AN: Not really got anything to say, hope you enjoy this chapter!
"This isn't too bad, if anything it's quite fun" Naruto said amusedly, the class of Genin-hopefuls had been dropped off outside the village, near one of the many small dense forests. It was perfectly safe since for miles on end they would still be in Hi no Kuni and all of the Chunin examiners have been positioned around the forests to make sure no one actually gets lost. The task was simple, they had to survive for a day and camp out in the forest for one day and then as soon the sun was at the highest point in the sky, signalled by a flare too, the students had to race back. The 'fun' part was that the closer you got the village, the more traps and animals you would encounter to slow you down and deter you, otherwise anyone could camp out near the edge of the village and just head back. The academy made sure that if you were going to go down that route, you'd have to earn it.
For Naruto, he had chosen to simply explore the forest on the first day and go hunting for food before choosing to settle down in a random location and rest for the night. Upon seeing and hearing the flare Naruto raced towards the village, however he was interrupted from his journey by a loud scream a little further ahead. Figuring it was in his direction anyways, Naruto decided to submerge himself into his shadows and accelerate his travelling speed.
What he saw didn't really surprise him, Sakura Haruno was currently cornered against a tree as a large wolf, nearly the size of her 10-year-old lithe frame, was snarling its fangs at her ready to rip her apart. Now most of the academy students would be able to deter the wild beast or at least fight it off, however Sakura has always been useless in Naruto's opinion. In an academy setting she excelled, she was able to cast and expel genjutsu and cast her jutsu. However every time she sparred she would be worried about her outfit and getting it dirty or during every survival training exercise she would be trying to tag along with Sasuke and get him to look after her, to no success of course. She shouldn't be able to pass the academy realistically, but Naruto knew her mum was part of the council and apparently was whoring herself out to most of the academy assessors to pass her daughter, but those are just rumours.
"We both know they are more than just rumours…we've seen her around the academy with messy hair or stained clothes. Anyways, the world would be better off without her, no?" the Kyuubi said in a bored tone as it was looking through the eyes of Naruto occasionally.
"Yeeaahh but unlike you I have a moral code. She's useless but still part of the village, I can't just let her be mauled like that" Naruto sighed out and knew what he had to do, unfortunately. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough" Naruto said as he inhaled deeply and blew out a strong gust of wind to blow the wolf away quite a few metres and leave it dazed. "You good, pinkie?" Naruto said as he held out his hand for him to help Sakura up.
"EW, GET AWAY NARUTO-BAKA! I DON'T WANT YOUR ORPHAN GERMS! SASUKE-KUN WAS MEANT TO SAVE ME! NOT YOU! AND WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT CALLING ME PINKIE?!" she shrieked out as she was preparing to swing for his head.
However, Naruto ducked under the slow punch before throwing a light jab to the middle of her face and the next thing she knew was the kunai at her throat being held by Naruto from behind her. "Now insulting me is one thing. But if you ever and I mean EVER, try to attack me in any shape way or form again, I will personally slit your throat and make it look like an accident. Am I clear, banshee?" Naruto said in an ice-cold tone which quickly led to Sakura hurriedly agreeing.
What he wasn't ready for was for the previous wolf to return but with its pack this time, five in total. Now normally he could simply disappear into his shadows and escape, however doing so would leave Sakura to be shred to pieces, damn his moral code. He however quickly learnt how difficult it was to try and fend off attackers whilst trying to defend someone and was quickly becoming overwhelmed, a fact the pack of wolves were beginning to take advantage of. Every time he was trying to cast a jutsu on one of them, another would make a run at Sakura or try to sneak up behind him. He slipped up as one of the wolves managed to get behind him and was ready to bite down on his neck when a black blur tackled it to the ground and ripped out its throat with its own sharp fangs.
"Ameya? You have no idea how good it is to see you! Perfect timing" Naruto said as he was joined by the muscular and feline form of Ameya, in her full natural form.
"Yes yes yes, I am amazing I know. We need to have a chat after this" Ameya said as she eyed the remaining four wolves in front of them. However realising the situation has turned against them, they quickly retreated. "Oh. That's all it took? Disappointing, I was hoping for more food. Now as I was say-" she was interrupted by Naruto signalling her to wait and glanced towards the shocked form of Sakura, that must have never seen or heard of a summon.
"Oi pinkie! Focus. I'm leaving, you're on your own now. You better start running if you want to pass and more importantly survive" Naruto said before turning around and beginning to head off, not wanting to spend more time by wasting it, "let's talk whilst heading back Ameya, it will be difficult coming first now" Naruto said as Ameya started leaping away with him.
(One Week Later)
Naruto was currently sat in the academy classroom for the final time. It was confirmed yesterday who had passed and who hadn't after accumulating all of the results from all of the examinations. Today, sat with him are all the officials Genin of Konohagakure some of the graduates did not surprise him at all, such as Sasuke, Shikamaru or Hinata however Sakura graduating still came as shock to him, or not if he was choosing to listen to the rumours.
He was brought out of his musings by Ameya jumping into his lap wanting some affection and attention. Following the incident last week, she described to him the panther clan had picked an interest in him and following all the meetings and run ins Ameya and Naruto had, she vouched he would be the perfect summoner for the struggling panther clan. Whether it was Ameya's insistence or the struggling state of the panther clan, the boss summon – Ameya's mother, chose to accept Naruto as their latest summoner, but he would still have to prove himself at a later date to deem how worthy he actually was to summon the panthers.
He had to stop his petting of his new familiar summon as the voice of Sasuke called out to him, "Give me it" he simply demanded with Sakura encouraging him from behind which Naruto simply chose to ignore. "Oi orphan, I'm talking to you!" Sasuke said in an annoyed manner, not believing an orphan would ignore him, he seems to forget that he became an orphan too following what Itachi did. However this must be Sasuke's way of deflecting since he believes his situation is different from Naruto's since he never knew his parents after all. He was losing his patience quickly and decided to take action by reaching out to grab the panther on Naruto's lap. He had to stop his action though as Ameya jumped up from Naruto's lap to take a swipe at Sasuke's face which he barely had time to dodge, taking out a kunai, Sasuke was ready to attack the growling panther when he suddenly found himself face first laying on the classroom floor, courtesy of the seal Naruto managed to slap on his back when he was focused on the panther.
"God I love fuinjutsu. As for you emo, no point in struggling, it's a gravity seal set at three times your body weight, you're not moving any time soon. I will only say this once, you don't demand from me or anyone actually. Ameya is MY summon, she's part of MY family. Just because yours ceased to exist, doesn't mean you try to claim someone else's. Next time you try this, you will regret it" Naruto said as he glared at Sasuke with a small red flash passing through his eyes and chose to reiterate his point by casting a small genjutsu on Sasuke of horrible torture and pain Naruto would cause him. Choosing to sit back down and let Iruka deal with Sasuke, once he came in, Naruto went back to petting Ameya and was happy he got the fuinjutsu formula right, otherwise Sasuke would have been crushed into paste.
(One Year Ago)
Naruto was having the time of his life. The class were currently in the final week of learning about fuinjutsu after weeks and weeks of calligraphy and theory and the dangers about what could go wrong and how lethal it can be. After continuous trial and error the academy students were able to create small sealing scrolls and some were able to create small explosive tags. Naruto however wasn't some. After the first lesson on creating seals, Naruto was able to create the sealing scrolls and explosive tags on his first try, for some reason fuinjutsu naturally occurred to him.
Running out of things they could teach him, since they only taught the basics, Iruka had recommended Naruto to speak to the Sandaime. What followed was the revelations of the Uzumaki clan and his mother, Kushina. Although initially wanting to wait until he graduates, the Sandaime figured he might as take this opportunity now compared to prolonging it. What followed was the history of the Uzumaki clan, as far as they knew it, and his mother Kushina and her importance to Konoha both as the jinchuriki and the one of their best shinobi. What was also included was a small letter from his mother explaining how much she loved him and apologising for not being present. She also explained how she had asked the Sandaime to keep her and Naruto's father's identity as a secret in order to protect him. However, she had included into the letter a small seal containing scrolls and information on fuinjutsu and specific Uzumaki fuinjutsu as well as some of her own water techniques. The most surprising thing was something called chakra chains though which he would find more information on in their home compound once Hiruzen deemed him ready.
(Present Day)
After the meeting, Naruto had promised himself, the memory of his mother and his family line that he would make the Uzumaki clan proud. He began working on fuinjutsu whenever he could and the result was the seal still currently on Sasuke's back. A gravity seal he had applied on himself in order to aid his training a couple of months ago. Naruto himself was currently on the second level out of a total 10, where he felt like he was submerged under water constantly, Sasuke's seal was a modified version because Naruto did not want to take risks with the first level.
After a couple of minutes, Iruka walked in and saw the state of Sasuke. Judging by Naruto's small smirk, Iruka knew what was going or what happened at least. Sighing, he chose to remove the sealing tag on his back before telling Sasuke to not make a fuss and go sit down and chose to address the class. He wasn't even going to try and get Naruto's attention, the boy was furiously scribbling down different kanji and ideas, Iruka knew that when Naruto entered this mode, there was no breaking him out of it unless he chose to.
"…the rookie of the year Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno under Kakashi Hatake" Naruto barely registered Iruka reading his team out. Looking up he saw the whole class staring at him, well except for Sasuke who was openly glaring at him with jealousy and anger.
"What? Something on my face? Also where is Ameya?" Naruto asked whilst touching his face all over and checking underneath his desk and looking around the classroom.
"You got rookie of the year Naruto-san and your summon chose to disappear once you stopped giving her attention" the voice Hinata Hyuga, the kunoichi of the year, called out to him from behind.
"Oh. Nice. Thanks Hinata!" Naruto said before going back to his scribbling causing the class and Iruka to sweat drop at his antics.
(3 Hours Later)
"AHA! Finally! Oi Shika, look at this!" Naruto said and turned to his side in order to speak to Shikamaru only to realise he wasn't there anymore, looking around him, he realised no one was around him. Except for Sakura and Sasuke who was brooding to the side. "Eh? Banshee! What's going on?" Naruto called out to Sakura after she had just tried asking Sasuke out again just for him to ignore her again.
"Of course you didn't realise, you were taught any manners so you don't know when to listen" Sakura began in a condescending tone hoping it would score her brownie points with her crush. However seeing Naruto narrow his eyes dangerously she chose to answer his question quickly, "ahem anyways, we got our team assignments. We are on the same team and everyone else got picked up by their sensei 3 hours ago, we are still waiting for this Kakashi guy to arrive. You got rookie of the year, how you managed to cheat yourself into it I don't know! We all know Sasuke-kun deserves it! Maybe they gave it to you because they feel sorry for you for being alone!" Sakura sneered hoping Sasuke would join in the bashing of Naruto. However she was left disappointed by both boys still ignoring her, Sasuke was openly glaring at Naruto again because he was working on the seals on his coat that Sasuke couldn't figure out.
Naruto had stopped listening after Sakura mentioned rookie of the year, figuring it would be useless information after. Instead he was working on the coat he received as a gift from the Sandaime all those years ago. It turns out the seals on the arm sleeves were storage seals which Naruto did not understand at the time and for the last three hours he had been working on improving that seal. He read in one of the fuinjutsu scrolls about blood seals and how they were an improvement on normal storage seals, since he knew he was going to start going on missions, he did not want to waste his efforts carrying backpacks and too many scrolls. However, he also wanted to make sure no one else had access to his belongings, especially being teamed with the two unstable teammates he currently had, so he decided to tweak the normal storage seals into blood seals. Other than that, his outfit hasn't changed from when he was living in the Nara household, just minus the leg pouches and the addition of the headband on his forehead.
"Yo" the three Genin heard from the door and turned their head to see what must be their sensei Kakashi, "hmm, you're not worth an opinion yet. Shunshin to the roof I'll meet you there" he simply said before disappearing. The three Genin mimicked the action, two of them disappearing in a standard shunshin and the last one being swallowed up by his own shadow.
(On The Roof)
"Cute shunshin blondie" Kakashi said in his traditional eye smile and bored tone, to which Naruto simply offered his own smile before sitting down. "Okay, let's get to the point. You're not Genin yet. You have to pass a separate test by me to see if you have what it takes to become actual Genin, otherwise you'll be sent back to the academy" Kakashi said before sitting down and looking each of them. His statement got the reaction he hoped for – Sasuke who was brooding sent a sharp glare his way, Sakura audibly gasped and Naruto simply raised his eyebrows although judging by his stiff shoulders, he was tense too.
"I can see you're quite shocked, how about we introduce ourselves a little to ease the tension," he suggested in a comforting manner as if he didn't just drop a bombshell on them. Seeing none of them starting, he chose to lead by example, "okaaay, I want to know things like your likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams. For example, my name is Kakashi Hatake. I like some things and dislike some things. I have some hobbies but also some dreams…your go! Go on pinkie"
"erm, okay, sure, yeah. My name is Sakura Haruno. I lov- LIKE erm never mind. I also like to read and buy pretty dresses. I hate being called pinkie or banshee" she began as she initially looked at Sasuke and then Naruto afterwards, "for my hobbies I like to take long relaxing baths and peek on – I mean stalk – I mean bird watching, yes that's what I mean. As for my dreams it's being with a certain someone" she finished off with a massive blush on her face and a small trickle of blood coming down her nose.
'She really is pathetic, this is going to take a lot of work' Kakashi thought with a heavy sigh. "Okay emo you're up next"
"The name is Sasuke Uchiha. Not emo, make sure you respect the Uchiha na-"
"I will say this once civilian, you don't demand from me. I might not be the Hokage but not just am I a Jonin but also your potential sensei. Now if you want things from me, you ask and will make sure to use your Ps and Qs. Am I clear? Kakashi said from beside Sasuke. Other than his usual bored tone, Sasuke was frightened by Kakashi's hand being coated in lightening with the respective arm resting on Sasuke's shoulder so the sound of the chirping birds were deafening to Sasuke. After a few seconds and making sure Sasuke understood he was being serious, Kakashi dissipated his jutsu and returned to his seat and gestured for him to continue.
"As I was saying, Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like anything but I dislike, no I HATE one person more than anything in this world. He is my hobby and my dream, more specifically to kill him and avenge my clan".
'Nice, a disrespectful, revenge driven, broken Uchiha. I just hope he doesn't meet Itachi anytime soon because if he managed to murder his whole clan, Sasuke wouldn't last a split second' Kakashi thought seriously. "okayyy, blondie, go on".
"Okay scarecrow!" Naruto said with a small smirk as Kakashi's lone visible eyebrow rose at the remark. "I like training, the Naras and Ameya-chan. I dislike –" he gestured towards the two oblivious teammates who were ignoring him, but Kakashi understood, "I also dislike arrogant and ignorant people. For my hobbies I like training and spending time with Ameya as well as improving my own knowledge. My dream is to make my clan proud, whether that's as the Hokage or the most powerful shinobi in the world, we'll see I guess" Naruto finished off whilst Sakura was openly laugh and Sasuke had a small sneer on his face. But this didn't bother Naruto, because Kakashi had given him an honest and genuine smile, not the teasing little eye smiles he would do to enrage them even further.
'Interesting, very interesting' Kakashi thought as he eyed the blonde 'rookie of the year' for a bit longer before addressing the whole team again. "Okay, like I said earlier, real Genin test tomorrow, 6am, training ground seven. I'd recommend not eating breakfast. See ya!" and he disappeared in plume of smoke.
Not having a reason to stay, Naruto chose to leave too and prepare himself and so he got engulfed in his own shadow and disappeared.
(9am The Next Day – Training Ground 7)
"Yo! The form of Kakashi appeared in the middle of the training ground to look at his two Genin…wait, two? "Where's Naruto?" Kakashi asked and had a look around.
"He was here at 6am but left shortly after, also you're late!" Sakura began reprimanding Kakashi. However before she got far in her screaming, Naruto appeared, slurping on some ramen from Ichiraku's.
"Yo" he simply said before sitting down to finish his meal.
"You're late and I thought I told you not to eat before the exam?" Kakashi asked in a curious manner.
"Nah, actually you're late. I was here on time and when I figured you would come late like yesterday, I made use of my time, like having breakfast because you only recommended not to eat. It wasn't an order, loopholes" Naruto said with a grin as he sealed the bowl away and stood up, having finished his meal.
"Hm, interesting. Anyways, I'm not taking questions so listen up. Here are two bells" he said as he pulled out two silver bells which all three Genin watched attentively, "the two that get them will be my Genin, the other goes back to the academy" Kakashi said and gave his students a few minutes to compose themselves and ask all the questions they had, which he wasn't answering. "Now that you got all of this out of your system, the test begins…NOW"
As soon as he ushered the word 'now' he was expecting all three Genin to run off and hide. What he wasn't expecting was for Naruto to rush towards him and sweep his legs which he jumped over, just for Naruto to jump up and throw an uppercut to Kakashi's jaw.
'How did he jump so high?! I was certain I was high enough! And he packs a punch…' Kakashi thought as he distanced himself a bit.
Landing on the ground, Naruto proceeded to give Kakashi no time and continued to pounce on him. Throwing a feint with his left, Naruto proceeded to throw a right hook which Kakashi predicted and stepped back from, only for him to feel a strong connection against his left cheek!
'Something is not right here! I know I dodged it, he never extended his left arm!' he thought. However he didn't have much time again as once again Naruto was ready to attack him. Taking some time to analyse the situation, Kakashi understood what was happening. Right as Naruto was on him, Kakashi flared his chakra and dispelled the small genjutsu that was being placed every time Naruto attacked. Once dispelled he realised what Naruto was doing, this time Naruto was crouched half way ready to hit his stomach, but once Kakashi dispelled the genjutsu he actually saw Naruto crouched all the way, ready to sweep his legs. Jumping up high enough, he grabbed Naruto by the locker and threw him towards a tree.
"That's a neat trick, it won't work again though." Kakashi said as he took the moment to compose himself a little and nurse his cheek and jaw, 'he really does hit hard though' Kakashi thought, he wanted to take his book out and read but instead he chose to pay attention again as when Naruto was going to impact the tree, he disappeared into the shadow of the tree. 'Very interesting indeed' Kakashi thought.
After a few seconds of nothing happening, Kakashi thought Naruto had chosen to run away and regroup however he was surprised by a large fireball heading his way. Thinking it was Naruto, he was surprised it actually came from Sasuke! 'A fireball this size at this age is impressive, he really is an Uchiha' Kakashi thought happily as he had two talented shinobi so far.
(With Naruto)
Although wanting to continue to fighting, Naruto knew he wasn't enough to take Kakashi down on his own so chose to the reasonable thing and try get help, even if it was from the two people he liked the least. Finding Sakura, since Sasuke was busy fighting Kakashi, he appeared behind her from her shadow and covered her mouth, knowing she was going to be startled and scream, which she tried.
"Shush banshee, its me. Listen up, I know you won't work with me willingly so how about this. We all work together and then you and Sasuke can have a bell so you can spend all your time with him and make him yours, sounds good right? You like that?" Naruto said in a hushed tone, hoping for Sakura to take the bait. After a few seconds of standing still, she nodded her head rather quickly at the idea of spending her time with Sasuke.
"Okay perfect, here's what we're going to do…"
(Back With Kakashi)
'Talented but massive anger issues' Kakashi thought as he used a Kawarimi to dodge a massive fireball headed his way. Although skilful, Sasuke doesn't have any battle plans but would instead rush in every time without thinking. He was further surprised though by Sakura appearing next to him and whispering something to him whilst concealing her mouth, so Kakashi couldn't lipread.
His surprise continued as both Sasuke and Sakura rushed him, it was a very simple but well thought out idea, whilst Sasuke would attack Kakashi, Sakura would be providing the support. Every time Sasuke attacked low, Sakura would begin throwing kunai and shuriken high so he couldn't jump in order to avoid the attack and this would continue for every direction of the attack.
This continued for a few minutes until both Genin were panting hard, however they had to stop when they heard the alarm go off in the distance.
"It was cute, I will give you that. I saw some very good things today, but unfortunately none of you got a bell and Naruto seems to have completely given up" Kakashi began and was going to grab the bells, however his hand phased through the bells, "what the?! How?!" Kakashi asked with his lone eye raised in surprise and shock.
"You're getting a bit too complacent Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said as he appeared from Kakashi's shadow behind him. "I know you will do all the teaching but let me teach you a lesson about me. I have never quit, I don't quit and I will never quit" Naruto said as he gained a determined and serious expression on his face, before giving Kakashi his bells back.
"I see, that's good to know. Now then, you have two bells, who's joining you in my team?" Kakashi asked with a curious expression on his face.
"Meh, them two can have it. If they didn't distract you, I wouldn't have been able to sneak up on you and if it wasn't for Sakura explaining the plan to Sasuke, he would have never listened to me so everyone played a part, kind of anyways" Naruto said and threw the two bells towards his teammates, "or you can just make all three of us your Genin, since this was never about bells but rather about teamwork, anyways, either way I am either part of the team or not" Naruto said casually and began walking off before adding, "I will be here tomorrow from 6am again training, I guess I will either see you all at 9am for team training or I will leave the training ground so you lot can train" and the next second he was engulfed in his shadow before disappearing.
"Very interesting indeed. Anyways, congrats! See you all tomorrow at 9am!" Kakashi said before disappearing too to report to the Hokage.
(2 Months Later)
Dysfunctional. That is the only way to describe them, this team was going to get him or themselves killed. They had just finished another D-ranked mission and although completing it, he had to stop Sasuke several times from trying to start a fight with this blonde teammate. This started following the Genin test, every time they trained and the fact that Naruto got the bells instead of him, Sasuke would demand for Naruto to give him access to the techniques and jutsu Naruto was using. Every time they sparred, he had to stop Sasuke from actively trying to stab Naruto in the back when the spars would stop. Usually, Naruto would make a small remark or simply dismiss the Uchiha's effort, however this all changed two weeks ago when Sasuke took it too far.
(Two Weeks Ago)
Naruto and Ameya were sparring against Sasuke after Naruto had checked if that was okay with Kakashi, the reasoning being that Naruto wanted to work on his chemistry with his summon. Kakashi agreed as long as Sasuke was fine with it, which he simply didn't care about and just wanted to fight, he has lost all of the spars except the few where Naruto was trying something new and was still inexperienced in it, which Sasuke didn't know.
Starting the fight, Sasuke instantly rushed Naruto and completely ignored the summon for now, assuming it was simply too weak, since Ameya assumed her smaller stance. Naruto meanwhile was dodging Sasuke's hit with a little difficult, he had recently upped his gravity seals and was still getting used to it, it currently felt like he was trying to balance a massive boulder on each limb. However, Sasuke was barely landing hits on him but for every two hits Sasuke landed, Naruto landed a punch or kick even more powerful. Dodging Sasuke's kunai slash towards his face, Naruto swung his right fist towards Sasuke's face which was ducked under. Instead of being of balance, Sasuke realised Naruto's punch was a feint as the motion stopped half way and instead of fully extending his arm, Naruto brought his elbow down right on top of Sasuke's head, dazing him. Grabbing his head in pain, Sasuke jumped back trying to get some space, what he forgot though, was Ameya. The initial small form of Ameya had reverted back to her original size and slashed Sasuke against his back making him scream in pain.
Naruto chose this moment to appear out of Sasuke's shadow and kick Sasuke away, what he didn't expect though was for Sasuke to turn around with his sharingan, with one tomoe in each eye, blazing at him and plunged a kunai deep into Naruto's shoulder before kicking him away instead.
"Naruto!" Ameya screamed out but before she was able to help her summoner, Sasuke appeared behind her and plunged a kunai into her back right thigh.
Kakashi took this moment to announce the end of the spar as Naruto had gotten up from the previous kick. However Sasuke wasn't done and tried to ram kunai into the skull of Ameya.
"If I can't have her as my summon, he define-" he was abruptly stopped by Naruto appearing in front of him in pure speed, having released his gravity seals after seeing what Sasuke had intended, and took Sasuke's own kunai and stabbed the hand that held it initially before grabbing his other wrist and breaking it at the joint. He was stopped from doing more as Kakashi appeared and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and simply shook his head. To which Naruto simply took Ameya in his arms and disappeared.
(Present Day)
Naruto hadn't said a word that day and continued not to interact with his teammates, choosing to train separately but still spar with Kakashi from time to time. This is as a result lead to Sasuke having to spar with Sakura more often because she used to spar with Kakashi when her teammates fought each other. However, where Kakashi would hold back, but still end up wiping the floor with her because of the infatuation of looking good, Sasuke simply saw her as a waste of time and always disposed of her in ruthless manner.
Dysfunctional. The only way to put it. He needed something to help ease the tension of the team and entering the Hokage's tower, an idea popped into his mind.
(Mission Office)
"Team Seven reporting from another successful D-ranked mission, Hokage-sama" Kakashi reported as he and his Genin team entered the office.
"Well done! Now we have some more D-ranked missions you can select from, for example we have-" the Sandaime began only to be interrupted by Kakashi stepping forward.
"I am sorry Hokage-sama, I do not intend any disrespect," Kakashi began and waited for the Hokage to gesture for him to continue, "but I was hoping we could have something a little higher. I do feel the team is ready for such a task" Kakashi said but indicated with his eyes that there was more to it and wanted to speak in private.
"I see. Okay, bring in Tazuna!" the Hokage told one of his Chunin. After a few minutes, Tazuna the bridge builder came in, clearly a bit tipsy. "Your mission will be to escort Tazuna to Nami no Kuni, it is a simple C-ranked mission and at most you might encounter a few bandits". The Third Hokage said before leaning back in his chair.
"Them?! It's like you want me to get killed! Other than their sensei, these three have probably only recently finished breastfeeding!" He bellowed out before taking a gulp of the bottle in his hand.
He spit the alcohol out of his mouth though as he heard a voice speak from behind him, "I personally was never breastfed as my parents died at my birth but don't worry I'll make sure you won't die to bandits". Turning around abruptly trying to identify the voice, Tazuna was met with nothingness before he turned around again to face the Genin in front of him and guessing by the small smirk on the blonde one's face, he had a good idea as to who the voice belonged to.
"Whatever, meet me tomorrow at 6am by the gate" he said and hurriedly rushed out.
"You heard Tazuna-san, 6am tomorrow, don't be late and pack for a two week mission" Kakashi said and offered an eye small by the glare he received when he reminded them not to be late. Once the Genin had left, Kakashi turned to face the Sandaime who was waiting for this moment and explained his worried and concerns and what has been happening within his team.
"I see, that is indeed troubling. I hope your idea works, otherwise there will have to be changes. I am worried about Sasuke's mental health, keep a close eye on him and report back everything, am I understood?" the Sandaime said in a stern voice and dismissed Kakashi once he nodded.
"Troubling indeed" the Hokage sighed out, he had a feeling about this mission.
AN: I don't know how heavy I will go into the Sasuke/Sakura bashing, sometimes I like the characters sometimes I don't. They definitely won't be 'good' characters but will see how far I will go against them.
With the Genin exam I just want to clarify that if Kakashi was going serious etc, Naruto wouldn't be able to sneak up on him, it was only due to being underestimated by Kakashi.
Next chapter will hopefully be the whole wave arc, with a very important twist to the story that will cause for a deviation from canon.
IMPORTANT: I am travelling for the next week or so, so probably won't update until next weekend (27th/28th) I am going to try and continue working on it throughout the week but the realistic timeline will be that weekend.
