Naruto was on cloud nine, he was finally a shinobi of Konohagakure, with his own hitai-ate and everything. A symbol of being an adult in a ninja village, on top of that someone incredible had acknowledged him and even called him a champion.
"You... want me to take your picture with you looking like that?" The official photographer of the Konoha Shinobi Records Department was being an issue though.
"Yeah! Go for it!" Naruto insisted, he'd worked hard on this.
"Jeeze..." The man grumbled, getting ready to take the photo, "You'll be sorry." he warned, "Okay, say cheese." the man finished and took the photo as Naruto posed in his kabuki war paint.
Hiruzen looked at the photo as Naruto said something about artistic vision, "Do it over." he ordered, "You're not even wearing your hitai-ate on your forehead to mark yourself as an adult shinobi of our village." he pointed out, ignoring the protests of the twelve year old blonde.
Naruto frowned and fiddled with his goggled, "I didn't want to damage it, I'll start wearing it after the ceremony tomorrow." he insisted.
The Sandaime sighed, "In any case, these dossiers are an important intelligence resource for our village." he tried to explain, but the meeting was interrupted by the door slowly opening with a creaking noise.
"On your guard, old man!" A boy even younger than Naruto rushed in with a shuriken, immediately tripping over his own scarf. Naruto thought it was probably a good thing the kid was wearing a helmet, "I get it! It's a trap? Right!?" the young boy asked as he pulled himself off the floor.
Another person followed, a man wearing shades and his hitai-ate on a cloth that covered the top of his head, "A-are you all right, Omago-sama?" he asked the boy as he adjusted his spectacles, "Also, for the record, there are no traps in this room!" he added.
Naruto wasn't sure what was going on or who the kid was, but the younger boy seemed to notice him, "Aha! So it was you who tripped me!" he accused, pointing a finger at the blonde who hadn't moved from his seat yet. Hiruzen fully expected the newly minted genin to get angry, and it seemed he would as his left eyelid twitched.
Naruto Uzumaki scowled but took a deep breath, remembering to abandon his rage, "Nope!" he responded in a sing song tone with a wide grin that crinkled the corners of his eyes, "You tripped on your own feet, dumbass." he finished, pointing to the blue scarf the younger boy had.
Hiruzen was surprised by that, he didn't even know Naruto knew how to calm down. He knew who these two were though, his grandson Konohamaru and the boys tutor Ebisu.
Ebisu himself seemed to take offense to his student being talked back to, "Dumbass!? That boy is the honored grandson of our revered Sandaime Hokage-sama!" he scolded the blonde genin.
Naruto frowned again, "What does that have to do with him tripping over his own feet?" he asked, not sure he understood.
Ebisu pinched the bridge of his nose, "I am not scolding you for telling the truth." he said calmly, ignoring Konohamaru's cry of protest to that, "I am scolding you for insulting the honored grandson of our Hokage-sama! Apologize!" he demanded, pointing at the young blonde.
Naruto looked at the brown haired young boy with narrowed eyes, noticing the glare the boy had for him, "No way, I don't wanna." the blonde decided, sticking his nose up and crossing his arms, "I don't wanna do my picture over either." he added with a firm nod.
Hiruzen frowned, aside from the purple eyes and, strangely enough the boy calming down, the demonic chakra flowing more freely through the young blonde hadn't had a very drastic effect. This was good, as it was less ammunition for those who despised Naruto, but for many of the adults in the village the change in eye color heralded the return of the dreaded Kyubi no Yoko. The fact the Kitsune had red eyes and red fur didn't seem to deter them, the Sandaime had even heard of some who argue that since blue and red made purple that the fox was slowly coming out. Someone had insisted the signs were there from the start since red and yellow made orange, something the old Sarutobi tried not to be amused by.
"You still have to take the picture again." Hiruzen said firmly, he was not letting the boy get away with the kabuki war paint in official village dossiers.
"What if I promise to wear the war paint in battle?" Naruto tried to bargain, revealing that he hadn't actually intended on doing that from the start.
In the end Naruto had his picture redone and the blonde moped the whole way home about it, but he decided to abandon despair as he'd been told and resolved to take the war paint on missions to wear in battle. He mentally reasoned that if he did that then they'd have to use the kabuki photo for official purposes.
The purple eyed genin noticed he was being followed too, the young grandson of the Hokage was not very stealthy. Naruto turned back to stare at the cloth the boy was trying to use as cover, "I can see you there, moron." he deadpanned, the cloth was crumpled and at the completely wrong angle to actually disguise the young boy trying to hide behind it.
"So you managed to penetrate my disguise, right! The rumors of your prowess don't lie!" Konohamaru boisterously praised as he lowered the cloth, not noticing that while it had the same pattern as the wood fence he was using it with he had the planks on the cloth facing the wrong way, "Teach me your skills. I'll become your disciple." he decided on his own as he pointed confidently at the blonde genin.
"Huh?" Naruto was a bit confused, while he was confident in his own abilities he also knew of very few who would hold them in high enough regard to praise them. Also he was pretty sure this kid was just not very good at the shinobi arts.
"Yeah! You have to teach me the jutsu that defeated my jiji! Please, Oyabun!?" Konohamaru begged, and the title usually reserved for Yakuza bosses made Naruto perk up a little and rub his chin thoughtfully. The Uzumaki did like the idea of being called Oyabun, and his Oiroke no Jutsu shouldn't be too difficult for the younger boy to learn so he didn't see any problem there.
Hiruzen wondered many things after the meeting with Naruto, most importantly how Ebisu had already managed to lose track of his grandson, "It would appear he followed Naruto." the Hokage informed, much to the distress of the shinobi tutor.
The Sandaime Hokage lamented that his grandson was so spoiled, seeing the attempted attacks on his person as a side effect of this. However he was also worried that the young Sarutobi had bitten off more than he could chew this time, certain that Naruto would drag him into some kind of scheme that would be ultimately harmless physically but likely mentally draining.
Naruto looked at Konohamaru's attempt at his Oiroke with disgust, wondering if he'd ever made such an unsightly thing, "No." he scolded, trying to remain calm as he made an X with his arms and closed his eyes, not wanting to look at the hideous creation any longer, "Come on you have to have seen women around the village before, right? They've got curves but not like that! That's just lumpy and gross, the Oiroke no Jutsu is all about appeal y'know! Taller, thinner!" he explained.
Konohamaru wasn't sure he got a lot of what Naruto was saying, but the last instructions given were far easier for the boy to understand, "Yes sir!" he said and continued trying to get the jutsu right.
By the time the brown haired young boy got it right Naruto had a new appreciation for Iruka, teaching was hard work. The two took a break to get some drinks from a vending machine, Konohamaru found Naruto's choice of canned miso broth to be a bit weird though.
"By the way," Naruto began as they sat down on a fallen log of a long dead tree, "what's your beef with the old man?" he asked, starting to gulp down the hot canned beverage.
Konohamaru frowned, "My name, Konohamaru..." the boy began despondantly, "Jiji named me. Like the village right? He said it would bring luck." he explained sadly, "But even though everyone in the village knows my name, no one ever calls me that! It's always Omago-sama. No one sees me for who I am." he complained, "They just see who I'm related to! I hate it!" he snapped angrily, "It'll be different when I become Hokage-sama and that's gonna be real soon." he said with surprising resolve for his age.
Naruto frowned as he considered the words of his young new apprentice, in a lot of ways the young blonde related to the even younger brown haired boy as they both wanted the title of Hokage for recognition. The blonde genin considered his dream, contemplating his goals for a moment as he remembered what he'd been told.
Preaching was a foreign concept to Naruto, but he'd been told to do it by his new god so he gave it a shot, "That's dumb." he said, not very good at what he was attempting to do, "The Hokage is supposed to be the perfect shinobi, you don't get it just by wanting it, you have to become perfect." he lectured before turning to Konohamaru with a grin, "Besides, if you want to be Hokage you can get in line, because I'm the next Hokage-sama!" he declared confidently.
Konohamaru was amazed as he considered those words, he'd been insulted at first but now was in awe. Before he could respond they were interrupted, "Found you!" Ebisu announced his presence as he landed on the branch of a nearby tree and gave Naruto a look that the blonde recognized too well, an ugly look that the newly minted genin hated for he received it too often. Animosity, hatred, hostility.
However, Naruto noticed something different, something he might not have noticed before, something he couldn't place. Mizuki had the same look but there had been something more to Mizuki's look, something visceral and altogether different that was missing from the hostility everyone else gave him but he couldn't place what it was.
With the use of shunshin, Ebisu hopped down to the ground across from them, "Now, Omago-sama, it is time for you to return home." he insisted calmly.
"No way!" Konohamaru protested, "Not yet, I have to kick the old man's butt and become the next Hokage first!" he insisted, glaring at his tutor.
"You heard him, loser." Naruto told the tutor, already deciding he didn't like the tall man.
Ebisu ignored the blonde and focused on his charge, "The revered Hokage-sama understands the eight basic principles that are the cornerstone of all the knowledge of shinobi:" he began as he slowly approached, "virtue, justice, ceremony, wisdom, loyalty, faithfulness, prudence, and filial piety!" he lectured, "He is master of over a thousand ninpo and-eh?" he stopped short, interrupted by the grandson of the man he was talking up.
"Behold!" Konohamaru declared as he made the ram seal with his hands, his chakra flaring around him and the excess chakra creating a small smoke bomb, "Take that! Oiroke no Jutsu!" a buxom young woman declared, the form Konohamaru had taken, posing provocatively for the tall tutor shinobi.
Ebisu stared in shock as Konohamaru returned to normal, the young boy wondering why the jutsu hadn't worked, "Wha-wha-" the tutor stuttered, mortified, "What a vulgar display! Not fit for a gentleman's eyes! And I will not fall for it!" he ranted, clearly flustered despite his protests as he grabbed the scarf of his charge, "Omago-sama! If you lower yourself to consort with creatures of this sort you will only descend to his level!" the man lectured as he attempted to drag the struggling young boy home and annoyed the blonde he was verbally degrading, "Only by following my teachings will you ever merit the title of Hokage! Now let us return home!" he insisted.
Naruto's left eyelid twitched a little at the blatant insults to himself and his philosophy, although the man had no way of knowing the newfound ideology the blonde had developed Naruto didn't consider or care about that and slipped his hand into his shuriken holster to slice open his own thumb before running through hand seals of his own, "Kuchiyose!" the genin shouted as he slammed his palm on the ground, catching the attention of Ebisu and Konohamaru as a cloud of chakra smoke concealed what he had called with his chakra.
Ebisu was ready to mock the boy, ready to state he was an elite and nothing like Mizuki. He hadn't heard much, but the rumor that the village Jinchuriki had signed a contract with something was circulating. The tutor had heard rumors of something serpentine, but he saw purple claws in the smoke that gave the impression of something more insectoid.
The jaw of both the tutor and his charge dropped open as the smoke cleared revealing multiple very beautiful and near naked women, only a loincloth covering their nether regions as the clearing chakra smoke barely covered the breasts. Ebisu tried to form words, to work his jaw, but he was stunned as the ten beings gave him lurid and predatory grins.
They had light grey skin, pastel pink hair, and dark purple chitin. Solid black eyes that were too big on feminine faces with no nose, each had a claw like a mantis of some kind, a small tail, horns, and clawed feet that belonged on a reptile more than anything like a mammal. The mix of sensuality and predatory animal traits set off alarm bells in Ebisu's head, his every instinct telling him these things were not women despite the breasts and he realized that even the number of breasts these beings had was completely wrong.
"How's this for vulgar!?" Naruto exclaimed loudly and proudly, arms crossed proudly over his chest with a smug smirk on his face as the group of things he'd summoned posed provocatively. If Ebisu was in a right state of mind he'd cover Konohamaru's eyes, instead he ran away.
Even the creatures themselves seemed surprised by that, "Woah!" Konohamaru was beyond impressed, "You made him run away without even a fight! Right!?" he gushed, "That's amazing!" he praised and some of the beings summoned preened under the words of the young boy as the others started inspecting Naruto.
"Oh so this is our new mortal champion?" One asked in a sultry voice, caressing the face of the blonde with the back of her hand.
"He's so cute!" Another gushed, bending over to look into the eyes of the one who summoned them, pleased when the boy just grinned back cheerfully.
One of them took a deep breath and moaned, "Ah this place seems fun, but sadly our little champion doesn't have the control to maintain all of us here for long." she sighed.
"Aw, I was hoping to fight that tall one who ran away," The first to speak complained, practically whining, "He looked like he'd scream well." she added with a lick of her lips. That action alerted Konohamaru that these 'women' had no lips to speak of, not like a normal person at least.
One of the ones who had preened under the praise of the younger boy there suddenly grinned, "I know!" she said eagerly, "Our cute little champion should summon a Muse for himself!" she encouraged as she turned her attention back to the blonde.
"What's that?" Naruto asked, oddly at ease surrounded by the strange entities.
The elf-like thing grinned wider somehow, "A type of Familiar, a special kind." she explained, "Not here though, wait until you're in private." she added in a sultry tone.
"Uh, how though?" Naruto asked, his show of confidence and bravado dropping now that Ebisu was gone.
All ten of the things laughed, a musical sound but for some reason it made Konohamaru's hair stand on end, "You'll figure it out, just focus on the words we told you the next time you attempt to call forth-" one of them began hesitated on the word for a moment then grinned, "Daemons." she finished, confident none in this world would decipher the true meaning behind the word.
Then they were gone just as they appeared, in a puff of chakra smoke and the pop of displaced air. Konohamaru was in awe, his heart was racing as he tried to process what he'd seen.
Hiruzen frowned as he pondered his orb, or more accurately pondered what he'd seen through said crystal ball. Ebisu running away was strange, given the situation him leaving Konohamaru behind with those things was practically dereliction of duty.
Yet even the Sandaime Hokage was unnerved by the strange creatures and what they said, they used words that were alien to him, their appearance was as attractive as it was unsettling. Spying on the encounter had been worthwhile at least, he know had a name for whatever clan of creatures Naruto had signed a contract with; Daemon.
Later that night, after Konohamaru had returned home looking dazed, Naruto considered what he'd been told, "Muse..." he muttered out loud, wondering what the word meant. He pricked his thumb on a kunai and performed hand seals, focusing on the two strange words he'd been told earlier that day.
In a puff of smoke what seemed to be a much younger version of what he'd called with Kuchiyose earlier appeared, even smaller than Konohamaru. Yet she had the proportions of a nubile adult woman with hair that seemed like spun gold, she still had the same solid black eyes and horns but lacked the reptilian feet or mantis claws. She was also wearing a little bit more clothing, not by much though.
The small humanoid didn't blink as she looked around curiously, "So, uh," Naruto began and she suddenly snapped her attention to him, "what's a Muse? Or a Familiar?" he asked with obvious confusion in his expression.
The Muse grinned, "Ah, my love," she began with sincerity that made Naruto blush as she leaned forward to rest her hands on his knees, "I can help you." she said in sultry tones without answering the question, "Let me be your inspiration, your heart, your vision. Let me lift you up to reach the heights you deserve." she crooned, as she languidly slipped into his lap so smoothly the boy had no chance to back away, "I've been imparted some understanding of your world to better help you become the perfect shinobi you aspire to be," she continued as she leaned in even closer, into an intimate embrace with, "I just need a kiss to seal the deal." she whispered into the neck of the young boy chosen to bring chaos into this world.
Naruto was stunned, heart racing, "Uh, I uh," he stuttered, "I love Slaanesh-kaasama." he managed, it was less of an excuse and more of a fact, but a fact he would use as an excuse.
The Muse giggled, "Oh cutie, all of us that you call are extensions of Her will." she explained, "Don't worry, She loves you and as such so do I." she promised as she caressed his cheeks.
Naruto wasn't sure why but he trusted the cute thing embracing him in his lap, "Do you have a name?" he asked, mostly stalling out of nervousness at this point.
The Muse grinned a predatory grin at the question, teeth too sharp for a human flashing dangerously as she thought of an appropriate name to use, "Call me Maemi-chan." she insisted, leaning closer but not fully crossing the distance as she needed Naruto to be the one to initiate.
After licking his dry lips the blonde genin finally obliged, closing his eyes and leaning in to accept the deal of the Daemon in his lap.
The ninja who had spied the deal made between Naruto and 'Maemi' reported to the Sandaime Hokage, who frowned in deep concern at the news. It was becoming apparent their genin Jinchuriki was being manipulated, but to what end was confusing.
"Extensions of 'Her' will?" Hiruzen wondered out loud, none of the various shinobi animal clans treated their elders as such to his knowledge. It sounded like the exaggerations of a loyal minion, but that didn't seem right either.
What the Daemon was promising the young genin of their village wasn't innately bad for them as far as he could tell, but everything about the strange creatures Naruto could call with Kuchiyose made him nervous. It would be a bit before he could get a second opinion on the altered Fuin that contained the Kyubi, and as long as the Daemons weren't a threat to his village or his shinobi the Hokage would tolerate them.
Hiruzen hoped he would not regret that decision as he wrote a missive for Iruka, the chunin deserved at least some warning that something not human would be accompanying Naruto to the ceremony in the morning.
Naruto blinked bleary eyes the next morning, momentarily forgetting the events of the night before he wondered why there was a weight on his chest. Then he looked down to see a small and feminine humanoid resting on him and it all came rushing back.
The genin suddenly shot upright, launching Maemi off him with an indignant squawk, "The ceremony!" he suddenly remembered, frantically getting dressed as his new Familiar stretched and yawned.
"Damn, being physical is weird." Maemi muttered to herself as she watched her new master get dressed, "We should get you new clothes." she added.
Naruto frowned as he pulled his favorite orange jacket over a black shirt with an orange Konoha symbol on the front, "What's wrong with my clothes?" he asked in confusion.
Maemi thought about her answer for a moment, "Nothing really," she assured as she tapped her chin thoughtfully, "but they could be brighter." she commented as she wondered what would best suit the young genin.
"Brighter?" Naruto asked as he zipped up his jacket, that wasn't a complaint he was expecting.
Maemi nodded, "Yeah, the orange and blue is good contrast I suppose but some mesh armor underneath is a safe bet." she commented as she considered what else might work, "Hm, maybe some more white? Or pink? Some purple would be nice." she rambled as her new master considered his goggles for a moment before putting on his new hitai-ate.
"Well I don't have time to go shopping now, we have to hurry!" Naruto insisted, affixing his shuriken holster to his right knee as he hopped on his left leg towards the door.
Maemi shrugged and skipped after the energetic blonde, ignoring the stares as she followed him on his mad dash to be on time for whatever ceremony he was so worked up about.
As soon as he burst through the door the other graduating genin turned in surprise, "Naruto what are you doing here?" one of them called out, "Class today is only for the people who didn't fail!" he pointed out.
Naruto pointed to his new hitai-ate with his thumb, "Can't you see this? I did pass!" he declared loudly, "I learned a way more useful jutsu than bunshin!" he bragged with a wide grin as Maemi stepped in behind him and looked over the room full of genin.
Suddenly attention was not on Naruto, but the strange small girl that clearly wasn't human. Murmurs of confusion started, wondering what the hell she was, all of them halting as the subject of their attention walked up behind Naruto and grabbed onto his arm by the elbow without a word.
When the blonde didn't react to the golden haired Muse clinging to his arm one of the other genin spoke up, "I've never seen a jutsu like that before." Kiba Inuzuka commented sardonically, raising an eyebrow.
Maemi grinned, "I'm sure there are plenty of things you haven't seen yet." she teased in a suggestive tone and the Inuzuka flushed and averted his gaze from the solid black orbs of the Daemon.
Shikamaru Nara frowned in confusion, "What are you?" he asked, never having heard of any jutsu that produced a living creature.
The Muse considered how to answer but before she could the blonde she clung to did, "Maemi-chan is a Muse," Naruto answered, "I called her with Kuchiyose and now she's my Familiar!" he explained cheerfully. The other genin in the class frowned at the alien words, trying to figure out what was going on. A few pinched themselves to make sure they were awake and not subject to genjutsu.
Iruka stepped into the class, "To your seats everyone." he called out without giving Maemi a second look.
Naruto did not leap to obey and instead leaped to the chunin, "Iruka-sensei are you okay? I didn't see you after we got taken to the old man the other night. Is your back still sore?" the boy spoke without waiting for an answer, getting into the personal space of the chunin and looking at his back.
"I'm fine Naruto-kun, please take your seat." Iruka insisted, waving the worried young genin off.
Naruto laughed, "You're beautiful when you act tough, sensei." he complimented as he obeyed, startling his fellow classmates with that line. Iruka scratched his cheek, he'd wondered if the blonde had been delirious but it seemed the boy really was just more openly affectionate now. Referring to older men as beautiful was definitely strange though.
The other students gawked at Naruto as he walked to an empty seat next to a pink haired girl with a grin, Maemi following with a skip in her step.
"Iruka-sensei what's a Famiri-" Sakura, the pink haired girl, began to ask to distract herself from whatever was wrong with Naruto's brain but stumbled over the word and became confused, her tongue having difficulty pronouncing it.
The chunin honestly had no idea for certain but he had enough to come up with something that was basically true, "It's a special application of the Kuchiyose no Jutsu." he said, prompting the class to look at the boy who couldn't even do bunshin in shock.
"I told you all I was awesome, y'know." Naruto bragged shamelessly with a grin.
Iruka managed to get through his speech about how they were no longer merely students but still had a long way to go if they wanted to climb the ranks without any further interruptions, then he started on the team assignments. However another interruption came when he announced cell number seven, consisting of Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha.
"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, "Don't worry Iruka-sensei I'll protect these two pretty faces." he promised with a grin. Sakura recoiled from the blonde braggart and it was a testament to Sasuke's self control that he just stared in shock instead of recoiling himself, although he wasn't sitting next to the other boy like Sakura was.
Iruka wasn't actually sure how to respond to that statement, so he continued with team assignments. When he was done he informed them that they'd be meeting their jonin after a lunch break, then he dismissed them.
Maemi dragged Naruto on a shopping trip and found that she increasingly disliked the villagers, if they didn't ignore the blonde genin she was bound to serve they had animosity for him. This was no good, but she had no solution yet so she just had him buy some various chemicals, herbs, and additional tools after he had something to eat.
They dropped most of it off at Naruto's apartment before returning to the academy in time to see all the other teams leave with their assigned jonin, except team seven.
The three genin and Maemi waited for a bit, then the Muse got bored, "Naruto-sama!" she whined, "Where is this jonin?"
Naruto frowned, also already bored, "I don't know, even Iruka-sensei is gone." he grumbled, clearly upset their sensei hadn't shown up yet. Maemi had some insight into how shinobi in this world functioned and her intelligence wasn't truly human, so she had a vague idea of why a ninja would keep prisoners or potential enemies waiting to see how they'd react. The Muse didn't like that, since the only difference between the team Naruto was on and the other teams who had already left was Naruto himself, a boy who the village as a whole seemed to dislike and had a connection with her, an unknown entity to a village of shinobi.
Maemi knew she might cause some issues but hadn't thought the village would turn hostile so quickly, however her musings were broken by Naruto standing up and checking the door. The blonde looked both ways in the hall outside as his new teammates watched.
"Naruto just wait," Sakura demanded in an exasperated tone, "a jonin is the highest caliber of shinobi. I'm sure our sensei has good reason for being late." she pointed out calmly.
Naruto clearly didn't care and grabbed a black board eraser, lodging it in the place as he shut the classroom door on it, "That'll teach him for making us wait." the petulent blonde said with a grin.
Sakura put her hands on her hips, "Grow up. I want no part of this." she insisted, Maemi got the distinct impression the girl secretly thought it was hilarious though but didn't call the pink haired genin out.
Sasuke scoffed, "There's no way a superior shinobi would be caught by such a simple trap." he scolded lightly, hiding his own amusement.
Then the door opened and the eraser fell onto the head of a silver haired man in a mask, one of his eyes covered by his hitai-ate and a rather standard uniform on him complete with flak vest.
Naruto began to point and laugh, "Gotcha good!" he bragged proudly.
"I'm so sorry, sensei, I tried to stop him but Naruto-" Sakura tried to throw her blonde teammate under the bus immediately and Maemi snapped her attention to the girl, noticing she was doing an amazing job of hiding how funny she thought that was.
Sasuke was just baffled that their assigned jonin had fallen for something so basic, he wondered if the man was actually worthless somehow.
The jonin chuckled as he brought a gloved hand up to his chin, "Hm, how should I put this?" he wondered, "Based on my first impression, I have to say... I hate you." he said bluntly. Maemi knew a lie when she heard one but didn't call the jonin out, whoever this silver haired man was he was emotionally troubled and she wouldn't interfere with how he chose to interact with his genin for now.
The man took the three to the roof of the academy to continue their meeting, "Now, I'd like you all to tell us a little about yourselves." he said as he leaned against a rail across from the three genin sitting on stairs that lead up to a rooftop orchard.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, confused by the request.
The jonin considered the question, "...You know, the usual. Your favorite thing, what you hate most, dreams, ambitions, hobbies, things like that." he explained with a shrug.
Naruto frowned, "Help us out, why don't you go first?" he asked as he idly played with the hair of the Daemon sitting in his lap.
Sakura nodded, "That's right, you're a complete stranger to us. A mystery." she pointed out, hugging her knees.
Maemi stiffened a little when the single eye of the jonin fell on her, she knew what he was thinking even without being able to read his emotions, the Muse was far more of a mystery to the jonin than he was to his students. However he seemed willing to acquiesce without any further indication of what he thought, "Me? Huh, well my name is Kakashi Hatake." he began his introduction lazily, "I'm the kind of person who doesn't like talking about his likes or dislikes. My dreams for the future are none of your business, but anyway I have lots of hobbies." he finished in a bored tone.
"He said a lot, but all we learned was his name." Sakura complained quietly, mood dour from the exchange.
Kakashi paid the pink haired kunoichi no mind, "Why doesn't our next biggest mystery go next?" he suggested with a pointed look at the small Daemon in Naruto's lap.
Maemi expected this but wasn't sure what to say, "Call me Maemi-chan!" she insisted cheerfully, "I like Naruto-sama and" she took a moment to consider which title to use, "Slaanesh-Kami!" she finished as her grin widened, enjoying the way the sound of the name sent chills down the spine of the jonin who put her on the spot, "I dislike impotent rage, despaired whining, and hopeful idiots." she decided to keep that simple enough, "As for goals? I intend to make Naruto-sama the perfect shinobi." the Muse stated truthfully, "My hobbies are enjoying the pleasures this world can offer." she finished with a shrug.
Kakashi noticed no lie, although the phrasing of how the Daemon gave her name did make him suspect it wasn't a real name, "Alright," he said without giving away what he thought, "how about the other less golden haired blonde?" he asked with a look to the orange wearing Uzumaki.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto introduced loudly, fiddling with his hitai-ate, "I love ramen, Slaanesh-kaasama, and Iruka-sensei." he said shamelessly and his teammates were confused by his phrasing, "I hate the time it takes to wait for the ramen to cook after I pour in the boiling water." he continued before his eyes hardened, "My dream for the future is to surpass every Hokage who came before me and become the perfect shinobi!" he finished proudly. Then he realized something, "I guess my hobbies are pranks." he added with a slight frown, scratching the back of his head.
Kakashi hid his surprise well, for a moment he was concerned the blonde only had ramen on the brain, "Next." the jonin said as he idly rubbed his head where there was still a bit of chalk dust.
The dark haired genin of the three looked like he'd rather be somewhere else, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha." he introduced, "There are plenty of things I hate, not that it matters since there aren't many things I do like." the boy continued plainly, "It seems pointless to talk about dreams, that's just a word. I do have an ambition though, I will restore my clan and there is someone I have sworn to kill." he finished, not intending on saying anything further on the matter.
Kakashi was not surprised like the other two genin, he'd suspected as much. Sakura thought the speech was the coolest thing she'd ever heard while Naruto was just hoping that the 'someone' wasn't him, Maemi was pretty sure it wasn't, "Finally, the young lady." the jonin spoke up, looking to the pink haired genin.
"My name is Sakura Haruno." Sakura introduced, "My favorite thing is, well it's not a thing but a person, a boy, the boy is..." she glanced at Sasuke, "Uh, moving on my dream is..." she looked at Sasuke again and blushed, "I hate Naruto." she added plainly and the blonde was taken aback by surprise at how calmly she said that, "My hobbies are..." she trailed off as she glanced at Sasuke again.
Kakashi found it a shame that young girls were more interested in love than ninjutsu, "Well I suppose we understand each other" he began before glancing at Maemi, "at least a little bit better now." he continued, "Formal training begins tomorrow." he finished.
Naruto snapped to attention with a salute, excited already, "Yes sir! What will our duties be? Our first shinobi mission?" he wondered, eager to start already.
"Our first project will only involve this team." Kakashi corrected calmly.
"What is it? What?" Naruto asked impatiently, bouncing in his seat. Maemi giggled at how energetic the blonde was regarding his goals.
"Survival exercises." Kakashi answered plainly.
Naruto frowned in confusion along with his other two teammates, halting his bouncing much to the displeasure of the Daemon in his lap, "Why would that be a mission?" Sakura asked, speaking up to voice her own confusion, "Our training days were filled with survival missions." she pointed out. Sasuke didn't admit it but he was just as confused as his new team.
Kakashi shook his head, "This isn't your typical practice, you'll be surviving against me." he explained.
"What kind of practice will it be then?" Naruto asked, wanting it spelled out for him already. Kakashi just stifled a laugh in response, something that made Sasuke tense up with nerves.
"What's so funny, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, growing a bit nervous herself.
"Oh, nothing." Kakashi lied, "It's just that if I told you, you'd chicken out." he explained.
Naruto took offense to that, "Why would we chicken out!?" he asked with a frown.
Kakashi rested his face on his palm as he leaned forward slightly to give the three genin a cold stare, "Of the twenty seven members of your graduating class, only nine will actually be accepted as genin." he explained, "The other eighteen will return to the academy for remedial training, so this test has a sixty six percent failure rate." he finished, hiding his surprise at the sudden grin Maemi had.
Naruto was stunned and a bit nervous, Sakura swallowed a lump in her throat with a gulp, and Sasuke continued to stare impassively to hide how on edge he was.
Kakashi chuckled, "See? You're chickening out already!" he pointed out with an amused tone.
Before Naruto could give an outburst about how unfair that was Maemi started laughing, "Sixty six percent failure rate?" she asked, "Naruto-sama won't fail with me around!" she declared confidently, proudly even as she leaned back into the chest of her master, throwing her arms up and back over her own head to wrap them around the back of his neck.
Kakashi wasn't sure how to respond to that, he still didn't have a full read on the Daemon yet so he decided to leave it be, "In any event we'll be conducting this test tomorrow morning on a practice field so I can evaluate each of your skills and weaknesses." he explained with a meaningful look at the grinning Muse in Naruto's lap, "Bring all of your ninja tools and weapons, and don't eat breakfast unless you like throwing up." he continued.
Naruto was not doing a good job of hiding his nervousness, but he refused to despair over it and clenched his teeth with determination.
"The details are in these handouts, memorize the details and don't be late." Kakashi said as he approached the three genin to hand them pieces of paper. Naruto frowned as he tried to read the details, muttering a quiet complaint about it all being in kanji.
Kakashi met with the Sandaime Hokage after his meeting with the genin to give his report, "What did you learn?" Hiruzen asked, going straight to business due to the nature of their discussion.
Kakashi shrugged, "I don't think this Daemon has ill intentions for Naruto, whatever she is." he said honestly, "However I don't think her real name is Maemi, that's just a hunch I can't confirm though." he confessed, idly rubbing a bit more chalk dust out of his hair, "Strangely enough, she smells exactly like Naruto, she doesn't have a scent of her own." he explained.
Hiruzen nodded as he absorbed the information, "According to one of our Hyuga within Anbu, her chakra is linked directly to his and she doesn't seem to have a chakra network of her own." he pondered out loud, "Which means she must be reliant on Naruto, but is that good for him?" he questioned.
Kakashi thought about it for a moment, "There was no lie in her words regarding her goals or feelings," he said, "whatever her true reasons she actually does care about him succeeding in his dreams." he finished.
Maemi watched Naruto set up an effigy of Kakashi to practice against, feeling a little bit less confident as she examined his downright atrocious taijutsu. The blonde boy was just pummeling the dummy like a punching bag with no sense of style or skill, throwing his entire weight behind every attack.
The Muse was glad she'd been bound to the boy when she had been, the blonde definitely needed her help, "Stop." she said and Naruto halted his attempts in surprise, "Your body is strong, but your taijutsu lacks style and grace." she pointed out, ignoring the pout she received for the assessment, "There's not much I can do to fix that before tomorrow, but I'll work on something while you sleep." she promised, "For now though we should work on what ninjutsu you know." she finished.
Naruto frowned but nodded, "Okay, well, I know Kuchiyose no Jutsu, Kawarimi no Jutsu, Henge no Jutsu, and Oiroke no Jutsu." he listed off his small repitoire while counting on his finger.
Maemi didn't react when he listed a different application of Henge no Jutsu as its own jutsu as she considered those, "Kawarimi no Jutsu then, practice that before bed and I'll wake you in the morning." she said as she started gathering up some of the chemicals and tools they'd bought that day.
The next morning Maemi had woken Naruto up with breakfast, insisting that dry heaving on an empty stomach was far more painful than throwing up and the man was simply testing them. Kakashi hadn't ordered they not eat, he'd suggested it with the implication that throwing up would be unpleasant.
"You'll absorb some of the nutrients and energy before you throw up whatever is still in there later anyway." Maemi insisted as she pushed the steaming cup of instant ramen into his hands, she'd prefer he eat something more substantial but the boy had instant ramen, stale bread, red bean jam, and expired milk so the ramen was the best option.
On the way to the training ground Naruto felt strange, oddly focused despite feeling even more energetic than usual. He wasn't sure why but he suddenly felt more alert too, amazing, better than he'd ever felt even. Maemi simply smirked as she followed him, feeling a sense of what Naruto was feeling as she followed him to the training ground.
Annoyingly for the plans of the Muse, Kakashi was late by a lot, to the point where Naruto was starting to grow agitated again. However his uncharacteristically laser-like focus for the first half of the wait did not go unnoticed by the other two genin who were also waiting for the tardy jonin.
Finally, Kakashi arrived, "Good morning!" he greeted cheerfully.
"You're late!" Sakura snapped loudly and angrily at the man, clearly grumpy from hunger. Naruto was annoyed too but was oddly calm and detached as he stared down the jonin, surprisingly he seemed even calmer than Sasuke.
Kakashi ignored the complaint from Sakura as he mentally catalogued Naruto's strange calmness, "I set this alarm for noon." he said, pulling out and placing a clock on the stump of the tree and ignoring the confused expressions of the genin as he pulled out two bells, "I have here two small bells," he began as he jingled them for effect, "your goal is to get them from me before the alarm sounds. Anyone who fails doesn't get lunch, instead you'll be tied to a stump so I can eat your lunch in front of you." he explained.
Maemi didn't even try to hide her smug smirk as the stomachs of Sasuke and Sakura growled in protest, the real reason Kakashi had implied they shouldn't eat becoming clear.
"All you need is one bell each, but there aren't enough to go around so one of you will definitely fail." Kakashi continued his explanation, "Whoever fails is the one going back to school a disgrace." he warned darkly. That actually caused Maemi to frown as she thought over the words and everything else, "You may," the jonin continued, "if you choose, use shuriken. Come at me with intent to kill or you won't pass." he instructed.
"But, but that's dangerous!" Sakura protested, alarmed by the last words. Sasuke looked a bit nervous too, but his attention was caught by the unnatural stillness Naruto had been displaying suddenly giving way to a burst of movement.
Faster than either other genin knew the blonde could move, Naruto used his middle finger to pull a kunai out by the ring on the end of its pommel and flicked the handle into his palm. Faster than any of them could see Kakashi appeared behind the young blonde and grabbed his wrist, putting the genin in a hold but narrowing his eyes at the way Naruto's muscles actually forced him to put in a small amount of genuine effort.
"Hold on now," Kakashi scolded, "I didn't say to start yet." he pointed out, Sasuke smirked despite his own nervousness as he realized that the jonin wasn't as useless as the man had made it seem yesterday. The jonin felt Naruto wasn't struggling and relaxed a little, "But at least you were going for the kill, so it seems you do respect me a bit." he added with a chuckle, "Maybe, just maybe, I might be starting to like you guys." he praised before getting serious, "Now then, go." he said, releasing the blonde genin.
Sasuke and Sakura leaped to take cover in the surrounding trees, hiding their presence as best they could while watching Kakashi carefully. The jonin noted that they were decent at hiding themselves for genin, the basis for most shinobi arts was to erase your presence so he was glad they were capable of that much at least.
Maemi remained by Naruto's side, but the blonde hadn't jumped into the trees. Kakashi noted with surprise that the usually hyperactive blonde glanced at exactly where the other two genin were hiding before his attention focused entirely on the jonin, his purple eyes seemed detached from what was actually going on and a small smile tugged at his lips.
Naruto wasn't sure what it was but he felt great, better than ever, focused and excited all at once. His mind had never been more clear, so even he knew that against Kakashi he shouldn't be capable of winning. Naruto was vaguely surprised by how much he didn't care, but the surprise was detached, muffled by how excited he was.
"You know, shinobi are supposed to be stealthy." Kakashi pointed out idly, a bit disappointed by the blonde. The jonin had noticed something though, Naruto's attitude was completely different to what he'd come to expect and he glanced at the smirking Daemon behind the genin with a good guess as to the cause.
Naruto grinned, "There's no point hiding from you by going into the trees," he pointed out calmly, surprising Kakashi further, "and I'm plenty stealthy. I painted the monument of the Hokage in broad daylight without getting caught until I was nearly done." he added.
Kakashi had heard about that and couldn't deny what the boy had said, he knew exactly where the other two genin were after all, "Hm, seems you aren't as clueless as you seem." he praised idly as he attached the bells to the bottom of his flak vest, "However this is a test, you should be trying to show off how stealthy you are, not brag about past exploits." he scolded, not wanting the genin to get a big head.
Naruto continued to grin, "Huh, you're absolutely right." he admitted with a nod before suddenly charging Kakashi, "If this is a test of our ability as genin then you aren't going to go all out as a jonin!" he proclaimed loudly.
Sakura and Sasuke were both surprised by how observant the blonde was, wondering when the loudmouth Uzumaki had become so focused. Kakashi reached into his tool pouch as he considered how Naruto was acting, he assessed that the blonde had somehow had his mental state altered.
"Let me teach you your first lesson in Ninpo." Kakashi said as he dug through his tools, "Taijutsu, the art of a trained body." he lectured, his words implying hand to hand combat while his actions implied he was reaching for a weapon.
Naruto didn't break stride, the sense of danger strangely dulled as he grinned widely and thrust his kunai at the jonin. Kakashi twisted and palmed the attack to the side with his right hand as his left pulled out a book, noting that despite Naruto's sudden uncharacteristic focus the blonde was still easy to get behind with a simple dodge and deflect.
However, Maemi was right there behind the blonde, stepping between the genin and jonin smoothly. Kakashi made eye contact with the Muse with the same grin as Naruto and wondered if she intended to fight too, the small Daemon didn't seem built for combat like the other Daemons that had been reported on.
Naruto jumped, twisting his body into a jumping back kick with rather poor form, but the attack went over Maemi's head at Kakashi as intended. The jonin caught the sandal with his right palm but didn't grapple the attacking appendage, curious about how the two would fight together as he feigned an interest in his book.
Naruto didn't even care about the book, he felt amazing. His heart beat in his chest like a jackhammer as he twisted in the air to throw his kunai at Kakashi, the sharpened blade of metal going for the silver haired man's head while Naruto fell back to the ground gracelessly.
Kakashi jerked his head aside to let the weapon fly harmlessly past him, watching Naruto hit the ground hard and roll to his feet in a crouched position without reacting to the fall. Without standing up the boy suddenly leapt for Kakashi's midsection, reaching for both bells with each hand.
The jonin twisted, spinning and chopping a knife hand into the back of the boys head. He was starting to get an idea of what was going on, and the way the boy simply rolled to his feet and leaped at Kakashi again confirmed it. Naruto had been drugged, some kind of performance enhancing drug.
Kakashi slapped down to halt the prime suspect for this drugging from grabbing one of the bells, pushing the Daemon away with a simple flick to the forehead. Naruto palmed a handful of kunai, clumsily enough to cut himself, and threw them at Kakashi as Maemi backed off.
The jonin evaded easily but realized that they were a feint as soon as Naruto began the hand seals, "Kuchiyose!" the blonde declared, releasing a puff of smoke as he slapped his bleeding right hand to the ground. At that Kakashi did give the blonde his full attention, from what he'd heard Mizuki had been caught off guard and died while Ebisu had run away but each time something that seemed almost completely unrelated to the last showed up.
Solid black eyes, color patterns, and an alien sensuality were the only common factors. Breasts too apparently, that was interesting. This one was completely different again, a strange six limbed creature with a large scorpion tail and a head not unlike what he'd heard of the serpent that killed Mizuki. Curiously while it did have three breasts on one side of its torso, it had three pectorals on the other side. Dark antlers, purple crab claws, and a pastel pink mane of hair. Two of its legs had cloven hooves while the other two were like that of a komodo dragon or other predatory reptile, and Kakashi noticed the two pairs of legs bent in opposite directions at the knee.
It moved with alarming speed and grace, galloping strangely towards Kakashi as it's body almost seemed to slither through the air. The jonin found his limbs oddly heavy and his eyes widened as he registered a new scent in the air, detecting that this thing had somehow put him under an olfactory genjutsu.
Kakashi fluttered his chakra and leaped back as he tossed a kunai of his own at the creature, not risking getting close in case it had further tricks. He was confident in his speed but he didn't fancy learning if that stinger was as venomous as it looked.
To his surprise the jonin felt something grab his leg before he landed as his kunai dispelled the Daemon, he glanced down to see Naruto hugging his left leg and reaching for the bells. Privately he was impressed, the boy was surprisingly stealthy for someone wearing bright orange while the surroundings were varying shades of green and the genin had even made his own distraction to capitalize on.
Naruto was sent face down into the dirt as Kakashi twisted in mid air to kick the boy to the ground, impressed or not the jonin wasn't going to let the boy pass that easily. The fact the blonde genin was drugged with something also did detract a little from how well the boy was doing, at least in the opinion of the jonin testing him.
Naruto didn't stay down long again, but he was breathing harder as he leaped to his feet. His purple eyes were still focused on the bells, telling Kakashi whatever the drug was it affected the central nervous system. Such drugs were quite dangerous, albeit very effective combat drugs.
Without looking at the culprit Kakashi back handed Maemi, intending on dispelling the Daemon this time. To his surprise his hand hit a log instead, he hadn't been aware the Muse could do ninjutsu as well.
Naruto charged again and the jonin decided it was time for another genin to have a turn as he dodged the wild punch too fast for the blonde to see, crouching behind the boy with his hands in the tiger hand seal and his book in between them.
Sasuke and Sakura, who had both been watching, were surprised when they recognized the hand seal. They'd been surprised the entire time by Naruto's performance but the hand seal was a different matter entirely, as it was usually associated with Katon no Jutsu.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried out, risking her position out of concern, "Get out of there! You're going to be killed!" she tried to warn, showing that while she may claim to hate the blonde she didn't want to see him burnt to death in front of her either.
Naruto made to turn, "Too late," Kakashi intoned, "Konohagakure Hiden Taijutsu Ogi: Sennen Goroshi!" the jonin announced as he thrust forward with the sign and launched the genin through the air with a rather rough poke to the butt that had the young Uzumaki giving a shriek that couldn't have been further from masculine.
Sakura felt ashamed that she'd been worried about the blonde, wondering what kind of Hiden Taijutsu that was supposed to be. Sasuke regret taking the jonin seriously for even a second, wondering why he'd been stuck with a team of buffoons.
Maemi watched with her mouth slightly open in surprise as Naruto sailed through the air and into a nearby river while Kakashi turned the page of his book, returning more of his focus to the story in the little orange book with a chuckle. Sakura wondered how they were supposed to actually win, only now coming to the conclusion that the jonin was so far above them that the test was completely unfair.
Naruto felt the cold water rush over his flushed skin with some relief, but realized with a gasp that he couldn't hold his breath for some reason and frantically swam to the surface. The blonde genin hacked up a bit of water he'd gasped in and tried to catch his breath as he pulled himself up onto the river bank, panting breathlessly.
The blonde genin was stunned, he wasn't in any pain whatsoever despite what he'd just gone through. Through his haze he was a little worried what it said about him that he still felt so good, but decided that wasn't a concern as he grinned and stood up.
Kakashi had expected Naruto to be out of it for a little longer, although noticing the increased respiration and the way the genin had coughed up a lungful of water did make him feel a bit guilty for sending the boy to the water. The jonin pretended to be focused on his book instead, but the way Naruto was still grinning did concern him.
"That was awesome!" Naruto declared loudly, Sasuke recoiled from his hiding position as Sakura covered her face with her hands in mortification. Even Kakashi was surprised, jerking his head up to give the blonde a very perturbed look.
Maemi however just laughed hysterically, "Well, that's not the usually response to getting hit by Sennen Goroshi." Kakashi said, hiding his concern well.
"Whatever! I can keep this up all day!" Naruto bragged as he took out another kunai, Maemi decided not to mention that the blonde would probably actually be able to go for much longer than that since she noticed the suspicious looks from the jonin.
"That's nice, but you don't have all day. If you can't get a bell by lunch, you won't get any lunch." Kakashi said simply as he continued to read his book.
"I'm not even hungry!" Naruto declared proudly as he charged again, surprising his the two other genin watching since both of them were practically starving from skipping breakfast and then being made to wait for the tardy jonin.
Kakashi narrowed his eye, a little annoyed that one of his tactics for psychological torment had been negated for even one of the genin. He knew exactly who to blame too, but decided it wasn't worth making a fuss over.
The jonin wanted to test the other two genin before the alarm rang, but Naruto was far more focused than the boy had ever been and with even more energy too from whatever combat drugs were running through his system, "This isn't a lesson I intended on going over," Kakashi began as he evaded Naruto's kunai strikes easily without letting Maemi get behind him, the small Muse circling the fight to try and remain in the blind spot of the silver haired man, "but your little helper forced my hand here." the jonin confessed, "Combat drugs, such as the hyorogan, allow shinobi to surpass their natural limits." he explained.
All three genin were confused, but Maemi wasn't surprised to be called out, "Comparing what I gave Naruto-sama to a hyorogan is like comparing the Hokage to a civilian." she bragged loudly, concerning the jonin more with that statement, "So don't worry Naruto-sama! Stay focused and keep going for a bell, I'll be right here to help as soon as there's an opening!" she assured.
Kakashi used his own kawarimi to escape suddenly, letting Naruto stab a log. The blonde was surprised and looked around for any sign of the jonin as his Muse quickly leaped to his side, watching his back in case the silver haired man tried another Sennen Goroshi.
Naruto saw a bell and grinned, "I must have left him flustered if he dropped that." the boy said proudly as he rushed towards it only to stop short suddenly, "Wait what is-?" he questioned as Maemi hurried to keep up with him. Kakashi was surprised the boy noticed the trap, but he had two other genin to train and moved past Maemi to get behind the blonde quickly.
The Muse was startled by the sudden speed the jonin displayed as he shoved the blonde genin into the trap, watching the rope constrict around his ankles and yank him into the air above the bell.
"Well you're far more observant than I expected, although I suppose you can thank whatever stimulant Maemi-chan gave you for that." Kakashi said as he picked up the bell before the Muse could, "Still not good enough though." he lectured bluntly.
Sasuke was concerned, he hadn't seen a single true opening from the jonin that entire fight. Despite merely playing with Naruto and Maemi the man hadn't dropped his guard once, although with the strange Daemon and the fact Naruto was apparently hopped up on combat stimulants the Uchiha wouldn't drop his guard either.
Naruto frowned as he stared at Kakashi with suspicion in his eyes, "This whole bell test..." he muttered with a frown, "there's a trick to it." he realized, surprising the jonin further.
Sasuke saw the opening and threw his shuriken, sending them curving through the air to strike the jonin. Each one landed with the sound of blades sinking into flesh and knocked the man with a spray of blood, then with a puff of smoke Kakashi was gone and there was a log in its place.
The Uchiha genin mentally cursed himself for falling for a false opening like that and giving away his position, leaping away to take cover elsewhere to avoid reprisal from the jonin.
Naruto craned his neck to look down and saw no other traps, so he reached up to cut the rope. He flipped through the air and landed in a second rope trap he hadn't spotted, yelping in surprise as he was dragged back up into the air. Maemi frowned, she'd reached the same conclusion as Naruto but wondered what the trick was.
Sakura frantically dashed away, looking for Sasuke with concern. The girl was worried about the dark haired genin since she didn't have visual on him or the jonin who was testing them. She saw Kakashi and halted, taking cover and noting with relief that he hadn't seen her.
"Behind you." Kakashi said suddenly, alarming the pink haired kunoichi who swiftly turned to meet the eye of the jonin, realizing too late she'd been fooled by a bunshin. Before she could do anything more a haze come over her mind in a swirl of leaves and Kakashi was gone.
"What!? What was that!? Where did he-!?" Sakura wondered out loud, looking around in concern.
"Sakura..."
The pink haired girl recognized that voice and felt a surge of relief and joy as she turned towards Sasuke, only to pale at his appearance. One leg twisted the wrong way, an arm missing, with kunai and shuriken sticking out of him and blood everywhere.
Sakura screamed and passed out.
"Was it too much?" Kakashi wondered, noticing the pink haired kunoichi had gone into shock and was even foaming at the mouth. He made a mental note that the girl had a weak constitution and left her there for now.
Sasuke stopped and turned in the direction he'd heard the scream, recognizing the voice of the pink haired girl.
"Second skill of Ninpo; Genjutsu, the art of illusions, and Sakura fell for it." Kakashi informed the young Uchiha, nose still buried in his book despite everything and leaned against a tree lazily.
"I'm not like them." Sasuke declared, maintaining an air of calm confidence despite how outclassed he was.
"Save your boasts for after you get a bell." Kakashi scolded as he stepped away from the tree, "The strength of the Uchiha, the most elite clan in Konohagakure no Sato." the jonin mused as Sasuke turned to face him, "I'm looking forward to seeing this." he finished simply.
Sasuke stared the jonin down for another moment before crouching and tossing a trio of shuriken at the man, smirking the moment the jonin dodged. One of the shuriken struck a rope and Kakashi heard the sudden snap of tension followed by blades cutting through the air, he was surprised that Sasuke had set up a trap but evaded the launched blades to let them sink into the trunk of a nearby tree and put his book away.
Sasuke leaped at Kakashi from behind, kicking out with his left heel. The jonin easily blocked it and grabbed the ankle of the genin, so the Uchiha threw a right hook while twisting his body which Kakashi also caught. Sasuke used the grip on his limbs to twist himself upside down and throw his left leg at the head of the silver haired jonin, Kakashi lifted his guard and Sasuke with it to catch the kick with his forearm.
From this position Sasuke smirked and reached for the bells with his left hand, touching one for a mere moment before Kakashi let him go and leaped back. The jonin was impressed, even a drugged Naruto hadn't gotten quite that close or stopped him reading his book.
Sasuke flipped in the air with a scowl, landing in a crouch before standing and weaving hand seals for the Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu. Kakashi was taken aback by that as he recognized the hand seals, having assumed Sasuke was too much of a novice to have developed his chakra for such a jutsu.
The blast of fire struck Kakashi's position and scorched the earth where he stood, and Sasuke knew the man had escaped somewhere but wondered where as he glanced around and above himself quickly.
"Below." Kakashi corrected from the ground beneath him, reaching up to grab Sasuke by the ankles, "Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu!" the jonin declared as he dragged the genin beneath the earth, leaving only his head above ground so he wouldn't suffocate, "Ninpo lesson three, ninjutsu." he said as he crouched in front of the buried boy, "But if it makes you feel better, your prediction was accurate, your performance was heads and shoulders above Sakura at least." he praised idly before standing and pulling out his book again as he turned to walk away, "Oh well, you know what they say, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down." he added with a chuckle.
Sasuke scowled, "Crap!" he swore, angered by his inability to beat the jonin.
Naruto got down from the second trap after Maemi confirmed that there wasn't a third waiting for him, "Maemi-chan what do you think the trick is?" he asked, the Muse was supposed to help him after all.
The Daemon frowned, not too certain herself, but she went over everything the jonin had said to search for hidden meanings. After a moment she thought she had it, "Sixty six!" she exclaimed, startling the genin she was bound to, "He said out of your class, only nine would actually become genin right?" she asked and Naruto nodded, "You're in squads of three, he's not just going to pass one or two of you, it's gotta be all or nothing!" she declared, excited to have figured it out.
Naruto still frowned however as he considered that, "Then why only two bells?" he wondered, confused by that detail.
Maemi didn't falter, "They're a distraction, a trick question, that's the only explanation." she insisted, "Your entire class was split into teams of three, a genin isn't going to touch a jonin but you don't need to beat him. Like he said it's a test, you need to show off," she explained with a widening grin, "not just your jutsu or combat ability though, but how well you work as a team! Come on we have to find one of the others and explain this!" she finished.
Truthfully, she thought it was nonsense, but she was also certain of her deduction. Reading people like people read books was just what Daemons of Slaanesh did, so she lead the blonde genin to look for his teammates.
Kakashi had overheard that and was surprised, he didn't like the answer being given to Naruto by an outside source but the Muse was bound to Naruto's chakra. It would be like an Inuzuka recieving the idea from their hound partner, so he simply observed as the two found Sakura first.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted loudly as the pink haired girl woke up, causing the girl to recoil instantly from the drugged blonde, "Maemi-chan figured out the trick behind the test, it's teamwork!" he explained, "The bells are a bluff, we need to do our best to try to get them but he's a jonin, there's no way we'll do it alone and even together we might not succeed."
Sakura frowned, that made some sense, "Why make a test designed to be failed?" she wondered, confused.
"No idea!" Naruto admit with a shameless grin, "We should find Sasuke before time runs out." he added, offering a hand to help the kunoichi up. Sakura stared at the hand with slight apprehension, but ultimately accepted it and the three went looking for Sasuke.
Soon enough they found him, but upon seeing his head sticking out of the ground Sakura had a flashback to the genjutsu and fainted again, "What's her problem?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Huh? Oh she's just mentally traumatised, she'll get over it." Maemi said dismissively as Naruto rushed over to start digging the Uchiha out of the ground.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, confused by the actions of the blonde genin.
"Maemi-chan figured out the secret behind the test, we need to work together." Naruto explained as the Muse in question gently slapped Sakura's face to try rousing the girl.
Sasuke scowled, managing to get his hand free and shove Naruto back before pulling himself the rest of the way out of the ground, "That's absurd, there are only two bells." he insisted as he dusted himself off.
Sakura blearily blinked awake as Maemi backed off, "Sasuke-kun! You're alive!" the girl shouted with relief as she leaped to hug him, holding him tight to confirm he was real.
"Of course I am! Get off!" Sasuke groused, embarrassed by the display of concern for his well being.
"The bells are the trick to the test, they conceal the answer by making you focus on a goal." Maemi tried to explain but the Uchiha scoffed.
"Ridiculous, I need to become stronger than he is, now." Sasuke said plainly, looking troubled. Maemi frowned, recognizing that some trauma was influencing the decisions of the dark haired genin.
They were interrupted by the alarm, "Crap!" Naruto cursed as the silver haired jonin landed within line of sight of the three genin.
"Well that's noon, and no one has a bell." Kakashi said as he approached, "Oh my, listen to those little stomachs growl." he added as two of the genin's stomachs made loud noises to protest their current emptiness, "By the way you three I have an announcement about this exercise." he continued as he crossed his arms and stopped approaching, "None of you need to worry about being sent back to the academy." he declared to the surprise of all three genin and the Daemon bound to one of them.
"Yeah!" Naruto cheered suddenly, assuming that the fact they'd tried to work together at the end had been accepted. Sasuke hummed as he wondered which of his feats had lead to his own passing, acknowledging that the Muse must have been right about the bells being a trick. Sakura was just stunned she'd passed after fainting like she did, "So that means all three of us-" Naruto began cheerfully.
Kakashi cut him off, "-are completely hopeless. More schooling would be pointless. None of you deserve to be shinobi!" he said harshly, "Give up on being ninja." he finished. Maemi detected a lie but frowned, trying to figure out which part was actually the lie and what the purpose of it was.
"Hell no!" Naruto snapped suddenly, "Why should we give up?" he questioned, trying to reign in his anger, his head throbbing as he panted a little, skin still slightly flushed.
"Because none of you have what it takes." Kakashi said bluntly and Sasuke took offense, the young Uchiha got up and charged at the jonin angrily only to be floored instantly and pinned face down, "What you are is a trio of spoiled brats." the silver haired man continued calmly, "It took an outside influence to figure out the purpose of the test, and while she is an asset available to Naruto she is not a member of the team." he explained and the genin glanced at Maemi, Sasuke scowling at the confirmation that it was teamwork they were supposed to do, "This test was indeed designed to cause disenssion among you, but that was to determine if you could set aside your own needs to work together for the good of all. Instead you, Sakura, ignored Naruto was right in front of you to look for Sasuke, who you couldn't even see and had already decided that the two of you would just get in his way." the man lectured at length, "The one who came closest was ironically Naruto, but working together with his assets doesn't count for the purpose of this exercise." he pointed out.
"We were just about to come at you as a team though!" Naruto protested, still respirating fast as his heart beat hammered in his chest.
"Too little, too late. Making a play as an individual is bad for the team and exposes your allies to unnecessary danger." Kakashi shot back, "On a mission, your lives are on the line, for example," he continued and palmed a kunai, placing it to Sasuke's neck, "Sakura, kill Naruto or Sasuke dies." he demanded, watching the purple eyes of the blonde widen in realization as the green eyes of the kunoichi widened in panic, "What are you supposed to do if your carelessness gets you taken hostage?" he asked as he withdrew the kunai and Sakura breathed a sigh of relief.
Kakashi stood up and let Sasuke up, gesturing for the four to follow him back towards the alarm and food, "Not far from here is a stone marker, every single name carved on it is a hero of our village, all ninja." he lectured somberly.
"Then that's where my name will go one day!" Naruto decided, liking the idea of being a hero.
Kakashi managed not to wince, "They aren't just any heroes." he said without looking back, the group of five starting to approach the stumps he'd left the bento boxes on.
"What kind of heroes are they then?" Naruto asked and Maemi resisted a sigh, even with a drug stimulating his central nervous system and helping him focus the blonde was a bit clueless.
"The dead kind." Kakashi said simply, "They all died in the line of duty. It's a memorial. My best friends names are on there." he explained without emotion, "Pay attention because I'm giving you all one last chance. This will be far more difficult than our game with the bells." he warned, "If you're prepared for that, then you may eat a bento box, but no sharing with Sasuke who resisted working together until the end." he insisted, "Finally, Maemi will be coming with me while you all eat." he added, knowing now not to underestimate the Daemon's intuition or deductive ability.
Maemi frowned but nodded and left with Kakashi, leaving the three genin near the bento boxes. Naruto was still panting, wondering if the combat drugs were the reason he was still so out of breath. He assumed that must be it since he was still full of energy, and he felt amazing too despite the breathlessness and hammering heart.
Sakura gave Sasuke a nervous glance as the boy sat down, blushing a bit as her stomach grumbled before she grabbed a bento and sat down. Sasuke pretended not to notice his own protesting stomach as Naruto grabbed the other bento and inspected the contents.
The Uchiha looked up in surprise as the blonde approached him, "I'm not hungry." Naruto said as he dropped the bento into the hands of the dark haired boy, "I had breakfast anyway." he revealed with a shrug.
Sakura was ashamed of herself for not sharing with Sasuke first, "But Kakashi-sensei said-" she protested weakly.
"It's not sharing if I don't eat, y'know!" Naruto decided with a grin and a thumbs up, confident in his own logic.
Sakura frowned but nodded in agreement, "Yeah, that makes sense." she supposed, taking another hesitant bite of her own bento as Sasuke stared at the bento in his hands, "Um," the pink haired girl hesitated, "I don't need this whole bento, so are you sure you aren't hungry?" she asked Naruto with concern and when the blonde nodded she turned to Sasuke with a frown.
"Let's not push our luck," Sasuke said as he opened the bento, "I doubt Kakashi will accept Naruto's logic, but it's probably our best bet. Finish your entire bento, I don't want you being a liability because you gave me some of your food." he said bluntly.
Naruto sat down in between Sasuke and Sakura with a sigh, his head throbbing a little. He felt strange, his mind was getting hazier the longer the day went and he was starting to experence a strange juxtaposition of tiredness combined with wide eyed wakefulness.
As soon as Sasuke relented and took a bite there was an explosion of smoke, "You-!" Kakashi shouted angrily as he charged them from the smoke, alarming all three of the genin before he stopped short, "-pass!" he finished cheerfully, grinning under his mask at the expressions of the three as Maemi followed behind him, looking relieved.
Sakura was stunned, "We passed? Why?" she asked, unaware that the test had even started yet.
"Well, I'd like to say up until now you three have only followed my orders without thinking for yourselves," Kakashi said with a pointed look at Naruto, "but one of you seems quite interested in loop holes. That aside, a true shinobi must find the hidden meanings beneath hidden meanings." he continued, "In the shinobi world those who violate the rules and disobey orders are less than trash. However, those who do not care for and support their allies are even lower than that." he explained.
Naruto grinned since he thought that was pretty cool of the jonin to say, Sakura grinning herself with joy that she'd passed as Sasuke hummed with relief that the ordeal was over with. Kakashi then dismissed them, stating that their duties as fully fledged shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato would start tomorrow.