Quick note: A lot of new material in this chapter. Hope you enjoy.
"Team seven," Iruka called. "Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto sat up slightly straighter. Finally.
"Hinata Hyuga."
"Thanks," Naruto muttered under his breath. He'd specifically asked to be partnered with Hinata. After all, she was the one who'd saved his life. They worked well together.
"Sasuke Uchiha."
"What the hell?" he said out loud.
xxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxx
Life had been a little different in the months since Mizuki had conned Naruto into stealing a scroll of forbidden jutsu, playing on his pride and the fact that he'd deliberately made bad grades to hide his skills from his classmates, ostensibly so that when they fought, Naruto would have the advantage of surprise.
And surprised they'd been, once he'd finally shed the mask of a fool and declared himself the equal or better of anyone there. He'd gone through a selection of challengers, about one a week, starting with Kiba, and working his way through the most aggressive the class had to offer, though not necessarily the best.
Kiba had put up quite a fight. As one of the most vicious taijutsu users in the class, he'd hit hard, took what was dished out, and came back for more. He was a lot more respectful now, even friendly, almost. As one of the top fighters, Kiba's defeat had left quite an impression.
He'd also started doing his best on the tests, both written and skill based. Although not the top in the class, his frequent placement as second did a lot to show he wasn't a fool.
Actually, he'd been rather irritated by his comparatively dismal showing. He'd always thought he could be the best in the class, but Sakura beat him every time. Too bad she was such a weakling at anything physical. She'd be a force to be reckoned with.
Hinata, too, had changed. Her grades had always been good, but, like many of the kunoichi in class, she'd been weak in more physical aspects. She didn't hold back in sparring matches anymore, as everyone luckless enough to be put against her had found. Ino Yamanaka had been her proof of seriousness. She'd thrown their first fight with enough skill that no one suspected a thing except Naruto, who'd told her to do it. But from the day Naruto had declared his intentions to be the best, Hinata had started giving it her all.
Her relations with Ino had improved, as well, with a few quiet words passed between the two. Their rematch had been formal, but polite, with none of the insults or humiliating blows that had marked the first one. Ino, who'd actually improved quite a bit, buoyed on her victory, conceded defeat when she suddenly found Hinata's chakra charged fingers a fraction of an inch from her throat.
It had been Hinata who'd killed Mizuki before he could kill both Naruto and Iruka, by destroying his heart with a series of blows from her family style of fighting, the juken.
And now, the two of them were waiting in a room with Sasuke Uchiha, considered by most to be the most promising ninja of their generation.
Hinata didn't think much of him. He couldn't hold a candle to Naruto.
Naruto reserved judgment. He'd never managed to talk him into a fight, nor, more importantly, seen him kill.
Sasuke kept his opinions on the two people he'd been saddled with to himself, like he always did.
None of them complained about their new sensei's lateness. That would have been Childish, Immature, a sign that they were Not Appropriately Serious, when they were each Dedicated Ninja who were Too Professional to Whine.
Of course, they also knew that they were waiting on a trio of Naruto's clones to go find out information about their new sensei.
xxxxxxxxx
"Ibiki-san!" Naruto hissed urgently as he burst into Ibiki's office.
"No." Ibiki replied.
"Gotcha." Naruto turned around and closed the door.
Ibiki smiled. He had a few ryo on Kakashi finally taking a team in a combined Admin/ANBU bet. Of course, that was a suckers game, and with everyone knowing the Uchiha was on the team, the payout was gonna suck. Obviously, he was gonna finally join the ranks of jounin-sensei after years of wiggling out.
More importantly, though, he had a bet of a good bottle of sake on Kakashi admitting they passed honestly on a much more exclusive 'people who know' betting pool.
He had some hopes for that one.
xxxxxxxxx
"Anko-!" Naruto stuttered a bit in surprise, before trailing off. "-san."
Anko Mitarashi grinned at the little shit, sitting on a stool surrounded by literal piles of dango sticks. And stacked plates, and some empty bottles. "Yes, Naruto-kun? Did you have something you wanted? A question, maybe?"
Behind the counter, the cook reached over and tapped a lengthy receipt pointedly.
"Ah, ahhhh?" His eyes darted around, taking in the scene, then putting it all together. His shoulders slumped. "I'll be right back," he said, turning and leaving at a sprint.
She snickered in amusement, pulling a storage scroll out from a pocket and unsealing what must have been another pound of stained wooden dango sticks, which she started arranging artistically.
"You want some more empty bottles, too?" the retired ninja owner asked, pulling another two foot long receipt out from under the counter and slipping it under the first one.
"Why not? And how about a few more of the real thing?" she replied cheerfully.
Ah, team assignment day. What a fucking nightmare that had been, even before she'd found out what kind of monster her sensei was. Now, such an excellent time to fuck with the kid.
xxxxxxxxx
"Hatake Kakashi? The Copy Nin? Yeah, he's the real deal. Easily in the top five best ninja in the village. Maybe top three."
"Really? How come I've never heard of him?"
"Elite jounins don't advertise, stupid."
"That makes sense, I guess. Why is he called the Copy Nin?"
"He knows at least a thousand jutsu, many of them secret. He's got one of the Uchiha sharingan eyes under his forehead protector, given to him by his best friend."
Naruto was stunned. "Really? The Uchiha clan allowed that?"
The ninja shrugged.
"Anything else?" Naruto asked.
"He was a personal student of the Yellow Flash, the fourth Hokage. That might have had something to do with the Uchiha's not getting in a snit."
xxxxxxxxx
"Hatake-san? Yeah, I heard he's getting assigned to another genin team. I feel kinda bad for those kids. I mean, a lot of Academy graduates just end up getting assigned jobs, but at least with most jounin teachers you have a chance. Hatake never passes anyone."
xxxxxxxxx
"Hatake? That pervert? The guy reads porn books in public. I don't know how Gai-san puts up with him. Gai-san is at least polite.
xxxxxxxxx
"Hatake Kakashi, huh? Chronically late, reads porn in public, and kind of a jerk. Just don't call him out on it, he's got a mean streak and holds grudges."
"I've heard something about him and a ninja named Gai?"
"Oh, Gai-san, he's really nice. You've probably seen him around. Bowl cut black hair, green jumpsuit, always doing laps around Konoha on his hands or carrying a cow or something. He seems a little silly but he's nice. Nice enough to put up with Hatake when no one else will."
xxxxxxxxx
"Why do you want to know about Hatake?"
"I'm graduating the Academy, he's my new sensei," Naruto, in disguise as Sasuke, replied.
"Hah! Well, it's you, so you might pass. It'd make sense, but it'd probably take the Hokage's order to make him keep you."
"Pass? What do you mean, keep me?"
"Oh hoh? You don't know? Graduating the Academy doesn't guarantee you a spot under a jounin sensei. Most of the kids just get stuck in the common pool of genin. The jounin have better things to do than teach snot nosed kids the basics, so they all do their own test for any students they get assigned. If the students fail, they're out. Into the cannon fodder ranks you go."
Naruto considered how Sasuke would respond to that, then made a sound. "Hn. I am not cannon fodder, though."
The older ninja nodded. "Yeah, nah, I've heard you're a genius, you've got a good chance. Better than most. Only about a third of the class is gonna get accepted by jounin, but you've got Kakashi, and that's both good and bad. He's a great ninja, but he's also kinda lazy? He was a genius himself, so just being smart isn't going to impress him. He's been assigned five different teams. Failed every one of them."
"Hmm."
"Yeah. Good luck, Uchiha-kun. If anyone can do it, it'll be you. But don't take it as a given. Hatake is also a genius and last of his clan. He's not gonna give you anything out of pity."
"I heard he has one of my family's eyes?"
The ninja looked shocked. "No one has told you the story?"
Naruto as Sasuke shook his head.
"Well, I don't know the details, so you'll have to find someone else. But yeah, he's got one. Don't know why your family allowed it, but they did. He's pretty good at using it, too. Maybe he really will pass you, he'd know how to use it. But I'm serious. Don't take it for granted. There's only one person left who can make Hatake do something he doesn't want to do."
xxxxxxxxx
"Excuse me, are you Maito Gai-san?" Naruto, in the shape of an athletic, slender girl, asked.
"I am!" Gai answered proudly. He was doing one armed handstand pushups at the edge of a training ground while three other people, presumably his genin-students, trained. "May I have your name?"
"Taiga Onoki, sir. Would you mind if I ask you some questions?"
Gai didn't stop smoothly rising and falling, though he did switch from hands flat to a single finger, which he balanced on effortlessly. He was silent a few seconds.
"Oh, you're one of Kakashi-kun's new students! Are you the Hyuga girl?"
Naruto did not gape, gasp, or otherwise show surprise. She only felt it. With a resigned shrug, he allowed the henge to fall and show his real body.
"Oh! Uzumaki-kun! We've been following your progress for a while. Here to get some info, huh?"
"You've been following my progress?" Naruto echoed. "Well damned if that's not one of the most frightening things I've heard today."
"Don't worry. Your heart has burned brightly these last months since that unfortunate incident with your teacher. I see great potential in you. You know, not a single one of Kakashi's other potential students has bothered to find out any info on him? And they wonder why they get failed. You're doing well!"
Naruto cautiously smiled. "Thank you, Gai-sensei."
"So what do you need to know?"
He thought for a second. 'Need'. He'd apparently pleased this elite jounin for the moment. Probably best to not get greedy. As many questions as he had about the Fourth Hokage, sharingan eyes, and personality traits, he'd have time to worry about that later. For the moment, only one thing really mattered.
"Need, sir? Well, I keep hearing something about a test we'll have to pass?"
"Ah! The bell test! A deviously cunning problem with an elegantly simple solution. Very much like my eternal rival to propose." He paused and added in a lower voice. "Don't let him fool you, though. It was actually the Second Hokage that came up with it, and passed it down."
Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Bells, Sensei?"
"Yes! Although most of our wonderful Konoha ninja actually understand this test instinctively, hitting them with it right after the stresses of Academy graduation and the shock of finding out there's another critical test to pass is devilishly effective at throwing off their thinking. Don't tell anyone I told you, but Kakashi is a little bit lazy, and he won't invest his own effort into anyone he doesn't think earns it. The test is very simple. It seeks to break you down, and pit potential genin against each other."
"Like an enemy might. With bribes or threats," Naruto mused. "Abandon your mission and I won't kill you. Here's a hundred thousand ryo to go home. That kind of thing?"
"Yes, somewhat similar! Very good Uzumaki-kun, you could have passed on your own! The test conditions are two bells, but three genin. Any genin without a bell gets failed."
Gai was still doing one fingered handstand pushups. He had yet to switch fingers.
Naruto made an impressed 'ah' sound. "So they have to fight each other to get a bell. But that's a false supposition. There are no bells to go around unless they get them from Hatake-san. And no Academy student has a chance of getting a bell unless he lets them. So presumably, they'd have to work together."
"Proving they all deserve the bells and are fit to begin their journey as proud genin of Konoha," Gai replied proudly. "A last chance for students without the initiative to find out about their potential teacher beforehand."
Naruto slapped his hand over his face. "He's giving us hours. HOURS."
"You know, most people complain about that?" Gai said with a chuckle.
"I do need to ask one further question if you'll indulge me, Gai-sensei," Naruto continued.
"Yes?"
"Why just…" Naruto gave a beweilered shrug and wave at the incomprehensability of it all in general. "Why just tell me these things?"
Gai's expression looked like a mighty frown, except that he was upside down and was really pretty happy with himself.
"My friend has been in a rut for a while, and has been dodging his responsibility to pass on his skills to others for even longer. It'll do him good to have some students."
"Wow." Naruto bowed as deep as he could, folding himself in half. "Thank you very much, Gai-sensei. Your words of wisdom are enlightening."
"Ganbatte, Uzumaki-kun! May your burning heart grow brighter!"
Naruto sprinted away.
"Who was that, Gai-sensei?" his student Tenten asked from the training ground. Her fellow genin had also paused, looking over curiously.
"Karma," Gai replied cheerfully. "It may be slow, but it'll show up more often than not. More literally, one of your future kohai and hopefully also a valuable rival. I'm going to enjoy that sake."
xxxxxxxxx
"I'm back with some money! Ah…" Naruto trailed off.
Anko was now surrounded by even more dango sticks and empty bottles. She had a light blush from intoxication as well.
"Took your time, yeah? Hope you brought enough, I can get pretty piggy when I'm eating on someone else's ryo," she said with a smirk.
His eyes slowly wandered across the piles, mentally calculating. His shoulders slumped.
Naruto turned and exited the restaurant.
A few seconds later, he stick his head back in.
"I'm never going to be able to afford this info, am I?" he asked.
"Nope!" she agreed cheerfully. "What kind of aunt would I be if I just gave you things?"
"A really nice one?" he mused questioningly, then gave up. "Are there any answers I can afford?"
"What do you know?" she asked, the false intoxication dropping away.
"Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Nin. Hidden sharingan eye, lots of techniques, elite skills, personal student of the Fourth. Friend of another jounin named Maito Gai. Kind of an asshole, gets away with it because the only person over him is the Hokage, and apparently Gai think's he's funny. Currently running two hours late for our meeting at the Academy, which seems on brand. Has failed all his previous genin prospects and is unlikely to give much of a shit about the Uchiha's tragic past because his is just as bad. Still the most likely teacher for him because no one else knows how to use the sharingan."
Anko nodded. "Alright, pay my real bill, I'll give you one, mmm, no, two extra tidbits you won't get anywhere else."
Sighing and bringing out his wallet, he was unsurprised that the man behind the counter only had a much shorter ticket for him to pay. Twenty four thousand ryo wasn't chump change for an academy student, but it wouldn't break him either.
"Alright," Anko agreed once his wallet was lighter. "First off, the Uchiha is not the main reason you're getting Kakashi as a prospective sensei."
Naruto digested that for a moment. He nearly asked for clarification, but she held a finger up to stop him.
"Two, evil shitheads don't get trusted for the really important stuff. He's an asshole sometimes, yeah. Never doubt it. But he does have a heart. A calloused, scarred, hard little lump of a heart. But it's there, and it beats. He's the number two ninja in the village for a reason. Respect him."
Naruto nodded seriously. "Okay, so-"
With a speed he couldn't hope to match, she reached out and poked him in the head, dispelling the clone.
xxxxxxxxx
"Well, I've got good news, and bad news," Naruto announced to his fellow genin prospects.
x
x
x
x
Note: There is one new chapter available for patrons. But I also wanted to tell people about my friend Blackmarch. He writes porn, and has a pretty decent Naruto fic called Bench Warmer going, among other things, which you can read on questionable questing in the NSFW fiction area. Blackmarch has some health issues, MS for one, and due to rising everything costs, especially rent, he's losing his apartment. Since I'm broke AF, but still wanted to help him, I wrote a Certain Scientific Railgun porn thing for him to post, as an incentive to support him on that patronage site. Can't link directly, but it's easy to google.
I will not be posting it for my patrons, since I don't think many of you signed up for that kind of content, BUT! BUT! It IS absolutely available for free for any of my patrons. You just need to ask me for it. I'm not charging anything for it, but supporting a fellow author in a bind would be nice.
As always, thanks for reading, thanks for the support, and I hope you enjoyed.