'internal thoughts'
"Normal conversation"
After the revaluation match was over, Naruto, Minato and everyone else moved to the hokage office so that he could discuss the finalisation of a rank.
"So, what do you think?" the hokage asked his students.
"Since he is my student, my opinion may sound biased but I believe that he should be given the jounin rank" Tsunade presented her opinion.
"I agree" Naruto stiffened, while everyone looked behind to see Orichimaru standing near the entrance.
"It would be an insult to his skills, strength and talent if he isn't atleast given the Jounin rank, after all he did defeat the yellow flash in a one on one combat" Orichimaru explained
"Orichimaru, you are back from the mission!!! " Jiraiya exclaimed while introducing him to everyone present in the room, but he was ignored as Orichimaru continued "Plus you didn't even use your sharingan, I believe you do have the sharingan, yes?"
"It was a revaluation match and both of us were holding back immensely and I tend to not use my sharingan until it's absolutely necessary" Naruto explained while keeping a emotionless face.
"I wonder, who can force you into using it, I definitely would like to see you using your sharingan" Orichimaru spoke in a way that creeped everyone out.
"Well, it definitely wouldn't be you, you are hardly worthy enough to see it" Naruto spoke in a demeaning way.
"Naruto!!!" Tsunade exclaimed "that was very rude of you, apologise", Naruto merely turned his face away, facing the hokage, who too was shocked by Naruto's behavior.
"I am sorry for my students behaviour" Tsunade apologised when she realized Naruto wasn't going to, "I don't know what's gotten into him?"
"It's ok, I am not offended at all" Orichimaru replied, still staring at Naruto's back, "I'll come back later to give you the mission report" the last part was directed at the hokage after which he left the room.
"Naruto, what was that about, you are hardly so rude to anyone and you have only met him once" Tsunade asked, still angry about her student's behaviour.
"That's not true" Naruto replied "I had met him during my academy exam, when I was completing the 2nd phase, he had instantly put me on edge and I didn't understand why" he paused "but I do now".
"He spells of blood and despair" he continued "and none of it is his own, now I maybe wrong but I trust my instincts, if I was you" He said pointing at the hokage "I would keep an 24/7 watch on him, I am willing to bet my 10 missions pays that, that man has secret hideouts and conducts illegal experiments on human".
"That's absurd!!" Jiraiya yelled "I know he is a bit creepy but that's just how he is" he tried to defend his teammate "There is no way he would do something so despicable"
"No need to get so defensive, I was just stating my own opinion" Naruto said trying to calm him down, "anyways what's the verdict on my rank" he asked the hokage.
" Jounin, without a question" he explained, "I have even thought of a student for you."
"Hey now" Naruto started "Isn't it too early to give me a team?" he asked.
"Nonsense!!!" Hokage exclaimed " You would be a perfect teacher for him" he boasted
"Come in" He announced.
In walked Kakashi and Sakumo, "good afternoon" Sakumo greeted everyone with a small smile while little Kakashi just stayed by his father's side.
"Ohh!, he has grown-up so much from the time I last saw him" Naruto kneeled down to Kakashi's height and introduced himself.
"Hello, I am Naruto Uzumaki Uchiha, I used to babysit you sometimes when your father's team was on a mission, do you remember me?" He asked.
Kakashi's just looked at his father, who nodded at him, so he introduced himself and answered with a " I vaguely recall you giving me a real shuriken to pla-" Naruto quickly covered Kakashi's mouth before he could continue any further.
"Haha" Naruto laughed nervously "You know how children are, they say the weirdest things" everyone looked at him with a deadpan expression, "Anyway, I accept" Naruto removed his hand from Kakashi's mouth with a shushing motion "But he is quite young isn't he?".
"Yes, he is 6 years old" Sakumo answered.
"Little Kakashi here scored 78 points in 5min32seconds in the advanced test." the hokage explained.
"You are still doing that?" Naruto asked surprised "I thought you just did that so that you can make me a genin quicker and not appear biased".
Everyone was now looking at the hokage with a deadpan expression now.
The hokage continued, ignoring the accusing faces "We decided to keep doing that, it helps in distinguishing the talented quickly so we can train them better. Kakashi was actually the first to pass it in 3 three years." he explained, " only those students who can break the set record are chosen, so it becomes harder every time someone passes".
"Naruto" Tsunade started "I want you to teach my brother too, he too just became a genin. I didn't know you would be given a team so soon, so I had planned to wait till that happened but now that you have it. I want my brother on it, he is 10, I love him very much so I'll not take a no for answer" She pretty much ordered.
"Well, I can't refuse you, you are my sensei, this is the least I could do for you" Naruto replied with a happy smile.
"I can't refuse you anyway, you'll break all my bones if I do" Naruto thought, still smiling
"I think you said that aloud" Kakashi finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence, that had taken up in the room.
" Come at training ground 7 tomorrow, around 7, I'll meet you there, tell Nawaki too." Naruto spoke quickly as he came near Kushina and Mikoto and placed a hand on their shoulder.
"Till next time" with that he used his hiraishin to flash back to his house.
" Would you have punched him if he refused?" Jiraiya inquired
" No, but it's good that he is still afraid that I would ".
Xxx Next day training ground 7 xxX
When Naruto arrived at the training ground, Kakashi and Nawaki were already waiting for him. Nawaki was a fair-skinned boy with short light-brown hair, hazel eyes and distinct blushes on his cheeks. He was wearing a dark teal poncho top and light green pants, with shinobi sandles. Kakashi wore a simple black outfit along with an open-front apron around his waist and fish-net armour around his ankles and a small tanto on his back.
"Good morning little children, I am Naruto Uzumaki Uchiha, your sensei, now please both of you introduce yourself so we get to know each other better" Naruto started "I'll go first, I have already told you my name, I like eating ramen, training, fuinjutsu and making new ninja techniques, I don't dislike many things, my dream, well that's personal, now you go" Naruto said pointing at Kakashi.
"My name is Kakashi Hatake, I am 6 years old, I like to train, I love my father, I dislike obnoxiously loud people and my dream is to be as great as my father" the last part was said with lots of conviction.
"Now you" Naruto pointed at Nawaki
"Hello!!!, my name is Nawaki Senju, I am 10 years old, I too like to train like all of you, I love my big sister Tsunade, and I love to eat all types of food, my dream is to become the hokage and protect the village like my grandfather, Hashirama Senju, did" Nawaki shouted the last part causing Kakashi to wince as he was standing close to him.
"Great dream, both of you" Naruto replied praising them for their great ambitions.
'This Nawaki is exactly like how I was when I was a kid, obnoxious, loud and a dream to become the hokage.'
"Now that the introductions are out of the way, I want both of you to tell me about your skills, what you can do and what you can't so that I am better prepared to help both of you".
Kakashi went first " I am extremely skilled at shurikenjutsu and kenjutsu , I know few lower class lightning techniques along with the three academy techniques, tree walking and water walking"
"I am good with shuriken and kunais too, I know a few earth jutsu and I can also do the tree and water walking"
"OK, now here is your first lesson" Naruto started "Never tell your true skills to anyone, even your own teammates, you are a ninja, you must keep as much as your techniques secret as you could" he explained, he could see Nawaki was about to speak so he raised his hand and stopped him "But, it is ok for now, since I am your teacher and I must know what your current skills are to help you advance", both just nodded and kept quite.
"Now this exercise that I am going to do with you was originally intended to be a test as to who gets to stay on the team but since we are in a war and we really can't afford to waste talent, I'll be using this exercise as a test of your abilities and your intelligence." again both kept quite and listened.
Naruto took out a single bell and presented it to both of them. " The goal of this exercise is for you to take this bell from me, you can use anything at your disposal to get it from me, nothing is off-limits" Naruto explained.
"But there are 2 of us and only a single bell" Kakashi noticed.
" Exactly, as a test, whoever had the bell stayed on the team while the other is removed but since your place is already decided, to make it more appealing for both of you to succeed, I'll give an A rank jutsu as a reward to whoever who holds the bell when the time runs out".
"Will it be that technique you used to cut lightning?" Nawaki asked with excitement in his voice, Kakashi tried to hide his, but the look in his eyes gave it away.
"Raikiri?" Naruto questioned "No, not that, that's an extremely dangerous technique, I can't give it to brats like you, you'll probably end up killing yourself with it. And that's not an A rank, it's an S rank assassination technique"
Naruto denied "plus it needs sharingan to use it efficiently anyway"
Both of them immediately acted heart broken and dejected "No need for theatrics, this is the technique I'll be teaching you"
With that Naruto formed a rasengan into his hand and showed it to them, then thrust it into a nearby tree causing it to immediately get blown apart.
"So cool!!!" Nawaki shouted and Kakashi whole heartedly agreed.
"Now that the incentive to succeed is given, you have exactly 4 hrs to take this bell from me, the loser will not be allowed to to have lunch. To succeed, I suggest you come at me with the intent to kill" Naruto explained.
"Start!!"
As soon as he said that both of them jumped towards the forest.
'I really expected Nawaki to attack me head-on", Naruto thought' I guess he is not as dumb as me when I was that age'.
After a few minutes of waiting alone in the clearing, Naruto was attacked by Nawaki, who was hiding in the trees till now. He threw several kunais and shurikens as a distraction while he completed his hand signs
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears".
With that he slammed his hands down on the ground and the earth in front him changed to spears, it reached all the way to Naruto who didn't even move from his place, Nawaki thought he had got him and was about to go check when suddenly 2 hands shot up from the ground, grabbed his feet and pulled him down into the earth till only his head remained above the ground .
"Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique"
Naruto rose up from the ground in front of Nawaki, with a smirk on his face. He was about to speak when suddenly Kakashi appeared behind him, with his tanto raised in an overhead strike to the bell's string, Naruto quickly turned around and raised his pointer finger, blocking the strike completely, Kakashi had a look of surprise in his eyes for few seconds after which he disengaged and jumped back.
"I fought one of the best jounin Konoha had to offer and still came on top, what chance do you have against me" Naruto spoke in a condescending way.
Kakashi didn't reply, he only raised his tanto in a defensive manner. He then widened his eyes as if realising something and jumped at Naruto and engaged him in combat while simultaneously moving him away from the half burried Nawaki and towards the forest where he had laid his traps.
Purposely stepping on a trip wire, Naruto triggered Kakashi's traps, wanting to see what he had been upto.
As soon as the traps were triggered Kakashi moved back and left the clearing, meanwhile Naruto was being attacked by kunais and shurikens from all the side which he casually dodged and deflected.
Kakashi had dug up Nawaki and was now explaining him the meaning of the test.
"The bell, we can never take it from him no matter what we do, we are just not skilled enough to take on an opponent such as Naruto-sensei."
"Then what do we do, we have to get that bell from him else we won't get that A-ranked jutsu"
"The bell was never the main objective of the exercise, he just used that so that we will fight him one on one and not work together because both of us want that jutsu"
"So what do you propose we do"
"We have to fight him using teamwork and show him what we are capable of"
"Teamwork" Nawaki asked
"Yes, that is the main objective of the exercise" Kakashi explained "You remember how he fought Minato, he didn't actually defeat him because that was not the goal of the match, the goal was to show the hokage that he is skilled enough to be a jounin and he did just that"
"So what you mean is if we fight him together as a team and show him what we got, he will pass us and give us the jutsu" Nawaki asked, still unconvinced but ready to follow Kakashi.
Kakashi nodded, they walked into the clearing where Kakashi had laid traps for Naruto and saw the bell fallen on the ground, with their sensei nowhere in sight, Kakashi was about to warn Nawaki that this was a trap but before he could, Nawaki ran to the bell and bent to pick it up.
The whole clearing was filled with smoke as multiple smoke bombs detonated as soon as Nawaki touched the bell.
When the smoke cleared, Nawaki was on the ground with stars dancing around his head.
"A ninja must always look underneath the underneath" Naruto spoke from his place on the tree.
"If this was an trap of explosive tags you would have died, Nawaki"
Kakashi helped him up from the ground and looked directly into Naruto's eyes.
"We understood the goal of this exercise".
"Oh! and what is that" Naruto didn't show it but he was very impressed.
'Well, Kakashi was said to be a genius but he got it way too quickly'
"It was teamwork" Kakashi exclaimed "We could never defeat you no matter how much we try, we are just not powerful enough, but working together we may stand a chance to get that bell"
"Impressive" Naruto said as he jumped down from the tree and stood still, "But you still haven't got the bell"
"About that" Kakashi said with a smirk on his face as he jumped while doing some handseals.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow River" Nawaki exclaimed, who till now was doing hand signs while Kakashi acted as a distraction.
Naruto didn't even look down to see himself get stuck in mud, he could have easily gotten out of it and dodged Kakashi's,
"Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder"
But he didn't, they had already grasped the goal of the exercise and he had seen enough of their abilities, anymore fighting would have proved useless.
Naruto clapped as Kakashi took the bell from him, not at all effected from the lightning jutsu.
"Congrats, Kakashi, you have won" Naruto congratulated him and threw him a scroll, "As promised, you will get the rasengan".
Kakashi looked down at the scroll, then threw it to Nawaki, "You should take it, you helped trap him anyway".
Nawaki too refused, "It was your idea, I can't accept this" he threw it back at Kakashi, who threw it back to Naruto.
"If both of us can't have it that none of us shall"
Naruto smiled and threw the scroll back at Kakashi.
"Then. Both of you, pass!!!" Naruto exclaimed "Go on, open the scroll"
Kakashi quickly open the scroll to see what's in it but it didn't contain anything other then 2 word which read.
"YOU FAIL"
"I wouldn't have given you the jutsu if anyone of you had accepted the scroll after taking the bell" Naruto explained, "The goal of this exercise was teamwork but it also showed your willingness to leave your teammate behind and willingness to work well with other and both of you performed very well on each of that part"
"Always remember, those that break the written and unwritten rules are deemed trash… but be that as it may… Those that would disregard their comrades so easily are even worse than trash" Naruto quoted the Kakashi of his time, "And I am happy to have trash students who breaks the rules then a student who disregards the life of a comrade".
This little speech caused both of them to widen their eyes in admiration of their sensei's beliefs. The rest of the day was spent teaching them tactics, importance of teamwork, stealth and other basic things that all ninja must know and follow. He also gave them the first step of learning the rasengan and told them to practice it in their free time. This went on for a week, as Naruto thought them some more jutsus after learning their nature types. Kakashi had lightning and fire affinity while Nawaki had earth and water.
Naruto had also thought both of them the shadow clone jutsu to speed up their training. Nawaki could easily make 5 of them since he had lots of chakra and using them he had learned many earth and water type jutsu. Whereas Kakashi could only make 2 at a time but he made up for it with his talent and hardwork, he too learned many lightning type technique along with which Naruto had started him on fuinjutsu, since he was trained from a young age, Kakashi had already learned calligraphy and knew some basics in sealing so teaching him wasn't that hard. By the end of the week both had progressed far in their training and Kakashi was already close to figuring out the first stage of rasengan.
After a few more days passed, Naruto was informed that he would be going on an mission. So he requested Kushina, who had taken an instant liking to the two boys and would often bring home-made food for them, to take over their training while he was gone.
She had agreed but only on the condition that Naruto would have to take her on a date after his mission was over. By now, Naruto had stopped thinking of her as his mother but as his potential wife, it was the same with Mikoto, who had gone on a mission too.
So after agreeing to her condition he gave her a kiss goodbye, a little peck on her lips, and left for the hokage tower.
Entering the hokage office, Naruto noticed that Sakumo was present along with 3 other ninjas who he didn't recognise.
"Good, now that Naruto is here we can start our mission briefing" hokage started and everyone immediately straightened up, "Kumo has been pushing their borders and trying to make a foothold in the land of snow, if they succeed they will get a stronghold to attack us and overwhelm us. Your mission is to make sure this doesn't happen and push them back into their borders. This mission is of great importance, it could possibly turn the tide of war" the hokage explained " Sakumo will be your team leader, you will depart right away".
"Everyone, get ready for the mission and meet me at the gates in 15 minutes" Sakumo order and every, including Naruto left.
"Goodluck on your first mission" Hokage said as he left.
Comments please!, did you like the chapter.