Naruto proudly made his way through the Academy, his hands held behind his head and a smug smile on his face as he sauntered through the hallway, his stride cocky and exuberant as he made his way to his old classroom.
He was a bit confused why he was called back to the Academy so soon. From what Iruka-sensei told them it usually takes two weeks to determine what jonin senseis would be in charge of the new squads. Maybe he was just so awesome they already knew who the perfect Sensei for him would be?
Whatever the reason, he couldn't wait to see the looks on everyone's faces when they realized that he passed after all!
Especially Sasuke!
Of course he knew the whole incident with Mizuki was to be kept a secret, Gramps already deeply stressed the importance of that. Multiple times.
But that wasn't a problem. All that matters is that he was finally a ninja now and one step closer to his dream of being Hokage!
Soon no one will be looking at him with hate-filled eyes or kick him out of their stores. He would be their Hokage and they would respect him!
With an extra pep in his step he crossed the threshold into his old classroom.
Taking a quick look around Naruto guessed that he was probably the last one to arrive.
Sasuke was over off in the corner like usual, eyes closed and ignoring the world as if everyone and everything was below him (the jerk). Sakura and the rest of the Bastard's fangirls were still arguing over who got to sit next to him. Shikamaru was asleep like always in the back row and next to him Choji was on his second bag of chips (nothing new there either).
Though Naruto was surprised to see that he had arrived before Iruka-sensei. The dedicated workaholic was always in the classroom before anyone else. If only to make sure he didn't secretly set up any pranks and to prevent an all-out catfight over seating arrangements between the members of Sasuke's fanclub.
'Maybe he was injured worse than I thought?' Naruto wondered, suddenly growing increasingly worried for his sensei as he slowly made his way across the back row, mood slightly dimmed in the wake of his concern.
"I thought you failed?" Shikamaru inquired, his sudden voice halting Naruto's stride, lifting his head slightly to address the blonde, apparently not as asleep as Naruto had initially thought.
"Nope. See this headband here? I earned it, it's mine. Iruka-sensei gave it to me himself!" Naruto exuberantly corrected, proudly pointing at his headband with his thumb, intentionally ensuring that his voice was loud enough for at least a third of the room to hear of his accomplishment.
For a moment Shikamaru said nothing as he gave Naruto a critical once over, his appraising eyes rooted on the headband as if trying to find any imperfections, anything that would indicate whether or not the engraved metal was forged and not the legitimate Konoha headband that it was.
Naruto resisted the urge to squirm under the Nara's scrutiny.
Shikamaru may be a lazy bum whose written grades were almost as bad as his own, but there were times Shikamaru got that scary look in his eyes, the one where it looked like he was silently picking you apart bit by bit until he found whatever it was that he was looking for.
His eyes suddenly losing their sharpness, Shikamaru merely muttered a half-hearted "Troublesome" and laid his head back down on the desk to resume his nap.
Naruto resisted the urge to face-fault.
Every time he thought Shikamaru may actually say something smart he always just said "Troublesome" or "What a drag".
Lazy unmotivated bastard.
With an understanding smile, Choji pulled out a barbecue chip from his bag and offered it to the blonde.
"Congratulations"
Like a rubber ball, Naruto's good mood returned, happily accepting the kind gesture for what it was. After all, Choji almost never shared his snacks with anyone (unless your name was Shikamaru).
"Thanks Choji!" Naruto exclaimed, popping the crunchy goodness in his mouth.
Naruto then made his way down the lecture hall stairs, making a point to glare at Sasuke as he did, though the bastard merely ignored him.
Resisting the urge to growl in frustration, Naruto plopped down in a seat and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at the door, half praying and half demanding that Iruka-sensei walk through the wooden frame with a flustered apology for being late, silently hoping that the older man wasn't injured worse than he had claimed.
"So Naruto, who's headband did you steal in order to get here?" Kiba mocked, leaning forward in his seat above Naruto's.
Akamaru barked in agreement.
Naruto shifted his glare at Dog Boy, his eyes now significantly more icy.
"What makes you think I stole anything?" Naruto demanded, offended at the assumption, jutting his chin out defensively at Kiba.
"Ha! Everyone here knows you failed the Exam again for a third time. Let me guess, you stole one of the headbands out of Iruka-sensei's desk after school...That's probably why we're all here isn't it?! To hear you get reemed out for impersonating a ninja of Konoha" Kiba heckled meanly, Akamaru barking in laughter right alongside him.
"I didn't steal anything! I earned this headband! Iruka-sensei gave it to me himself!" Naruto proclaimed, furious at Kiba's assumptions.
"While not an improbable hypothesis, if Naruto did in fact commit burglary and purloin one of the graduation headbands, it would be illogical to think he would return to the scene of the crime as Iruka-sensei and the other teachers would surely be cognizant of whether or not he had in fact graduated" Shino exclaimed, deciding to play devil's advocate for the blonde's sake as he felt mildly obligated to join in on the conversation seeing as he was only two seats away from the arguing duo.
"Um…" Naruto muttered, his eyes scrunching a bit in confusion as he tried to work out just what Shino had said.
"Just talk normally" Kiba sweat-dropped, "Besides, we all saw him fail! How do you explain that?!"
"That is not for us to decide. If Iruka-sensei elected to pass him, our opinions have no weight in the matter" Shino calmly rebuked.
"Tsk. Fine" Kiba grumbled, reluctantly sitting back in his chair, his fun effectively ruined by the Aburame, "But I still don't believe it"
"You would do well to listen to your classmate Inuzuka" a stern and unfriendly voice echoed throughout the room.
The class immediately quieted at the sudden unexpected arrival of a man they had never seen before. One who had silently Body Flickered into the room without any of them noticing.
"Who are you to question your superiors?" Danzo challenged, staring down the young Inuzuka with a piercing gaze.
Kiba winced under the other man's sharp assessing look, his spine crawling, for once all the words caught in his throat.
Danger, his mind screamed.
It didn't help that Akamaru seemed to agree wholeheartedly with his thoughts, trembling a bit as he sunk further into the lapels of Kiba's coat as he smelled the sheer frigidness of the unknown shinobi's chakra.
Danzo smacked his cane down sharply on the tiles, the sound making all the former students flinch.
"Answer" Danzo demanded, his cold gaze never leaving Kiba's, "Or do you think yourself above your chunin professors and Hokage himself?"
"No sir" Kiba managed to force out, feeling more scolded and reprimanded than he ever had from Iruka-sensei or even his Mother.
"I would surely hope not. Insubordination and arrogance is not tolerated in any form. Having either may cost you your life, or the lives of your teammates in the field. Do I make myself clear?" Danzo demanded, his tone commanding and unfriendly.
Everyone nodded without hesitation.
"...Who are you and where's Iruka-sensei? He's never late for anything" Naruto softly demanded despite the uneasiness he felt with the old man covered in bandages.
Everyone waited with bated breath for Naruto to be pounded into the ground by the unfamiliar man for his disrespect.
"Naruto you idiot! You're really going to talk back to a superior officer right after he just told off Kiba for being insubordinate?!" Sakura growled through grit teeth, unable to hold back her anger and (slight) concern at Naruto's stupidity.
Did the idiot want to lose his headband so soon after somehow finally getting it?!
"And what makes you think that I'm a Konoha shinobi?" Danzo questioned, shocking them all into silence.
Though his statement only served to increase Naruto's tension, narrowing his eyes mistrustfully at the unknown shinobi in front of them.
Danzo resisted the urge to smirk.
At least one of the brats had a modicum of common sense. Though if he had to guess it likely only stemmed from the Uzumaki's most recent encounter with Mizuki.
Though in his own personal opinion it would only serve to benefit the brat in the long run. After all, blindly trusting others could get you killed.
Konoha has no use for naive ninja.
And the rest of these brats needed to learn that lesson as well.
"I am not wearing a Konoha headband, nor do any of you seem to know who I am. Why shouldn't he demand an explanation? For all any of you know I am an enemy ninja who's infiltrated the Village with the goal of weakening the Konoha's military forces at its source" Danzo nonchalantly challenged, curious as to what the group would do next.
Unsurprisingly the Uzumaki immediately grabbed a kunai from his holster and threw it straight at his head.
Quickly joining in, the Uchiha grabbed two hands worth of shuriken in his knuckles and launched them at his form as well, arching the weapons in a way that they surrounded him from the sides the Uzumaki's kunai hadn't covered, effectively blocking his escape.
Danzo substituted away without any effort, a tree log falling with a thud onto the floor.
"Impulsive, but a good instinctive reaction and decent enough impromptu teamwork" Danzo commented, forcing all the kids to crane their necks upwards and gaze at him in awe and wonder as he stood on the ceiling without any visible aid.
Resisting the urge to snort at how the little ducklings were so clearly impressed by such a basic skill, he Body Flickered back down onto the ground.
Dare he say it?
This was actually almost...fun.
No wonder Tobirama-sensei had loved teaching.
It was amusing as hell to troll the little ninja-hopefuls.
Revelations aside, first things first.
"My name is Danzo Shimura. I am a member of the Shinobi Council and former squadmate of the Third Hokage, serving directly under the Second Hokage during the First Shinobi World War" Danzo proclaimed, his tone firm, assured and commanding like the general he was as he introduced himself.
As amusing as it would be to take on Umino's entire class, there was no need to cause any unnecessary property damage.
"HUH?!"
"But you just said-" Kiba exclaimed, standing up in his seat to demand an explanation before he was abruptly cut off.
"I stated why it was logical for Uzumaki to question my identity and purpose here, not that I was actually an enemy ninja" Danzo corrected, unflapped by the whiplash he was giving the kids.
"You're here to test us" Shikamaru stated, his tone matter-of-fact as he rested his head back on his arms, his calculating eyes narrowed down at Danzo.
"Indeed" Danzo confirmed, giving the Nara a shrewd assessing glance of his own.
"This is such a drag" Shikamaru grumbled unhappily, not liking where this was going one bit.
"Another test?!" Naruto exclaimed in annoyance, pointing his finger in Danzo's direction, "We already passed the Final Exam! Now you're telling us we need to take another test?!"
"Sit down, initiate!" Danzo commanded, smacking down his cane once more, "You are not officially a genin of this Village yet"
Naruto winced at the icy stare, reluctantly settling back down in his seat with a scowl on his face.
'At least he has some respect for authority somewhere in that thick skull of his' Danzo thought, knowing full well of the Uzumaki's long detailed history of defiance against those in positions of authority.
"I have been given permission by the Third Hokage himself to assess the true skill level of your class during the time between now and your official team placements. You will then be tested for a final time by your jounin sensei to determine if you are indeed fit to be genin of Konoha" Danzo detailed, not sugarcoating the reality of the situation to the kids in any way.
"True skill level?" Sasuke questioned, narrowing his eyes at the deceptively unassuming old man.
"That is correct," Danzo stated, unsurprised by the Uchiha's sudden interest, "The Academy has, in my opinion, done a subpar job of accurately assessing your full capabilities and potential as shinobi. As such, I have devised a comprehensive evaluation the Hokage has agreed upon to test your current skill level. You will all undergo a series of comprehensive examinations that will test you mentally, physically, and psychologically in order to determine your full capabilities and potential in all major areas of the shinobi arts...And whether you or not you should bother continuing with the ninja program at all"
Silence.
The tension in the room was so thick it could be sliced with a kunai.
This time Danzo did smirk.
"Let us begin"