Chapter 3: Graduation and Revelation
I still don't own Naruto.
"Alright class, today is your graduation test. Lord Hokage has decided that after this year, the graduation exam will become easier. Unfortunately for you, that means that you all still have to take the exam that was given to the likes of Kakashi Hatake, and Itachi Uchiha." Iruka called out, as he looked at the determined faces of his students.
"There will be a knowledge test, we have enlisted the help of some Chunin to run each of you through some hypothetical situations related to a shinobi's duty. After that, you will spar against either myself or Mizuki. Your final test will be to show three different jutsu, not including the Bunshin, Henge, or Kawarimi techniques. Although they do not need to be Ninjutsu specifically, feel free to show Genjutsu, a Taijutsu style outside of the Academy style, or other specialized techniques such as Kenjutsu, Iryo-Ninjutsu, or Fuinjutsu." continued Iruka, informing the students of the three tests.
Iruka couldn't help but to smile as he looked at his students. He was proud of all of them and now after four years together, they were all ready to take the first steps into their careers. 'I wonder which of them will become the most notorious?' Iruka thought as his mind immediately went to Naruto, the scarred Chunin was almost certain that the Hokage's son had a good chance of winning the spar in the second test. Iruka shuddered at the thought of losing to a twelve year old, it would hurt his pride no matter who this boy was or who was training him. His eyes looked to where the blond boy was sitting and Iruka couldn't help but to smile a bit wider. Naruto was talking rather animatedly to a group of his friends who seemed to all be listening intently.
'He is definitely the leader of this generation. He might even take the hat straight from his father if he keeps progressing at this rate.' Iruka hummed, Minato was still young enough to keep the hat for many years to come, and by that point Iruka was sure that Naruto would be more than ready to lead the village.
Snapping out of his thoughts and looking to the clock, Iruka saw that it was time. He clapped his hands to get the attention of the Academy students. They all stopped their conversations and looked back to their teacher with excited looks on their faces.
"It is time to begin. Chunin will begin to walk in and call your name, when you are called please stand up and follow the Chunin assigned to you. Good luck everyone, I have faith in you all." Iruka finished with a smile just as the first Chunin stepped through the door.
XxXxXxX
Naruto tapped his fingers on the desk in front of him, waiting for his assigned Chunin to come into the room and get him. He was one of the last ones left for crying out loud! He wouldn't be so impatient if he knew it was in order of last names, but this was random! He huffed quietly and scanned the room with his eyes, only himself, Kiba, Shino, and Sakura hadn't been taken yet. He was just about to speak when the door opened and an older teen stepped into the room.
"Yo, Naruto! Come with me, its your turn." the unnamed Chunin said before turning on his heel and walking out of the room to wait for Naruto.
"Kotetsu? You're administering my first test?" Naruto called as he ran out the door behind the Chunin with long spiked black hair, and a white bandage running across his nose.
"You got it, Izumo and me are-"
"Izumo and I." Naruto interrupted, messing with the Chunin.
"Yeah, that's what I said. Anyways, Izumo and me are gonna be testing you." Kotetsu said without missing a beat, smirking to himself when he heard the blond grumble after not getting the reaction he wanted.
They talked as they walked, but they didn't have to walk far. Kotetsu stopped outside of a room and opened the door. Inside was a set of 6 desks, each with two Chunin and an academy student. Naruto couldn't hear their conversations but he could see their mouths moving, looking closer he saw the silencing seals on top of each table. Naruto moved to sit across from Izumo who he smiled at and fist bumped, and Kotetsu sat beside Izumo also across from Naruto.
"Glad its you two out of anyone else!" Naruto said honestly, he really was glad that the duo were his examiners for this test.
"Are you kidding? We wouldn't miss this for the world! Ever since we ran into you and Kakashi at Ichiraku that one night a few years ago, you've come to visit us when were on Gate duty and you even spar with us!" Izumo said as he reminisced about the seemingly random friendship that spawned from a chance meeting.
"Speaking of that, I'm not convinced that Naruto will lose the spar." Kotetsu said with a small snicker before getting serious.
"Okay, Naruto. Time for the test. Were just going to put you through a few hypothetical situations that have a likely chance of happening, to see your response without being awarded time to plan." Kotetsu explained as Naruto nodded along.
"Im ready whenever." Naruto said with a slight amount of confidence.
"First Scenario: You and your Genin team have been separated from your Jonin-sensei on a C-rank mission that turned south. You are unsure of where your sensei is, and there is an enemy that outclasses all three of you. What do you do?" Izumo said, as both Chunin picked up a pen and pad to wait for Naruto to answer.
Naruto thought over the question quickly and tried to visualize himself in such a situation. What would he do? he didn't think for long before he gave an answer that would be shown through the Academy as a lesson to future students for years to come.
"Standard protocol states that the mission comes first, no matter the cost. A failed mission could result in bad reputation for the Village or a more personal bad reputation which could lead to a short career. I think this is wrong. I think that people like the late Sakumo Hatake, Kakashi Hatake, and the Forth Hokage have the right idea. If you abandon a mission you are scum, sure. Yet abandoning your teammates, leaving them to die? That is much worse." Naruto paused with the intention to continue with his actual practical answer, not just with his morals.
"To truly answer your question though, my actions in that scenario would probably be something like a hit and run tactic assuming my team and I have had time to learn to fight alongside each other and cover each others weaknesses. Main priority would be to get my immediate team out of danger, and then I would send a toad to my father and inform him of the situation. At that point I would send in some Shadow Clones for recon to try and find my sensei. If the hit and run tactics did not work, I would use my powers as a jinchuriki to hold off the enemy so that my team could get away and go for help. I am aware of my own strengths and burdens, and I would willingly use them to provide time for my team to get away. I'm not being cocky when I say that I will without a doubt be the strongest member of whatever team I am put on, barring the sensei." Finished Naruto with a finger tapping his chin.
"Definitely cocky." Izumo said with a smirk, knowing he would get a rise out of Naruto.
Naruto just rolled his eyes at the brown haired Chunin, he then waited for Kotetsu to finish writing on his pad before the next scenario was given to him.
"Scenario Two: You are captured by an enemy village. They take you back to their village to try and extract information from you and to use you as a bargaining piece. What do you do, and what do you say to them?" Kotetsu asked with a curious gaze, he was interested to know how the blond would hypothetically handle the situation.
"If I am captured and taken into the heart of enemy territory, I assume myself as a lost cause and take it upon myself to escape. I do not expect the Hokage to risk a team of shinobi to rescue me, regardless of my status as his son. As for what I say to the enemy, even during torture and interrogation? I would only recite my Shinobi ID number that was given to me when I joined the Academy. 012607." Naruto answered simply, as he knew from Kakashi that ANBU did the same. It was protocol to recite your ID during torture as to not give away info but to also stay focused on something else other than the pain being endured.
Kotetsu and Izumo shared a look, surprised at the mature and humble answer. The son of the Forth Hokage sat before them, understanding that regardless of who he was to the Hokage it was improbable that a team would be sent into an enemy nation to retrieve him, let alone their Hidden Village. Such an act could instigate a war, then again so could kidnapping the Forth Hokage's heir.
"R-right, last scenario then. Scenario Three: Your entire team is critically injured in a fight, leaving you to care for them and get them to safety. What is your plan of action assuming the threat is nutralized, but moving your team would kill them quicker?" Izumo asked with a serious face.
"I would move them as little as possible, only enough to hide them from sight before I tend to their wounds to the best of my ability. As an extra precaution I would apply a barrier seal to stop anyone from reaching them before I could return with help. Assuming their injuries would kill them before I could make it back, I would once again rely on the toad summons to reverse summon to my father and inform him of the situation. With his Hiraishin, and the Iryo-Nin Division set up by Tsunade-baachan, I would assume that would be my personal best course of action. I will also be requesting more training from Tsunade simply due to this question. I want to be prepared." Naruto finished, admitting to himself that being able to save a life was worth the hassle of refining his chakra control.
"Thank you, Naruto. We have considered your responses and you are free to return to your classroom to await further instructions. Good luck brat! Were rooting for ya!" Kotetsu said, as Izumo joined in for the last part.
Naruto flashed them a smile before walking back to his classroom. It would be another twenty minutes before all of the students had finished their first exam. After everyone had returned, Iruka cleared his throat and motioned for the students to follow him outside.
XxXxXxX
Once they had reached the training grounds, the students saw their parents sitting on some stands that had been laid out specifically for this reason. Naruto saw his mother sitting in a group next to his father, Jiraya, Tsunade, Hiruzen, and Kakashi. All of the other students parents were there as well, cheering their children on as the students waited for the second test to start.
"Okay class, a little change of plans! Jiraya-sama has offered to be a stand in sparring partner for all of you! So you'll be facing him instead of Mizuki or myself. Any questions?" Iruka asked with a smile.
"Is Jiraya-sama taking over because of Naruto?" Shikamaru asked out of the crowd in a lazy tone.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, Shikamaru." Iruka said with a nervous chuckle.
"Well, I'm just assuming that the test changed in light of the fact that Naruto may be able to beat either you or Mizuki in a fight. So in order to truly test him, Jiraya would be his partner. Though to not make the rest of us feel weaker, it was decided that he would fight all of us, correct?" Shikamaru asked, then mumbled about speaking too much.
"W-well..." Iruka really didn't know how to answer that.
"Troublesome, I have to fight a stronger opponent simply because one of my classmates is too strong to be an Academy student." Shikamaru sighed before plopping himself on the ground.
Shikaku Nara just sighed and shook his head with a slight smile at his sons intellect and lack of motivation. As the rest of the parents giggled at that, Naruto just scratched the back of his head. It wasn't his fault he had the ability to train with shadow clones, on top of that he trained with at least five different elite shinobi for half of his life!
"Alright, alright! Lets get this show on the road brats!" Jiraya called out, refocusing the crowd.
"First up, Shino Aburame..."
XxXxXxX
Naruto was bouncing on his toes, a wide smile spread on his face as he stood across from his Godfather. He didn't even have to wait too long either, this test was administered alphabetically by last name so he was about the middle of the pack with Namikaze. Silence permeated the air, everyone was very interested to see how the unofficial strongest of the generation would do. His match had started about two minutes ago, neither had made a move against the other. Naruto knew he would lose, especially if this was a real fight. Yet he couldn't help but to be excited about fighting a stronger opponent, to test himself.
"Come on, brat. Stalling won't change the outcome. We both know we could sit out here all night. Nobody is questioning your patience." Jiraya called out in a bored tone.
Naruto smirked and took off towards the Sanin at a speed that most were surprised at. Jiraya knew better. As soon as Naruto reached the Sanin, he shot a punch at the white haired man. It was overshot and left him off balance, Jiraya scoffed at the obvious bait but decided to humor the blond. As the older man tried to "counter" Naruto's attack, his wrist was grabbed and his feet were swept out from beneath him. Naruto threw the Sage over his shoulder, but he knew the man would land on his feet. As Jiraya turned to face Naruto as he landed, he saw three kunai flying at him while the blond had also made a clone.
"It's like you're throwing in slow motion, brat. We really have to work on your throwing speed." Jiraya taunted, trying to get under the blonds skin.
Naruto just rolled his eyes as he and his clone ran towards the man for a second time. This time Jiraya was on the offensive, throwing punches that Naruto was hard pressed to dodge let alone block. Jiraya hit like a freaking truck! Speaking of which, Naruto saw his clone get demolished by a right hook. He didn't have time to do anything except jump backwards as he felt Jiraya's knuckle touch the tip of his nose.
"AHHH! What the fu-" the blond was interrupted bt a fist to his face.
"Don't curse in the presence of ladies, Naruto." Jiraya said as he turned to wink at a group of Chunin and Jonin Kunoichi that stopped to watch the fight.
*POOF*
Jiraya's blood ran cold as he knew that sound. That sound wasn't so bad mind you, it was just the fact of WHERE that sound had come from, and WHO he had just punched in the face. Jiraya's eyes turned back to where he had just decked Naruto, hoping to see a sleeping blond he instead saw a cloud of smoke that was dispersing. Naruto was nowhere to be found.
'Where could he be?' Jiraya asked himself as he scanned the field. His eyes fell onto the two kunai that were impaled into the grass from where Naruto had thrown them.
For some reason, his brain was screaming at him that the kunai were important. He just couldn't think of why. It took exactly one second for the conclusion to come to the old Sage. A second was all Naruto needed.
'Wait, two? There were three kun-" Jiraya was interrupted suddenly.
*WHOOSH*
A foot flew directly where his face had been less than a second ago. Jiraya was barely fast enough to dodge the ambush, his eyes widened and his mind raced at what Naruto had just done. He had pulled a fast one on the Sanin. It was only thanks to Jiraya's skill and experience that he had dodged the attack.
"Stop. That's good enough, Naruto. You impressed me." Jiraya put his hand up and Naruto immediately dropped out of his Taijutsu stance. Although a little annoyed about it.
"I don't understand why did you stop the fight?" A call from the crowd of students came.
Jiraya looked to see a pink haired girl, the one who had asked the question. He smirked, it was understandable that some of the students understand what had happened. He decided to explain it to them, although he was sure that all of the parents knew why he had stopped the fight.
"I saw enough. That's why. It's not everyday that a student, not even a Genin... Can manage to catch somebody like myself off guard." Jiraya said, hoping that was enough for her curiosity.
"How did he catch you off guard? He didn't even hit you." Sakura asked, not understanding how the old man had seen enough to judge Naruto. They had only had a short spar, with only taijutsu and a few tactical jutsu from the blond.
"Ah, he caught me off guard because I underestimated his ability to make on the fly tactics like the one he just made. Naruto used the time that I was facing away from him in the air after he threw me, to make two clones AND Henge the real him as a kunai. He then used his shadow clones to corral me to the spot he wanted me in for his ambush. I didn't expect both of them to be clones so I let my guard down after I punched the second one out. It was at that time that the real Naruto came out of the Henge and tried to introduce my face to his foot. A Jonin wouldn't have even been fast enough to dodge that. I saw enough." Jiraya concluded, leaving more than just Sakura with their jaws on the floor.
"Heh, maybe next time I'll take my seals off and go full speed at you." Naruto said with a sly grin.
"Oh don't bullshit me brat. I know you had your seals off." Jiraya waved off the blond.
"Are you REALLY sure, Ero-sensei?" Naruto asked in an innocent voice.
Jiraya was just about to answer when he thought about it. He actually was not absolutely positive that Naruto had taken his seals off. Jiraya's face paled at the thought, as did many of the parents of the other students. Naruto just burst out in laughter at the face that the Sanin was making. This didn't help, as Jiraya thought the boy was laughing AT him. Of course Naruto had his weights off, gravity seals would be a death sentence to use against such a powerful enemy.
"Moving on." Jiraya said, as he decided to just move onto the next student rather than think about Naruto being faster than he already was at just 12 years old.
Naruto just shrugged with a grin and walked back to where the students were sitting. He waved at his parents who smiled at him and waved back. Kushina gave her son a thumbs up and Minato gave his son a warm nod of approval for his efforts. They would congratulate him properly after the tests were complete.
XxXxXxX
"Alright! Now that you've all sparred with Jiraya, and had half an hour to rest up. We will now begin the final test. When I call your name, please come up and perform three Jutsu of your choice. If your jutsu will require set up, please come and inform myself and Mizuki of what is needed. Are there any questions?" Iruka paused to listen for any questions, when there were none he continued.
"First up, Sasuke Uchiha!" Iruka called out.
Sasuke and Naruto both walked towards their teachers, Sasuke to perform and Naruto to inform Mizuki of what he would need for his jutsu. Ignoring Naruto, Sasuke turned towards the three training dummies that stood about 20 feet away. Forming quick handsigns, the Uchiha suddenly yelled.
"Great Fireball Technique!" and then he inhaled deeply.
Releasing his breath, a large fireball spewed from Sasuke's mouth. It travelled fast, and Iruka could feel the heat of the jutsu from where he stood behind his student. When it reached the dummies it tore through them as if they were nothing. The jutsu hit the brick wall behind the dummies and dissipated, leaving torched training dummies in its wake.
"Were gonna need stronger training dummies..." Iruka said with a sweatdrop.
After Sasuke performed two more low level fire techniques, he walked back to the students. Naruto didn't mind waiting for this portion as seeing jutsu in action was one of his favorite things. Shino used two jutsu involving his bugs and surprisingly a Suiton jutsu. Shikamaru used three of his clan jutsu, as did Choji. Ino was a surprise as she apparently had a small affinity for earth jutsu. Sakura used a simple genjutsu, a low level medical jutsu, and she also had a small affinity for earth as she put up a pretty solid Earth Wall. This trend continued and Naruto got more and more excited to show everyone what he had been working on. Not even his parents knew. He had been working on making his own jutsu. Just like his father with the Rasengan. Eventually it was his turn, and he almost ran up to Iruka.
Naruto nodded to Mizuki who let out a sharp whistle and 30 Chunin appeared each with a training dummy. After placing the dummies in a group similar to what a Shinobi contingent might look like in formation. Silence fell as the clan heads and other parents were looking at Naruto in curiosity, what could he possibly need 30 training dummies for?
"Large area attack." Shikaku Nara whispered, trying not to distract the blond.
"Large area? Minato-kun, I haven't taught Naruto any jutsu that is big enough to hit thirty targets. What could it possibly be?" Kushina said, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"I guess were about to find out." Minato said as he just shrugged and went back to paying attention to Naruto.
Back with Naruto, the silence was almost roaring at him. He was nervous but he knew he had it down, all there was left to do was to get it done. He formed his hangsigns with practiced ease and as his hands landed on the last sign, he spoke.
"Shattered Skies" he spoke, barely above a whisper. Everyone heard him.
Instantly, everyone felt the air around them rush upwards towards the clouds. For a second nothing happened but then...
*BOOM*
A loud noise was heard above them. Then the wind turned violent around them. All eyes still looking towards the clouds, gasps were heard as the clouds got torn apart by dozens of large blades of wind coming towards the ground. Lound shrieking noises were heard as the blades of wind cut through the air around them before colliding with the training dummies and the ground around them. All of the dummies within a fifty foot circular area were caught up in the devastating attack. After it was complete, Naruto turned to look at his parents to see what they thought.
"Minato you can't be serious. Having him be a Genin is ridiculous. I think he should be promoted to Chunin immediately." Fugaku said, bewildered by the strength of the Hokage's son.
"Now, now. Fugaku. Chunin is too much, he's only twelve and were not at war. Let him enjoy his Genin days." Minato waved off the Uchiha Clan head.
"I think it would be a great waste of potential to have him doing D-ranks. He is obviously qualified in strength. We need only to read his answers to the scenarios to see where he is at mentally. At the very least, please consider creating a specialized two man cell to place young Naruto on. Have him and his sensei fill in for missions that might need an extra hand of two, C-ranks outside of the village would do the boy good for experience as that's all he really needs to become a Chunin in my opinion." Shikaku Nara spoke up, putting forth a compromise.
"Hmmm, I will consider it. In the meantime I believe Naruto-kun has two more jutsu to show us." Minato said as he smiled and clapped for his son, followed by the others in the crowd.
"Iruka-sensei I will need your help for the next demonstration. I will also need my mother's help for my final demonstration." Naruto said, getting a confused look from Iruka, while his mother just walked up towards them.
"Are you going to show those seals you've been making? I'm sure once you do, you'll have to work out a deal with the Shinobi stores in the village, people are going to want to stock up on these." Kushina said, warning the boy that he'd better have a good stock of them.
"Hai, hai. Now Iruka-sensei, please cast an offensive jutsu at me. An A rank if you can manage." Naruto said as he readied himself.
"Are you sure, Naruto?" Iruka asked nervously, looking from Naruto to Kushina, and receiving a nod from both.
Iruka sighed and did the handsigns for a Fireball jutsu but put enough force behind it to consider it an A-Rank Jutsu. As it flew towards the blond, Iruka started to get nervous when Naruto didn't move. He just stuck his hand out and opened his palm. Just before the jutsu hit him, a nearly transparent purple shield formed in front of the blonds' hand. When the fireball hit it, it smashed into the shield and dissipated.
"Thank you, Iruka-sensei. Now Okaa-san, please disarm me with your sword." Naruto said, pulling out his own sword.
Naruto let his mother disarm him and watched as his blade flew out of his hand. Suddenly, the blade stopped in mid air, suspended for a second before being pulled back to Naruto's hand. Many people letting out a gasp. A certain purple haired ANBU, and a brunette with two buns on her head being some of them.
"Naruto-kun, can you please explain what you just did?" Mikoto Uchiha said, as she looked in shock at the boy that she considered a nephew.
"Of course. I have been learning seals from my parents, and Jiraya for a long time. I recently felt confident enough to start experimenting with the art and started thinking of seals that could be mass produced. "Shield" is the name of the first seal I've created. It is a seal that you will be able to buy from a Shinobi store much like you can buy explosive tags. You place the seal onto your hand and the ink transfers from the paper to your body temporarily. Each seal will stay on your skin for about 72 hours or until used. So far it can only block one high rank jutsu or two low rank ones. Although I will try and tweak the seal to allow for more damage. The point of the seal is to be a secret immediate defense. All the seal requires is for you to channel chakra into it and it holds that chakra in the seal until you release it. It is handy because you could charge the seal before you are even in a fight and then use it to catch your opponent off guard. The seal itself holds about the amount of chakra it would take to use an A ranked jutsu. You can put less in, but the shield becomes weaker." Naruto explained, pausing to let everyone think about the implications of such a seal.
"So then, "Sword" is the name of the second seal that I've been working on. This seal isn't so much of a mass producible seal, as much as it is a passion project. I always hated when my mother would disarm me in our Kenjutsu duels, so I thought of a seal that would act as sort of a homing beacon from your sword to your hand. I've made it work so that the seal on my sword is attracted to the seal on my hand when I pour chakra into it, pulling the sword back towards me as you all just saw. This one is more difficult to mass produce as I had to engrave the seal directly into the hilt of my sword, and the one that goes on the skin is more...Permanent...Than the other seal. Although I would be willing to perform the seal for anybody that would want it." Naruto finished and looked at the awestruck faces of the people in the crowd.
Suddenly a purple haired ANBU appeared in front of Naruto in a swirl of leaves. No words were said, as she just stared at the blond. Naruto just sighed before waving her off. He chuckled as he spoke to her.
"Hai, hai Neko-chan. You can be the first person that I put the seal on." Naruto said in an amused tone.
Neko just nodded and disappeared in a swirl of leaves again. Behind where Neko had stood was Tenten. A girl that Naruto had met through his friend and rival Rock Lee. Tenten had quickly become his friend as well. She had an expectant look in her eyes.
"You too, Tenten. You can have it too. Also tell your dad I want to meet with him about some business." Naruto was laughing by this point.
Everyone except Iruka went back to their seats as Naruto's performance was over with. Naruto for his part had stopped paying attention and was thinking about how to add a bigger area to his "Shattered Skies" ability. What his mother had said to him a few years ago had resonated in his mind since then. He wanted to master his Futon abilities to the point that he didn't need to use handsigns anymore. He wanted to be the best Wind user in the world.
Soon enough, everybody had finished and they all received their headbands.
"Alright everyone! Congratulations, you are now all Genin of Konohagakure. I have prepared you as best as I can for the world that awaits you. Celebrate tonight, remember this day with fondness. You all are about to walk a very dangerous road, but you know that. I believe in all of you. Meet here tomorrow morning to be assigned to your teams." Iruka said with a smile, meanwhile tears threatened to spill down his cheeks. Mizuki had already left, he didn't care about these students nearly as much as Iruka did.
Everyone cheered and one by one they thanked Iruka before they left the room. As they left, Naruto asked everyone if they wanted to go to the BBQ restaurant that Choji's family owned to celebrate. A resounding yes was heard as they all went home and cleaned up. Planning to meet there later that night.
XxXxXxX
Morning had come quickly and Naruto found himself back at the Academy awaiting his team assignment. Nothing about the blond had changed from the previous day, except the forehead protector he was wearing around his head. He still had his blue form fitting T-shirt on, although he had gained more muscle so he filled it out better. He stuck to the black ANBU style pants, and black combat boots. His forearms were still wrapped in bandages concealing his gravity seals. Naruto yawned as he watched Iruka walk into the room, holding a clipboard.
"Good morning everyone. For the last time I get to greet you like this, I will be reading your team assignments to you now." Iruka started to list off names but Naruto was too tired to really listen.
"Team 7 will be Sasuke Uchiha-..." Now that caught Naruto's attention. He wondered who his sparring partner would have as a team.
"-Sakura Haruno, and Sai. Your Jonin-sensei will be Kakashi Hatake." Iruka finished.
Naruto was slightly annoyed that he didn't get Sasuke OR Kakashi on his team. He listened intently now to the rest of the teams.
"Team 8 will be Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, and Shino Aburame. Led by Jonin-sensei Kurenai Yuhi." Iruka stated while Naruto just got more and more concerned about who was left.
"Team 9 is in circulation."
"Team 10 will be this generation's version of Ino-Shika-Cho, led by Jonin-sensei Asuma Sarutobi." Iruka continued in a confused near the end as he read the last team.
"Team 11 will be Naruto Namikaze, led by...ITACHI UCHIHA?!" Iruka almost choked as the reserved ANBU captain had decided to take an apprentice.
Naruto just chuckled nervously as all the eyes in the room turned to him. He had no idea that his father had worked this out. Naruto had heard Shikaku's advice yesterday but he didn't think his dad would actually do it. Just then a swirl of leaves appeared and so did Itachi Uchiha.
"Naruto-kun, please come with me. We have much to discuss." Itachi called out to the blond, before turning on his heel and walking out of the room.
Naruto quickly scrambled to his feet and ran to meet his new sensei, he had trained with Itachi before but now they were actually student and teacher. Although the dynamic hadn't shifted that much, as Naruto had always respected Itachi. Catching up to Itachi Naruto just walked beside the man in relative silence. They soon came to the front of Ichiraku's and stepped inside. Sitting down at a table the two ordered some food and began to discuss what the purpose of this team was.
"We will be doing mainly C-rank missions, as the Hokage believes that you need a bit of experience before you become a Chunin. I have to agree. Although I do not think you will be a Genin for long with the Chunin exams in Kumo in a few months." Itachi explained to Naruto.
"You left ANBU to become my sensei, why?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Because I know what its like to be a prodigy, to have the hopes and dreams of your people rest on your shoulders. I can help you, maybe teach you a thing or two while Im at it. Also, as I previously stated. I do not think you will be a Genin for long, I will more than likely return to ANBU after you pass." Itachi said, as if he had already decided that Naruto would be promoted on his first attempt. As if it was already a fact.
"Makes sense. So what's first?" Naruto asked with a grin, ready to get started.
"Let's go pick a mission or two. Perhaps one that takes us out of the village." Itachi offered while standing up, having eaten his food.
Naruto stood as well, they paid for their meals and walked towards the Missions Office. A smile crossed Naruto's face as he had a feeling that his first mission would be something exciting.
Oh how right he was.
XxXxXxX
Yo! So this chapter was mostly just to kind of start the genin phase, I ended writing way more about the graduation stuff than I originally planned. So Wave Arc will be replaced with something I cooked up while writing this chapter. I know I kind of went hard on saying that Naruto was way stronger than everyone else in the Academy. Which is pretty believable if you add up all the things Naruto has going for him.
He's the 9 Tails Jinchuriki, massive chakra reserves, ability to train with shadow clones. That's all canon. For my story he has the additional help of not being hated by the villagers, he has both of his parents, Jiraya still has his spy network but comes around more often and Tsunade never left. Kakashi spent a lot of time with Naruto early on as well so to put Naruto at above Chunin by 12 is not a stretch considering these things. I would say that Naruto's overall strength is probably Jonin level but that doesn't mean he would win in a fight against a Jonin. He has no experience in a real Shinobi fight, he's only ever had to spar and getting instincts only comes with practice. If you've got an issue with the power I'm kind of giving to Naruto, please save your judgement until I write an actual fight for him next chapter. I generally don't decide the outcome to stuff until I'm writing it, and it just kind of ends how I want it to end in that moment. I promise I don't want Naruto to be obscenely powerful right now, I want him to get a reality check to kind of humble him out at some point as well. Who knows. For now I'm happy with where the story is going, just more character development. Next chapter I can introduce real conflict and stuff. Hope it will work out :)
Until next time,
Wonderouzzz
