Oddly, it was my Hero Academia that reinspired this story.

I hate that Kakashi's actions never had consequences, same with Jiraiya's, or really anyone... too lax I think.

I also missed Naruto and I really wanted to write a story, or work with out, without Shadow clones and have Naruto actually earn his skills.

Naruto sighed in annoyance as he waited for his sensei. Sasuke and Sakura were waiting as well, with Sakura glaring in annoyance at Naruto the entire time, as if he had ruined her entire life just being present. It hurt a little, his memory of his old crush on her was strong. Not so strong it was cloying but strong enough that he was left feeling a dull ache in his chest at the look of her hate.

Still, it also made him wonder what he hell he ever saw in her.

'She's never been nice, always mocked me for being an orphan despite loving Sasuke who is also an orphan... something neither of us could ever control... I guess I was just looking for something I could never have.'

Not entirely satisfied with this, he turned back to his hands and to the Ninja Flashcards he had. He was working on Ninja Conduct at the moment, specifically on not showing emotion. That was hard for him, but he was determined to impress his sensei, even if they turned out to be as bad as the Senseis in the academy. He wanted to prove his worth, if only to himself really.

It would be almost two hours before their idiot sensei approached and Naruto had lost all respect for the man, who turned up with grey hair and one eye covered by his headband. His mouth and jaw was covered by a mask for some odd reason. The man looked young too, late twenties at the oldest.

"Hi, there!"

Naruto sighed, barely restraining the urge to scream at the man before him. "Why are you late? You do realize that breaks like five code of conduct rules?" They all turned towards him, shock in their eyes, even the new man though it was rather muted. "What, I used to be bad about the rules, I am trying to do better so I read up on the rules. You broke several, can we even trust you to do your job?"

The man frowned. "I don't think I like you very much. Meet me on the roof in five minutes." The man shushined away in that moment, leaving Naruto with his teammates.

Sakura screeched. "Why would you do that, now he hates us, idiot!"

Naruto frowned right back. "Because I am right, he broke the rules, several but no one in this forsaken village ever is punished for their lax behavior." He could think of several who should have been punished. Himself included in that, maybe he would have grown up before his recent growth. Not caring for Sakura in that moment, he just walked away to the roof.

"""

"Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves? One at a time."

Sakura, being the idiot she was showing herself to be, looked confused. "Introduce ourselves, what sort of things are we supposed to say?"

Taking it oddly seriously, the man before them put his hands out. " Things you like, things you hate, Dreams for the future, hobbies. Things like that."

Naruto sighed. " For the sake of her tiny brain, can you just show us?" Sakura turned him, scowling hatefully.

"Tiny brain, why you stupid loser!"

The man just ignored her. "Me? I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like, things I hate. I don't feel like telling you that. My Dreams for the future, never really thought about it. As for Hobbies, I have lots of hobbies."

Sakura looked peeved. "That was useless, all he really told us was his name."

Naruto nodded. "Hmm."

"Alright you on the right, you first." The newly minted Kakashi said, pointing to Naruto.

Adjusting his headband, Naruto spoke up. " My name is Naruto Uzumaki... I... Hate people that hate others for no real reason. I like working hard, hate nepotism and people with unfair advantages. I hate laxness and I hate my old self. I love who I am now and my dream is to see who I can become on my own power, not everyone else's." He put a hand on his belly, never noticing the look on Kakashi's face.

"""

Kakashi was contemplative. 'He's grown up in a rather unusual way... but something major has changed in his soul, I see a darkness he just didn't have before. This could be troublesome. That movement of his hand onto his stomach, could he know of the Fox?' Kakashi nodded. "Alright, next." He said to Sakura.

"I'm Sakura Haruno! What I like, uh I mean the person I like is." She turned to Sasuke." My hobby is... my dream for the future is..." Her squeals annoyed him as she looked more as Sasuke."

"And, what do you hate."

"Naruto and Ino-pig!"

Naruto just rolled his eyes. "Cause that so hurts my soul, dumb bitch."

"Last one."

Sasuke had his hands in front of his face, quiet and contemplative. "My name, is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, for I will make it a reality. I am going to restore my clan, and destroy a certain someone."

"Good, you are each unique and have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

Sakura looked afraid. "What kind of mission will we have?"

"It is a task the four of us will do together."

"What what what what."

"A survival exercise."

"A survival exercise?" Sakura frowned. "I thought we were supposed to have a real mission, not more practice. That's what we did in the academy to get here."

"This is not like your previous training."

"What kind of training is it then?" Naruto asked, his tone softer than Kakashi thought him capable of.

Kakashi laughed.

Sakura wasn't happy. "That's actually a valid question, what's so funny?"

"If I tell you, you're not going to like it. Of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine will be accepted as genin. The other eighteen will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this Is a make it or break it test, with a pass rate of thirty-three percent." Each kid looked horrified, even Sasuke though he hid it well. " See, didn't I tell you, you wouldn't like it?"

Naturally, Sakura had to bark up. "That's crazy we worked hard to get here. What was that graduation test for anyway."

"Oh that, that was to select which candidates could become genin, or not."

Sakura barked. " What?"

"That's how it is. I decide if you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at five a.m. And bring your Ninja Gear."

Each kid had their own mental struggles, each interesting and predictable... except Naruto, who cut off all emotional ties, leaving nothing but cold efficiency in his expression. It was almost haunting.

"That's it, your dismissed. Oh and you better skip breakfast, or you'll puke."

Smirking inside, he wondered if any of them would pick up on his wording and the loophole in his statement. The poor genin never did.

...

'The first thing our Ninja book says is to be well fed and rested for any mission, not eating makes no sense... I think it is a test. Besides, he only said we shouldn't eat not that we can't. Besides if he is late again we'll have digested it enough that puking will be unlikely.' Determined to not listen to Kakashi, who kind of seemed dumb, Naruto hurried home and immediately got started on his Katas. He wanted to be as skilled, as pure as possible.

For two hours he went through his katas for taijutsu, and then bojutsu with his staves. He had gotten pretty good with them, and only wanted to improve more. He doubted it would be enough to beat Kakashi, a Jonin, but he could hope that it would impress the man enough to pass the stupid exam. He had worked too hard to pass, to get himself to overcome his past failings. He had barely passed but he was sure that with the path he was on, he would thrive!

He just had to get passed Kakashi's stupid exam...

::::

"See what I mean, Kakashi?" Hiruzen started, looking through his crystal orb at Naruto, moving gracefully through the Bojutsu Katas.

Kakashi nodded. "I suspect he knows of the Fox, he moved his hand to his stomach when talking about relying on his own powers. I have a feeling he is hiding far more than we realize, or at the least has less loyalty that we would like him to have."

Hiruzen sighed. "He is a different person and we never noticed. I fear that we must be extremely careful in the days to come. For Naruto may surprise us and not in a good way."

"I can only hope you are wrong."

Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

This was a lot of fun!

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.