A/N: Hello everyone and welcome back to One Year Early. Nothing much going on today, except for the genin team formations and all.
Also a belated Happy Birthday to you, Masashi Kishimoto-san, from RaNK001 and GBAboy313 (although you are unlikely to notice this but anyways). We are here today because you started it all with a stroke of your pen and pencil years ago and gave us characters we consider to be our own family members. Thank you very much for everything.
CHAPTER 3: A TWO MAN CELL!
*A week after the forbidden scroll incident*
"Hey! Hinata-chan! I missed ya!" Naruto greeted his new best friend, who came to the academy, escorted by her father, perhaps for the first time in years. Hiashi allowed himself a small smile at the blond, which of course went unnoticed, before regaining his stoic Hyuuga expression.
Naruto's cheerful mood was immediately replaced by dread when he noticed the Hyuuga clan head's intense gaze. He gulped and a few beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, much to Hiashi's satisfaction.
'Why do I feel like he is about to do something terrifying to me. What's his problem?'
"H-Hello Na-Naruto-kun, I missed to y-you t-too. Nice to see you again." Hinata greeted back with a smile. Hiashi internally hoped his daughter's stuttering problem would be fixed soon, due to the flamboyant blonde's influence.
Naruto didn't really know much about manners but after observing how Iruka-sensei acted around his superiors, he knew that bowing down was a proper way to show respect. Something also told him that it was better if he stayed in the scary looking Hyuuga's good books. So he bowed down to someone for the very first time in his life. Hiashi raised an eyebrow at that.
'It seems he is intimidated by me to the degree that he considered bowing down, he doesn't do that to anyone, not even Hokage-sama. That's good, as my potential son in-law, I should have that effect on him, he would consider ten times before doing any potentially dishonourable thing with my precious daughter.' The Head Hyuuga thought satisfied.
"Good morning Uzumaki-san." He greeted in a rather intimidating manner, making Naruto flinch.
"G-good morning, umm..?"
"Hyuuga-sama would work for now and I am Hinata's father." Hiashi stoically stated.
"Okay! Greetings Hyuuga-sama." Naruto said bowing down again. Hiashi nodded in acknowledgement.
"My daughter has never had any friends earlier. I am happy that she finally found someone worth befriending. She has always spoken highly of you and I hope that you never let her down."
"Of course, Hyuuga-sama, I can never ever dream of letting Hinata-chan down. She is very precious to me as well." Naruto declared, half afraid, half determined. Hinata internally pouted at her father for trying to intimidate her love.
Hiashi nodded at Naruto's declaration and left. At the corner of his eye, he caught another member of his clan staring at his daughter with absolute abhorrence and anger. He sighed.
'How do I make things right with your son Hizashi? Why did you choose to die that day? You should have just let me go. Your death has driven the main and branch families apart more than ever before and I can't see any solution to that problem, even with my Byakugan.'
Naruto and Hinata didn't notice the hateful glares of Hinata's cousin.
Neji prided himself in being the prodigy of the Hyuuga clan. He had even began mastering the dreaded Kaiten (Eight Trigrams: Heavenly Rotation), the absolute defense technique of the Hyuuga, considered impenetrable and something taught only to the main branch. He was also miles ahead of any Hyuuga at his age. On the other hand, the clan head's elder daughter was nothing but a disappointment. She was totally opposite of the ideal Hyuuga. She also held affections for one kid, one that was despised by the entire village, was good at nothing, and pulled worthless pranks day and night. For Neji, Naruto was even worse than worthless, a failure of the level far below anything worthy of associating with the proud Hyuuga. So, it was absolutely appalling for him to see the clan head's daughter, admiring the said failure. Perhaps failures belonged with failures, a fitting companionship in his opinion.
To see that the said failures had graduated with him, one year earlier! It surprised him, and disgusted him even more. How can the failures succeed, and Hinata hadn't even appeared for the exams! Of course, his uncle might have lobbied with the Hokage, how else can a failure like her graduate. Also, the annoying blond had failed spectacularly, befitting the trash he was and he also didn't have anyone lobbying for him, so how did he pass. Perhaps the rumours about the Hokage being affectionate towards the boy were true. So the Hokage irresponsibly let his emotion cloud his judgement and let two pathetic failures graduate! Perhaps he would understand his mistake, once the two losers were killed in some mission. He would also love to get the point across his uncle and the Hokage through Hinata quitting voluntarily and make them understand that trash like Naruto and Hinata didn't deserve to be in the shinobi program at all.
"Neji, what are you thinking? We are getting late! Let's go." Tenten's hand on her shoulder brought Neji back from his thoughts, he made just made a quick nod and headed inside.
After some minutes of merry talking, Naruto and Hinata went into the class room. Now Hinata noticed the intense glare from her cousin and flinched. Noticing her discomfort, Naruto grabbed her hand. This comforted her a bit. As they passed his seat, Neji couldn't help taunt his cousin.
"Hinata-sama." He spat with contempt. Even Naruto flinched at the amount of disgust Neji was showing his best friend.
"I hope you know how dangerous shinobi missions can be. I don't know how you passed but it would be better if you voluntarily quit the program, before you either die or fail in some mission in a manner which would bring dishonour to our clan." He taunted. (Oh, go Neji yourself asshole)
This pissed Naruto off to no end. He clenched his fists and his grip on Hinata's hand tightened.
"You better mind your own business jerk!" Naruto spat back. He would have yelled at the arrogant Hyuuga a lot more but after having learnt the story of his father's death and the caged bird seal, he also understood to some extent why Neji was the way he was. That didn't mean he got a free pass at insulting Hinata, Naruto vowed to beat Neji back to senses, but he knew he wasn't ready for that yet. At present the Hyuuga prodigy could defeat him easily.
"You don't have any place in a conversation between two clansmen, you clan less loser." Neji spat and glared at Naruto and even activated his Byakugan to intimidate him. Naruto didn't flinch.
"EVERYBODY TO THEIR SEATS!" Iruka yelled and used his scary big head jutsu to drive the point across Naruto. The blond immediately complied and ran to a seat, dragging Hinata with him.
After seeing that everyone was on their seats and total silence reigned over the classroom, Iruka let his features relax.
"Good morning everyone. As you all know, those of you present here have qualified to join the shinobi program as Genin. Today, you will be assigned teams under new Jonin-senseis. From today onwards, you will be facing the real shinobi world as you undertake missions for the village's sake. I am sure that you will face many difficult challenges in the days to come but I am even surer that you will overcome them with flying colours. From today, I will no longer be your teacher, but a fellow shinobi, something I am proud to announce." Iruka declared as his eyes became teary but he controlled them.
"I look forward to working with you all shoulder to shoulder as a fellow shinobi." He declared and the declaration was met with cheers from some genin (hopefuls), mostly from the civilian side.
"Now I will announce the teams." Iruka stated, brought his notepad and began reading out the genin teams.
"Team 5: Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee and Tenten. Your Jonin Sensei will be Maito Gai." Iruka announced. A shout of YOOSH was heard across the class room. Iruka flinched at the prospective of another Gai appearing in Konoha, while Neji and Tenten cursed under their breaths, the misfortune of getting a loudmouthed and over excited teammate. (…I'm done with bad puns; you've earned this one Neji…)
Hinata had noticed that everyone except her and Naruto were already assigned teams. She didn't understand the meaning behind it. She had never heard of a team of two genin being formed.
'Does that mean we would not be assigned any teams? What was the meaning of passing us if they didn't intend to assign us any teams' The Hyuuga girl thought, 'I am sorry Naruto-kun, you are being held back, just by associating with me.' Hinata thought depressed, she was barely holding herself from breaking into tears. Naruto on the other hand had no such depressing thoughts. When he saw that everyone except him and Hinata were assigned teams, he understood that he and she would be in one team. He didn't pay much attention to the unusualness of a squad with two genin. A big grin appeared on his face.
"Hinata-chan, we are going to be on one team, isn't that amazing" he whispered, breaking her out of her depressing thoughts. 'I-It might be true as well. O Kami, please let it happen.' She prayed.
"Team 6: Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka stopped. This was unusual, really unusual for a team to be made of only two genin. He did a double take on the team assignment slip, handed to him from the Hokage's office, there was no mistake, only Hinata and Naruto were on a team. Then he glanced at the name of the Jonin put in charge of them. 'So, he agreed on taking a team after so long, even with all the responsibilities he has, and here I thought he was lazy. Might as well ask him personally if there was any mistake in writing down the list.' Before Iruka could declare the sensei's name, Naruto was already swinging his fist in the air, yelling "YEAH YEAH!" and hugging a bright red faced Hinata with his other arm.
"Shut up loser, you are getting on my nerves." Neji spat.
"Neji, it's not good manners to refer to your comrades in such a derogatory way. I am letting it slide, just this once and I WILL be having a talk with your Jonin Sensei regarding this." Iruka warned.
"Hmmph!" Neji pouted in irritation.
Hinata was outwardly flinching, but a rage was building up inside her. Sure, she respected her cousin for his talent, loved him and looked up to him as a brother but right now he was crossing a bright red line for her. It was one thing to insult her, she could let that slide but it was another thing insult her Naruto. She vowed to herself that she will get back at her cousin for this. Then she looked at the boy she loved, he showed no expression, he simply didn't give a damn about Neji's insults, having long been desensitized to getting insulted every now and then.
"Naruto, Hinata your Jonin-sensei will be Shikaku Nara." Iruka announced for the pair.
"Now I will be leaving the class and your Jonin-sensei will come and escort you out. I wish you all, all the very best for your upcoming Shinobi career." The Chunin instructor declared and walked away with a smile.
Soon after a green blur entered the class.
"YOSH, MY NAME IS MAITO GAI, THE SUBLIME GREEN BEAST OF KONOHA! SENSEI OF TEAM FIVE, HERE TO FAN THEIR FLAMES OF YOUTH. FOLLOW ME, MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS!" The Jonin, clad in a green jump suit declared. Putting a thumbs up with a shine from his teeth. He then rushed out of the class room in a blur as well. Naruto put his finger in his ears, then snapped his fingers to make sure that he hadn't turned deaf.
"WAIT FOR ME GAI-SENSEI!" The student called Lee yelled and then blurred out of the classroom as well. Neji let out a pout and then walked off, followed by a slumped Tenten, who went out muttering about nightmarish teammates and sensei.
"And they call me loud. I should be considered a quiet person compared to that freak and what the hell did he mean by 'flames of youth'?" He whispered to Hinata, who just shrugged.
He then lifted a bang of Hinata's hair and poked her ear.
"I hope you haven't turned deaf, Hinata-chan." He said sincerely.
"I-I am fine Naruto-kun."
Then other Jonin came one by one and escorted their teams out until there were just two teams remaining. One was, of course, our favourite pair and the other were a trio of siblings who will soon be having the misfortune of taking the legendary 'bell test' and getting added to the long list of genin teams having failed it.
After one hour passed, which Naruto and Hinata passed chit chatting, a Jonin with a diagonal scar across his face, a small beard on his chin and pony-tail hairstyle which made his head looked like a pineapple walked in.
"This guy looks a lot like Shikamaru, maybe he's his dad. Iruka-sensei did say our sensei was a Nara." Naruto whispered to Hinata and she nodded.
"Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuuga I have been assigned as your Jonin-sensei, meet me on the rooftop." The Nara clan head said before walking out. His expression was suggesting he would rather be anywhere but there.
Within two minutes, the Head Jonin and his two students were on the rooftop.
The Jonin sighed, muttering something about having to do all the troublesome stuff all over again.
"So, tell me something about yourself." The Elder Nara asked, only for Naruto to roll his eyes over.
"How about you go first sensei. We don't really know what we are supposed to talk about." The blond loudly said.
"Troublesome, all right. My name is Shikaku Nara. I am the head of the Nara Clan, father of your classmate Shikamaru. I like…. umm…reading strategy books and sleeping." The genin pair sweat dropped at that.
"I dislike people who interrupt my sleep. My hobbies are playing shogi. I don't particularly have any more dreams; I am already the Head Jonin and I have a nice family. I just wish for my son to act more responsible and I also hope to see my students end up as great shinobi." Shikaku concluded.
"Sensei, can you tell us something? How did you get that lump on your head?" Naruto asked before even getting Shikaku's response, making the Head Nara sweatdrop. He nursed said lump that had appeared on his head courtesy of his wife's frying pan. He was just unfortunate enough to have overslept that day and when his wife Yoshino woke him up, he made the blunder of calling her 'troublesome woman'. Poor Shikaku didn't even get a second to apologize and explain that he was half asleep, the frying pan was already slammed on his head. The head Nara, known over the elemental nations for his wit and intelligence couldn't still figure out from where did the dreaded pan appear on his wife's hand every time. He had considered checking her wrists for some seals but then had let it pass, thinking it was just too troublesome.
"My wife can be a little troublesome at times." Shikaku replied with another sigh.
"Now how about you." He said pointing to Hinata. He had noticed that Naruto was eager to introduce himself but the blond must learn to be patient as well…starting from today he will.
"H-Hello, m-my name is H-Hinata H-Hyuga. I l-like p-pressing flowers, c-cinnamon rolls and s-spending t-time w-with N-Naruto-kun. I d-dislike people who judge others without understanding their troubles and bullies. M-My dream i-is to be a s-strong ninja like my f-father and kind like ….my mother. I also d-dream of h-having a family someday." Hinata said, saying the last part with a small blush and a sideways glance at Naruto, which the blond obviously failed to notice.
"You next."
"Okay! My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen and spending time with Hinata-chan. My dislikes are bullies, arrogant people, people who look down on others and the three minutes it takes to wait for instant ramen to get ready after pouring hot water in it. My dream is become the Greatest Hokage ever… and having a nice loving family." Naruto exclaimed but uttered the last part about the family with a low voice. He even sneaked a small glance at Hinata. She noticed it and her eyes widened. It made her very happy, though she was not sure what exactly Naruto's feelings for her were. She knew he considered her his best friend but now there was a possibility that she might mean more to him. She decided to let him take his time and figure his own feelings out. She was ready to wait for him, as long as he wanted.
Shikaku witnessed it all and his big brain processed everything instantly.
'Intriguing kids. Hinata has severe confidence issues and she is strongly in love with Naruto. It was pretty clear from how she acted in front of Mizuki. She can break out of her shell if he is in danger or pain as well. Naruto, well he is a lot like Kushina was. He dreams of being Hokage, just like his parents. He yearns for acknowledgement but perhaps not as much as he did before. He is also starting to fall for Hinata. Troublesome, but I have the feeling that they will go a long way. I hope Hiashi won't become a pain in the ass if the two become a sappy couple under my watch, which the possibility they will is quite high. Why am I doing this again? It's really all too troublesome.'
"Okay. There are several issues with the two of you that need to be worked upon. Usually, after team assignments, we conduct a true genin test and assess the actual readiness of the genin for Shinobi missions, failing which they are sent back to the academy." Shikaku explained and as expected, Naruto and Hinata had fearful and tensed expressions on their faces. "However, you two have turned out to be a special case. Your cooperation and combat readiness were verified during the forbidden scroll incident, so you don't need to pass that test." The two genin visibly relaxed at the news. "Instead, we will start taking missions from tomorrow."
"Hell Yeah!" Naruto cheered raising his fist. Hinata for her part, just gave a satisfied smile.
"See you at the Hokage's office tomorrow. 7:30 sharp." Shikaku ordered before vanishing in a swirl of leaves. (with you probably having another lump from Yoshino)
"How does a lunch at Ichiraku sound to you? My treat." Naruto suggested cheerfully.
"S-Sure thing, Naruto-kun."
"I have a feeling that he passed us because he thought it would be too troublesome to conduct a test, Dattebayo." Naruto whispered to Hinata as they walked towards the Ichiraku ramen shop.
"T-That might be true, N-Naruto-kun. I d-don't know if it's a good thing or bad thing." Hinata whispered back.
"Well, if he continues to be a lazy-ass sensei, I will beat that laziness out of him. Dattebayo." Naruto declared, making Hinata giggle.
Meanwhile on his way to the Hokage's office, Shikaku Nara felt a chill down his spine and couldn't resist the urge to gulp.
'I have the feeling that my life is about to become much, way much more troublesome than I expected it to be. I also have the feeling that somehow they figured out one of my reasons for not conducting a test.' The Nara clan head let the feeling slide and continued towards his work.
Omake: A (un)usual morning in the Nara household
8:30 AM, Shikaku's house, Nara clan compound,
Today, the head Jonin was to go to the academy and take charge of his assigned genin team. When he told his wife Yoshino about the assignment last night, the Nara matriarch couldn't contain her excitement. She was ecstatic that her husband was going to take Kushina's son and Hitomi's daughter as students. She had been worried about Naruto's lonely childhood for years and the village leadership blocking anyone who knew the truth or had anything resembling goodwill for the boy from adopting the blonde didn't help her weariness either. She had also heard bits and pieces about how her late friend's daughter was being bullied and mistreated by her clan's elders, just because her humility and kindness didn't sit right with the clan. But alas she or her husband had been unable to do anything about it, until Shikaku was assigned to train those two kids that is. Before calling it a night, Yoshino had warned her husband to never slack in the kids' training. Shikaku accepted with a simple and lazy nod.
And this morning, he had the audacity to sleep late! He was supposed to get to the academy at 9:00 and here he was sleeping without a care in the world!
'SHIKAKU JUST LAST NIGHT YOU PROMISED NOT TO SLACK OFF WHILE TRAINING NARUTO AND HINATA AND ON THE VERY DAY YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO TAKE CHARGE OF THEIR TRAINING, YOU DARE SLEEP LATE! HOW DARE YOU!?' The Nara matriarch thought with growing rage looking at the sleeping form of her husband. She had gone there to call him for breakfast. For the time being Yoshino kept her rage in check and decided to gently wake Shikaku up.
She gently tapped his shoulders, then caressed his face a bit before softly tapping his head.
"Shikaku, dear get up, you are getting late, you are to take your team assignment today, get up." She softly, while gently shaking her husband.
Finally, after a couple of minutes, Shikaku slightly moved and yawned, half opening his eyes. Seeing that her husband was getting up, Yoshino shook him a bit again and softly asked him to get up.
*Yawn* "Let me sleep…I don't wanna get up…so early…troublesome woman" *Yawn* Shikaku mumbled half asleep.
"What did you call me?" Yoshino asked in a very serious but low tone as the temperature of the room fell considerably. Hearing that tone, Shikaku's sleep vanished.
"Yoshino…honey…I am so-"
*BAM* The frying pan was slammed on slammed on the Nara clan head's head faster than he could mutter an apology.
"WAKE UP! NOW!" Yoshino shouted.
Meanwhile, Shikamaru who had gotten up and was sitting on the table waiting for his parents to start their breakfast heard the ruckus from his parents' room.
"Troublesome." He muttered with a sigh.
*20 minutes later*
Having brushed his teeth and taken a shower, Shikaku sat down at the dining table with a huge lump on his head, while a significantly calmed down Yoshino sat on the chair to his left.
"Dad, I heard mom say that you were going to the team assignment, are you taking a team?" Shikamaru asked.
"Hmm…yes." Responded Shikaku with a sigh. Now Shikamaru was definitely interested, he knew just what kind how talented and brainy his father was and was very interested in watching how his father functioned as a genin team instructor.
"Mind me asking which students would be in your team? Is Neji one of them by any chance? I mean, I have heard of him being called a genius." Shikamaru mused.
Shikaku shook his head. "No, it's two of your classmates. Naruto and Hinata." Shikaku stated plainly.
Shikamaru dropped his chopsticks and stared at his father with wide eyes and open mouth. He never saw that coming.
"Naruto…he passed?" Shikamaru said in disbelief, though he was happy for his friend as well. "And I don't think Hinata took the test…" He added.
"Well, in short, they helped capture a traitor and were passed as a reward. The specifics are classified for non-shinobi for the time being, so I'll tell you the details after you've passed." Shikaku stated. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.
"Though I can tell you that Hinata did give the test 3 days ago and passed, Naruto wasn't needed to pass the test, since he was able to learn a jutsu, one far more difficult than those required to pass the academy." Shikaku explained. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.
"Troublesome, I am sure the traitor is Mizuki-sensei. Iruka-sensei told us 6 days ago that Mizuki-sensei won't be taking classes any more. And considering Mizuki, I think he must have tried to fool Naruto into doing something wrong and get punished. It's not that difficult to notice that he didn't like Naruto at all. And perhaps Naruto and Hinata turned the tables on him somehow. I don't know how they did it, but with Naruto, you can always expect these unexpected things happening." Shikamaru plainly stated.
Shikaku smirked, proud at how quick his son was able to deduce the whole Mizuki affair, even without being offered any concrete clues.
"I am not authorized to confirm your hypothesis son." He said smirking. Well, that was it, Shikamaru's reasoning was a hundred percent on the mark. He nodded with a small smirk of his own. Then another realization hit him.
His dad would be training Naruto. His dad would have to keep Naruto of all people reigned in.
As soon as that realization hit him, Shikamaru couldn't help start giggling and then he began laughing, when he started imagining the pranks Naruto would be playing on his father.
"Dad…don't try pissing him off too much…" Shikamaru stated withing laughs, but then his mother's fist crashed on his head.
"While your reasoning skills are quite impressive, I find you utterly lacking in enthusiasm Shikamaru! Why didn't you take the test with your friends? I am sure you could have passed easily!" Yoshino said angrily.
Now Shikamaru also had a lump on his head like his father. He sighed nursing said lump.
"Troublesome, I wanted to graduate with Choji, and I really didn't think Naruto would pass this time, otherwise I would have considered appearing too." Shikamaru stated with a sigh.
"Fine." Yoshino responded.
"Alright, I'll be off then." Shikaku stated having finished his breakfast.
"Have a good day, Shikaku!" Yoshino replied as cheerfully as she could.
Shikaku replied with a nod before leaving for the academy while Shikamaru soon followed after nursing the head injury. Both shivered internally and thought 'Troublesome woman' but Shikamaru had an added thought: 'I hope whoever I end up with isn't this much of a pain…'
Over in the Land of Wind, a Blonde Fan Mistress sneezed, presuming it was just from dust kicked up from her latest practice. Had to be the best she could as a new Genin of Suna.
E/N: Well, all I really need to say for this entire chapter is to explain the bad pun I made: if you didn't know, Neji's name means screw. So, I was telling Neji to go screw himself.
A/N: So, another chapter done. Yeah, I know many of you were wondering as to who the third teammate would be. I am sorry, that you'll have to keep waiting for that for some more chapters. There is a legitimate reason for that though. Any potential third member of Team-6 can't be brought in right now, since they are either not in Konoha or haven't graduated. So, for some upcoming chapters, it will just be Naruto and Hinata in team-6 as I didn't really want to create an OC just for that reason. OCs are good, but I don't feel ready to make an OC for the role of the teammate of the main protagonists. However since this is just a team of two for now, they won't be participating in the Chunin exams of this year and would participate in the chunin exams together with their academy classmates. (I am okay with giving out at least that much.) I hope you all had a good read. Once again, thank you very much for the support, love and the reviews. See you all in the next chapter.