A bit longer this time. Starting to get into the meat of the story. *Hmm meat....* Hope whoever's reading this is liking it so far. Like I said before i don't own Naruto, you know it, i know it...things are good.
Uchiha Sasuke hated the whole deal. Not only had he been stuck with a nearly worthless girl, he was also assigned the most perverted Jounin possible. This actually wasn't so bad since Kakashi-sensei was actually quite good when he put away his dirty books, he was even pretty good when he had them out. But what really got under Sasuke's skin was that he and his partial team had been relegated to the lowest class of missions possible. Even when they got a decent mission they were usually paired up with another team. The sparsity of the missions also ate the hell out of the Uchiha kid. He knew he deserved better but no, he was stuck with a half squad and no good missions while they waited for some mystery kid to complete their squad. Sasuke hoped this guy was worth the wait, otherwise he'd have to kill something.
Actually it wasn't nearly as bad as Sasuke made it out to be. Sakura had had a crush him, along with almost every other female ninja in Konoha, back at the academy but during one of their first training sessions Sasuke had made it abundantly clear to the girl that she was nothing to him and probably never would be. The only way she could earn his respect was to train hard and improve her pathetic combat skills and stamina.
Initially shocked by his blunt refusal, Sakura pouted for several days and cried herself to sleep for a few nights afterward. But finally she saw the wisdom in what Sasuke had said. She began taking her training more seriously. To her she wasn't really giving up on Sasuke, just that she was trying a new approach to his heart. If that meant giving up her girly ways and becoming a ninja of his caliber she could do it. It also had a secondary bonus, she began to surpass her main rival for Sasuke, Ino Pig.
Another reason that it wasn't so bad was that, despite their lack of challenging missions, they made up for it in training time. Kakashi-sensei turned out to be a fine teacher. The two Genin focused hard on their training. Kakashi knew they both had potential. Sasuke was to much like Kakashi himself to easily give up and Sakura was a quick study. Her determination to win Sasuke's heart through skill also made her a very dedicated student. Kakashi only hoped his third student would be as smart and powerful as his other two.
He knew Jiriaya-sama for a number of reasons. His reputation as a Sennin of course, the fact that he had been the teacher of Kakashi's own teacher, the fourth Hokage, and the final and less well known fact was that he was the author of Kakashi's favorite dirty books. It would be interesting to see what one of his students would have to offer.
****
The months to the Chuunin exam rapidly disappeared until the appointed time for Jiriaya and Naruto's arrival was the only major event left before the exams for the Hokage to worry about. The old man had the sentries on the city walls and at the gates keep an extra good eye out for the pair. He didn't want to waste any time in getting Naruto situated with his new team.
It came down to a week and two days before the exam before the much awaited runner appeared in the Hokage's office.
"Hokage-sama," he saluted. "A white haired man carrying a large scroll and a young blond boy are approaching the north gate."
The Hokage felt his pulse quicken and he stood up and thanked the runner. He left the building, followed by his guard, and hurried to the North gate to greet the new arrivals. He arrived before the gates had even been opened. One of the guards high above in the watch tower shouted down to the others standing guard at the door itself and they hurried to open the big wooden door.
The doors glided open and the Hokage stepped through with his guard and the door guards. In the distance he could see a pair of people walking sedately down the road. He spotted the white hair of his old student Jiriaya. From what he could see the man had aged a bit more but had not lost that look of confidence and cockiness he always wore.
But it was the other person traveling with him that drew the Hokage's attention. The boy was of average height, his bright blond spiky hair making him look a bit taller then he actually was. He wore baggy black pants, a ninja net shirt,(kinda like the stuff Shikamaru wears) and a white front zip hoody with it's arms shorn off just above the wrist and red flames licking up the bottom. The Hokage could see the glint of metal coming from the boy's wrists and guessed he was wearing hand protectors much like Jiriaya's. He had a weapon's pouch strapped to his right leg and a ninja headband wrapped around his waist like a belt. The Hokage noticed Naruto was the only one carrying a back pack.
When Jiriaya saw the gates open and saw who had stepped out to greet him he smiled and waved. *The old man must be pretty hyped to have the boy back.* he thought. He looked back at his blond student and smiled even wider. *He's gonna get more then he expected.*
The Third Hokage held out his hand to his old pupil as the pair stopped in front of him. He shook hands with his old friend. "Welcome back Jiriaya. It has been a long time."
Jiriaya patted the Hokage on his shoulder. "Hey old man. Its been a while but I'm finally back. You look as decrepit as ever." The Hokage smiled. "True, that's very true."
He turned his attention to the younger of the two and finally got a good look at Naruto. He had guessed living with Jiriaya would affect the boy and was prepared for the changes. So when he saw the red tattoos streaking down from the boy's eyes and the slightly longer hair the boy sported in back he wasn't surprised. The boy looked like a mix between his father the Fourth and Jiriaya as a young boy. One other thing he noticed was that instead of a leaf forehead protector the boy wore one of a different design. It was a simple spiral. It was as if the point and stem of the leaf had been cut off just leaving the spiral heart. The old man would have to find out about it's significance later.
Naruto bowed when he was confronted and the Hokage bowed back, a little hesitantly at first. *This is a shock* he thought. Where the boy had picked up manners was beyond him. Jiriaya was about as low life as men got. He'd never had much in the way of manner ever. "Welcome home Naruto-kun. I am glad to have you back with us." he said.
Naruto straightened and gave him a dashing smile. The whisker marks and the cheek tattoos only made it look more fox like. "Thanks Hokage-sama. Jiriaya-sensei has told me all about you." His smile slipped and then returned but with a more irritated look thrown in. It was directed more at Jiriaya then anyone else. His tone of voice also went from polite to something more along the lines of a sassy, younger version of Jiriaya's voice. "If you hadn't have taken care of me before this pervert came along I'd have been dead long ago."
Jiriaya laughed and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Ha ha ha he he...what a joker he is. Got a tongue like a whip he does. He's constantly coming up with new ways to insult me."
Naruto looked back at the Hokage with pride and mocking in his voice. "It also helps that I can beat him up if he tries to take it to the next level." The Hokage noted that Jiriaya looked both extremely happy and mortified at the same time when Naruto said it.
"I'm sure he's harder then that to take down." said the Leaf Leader. He was taking Naruto's boasting with a grain of salt but quickly revised his opinion when he saw Jiriaya shaking his head fervently. "No no, the boy's quite right. He gets me every time now. In a straight fight I'm not sure who would win but our fights are never clean. Anything goes...I mean anything." The old man shuddered. Naruto looked even more proud of himself if that was possible.
*What did spending time with Jiriaya do to you Naruto?* the Hokage wondered. If Jiriaya was afraid of facing his student Naruto had to be very good indeed.
Putting those thoughts aside the Third directed them through the gate and walked them personally to an apartment that had been prepared for them ahead of time. There Naruto placed his backpack, revealing a large red spiral on the back of his hoody.
Jiriaya decided to go for a walk towards the hot springs district, much to the scorn of his student. But before Naruto could seriously begin insulting his teacher the Third grabbed his shoulder and led him out the door. "Now that you're here you can meet your new team. I'll take you there myself."
So the two walked together, the old Hokage filling Naruto in on the layout of the town and some of the towns basic facts, while they walked towards the forest training area that Kakashi had picked as his team's training spot. The Hokage knew they would be there. They were there every day they didn't have a mission.
Both of them heard Kakashi and his team before they ever set eyes on them. Shouts of Goukakyuu no Jutsu and explosions reached them from a good distance off. The Third chuckled. The group's training ground was always a checkerboard of burned ground and torched fallen trees. Both Sakura and Sasuke like the Grand Fireball technique a lot.
The two entered the clearing to find a grand melee in progress. Kakashi was dodging a coordinated fireball attack from his students. The dual fireballs forced him to jump backwards, right into a trap of flying shuriken. A pin cushion of a log fell to the ground where Kakashi had been only to be blown to smithereens by an exploding note Kakashi had placed there before disappearing. The note sent the shuriken back towards his two students who managed to dodge or knock all of them aside. Once all flying objects had been accounted for the two scanned the area for their teacher. Instead of finding him alone they saw him walking towards a young blond haired boy and the Hokage himself.
Kakashi had seen the pair enter the training ground. For fear of the fight endangering them he had cut it short to greet them. He saluted his leader. The Hokage waved the salute off. "You seem to be slipping Kakashi. Is teaching beginning to dull your edge?" the Hokage asked, his eyebrows arched.
Kakashi smiled beneath his mask and scratched his head. "Nope, those two are keeping me on my toes."
As both he and the Hokage had a little chuckle Kakashi used the time to size up the blond boy that accompanied him. He defiantly looked like the product of Jiriaya's teaching and the Fourth's genes. Kakashi had been briefed on the boy's history. He already knew the true story of the Fourth's death and the Nine Tail's defeat. He knew the boy before him carried a demon inside. Kakashi, unlike some other people, didn't let that influence his opinion of the boy however. He was more interested in his fighting skills and experience then he was in the boy's outlook on his predicament. Being one of the Fourth's students, Kakashi wasn't going to take the son of his teacher lightly even if he hadn't had a demon sealed inside of him.
As Kakashi sized up his new student Naruto took the time to size Kakashi up as well. Naruto wasn't dumb. He saw past the Jounin's lazy relaxed exterior and saw the power behind the facade. He was going to be interesting to have as a teacher. The one thing Naruto found strange about the man was the way he wore his head protector. He wore it slouched over one eye giving him something of a pirate look. Naruto filed the strange head gear away under his growing "Questions to be asked" file.
A slightly out of breath Sasuke and a still heaving Sakura joined their teacher and the three young ninja locked eyes for the first time.
The Hokage rested his hand on the blond's back. "Naruto, this is Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruna Sakura. Team Seven, this is Uzumaki Naruto."
Got off to a good start on this story. Three chapters in one day. It'll slow down a bit, i do have college to attend, but look for more soon. I usually go on a writing binge and can't stop for a while. ; )
Uchiha Sasuke hated the whole deal. Not only had he been stuck with a nearly worthless girl, he was also assigned the most perverted Jounin possible. This actually wasn't so bad since Kakashi-sensei was actually quite good when he put away his dirty books, he was even pretty good when he had them out. But what really got under Sasuke's skin was that he and his partial team had been relegated to the lowest class of missions possible. Even when they got a decent mission they were usually paired up with another team. The sparsity of the missions also ate the hell out of the Uchiha kid. He knew he deserved better but no, he was stuck with a half squad and no good missions while they waited for some mystery kid to complete their squad. Sasuke hoped this guy was worth the wait, otherwise he'd have to kill something.
Actually it wasn't nearly as bad as Sasuke made it out to be. Sakura had had a crush him, along with almost every other female ninja in Konoha, back at the academy but during one of their first training sessions Sasuke had made it abundantly clear to the girl that she was nothing to him and probably never would be. The only way she could earn his respect was to train hard and improve her pathetic combat skills and stamina.
Initially shocked by his blunt refusal, Sakura pouted for several days and cried herself to sleep for a few nights afterward. But finally she saw the wisdom in what Sasuke had said. She began taking her training more seriously. To her she wasn't really giving up on Sasuke, just that she was trying a new approach to his heart. If that meant giving up her girly ways and becoming a ninja of his caliber she could do it. It also had a secondary bonus, she began to surpass her main rival for Sasuke, Ino Pig.
Another reason that it wasn't so bad was that, despite their lack of challenging missions, they made up for it in training time. Kakashi-sensei turned out to be a fine teacher. The two Genin focused hard on their training. Kakashi knew they both had potential. Sasuke was to much like Kakashi himself to easily give up and Sakura was a quick study. Her determination to win Sasuke's heart through skill also made her a very dedicated student. Kakashi only hoped his third student would be as smart and powerful as his other two.
He knew Jiriaya-sama for a number of reasons. His reputation as a Sennin of course, the fact that he had been the teacher of Kakashi's own teacher, the fourth Hokage, and the final and less well known fact was that he was the author of Kakashi's favorite dirty books. It would be interesting to see what one of his students would have to offer.
****
The months to the Chuunin exam rapidly disappeared until the appointed time for Jiriaya and Naruto's arrival was the only major event left before the exams for the Hokage to worry about. The old man had the sentries on the city walls and at the gates keep an extra good eye out for the pair. He didn't want to waste any time in getting Naruto situated with his new team.
It came down to a week and two days before the exam before the much awaited runner appeared in the Hokage's office.
"Hokage-sama," he saluted. "A white haired man carrying a large scroll and a young blond boy are approaching the north gate."
The Hokage felt his pulse quicken and he stood up and thanked the runner. He left the building, followed by his guard, and hurried to the North gate to greet the new arrivals. He arrived before the gates had even been opened. One of the guards high above in the watch tower shouted down to the others standing guard at the door itself and they hurried to open the big wooden door.
The doors glided open and the Hokage stepped through with his guard and the door guards. In the distance he could see a pair of people walking sedately down the road. He spotted the white hair of his old student Jiriaya. From what he could see the man had aged a bit more but had not lost that look of confidence and cockiness he always wore.
But it was the other person traveling with him that drew the Hokage's attention. The boy was of average height, his bright blond spiky hair making him look a bit taller then he actually was. He wore baggy black pants, a ninja net shirt,(kinda like the stuff Shikamaru wears) and a white front zip hoody with it's arms shorn off just above the wrist and red flames licking up the bottom. The Hokage could see the glint of metal coming from the boy's wrists and guessed he was wearing hand protectors much like Jiriaya's. He had a weapon's pouch strapped to his right leg and a ninja headband wrapped around his waist like a belt. The Hokage noticed Naruto was the only one carrying a back pack.
When Jiriaya saw the gates open and saw who had stepped out to greet him he smiled and waved. *The old man must be pretty hyped to have the boy back.* he thought. He looked back at his blond student and smiled even wider. *He's gonna get more then he expected.*
The Third Hokage held out his hand to his old pupil as the pair stopped in front of him. He shook hands with his old friend. "Welcome back Jiriaya. It has been a long time."
Jiriaya patted the Hokage on his shoulder. "Hey old man. Its been a while but I'm finally back. You look as decrepit as ever." The Hokage smiled. "True, that's very true."
He turned his attention to the younger of the two and finally got a good look at Naruto. He had guessed living with Jiriaya would affect the boy and was prepared for the changes. So when he saw the red tattoos streaking down from the boy's eyes and the slightly longer hair the boy sported in back he wasn't surprised. The boy looked like a mix between his father the Fourth and Jiriaya as a young boy. One other thing he noticed was that instead of a leaf forehead protector the boy wore one of a different design. It was a simple spiral. It was as if the point and stem of the leaf had been cut off just leaving the spiral heart. The old man would have to find out about it's significance later.
Naruto bowed when he was confronted and the Hokage bowed back, a little hesitantly at first. *This is a shock* he thought. Where the boy had picked up manners was beyond him. Jiriaya was about as low life as men got. He'd never had much in the way of manner ever. "Welcome home Naruto-kun. I am glad to have you back with us." he said.
Naruto straightened and gave him a dashing smile. The whisker marks and the cheek tattoos only made it look more fox like. "Thanks Hokage-sama. Jiriaya-sensei has told me all about you." His smile slipped and then returned but with a more irritated look thrown in. It was directed more at Jiriaya then anyone else. His tone of voice also went from polite to something more along the lines of a sassy, younger version of Jiriaya's voice. "If you hadn't have taken care of me before this pervert came along I'd have been dead long ago."
Jiriaya laughed and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Ha ha ha he he...what a joker he is. Got a tongue like a whip he does. He's constantly coming up with new ways to insult me."
Naruto looked back at the Hokage with pride and mocking in his voice. "It also helps that I can beat him up if he tries to take it to the next level." The Hokage noted that Jiriaya looked both extremely happy and mortified at the same time when Naruto said it.
"I'm sure he's harder then that to take down." said the Leaf Leader. He was taking Naruto's boasting with a grain of salt but quickly revised his opinion when he saw Jiriaya shaking his head fervently. "No no, the boy's quite right. He gets me every time now. In a straight fight I'm not sure who would win but our fights are never clean. Anything goes...I mean anything." The old man shuddered. Naruto looked even more proud of himself if that was possible.
*What did spending time with Jiriaya do to you Naruto?* the Hokage wondered. If Jiriaya was afraid of facing his student Naruto had to be very good indeed.
Putting those thoughts aside the Third directed them through the gate and walked them personally to an apartment that had been prepared for them ahead of time. There Naruto placed his backpack, revealing a large red spiral on the back of his hoody.
Jiriaya decided to go for a walk towards the hot springs district, much to the scorn of his student. But before Naruto could seriously begin insulting his teacher the Third grabbed his shoulder and led him out the door. "Now that you're here you can meet your new team. I'll take you there myself."
So the two walked together, the old Hokage filling Naruto in on the layout of the town and some of the towns basic facts, while they walked towards the forest training area that Kakashi had picked as his team's training spot. The Hokage knew they would be there. They were there every day they didn't have a mission.
Both of them heard Kakashi and his team before they ever set eyes on them. Shouts of Goukakyuu no Jutsu and explosions reached them from a good distance off. The Third chuckled. The group's training ground was always a checkerboard of burned ground and torched fallen trees. Both Sakura and Sasuke like the Grand Fireball technique a lot.
The two entered the clearing to find a grand melee in progress. Kakashi was dodging a coordinated fireball attack from his students. The dual fireballs forced him to jump backwards, right into a trap of flying shuriken. A pin cushion of a log fell to the ground where Kakashi had been only to be blown to smithereens by an exploding note Kakashi had placed there before disappearing. The note sent the shuriken back towards his two students who managed to dodge or knock all of them aside. Once all flying objects had been accounted for the two scanned the area for their teacher. Instead of finding him alone they saw him walking towards a young blond haired boy and the Hokage himself.
Kakashi had seen the pair enter the training ground. For fear of the fight endangering them he had cut it short to greet them. He saluted his leader. The Hokage waved the salute off. "You seem to be slipping Kakashi. Is teaching beginning to dull your edge?" the Hokage asked, his eyebrows arched.
Kakashi smiled beneath his mask and scratched his head. "Nope, those two are keeping me on my toes."
As both he and the Hokage had a little chuckle Kakashi used the time to size up the blond boy that accompanied him. He defiantly looked like the product of Jiriaya's teaching and the Fourth's genes. Kakashi had been briefed on the boy's history. He already knew the true story of the Fourth's death and the Nine Tail's defeat. He knew the boy before him carried a demon inside. Kakashi, unlike some other people, didn't let that influence his opinion of the boy however. He was more interested in his fighting skills and experience then he was in the boy's outlook on his predicament. Being one of the Fourth's students, Kakashi wasn't going to take the son of his teacher lightly even if he hadn't had a demon sealed inside of him.
As Kakashi sized up his new student Naruto took the time to size Kakashi up as well. Naruto wasn't dumb. He saw past the Jounin's lazy relaxed exterior and saw the power behind the facade. He was going to be interesting to have as a teacher. The one thing Naruto found strange about the man was the way he wore his head protector. He wore it slouched over one eye giving him something of a pirate look. Naruto filed the strange head gear away under his growing "Questions to be asked" file.
A slightly out of breath Sasuke and a still heaving Sakura joined their teacher and the three young ninja locked eyes for the first time.
The Hokage rested his hand on the blond's back. "Naruto, this is Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruna Sakura. Team Seven, this is Uzumaki Naruto."
Got off to a good start on this story. Three chapters in one day. It'll slow down a bit, i do have college to attend, but look for more soon. I usually go on a writing binge and can't stop for a while. ; )