Disclaimer: I don't own "Naruto", or any other property for that matter.Enjoy!
"Well, that almost not sucked!" Naruto spoke to no one in particular as he was hopping on the trees outside the village. He was doing one of his usual night "walks", trying to get some frustration out of his system. "I mean, who the fuck judges a ninjas skill by making them do a bunshin?"
The events of the day were still fresh within his head. Just thinking about the fact that he almost didn't pass the exam because of a stupid bunshin made his blood boil. At least he aced his taijutsu examination, and did well enough at the written part so that he could pass. He even executed a perfect henge, and offered to make a kage bunshin, but that stupid Mizuki was out to make him fail. "Thank Kami Iruka-sensei is a fair teacher."
Well, that's water under the bridge now. The important thing is that he passed and was now a proud shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato, and no one is going to take that away from him. He was projecting that fact by wearing his headband as an augment on his right hand fingerless glove, right under the metal knuckles.
His run came to a halt when he felt two familiar scents near his aria. 'Speak of the devil.' He decided to approach the scene, careful not to let his presence be known. There, where the forest gave off to a clearance, he saw two people he recognized all to well.
"Why has it come to this, Mizuki? Why have you betrayed the village?" It was Iruka who spoke, the hurt of treachery mixed with confusion could be heard in his words.
Mizuki, on the other hand, was just laughing like he heard the greatest joke being told. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the the big scroll he carried on his back, the scroll of seals. "Don't make me laugh anymore, Iruka, this shithole you people call a village gave me nothing. But, I've taken the debt I was owed." he said while pointing to his back. "It should be enough, don't you think?"
Iruka grabbed a kunai from his pouch and readied himself in a defensive stance. "I'm not letting you get away. Not with village secrets."
"I'm afraid you won't have a choice!" and just as he said that a dozen of shurikens came flying from him, and towards his former friend.
Iruka deflected all the shurikens with his kunai, not letting himself get hit by one, but what he didn't anticipate was a fūma Shuriken coming from his backside. He sidestepped the attack, but was unsuccessful in dodging the kunais that implanted in his chest. 'Dammit, I wasn't fast enough.' he thought bitterly as he dropped on his knees, bleeding intensely.
"This is where you meet your end." Mizuki said, preparing for the finishing blow when he felt it. A sudden pulse of malicious intent invading his body, a fear that he had never felt before creeping into his mind, an oppressive presence making itself known to his senses, and only one thought ringing in his head. 'I'm gonna die!'
Now he was on alert, he knew there was someone else out here with them. But who? "Show yourself!" he ordered to no one. A darkness was building around, slowly, until he couldn't see two meters from himself. It was pitch black, no sounds coming to him, but then he saw it. A pair of red eyes glowing within the darkness, staring at him, and then another pair showed itself from his right, and then another, and another. Before he knew it, he was surrounded by those hungry eyes, that promised only suffering. Pain shot through his body, as a claw stabbed his back. Hu turned around to defend himself, just so that a second claw could stanb him in his side, and then a third, and a fourth.
Wounds all over the body, blood leaking everywhere, he was a mess, for a moment he didn't believe he had any skin left. And that's when a heavy punch made contact with his face, sending him crashing into a tree trunk, and rendering him unconscious.
Iruka was left speechless. For a moment he was sure he was going to die, then he felt the killing intent he has ever only felt one, twelfth years ago, on that night. But the worry was gone when he recognized who the feeling was coming from. Standing tall over the beaten form of Mizuki, was his student.
The said student turned around and casually walked over towards him. Iruka was a proud shinobi of the hidden leaf, he never felt threatened by a 12 year old student of his. Still, in that moment he almost wanted to back away, not wanting to end up like his former friend. But then he saw the warmth radiating from his eyes. "Are you alright, sensei?"
Iruka released a breath he never knew was holding and nodded. "I'll live." Then, with a small smile he added. "Thank you, Naruto. For saving me, for protecting the village when I couldn't."
"Don't sweat it, I was just doing my job. Now come on, let's get you to the hospital. The ANBU are going to be here any second, and there's nothing more to be done." Just as he said that, a foxy grin adorned his features. "You are so gonna treat me to launch for saving your sorry ass."
Later, Hokage tower
"...and then I beat the crap out of him and took Iruka-sensei to the hospital. Pretty cool for my first day on the job, don'tcha think?" Naruto was just finishing reporting what happened to the Hokage. He was bouncing on his toes with enthusiasm and smiling from ear to ear. To think that, not 24 hours after he became a ninja, he would take out his first bad guy, excited the blonde to no end.
Hiruzen sat there and listened to every word Naruto said, with no small amount of amazement. 'He truly is living up to your name.' he thought looking up at the pictures of the former Hokages. Of course, he already knew what happened, as he watched everything on his crystal bowl. At first he was worried about the influence the Kyuubi might have had on him, but his adaptability to the situation, his spacial awareness, and his own interpretation of the fox style, actually impressed the old timer.
Sarutobi sighed, and stood up behind his desk. "Well then, there's only one thing left to be done." and as he said that, he reached inside his desk, took out an envelope, and handed it to Naruto. "This is the equivalent of a B-rank mission. I will also be adding it to your record as a co-operation alongside Iruka. Well done, Naruto!" his smile deepened as he saw the look on the blonde's face.
There was a quick moment in which Naruto's brain stopped working, then he exploded in happiness. He gave the Hokage a bone-crushing hug, before he rushed out of the office yelling about greatness and ramen.
"He could have at least wait for you to dismiss him, Hokage-sama." A voice made itself known, as man with mask covering his face, and the leaf forehead headband worn over his left eye, appeared from the shadows.
"He is a rather hot-headed individual." Sarutobi responded eyeing the man.
"You're not going to place him on my team." it wasn't a question, though a hint of disappointment could be heard.
The Hokage lighted up his pipe and took a few puffs, before addressing the shinobi again. "I'm building a team with a certain specialty in mind, and he is at the center of it. Plus, your hands are going to be occupied with training the Uchiha."
"If that is all, Hokage-sama..." he trailed off turning to go, but before he left, he was stopped.
"Kakashi, there will be other occasions for you to honor your mentor's legacy. For now, just watch him grow."
"Hai!" and just like that, the man, now identified as Kakashi, disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
A week later, ninja academy
His steps echoed a melancholic song on the hard floor that the halls of the academy provided. As he moved on to the place he was looking for he remembered fondly the time spent there, all the pranks he managed to pull of, and all the time he had to share with some of his classmates.
Finally, he arrived at his destination. As he entered through the door he expected to see a lot of people already there, but, to his surprise, there were only two, standing there, in absolute silence, like a bunch of a-holes. 'Well look what we have here, Broody Boy and "always creeping around" girl.' he thought as his mind ran wild and imagined a scenario in which these two would have a conversation. 'Hmm, maybe I can make some sparks today.' an evil plan forming in his head.
"Well hello there, love birds! Please, don't let my awesomeness interfere with your deep and meaningful conversation." The blonde said almost apologetically.
"Hn, we weren't talking." Sasuke responded with a scoff, turning his eyes slightly toward Naruto. Hinata, on the other hand, just lowered her head in embarrassment.
'Ok, he took the bait. Now, to catch the fish.' "Why not though? I mean you do have a lot in common, you're both from very powerful clans, you were both really good in the academy, you both have a dōjutsu, and she's basically the best fighter besides you and me." he said while using his fingers to enumerate everything.
Now, Sasuke had his full attention and started to understand the reasoning behind Naruto's words. He even turned around to look at Hinata, his sharingan activating for a second, before the the blonde spoke next. "And she's a pretty girl. You'd make a cute couple."
The Uchiha's eyes went wide as realization dawned on him. "You're actually messing with me." he said narrowing his eyes dangerously at the Uzumaki.
"Who knows Broody Boy, who knows?" and so he shrugged nonchalantly, and walked away to one of the seats in the back, leaving the raven haired alone with his thoughts and, well, brooding.
Throughout the whole interaction Hinata hadn't spoken a single word, she would have commented on the last statement if she had heard it. But, she passed out when her brain caught up to the fact that Naruto called her pretty.
And that was the sight that welcomed Shikamaru as he entered the classroom alongside Choji, and Kiba. 'So, a red faced unconscious Hyuga, a contemplating Unchiha and a devil faced Naruto...and it's not even 8.' He sight and went on to sit beside his friend.
The blonde was brought out of his mischievous self as his other classmates approached him. "Hey, Shika, what's a bother to you today?"
The Nara choose the seat beside the blonde and rested his head on the table. "To troublesome to explain. Wake me when my name comes up." And so, the pineapple head drifted off to sleep, as his Akimichi companion did his usual munching, and a confused Kiba was poking Hinata, trying in vain to wake her up.
As the class started to fill in, and a loud argument about the right to sit beside the last Uchiha, Iruka finally decided to show up. He smiled as he looked around, looking at his now former student. 'They sure have grown up.' and after nodding at a certain someone, he started his speech. "Before we begin with the team selection, I would like to say that I am very proud of you all for being here today. For some..." he stared at the blonde "...it has been quite a journey, and for others, the path still lies ahead, but I am sure you are all going to become strong shinobi and will make Konoha proud!"
A couple of nodes, and a deafening "ya damn right" later, and the team selection begun. "...for team 7, we have Akimichi Choji, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke."
"Ha, take that Ino-pig!" a shrieking cheer accompanied the statement.
"Moving on, for team 8, we have Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino. As of yet, team 9 is still in process, and finally, team 10, composed of Nara Shikamaru..." at that moment Naruto decided to give the Nara a slight poke with his elbow "...Yamanaka Ino, and Uzumaki Naruto." atfer finishing, the sensei look around, trying to assess the student's reaction. Some were happy, some disappointed, and others completely disinterested. "Well, that's all, after the launch break, your jonin-senseis are going to pick you up. You are dismissed."
Through all the commotion that was going on around them, one could hear the complaints of another blonde. "That's just my luck! Forehead gets to have Sasuke-kun, and I'm stuck with a lazy ass and an jackass."
"Hey, who you callin' jackass, fangirl?"
"Well, who's the one that answered the question, dumb brain?"
As the argument went on, and more insults were brought to the table, Shikamaru just sat there, with his head on the table, and groaned internally. 'Troublesome blondes, can't even let me rest in peace.'
Two hours later, training ground nr. 10
'So these are the "genins" I've been stuck with.' One Sarutobi Asuma, son of the third Hokage, former member of the Twelve Guardian Ninjas, and jonin of Konoha, was thinking seeing the three upcoming shinobi in front of him.
After the launch break, he, alongside the other jonin-senseis came to pick up their new recruits. He told them to meet him at training ground number 10 and then left via shunshin. The first one to arive was Naruto, who managed to arrive only 5 minutes after he himself did, a fact that actually impressed Asuma. In a more embarrassing manner, the other two arrived almost 20 minutes after Naruto, barely holding their breath.
"Okay then, let's start with the introduction. My name's Asuma, but you can call me "boss". I enjoy my smoking in peace, so that will give you an idea for when I'm angry." emphasizing the fact by lighting up a cigarette. "What I don't like is being questioned. Now, I've already read your files, so I know all about you. You were classmates, so you already know each other. So we'll skip your introduction, and we'll just go ahead with the test to see if you have what it's got to be a genin."
"What, another test?! I thought we became genins after we graduated." came the outcry from Naruto. It wasn't fair to pass the academy, just take another exam.
"What did I tell you about being questioned?" He took another puff from his cigarette befero speaking again. "Well, I suppose it couldn't be help. Ok, brats, listen up! I'm only going to explain things once. Out of all the students who passed the academy exam, only about 30% have a chance to become genin. For Konoha to have an important political influence, it needs a strong military presence. In order to have that, we need to trim out the weaklings. The academy exam was for the hopeless cases. Is that understood?"
He looked at them and saw three firm nods. "Good, then we can move on to the fun stuff." a small menacing grin appearing on his face. "Your mission is as follows. Somewhere, deep inside the forest, there is a scroll. Guarding that scroll are there clones of myself. You will have to retrieve the scroll without alerting the guards and bring it back here. If you do get noticed, you will have to kill the witnesses and escape. You have 3 hours. Any questions?" Three head shakes was the response he got. "Good, you are learning. Your time starts...NOW." And just like that he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"So, any of you bright heads got an idea?" it was Ino who broke the silance. In normal circumstances, she would have taken charge of the situation, but, knowing the tactful mind of Shikamaru and the whatever was that Naruto has to make him a great prankster, she decided to just let the boys do the strategy thinking this time.
It was an unusual sight for one to see Nara Shikamaru without a bored expression on his face. There weren't many things that actually motivated the boy, a fact that made his mother mad and frustrated. But now, all that could be read on him was concentration. "Something feels off about this "test". I just can't seem to put my finger on it."
"Oh, that's easy, he was lying his ass off." Naruto said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Shikamaru's eyes went wide in realization, but it was Ino who asked the question. "What do you mean? Why would he lie to us?"
"Well, I can kinda feel the emotions of others, or when someone's lying. It's a quirk of being so awesome." Well, that's a small lie, but he wasn't about to tell them about his "little" friend. "And to answer your second question it's just that this is a classic infiltration and retrieving mission. In those situations you don't always have all the knowledge you need to succeed, there can be false information to lure you into a trap, and if you are seen you have to put the blame on someone else so you can get away with your hands clean."
Ino was a bit baffled, she never guessed that a hard head like Naruto would have an intelligent side. "How come you know so much about this kind of stuff. We were never thought about this in the academy, and even if we were, you don't look like someone with a strategic mind." It wasn't even an insult, she was just surprised by it.
"Heh, you learn a few things if you prank as much as I do. How do you think I managed to get away with all the shit I did?" he chuckled remembering all the things he pulled off.
The whole conversation was lost on Shikamaru, as soon as he realized what Naruto's first statement ment, he got into his thinking pose, a plan forming in his mind.
Two and a half hours later
'Maybe they just gave up.' Asuma was thinking a bit disappointed with the performance, or lack there of, of three that were supposed to become his student. A Nara and a Yamanaka in the same team was already a good business, adding a hyperactive energy freak to it was overkill, but so far nothing.
He was laying low in his hiding spot, overlooking the aria where his decoy was positioned. He thought that maybe they would figure out the meaning behind his word, but so far, they couldn't even locate his clones, and they weren't even hiding! He sight and thought bitterly. 'It's almost time, I should go gather them up and...' but he was brought out of his mind when a giant fireball impacted the clearing where his kage bunshins were.
He wasn't given much time to think things through as he heard a deep voice say "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu" and an equally enormous fireball came crashing into his position. He leaped away from the tree, and landed on the ground. Quickly, he brought out his trench knifes and prepared himself for whoever decided to attack him. What he didn't didn't expect was for fucking Uchiha Itachi to appear in front of him. The traitor just stood there, calm and composed, as though they were having a god damn picnic on a Sunday morning. "Asuma"
The jonin clenched his fists tighter around his knifes in anticipation. "Uchiha Itachi, what business brings an S-rankes criminal, such as yourself, here in Konoha of all places, and what have you done with my rookies?" His unusual appearance and the absence of the genins was too much of a coincidence, so he put two and two together, and came to a conclusion. He did something to them. The thought made his hands tremble in fury, and an outer layer of chakra formed on the surface of the blades.
Itachi's face was expressionless. "That is of no consequence. You should be more worried about yourself, after all, has no one told you not to look an Uchiha in the eyes?" And as he sad that, his normal eyes morphed into the sharingan.
Asuma quickly looked away, but it was in vain, for that the second he looked down he felt his body suddenly tense, and he couldn't move even a muscle. He was immobilized. 'Fuck.' in that moment, the jonin actually thought he was going to die.
But, to his surprise another voice was heard.
"Shadow possession completed." He didn't have to turn his head to recognize the person who spoke, he knew him well enough.
"So, boss, will you tell us where the scroll is or will I have to savage you mine looking for it? Maybe I'll uncover some dirty secrets." She actually hoped for the latter, she did enjoy a good gossip after all. "You can turn back Naruto, that man gives me the creeps." And just like that, in a puff of smoke, "Itachi" transformed into a grinning Naruto.
"There's no need for that, Ino, and you can release me now Shikamaru. You all passed!" as soon as he said that his body relaxed and he could move again. He put his trench knifes back, took out one cigarette from his pack, and lit it. "Now that you are all officially my students, how did you manage to figure out what the real test was about?"
It was Shikamaru who spoke next. "Naruto was actually the one to figure you out. Because of that, I was able to come up with a plan."
"From there it was a piece of cake to find you. First, I sent a clone, henged as a bug, to make sure that the scroll wasn't where the decoys were. Then I impersonated a certain someone to distract you enough so that Shikamaru could use his shadow possession to bind you. The fact that you almost lost your shit thinking that we were dead, was just the cherry on top." Naruto finished with a smirk.
"Aww, Asuma-sensei actually cares about us, that's so cute!" Ino said with a small giggle.
Asuma coughed, and quickly replied before anything else could be added. "I have to say, I was really impressed by your performance and your tactics. But, there's still one more question to be asked, and it concerns you, Naruto. How were you able to replicate the famous fire jutsu used only by the Uchiha clan?"
"A good ninja never reveals his secrets." he said with a wink and a knowing smile.
The jonin chuckled a bit at that. 'A loud mouth, a lazy ass and an enigmatic knucklehead, that has the makings of a great team.' "Well then, with no further things to add, starting now, we are the newly formed, Team 10. If no one figured it out until now, we will specialize in infiltration and information gathering. Report back here, tomorrow morning at 7 AM. You are dismissed!"