Naruto had woken up and gone through his normal routine, shower, breakfast and then brushing his teeth. He stretched as he took off his goggles, that he had put on just out of habit, then looked at them for a second, "It's time to say goodbye, my trusty goggles I'll miss you."
"Why not just keep wearing them? It would make you more recognizable for sure but they may come in handy in the future. I found out who your Jonnin sensei is. Not gonna tell you, except that they are really cool." Naruto gave his uncle the biggest pair of puppy dog eyes that he had ever seen, at which point Akihiro closed his eyes and shook his head. "Nope, not telling, go to school for the last time." Akihiro kept his eyes closed as he pointed at the door, at this point Naruto had already left, but Akihiro wasn't taking any chances.
Naruto entered the class and got the usual looks of disgust from his classmates. Not from his scars, no, not one of them cared about the scars. It was the constant pranking and loudmouthed attitude that led to their hate of their classmate. As well as the hate their parents seemed to have for him, it rubbed off onto most of them. Except for some of his few friends, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji. Shikamaru has the usual Nara Clan traits of a deadpanned case of resting dull face, spiky black hair in a ponytail, and was somewhat short, yet still taller than Naruto, who was tied for shortest in his class. Shikamaru had always been somewhat lazy, or better said unmotivated. He wants to live a carefree life and do as little work as possible. Choji on the other hand, was taller than the two of them, and quite a bit wider to boot. He had the same red swirls on his face as the rest of his family, as well as their appetite. He had short brown and spiky hair. He also almost always had a smile on his face, unless you called him fat or took his food away without good reason. Naruto, seeming his friends decided to go and sit next to them. "Yo what's up guys?" Naruto said as he sat down, the other two noticing a change in his outfit that neither had noticed due to Shikamaru being half asleep in his chair, and Choji being too deep in his chips.. He had switched to wearing a black vest, leaving it wide open showing off his large scar across his torso, instead of the usual shorts he instead wore pants in the same shade of navy blue. His goggles had been repainted to match his change in outfit, being a black and bulky frame with a dark red trim. He had his headband wrapped around his neck, hanging somewhat loosely. "What's wrong with you two? I know Shikamaru would be half asleep but I thought you would notice this before I got up here."
"Sorry Naruto, I didn't get to eat breakfast. I woke up late. I gotta admit though it looks pretty cool on you!" Choji put on his usual smile and gave a thumbs up, his other hand still shoveling chips into his mouth. Shikamaru just mirrored Choji's thumbs up and muttered, "Talking troublesome."
"By the look at you, I figured you didn't get much sleep last night. Usually you are at least awake for the important stuff. Want me to wake you up once your team gets called?" Both Choji and Shikamaru shook their heads.
"We already know our team Naruto. Were from the Ino-Shika-Cho families remember? We just have to wait until our teacher gets here and we can leave. We are with Ino." Choji pointed up at the other class blonde, Yamanaka Ino. She had long blonde hair in a ponytail as well as the same kind of bright blue eyes Naruto had. Although like most of the girls in Naruto's class she had an obsession with Sasuke Uchiha. The boy who not only was number one in the class, but also seemed to have no interest in anything except how to kill people. This lack of interest also applied to women in general. He wore a dark blue jacket with a pop up collar. It had his own clan's symbol on the back, a red fan with a white base. He also wore plain white shorts. He often kept his black hair slicked back, to end in a flurry of spikes. He sat there most of the time, brooding.
Naruto sat and waited patiently for about five whole minutes before deciding to set up a prank. He took an eraser off the chalk board and wedged it in the door. Everyone in the class glared at him before just giving up. If they stopped this one he would just set another up, so it would be a pointless effort. They all felt like Shikamaru for a second thinking something along the lines of "troublesome." Not too soon after Naruto had left his trap, the first Jonnin went to walk in and, as no one thought would happen, it hit her square on the head. She was a woman wearing a long bandage on one arm and a red dress with one single red. Her body was averagely skinny yet she was mostly flat and only about 10-12 centimeters taller than most of the children with the exception of one in shades and a trench coat in the back. Her black, long and let down hair now covered in a white powder and her red eyes filled with anger. She looked up at the group of kids sitting at their desks, all pointing at Naruto. "Come on guys! She didn't even ask who did it. AND WHY ARE YOU TWO RATTING ME OUT TOO?!" Naruto looked at his two friends.
"If she's here for us, then we don't get outed as your comrades, and if she isn't we don't get found out leaking information about friends." Shikamuru said deadpanned, still not having raised his head as he talked. Choji just shook his head in agreement.
"FINE! I did it Sensei! Also could you tell my Uncle Akihiro? He said if I could ever prank a Jonnin before I officially became a Genin he would teach me a technique." Naruto stood up and took credit, even openly admitting that he was encouraged to do so by his family. At which point the black haired beauty was shocked that an adult would encourage childish pranks.
"Why would he do that?" She asked him, a bit of her veins popping out of her head. Her first was clenched so harshly that you could hear her knuckles crack.
"I dunno, you would have to ask him yourself. I was just told he would give me a reward if I could hone the skill high enough to prank a Jonnin. He said that it might be useful in the future." The woman quickly calmed down and thought to herself, 'Wait,does he intend to teach this kid how to make traps? If so that would be really useful.'
"Well then, what's your full name? I will need to ask the Hokage about you as well afterward." The lady spoke up and crossed her arms.
"Naruto Uzumaki at your service, as long as it's for pranks or attacking!" He smiled with his eyes closed. All Naruto was thinking was how lucky he was for not only getting away without any trouble, but he also barely got to prank a Jonnin to get his prize.
"Well then, I won't have to ask the Hokage about you after all. You're with me, along with Hinata Hyuga and Shino Aburame. You will all meet me at training field eight in twenty minutes. Get acquainted with each other in that time." The lady turned out the door and before she closed it, she spoke up. "You can call me Kurenai-Sensei." With that she closed the door and left. The tallest boy in the class, that Naruto didn't even know the name of, got up and walked over to him. He had puffy black hair and wore a large grey trench coat. He also wore small circular shades.
"I'm Shino. Let's move out, right Hinata-chan?" The boy looked up at a girl with a red face. She had dark hair about as long as her head, although her bangs were cut. She had the Hyuga grey eyes as well. She wore a beige jacket with white fluff at the bottom and black pants that cut off halfway down her shins. She nodded and got up, walking over to join them.
"Y-y-y-yes let's go." She shuffled to keep up with them, stealing glances at Naruto whenever she could. They made their way to the training ground as instructed, but were quite most of the way there. Each of them had their own unique thoughts on this scenario, Naruto thinking about how he was glad he wasn't on a team with Sasuke but even happier he didn't get one of his fangirls. Shino was thinking about well, everything he could at the moment, their synergies, how could Hinata function like that, and how well off are they going to be with one of the worst in the class. The only word in Hinata's head was Naruto-Kun over and over. Her brain function was lacking at the moment. It didn't help that his outfit showed off his slightly chiseled chest and core, as well as the scar.
As they entered the training area, not having any time to really get to know each other, their new sensei was waiting for them. "You know you guys are a little late. At least you aren't as bad as Kakashi. So what did you learn about each other?"
Naruto spoke up first, "Well I learned that red is her usual skin tone as well she walks slow. I learned that Shino is deep in thought often, and due to that he doesn't talk much. I also know that we are gonna kick some ass!" He yelled out the last sentence in his usual brash nature.
Following up him was Shino, "I learned that Naruto-san, while being one of the lowest in the class isn't dumb, just not book smart as one would call it. Other than that he is an open book, someone who will do whatever it takes to complete their goals. Hinata-chan is just an open book." If Shino's coat didn't cover the lower half of his face, you could easily see him smiling.
Hinata just muttered out, "Well I've known Naruto-kun for a long time⦠and I got to know Shino throughout the year sitting in the back with him. Naruto, are your injuries fine?" Hinata pointed at Naruto's chest, becoming a slightly brighter shade of red.
"OH! That was you. Good to see you again? Did they hurt you at all? Anyway if they ever give you trouble let me know, and I'll take care of them!" Naruto put his arm around Hinata like they had been old friends, and that pushed her over the line of being able to speak or move. She balled her arms up over her chest and closed her mouth tightly.
"Well then, since you all know each other, let's start your final exam. I have these two bells, and you all have to take them from me. If you take one by the end of the day, you graduate. But if you don't have one you will be sent back for another year at the academy. Naruto you already knew about this right?" The black haired beauty asked him as she tied the bells to a waistband.
"Kinda, I was told that we wouldn't really be ninjas until after another test. So let's do it! Hinata, you're good at close range like me right? We're going in together so get ready!" Naruto was getting pumped up at this point. "We got this! I'll go back to the academy and you guys get to go on! Believe It!" Naruto put his thumb up and smiled brightly.
"We can't do that Naruto-san, we will just have to give it to the two of us who contribute the most." Shino said holding up his hand as insects started to flow out. "I'll stay back and fight her at a range, without being detrimental you guys, now let's get this over with so we can be ninja."
"Let's go Hinata!" Naruto said as he charged forward, putting his hands into the soon to be famous cross shape, creating five clones in a large puff of smoke completely hiding the group of them. They all ran forward as they spoke in unison. "Come on sensei, let's see you fight this!" As soon as the finished four pairs of hands grabbed her ankles from below. "UZUMAKI STYLE: CRATER CLONE JUTSU!" As soon as this was yelled, all the clones grabbed their teacher and blew themselves up, leaving a very narrow and tall crater. There was no teacher in sight.
"Naruto-kun I think you went too far!" Hinata let out seeing there was no body there, or not even a living person.
"I think you went too far in this dream of your Hinata-Chan. I mean Naruto died years ago, and you've been guilty since the beginning." Hinata woke up in her bed, in a cold sweat. When she left and walked outside, she could hear two guards whispering about how that poor boy died just to save their useless hier. She then was suddenly at the grave of her savior, "Here lies Naruto Uzumaki." His body started to crawl out, and scream at her, "WHY" with tears welling in its eyes. In the real world Hinata was on her knees crying. She had no clue that her teacher had used the Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Jutsu on her, trapping her in the worst possible fear.
"Shino! Wake up Hinata, she's under a genjutsu!" Naruto's voice could be heard from somewhere in the tree line, but not pinpointed by Shino at least. Naruto felt a swift kick to the side of the head, knocking him to the ground. Then he heard his sensei chuckling.
"You all pass. I would not have expected that you all would start to work together instantly." The teacher smiled and held out her hand to help Naruto up.
"Yeah. I learned the value of teamwork at a young age." Naruto tapped his scars and smiled. The two walked over to the rest of their team to tell them the good news, and tell them all that missions start tomorrow at 8am sharp. Each of the students go off on their own way.
Naruto starts to make his way home, when he notices he is being trailed. He walks his way around the corner, and uses his specialty technique, the Henge. He transforms into a toad and hops his way back around the corner. To his surprise, the person following him was his own teammate, Hinata. He transformed back in a puff of white smoke. "Hey what's up? Wanna hang out or something?"
Hinata instantly turned red seeing her crush appear instantly in her face and poked Naruto on the face. As soon as she realized he was real, she ran away and made her own way home. "Huh, guess she didn't really need anything." Naruto said to no one out loud as he made his way back to his Uncle's training area. "Yo uncle Aki, teach me something cooler." The man in question smiled, as he knew exactly what he was gonna do. He was going to have Naruto start training his chakra affinity now to see if he can develop more than one.
"Fine go into my backpack and find the band aid sized pieces of paper. Channel your chakra into them." Akihiro already knew what his chakra nature was, but he needed to explain to Naruto how to test for them. After Naruto channeled his chakra, the paper was sliced clean in half. "Good your chakra type is wind, that means you are good for about three things. Cutting, pushing and sounds. That means you are going to grab a leaf, and use your chakra to cut it in half. Welcome to the worst training you can imagine, only because of how long it will take you to get it." Akihiro laughed evilly and handed the young boy a leaf. "Get to it."
