Wow, definitely a lot of reactions to the previous chapter. A lot of you liked what I did, especially with Kiseki, as well as Yugito and Iruka. And quite a few of you really liked seeing Jiraiya chewed out, though most of you were angry at him for how he was acting. Don't worry; Jiraiya will get his eventually.

So now, we're finally here, the canon era. Took me a while to get here, so sorry about that. Hopefully what you all will see will be enjoyable. *nods*

Well, let's get this show on the road!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Assassin's Creed. They are the properties of Masashi Kishimoto and Ubisoft respectively.


Chapter 18

Graduation

Hi no Kuni, four years later

The Buru-Hoshi (Blue Star) was one of the more notorious yakuza gangs found throughout the Elemental Nations. Starting from humble origins in the slums of the capital of Tsuchi no Kuni (Land of Earth), they were now the fourth largest organized crime syndicate in the land, with operations from Tsuchi no Kuni to Kaminari no Kuni (Land of Lightning).

Currently, a group of about twenty men from the Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire) branch were making their way south, towards Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves), where they were to join a profitable venture that would earn them a fair amount of money. They were currently camped in the woods a fair distance from the road, due to night falling before they could reach a town or village with an inn.

The majority of the men were either asleep in their tents or sitting around a couple of campfires, talking and joking while drinking. Only a couple of men stood away from the group, acting as sentries, though they were pretty lax. They didn't think they'd have anything to fear really, and were only put on guard duty as a formality.

Slowly, the crescent moon rose to its apex in the sky, and as it began its long and slow descent, the last of the men around the fires drifted to their tents. The two current sentries were both stifling yawns, their eyes half closed with exhaustion as they stared out into the blackness.

The first sentry never noticed the figure in the tree above him, but he did briefly notice their weight dropping on him and driving him into the ground, as well as the brief, searing pain of something being driven into his neck. The shadowy figure slowly got off the now dead yakuza sentry, and moved against a tree, watching the camp to make sure no one had noticed what they had done.

The other sentry was just starting to yawn when there was a glint of light, and a crossbow bolt suddenly filled his mouth, sticking out the back of his neck and pinning him to the tree he had been leaning against. The second sentry, as life faded from his eyes, was dimly able to make out a shadowy figure pass by them before all was darkness.

The two shadowy figures both watched the camp for several moments, searching for any signs of life or movement. When it was apparent all was still, the first figure slowly raised one hand and let out a whistle that sounded like the call of an owl. A few minutes later, a figure stepped out of one of the smaller tents and quietly made their way to one of the fires, where they stirred it three times with a stick. The first figure quietly moved to the figure by the fire, which looked up.

"The boss is in the big tent," the figure said quietly. Everyone else is dead asleep. You shouldn't have any trouble."

The figure nodded, passing a small stack of ryo to the figure. "Thank you for the help. Now get back to sleep. We don't want anyone thinking you had a part in this," they said.

The Yakuza gangster, now revealed to be a spy for the figure, quietly nodded and slipped back into their tent, while the first figure nodded to the shadows, where the second figure came out, both their identities revealed by the firelight.

Yugito Nii slowly moved towards the largest tent in the camp, which belonged to the leader of this group of yakuza gangsters. She stopped outside the entrance to it and glanced to her partner, who was slowly holstering the crossbow they were carrying into a special sling on their back. Naruto Uzumaki adjust the leather belt running diagonally from his right shoulder to his left hip, so that the crossbow holster and ninjato scabbard secured to the belt rested a bit more comfortably on his back, before nodding to Yugito. The female Assassin slowly opened the entrance of the tent, and the pair slipped in.

A figure was asleep on a bunk, a blanket wrapped around them. There was a pack with some clothes nearby, and a katana resting on a small stand. Lastly, there was a collapsible desk with papers on it. Yugito glanced at the papers, before pointing to Naruto, then the figure.

Naruto hesitated, before nodding quietly as he approached the figure. Standing over them, he looked down at the figure, before taking as quiet a breath as possible and extending a hidden blade from the underside of the bracer on his left arm. And with a quick thrust, drove the blade into the man's throat. The gangster gurgled, their eyes shooting open, before they slumped back, life fading from them, as Naruto slowly retracted the blade, reaching out with his right hand and closing his eyes.

"Rest in peace," he whispered quietly, before backing up. He glanced at Yugito, who was sorting through the papers on the desk. "He's done," he said quietly.

Yugito nodded as she gathered up the papers. "I've got the information," she said, stepping back. "We should leave, and quickly. They'll head back to their base tomorrow, after finding their commander dead."

Naruto gave a nod of agreement, and the pair slipped out of the tents, and quickly disappeared into the trees. As they did, Yugito glanced at Naruto, who seemed to be a bit distant. When they were a fair distance from the camp, she spoke. "You did good back there," she said.

Naruto just nodded distractedly, and she let out a soft sigh. "It's still hard to do it, isn't it? The killing," she said softly.

The young Uzumaki glanced at her, before slowly nodding. "I keep trying to remind myself that the people we kill…that we do it to protect others. But still…each time I kill someone…I feel…sick inside," he said.

"That's good Naruto," Yugito responded. "That feeling is something you need to hold onto. It's what keeps you human."

Naruto let out a soft sigh, before nodded to her. "I will. It's just…tough to handle. You'd think after the lesson at the Academy and…well what happened to me…it'd be somewhat easier to deal with. But…" he trailed off, sighing.

At the beginning of their current and final year at the Academy, each of the students had been given a young chicken to take home and care for a month. And at the end of the month, they brought the chickens back to class, where they were ordered to slaughter it. It was a test, in essence, to see who would have the stomach to kill, and thus continue the final year at the Academy. Almost a third of the class was unable to do it, and so had left the Academy. The remaining two thirds killed their chicken, but at least five of the students couldn't handle the aftermath, and left the Academy as well, leaving fifteen students in their year group.

For Naruto and Hinata however, this was something they had done already. Naruto had killed once before, the man who had attacked him the night the Uchiha coup was ended. That had been accidental though. Since he and Hinata were both Assassins, and would need to undertake missions to test their abilities as Assassins, Anko had suggested the same training method. The pair had been given a chicken each that they had raised and then had been forced to kill. Hinata had done so, and then burst into tears afterwards, leading to Naruto comforting her. Anko apologized to them for what she made them do, but things remained tense between Hinata and Anko for months following that.

Since then, Naruto and Hinata had continued their training, until they reached a point where Raphael had felt comfortable assigning them to take part in missions alongside Anko, Yugito, and their then fellow recruit Kiseki. Naruto had been a bit wary of Kiseki at first, considering a member of her clan had tried to kill him. But time spent with her showed him she wasn't someone to fear. She had lost something that night as well.

Of course Sarutobi had not been entirely pleased at Naruto and Hinata being outside the village while still being Academy students, but considering Raphael had promised that they would always be accompanied by himself, Yugito, or Anko, the aged Hokage had eventually relented, so long as the missions never took place outside the borders of Hi no Kuni.

This mission that he and Yugito had been assigned was the latest in a series of missions targeting small groups of bandits travelling through Hi no Kuni down towards the southeast, in the direction of Nami no Kuni. When combined with reports that Gato Shipping Incorporated had started making inroads to that same country, it had obtained the interest of both the Assassins and Sarutobi, given their past interactions with associates of the shipping mogul.

Yugito just sighed as she stopped Naruto, turning to move in front of him and crouched down to look him in the face. "Hey. You know you can talk to us about this, right? We're here to help you. And if you need some time off, just say so," she said softly.

Naruto nodded at her, giving her a small smile. "Thanks Yugito nee-chan," he said.

Yugito grinned, patting his shoulder. "Now let's get going. Need to be back in Konoha before tomorrow evening if you're going to have time to rest and get ready. You know what next week is, right?"

The young blond grinned at her. "Graduation week. Me and Hinata will finally be genin," he said.

"Ah-ah, if you pass your finals," Yugito reminded. "Now c'mon, let's get going," she said, heading off, only to blink as Naruto spoke up.

"Of course, you could just be in a hurry to get back to Iruka-sensei," Naruto teased, causing the Nibi jinchuuriki to blush, thankful her hood was hiding her face.

"W-whatever," she said, trying not to smile at the thought of her boyfriend of four years now, as the pair headed off.

Konoha, the Next Day

In one of Konoha's training grounds, Anko sat peacefully under a tree, sighing as she quietly snacked on some dango. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining, a gentle breeze blowing, and not a cloud in the sky.

And then the peace was disturbed by a whistling noise followed by a thud of something smacking into a target dummy set up a ways from her. Anko glanced up a bit, seeing the target in the distance that now had a new arrow sticking out of it, joining the ten or so other's sticking out of different parts of the dummy. She narrowed her eyes a bit, before glancing up at the branches above her. "I think you were off target a little that time," she called up.

Above her, Hinata was crouched on a branch, the recurve bow she had gotten from Ganzo in her left hand as she had her Byakugan activated, studying the target. "Depends on your definition," she said, Byakugan deactivating as she looked down at Anko. "I missed the bull's-eye, but I put an arrow through where his heart would be."

Anko grinned as she watched Hinata hop down. "And that's what really matters, if you ask me," she said, watching the young ex-Hyuuga collapse the bow and put it back into the sling on her back. As Hinata lowered her hood, Anko studied the young girl.

Hinata had come a long way from that shy, broken girl she had become the guardian of almost five years ago. She now carried herself with an air of quiet confidence, and was now often smiling or laughing, usually at Naruto or Anko's antics. She had started to grow her hair out, and it now reached to her shoulders, though Hinata had mentioned thinking about growing it longer. When she wasn't wearing her recruit uniform, she had taken to now wearing a pair of black shorts that stopped right above her knees with a shorter purple skirt over them, along with a lavender short sleeved shirt over a long-sleeved mesh armor top. She also wore an open purple and white hoodie that had Konoha's emblem on the back, and calf high boots. She also still wore bandana's covering the top of her head.

Anko's grin continued, thinking about the past few years. She admitted that she greatly enjoyed having Hinata living with her. There had been some tough times, like recently when Hinata had been distant because of the chicken killing. But the worst parts had been when Hinata would break down, due mostly to seeing her mother and sister. They were the only members of her clan she had a good relationship with. Her mother had always been so kind and helpful and supportive to her. And Hanabi…Hanabi had wanted to spend with her big sister. To play and train with her. Even when they had to spar against each other, Hanabi had never done it out of spite. She wanted to prove she was as good as her older sister. Sadly, she had proven that point a little too well; since Hinata had lost more than a few times later on, making Hiashi believe Hinata was weak and worthless.

Things had been going well for Anko as well. She and Kurenai had both taken the jounin exams, and had passed, being promoted to full jounin. Anko originally had been thinking of applying only for Special Jounin status, but after talking it over with Raphael and Kurenai, she decided to go the extra mile. She had applied for a position as a jounin sensei of one of the future genin teams, while Kurenai had become, instead, a mentor to the heiress of the Kurama clan. The Kurama clan was one of Konoha's less well known clans, made up primarily of highly skilled genjutsu users. Their greatest prodigy to date was the current heiress, a young girl named Yakumo who was roughly around the same age as Naruto and Hinata. Yakumo's genjutsu were so powerful, they were capable of turning illusion into reality, bending the world around her. The problem was her skill in genjutsu came at a cost, of her body and chakra coils being too weak for her to properly use ninjutsu and taijutsu.

Despite this, Yakumo had been determined to become a kunoichi, drawing inspiration from Rock Lee, a boy a year ahead of Hinata and Naruto, who had already graduated from the Academy. Said boy was incapable of utilizing ninjutsu or genjutsu due to a problem with his chakra coils, but had vowed to become a shinobi with taijutsu alone. Yakumo had made that same promise, only with genjutsu rather than taijutsu. Her parents, wanting to help her fulfill that dream, had turned to Kurenai for help, seeing as how Kurenai was one of the foremost genjutsu wielders in the village outside of their clan.

Initially, Kurenai had felt like she couldn't succeed, and after a couple months of training, she feared that she would simply get Yakumo killed, and so tried to dissuade Yakumo from her dreams. Anko however had been overhearing a heated argument between the two, and confronted Kurenai about it afterwards.

Flashback

"You're really going to just abandon her like that?" Anko asked Kurenai, as the genjutsu mistress sat on a bench, head in her hands.

"What do you want me to do? Give her false hopes and let her get killed? She's not cut out to be a kunoichi," Kurenai said, before looking up at her. "I'm not cut out to be a sensei."

"And how would you know? This is your first time being one and you only gave it three months before deciding to give up. Is this really the kunoichi who vowed at the Academy to be a strong, capable ninja of Konoha? Who wanted to show the boys at the Academy that kunoichi could be just as good if not better than them? Huh?"Kurenai was taken aback at the look on Anko's face and the steel in her voice.

Kurenai took a deep breath. "Anko…I don't know if I can do this. Mentoring a student is such a big responsibility and I-," she started, only to be interrupted by Anko.

"I know it's a big responsibility. I've been essentially mentoring three people for a few years now, remember? Teaching Raphael-san, as well as Naruto and Hinata? I know what it's like to teach people Kurenai. And if me, the over active surge junkie goofball can do it, then surely one of the top kunoichi of our class can do so as well." Anko crouched down till she was face to face with Kurenai. "Nai-chan, you can't destroy that girl's dreams because of your own self doubts. Is that fair to her? To have her hopes and dreams destroyed because of you?"

Kurenai looked away, feeling guilty. "No…it's not. But…I…I don't want to be responsible for her death."

"It's the chance we take as sensei and mentors. All we can do is teach them to be as strong and skilled as we possibly can, and hope they take our lessons to heart. That's all we can do," Anko said.

The genjutsu mistress blinked at her, before shaking her head. "Since when did you get so smart?"

Anko just stuck a tongue out at her. "I've always been smart! Just like being sexy instead," she said with a smirk, as Kurenai rolled her eyes, while standing up. She smiled as Anko stood, before hugging her.

"Thanks Anko," she said softly.

Flashback Ends

Afterwards, Kurenai had apologized to Yakumo, and the two of them had begun working again on fulfilling Yakumo's dream. There had been a complication involving a side effect of Yakumo's powers, which had begun manifesting a dark creature in her mind, an Ido built upon the id of Yakumo's psyche. But with Kurenai's support and help from Inoichi Yamanaka, head of the Yamanaka clan, the Ido had been successfully suppressed, and Yakumo regained control of her powers. Even now, Kurenai and Yakumo occasionally joined Anko, Hinata, and Naruto for training (1).

She grinned as Hinata joined her after retrieving her arrows. "So, ready to head back to the warehouse? Naruto and Yugito might be back," she said.

Hinata blushed lightly, averting her gaze. "T-That might be a good idea," she said, as Anko grinned more.

"You've so got a crush on the gaki, don't you?" She asked, making Hinata's eyes widened.

"What?! N-No I don't!" Hinata said, waving her arms, only for Anko to giggle and start to chant in a sing-song voice.

"You wanna hug him, you wanna kiss him, you wanna date him," she said, before laughing as Hinata shoved her while blushing.

"Anko nee-chan, stop it!" She whined, as Anko kept laughing while they left the training ground.

As they were heading away from the training grounds, Hinata let out a sigh, thinking about the upcoming graduation exams. She was nervous, but she did think she was ready for it.

The Academy had been quite an experience. The first few years had been spent learning history and basics, focusing on things like understanding what chakra was, teamwork, the history of the villages, weapons and taijutsu. But three years ago, that had change. The history lessons and theoretical work shrank, and the more practical lessons began. Lessons like surviving in the wild, utilizing the weapons they had learned about in combat, setting traps and ambushes on unsuspecting enemies. Occasionally, the class would be divided into two or more 'armies' and engage in mock battles or operations, with those battles sometimes being between different classes and even year groups. They had all been armed with dull training weapons tipped in red paint to signify wounds and 'kills'.

Their current year, they had delved into some of the shadier things shinobi were required to do. Spying, stealing information, and assassinations. That last one had been of particular interest to Hinata and Naruto, who had paid very close attention to the lessons in this particular class.

They had also delved deeper into the chakra related arts. During their time in the Academy, they had learned how to perform ninjutsu, starting with the three basic ninjutsu known to practically every shinobi across the continent: the henge, the bunshin, and the kawarimi (2). The henge no jutsu was utilized by shinobi to create an illusion around themselves, making themselves appear as someone or something else the bunshin no jutsu was used to create illusionary clones of one self, which were excellent for distractions, but had little application beyond that. While the kawarimi no jutsu was a defensive jutsu, used by shinobi to replace themselves with a log or other inanimate object that would take an enemy's attack, rather than the shinobi themselves. Their instructor, Iruka Umino, had even said that it could be used against enemy shinobi, causing them to hurt or kill each other.

Unfortunately for Naruto, he found himself having a lot of trouble in the ninjutsu department. While he was able to perform the kawarimi, he was having trouble with both the henge and the bunshin. Every time he tried the henge, it would come out deformed. With the bunshin, his clones would often look pale, sickly, and completely fake looking.

Eventually, Hinata had used her Byakugan to watch Naruto when he performed these techniques, and found the answer. Naruto simply had too much chakra to properly perform such basic, low level techniques. Essentially, he was overloading the techniques with chakra. Anko and Yugito both immediately came to Naruto's help, providing solutions to his problems.

The first was to work on his chakra control. He had already been learning the tree walking exercise that Anko had been teaching to Raphael when he was first learning to control his chakra. The tree walking exercise taught a shinobi how to focus his chakra to use it to stick to walls, ceilings, buildings, and of course, trees. This also was how shinobi learned to hop great distances while running, using chakra in their feet to propel themselves through the air.

Yugito had also taught Naruto a trick she had learned in Kumo that helped her deal with her own, similar problems she had with the henge. Essentially, Kumo had developed a way to turn the illusion into a semi 'true' transformation. Rather than simply create an illusion, the jutsu created a shell of chakra around the caster that looked, felt, and smelled exactly like the real deal. The problem was this version of the henge was more chakra intensive, so fewer shinobi could use it for extended periods of time.

For the bunshin, it seemed like a lost cause. Naruto would never refine his control enough to make passable bunshin before they graduated, and Anko had hinted that bunshin would be part of what was needed to pass the graduation exam. So instead, Anko had taught Naruto a different type of clone based jutsu, one created in Konoha, but accessible only to jounin rank shinobi: the Kage Bunshin no jutsu (Shadow Clone jutsu). Unlike the normal bunshin, kage bunshin were physical constructs of chakra that could fight alongside their caster, but required an enormous amount of chakra to create. However, Naruto's large chakra reserves allowed him to easily summon a dozen shadow clones at a time, after he had managed to get the jutsu down.

In the Academy, after they had learned about the three basic ninjutsu, they had begun to learn about other different ninjutsu, primarily nature manipulation ninjutsu. These ninjutsu were generally the bread and butter of most shinobi jutsu arsenals. They learned about how each shinobi has one or possibly more elemental affinity, meaning that they could use ninjutsu of a particular element a lot more easily than other elements, though they could use all elemental based ninjutsu. Their instructor had given them each a slip of paper, to test their elemental affinities, telling them that the paper was chakra paper, made from the bark of a special tree, and that it reacted to chakra, being destroyed in a manner that revealed the person's elemental affinity. Naruto's was split in two, before the two pieces blackened a bit, becoming singed. Iruka had revealed that this meant Naruto had an affinity for wind, with a lesser affinity for fire (3). Hinata's in turn became soaked, falling apart, revealing an affinity for water. However, they had also learned that with few exceptions, most genin did not have the chakra reserves to perform truly combat worth elemental ninjutsu. So while they did take lessons in how to best feel and manipulate their respective elements, they weren't taught any actual elemental ninjutsu, which instead would be left to the jounin sensei.

They had also learned about shape manipulation of chakra, in which rather than use chakra to manipulate elements into jutsu, a ninja manipulated chakra itself, to perform a jutsu. The henge, bunshin, kawarimi, and most other non element based ninjutsu fell into this category. Again though, they were not taught anything more serious then the basic three ninjutsu, due to most of the genin not having enough chakra capacity or control to successful pull off combat capable ninjutsu. They were however taught how they could increase both their capacity and control of their chakra, so that hopefully upon their graduation from the Academy, they would be able to easily begin learning more combat capable techniques from their sensei.

They had also been taught about genjutsu as well, the art of utilizing chakra to manipulate a target's senses, making them believe illusions were real. Raphael had taken an interest in this field, due to the applications it could have for Assassins. However, genjutsu was a somewhat more specialized field then ninjutsu or taijutsu. Genjutsu required incredible chakra control, as well as being able to notice and remember many details that would be needed to help maintain the reality of the illusion, to prevent the target from realizing something was wrong and thus trying to break out of said illusion. The Academy had taught them that in order to break out of an illusion; one had to be able to stop their flow of chakra through their body, before surging it, creating a type of pulse that could dissipate the opponent's chakra manipulating their senses. Failing that, if a shinobi could cause themselves pain not created by the illusion, it would bring their own senses back into reality.

Their instructor had also talked about far more specialized fields that shinobi could utilize, such as fuinjutsu (sealing jutsu), iryō ninjutsu (medical ninja techniques), and others. Though their teachers had told them most of those fields were something that only chuunin or jounin started truly training in.

All in all, the Academy had confirmed something the Assassins had already been helping her to understand: that the Hyuuga were stifling themselves, and becoming stagnant because of it. In the clan, they were taught that because of their bloodline and their taijutsu style, a Hyuuga needed nothing else. They utilized the basic weapons and equipment every shinobi from genin to jounin carried, but even these were treated as disdainful, a last resort. And yet, there were so many possibilities that they could incorporate into their fighting style. Lightning could be used to enhance the Jyuuken, creating an ability to not only disrupt the opponent's chakra system, but their nervous system as well. Ganzo had proven right, that with training, Hinata was becoming quite skilled with the bow, especially with her Byakugan allowing her to zoom in on far away targets. Their Byakugan could make them incredibly skilled medics, allowing them to access internal injuries, and even use the Jyuuken to stop or increase the flow of chakra to damaged parts of a person's body, to aid in healing injuries or curing poisons. But none of this had been available to any Hyuuga, because they believed they didn't need it. And it was such a waste of potential.

Hinata looked up, drawn from her thoughts, as they arrived at the warehouse. Anko grinned, entering first, with Hinata behind, only for her eyes to widen and a smile to appear on her face as she saw Naruto and Yugito talking to Raphael. "Naruto!" She said happily.

Naruto glanced up and grinned, waving at her as she and Anko joined them. "Hey Hinata, Anko nee-chan," he said with a grin. Anko just grinned, ruffling his hair and making him whine.

"Back from your mission, huh? How did it go?" She asked, as Naruto waved her hand off.

"Everything went according to plan," Naruto said, his smile fading a bit as he thought again of the sleeping man dying at the end of his blade. He lightly shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts. "We got some information from them too, concerning both their group's operations in Hi no Kuni, as well as their orders in Nami no Kuni."

"Gato's becoming quite desperate on hiring street muscle," Raphael said, setting aside one of the papers Yugito had handed him. "He was willing to pay the Buru-Hoshi close to three times the amount he's paid some of the other groups we've intercepted. I think he's feeling the pressure from what we've been doing."

"So are we going to move against him then?" Anko asked, only for Raphael to shake his head.

"At the moment, no. we don't even have confirmation that he is in Nami no Kuni. And even if we did, we'd be making a martyr out of him currently. No, if we're going to take him down, we need to do so in a way that makes people see him for what he really was, and thus make others like him more afraid to keep operating. Besides…I want to find out what exactly he's doing," Raphael said quietly. "His actions almost seem to be directed towards disrupting the shinobi villages. His men moving into Suna, helping to sell weapons to both sides of the Kiri Civil War, that business recently where his men were driven out of Iwa after attempting to start up a casino and brothel in the village. He's trying to get footholds into the villages, and we need to find out why."

"Is it not possible he's just a greedy pig trying to make money?" Anko asked.

"It's possible, but it's not likely. Why try these things in the shinobi villages? There are dozens of towns and cities and villages all over he could do these in, where he'd have a much easier time. So why go for the shinobi villages? He's after something," Raphael said, before sighing. "You did excellent work you two. Well done. I'll need to take these reports to Sarutobi, so for now, rest and relax," he said, standing up while gathering the reports.

Yugito and Naruto both bowed with their right hands on their chest. "Mentor," they said, as Raphael rolled his eyes, heading off. At that point, Naruto grinned at Hinata, who was tugging him away, asking him questions about his mission. Anko and Yugito both just grinned at each other, both thinking how cute they looked.

Meanwhile in the Hokage's office, Sarutobi sighed quietly as he read the report in front of him, before setting it aside and quietly trying to wipe away the weariness he felt. He shook his head, slumping in his chair, only to look up as his secretary knocked on the door. "Yes?"

"Hokage-sama, Raphael-san wishes to see you. He says he has information to share with you," the secretary said.

"Send him in," the aged Hokage said, sitting up a bit straighter, as the door opened and Raphael entered, bowing. "What is it Raphael-san?" Sarutobi asked politely but tiredly.

"Hokage-sama, Naruto and Yugito returned from their mission today. I have here information they gathered," she said, setting the reports on Sarutobi's desk. As the Hokage wearily reached for them, Raphael blinked. "Is something wrong, Hokage-sama?" He asked.

Sarutobi chuckled softly. "I think we've worked together enough for you to just call me Sarutobi, Raphael-san," he said, before sighing. "I was brought back to some painful memories of my past today, by this, a report about a captured spy, who was passing information out of Konoha. My interrogators told me that the person he was sending the information to was one of my three students: Orochimaru, the Hebi Sannin."

Raphael's eyes narrowed at that. "Anko's former sensei," he said softly and dangerously, causing Sarutobi to blink at that.

"Indeed…he was my favorite pupil…until I passed him over for succession to my position, and instead gave it to Minato Namikaze. He betrayed Konoha after that, leading to the unfortunate incident with Anko. And now it seems he's not quite done with his old home. What's worse though is the spy was not acting alone. We have a traitor in our midst," he said. "But we can discuss that in a bit. First, let us deal with this new bit of information. Where did it come from?" He asked, reading it.

"Yugito and Naruto's mission," the Assassin said. "They returned today unharmed and Naruto's target is dead. Without their leader, the rest should head back to their base for new orders."

"Indeed. It seems Gato-san is getting desperate for hired muscle," Sarutobi said, reading the report. "Unfortunately, he may get it. One of our few remaining contacts in Mizu no Kuni reported that at least a hundred men, mostly displaced farmers and such, have sailed from Mizu towards Nami. It is likely he'll employ them for whatever his plans for Nami are."

Raphael nodded quietly. "Unfortunately, Nami has become very difficult to enter recently. One of my spies tried to do so, and found that more and more the country is being put into lock down. There is no land access, so the only way to arrive is by boat or ferry. And more and more…the ships travelling to Nami belong to Gato, and no one else."

"He is taking over that island, but for what purpose? It serves him no purpose as a shipping base, unless he's trying to avoid taxes he'd have to pay using the ports of Hi no Kuni and Kaminari no Kuni. But those he can easily pay without worry," Sarutobi said. "I do not like this Raphael. Not one bit."

"Hopefully, an opportunity will present itself soon, to handle this," Raphael said. "Sarutobi-san…I would like to discuss something else. I…believe Naruto to be ready for his assessment," he said.

The Sandaime Hokage looked at him, before letting out a quiet sigh. "Young Naruto, ready to become a full member of your order, is he?" He asked, shaking his head quietly. "Then perhaps fate or luck is smiling down upon us both today. I just so happen to have a target for him," he said, sliding a file to Raphael. "I was simply going to have my ANBU pick him up and imprison him, but…I believe young Naruto can handle him."

Raphael opened the file, and blinked. "You want him to assassinate one of the Academy Instructors?" He asked.

Sarutobi nodded to him. "Mizuki Touji. He is the traitor in our midsts. He's been feeding Orochimaru information on Konoha and our Academy students for almost two years now. What is worse though are the rumors that he has killed wounded comrades on missions. Several shinobi whose bodies we recovered had wounds that would be easily treatable, but would slow down those shinobi, only to then been killed by another fatal wound to the jugular or heart. A few were even suffocated. All of them on missions in which Mizuki was involved."

Raphael glanced at the file again. "Why not simply have your ANBU or shinobi pick him up? Don't you want to interrogate him?"

"No, we've already learned all we needed to from Orochimaru's spy. Besides, we know that he is planning to leave the village very soon. The night of the day after the Academy Graduation exams, he intends to leave the village after acquiring a 'gift' for Orochimaru. We don't know what it is he wants, but whatever it is, he intends to leave the village with it. I plan to station ANBU at all available exits from the village to ensure he doesn't escape, but still…if Naruto is ready, then this is an opportunity for him. It might be some time before you or I come up with a target for him," he said quietly.

Raphael kept looking at the file, before nodding quietly. "Alright then, I'll inform Naruto, tell him to get ready. He won't have long to prepare for this," he said.

Sarutobi gave him a quiet nod. "I'll have a team of ANBU on standby to watch him, to keep him safe. If Mizuki proves to be a threat, they'll move in and secure him. Though I'll assume you'll be there as well?"

"Yes I will. Have to see if Naruto is ready to be an Assassin, don't I?" The young Assassin said with a grin, before bowing. "I should get going. Hokage-sama," he said.

"Good day, Raphael-san" Sarutobi said, as Raphael headed off. Sarutobi let out a sigh, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his forehead.

Outside Konoha Academy, Monday

Naruto was sitting on a swing outside the Konoha Academy, taking a deep breath as he did so while staring at his feet. He was waiting for Hinata to arrive, while trying to steady his mind and nerves.

It was the day of their graduation. Their chance to finally prove they were ready to join the ranks of Konoha's shinobi. But for Naruto, he had another graduation looming over him.

Last night, Raphael had called all of them together. There, he announced that Naruto was ready to take his assessment assassination, to see if he was ready to become an Assassin. Naruto couldn't believe that this was about to happen, that after six years of training, he was finally going to graduate and become a full Assassin.

But then he had learned who his target was: Mizuki-sensei. He wasn't attached to the man by any means, as Mizuki, while trying to play as a kind sensei, had subtly tried to hinder Naruto in the Academy. Years spent learning how to play chess, play Shougi, and plan out an assassination had helped Naruto to notice details. Every time Mizuki looked at him, he could see the chuunin's face flinch for a second, as if he was trying to hide his true feelings. He had also noted that every time Mizuki was in charge, something occurred that was intended to hinder Naruto. Training kunai and shuriken were improperly weighted to throw him off, some questions on tests were far more advanced than they should be for a genin student and in taijutsu lessons, he always seemed to be sparring against Sasuke and Kiba.

While most of his classmates he got along with fairly well, those two were the only ones he didn't. Kiba hated Naruto, for constantly causing him to get into trouble with his mother and the chuunin sensei. Not to mention that due to the Inuzuka being very canine like in their behavior sometimes, Kiba felt threatened by Naruto. He saw him as a challenger to his dominance, his place as a strong male, an alpha male. This drove him to wanting to defeat Naruto, to humiliate him and prove the blonde boy was a lesser male.

Sasuke meanwhile was different. It wasn't that he and Naruto specifically didn't get along. It was that Sasuke didn't get along with anyone. Sasuke seemed focus on only training and learning. He constantly pushed himself to be the best, and it showed as he was considered the top student in their class. Yet that didn't seem to be enough for him, as he kept pushing himself. When one of his fangirls, before they left the Academy, asked him why he was always training, he responded he had to be the best, because his father told him the Uchiha clan was the best around. And he wanted to prove his father right, and protect his clan.

But with regards to Mizuki, Naruto wasn't sure what he thought about having to kill the man. On the one hand, he did feel sick about killing someone he knew as more than just a name and profile. And yet…knowing that this man was betraying Konoha, putting them all in danger helped Naruto stiffen his resolve. He would do this, because he knew it needed to be done.

He glanced up, smiling as he saw Hinata approach, and he waved at her. She came over with a smile as he stood up. "You alright Naruto?"

"Nervous…but excited. Today's the day Hinata. We're gunna become genin," he said with an infectious grin that made Hinata smile and nod. And with that, the pair entered the Academy, ready for what lay ahead.

In their classroom, the remaining students had all gathered. Most were talking with each other, nervous or excited about what was to come. In the case of Shikamaru, he was just groaning, trying to sleep, while Chouji nervously sat next to him, nervously munching on a bag of chips. In front of them, Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno were busy chatting happily, trying to ignore their own nerves. Kiba was brashly proclaiming how he'd pass with no problem, while both Shino and Sasuke just quietly sat, waiting for the tests to begin.

Shortly after Hinata and Naruto took their seats, Iruka entered with a stack of papers. He grinned at them all as he set the papers down. "Alright, settle down everyone!" He said, as the students quickly did so. Had the old Academy curriculum been in place, the students might have been disruptive, but these students had been trained hard and knew the meaning of discipline.

Iruka nodded as he began to hand out the tests face down. "We're about to begin the first of your four part Graduation Exam. These exams will cover a written test, a taijutsu test, a test of your stealth and assassination capabilities, and lastly a ninjutsu exam. Before we begin, I just want to say how proud I am to see all of you make it to this point, and that even though I've only been here a couple years, you all are the best class of students I've ever had," he said.

Seeing that they all had tests, and all looked eager to start, Iruka grinned. "So…let's begin!" He said, as they turned their tests over.

Meanwhile, in another part of the Academy, Sarutobi was sitting behind a desk, studying the array of jounin ranked shinobi and kunoichi standing before him. "As I'm sure you've all guessed, I've gathered you here because you all have applied to become a jounin sensei of this year's graduating class. Currently, your prospective students are about to begin their graduation exams. I want you all to watch them, study them, and start to think of which students you'd like to teach and that you believe will form the best teams. Please also be ready to defend your reasons for the teams you plan to suggest," he said.

All of the jounin nodded, with Anko grinning in excitement at the prospect of teaching her first team. She already knew two of the students she wanted, but she would need a better reason to ask for them beyond that she was already a mentor and teacher to both of them. When Sarutobi dismissed them, she was the first one out of the room.

Sarutobi sighed as the last one disappeared, before turning his head. "You should have been in the room with your fellow jounin, not skulking in the shadows," he said.

A man with tall spiky grayish silver hair and his headband covering his left eye lazily jumped through the window. He wore the standard attire for a chuunin or jounin ranked shinobi of Konoha, except he had on fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back of his hands, and had a cloth face mask that covered his lower face. His one visible black eye was lazily reading an orange book he had in one hand. He just gave a weird eye smile to the Hokage as he closed the book and put it in his weapon pouch on his belt. "Well, I'm sorry Hokage-sama, but see I accidentally walked under a ladder and had to back track for one hundred steps to get rid of my bad luck, and then I had to avoid a black cat, and when I arrived I figured I would just sit outside and listen, so I didn't disturb you," he said.

Sarutobi just sighed, closing his eyes. "Kakashi, I do not have time for your excuses," he said, looking at the now identified Kakashi.

Kakashi Hatake was one of the foremost jounin of Konoha, known to have mastered over a thousand jutsu, and was the only surviving student of Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage himself. His teammates, Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara had both been casualties in the last Shinobi War. Ever since their deaths and the death of his sense, Kakashi had taken the attitude of a lazy slacker, seemingly uncaring of anything, and constantly showing up late to everything but the most important of meetings. Despite this though, he was a dangerous and lethal shinobi.

Sarutobi looked back up at Kakashi. "Kakashi, if you're going to be a sensei, you need to understand the students you'll be teaching. You can't do that if you show up late to assessing them."

Kakashi shrugged in an unconcerned manner. "I already have a fairly good idea of the capabilities of the students. I don't need to watch them. Besides, I also already know what team I want to suggest."

"And what if you shouldn't get the team you want? What then?" Sarutobi asked, as Kakashi gave him another eye smile.

"I'm pretty sure I'll get the team I have planned," he said. "But I guess since I don't have anything better to do, I'll go give the kids a look over. If that's all, Hokage-sama?" He asked.

Sarutobi sighed and just waved him away, causing Kakashi to disappear in a swirl of leaves. Sarutobi just quietly rubbed his forehead. Kakashi's reputation was well deserved, but the man was arrogant, due to the reputation he had gained as an ANBU operative, and as one of the youngest shinobi in Konoha to ever achieve the rank of jounin. When mixed with his uncaring attitude, it made him difficult to deal with at times. All Sarutobi could hope was that something would knock him out of that attitude, and soon.

Academy Training Grounds, that afternoon

One of the Konoha Academy chuunin instructors quietly made his way through a wooded area of one of the few training grounds attached to the Konoha Academy. The reason for his being there was simple: he was the target of the graduating class's stealth and assassination exam. Each Academy student was given a five minute head start to enter the training ground, and prepare for the exam. Five minutes later, the target would enter, and try to find the student, while said student would need to find the target without being detected, and 'assassinate' them. Currently, the instructor was dealing with the last student of the class, Naruto Uzumaki.

He quietly glanced around the tiny clearing he was in, surrounded by trees and bushes on all sides. It had been almost fifteen minutes, and still no sign of the Uzumaki boy. It honestly unnerved him a bit, how stealthy the boy seemed to be.

As he turned his back to one tree, he missed the shadow slowly settling on a branch, watching him. But he didn't miss the rustle in a nearby bush, causing him to immediately draw a training kunai and hold it at the ready. "Come on out, now," he demanded.

The bushes rustled some more, and the chuunin threw the kunai into the bushes, only to cause a young fox to hop out, yipping in distress before rushing off behind a tree. The chuunin blinked, before his eyes widened and he whirled, catching a figure dropping down on him with their own dummy kunai. He flipped the figure over, pinning down Naruto and holding his kunai to the boy's neck.

"Not bad, but it looks like you fail," he said, only for Naruto to smirk.

"Do I?" He asked, only to poof into smoke, making the chuunin's eyes widen as he felt a dummy kunai at his throat. "Cuz I think I pass," Naruto said from behind him.

The chuunin let out a smile. "Impressive. A shadow clone?" He asked. The instructors at the Academy knew about Naruto's problem with his chakra control, and his inability to utilize normal bunshin. It was part of a program initiated during the reformation of the Academy to its current standards. Academy students who had such handicaps like Rock lee's inability to utilize ninjutsu, or Naruto's inability to utilize regular bunshin would not be penalized, so long as they proved they were capable enough shinobi despite their handicaps. Naruto had proven that with the use of the kage bunshin no jutsu, while Rock Lee under the guidance of Konoha jounin Might Guy, proved he was lethal enough with taijutsu and weapons. It was this program that also would let Yakumo Kurama become a shinobi if she could meet the physical requirements.

Naruto nodded as he stepped back, while the instructor grinned. "You used the henge, turning yourself into the fox, while a shadow clone made the strike. When it failed, you utilized the distraction to finish me off. Very clever," he said. "However, be warned. Such a tactic would be inadvisable against a target surrounded by allies."

Naruto nodded again in understanding, as the chuunin smiled. "Still, you did well. Congratulations, you pass the stealth and assassination portion of your graduation exams," he said, offering Naruto his hand. Naruto smiled and shook it, before the pair returned to the others.

The chuunin unsealed a clipboard, marking something down. "Alright everyone! Return to your class for your final exam! And good luck!" He said.

As they headed off, Hinata came over to him, grinning. "I take it you passed?" She asked.

Naruto nodded with a grin. "Yep. Caught him with a shadow clone fake out," he said. "He was impressed by it."

"I'll bet. He probably never expected it," she said with a giggle. That giggle faded though when they entered the classroom and saw both Iruka and Mizuki. She felt her good mood fade, and she could see the same for Naruto. The two quietly took their seats, as Iruka smiled at them.

"And now we come to your last exam of the day, the ninjutsu exam. You'll each come up here one at a time, and perform the three basic ninjutsu. I know it doesn't seem like much, but these basic ninjutsu can save your life in the field, so knowing them is essential," Iruka said. "Now, Shino Aburame, please come up," he said.

Shino slowly stood, his face almost completely hidden by the high collar of his coat and his large sunglasses, as he stood at the front of the class. Iruka nodded as he held up a clipboard. "Please demonstrate the henge, the kawarimi, and the bunshin jutsu in that order."

Shino quietly nodded, first transforming into Iruka, and then switching himself with a nearby chair. After he retook his spot and the chair was put back, he created three clones, before dispersing them. Iruka nodded at that. "Very good! Please retake your seat," he said, marking Shino's grade in his clipboard.

Shino did so, as Iruka called the students down one at a time. Most had no trouble at all, having constantly practiced these jutsu over and over again. A couple of the civilian kids though had some trouble on their henge jutsu, which were weak and distorted. Hinata did a perfect transformation into Yugito though, causing Iruka to blush a bit as 'Yugito' winked at him, before turning back into Hinata.

When it was eventually Naruto's turn, he came down with a grin. For his transformation, he turned into a perfect replica of Minato Namikaze, causing a few students to gasp. Iruka blinked in surprise, when he noticed similarities between Minato's appearance, and Naruto's when he transformed back. Afterwards, Naruto substituted with a chair at the back of the classroom. When he returned to the front of the class, he created three shadow clones, grinning.

Iruka smiled at him, nodding. "Well done Naruto. You pass," he said, marking it down on his clipboard.

Mizuki meanwhile was trying not to glare. He couldn't believe the damn Kyuubi brat was getting away with this. He wondered if the village was going mad, allowing this brat to be an Academy student, let alone letting him pass. Still, it wouldn't matter. Not for long anyways.

When the last of the students finished their ninjutsu exam, Iruka nodded as he marked the final score. "Well done everyone. We'll need to take some time to tall your scores from all four exams, so just wait here while we handle that," he said, as he and Mizuki left. Once they were gone, the entire class broke out into excited chatter.

Sakura was nervously fidgeting with the hem of the red top she was wearing. "I really hope I did okay. I know I got the written exam part down okay, and the ninjutsu part, but everything else…I don't think I did as well," she said.

Ino scoffed. "C'mon forehead, you did great, I'm sure of it!" She said, using her back hand affectionate nickname for Sakura. The reason for the nickname was due to Sakura's rather large forehead. When she was younger, Sakura used to hide it with her pink hair, which resulted in her being made fun for her shaggy hair. Ino however had protected her, and helped Sakura become more confident in her appearance, even giving her a hair ribbon to tie her hair up with. Sakura was still wearing it currently, a sign of friendship.

Sakura just smiled nervously at that. "Thanks Ino-pig," she said, using her own backhanded nickname, due to Ino's name meaning boar, or pig. She glanced over at Sasuke, blushing a bit as she did so, only for Ino to roll her eyes.

"Still pining over him?" She asked, as Sakura blushed softly at that. "You know he's a jerk yes? Remember how he shoved me to the ground after me, Naruto and Hinata beat his team? Or how about he ignores everyone who's tried to be nice to him, even you?"

Sakura sighed. "I know, I know. Still…if I could just get him to open up I'm sure he'd be a great guy," she said.

Ino rolled her eyes. "C'mon Sakura, that'll never happen. Stop worrying about him, and focus on being a kunoichi. Besides, I'm sure there are other guys out there who are better," she said.

Sakura just shrugged, sighing softly as she did so (4).

About ten minutes later, Iruka, Mizuki, and the other chuunin instructors returned with a box of headbands, each baring a metal plate with Konoha's emblem on them. As one of the instructors set the box down on Iruka's desk, Iruka smiled at them all. "We have finished grading your exams. Will the following students please step forward," he said, before reading off the names of the graduating students from the clipboard. "Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, Sasuke Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara, Chouji Akamichi, Ino Yamanaka, Sakura Haruno, Hinata Mitarashi, Naruto Uzumaki, Manabu Akamon, Fuki, and Gennai. I am happy to say you all passed your graduation exam, and are now genin of Konoha." (5)

The twelve students joined them, grinning happily, while three students remained at their seats, looking dejected. Iruka looked at them with sympathy. "Don't worry you three. You'll have a chance next year to graduate," he said. "But for now, you're dismissed. Good luck," he told them.

As the three students left, Iruka looked back to the twelve graduates. "As for the rest of you, congratulations on successfully passing the Academy graduation Exam! We will now present you with your headbands," he said, as Mizuki took the box, and began handing the headbands out.

As Hinata got hers', she stopped for a moment. "Is there any way we can get these modified? Like change the cloth part of it?" She asked.

"Yes actually, just take it to a tailor and they can easily handle it for you. Blacksmiths can do so as well, though they aren't as good at it," Iruka said, as they finished handing out the headbands. "Now, you'll have the next three days off, and on Friday, you are to return here for your team assignments. Until then, go celebrate and enjoy your graduation," he said.

The students all cheered, and quickly rushed to collect their things, before rushing out of the classroom. Iruka just shook his head, grinning as he remembered his own graduation day. "Live it up guys, you earned it," he said softly.

Outside, Naruto and Hinata, who were both wearing their forehead protectors around their foreheads, grinned as they found Anko, Raphael, and Yugito waiting for them. Kiseki was over with Mikoto, congratulating Sasuke for a job well done in graduating, though she did smile and nod to Naruto and Hinata.

Anko grinned at the pair. "Well look at you two! Genin now huh?" She asked.

Naruto nodded excitedly. "Yeah, we did it!" He said, grinning.

"Well I think this is call for a celebration! Dinner is on me, and we'll throw a party back at our meeting place," Raphael said, causing all of them to grin happily.

As they were leaving though, they heard a couple of women speaking. "I can't believe they let that thing graduate," one said in what she thought was a whisper.

"I know. He'll probably kill us all in our beds. They should have locked him away," the other muttered.

Naruto flinched a bit, his good mood disappearing as he knew what they were talking about. That is until Yugito put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. Naruto smiled back at her, remembering that he wasn't alone. Yugito had come to talk to him about his burden shortly after she became a full Assassin, and had revealed she was like him. He had been shocked at first, but then was happy since she could help him. It had made him feel better, knowing she could understand what he was going through, and could help him out with dealing with the Kyuubi.

He just smiled, as they headed off to celebrate their graduation.

The following night

Mizuki smirked as he slipped out of the Hokage Tower, a massive scroll strapped to his back along with a pair of giant shuriken. He couldn't believe how easy it had been to steal the Scroll of Seals. This sacred scroll held many of Konoha's most powerful and forbidden techniques. Mizuki knew with this scroll and Orochimaru's favor, he would have the strength he deserved. His whole life, he had hated those who were weak, and felt that power was everything, yet had been denied the chance to get true power over and over again. Well not anymore. Soon he'd be a powerful shinobi, and get the rewards he rightly deserved. Posing as Naruto Uzumaki as he knocked out the guards was just icing on the cake, a way to hurt that demon brat.

As he began to sneak away from the Tower, he didn't notice the shadow moving along the rooftops after him, always moving to keep him in sight.

Mizuki smirked as he headed towards the wall of Konoha, imagining the scene when the Kyuubi brat was arrested for stealing the scroll. He almost wished he could stay to see it. But he had to quickly meet with his contact, who would help him sneak out of the village. He rounded a corner and arrived at the alleyway where he was supposed to meet his contact, and grinned when he saw the man with a cloak and hood. He quickly approached him. "I've got the scroll," he whispered excitedly. "Let's get out of here, quickly."

The man didn't say anything, as Mizuki scowled. "Are you deaf, we need to get going!" He said.

And that's when the man suddenly stepped forward, stabbing Mizuki in his lower torso. Mizuki gasped, trying to push the man away, only for his other arm to come up, revealing a blade extending from underneath his arm that he drove into Mizuki's neck.

Mizuki gurgled, blood seeping from his mouth and neck, as the man slowly lowered him to the ground. As he did, smoke engulfed him, before revealing Naruto Uzumaki. The young boy looked down at Mizuki in pity, slowly shaking his head. "Mizuki…you betrayed Konoha…consider this your reward," he said.

Mizuki just gurgled, trying to spit at Naruto but failing. He slumped back, the darkness beginning to engulf him, as Naruto spoke. "Do not fear the passing, but embrace it…and may you…may you…may you find peace in the afterlife," Naruto struggled out, his eyes closed. He slowly reached out, and closed Mizuki's eyes as the last breath left the man's body. "Rest in peace."

At that moment, several ANBU, as well as Raphael and Sarutobi appeared. One of the ANBU removed the scroll form Mizuki's back. "The decoy scroll is secure Hokage-sama," the ANBU reported.

Sarutobi just nodded quietly, staring at Naruto, who was still crouched next to Mizuki, his head down. Raphael gently touched Naruto's shoulder, making the boy look up at Raphael. The Assassin hugged Naruto, who shuddered a bit, while two ANBU Covered Mizuki's body and began to carry him away.

Sarutobi came over, causing Naruto to look up at him as the aged Hokage glanced down at Naruto apologetically. "I'm sorry Naruto, for what you had to go through."

Naruto quietly wiped his eyes, letting out a shuddering breath. "It's….it's okay, oji-san…I graduated," he said with a weak smile.

Sarutobi just placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "That you did my boy…that you did." He said, as the trio walked out of the alleyway and into the village. Naruto squared his shoulders, holding his head up. He was a shinobi, and an Assassin. What he did, he did for the good of the village and mankind. With new resolve, he moved forward, ready for the challenges ahead.


Well…this seems like a good spot to end.

I don't know, I feel…off about this chapter. Maybe it's the abundance of information stuffed in, or maybe I didn't handle the emotions and such correctly, just something feels off. I don't know.

Still, I hope you all enjoyed it, and hopefully things will pick up next chapter. In the meantime, Merry Christmas to everyone!

Thanks again to my betas Bill Alain and Kyuubi123! Thank you guys so much!

And till next time!

1. I had originally considered having Anko mentor Yakumo as well, because I've always felt Kurenai never deserved the right to be a jounin or a jounin sensei, based on what she did to Yakumo as well as the fact that her overall skills focus almost entirely on genjutsu, with almost no visible abilities in taijutsu or ninjutsu. But I thought this worked better.

2. Transformation, clone, and body replacement.

3. Yes, Naruto didn't have a second affinity in canon, but honestly the fact that he only had one affinity that was really rare in Konoha and thus hard for him to learn bugged me. So I gave him a lesser affinity of a more common element.

4. If you all don't remember, Ino never got her crush on Sasuke, which drove her and Sakura apart in canon. As such, I don't think Sakura would ever really become the loud, rather conceited girl she was in the canon Academy. Hence Sakura's rather OC attitude here.

5. The last three names in the list are taken from actual Academy students/genin of Konoha who are little more then background characters. So don't worry about them.