"Oi! Naruto-Nii! Get back here!"
Naruto turned around, seeing konohamaru chasing after him, waving him down.
Naruto smiled as he waited for the small monkey of a boy to catch up. "What is It squirt?"
"Nii-San, I'm joining the academy tomorrow! Tell me how you did it!" Demanded konohamaru as he caught up and fell in step with Naruto, who continued Down the street.
It was quiet the sight. Naruto wore an burnt orange t-shirt, blue ninja pants and his standard black sandals, his hair wild and unruly as it spilt down nearly to his shoulders.
Konohamaru was wearing a yellow shirt, khaki shorts and blue ninja Sandles, his hair also long.
"Nope." Naruto said simply and stuck his hands in his pockets.
"Aw cmon boss! You graduated at the age of seven and I heard one of the teachers say you cheated, you gotta tell me! How else am I gonna catch up to you?" The nearby citizens were listening in quite intently.
While it was well known that Naruto had graduated at seven and disappeared somewhere around his eighth birthday, not one person under jonin in clearance knew for sure exactly what happened.
The rumor around was that he was inducted into anbu at the same time Itachi uchiha was, but no one knew for sure. Itachi was another matter all together, as some believed he had lost his life in the Uchiha Conflict, along with his father as the stopped an attempted Coup. He hadn't been seen in the village in years, though rumors were he had been seen in a jonin uniform in the last few days.
"How old are you now Konohamaru? I was under the impression that you were eight years old?" Asked Naruto as he smirked.
"Yeah boss, I'm already a year behind!" The small boy shouted as he ran in front of Naruto and stopped their progress. "I need every trick I can get!"
"Konohamaru... the life of a ninja is hard. You'll never get stronger on other peoples hard work. You need to give it your all, push forward and most importantly..." now the entire street was silent. The most enigmatic ninja in the village was imparting wisdom in the middle of town. Any civilian or ninja should be grateful to hear the wisdom the was dispensing. "Learn to cheat on your own! That way you can't get caught!!"
Naruto brought a fist down on konohamaru's head, driving him into the ground. The growing crowd was flabbergasted at the change in tone and volume of the blonde.
After a few tense moments, Naruto picked konohamaru up and slung him over his shoulder, continuing on his path.
A path that took him directly to the academy.
Oh sure, some chunin at the front desk gave him a hard time for kidnapping konohamaru and walking into the academy without a permit, but a quick flash of a tattoo and they gave him the room number and let him be.
A soft knock on the door later and a confused murmur, and Naruto was face to face with his old sensei.
"Huh? Bu-Naruto? What are you doing here? And why do you have an unconscious child on your shoulder?" Iruka questioned as he took in the blonde, making sure to keep his voice down so the students wouldn't hear him.
"Hey sensei, konohamaru here said that he would be joining the academy. I figured he would like to see the the graduating ninja get paired up with their new sensei." Naruto explained as he peered into the room, seeing several gobsmacked and questioning looks. "Ah shucks, I'm not late am I? Jiji said announcements were at noon."
"No no, your just in time actually... your old spot is open actually, I no still have to give the speech before I announce teams." Stated iruka as he took a step back and let the blonde and brunette in.
Naruto dumped konohamaru in one of the chairs before he placed a palm on the base of his jaw. Suddenly, konohamaru jolted awake, looking around wildly. Naruto put his hand over Naruto's mouth and gave him a stern look. The boy stopped struggling and nodded, sitting Patiently next to Naruto as the observed the class.
While this was going on, Iruka wrapped up the speech and looked at his clipboard. "Now as you all know, this group was held together as an experiment in creating better teamwork in our genin teams. While our village has had tremendous success with early graduates, our teamwork has been faltering."
The class nodded. The academy had been extremely clear about it. Last years class and this years class were being built out as an experimental basis, and the early results of the last year had been extremely promising.
"That being said, this additionally education has been calculated by our future Jonin sensei, and your next few months will not be any easier than any genin that came before you. Now, Team one..."
Naruto nudged konohamaru to look over the room, instead of focusing on just the instructor. He whispered into konohamarus ear. "What can you learn from their posture and temperament?"
"Temperwghat?"
"Baka, temperment, their personality, how they act."
"Ohhh, they all are sitting upright except for two of them. They all kinda look bored, some excited..."
"Good, good job brat."
"Hey!"
"Now I let you interrupt my lecture, but I will not let you interupt my team placements. Even if you are the Hokage's grandson, got it konohamaru?" Iruka threatened.
"Y-yes Chunin-San!"
"No sweat sensei."
"Good. Now... team seven will be Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Kiba Inuzuka. Team eight will be Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, and Sai Shimura." Stated iruka with an odd expression.
Naruto shared a glance with him, sending him a nod.
The legitimate son of Danzo Shimura and an unknown woman, Sai appeared out of no where after the uchiha massacre. The boy was exceedingly antisocial, but his talent was worthy of his fathers name.
"Team nine is still in rotation from last year, and team ten will be Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akamichi and Shikamaru Nara. I'm extremely proud of all of you, please keep an open mind about your sensei. Understand that with the resources dedicated to this experiment, only the strongest jonin were selected as sensei. They will arrive momentarily."
As soon as he sat down, the door opened, and a stunning brunette with red eyes entered the room. She took in the sight of a blonde haired boy in the back giving her a knowing smile, sitting with Konohamaru of all people. She hid her smirk and gave him an imperceptible nod "I see I'm the first one. Honestly would have thought Uzumaki would have beat me here. Team eight, please follow me."
The trio quickly popped up and jogged after her, though Kiba could be heard complaining that he thought he would be paired with hinata and shino.
Slowly the rest of the room was escorted out. Sakura and Ino were chatting away about having lazy sensei and boys, kiba, choji and Sasuke were discussing different formations and their favorite restaurants.
Funny, with the sensei assigned to their teams, they actually probably would spend a good amount of time together. It was good to know the boys favorite places to eat.
Naruto looked fondly on as Sasuke communicated easily with his classmates. He had worried in the aftermath of the coup that Sasuke was going to go off the deep end like Itachi almost had.
Only after a few hours, and konohamaru finally getting bored and feeling like starting a prank, did team sevens sensei show up.
The man walked through the door, long silver hair, face covered by his mask and only one eye showing. He stood slouched and with an air of boredom.
Everyone in the room perked up, wondering what team he would be in charge of.
"Hello Chibi, Chibi-chibi. What are you two doing here?"
The six genin looked at the man with differing amounts of confusion, but soon realized he was talking to the blonde civilian and Hokage's grandson in the back corner of the room.
"Kakashi, great to see you haven't changed much in your return to normal life." Stated Naruto with a small smile while konohamaru ran up to kakashi and lept into his arms. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. 'Maybe not a civilian...'
"Kakashi-sama! Tell me how to cheat my way through the academy like Nii-San did!"
"Mah, where's the fun in that? You need to learn on your own Chibi-Chibi. Didn't chibi tell you that yet?" Stated kakashi as he put the child down. "Now run along, I hear your uncle is in town for a few days, I'm sure he would be happy to see you."
Konohamaru was gone in a flash. Kakashi chuckled and opened his book. "Team seven, Meet me on the roof. Team ten, Follow chibi there, he knows where your sensei will be meeting with you." And with that, Kakashi disappeared.
For the first time, as Team seven sprinted out of the room, the entirety of team ten turned to face Naruto.
"Huh, I thought asuma wasn't due in for a few more days..." murmured Naruto loud enough for the trio to hear. Naruto smiled and locked eyes with shikamaru. "Let's see if you all can keep up, shall we?"
Naruto suddenly dove out the window and leapt up to the rooftops jogging lightly as he made sure team ten was following.
"Nice warmup, now let's get to introductions." Stated Naruto as he leaned on the fence that surrounded a large hole in the ground.
Ino and choji laid on their stomachs in front of him, barely keeping air in their lungs, while shikamaru appeared to be passed out on his back.
"Wha- do you mean- introductions, you yellow- headed moron?" Questioned Ino as she got to her hands an knees. "Our sensei isn't here yet."
"He's been here the whole time, actually." Stated Naruto as he stood up and walked over to shikamaru, sitting him up. He then moved to choji and handed him a leg of turkey that he got from... somewhere... and finally retook his place against the fence. "Don't you find it odd that a lowly civilian was guarding the Hokage's grandson? Or that he was able to intrude on a secure ceremony that had jonin level security clearance?"
"So... you're our sensei..." Shikamaru stared hard at him as it dawned on him.
"But you look younger than us! And you don't have a headband on!" Stated Ino while choji happily munched on the tender turkey meat.
"Correct on both counts... well, all three really." Commended Naruto, pulling out a ration bar and chewing on it. "And you three are the second generation of the Ino-Shika-Chou formation. I look forward to making sure you turn out nothing like your fathers."
"There are only two known jonin in the village right now under the age of 18. I know you aren't Itachi uchiha, and you aren't Hana inuzuka..." stated Ino, the gossip queen she was, was chocked full of information.
"Good! You have a brain and can use it. I'm glad." Snarked Naruto with a cross grin. "I had actually worried Kurenai-senpai would have given it away."
"Uzumaki... she said that she would have thought Uzumaki would have beat her there." Stated Choji thoughtfully.
"I knew most of the jonin that came in by reputation... Kurenai yuuhi is a very respectful and formal person." stated Ino, narrowing her eyes. "Shika. Family name uzumaki, what do you have."
He grunted, surprising her when he pulled a kunai out. Choji joined with a kunai in one hand and turkey in the other. "The only uzumaki I've heard of... Naruto Uzumaki, Genin at the age of seven, disappeared a few months after that. Was an early entry in the class above ours."
"Disappeared for 5 years?" Ino questioned, seeing that Naruto had yet to even respond to the threat they posed. "Anbu?"
"No public anbu known to fit his alias... though there was a rumored member of the Hokage's personal protection squad that was shorter and presumably younger than everyone else." Stated shikamaru, retreating back a few steps toward choji. "Known members of team Roh, Kakashi Hatake, disavowed two years ago, callsign Inu, now elite jonin and supposed strongest jonin residing in village. Itachi uchiha, disavowed last month, callsign neko, elite jonin, supposed fourth strongest jonin in the village."
"Skip ahead Shika."
"Tora, rumored member, brown hair, nearly six feet tall. Neko, rumored member, purple hair, five foot four, took over for Itachi Uchiha... Buru, 5'1", believed blonde or white hair. Longest serving member of team Roh, current captain." Stated Shikamaru as he dropped his kunai and slung his hands into a rat hand sign, surprised when he caught the blonde in his shadow.
"Not bad. Lot of information to unpack there. Someone has been looking over his fathers paperwork." Laughed Naruto, starring straight ahead. "Alright. Here's the test. I will stay within five hundred feet of this mine shaft. You have to catch me within the next 3 hours, or you will fail and be sent back to the reserves, and removed from the fast track program."
"Easy. Shika already caught you." Stated Ino, but never lost her defensive stance.
"Oh... Is that what you think?"
"Team ten Fails."
The entire room spun and stared at Naruto, despite being the shortest member of the room, just shorter then the Hokage himself, all eyes were on him.
"Gotcha, they passed."
Several angry yells and a head smack later, the meeting continued, with several special jonin still giving the blonde the stink eye.
"What test did you administer and what notes do you have?"
"Capture the target, I was the target. They utterly failed to get me pinned down, and I stayed within a thousand foot diameter. However, good tactics, great cohesion. Should be ready for chunin training inside of two months." Stated Naruto analytically, getting a nod from the Hokage.
"That only leaves kakashi, who should be here in three, two, one-"
"Yo! Oh, you seem to have started without me. Hello Kurenai, Chibi, Aboa, Genma, Ebisu, chibi, Raido-"
"Kakashi, just tell us if they passed or not!" Shouted anko, feeling the need to smack him as well.
"Ma, hello Anko, if you could excuse me... Hello Manabo, Toku, Chi-"
"Hatake..." the Hokage warned, stifling a small smile.
"Oh, Hokage-sama, how could I have missed you? Hello Hokage-sama, Namashi, Tora, Neko, Chibi-" A murderous killing intent fell on the room, making kakashi pause. The copy ninja sighed, slumping his shoulders. He stalked over to the window, closing it before returning to his spot. "I thought there was a draft. Now, hello Yabono, Iruka, and chibi. There, that's everyone."
Hiruzen just sighed, letting go of his killing intent and rubbing his temples.
There were times he regretted putting kakashi on the right path years ago. It only emboldened the little troll that Minato had created. Long gone we're the days when he could bully kakashi into doing as asked. Now he didn't honestly know who would win in a fight between himself and the copy ninja, who joined Jiraiya, himself and possibly tsunade as konoha's stable of S-rank ninja.
"Oh right, my team. They pass. They suck though, not nearly as good as my last team. I'll beat it into them." Stated kakashi with an eye smile. "Bell test, good ninjutsu and taijutsu out of the boys, decent taijutsu out of Sakura, lost of brains in her."
"Who was your last team again?"
"Quiet Chibi."
"That will be all; you are all free to go." Stated the Hokage as he massaged his temples.
He soon found himself alone in his office with Iruka, who himself looked rather drained. "Sir, is it wise to give Naruto a team? He's a fresh jonin..."
"I'm far more at ease with Naruto having a genin team than I am with Kakashi having one..."
"I'm NOT catching tora again! I'd rather be on archive duty!" Complained Ino to her sensei.
Naruto, much to no ones surprise now, was simply wearing a yellow t-shirt and blue ninja pants, black ninja shoes, and his headband on his sleeve. While he was the tallest member of his team, it wasn't by much. He also was munching on a ration bar.
It had been almost a month since Team ten failed into passing, and while they all agreed Naruto could be a real slave driver, he was a fantastic sensei. He had taught and refined massive amounts of all of their talents.
He also was the single most aggravating part of all of their lives. Bar none.
Turns out, Naruto wasn't a jonin in rank alone. His skills, or at least knowledge, in every subcategory were jonin level at least. Even the fields that no one studied, like fuinjutsu and classical acting.
If the archives had a scroll on it, he had read it.
It made him insufferable. There was almost nothing minus clan techniques that he didn't know the inner workings of, and that lost grew shorter every day.
His silent devil personality helped exactly nothing, as almost everything that wasn't ninja related that came out of his mouth was sarcastic and borderline heroically insulting or mildly pleasant.
His reasoning? 'That's the world I grew up in.' What's that even suppose to mean?!
"Archive duty it is then." Stated the blonde as he lazily strolled to the Hokage tower. "I wanted to head back soon anyway, I was informed that a new sampling of books and scrolls have come in from kumo."
"Damnit Ino..." muttered Choji as he snacked on some chips.
The group stayed silently fuming as they entered the administrative complex, soon finding themselves in front of Iruka and The Hokage.
While usually it was two random rotation of chunin manning the desk, sometimes Hiruzen himself would sit in when his other paperwork needed a firm talking to. So far, the only time team ten had seen the Hokage at this desk had been their first tora mission, which happened when Naruto and team sevens sensei were gone from the village for a few days.
"Oi, Jiji! Give me a c-rank. Something dangerous so that maybe I can lose one of these gremlins that keep complaining about archive duty."
The entire room stopped cold and looked at Naruto, still in his civilian ware as he stared the Hokage in the eyes. A wink had gone unnoticed by the rest of the room.
His team looked at him with fishlike expressions.
"Hmmm. Team ten is it? Iruka-kun, has team ten completed the prerequisites of a C-rank mission?" The Hokage asked with his standard good natured timber as he picked up a paperweight and flung it into Naruto's chest, a wicked snapping sound cracked through the room, crumpling the jonin on the spot as he clutched his chest and hit the floor. "I believe I told you already how I felt about being called 'Jiji', Naruto-kun. Or perhaps I should call you Chibi?"
The room seemed to come back to life as Naruto gasped for air.
"Yes sir, seems they crossed that threshold last week. The first team of their class to do so." Stated Iruka as he began to worry about Naruto. He could have sworn he saw a rib snap from that throw.
As Naruto got back to his feet, grunting in pain, Hiruzen nodded and Spoke. "Very well. Fetch me Tazuna the bridge builder. Team ten will be given the c-ranked escort mission to Wave country."