Better Equipped
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.
: Thoughts
Chapter 2 – Meet the new Teams
Naruto at age 12
Things went along as Naruto expected. He finally met the other main cast of the series. Aburame Shino, Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino, and Uchiha Sasuke were all in his class this year. Sakura and Ino were both cute just like Hinata but he had not intention of having any relationships. He was still twelve and didn't even have hair on his face yet. Naruto noticed during their first encounter that Sasuke already developed an intense desire to kill his brother. He secretly advises Iruka-sensei and Hokage-sensei to give the Uchiha heir some psychiatric treatment. Naruto told them that Sasuke seems to be power hungry and has potential to become like his older brother if left unchecked. Both of his sensei agreed to his reasoning and had Sasuke treated and surveyed. Since Sasuke would eventually seek out Orochimaru, Naruto hopes that the psychiatric treatment will lessen his thirst for revenge and thus does not betray the Leaf. In case fate will continue to have Sasuke run to Orochimaru, Naruto plans to spoil Sasuke's training and growth. When it is time for them to fight, Naruto will continue to have a bigger advantage in skills.
Another problem Naruto had been with Mizuki. In the original Naruto timeline, Mizuki tricked Naruto into stealing the Fourth's forbidden scroll. Mizuki probably still has the ambition to become strong. Naruto frequently remind Iruka-sensei to keep a close eye on him because that man couldn't be trusted. Iruka knew of Naruto's good intuition therefore taking his word seriously. For the moment, Mizuki hasn't taking any action yet.
Graduation day was here. Today, all the seniors of the academy will take an exam which will determine if they are qualified to graduate. Graduates will become an unofficial Genin. Everyone in the class passed on their first try. Naruto graduated with the highest scores in all area, giving him the title as this year's number one rookie. Sasuke was in second place among the twenty-seven people that graduated.
"Congratulations to all of you!" Iruka said. "Every one of you has what it takes and I am proud that you all passed. Great Work! Remember to meet up here in three days. You will begin the next phase of your training onto becoming a ninja of the Leaf."
The first thing Naruto saw when he walked into the room where all the new Genins was suppose to be introduce to their Jounin instructors were eighty percent of the girls were fighting over Sasuke. Sakura and Ino were included in that group. He then noticed Hinata sitting alone and decided to sit by her. "Morning Hinata!"
"Good morning Naruto-kun," Hinata replied shyly. "Shikamaru and the others are already here. They are sitting three rows down."
"Oh? How come you don't sit with them?"
"The walkway was already crowded when I got here so I decided to sit here instead where it is quieter."
Naruto nodded. The walkway was crowded indeed. The Sasuke fan club all crowded at one spot and fighting over the right to sit by him.
Kiba walked over with Akamaru sitting on his head. "Looks like the Sasuke fan club doesn't know when to quit."
Naruto couldn't help but chuckle.
"Who do you think our instructors would be?"
"I have no idea Kiba," Naruto answered. "It's all up to them."
Actually, I do know them. I can't tell you since it'll ruin the surprise plus the Hokage training me is suppose to be a secret for now. I can't let any information out that might get you suspicious. I had a talk with Iruka and the other instructors about how the team should be divided. I couldn't help but put in some input.
On cue, Iruka entered and ordered everyone to take a seat. "Today we will be creating a three person team. Each team will be assigned a Jounin sensei. Please follow their instructions as you would with me. They have extensive knowledge and experience and will able to continue your training where I cannot. We tried to balance each team's strengths so that there isn't a team that has an advantage over another. That just wouldn't be fair."
"A three person team," Sasuke contemplated. "They would only slow me down."
Iruka began to read off the team list. "In Team Seven, we have Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba. In Team Eight, we have Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Yamanaka Ino."
"YES!" Sakura and Ino screamed out in unison. "Hey, how come you're in Sasuke's group?"
"Quiet down kids!" Iruka yelled. "This is the team and you are stuck with it. In Team Nine, we have…. In Team Ten, we have Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, and Aburame Shino. You have a few hours break now. You can do whatever you want in the mean time but please show up before the scheduled time to meet your Jounin sensei. You do want to make a good first impression right?"
Sakura and Ino was very please to be on Sasuke's team however they were annoyed that their rival was apart of the team too. Sasuke was also annoyed that he didn't get any useful partners. He was right when he said that his partners would only slow him down.
I had a hard time picking out my teammates. Since every group consists of two guys and a girl, I had to pick from Sakura, Hinata, and Ino. Sakura is smart but I can't recall how her smarts really helped in any situation. Ino has that body switching technique but it's useless other than spying or tying up our enemies. Hinata has x-ray and telescope vision like Superman and that can come in handy anytime. Looks like Hinata has more useful abilities than the other girls and she is a better fighter in my book. Of course I don't want Sasuke in my group since I don't want him to rob my techniques. Shikamaru works well with Chouji so I can't split them up. Plus, they are unmotivated most of the time so I'll be screwed. Don't know much about Shino so that leaves me with Kiba.
"Looks like we're going to be teammates," said Kiba. "Feel sad for Sasuke though. I don't really know the other two girls that are partnering up with him."
Yeah, it really does suck. It would be interesting to see how he fairs out with the two loves struck birds. Just in case you do side with Orochimaru later on, I can't have you improving at a fast rate. So I had to talk with Iruka into letting Sakura and Ino teaming up with you because of their infatuation. Their little crush would hopefully cool him down and eliminate his ambition. In addition, Kurenai will be his sensei instead of Kakashi which means he won't be learning the Chidori anytime soon. Sure everyone insisted that Kakashi is a better candidate to be Sasuke's sensei since that are similar but Kurenai is a woman who can become a mother figure to Sasuke. Anyhow, Kakashi knows about a thousand jutsus so I would be stupid to not learn from him. He probably has some jutsus that are from other villages which are ones that I am after.
"I feel sorry for Sasuke too," said Naruto. "But we should also be happy for Sakura and Ino who got what they wanted. Let's go grab something to eat before our sensei comes."
Hinata and Kiba nodded and followed the carrier of the demon fox.
"Hey, how long is he going to keep us waiting?" Kiba asked. "The other teams have already gone out with their instructors."
"Maybe sensei is sick today and couldn't make it," said Hinata.
"Oh, he will be here. Just sit and relax for now. He'll show up soon enough. If not, we can relax a bit longer." Naruto was sitting and creating a list.
"What are you doing Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.
"Creating a list of supplies we might need for our training. I'm just being prepare, Hinata-chan."
The door slid open revealing a lazy looking ninja. "Ha ha ha, sorry about being late. I had to save some kids from a burning building."
"Whatever Kakashi sensei," Naruto said lazily.
"Oh, hi Naruto-kun. Alright guys, let's go someplace so we can get acquainted."
"Okay, let's start off by introducing ourselves."
"What should we say sensei?" Hinata asked.
"Hmmm… say your likes, dislikes, dreams, something like that. Since you're the first to speak, why don't you start off."
"Okay, I'm Hyuuga Hinata. I like it when people are nice to me. I dislike mean people. My dream is to be strong since I'm the heir to the Hyuuga Clan."
"I'll go next then," said Naruto. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like a lot of things. I dislike like a lot of things too. My dream is to become a great and renowned ninja. I don't want to become the Hokage since it's a lot of work, so I would rather become a Sennin who gets to travel anytime and anywhere they want. Of course, I will help the Leaf right away when it's in trouble. I want to protect the Leaf just like my father had done."
Kiba seeing that it was his turn decided to ask his new sensei about himself first.
"My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes are none of your business so don't bother asking again. Can't tell you much about my dreams but I do have a lot of hobbies. Now back to you."
"What kind of introduction is that?" Kiba complained. "Anyways, I'm Inuzuka Kiba and this is my pal Akamaru. We both dislike cats for obvious reasons. My dream is also to become super strong along with Akamaru. Hmmm… what I like at the moment is to see what you got hiding under that mask. Naruto wears a mask too and I'm a bit curious on what he looks like but he never shows. Since you are our sensei, you should…."
"Afraid not," Kakashi said quickly.
Hinata was disappointed. Kiba brought up about Naruto wearing the mask all the time. She was also curious about how he looked. A slight blush appeared on her face.
"Alright, that's enough now with our introductions. We'll get to learn more about each other through firsthand experience real soon. Our training starts tomorrow. We're going to do some survival training."
"Training?" Kiba asked. "Didn't we do enough training at the academy already?"
Kakashi noticed that Naruto and Hinata were both quiet and seems to want him to finish what he was saying. "Out of the twenty-seven students that graduated, only 9 will become official Genins. That gives you a sixty-six percent failure rate. You get sent back to the academy to get retrained if you fail. Makes you want to flip huh?" He was certainly amused. "Be at the training field tomorrow morning. Our test will be there. Bring all your ninja tools with you. And another important note…don't eat breakfast since you will spill it all out." With that said, Kakashi left.
Naruto was amused at his sensei's antics. "Don't mind him guys. Eat breakfast tomorrow. We will probably need the energy for tomorrow's training."
Hinata and Kiba both nodded.
Back at the lounge, the Jounin instructors gathered and discussed about the students they were assigned too.
"I have Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Yamanaka Ino on my team," Kurenai stated. "The two girls seem to care more about relationships than they do with becoming a ninja. They are infatuated with Sasuke. Sasuke still seem to want revenge on his brother but his psychiatric treatment files shows that he is making results. I guess I should also try to heal his wounds before he becomes what he hates the most. This is what Naruto recommended right?"
"Speaking of which, Naruto is assigned to your team right Kakashi?" Asuma asked. "He should be around our level at the least. The kid is sure focus on training. He's almost like Lee, one of Gai's students. I taught Naruto a few things."
"I also had the chance to teach him as well. I taught him some genjutsus." Kurenai remembered it well. Naruto was a very fast learner.
"I guess we all taught him something," said Kakashi. "Frankly, I don't know what to teach Naruto next. Guess I need to have a little chat with him."
The next morning came and both Hinata and Kiba showed up at the scheduled time. It was an hour later that Naruto arrived.
"You're late Naruto!" Kiba yelled.
"Sorry guys. I forgot to tell you that its okay to come late. Our sensei is notorious with being late to any occasion. Did you guys eat breakfast yet?" Seeing them nod, Naruto went around inspecting the area.
"What are you doing Naruto-kun?" Hinata watched the young blond ninja walk around the area and showed gestures that he was thinking of something.
"I'm just surveying the area to know the battle field. I've been here before but it wouldn't hurt to check again to see if there is any spot that would endanger our mission. Today's exercise, we are supposed to demonstrate teamwork by grabbing two bells from Kakashi sensei. After we get the two bells, the one without it will be tied on one of those logs and fail the exam without lunch. Of course he is just saying that to divide our team. We'll pass if we show him how good we work as a team."
"How do you know about that?" Kiba asked.
"I heard about this type of test before. Information is just as handy as a sharp blade they say."
It was right before noon when Kakashi decided to show up. "There are two bells here. You are to take the bells away from me by using any means necessary. The last one who doesn't have a bell will be tied to a post without lunch, plus that person will fail and be sent back to the academy. If you don't have any questions, we begin now!"
Immediately, Hinata disappeared in a leap leaving Naruto and Kiba behind.
"I think you guys got the wrong idea of this exam," said Kakashi.
"Oh, we have the right idea alright!" Kiba announced. "We're going to take those bells away from you by force."
The two boys began to dash towards their Jounin sensei. Kiba began attacking Kakashi's bottom half while Naruto attacked the upper half. They hoped that this type of strategic attacks would tire out their sensei. Kiba made continuous sweeps and using his family's claw techniques to slash his sensei's knees. On the other hand, Naruto aim for Kakashi's abdomen and had to resort to perform aerial attacks in order to attack the face.
These boys are good, Kakashi thought. He could hardly keep up with them. Their attacks seem to be synchronized. What worried him was how Naruto was taking a long time to snatch the bells away from him. He should have gotten the bells already. Naruto was able to fight on equal terms with Gai, so getting the bells shouldn't be a problem.
"Beast Effect Nin-Pou! Shikyaku no Jutsu!" Kiba got down on all fours mimicking a dog that was about to attack. His finger nails grew into claws as chakra flows through his body. Faster than normal eyes can see, he disappeared and reappeared, smashing his elbow into Kakashi's gut.
As soon as Kiba launch his attack, Naruto perform his own move. "Tatsumaki Sepukyaku!" Naruto jumped up and preformed the hurricane kick. He sent four consecutive kicks to his sensei's face. He had spent months on practicing that move seeing how he was now able to jump high. It was Ryu and Ken's special move from Street Fighter 2, a video he used to play in his other life.
One of the advantage of having this top shape body is that I'm able to do moves from those video games I used to play. I was planning to use these moves only during emergencies but I can't help showing off once in awhile. Thanks to them, I got a shit load of attacks.
Kakashi didn't know what hit him. The attacks came on pretty fast and the only thing he could do was block until one of them lets up and makes a mistake. He was barely blocking the boys' moves. The advantage he had over them is in size, which is the length of his arms and legs. It seems like Kiba was also pretty good in taijutsu. Then it occurred to him that he had completely forgotten to keep track of Kiba's dog.
Meanwhile, Hinata was sitting at the designated meeting spot where she was suppose to meet up with the boys. Next to her were Naruto, Kiba, and Akamaru.
"Okay, everything is going as planned," Naruto stated. "I made quick seals before we met here and create Kage Bushins to keep Kakashi busy for awhile. Let him tire out a bit before we start our real attack. Two of the clones used Henge and transformed into Kiba and Akamaru, so don't be surprised if you see them there."
"Good thinking Naruto-kun," Hinata complemented. She was felt really assured that Naruto was in her group. He had always tried hard in everything he does and doesn't quit until he gets it right. He was the exact opposite of her. In truth, she really admires her blond friend and wants to be like him.
"What do we do now Naruto?" Kiba asked.
"We wait for the signal. If my guess is correct, all my clones will be dispersed before the signal is given. I will create more Kage Bushins and use Henge and transform into our other classmates, namely people from Team Eight and Ten. I won't be there in case Kakashi sensei actually gets out of our trap. I will be our hidden trump card. If you see me running out towards the fight so early and Kakashi sensei is nowhere to be seen, then he used Henge to turn into me. If he transform into our other classmates, I will disperse that clone so that we will know who is Kakashi. In case he turns into one of you, our password will be 'where is Naruto'. Everyone got it?"
Hinata and Kiba both nod.
"Kiba, you join in on the fight and make sure you don't hit any of the Bushins. Hinata, you will also attack Kakashi sensei. Use your Gentle Fist style to stop chakra from going into his hands. This way, he can't do hand seals for a short moment. Akamaru, you role is equally important. Your job is to grab the bells and make a run for it. Kakashi sensei usually uses Kawarimi No Jutsu and replace himself with a log, so watch out for that. Be prepared once a log appears. Everyone got it?"
Everyone nodded.
"Then we will wait for the signal. It should be a loud bang."
Back at the fight, Kakashi just began to counter attack. The boys seem to be letting up a bit which gave him enough time to use Kawarimi No Jutsu and reappear to throw a kunai at each of them to disrupt their synchronization. He then attacked Kiba first knowing that he would have a harder time taking on Naruto if the blond had some help. As he gotten close to Kiba, he felt a tag on his pouch. It was Akamaru who had bitten onto his Come Come Paradise book. The dog managed to take the book out of the pouch but landed on the ground hard as Kakashi turned with enough force to knock it away. It was then that Akamaru poof back into Naruto.
What the? Naruto used Henge to turn into Akamaru?"
Kiba attacked Kakashi again while he was momentarily lost in his thoughts but was hit across the face with a punch to the gut. The hit he received deactivated the Henge turning him back into Naruto.
Kiba is Naruto too? Wait a second, these three are Kage Bushins! I got to get out of this quick.
"Kage Bushin No Jutsu!" Kakashi made six clones to out number Naruto's clones. As the last Naruto clone dispersed, so did the other Kakashi clones. He surveyed the field in case the three students of his were going to attack. What made him weary was that they didn't when the time to attack him was perfect. What is their plan, he wondered. Kakashi saw his precious book where Naruto had dropped it. He naturally picked the book up. He looked around the field again in case they had some how sneaked up on him while he was picking up his book. When everything seemed to be ordinary, he flipped the book open to the last page where his book mark was.
Wait a second, I don't use book marks!
A loud explosive sound was heard toward the direction where Kakashi was at. Naruto gestured his partners that it was time to precede to the next plan. "Kage Bushin No Jutsu!"
That was way too close for comfort. That Naruto is dangerous. He used explosive notes and put it into my book like it was a book mark.
Kakashi had barely got away from the explosive charms Naruto left in his book. The blast still got him and he could still hear ringing inside his head. He was on his knees as he tried to shake the dizziness away. Then he saw some blurs at the corner of his eyes. He called chakra to his feet and jumped away as far as possible but he was knocked out of the sky from the back. As he looked who his attackers were, he saw unfamiliar faces of kids about his students' age. What is going on, he asked himself.
As soon as Kakashi landed, the unfamiliar kids began to lock his arms and legs so that he couldn't move. Each of the kids holds onto one of his arms and legs, immobilizing him. Before he got to use his size advantage to swing them away, Hinata appeared in front of him as so was Kiba. Are these more of Naruto's Kage Bushins, he wondered.
It was then Hinata activated her Byakugan and started sending chakra into her hands.
Byakugan? She isn't a Bushin.
Kakashi struggled to shake the kids off of him. The kids were strong and heavier than they should be. Then he noticed that he couldn't move his legs at all now. As he looked at his legs' condition, they were covered with webbing which clued him to the floor. "Kumo-Nenkin?" This is Naruto's favorite move which makes these kids Naruto, he thought.
Hinata continued to attack her opponent's arm like Naruto had instructed her too. Kiba attacked his sides, giving him body blows so that the impact would disrupt his sensei's nervous system, disallowing him to control his legs momentarily. It was then that Akamaru jumped off of Kiba and reached up and grabbed the bells with its teeth. Akamaru ran away from the group at a good distance when Naruto appeared next to him.
"Looks like we won, Kakashi sensei!" Naruto yelled.
Hinata and Kiba heard Naruto's voice and quickly stopped their attacks and ran towards their other teammate. As they got close to Naruto, they caught the bells which Naruto had thrown to them.
The Bushins that Naruto made dispersed after they had finished what they were meant to do.
"You guys sure play rough," said Kakashi. "Your teamwork is very good. Naruto came up with the plan I'm guessing. The plan and diversion were both good. But Naruto, how come your Bushins transformed into those people?"
"Well, if there were six Narutos in the field, we would all have a problem if you decided to transform into me. That would cause a lot of problems and our plan would be ruin. So I had to transform into different people who Hinata and Kiba knows so that they can differentiate the clones from you."
"Wise move Naruto," Kakashi praised. "You all passed. This exam as you already know is to test your teamwork."
"Yeah, I know," said Naruto, "which was why I didn't grab the bells away from you when the exam began."
"You do know you have an ego right Naruto? I should have created a different test for you guys but I was lazy. If it wasn't for Naruto being on the team, I wouldn't have messed up so badly. I was too cautious about him, which made me lose focus. That won't happen again. Anyways, you are all officially Genins now. Meet me at the bridge tomorrow at noon. Oh, you guys owe me a new book. Now, get me out of this webbing."
Author's Note:
Well, that's the end of the bell examination. I added Ryu and Ken's hurricane kick in the story to remind every that this is an SI fanfic. If you are wondering how Naruto can do Kiba's move, it's because he was trained by the Third. The Third is supposed to know all the jutsus and stuff in the Hidden Leaf Village. Naruto could also look in up in one of the many scrolls in the Third's library. Yeah, he's a Jounin level ninja. He could have graduated early and stuff but it will screw up the story right? But don't think Naruto is all bad ass yet. He's still a twelve year old and his body isn't mature enough to hold Kyuubi's power.
Naruto is Spiderman? Not really, but close enough. He sure does move like Spiderman and has the speed, agility, flexibility, and able to shoot webbing. But, he doesn't have a spider sense or lift 10 ton. Although Naruto is pretty strong and he is still wearing a weighted vest which is heavier than what it originally was. How strong is he? You will have to find out. How he got webbing? Find out next chapter.
Does it seem like the character interaction is short? I kinda wanted to finish the bell examination scene before going more in depth and such.
