served him so well during his time as an ANBU Captain. Things like how to discreetly pass a coded message, how to identify and exploit structural weaknesses to destroy a building, how to track and hunt down a fleeing enemy, and how to mask his chakra signature. How to hide in a crowd, and hide in nature, how to properly disguise himself and how to impersonate another, and how to create a distraction without drawing attention.

Kakashi wondered when his mindset had changed from coddling his precious son to preparing him for any and all circumstances out in the field. Perhaps it was when the inevitability of Naruto's graduation from the academy set in. His son would be a soldier, would be in the line of fire, and Kakashi would be damned if he didn't do his best to prepare his boy for the worst.

Kakashi shook his head, focusing back on the here and now. He had a Hokage to talk to.

"Ready, Naruto?"

"You bet your ass, Shika. I've been getting ready for the past four years."

"Troublesome.."

"Chip?"

"Choji! You're stress eating again. Don't worry too much man, you'll be fine!"

"Mah.. we're not all freakish prodigies like you, Naruto." The pudgy Akimichi stuffed another handful of crisps into his mouth, crunching noisly.

"Pfft, you give him too much credit. Hey Hatake, ready for me to take that title of Class Ace from you?"

"You are welcome to have it, if you deserve it, Kiba." Naruto easily deflected the feral boy's ribbing.

"Tch, arrogant prick. I'll show you!" Kiba growled.

"Kiba-kun, please. Naruto-kun is far from arrogant." Hinata's gentle, yet firm voice put an end to the Inuzuka's disgruntlement. Naruto gave an eye smile to the lavender haired Hyūga.

"Alright all of you, shut up! And listen to me!" Iruka fumed.

"Today's your big day, so stop with your juvenile antics! Each one of you will be required to pass the General Knowledge Examination, demonstrate adequate mastery of the Three Basic Ninjutsu, the Henge, Kawarimi, and Bunshin no Jutsu, and for the final component, you will engage Mizuki-sensei in a short spar. He will evaluate your overall combat readiness. Should you perform satisfactorily, you will awarded a Hitai-ate, and the status of ninja of the Konohagakure no Sato. Any questions?"

"When do we start?" Naruto's self-assured voice carried across the silent, tense classroom. Iruka sweatdropped.

"This is most unusual, Kakashi-kun."

"About time I took a Gēnin team, don't you think, Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen leaned back into his chair, staring hard at the nonchalant Jōnin.

"You don't think it's suspicious that as your son takes his graduation exam, you come to me requesting for a team?"

"Oh, it's very suspicious. I'll lay it out for you, Hokage-sama. I don't trust anyone else to teach my son." Kakashi spoke offhandedly, dismissing his Kage's concern.

"I don't think it's been done before, outside of clan apprenticeship."

"First time's for everything. Anyway, can you think of a better teacher for Naruto-kun?"

"Not particularly..." Hiruzen caught the surreptitious look Kakashi was giving, and immediately dismissed his guards.

"Look, Hokage-sama. No one else is qualified to teach him because of the Kyūbi. His chakra reserves are so unnaturally large, it's insane. He has more chakra than me, easily, and it's only growing. Any other Sensei would grow suspicious." Kakashi was quick, to the point.

"You raise a very good point, Kakashi-kun."

"I trust Jiraiya-sama's work. It's been eight years and there hasn't been any sign of the Kyūbi acting up, but out in the field, facing danger? Anything could happen, Hokage-sama, and I need to be there to handle it."

"Very well... I will assent to your request. Naruto will be assigned to Team 7, with you as their Jōnin Sensei. I do hope that you will not show favoritism over your other two students."

Kakashi nodded, satisfied.

Naruto wasn't worried, the theory exam had been a breeze. He had crammed revision in with his Kage Bunshin, crash coursing the entire curriculum within a week. Tou-san had been peeved at his blatant abuse of his technique, but what good was Jutsu if you couldn't use them?

His name was called, and he stepped towards the partitioned examination room, readying himself. Iruka-sensei was waiting for him, seated at a desk with a file before him.

"Hatake Naruto?"

"Hai, Umino-sensei."

"Ready to take the exam?"

"Hai, Umino-sensei."

"Please execute the Kawarimi no Jutsu with the training dummy over there."

Naruto nodded, focusing his chakra like his father had drilled into him so many times. As always, Naruto found himself at the center of a raging maelstrom, his overwhelming chakra reserves threatening to erupt and crush everything around him. He steeled himself, willing his chakra to obey him, and it did, years and years of constant practice paying off.

A puff of smoke, and Naruto was standing on the opposite end of the class, hands still in his pockets. In his place the training dummy rocked about almost comically.

"You performed the Jutsu without hand seals?"

"Hai, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka looked slightly stricken, but he nodded before scribbling something on the file.

"Very well, please execute the Henge no Jutsu."

Naruto did so easily, transforming into the image of his father.

"Excellent work, Naruto-san. Dispel."

'Kakashi' reverted back to the form of a now smiling Naruto.

"Now, the Bunshin no Jutsu. Please create two clones."

"This might be a little unorthodox.." Naruto muttered, drawing a raised eyebrow from the Chūnin. Naruto's hands formed the distinct cross-shaped seal, before his called out his jutsu's name.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Iruka shot to his feet, cursing.

"Naruto-san, that is a forbidden kinjut.." His protest died in on his tongue as the smoke cleared.

Three identical, masked Hatake Narutos stood before him, each giving him that blasted eye smile.

"This does count as a Bunshin technique, doesn't it?" All three Naruto's spoke in unison, sending shivers down Iruka's back.

'What the hell is he? That's insane!' Iruka's hand was trembling, the Chūnin noted, as he signed off the final box on his student's assessment form.

"Quite right, Hatake-san. Please proceed to the waiting room.. we will proceed with the sparring portion as soon as we are done testing your classmates."

Naruto nodded, his clones dispelling in another puff of smoke.

"Thanks, Sensei."

"Who's the new guy?"

"No clue, Naruto. I think his name is Sai, or something like that. Heard he doesn't have a family, one of those orphans sponsored by the Village."

"He turned up today to take the exam.. troublesome.."

"Ano.. you're next, Naru-kun. Please do your best!"

"Thanks Hina'-chan. Don't worry, it's just Mizuki-sensei."

"And I just told Kiba-kun you weren't arrogant.."

"I kid, I kid!"

"Hatake Naruto! Please step forward into the sparring ring!"

"Showtime!"

Naruto hopped easily from the bench, taking his place in the combat area demarcated by a white box painted on the ground of the Academy Quadrangle.

"Okay.. these are your instructions. It will be a five-minute bout, standard training rules. No lethal techniques or intent, understood?" Iruka's voice was stern. Naruto called out his acknowledgment, even as he shook out his shoulders.

"Wait, Iruka-sensei! Am I allowed to use Ninjutsu?"

"Nothing lethal, Naruto-san!"

"Hai!" Naruto turned back to the noticeably paler Mizuki, and flashed an eye smile, before settling into his taijutsu stance. It was simple, practical, weight distributed evenly between his legs, leaving him able to respond easily to anything.

"Ready? Hajime!"

At the sound of Iruka's voice he tensed, but didn't move, subtly shifting his weight.

"Naruto-san, this is for us to evaluate your combat readiness. Please attack."

"If you say so, Iruka-sensei."

Naruto moved, faster than any twelve year old had the right to move. Years of brutal physical training and nonstop workouts had honed his body into a finely tuned instrument of combat, ready at anytime to unleash an avalanche of pain on his opponent.

He came straight at Mizuki, blurring forward into a rising kick. Mizuki did admirably, all things considered. He was an experienced Chūnin, and had plenty of frontline as well as combat experience. It was that experience that probably kept him from being demolished within the first minute of Naruto's assault. He retreated, desperately backpedaling and blocking to avoid the deluge of devastating haymakers and snap kicks that would have incapacitated him. A lull in the fight followed, Naruto suddenly halting his blitz.

"Time to take this up a notch..." Naruto whispered, creating three Kage Bunshin with a single hand seal.

"My apologies, Mizuki-sensei, but I've gotta prove that I'm on pace to match my dad." The quartet of Naruto's tensed, and then rushed forward as one. It was a jaw dropping beat down that followed. Mizuki had struggled to hold off a single Naruto, and fighting four had predictable results. The clones weaved in and out of the fight with deadly precision, landing crushingly timed hits before moving out of range, while the real Naruto pressed the attack, occupying Mizuki with his own very real, very painful strikes. It was a devastating employment of the solid clones that Kage Bunshin created, and with it, Naruto took the veteran Chūnin instructor apart.

"Halt!" Iruka called the fight, fear for Mizuki's life causing him to break protocol.

"That's enough, Naruto-san. I think we have sufficiently evaluated your combat readiness..." Iruka muttered, making his way over to his colleague's battered side.

"Hai, Iruka-sensei!" The Hatake bowed, an action that his opponent was in no state to reciprocate, before returning to his classmates.

"Jeez, Naruto. You could've killed him." Shikamaru had sat up, appraising Naruto.

"Dick, you didn't have to show off. How are the rest of us supposed to compete now!" Kiba's grudging respect bled through his complaint.

"Naru-kun.. that was very impressive. You've been working on your Kagekata. It was much more fluid!" Hinata smiled brightly, shifting to accommodate Naruto on the bench.

"Thanks Hina'-chan. Your input the other day really helped!"

"What's this? Are the two of you finally dating?" Yamanaka Ino butt into the conversation, drawn to gossip like a moth to a flame.

Hinata flushed crimson, embarrassment robbing her of her speech.

"Good question.. are we, Hina'-chan?" Naruto's unflappable composure held firm, barely. It helped that his blush was hidden by his mask. It was a godsend, for real.

"I-I-i..." Hinata stammered, totally red now.

"Just teasing. We're just friends, Ino, leave us alone. Don't you have to spar soon?"

"Y-y-yes. Just f-friends..." Hinata whispered.

"We will be taking a break, as Mizuki-sensei is currently unable to carry on evaluating you all. Please do not leave the Academy premise!" Iruka shouted.

"Oops." Naruto sweatdropped.

"Congratulations, Naruto-san. You have performed, well, outstandingly. I am proud to present this to you." Iruka smiled warmly at the Hatake heir, holding a Hitae-ate in his hands. The blonde bowed deeply, taking the forehead protector in both hands.

He stepped back, smoothly tying it around his forehead. When he was done, he closed his eyes, savoring the moment.

"This represents your loyalty, and your allegiance to our village, Naruto-san. Treasure it, for it is a symbol of your pride as a Shinobi." Naruto nodded, before a sudden impulse came over him. He reached up, slanting the forehead protector over his right eye. Iruka almost burst out into laughter at his student's antics.

"Yes, you do look like your father, Naruto-san. How are you feeling?"

"How the hell does Tou-san move around like this?! Does he not need depth perception?" Naruto squawked indignantly.

Iruka faceplanted.

A/N

Double upload day!

A shorter, more light hearted chapter, aaaand Naruto's finally a ninja! Really excited because this marks the beginning of the second arc of this fic.

Any concerns about Naruto's power level should be addressed along the way. Yes, he's going to be very powerful for a twelve year old, but this isn't a Godlike! Or Super! Naruto fic. He's going to struggle, and lose, and work for his victories. That's what makes a story worth reading, right?

Till the next chapter,

Read and review!