I don't own Naruto

Chapter 4

They had been waiting for over an hour, all of the other academy students having met up with their jonin senseis. There was a strange feeling in the room as they all sat in awkward silence. Sakura had attempted to talk with Sasuke but after receiving no response from the Uchiha she had eventually decided to give up. The pink haired genin wanted to talk but she wasn't sure how to start the conversation. With Sasuke it seemed that nothing she asked him ever sparked a response and she just about knew Naruko's name and that was it. Also she had put her fellow Kunoichi down after trying to stick up for her and Sakura wasn't sure how to go about it. She didn't feel like she owed an apology as in her own opinion Sakura didn't think she had done anything particularly wrong. Yet looking at Naruko and the guilt that Sakura could feel in her gut she was unsure how to approach her.

Sasuke had closed himself off from his team mates in his room as he waited for their sensei to appear at the door. The boy couldn't get close to anybody; he knew it wouldn't end well. Having already decided for himself that his goal, his ambition, was to kill Itachi, the Uchiha wouldn't allow any distractions. That and the fact that the last words that Itachi had spoken to him told him exactly how to get the advanced sharingan that Itachi possessed.

Naruko wasn't currently focused on what was happening in the classroom but rather on Hashirama and Madara. She'd only known them for a few months but she knew that without a doubt they were the happiest months that she had ever experienced in her life. From Hashirama and Madara's rivalry to watching the sun set on top of her mountain, Naruko deeply missed it. Of course she knew that it had to end and that she didn't belong in that time but if she was given the choice to have stayed with them or come back to an ungrateful Konoha she would have chosen them. Its fine, they built the village and now it's my turn to protect it. Just like the angel.

However something had been troubling Naruko; what the valley of the end was. The Hokage had begun to talk about the founding of the village and mentioned it but abruptly stopped. Naruko glanced towards Sasuke with a calculating gleam in her eyes. If he's an Uchiha he might have some information on Madara, maybe he can tell me about him?

"Hey Sasuke," Naruko asked hesitantly, breaking the silence.

Sasuke looked at her awaiting her question and Sakura scowled.

"Do you know anything about… Uchiha Madara," Naruko asked.

His eyes seemed to widen, Sasuke was taken aback by the question. Why would she be interested in any of the Uchiha, let alone Madara? Although I suppose I can tell her, its better then speaking to Sakura.

"Uchiha Madara was one of the founders of our village alongside Senju Hashirama," Sasuke began and both girls looked towards him now, waiting for him to continue. "He's remembered as the strongest Uchiha in history, the only one able to match his strength was Senju Hashirama. He lead the Uchiha in the warring clans era and the Uchiha and Senju made an alliance and created the first ninja village. It's said that Madara and Hashirama both wanted to be the Hokage and that they later had a battle with each other. Apparently that the fight was of such epic proportions afterwards the valley of the end was created in remembrance of the battle. After it was over Hashirama had won."

Whilst Sakura was awed at the story, trying to imagine the power that Madara and the first Hokage possessed, Naruko felt shocked.

They fought each other to the death. Why, why would they do something like that?

"Both of you need to promise me something. No matter what might happen you'll make your dream a reality." She'd said that and they had done it, the village hidden in the leaves still stood strong to this day.

"What are you talking about Naruko you'll be completing the dream with us," Madara stated as if it was fact.

"Yes and Naruko will be the leader of the village whilst me and Madara will protect you," Hashirama said with a smile.

"I wouldn't mind that too much," Madara said in addition to what Hashirama had said. "You'd make a great leader Naruko. You're kind and compassionate. You possess a different strength to me and Hashirama, a more powerful one."

Naruko could feel bile filling up in her throat, they thought because she wasn't there. She would have been the leader of the village, and then neither would have fought each other.

She stood up, her stall falling over in her panic. I'm gonna be sick. With that being the only thought on her mind she ran to the bathroom, yet she couldn't escape her thoughts.

They thought to the death. Hashirama killed Madara. I wasn't there.

Naruko threw up, having reached the toilet in time. She hadn't thrown up in years, yet the thought of her two closest most precious friends trying to kill each other made her feel sick. Her initial response was to cry but Naruko wouldn't. She had been crying too much lately and the past was in the past. It wasn't something she could change but the future wasn't yet written in stone.

Hearing the door open, Naruko was surprised to see Sakura enter the room. The pink haired ninja looked unsure what to say to Naruko, pondering on it for a moment before opening her mouth.

"Naruko… are you okay?"

"Ye-yes I'm fine Sakura," Naruko said after wiping her mouth to make sure there wasn't any excess sick left.

"If you want to talk I'm here," Sakura offered.

"Thank you Sakura but really I'm fine. I just wasn't feeling too good for a moment."

"Well we should probably get back sooner rather than later in case our sensei arrives," Sakura said. Naruko nodded her head in agreement as the two walked back to the room.

"Sorry Sasuke, I just suddenly wasn't feeling too well," Naruko lied. Sasuke just looked at her as if he didn't care either way and Naruko was fine with it, she didn't want anyone to fuss over her.

Before they could fall into awkward silence again the door opened and in walked a masked man with his headband covering one of his eyes. He made a comment about them that Naruko didn't pay attention to and said something about meeting him on the roof in five minutes. The Uzumaki was far too focused on the information she had recently gotten. Whilst her initial reaction wasn't out of the way she still had to process what Sasuke had told her.

The other two had already left the room by the time that Naruko realised she also needed to go to the roof. Making haste, the girl managed to get there in time for the introduction, not that they would have started without her anyway.

"Okay why don't you tell me a bit about yourself, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, those sorts of things."

Naruko analysed their sensei as discreetly as she could. He seemed to have a fairly care free attitude but he also hid himself, having only one of his eyes showing and everything else covered. He probably knows that I have the Kyubi sealed inside of me. He'll probably treat me differently Naruko thought. I wonder what you would have thought Madara. Would you have cared Hashirama?

"Um sensei, can you go first to show us how to do it," Sakura asked as she was unsure by how he meant for them to introduce themselves.

"Me? Well I am Hatake Kakashi. For my likes I have many and I also have many dislikes. I have hobbies and as for my dream, I don't feel like sharing it," Kakashi responded. "Okay who wants to go first?"

I might as well. "I'll go," Naruko volunteered. Kakashi gave her a look which told her to continue. "My name is Uzumaki Naruko. I like my two friends. I don't like feeling lonely. My hobbies are pranking people. My dream is to become Hoka-"Naruko said until she stopped herself. Do I want to become Hokage? Is that not what caused Hashirama and Madara to try kill each other. If I had been there then neither would have fought.

"Yes and Naruko will be the leader of the village whilst me and Madara will protect you," Hashirama said with a smile.

"I wouldn't mind that too much," Madara said in addition to what Hashirama had said. "You'd make a great leader Naruko. You're kind and compassionate. You possess a different strength to me and Hashirama, a more powerful one."

Why did this memory keep coming to her head? Was it the acknowledgement that someone wanted her? They wanted me to be the village leader. It isn't much but it's all I can do to honour their memory.

"I will become Hokage," Naruko said with a fierce determination that they hadn't seen before. Naruko had been passionate about things she did and always seemed to be happy, however this was slightly different. She managed to catch everyone off guard due to the 100% belief that Naruko seemed to possess in herself.

Sakura had never considered Naruko much more than the worst student in their class. She had always seemed to be an ugly loser who would never amount to much. The Pink haired genin had heard Naruko shout about her dream before but no one had ever taken it truly serious. Even for Naruko it was a dream that was out of her reach, no matter what she said. But at that very moment Sakura believed it. It was only for a moment and Sakura consciously corrected her thought but for that moment, Sakura believed that Naruko would become Hokage.

Sasuke felt his eyes widen slightly, not enough for anyone but Kakashi to notice but they did widen. That 100% belief in her own abilities, it was a belief that she didn't deserve to have. By all accounts Sasuke should have been the one with it. He was a 'genius' student, the rookie of the year and well on his way to becoming a respectable ninja. Yet despite the façade Sasuke put on he didn't possess the confidence Naruko did. He knew he was better than his classmates and he was confident in his skills in the academy but looming over his shoulder was always that man. Naruko had the confidence to reach her goal and for that one fleeting moment she convinced others of it as well. Sasuke said he would achieve his goal but in the back of his mind was always a seed of doubt.

Kakashi seemed to show no indication that he was affected by what Naruko had said.

"Okay Pinkie your next," inquired Kakashi.

"Well what I like… I mean who I like is," Sakura looked towards the Uchiha and her face flushed. "My hobbies are," Sakura looked at the Uchiha and began to giggle. "And my dream is…" Sakura squealed aloud at that.

Everyone else seemed slightly disturbed by how much the girl seemed to like Sasuke.

"Well do you have any dislikes," Kakashi asked.

"Competition," Sakura said sternly. Whilst the answer was vague everyone knew what she meant and Naruko even sighed slightly. She couldn't understand obsessing over a boy that much.

"Okay well Broody your last to go," Kakashi said and Naruko could have sworn she saw a smile beneath his mask when Kakashi saw Sasuke scowl at the name he was given.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't have many likes and I basically dislike everything else. My hobbies are to train. Also I won't summon my dream up as an ambition because it will become reality. I will restore my clan and kill a certain man without fail."

This garnered different reaction from the people around him. Kakashi's lone eyed seemed to show some signs of recognition as if that's what he'd been expecting. Sakura's eyes gleamed with awe and her opinion of Sasuke only went up. Naruko was disturbed. She had killed Mizuki and so knew what it felt like to take a life and she hadn't enjoyed it. It had been necessary to kill Mizuki given the situation but Naruko never thought she would purposely go out of her way to kill someone and yet that was Sasuke's dream. His goal in life was to kill someone.

"Well then perhaps I should tell you all about our first mission," Kakashi began and everyone's eyes lit up in anticipation. "It's survival training."

The hope everyone had for an interesting mission was put out and Naruko even groaned. She had literally survived on her own for months in the warring clan's era, sort of. Besides was it really necessary to do something that all of them had already had training in doing.

"But sensei we've already done survival training," Sakura complained.

"Yes well this one will be different since this time," Kakashi began. "You'll be facing me."

This added some excitement back into their first mission. They'd be training against a jonin. To some extent they all wanted to measure their own ability, particularly Naruko who knew that she had improved with Madara and Hashirama.

"Well I wouldn't look two excited. After all if you don't pass this then you get sent back to the academy."

Now this did surprise them. After all their years in the academy, surely they couldn't be sent back was the unanimous thought amongst them. Yet when Kakashi didn't say anything they realised that he was being serious and they actually could be sent back.

"Okay well that's tomorrow at 5 am, don't be late. Also I advise against eating breakfast, you'll throw up."

With that said Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves and the rest of the Genin were left to their own thoughts.

I absolutely can't lose. If I do I'll never reach my goal!

I absolutely can't lose. If I do then Sasuke-kun will never love me!

I absolutely can't lose. If I do I won't catch up to you!

Hardening their resolve, all of the Genin returned to their homes. That night it felt impossible to sleep for them, they were anxious for the following day. It was make or break and none of them wanted to fail.

"Madara, Hashirama, watch over me okay," Naruko whispered to herself before finally drifting off to sleep.

The following morning Naruko, Sakura and Sasuke had all been waiting for hours. Not only were they hungry, having skipped breakfast, but they were also agitated at the fact that despite their sensei telling them to be on time he was already nearly five hours late. Naruko felt less affected then Sasuke and Sakura as she had generally had to deal with a lower amount of food compared to the other two but she still could feel the emptiness in her stomach.

Naruko spotted their sensei walking up to them. She was fuming and felt like giving him a piece of her mind.

"YOU'RE LATE," both Naruko and Sakura screamed at Kakashi.

"Mah mah I'm sorry but a black cat crossed my path and I took the long way around," Kakashi said, feigning embarrassment. This only caused more anger from Naruko and Sakura but Naruko would keep it in. He had said she would be fighting him and Naruko would make sure to hit him hard.

"Well I suppose I should explain the test to you then," Kakashi started. "There are two bells. Your objective is to take one of them."

"But sensei there's only two bells," questioned Sakura.

"And that means that one of you will be going back to the academy no matter what. I'm going to set a timer for twelve. You need to come at me with the intent to kill; if you don't then you'll lose."

Naruko was still mad at him and was struggling to stop herself from rushing over to him and punching him as hard as she could.

"But isn't that dangerous for you," Sakura asked.

"Well I am a jonin. Okay the timers set. You can start," Kakashi finished.

Immediately Sasuke and Sakura jumped into the trees where they hid and would ambush him. Naruko remained where she was.

"Um is something wrong," Kakashi asked as Naruko hadn't made any motion to hide.

"Well I don't even need to catch you off guard. I'm gonna beat you fair and square."

After listening to her Kakashi took out a book, a clear sign of disrespect, and began reading it. This made Naruko even more fuming.

The girl charged at her sensei faster than Kakashi was expecting. She threw a punch and was sure that she had hit him. Yet she found nothing but air and a kunai was pressed to the back of her head.

"Careful," Kakashi said quietly.

Flashback

Naruko had a kunai pressed against the back of her head.

"Naruko if you're in this situation then you should do this," Hashirama said as he showed her the technique to get out of the move.

"Like this," Naruko asked as she copied the manoeuvre, managing to floor Madara.

"That was good," Hashirama stated.

"That should at least get you out of the situation. However what's important is you capitalise on your opportunity. If this were a real fight you should already be throwing a kunai at my head," Madara advised.

"Okay let's try it again," Hashirama said and they continued to practice.

Flashback over

Naruko ducked her head forward and under the Kunai as her right leg swiped at Kakashi's feet. In the same motion she threw a kunai at her sensei.

Kakashi had managed to land fairly easily after having his legs taken out and deflected the kunai thrown at him with his own. Still from the reports on Naruko she shouldn't have been that fast and accurate. He didn't have too much time to think as she was running at him again. Despite her being fairly slow by jonin standards, for a genin she was much faster than the rest of them. And her hits packed a bit of a punch as Kakashi at least somewhat had to block them and he could feel the power behind them. There was no way that this child had been the dead last if she could fight like that.

Naruko's taijutsu wasn't flawless but it was very good for a genin, way past the level it should have been at. Kakashi had expected that Sasuke would be the most advanced but if Naruko was dead last then maybe Kakashi would actually become a sensei this time around.

In the past Kakashi had rejected teams due to them failing the test but this year it seemed there was a better chance than usual that they would pass.

After testing Naruko's taijutsu for a while Kakashi decided that he would test the others some more. Kakashi managed to find himself behind Naruko this time and he went through some hand signs.

Naruko didn't hear the beginning of it but she caught the end and was a bit scared.

"One thousand years of death," Kakashi exclaimed loudly. Naruko went flying when in mid-air she popped.

From a nearby tree Naruko leapt and began fighting harder and faster than her shadow clone had done.

She threw punch after punch after kick after kick. Kakashi deemed that alone Naruko possessed enough ability to be a Genin. All that mattered now was her mentality and thus far she had failed in that department. Kakashi managed to lead Naruko to where he had set up a trap earlier that day before he greeted the team and Naruko wasn't expecting it. It caught her and she was stuck, hanging off the tree.

Kakashi went to check for the other genins abilities. Thus far he was impressed, if not slightly disappointed that Naruko had fought alone. Still, this team had the best chance of passing out of any year that Kakashi had taught.

Thank you for reading and thanks to those of you who reviewed it really helps me to write. Please review and tell me what you thought. If there's anyone you'd like Naruko to meet in the past then tell me and I'll probably do it. Someone asked for Mito so at some point Naruko will meet her. (I already know when but don't want to spoil it)

Thanks again