Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Madman Entertainment, Viz Media and Manga Entertainment. Please support the official release.
It had been a few days since the incident with Mizuki and the Forbidden Sealing Scroll and things were beginning to look up for not just Raiden, but Naruto as well. For the most part, at least.
Naruto, now a full fledged Shinobi, was letting the thought of being the strongest and best Shinobi in the village get to his head, even though he is an academy graduate and hasn't done any missions yet. Let alone S or A rank missions. Raiden made a mental note to talk to him about keeping himself humble before someone stronger than him shatters his pride and ego.
But before that, Raiden, Naruto, Kogeki and Yama all walked back together to the academy. Although they didn't know for sure why, they had an idea, except Naruto, who just whined and moaned the whole way.
"Ughhh! Why do we have to go back to the academy today? We're Shinobi! Shouldn't we be going out on missions and things like that?" He asked with a loud moan. Kogeki and Yama rolled their eyes before Raiden decided to explain. "Because Naruto, we're only Genin. We may be full fledged Shinobi now, but it doesn't automatically make us the best. We have to work and earn that. It's not gonna happen over night. Plus, Kogeki, Yama and I have an idea what they want us back at the academy for." He explained as all four of them continued walking.
"Really? What idea is that?" Naruto asked curiously with a blink, but Raiden just smirked. "If we're all right, then you'll see what I mean." He answered simply as Naruto pouted.
Konoha Academy...
Everyone walked into the classroom for, what might be, the final time and took their seats as other students come piling in and took their own seats.
Shikamaru Nara walked into the classroom and noticed Naruto, he looked slightly puzzled, but more uninterested before walking over to him.
"Naruto, what are you doing in here? This place isn't for dropouts, you know? You can only be in here unless you graduated. And as I recall, you didn't graduate." He stated to him lazily, but this only made Naruto smirk. "Yeah, I know that, Shikamaru, but checkout the headgear, pal. I've got my headband, so, I deserve to be here just as much as you. Believe it!" He answered enthusiastically.
Shikamaru just looked at him with no interest before shrugging with a sigh. "Yeah, whatever." He says lazily before walking off.
Hinata looked at Naruto with relief when she saw the headband on his head. "Oh... So Naruto graduated after all. I'm so happy for him." She thought happily.
Naruto just narrowed his eyes at Shikamaru as he walked away before looking to the front of the classroom and waited with Raiden for an instructor to come in before Sakura and Ino suddenly burst into the classroom as if they were racing. The two then started arguing over who got into the classroom first before Sakura noticed Sasuke and rushed over to him while knocking Naruto out of the way.
"Good morning, Sasuke." She said sweetly as Sasuke, without saying a word, just looked up at her with no interest. "May I sit next to you?" She asked him before Ino walked up to her and grabbed her arm. "Back off, Forehead! I'm sitting next to Sasuke!" She declared as Sakura glared at her. "I was here first!" She claimed.
"Oh, please! I got to the classroom before you did, everybody saw it!" Ino countered. "Dream on!" Sakura replied with defiance.
Multiple other girls then walked up to them both. "Actually, I got here before either of you did!"
"So did I. I'm sitting next to Sasuke!"
"No, I am!"
Sasuke just sighed and looked away with a shake of his head before closing his eyes. "What idiots." He thought.
Before long, more girls started to gather in a group to fight and argue over who would sit next to Sasuke.
THUMP!
"Hmm?" Sasuke hummed as he looked up to see Naruto crouching on the desk while up in his face. The two stared each other down while the girls all glared at Naruto.
Raiden facepalmed and shook his head as he and Yama watched all this happen. "Oh, hell. Here we go." He thought as Yama tried to hold in a laugh as she watched the girls get bent out of shape over Sasuke.
"Naruto! Stop glaring at Sasuke!" Sakura shouted at him which made Naruto look hurt at Sakura before glaring back down at Sasuke.
"Why are they so obsessed with him?" He wondered. "Sasuke! Sasuke! What's the big deal with this guy?" He continued to wonder as he and Sasuke both glared dangerously at each other while the girls all shouted at Naruto to stop glaring at Sasuke and to get away from him.
Then a student suddenly stood up bumping into Naruto, knocking him forward, before turning to look behind him and ask if he bumped him.
He didn't need an answer as everyone was silent and watched in shock from Naruto and Sasuke accidentally locking lips and kissed each other due to the student knocking Naruto forward that made him and Sasuke kiss each other.
Yama and Kogeki burst out laughing from the looks on Naruto and Sasuke's face before pulling away from each to cough and gag.
Naruto then stopped coughing before turning his head to see all the girls, except Yama, glaring at him because he had accidentally stolen Sasuke's first kiss.
"Naruto... You are so dead..." Sakura threatened while cracking her knuckles as she and the rest of the girls walked forward.
THUMP!
Sakura and the rest of the girls backed away when Raiden jumped in front of them and glared at them with his Doragan glowing in his eyes. "If anyone of you so much as takes another step, you'll be leaving with broken bones and missing teeth. So go ahead, try and take me down. Because if you want to get to my friend, you're welcome to try and get through me." He threatened the girls as he clenched his fists.
The girls all backed down and went to find new seats, but not without feeling a blow to their pride and feeling down that none of them will sit next to Sasuke.
Raiden looked at Naruto, who smiled brightly with gratitude, and nodded his head with a smile before returning to his own seat next to Yama.
Yama looked at Naruto curiously before looking at Raiden. "You're a good friend, Raiden, but are you sure you want to stick your neck out for Naruto of all people?" She asked him with curiosity. Raiden nodded before looking at her. "I'm sure, Yama. He's a good guy once you get to know him. He just seriously needs to stop getting himself into trouble. He and I are both Shinobi now, so I won't be able to stick up for him forever. He needs to start taking things a little more seriously from now on." He explained to her before looking to the front of the classroom just as Iruka walked in.
Yama looked down before looking at Naruto, who was looking excited, before looking at Raiden with a slight smile. Then she turns her attention to Iruka, who had a clipboard in his hand before he began to speak.
"Now, as you are all fully aware, as of today, you are all Shinobi. To get to where you are now, you've all faced difficult trials and hardships, but that's nothing compared to what's coming. What's next is going to be much more difficult than before." Iruka began as the class just remained quiet and listened to every word.
"Now, you are only Genin. The first level of Shinobi. All the Genin will be grouped into three man squads. All squads will be lead by a Jonin. An elite level Shinobi or Kunoichi." He declared as everyone, except for Raiden, Yama and Kogeki, all had shocked expressions on their faces from the news.
"Hmph, groups of three? That's only gonna slow me down." Sasuke whispered while looking annoyed.
"Hmm, I want to be with Sakura and... I don't much care who the other person is. As long as it's not Sasuke! I would prefer Raiden. He's my best bud! I think he and I would make a great team!" Naruto thought with a small glare before smiling, hoping that he and Raiden will be put into the same team.
Iruka continued with his report to the students before long. "Now, we want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities. So that's how we set them up." He explained before bringing up the clipboard to call out the names of the students who will be part of a team.
"I will now announce the squads. First up is..."
5 minutes later...
"Next is Squad #7." Iruka continued as the class listened.
"Naruto Uzumaki. Sakura Haruno." Naruto cheered that he was in a team with Sakura while Sakura dropped her head down in despair.
"And Sasuke Uchiha."
Naruto stopped cheering and then suddenly dropped his head in despair as Sakura stood up and cheered that she was in a team with Sasuke. Sasuke, however, just looked annoyed that he was paired with two of the weakest Shinobi in the class. In his opinion.
Hinata just looked at Naruto with disappointment on her face. "I won't be with Naruto-kun then." She thought, but she didn't stress over it too much, although she did feel a little sad that she didn't get put on Naruto's team.
"Next is Squad #8." Iruka continued as the class continued to listen.
"Hinata Hyuga. Kiba Inuzuka. Shino Auburame." Iruka called as Hinata still looked disappointed, Kiba just smirked and chuckled while Shino just adjusted his glasses and didn't say a word.
Iruka continued before reaching the next squad. "Now for Squad #10. Ino Yamanaka. Shikamaru Nara. And Choji Akimichi." He called out while Ino looked on and listened in despair as she looked at her new teammates. "Great! Now I have to deal with the lazy bum and food boy!" She thought with a look of disappointment before looking at Raiden and Kogeki. "Why couldn't I have been in a team with one of them? I'm sure that they both would've made this more bearable, but Nara AND Akimichi? I'm doomed." She thought with her head down.
Iruka continued until he reached the final squad with a smile and a chuckle.
"Now for Squad #13. Raiden Ryujin. Kogeki Hyuga. And Yama Chikyu." He finally finished and lowered the clipboard as the entire class looked at the people who were now Squad 13.
"Oh, man. A Ryujin and a Hyuga in the same squad? Unlucky number thirteen indeed. But unlucky for who? Them? Or us?" Shikamaru wondered as the entire class looked back towards Iruka, who currently had a pleasant smile on his face.
"Ok, those are all the squads." He declared before Naruto stood up with an annoyed look. "Iruka Sensei, why does a great Shinobi like me have to be in the same group with a snob like Sasuke?" He asked out loud as Iruka and the class just looked at him while Sakura glared at him.
"Unlike you, Naruto, Sasuke has the best scores of all the graduating students. You, on the other hand, Naruto, you had the worst scores. To make Squad 7 a balanced team, we paired the best student with the worst student." Iruka explained as the whole class, except Squad 13, laughed at Naruto's expense as he just growled in frustration.
"Just make sure you don't get in my way... loser." Sasuke mumbled while looked out the window. Naruto growled again while glaring at Sasuke with his fist clenched. "What did you say to me?!" He yelled before Sasuke just scoffed.
"What's wrong? Hard of hearing?" He asked sarcastically as Sakura yanked Naruto back into his seat. "Knock it off, Naruto! Sit down!" She commanded before Shikamaru cleared his throat for the class to hear and raised his hand.
"Yes, Shikamaru? What is it?" Iruka asked.
"Sensei, what about Squad 13? You say Sasuke got the best scores in the graduating class, but that's not 100% true, is it? So what's the story there?" He asked as the entire class looked at the members of Squad 13, which made Yama slightly uncomfortable, before looking back at Iruka.
"You're right, Shikamaru, that's not 100% true. Raiden and Kogeki had the best scores in both written and physical exams, beating Sasuke just shy of a few points." He began to explain. "Yama had the highest scores in written as well. However, where she was schooled from her home, we didn't know how she would fair in the physical exams. Which is why Lord Hokage sent her a scroll telling her that in order to pass the physical exams and graduate from the academy, she was required to attend the academy on the day of the final exams if she wanted to be a Shinobi." Iruka continued as he and the class all looked up at Yama, who again, fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat.
Raiden took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze and smiled. She smiled back and nodded thankfully before they both looked at Iruka while he continued to explain.
"Fortunately for her, she passed with flying colors and she was able to graduate. While we formed the squads before today, we were originally going to put the three of them with separate squads in order to balance things out, but then we thought about making things interesting." He explained with a smile as the class leaned forward in their seats.
"We paired the best student with the worst student with Squad 7, but with Squad 13, we decided to put 3 of the best students in the same group to motivate you all. While many of you are excellent students and no doubt you will be exceptional Shinobi, but if any of you want to be the best, you'll have to buckle down and train hard if you want to catch up to those 3." Iruka finished with a smile as the entire class looked at the members of Squad 13 with fire in their eyes, which made Raiden sigh in frustration.
"Thanks a lot, Iruka Sensei. That's attention that I don't want." He said with an annoyed glare at Iruka, who laughed. "Sorry, Raiden, but you, Kogeki and Yama are the perfect role models for this class. If they want to be the best, they'll all have to follow your example and train hard if they have any hope of catching up. So, don't worry, you'll all be exceeding expectations before long." He said with a chuckle.
Kogeki and Yama gave the entire classroom small glares while Raiden just looked at Hinata, who smiled at him with encouragement, before looking at Naruto, who smiled brightly with fire in his eyes.
"I know that look, Naruto. Think you can keep up?" He asked him with a smile as Naruto gave him a thumbs up. "Hah! Believe it! I'll catch up to you before you know it, Raiden!" He declared as Sakura suddenly stood up and glared at Raiden with her fist clenched.
"Don't get too comfortable, Raiden! Sasuke will catch up to you before you know it and he will be the best again!" She declared, which only made Raiden slightly annoyed as he sighed.
"I have no doubt of that, Haruno. The Uchiha Clan is know to be one of the best clans in Konoha. So I have no doubt that Sasuke will get stronger in no time." He said, acknowledging Sasuke, who turned to look at him before he gave a small smile and nodded his head.
"You on the other hand, Haruno, I'll be surprised if you even make it to Chunin with how physically weak you are." He said bluntly as the whole class just looked at him and Sakura with shocked faces.
"Ooh..." Ino said softly with her hands over her mouth as Sakura glared dangerously at Raiden.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?!" She shouted and moved to pulverize him.
"He's right, Sakura." Iruka suddenly said, making the whole class look at him in shock while Sakura froze before she turned her head to look at him.
"Wha-What...?" She asked in disbelief as Iruka walked over to his desk and pulled out a paper to look it over. "Sakura, while you did pass the written exams and you managed to graduate due to your impressive chakra control during the Clone Jutsu test, you're still physically weaker compared to others in the class." He explained as Sakura sat back down looking almost depressed while he continued.
"While it may have been bluntly cruel what Raiden said, he is right, however. Like the rest of the class, Sakura, you have the potential to be a great Kunoichi, however, if you don't physically become stronger, then you won't live long enough to see next year. Let alone become a Chunin. That's why I said that you ALL need to seriously buckle down now and train harder than you have during your academy days. Because there are other and stronger Shinobi out there that will not hesitate to take one of you out. You may be kids, but once you earned those headbands you're now wearing, you became legal adults." He went on to explain to the rest of the class.
And they listened intently to every word.
"It's good that many of you have book smarts, because you will need it, but book smarts will only get you so far. If you don't have a balance of strength and intelligence, then you won't last long in a life threatening situation against another Shinobi. An enemy Shinobi. If you have intelligence, but no physical strength then you're doome. If you have physical strength, but no intelligence, you're still doomed." He continued to explain before looking at Raiden, Kogeki and Yama.
"That's why Squad 13 was formed with the 3 best and brightest from this graduating class. Because not only do they have the intelligence, but they also have the physical strength to back each other up. While all of you will be working as a team during your time as Genin, you will one day have to take care of things on your own once your team has disbanded." He continued before looking at Sakura, who looked like she was beginning to understand.
"Which is why you need to start training more, Sakura. Work on improving yourself and catch up to your other classmates in physical strength, not just chakra control. Because if you don't, then you won't be around for long. I'm sorry to say that, but it's the truth." Iruka stated to her directly, which made her nod before he looked to the rest of the class.
"You all wanted to be Shinobi. Well, after today, you will all have to take this more seriously and start acting like it. Understand?" He asked them all.
"Hai!" The class said standing up before sitting back down.
"Good. Now then, with all of that being said, you will all meet your Jonin teachers after lunch. Until then, class dismissed." He declared as the students stood up and began to walk out of the classroom.
"Raiden, just a moment. May I have a word?" Iruka spoke up stopping Raiden before he walked out of the room.
Raiden nodded and walked down towards Iruka while Sakura glared at him for a moment, while secretly hoping he's getting into trouble, before running off to find Sasuke while Ino watched him curiously before walking out of the room herself.
Kogeki and Yama just decided to wait outside the classroom until Raiden was done talking with Iruka.
Raiden walked up to Iruka and stopped just in front of him. "What is it, Iruka Sensei?" He asked him as Iruka crossed his arms with a stern look.
"For the record, I don't disagree with what you said, Raiden, but you still shouldn't have said it." He stated as Raiden himself then crossed his arms with a glare at Iruka.
"Seriously, Iruka Sensei? Someone HAD to say it and no one else would have because of her temper. So, I took it upon myself to tell her the truth whether she liked it or not. She may have a temper, but that's all she's got right now. A temper." Raiden explained as Iruka just listened.
"The other students may be afraid of her, but I'm not. If you had allowed her to attack me, I would've proven my point to show her the gap between us. If I hadn't said what I said, then one of her teammates would most likely be dead if she's on the team. Because as she is right now, she's useless in a fight. Sure, she can do a few Jutsu, but so can the rest of us. Without Jutsu, what all does she have, really?" He asked as Iruka sighed and continued to listen.
"I'm not trying to be a jerk, Iruka Sensei, but if she and I, by chance, ever work together in the future, then I need to work with someone that I can trust that they will pull their own weight instead of holding me and the rest of us back. I will not work with someone who's deadweight." He continued.
Iruka's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh? Deadweight, you say? What about Naruto? He's got the worst scores in the class." He stated while Raiden shook his head.
"Scores don't mean anything anymore, Iruka Sensei. Naruto may have been the dead last in the class, but I know that he's a hard worker and he can pull his own weight. So Naruto? Yes, I trust him. Sasuke? That's up in the air, but he's ambitious and driven. So I know that I can trust Sasuke when it comes down to it. Sakura on the other hand is too caught up in her own fairytale story about Sasuke. She cares more about gaining his attention instead of training herself to get stronger to defend the village and her allies. Sooner or later she's going to get a big slap of a reality check and she's going to realize that if she wants to be a Kunoichi, she needs to work harder and train or she's going to fall behind while the rest of us are doing our jobs. There will be plenty of time for... Ugh... romance as we get older." He stated sternly.
Iruka just stared at Raiden for a moment and took in his words thoroughly before sighing. "And I thought I was the teacher. I hate to admit it, but you're right, Raiden. Again." He said with a smile while scratching the back of his head. "But you shouldn't have been so blunt about it. One day, you're going to need these guys by your side in long run." He explains to Raiden, who nods his head with a smile.
"I know, Iruka Sensei, but right now, there are only 5 people that I trust. I do hope that number grows, but I'm not expecting it to any time soon." He says to Iruka, who nods in understanding. "I understand, Raiden. You can go now." He said to him.
Raiden bowed his head and left to walk out of the room to see Kogeki and Yama waiting for him. "Not in trouble I hope?" Yama said to him with worry, which made him shake his head. "Nah. Just a small conversation." He said to them both ad they walked out of the academy building.
"Ok, so, what are we gonna eat? I'm starving already." Yama asked them, but Kogeki just shrugged. "I have no clue. Raiden, any ideas?" He asked him.
Raiden just smiled.
15 minutes later...
"Ooh-wee! That was some good ramen, Teuchi-san! Now I see what Raiden was talking about!" Yama exclaimed with a stretch after eating a big bowl of Ichiraku ramen.
Teuchi Ichiraku just smiled at Yama and nodded his head. "I greatly appreciate that, little lady, but Ichirakus is still just a small ramen shop." He said with a small frown. "It would be great if more people would stop by and try a bowl or two. The only customers that I consider my best customers is Raiden here, Iruka Umino and Naruto Uzumaki. Now, while I'm happy they stop by every now and then, I'd be happy if I had more customers stop by so I can let my business grow." He explained as he washed the dishes he used to cook the ramen for his customers.
Raiden looked at Kogeki and Yama before smiling. "Hey, don't worry Teuchi. I'm sure people will notice this shop before you know it." He told him happily. Teuchi glanced at Raiden with a smile. "I appreciate that, Raiden. I really do, but I won't be holding my breath. Business is good right now, so I have no complaints." He said to the 3 of them happily.
Then he began waving them off. "You three better get going now. You've had your lunch and I'm sure your new teacher is waiting for you. Don't make them wait." He said to them as they all nodded and paid for their ramen before leaving and headed back to the academy to wait on their new Jonin instructor.
10 minutes later...They arrived back at the academy 5 minutes early to wait on their Jonin instructor.
"I wonder who our new Jonin instructor is? Who do you think, Raiden?" Kogeki asked as they continued to wait, Raiden just shrugged as he looked out the window. "Don't know, don't care to be honest. I'm not going to be picky, but I hope that we don't get Kakashi Hatake." He answered.
Yama titled her head and looked at Raiden curiously. "Why do you say that?" She asked.
Raiden looked at her before he answered. "Because even though he sounds like a great Shinobi, one of the best even, but from what I've heard, he's not one you can count on to show up on time when he needs to. For introductions or meetings I mean." He explained as Yama nodded her head.
She then put her head in her hands and sighed. "Personally, I hope we have Kurenai Yuhi as our Jonin Sensei." She said thoughtfully. Raiden and Kogeki looked at each other before looking at Yama. "Why's that?" Kogeki asked.
Yama looked at them both with a bright smile before she answered. "I mean, why not? She's strong. She's intelligent. She can hold her own in a fight. And she's an expert in Genjutsu. So, why not? I'm sure there's a lot she could teach us." She said with sparkles in her eyes.
"OR, it could be that you have a crush on the woman." Raiden spoke up with a smirk. Yama shook her head and looked at him with shock.
"Wha- Wait a minute! How could you have possibly known that?!" She asked him with wide eyes as Kogeki chuckled and shook his head with his over his face.
Raiden just shrugged with a smile. "Because I've known you long enough, Yama, to know that you're thoughts on the Kunoichi in the village aren't exactly one would call "pure and innocent". You're probably one of the biggest pervs in the village next to Naruto and the Toad Sage Jiraiya." He answered with a chuckle. "That and you were drooling with googly eyes while you were talking about her." He finished before he and Kogeki both started laughing as Yama just sat in her seat with a pout and her arms crossed.
"Hmph! Well, a girl can dream can't she?" She asked before Raiden and Kogeki stopped laughing when they heard the door open.
"Ah, looks like I got here just in time." A woman said from the door, but it was a woman that the 3 of them knew well.
"Okasan?" Raiden said in disbelief as Hikari looked at her son and waved with a smile. "Hello, Raiden. Surprised to see me?" She asked him.
He nodded with a smile before running up to hug her as did Kogeki and Yama.
"Hikari-san, you're our Jonin instructor?" Kogeki asked her, to which she smiled brightly and nodded while hugging them back. "Yep. I'm going to be training the 3 of you until you're all strong enough individually before the Team disbands." She answered as they all stopped hugging her.
"But first, let's head to a favorite spot of mine before we get to know each other better. I'll go on ahead. See you there." Hikari said cheerfully before teleporting out of the building.
The 3 students just looked at each other before they smiled at each other then took off to chase after their new Jonin instructor.