N.S
(Six years after the Uchiha coup)
A lot had changed in Konoha during the six years after the Uchiha coup. For one the damage had not been as severe as many thought it would be. Most of the damage was fire induced and the burnt and damaged buildings were easily fixed or torn down and replaced within the first year after. The death toll was also another thing that was not as bad as it could have been. While yes many of the clans suffered in the attack a lot of them had only lost a dozen or so members apiece, however the death toll for the civilian born Shinobi was significantly higher. Despite the damage and the deaths that had racked the village in the first year or so it was the survivors that had changed the most. Hiruzen had gone along with Itachi's plan and instead of announcing that the remaining Uchiha had been slaughter by some rouge force inside of the village he had fabricated the tale of Itachi going crazy after watching his own cousin die by his father's hand then having to kill his own father in order to protect the Hokage, as a result the village was told that Itachi snapped and slaughtered the remainder of his Clan aside from Sasuke who was staying with Naruto and Kuroto at the time. This caused many of the villagers to feel sorry for the boy as the sole survivor of his clan. While some simply wished the best for the sole Uchiha, others specifically those from the civilian council with daughters tried to worship the ground he walked on. The benefits of having one of their daughters marry Sasuke were numerous not only did he have sole control of the Uchiha funds and resources which were insanely numerous, even after Sasuke had given a more than generous amount to help with the village's reconstruction. He would also be allowed to sit on the Shinobi Council once he reached the rank of Chūnin though he would not be allowed to vote on any serious issues until he was a Jonin.
Sasuke for the most part had done his best to make up for his father's actions not only did he give a large sum of money to help with the rebuilding of buildings and businesses, he also gave a decent sum to family's who had lost loved ones to the Uchiha coup, as well as giving up large portions of the Uchiha's land to clans that had been affected by the coup. Sasuke had only kept a small plot of land for when he decided to rebuild the Uchiha clan. Despite the tragedy that had befallen him Sasuke would be forever thankful for Naruto and Kuroto sticking by his side even while some people in the village began to refer to him as the 'Traitorous Uchiha' they stuck by his side jokingly saying that if anyone should stick by his side it should be the 'demon brat' and 'fake Senju' and they lived up to their words. They hadn't left his side sense the moment the Third Hokage told them the news, they had moved out of their crappy little apartment the same night moving in with him into one of the Uchiha houses that had been vacant for some time as Sasuke wasn't comfortable living in his old house any more.
While the three had already been close, the last few years of living with each other had turned them into a family of sorts, they all saw each other as brothers and Sasuke could say that if it wasn't for them he would've been eager to leave the village the first chance he got. It helped that Naruto and Kuroto knew enough about Itachi that neither of them believed the entire story that The Third Hokage had told them, not only that but after looking at the bodies of some of Itachi's supposed victims they could tell that something was off. They all knew that Itachi hated killing and usually killed in a single swift strike as to instantly and painlessly end his opponents' lives. The way some of the bodies they viewed had been hacked apart did not suit Itachi's style at all. The simple knowledge that someone else believed his brother hadn't turned into a cold hearted manic did a lot to soothe Sasuke's soul and instead of directing himself towards training for vengeance against Itachi, he trained to become a stronger Ninja for his friends they would all need to grow much stronger if they ever wanted to uncover the truth.
"Yo Kuroto what's for breakfast" Naruto asked as he entered the kitchen today was the day of the Academy Graduation exam needless to say the three now fourteen-year-old boys were excited to finally pass and become ninja.
"I figured sense you've been begging me nonstop for two weeks, I finally decided to make your Kami damned breakfast ramen" Kuroto burst out laughing as Naruto literally starting drooling all over the table as Kuroto placed a steaming bowl of pork ramen topped with two sunny side up eggs and a handful of thick cut bacon.
"Please tell me we're not having ramen for breakfast again" Sasuke groaned as he entered the Kitchen and plopped himself down in one of the empty chairs Kuroto quickly placing a bowl of ramen in front of him as well.
"Of course, ramen's the best ya know" Naruto gave a peace sign before digging back in.
"Only an Idiot like you could eat this stuff every meal of the day" Sasuke huffed grabbing a bottle of crushed red pepper to spice up his bowl.
"What was that you have something against ramen you bastard" Naruto growled.
"Yeah so what if I do, you wanna get your ass beat this early in the morning be my guest" Sasuke activated his Sharingan.
"Oh yeah, you're going to have a hard time passing the exams when I break both your arms" Naruto's eyes turned crimson with black slits.
"I promise I'm going to kick both your asses if you either of you spill a single drop of broth. I Woke up three hours early to make this damn ramen and so help me Kami you both are going to sit down and eat it or you'll be cooking your own meals for the next two weeks" Kuroto yelled as he slammed his own bowl down on the table. Sasuke and Naruto shivered at his threat. It wasn't that either one of them was scared of him kicking their ass, in terms of the strength the three of them were nearly equal when it came to a three-way fight. It was the fact that he had threatened to force them to make their own meals that scared them both to the bone. While Naruto and Sasuke were nothing short of prodigious when it came to the Ninja Arts, they were completely dismal when it came to cooking with neither of them being able to make anything halfway edible if Kuroto really didn't cook then they'd be forced to either have to eat out every day or starve.
"Okay we get it just calm down" Naruto raised his hands placatingly his eyes going back to normal.
"Yeah we'll eat it no worries" Sasuke's eye twitched as he dug into his own bowl. It wasn't that he disliked ramen, it was just the fact that with Naruto in the house the dish had become somewhat of a mainstay on the weekly menu. Even with Kuroto doing his best to make different versions of the dish anyone (aside from Naruto that is) would start to get sick of eating it so often.
"Good now let's hurry up and eat so we can get to the Academy on time for once" Kuroto said before digging into his own ramen. The trio quickly ate each poking fun at the others on various subjects until they had finished their meal. Naruto created a Shadow Clone to handle the dishes as they prepared to leave. Naruto had learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu and the secret skill behind it from one of the scrolls his mother had left him and wouldn't shut up about how awesome it was for weeks.
"So, I'm guessing once you two get your headbands you're going to quit your side job with Mr. Jinzin" Sasuke asked. The last two years Kuroto and Naruto had picked up a small side job working part time with a construction company run by an eccentric old man named Yuuto Jinzin. Turns out being able to make hundreds of clones of yourself and instantly create wooden structures made the two perfect for that type of work and Mr. Jinzin always paid them a good price for whatever they did.
"Yeah we already told him after today we'd be full blown Ninja so we wouldn't be able to come around and help out anymore" Naruto answered. He had changed his attire and now wore a black T-shirt with an orange Uzumaki swirl in the center, over that he wore a black jacket with orange accents and black ninja pants with orange bandages around the right and left ankle with traditional black ninja sandals. Despite how people teased him about it, bright orange was still his favorite color and he always vowed to find some way to incorporate it into his ninja wear. On his lower back was a special sheath that contained his charka knuckle blades, they were like Asuma's, but Naruto's had a special seal formula engraved in the metal. His hair had grown out a bit and was even spikier than it had been in his younger years. His body had started to fill out as well now that he was getting a wide variety of nutrition in combination with his physically demanding workouts, he had developed a nice layer of muscle on his arms, chest, and legs. He was still lean for his age though because his style of fighting revolved around speed, he never wanted to be bulky.
"How'd he take the news" Sasuke asked. He now wore a dark blue long sleeve T-shirt with the Uchiha crest on the back, white ninja pants with black bandages around the ankles, blue ninja sandals, and blue fingerless ninja gloves. He carried a chokutō with a black handle and scabbard across his back the blade had been custom made for his height and he would need to replace it as he got taller but for now it was his preferred weapon, and he was rarely seen without it. He was still the tallest of the three boys and had also filled out well due to drilling his sword katas for several hours a day his body didn't have an ounce of fat on it.
"He said he'd miss us at the job site, but he was happy we were finally becoming ninja" Kuroto answered. He wore a sleeveless green hooded jacket with a black T-shirt underneath, dark green ninja pants with black bandages around the ankles and black sandals. He was taller than Naruto but shorter than Sasuke and the most muscular of the three, because his fighting style didn't rely on speed like Naruto's or reading and redirecting his enemies movements like Sasuke's, his style relied more on raw power and strong defense. This also suited him perfectly as his escrima sticks could easily break and shatter bone.
"The whole reason we even looked for jobs was so that we could have some extra cash, even if you said otherwise we didn't want to have to rely on you to pay for everything" Naruto said as they walked down the street ignoring the occasional glare or verbal barb that was thrown their way.
"Well that and Naruto wanted some extra money to take his princess out for cinnamon buns" Kuroto teased causing Naruto to blush and throw him into a friendly headlock.
"Oh yeah last time I checked, you took Tsume out to that new BBQ place for dinner two weeks ago" Naruto said as Kuroto broke out of the headlock and shoved him away playfully.
"Yeah that's because I lost a bet to her and she made me pay for her meal there" Kuroto frowned in the last few years Tsume had begun to challenge him to a variety of different non ninja skill based games such as cards, dice, even guessing games and every time she won (which was often) she'd always make him take her out somewhere to eat, drag him to help her with giving the Inuzuka Ninken baths or some other random task that would eat up hours of his free time. While it had surprised him at first that she was no longer constantly challenging him to spars, Kuroto had to admit he didn't mind spending time with her.
"That's because she has a thing for you" Naruto smirked.
"Please all she does is get on my nerves and try to force me into paying for food or drag me into helping her with her chores" Kuroto shook his head. Both Naruto and Sasuke raised their eyebrows as they couldn't believe that their friend could be so dense sometimes.
"And you say Naruto is an idiot" Sasuke grunted.
"What was that pretty boy…besides, I'd take Tsume over that pink haired stalker of yours" Kuroto smirked as Sasuke shivered at the thought of the bubble gum haired girl that couldn't seem to take a hint.
"SASUKE-KUN" a high-pitched voice shrieked as they neared the Academy.
"Speak of the devil, here she comes" Naruto and Kuroto quickly darted away leaving Sasuke to get swarmed by a mob of girls. After the Uchiha incident Sasuke's fan-club had shrank so it didn't include nearly every single girl in the class and only a few of the more dedicated girls or girls that had been instructed by their parents continued to try to woo him continued to hound him. The rest of the girls decided to pick more eligible targets like Kiba who had recently been named the Inuzuka heir despite the fact that Tsume was older than him, Shikamaru who was admired for his intelligence, even Choji had a few girls who were being a bit nicer than normal towards him.
"Hey Sasuke-kun are you excited about the graduation ceremony today" Sakura said rushing over to him before any of the other girls could get a chance to.
"I guess" Sasuke answered not really interested in having a conversation with her.
"I'm sure you'll ace the exam no problem" Sakura cheered. "You'll be the rookie of the year for sure"
"Hmnn" Sasuke just grunted in response before turning away from her. "Of course, I'll win" he huffed before walking away leaving Sakura and the small crowd of fangirls swooning at his dark, and distant demeanor.
"Always the lady killer" Naruto laughed as Sasuke made his way over to their normal spot underneath the large tree with a single swing attached to one of the thicker branches.
"Women are so annoying" Sasuke groaned leaning back on the tree.
"Don't say that…I'm sure you'll change your mind when you finally met a girl you like" Hinata said as she walked over having just arrived. Hinata was one of the many girls who had started to develop plenty of womanly curves. She now wore a lavender jacket that did a good job of hiding her impressive bust, with black fishnet armor underneath, and she wore blue ninja pants and blue sandals.
"Hey Hinata-chan you excited for the exams today" Naruto asked pulling her into a quick hug once her bodyguards left her alone.
"I'm kind of nervous to be honest" Hinata answered. She had gotten over her habit of stuttering around Naruto after spending so much time together though she still blushed heavily or stuttered whenever he gave her a complement or hugged her tightly.
"What do you have to be nervous about you've been training with the three strongest ninjas in the village" Naruto boasted.
"You can't be talking about you three rejects" Kiba laughed as he came over to antagonize the group Akamaru walked at his side over three times the size he had been when Kiba first joined the academy.
"What do you want mutt" Sasuke frowned. Kiba still having a friendly rivalry with the group though it wasn't as aggressive as it had been in their younger years.
"Where's Tsume I thought you Inuzuka roamed in packs" Kuroto only had a split second to dodge as the tree branches above him rustled.
"SNEAK ATTACK" Tsume yelled as she dived down and struck at Kuroto's side with her claws. Kuroto was too quick however and dodged as he grabbed both her wrist using his superior strength and height to hold her off the ground.
"Nice try but next time try not to announce your attack before it lands" Kuroto said slightly amused.
"Oh yeah this was only phase one" Tsume said with a confident smirk.
"Phase one was you getting captured by the person you were trying to sneak attack…and people say I'm dense" Kuroto shook his head.
"No Phase one was this" Tsume lunged forward giving Kuroto a long lick on the cheek causing him to yelp and let her go. As soon as her hands were free, she spun lashing out once again with her claws this time because he was off balance, she managed to land a swallow cut to his other cheek.
"Oh yeah first blood" Tsume cheered Kuromaru jumping down from the tree she had been in revealing that he had grown even more than Akamaru.
"Why the hell did you lick me" Kuroto yelled trying to cover up the fact he was blushing.
"You have to be ready for anything in combat don't blame me because you were caught off guard" Tsume grinned ferally. "I expect you to take me out for a celebration dinner after the exams" Tsume's grin widened.
"That's was a dirty trick" Kuroto grumbled. "Wait we never bet on that"
"Oh but we did…remember you told me I'd never be able to catch you off guard and I bet you that I could. Well I'd say that lick definitely caught you off guard" Tsume eyes glinted in amusement as Kuroto tried to open his mouth several times to argue but failed every time.
"Fine if you pass the exams, I'll take you somewhere to celebrate" Kuroto sighed. Kuromaru barked excitedly and wagged his tail making Kuroto smile. "Yeah I'll get you some treats as well"
"Aww aren't they a cute couple" Hinata held her cheeks and blushed as everyone else laughed and grinned.
"We're not a couple" Both Tsume and Kuroto yelled at the same time only making everyone laugh and grin harder.
"Piss off" Tsume huffed hiding her blush with her hood as everyone continued to laugh. Luckily for the two teens the class was called inside to begin the first part of the exam.
"Damnit, I forgot we had to deal with a written test first" Naruto groaned as he sat down. Despite the fact that he was an extremely diligent study when it came to Fūinjutsu, already mastering many high-level seals that even Jiraiya sometimes struggled with. He hated having to sit down and study anything he considered boring which were subjects like history, economics, math, and most of the subject the test would be covering to gauge the student's basic knowledge.
"I told you to study" Kuroto sighed.
"Ahh but that's so boring" Naruto groaned.
"I could always tutor you if you want Naruto-kun" Hinata offered.
"Thanks, Hinata-chan I'll keep that in mind" Naruto smiled.
"Alright class listen up I'm going to start handing out your test, you have three hours to complete it and you must score a seventy percent of higher to pass…understood" Iruka asked as he stood in front of many who would never step foot inside his classroom again. After a chorus of yes and nods went around, he began to pass out the test with a warning that anyone caught cheating would be forced to repeat another year.
The test was difficult but not too difficult for most. Many of the more book smart teens such as Hinata, Shikamaru, Sakura, and Kuroto who had developed great study habits after having to read through and replicate many of the Jutsu from the scrolls the Third had given him without much help, finished within a single hour. Even for the average and above average student's the completion time was between an hour and a half and two hours. Only the dismal few like Naruto, Choji, and a few of the civilian born children took nearly the entire three hours.
"Bout time you finished we were starting to make bets on if you'd given up or not" Kiba laughed as Naruto looked completely drained.
"Can it dog breath" Naruto shot back weakly.
"As long as you passed that's all that matters" Hinata placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Seriously if you fail, then all I have to do is kick Kuroto's sorry ass to be made Rookie of the year" Sasuke said confidently.
"Your balls must've dropped last night if you think you can kick my ass so easily" Kuroto growled.
"I'm going to kick both your asses so you both might as well quit while you're ahead" Naruto yelled suddenly full of energy once again.
"Bring it on tomato head" Sasuke grinned.
"Whatever you say duck butt hair just don't try to kick me out when you lose." Naruto grinned back.
"Even if he did, I'm sure Hinata wouldn't mind giving you a place to sleep for a few nights" Tsume joked causing the two in question to stutter and blush.
"Oh that's rich sis…that coming from the girl that moans out a certain someone's name in her sleep" Kiba held his sides as he could barely contain his laughter at least until Tsume grabbed him by his collar and threatened to castrate him with a rusty kunai which caused him to grab his balls and whimper making everyone laugh.
"Alright class all the test have been graded, please find you name on the board along with your score. Those of you with a score below seventy percent will be allowed to retake the exam next year and try again if you'd like" Iruka said as he posted the test result against the academy wall.
"Alright I passed" Naruto cheered as he found his name with an 82 percent next to it.
"That's great Naruto-Kun and you did surprisingly well too" Hinata congratulated him.
"Yeah but I still didn't come close to your score" Naruto said as Hinata's name was the only one with a one-hundred percent marking. Even Shikamaru only scored a ninety-five percent but that was probably because he was too lazy to read some of the longer questions all the way through.
"You two better take things up a knock if you want to catch up" Kuroto bragged as he pointed at his score of ninety-seven percent.
"Well at least I still beat Naruto" Sasuke grinned looking at his score of ninety even. "Good luck catching up last place" he smirked at the steaming redhead.
"Yeah just wait next is the practical portion so prepared to get your asses kicked" Naruto shouted confidently. After the handful of test failures vacated the area Iruka called the students who had passed over to the Kunai and Shuriken throw event. He explained that there were ten targets each was worth two points simply landing a hit was worth one point and landing a killing blow was worth an additional point. Students would need seven points in order to pass this event. As expected, none of the clan children had any trouble passing this event even those who's clans specialized in close range combat like Choji and the Inuzuka twins scored around twelve points, Hinata in a surprising showing lead the girls with fifteen hits and Shino lead the boys with sixteen.
"Alright looks like it's my turn" Kuroto said as he took his place about 15 meters away from the targets. His first eight were perfect earning him sixteen points to match Shino, but with the last two targets he wasn't able to hit the vital area and walked away with eighteen points. "Beat that" he smirked as he waited for Sasuke to take his turn next.
Sasuke crushed Kuroto's hopes of keeping his lead when he nailed ten out of ten hitting every vital point earning him a perfect score of twenty. Of course, this caused his fan club to shriek in delight at how cool 'their' Sasuke-kun was.
"Damnit" Kuroto cursed as Sasuke gave him a smug look coming back to stand next to him and wait for Naruto who would be the last student to compete in the event.
"Hope everyone's ready for another perfect score" Naruto boasted as he proceeded to nail the first nine targets in the vital area's beating Kuroto's score with a single kunai left to tie Sasuke's perfect score. Naruto threw the Kunai with confidence but cursed loudly when it just barely missed the vital area for the final target. "Damnit you can't be serious" Naruto shouted as he ruffled his own hair in frustration.
"It's Okay Naruto-kun you still did I really good job" Hinata smiled at him.
"I guess…still better than last place too" Naruto smirked at Kuroto.
"I still won in the written test so I should still be ahead of you" Kuroto growled back.
"Yeah but in case you forgot the next event is hand to hand sparring" Naruto's grinned widened. Over the last few years he'd gotten even better with his Taijutsu and had started to edge out a lead in terms of wins against his best friends and rivals now he could proudly say he won about sixty percent of his matches against the other two boys.
"Damnit well I hope Iruka isn't the one serving as the Chūnin fighter otherwise I'll feel a little bad for having to kick his ass so hard" Kuroto shrugged.
"Just try not to get caught off guard again" Sasuke said pointing to the cut Tsume had dealt out.
"All you two have to do is try not to make me look bad…you have no idea how embarrassing it would be if my sparring partners lost to an Academy teacher" Naruto laughed.
"Alright class line up. The next event will be the hand to hand sparring match, so I will be having Instructor Mizuki spar against you all while I referee. You must last five minutes against Mizuki, land three solid hits, or force him out of the ring to pass this event are there any questions" Iruka announced. As he looked around to see if anyone had any questions he shivered as an unusual amount of killing intent started to leak out of the three top students in his class. Naruto, Kuroto, and Sasuke all had dark smirks on their face as they stared at the silver-haired instructor.
They had a bad run in with him and a drunk group of his friends when they were out training one night. Jiraiya had left the village to attend to his spy network and it was normal for some bolder civilian's or shinobi to try their luck against the three without the perverted Sanin around. Needless to say they had been able to hold their own, but Mizuki had spun the story so instead of self-defense, he went around spreading rumors that the 'Traitorous Uchiha was planning on taking over the village with the Demon Brat and False Senju'. While most people with common sense had eventually come to see that Naruto, Sasuke, and Kuroto had no ill will against the village(that didn't mean they liked them or treated them any better), there were always those constantly looking for any reason to have them thrown out of the village. Of course, Hiruzen ended up ordering an investigation and all those involved were sent to I&T department where Anko had a field day with getting the real story out of them. Still even after being proven innocent the entire ordeal had left a bad taste in the students' mouths, and now it was time for some payback.
"What crawled up you three's collective asses" Tsume asked.
"Don't worry about it…huh you know what" A dark smirk crossed Kuroto's face as he whispered something into Tsume ear.
"Are you serious" Tsume said excitedly.
"I wouldn't have said it if I wasn't" Kuroto smirked.
"You better not go back on your word, or I'll make you regret it" Tsume growled.
"I promise" Kuroto nodded and Tsume began bouncing up and down eager for her turn.
"What did you say to get her this excited" Naruto asked.
"Just wait and hopefully it will be worth it" Kuroto grinned.
"Ugh I hate when you get like this, you're worse than I am" Naruto grumbled but sat back and watched as one by one the civilian children went first. To his credit Mizuki did a decent job of sparring at a level that the Genin hopefuls should be able to handle. Almost all but the most dismal students were able to hold their own for the five-minute time limit. Even Sakura who was by no stretch of the word awful at Taijutsu was able to use the academy's basic style well enough to last the five minutes even if only barely. By the time the clan children had started to take their turns only three more civilian children had been eliminated.
To no one's surprised the Clan heirs had no problems with this test with most of them being able to land three solid hits before the time limit was up. Still there were a few standouts for better or worse. Shikamaru who just dodge and countered though he put no real effort into his strikes and lasted the full five minutes. While Kiba and Hinata were able to score three solid hits in less than a minute with Kiba almost managing to knock Mizuki out of the ring. Finally, the last four to go were Naruto, Kuroto, Sasuke and Tsume.
"Alright who's next" Mizuki asked an edge to his voice as he realized who still needed to pass.
"One second" Naruto called as he Sasuke and Kuroto played rock paper scissors to see who got first dibs at kicking Mizuki's ass.
"Fuck yeah I'm up first" Kuroto cheered after winning the first two games.
"You better not lose, or I'll kick your ass next" Tsume said with a fanged smirk.
"Yeah yeah whatever you say" Kuroto couldn't help the grin that was plastered on his face as he stepped into the ring.
'This is my chance to make those bastards pay for that trip to the I&T department' Mizuki smirked as he watched the 'False Senju' take his stance across from him. Mizuki noted that his stance was solid, and it seemed like Kuroto wanted to root himself in place. 'Must have a mostly defensive style in that case I'll just have to his break stance, then I'll have some fun toying with him before I fail him'.
Mizuki decided to throw a few weak punches to test Kuroto's guard as well as deceive Iruka so he paid less attention to the fight. As expected, the teenager easily blocked the strikes keeping himself rooted in place. Mizuki kept up the light attacks until he saw Iruka's attention turn away from the match. In an instant he threw a hard knee towards Kuroto's stomach, Mizuki was slightly surprised when the strike was blocked but was already following it up with a hard-overhead right hook that would be sure to connect. A slight smirk crossed his face, before it quickly turned to a look of confusion as his body was suddenly floating in the air. A small groan escaped his lips as his back connected with the ground outside of the ring.
"Good job Kuroto, nice form on that one-arm shoulder throw" Iruka quickly recorded his results. It was only the scarred Chūnin's words that let Mizuki that he had been bested.
"Ehh it was easy" Kuroto brushed off the complement as he ignored the seething glare that Mizuki was sending his way. "You two know who's next yet" he asked as he fist bumped Naruto, and Sasuke.
"Yeah cherry head goes last" Sasuke said as he walked past Kuroto to take his place in the ring.
'Damnit I should've known better than to underestimate him, even if he is a fake his training with the Sanin Jiraiya is real enough' Mizuki scowled internally as he got back into the ring. He wouldn't make the same mistake as last time, this time he would go full force in the first blow. He was sure he could easily justify it to Iruka as testing the student's ability to react to a sudden surprise attack. As soon as Iruka signaled the match to begin Mizuki rushed in throwing a vicious head kick. Mizuki didn't even notice Sasuke's eyes shift as he smoothly slid underneath the kick. Sasuke easily swept Mizuki's planted leg sending the asshole airborne, another quick kick was all it took to send him out of the ring once again.
"Excellent job Sasuke" Iruka praised though it was barely heard over Sakura's screaming and cheering.
"Hmp it was too easy" Sasuke said coolly earning a round of heart eyes from his remaining fan girls. "Beat that" Sasuke grinned as he walked back to their normal group. Kuroto was glaring and grumbling since it was obvious Sasuke would get higher marks for finishing off Mizuki faster, Naruto had his usual wide grin as he proudly proclaimed "Watch me" nearly skipping his way into the ring in pure excitement.
'These fucking brats are making a mockery out of me' Mizuki fumed his temples pulsing in hidden anger. It took all his years of Ninja training for him to keep his composure, after a few calming breaths he had cleared his head enough to formulate another strategy. It was simple going on the offensive had led to his last two embarrassing losses, therefore he would just stay on the defensive until time was nearly over. Knowing Naruto's personality, he would make a mistake as he would be desperate to match his friend's performances, allowing Mizuki to capitalize.
"Alright are both fighters ready" Iruka asked as Mizuki took his normal stance.
"Of course I'm ready, Believe it" Naruto grinned getting down into a sprinter-like stance.
"Um are you sure Naruto" Iruka asked looking at Naruto's odd starting position.
"Trust me I'm ready" Naruto nodded. No one except for those who had trained with him in private could have guessed what was going to happen next. As soon as Iruka signaled the start of the match Naruto shot forward closing the distance between himself and Mizuki in a single stride his low posture allowing him the penetrate the Chūnin's guard and in on smooth motion he swung his right arm forward, transferring all of his body's momentum into a single strike. Kuroto and Sasuke knew from experience even if you were able to block it the force behind Naruto's "Stinger Punch" was enough to make your arms go numb and throw you back about a dozen feet. Mizuki however was not lucky and found himself taking a full force blow to the gut. The force of the blow was enough the even Iruka winced as Mizuki was literally blown out of the ring within a few seconds. Most of the young test takers stood slacked jawed at what they had just seen. Even Iruka took several seconds before he came to his senses and declared Naruto's victory also announcing that he had earned the top marks in the test thus far.
"Too easy" Naruto grinned as he fist pumped Kuroto and Sasuke who also had satisfied grins, seeing how Naruto literally blew that silver haired asshole out of the ring.
"Guess that just leaves me" Tsume said as Mizuki finally made his way back into the ring. He looked halfway between passing out from the pain in his stomach and relief at not having to go up against another monster, finally acknowledging that any student who had trained with a Sanin for years was probably more than he could handle. Given that Kiba had already proven capable of landing three solid hits rather quickly Mizuki figured Tsume would be similarly skilled. After his embarrassing performance in his last three bouts he decided to open his guard and give her plenty of room to score solid hits. 'The sooner we get this over with the sooner I can drink away this embarrassment' Mizuki mentally sighed.
However, his eagerness would once again prove to be his undoing, once Iruka began the match Tsume proved to be even quicker and more vicious than Kiba was quickly scoring two solid hits in less than a minute. Her third strike was one that would send a message as Mizuki blocked one of her punches and countered with a front kick, Tsume showed off her flexibility by bending her body backwards and preforming a somersault her lead foot flying up and nailing Mizuki directly in the balls. Everyone was sure that his scream was heard throughout the entire village as this was the final straw that ended up with Mizuki passing out face first on the ground hold his crotch.
Iruka told the remaining successful students to take a ten-minute break while he tallied up the scores and took Mizuki to see a medic.
"Geez sis you didn't have to take things that far did you" Kiba half joked as Tsume nearly skipped back over to the group but she ignored him.
"So, you're gonna keep your promise right" Tsume asked Kuroto getting uncomfortably close to his face.
"Y-Yeah all you can eat at Hans steakhouse on me" Kuroto stumbled trying to keep his composure. A bark from Kuromaru made Kuroto smile slightly "Yeah and a big doggy bag for you too".
"Alright it's a date then" Tsume grinned.
"If you say so" Kuroto said missing Tsume's intended use of the phrase.
The young teens conversed amongst themselves in their usual groups until Iruka returned and congratulated them on making it to the final stage of the test. He explained that to pass all they needed to do was to perform the three-basic academy Jutsu's and could preform any additional higher ranked Jutsu for extra credit.
It was a given that all the students who had made it to this point in the exam were able to perform the three Jutsu and most of the Clan heirs earned higher point by showing off their unique Jutsu's with Tsume and Kiba unleashing a impressively destructive 'Twin Fang over Fang' that left the outdoor testing area with large gouges in the ground.
"Alright Naruto, Sasuke, and Kuroto you three are the last ones left so which one of you would like to go first" Iruka asked as he finished adding up everyone else's scores.
"If it's okay with you Sensei we'd like to go at the same time" Naruto said.
"Okay that's fine with me" Iruka nodded.
"You wanna give us something to aim at" Sasuke glanced over at Kuroto who nodded and preformed a single hand sign creating several roughly human shaped earth dummies about twenty yards away.
"Alright you guys ready" Naruto grinned widely.
"Born ready" Sasuke grunted.
"Let's do this" Kuroto smirked.
The trio blurred through hand signs before calling out their induvial Jutsu's.
"Wind Style-Wind Wyvern Jutsu" Naruto blew creating a razor wind wyvern.
"Lighting Style- Lightning Wyvern Jutsu" Sasuke casted a streaking wyvern from his outstretched palm.
"Water Style- Water Wyvern Jutsu" Kuroto spat a flowing wyvern shaped mass of water.
Iruka watched in shock at the ease the three-academy student's preforming high C-ranked Jutsu. What happened next nearly made his eyes pop out his head, as the three elemental wyverns merged, and the teen boys call the name of their final Jutsu.
"Combination Jutsu- Storm Wyvern Jutsu" Sasuke, Naruto and Kuroto called out together as their Jutsu easily destroyed the earth dummies along with a good chunk of the surrounding area. Iruka almost threw his clipboard in the air he knew the teenage trio was talented and skilled but it was obvious they were leagues ahead of everyone else in the class and it was no secret who the 'Rookie of the Year' race was between.
Iruka wasted no time in gathering the successful graduates back into the classroom as some of the parents started to arrive. As Iruka started to congratulate the new graduates with his normal 'This is only the beginning speech' most of them zoned out with fantasies of all the new adventures they'd be embarking on. Only the truly diligent or polite students like Hinata, Sakura, and Shino somewhat paid attention. To his credit the scarred Chūnin continued on unbothered by the majority of his students disinterest even as he began to pass out everyone's official headbands. It wasn't until the final three headbands that all of the graduates gave their full attention once more.
"Now for the runner up's for 'Rookie of the Year'" Iruka paused for effect. "In Third place we have Kuroto Shinrin with a total score of 289" Iruka announced.
"Damn I lost again" Kuroto grumbled as he got up to receive his headband. He was surprised when he received a small round of applause and some cheers from around the room the loudest surprising coming from a grinning Tsume. Kuroto couldn't help a wide smile as he started to feel an unusual warmth spread through him as he accepted his headband tying it, so it hung loosely around his neck.
"In second place Sasuke Uchiha with a score of 290" Iruka announced again.
"What the hell I lost to the red head idiot and only beat pinecone head by one point" Sasuke huffed while it may have sounded indifferent to most those close to him were able to pick up the hint of amusement in his tone as well as see the small sideways smirk he briefly showed before getting his head band and tying it to his right arm of course his fan club showered him with praise the entire time.
"Lastly with a Score of 292 and the classes 'Rookie of the Year' we have-"
"NARUTO UZUMAKI you better Believe it" Naruto yelled jumping out his chair"
"How about letting the teacher finish idiot" Sasuke smirked at his friend's usual excitement.
"You only won by three points so don't get a big head" Kuroto grinned.
"Yeah, Yeah whatever you two are just jealous" Naruto trademark smile never left his face the entire time he was receiving his headband tying it on his forehead with pride.
"Okay now with that concluded you all are released for today. Make sure to be here tomorrow evening to be assigned your teams and Jonin sensei." Iruka dismissed the class.
"Alright since I won let's go get Pervy Sage and celebrate with some Ichiraku's" Naruto cheered as the three hung around the schoolhouse, the rest of their group having dispersed earlier to find their parents.
"We just had ramen this morning don't you ever get sick of the stuff" Sasuke shook his head.
"Besides Jiraiya is in a meeting the Lord Third he said it would probably take all afternoon" Kuroto reminded.
"You three heading to Ichiraku's" Kiba asked running back over after showing off his headband to his mom.
"Sure are" Naruto grinned despite the sighs from his two best friends he knew they would go because he beat them.
"Cool hey sis you wanna get some ramen" Kiba yelled.
"Hell yeah" Tsume said running back over.
"Did someone say Ramen" Choji asked walking over with Shikamaru.
"I'd like to join as well if that's okay" Hinata smiled her father giving Naruto a slight nod in the background that the red head quickly returned.
"Alright now it's a party" Naruto cheered as the group of newly crowned ninja made their way to get a celebratory meal.
N.S
(Hokage Tower minutes after headband ceremony)
"I'm sure you're are all aware of the reason you are here today" Hiruzen spoke to the room full of Clan heads and Jonin and a few key members of the civilian council. Each of the Jonin was more than qualified to train a squad of Genin and some had even successfully trained a squad or two before. They would serve as an experienced voice and reference point for the other Jonin many of whom would be receiving their very first squad.
"This year's academy graduates are full of not only clan heirs, but a number of talented civilian born ninja. To maximize the strength and development of each of these Genin the teams each of you will be receiving are geared towards each of your individual strengths. Now if there are no further questions let us begin with each of your squads". Hiruzen nodded and Jiraiya sat a stack of folders on his desk.
"First will be Team 10 consisting of Genin Shikamaru, Ino and Choji. They will be led by Asuma. They are a well-balanced team that should excel in tactics" Jiraiya placed down a folder in front of Asuma. While the white-haired Sanin had refused his Sensei's request to takeover when he first arrived in the village years ago and still refused to do so. Jiraiya had to acknowledge that Hiruzen was already many years past his prime so begrudgingly he agreed to assist the old Sarutobi when he could and learn the in's and out's of the position in case the need ever arrived for him to take over until a permanent successor could be found.
"Next, we have Team 8 which Genin Hinata, Kiba, and Shino will serve in. This team will be led by Kurenai and are expected to excel in tracking and close combat." Jiraiya placed another folder down.
"The next team will be made of Sakura, Sai and Tsume lead by Yamato this team has a blend of skills and unique talent they should strive to be versatile and ever adapting." A folder was placed in front of the stone faced former Anbu. The room was quite was three more squads of civilian born ninja were assigned an instructor.
"Finally we have Team 7 which will be composed of Naruto, Sasuke, and Kuroto lead by Kakashi" Hiruzen barely got the words out when words of protest sprang up from the civilian council members.
"Lord Third what is the meaning of this aren't those three the First, second and third in their class. Such a squad would be unbalanced and hard to control." A grey-haired older gentleman with a handlebar mustache who owned the majority of Konoha's shop.
"Sounds like Noru may be doubting your abilities as a teacher ehh Kakashi" Asuma smirked.
"My my and I haven't even been given the chance to fail yet" Kakashi gave a small eye smile.
"I'm sure Noru means no disrespect but hasn't the practice always been to put the Rookie of the year with the lowest scoring graduate" A rounder man with a large bald spot said as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He was the head of the biggest traveling merchant guild within the nations.
"Yes while that is normally the case this year's graduating class didn't have any substantially weak Genin also this squad will not be preforming the normal duties of a Genin squad I will allow Jiraiya to explain from here." Hiruzen sat back and lit is pipe.
"As most of you know we have a loose alliance with Suna but to call that anything other than shaky would be an overstatement. That being said Iwa still isn't happy with us after the last war and if it came down to it Kumo would side with them over us." Jiraiya spoke with most of the room nodding at his statements. "Kirgakure has been embroiled in a civil war for nearly a year and the rebels that have been opposing the genocidal Fourth Mizukage are getting desperate as the war a tipping point. I have already had a mission approved by the old man, myself along with Team 7 will travel to the land of Waves to meet up with a contact from the Kiri rebels. We will aid in a last effort to depose the current regime and will put the new Mizukage in our debt allowing us to leverage an alliance with Kirigakure. Hopefully with that addition Iwa will not be stupid enough to declare war as even with Kumo's help they'd have no chance of winning." Jiraiya explained.
"A sound strategy but why send a fresh team of Genin why not a squad of Chūnin or even Jonin for that matter" Hiashi asked.
"Sound strategy are you kidding me are you trying to get those three killed haven't they gone through enough" Hana barked in defense of the fresh Genin.
"Hana while I understand where you are coming from those three have been under my tutelage for years. They are far more advanced than any normal academy student in fact in skill alone I'd rate them around mid-Chūnin level" Jiraiya revealed cause some in the room to murmur in shock.
"As for why we are sending in a single squad in the event that the rebellion isn't successful it will be easier to cover our tracks and extract said squad. It will also be easier to conceal our involvement as if the other Kage catch wind of what we have planned they may send support to earn the Mizukage's favor as well." Hiruzen explained.
"I've been assured by my spy network that the situation is reaching a boiling point in Mizu and the odds do not favor the current Mizukage, as such this is the perfect time to lend our assistance as the risk is minimum and the outcome is more than favorable. Kakashi and I alone would be more than enough and having a squad of talented Genin gaining this experience only strengthens the village as a whole" Jiraiya assured his point.
When no one voiced any further complaints the Third Hokage dismissed everyone aside from Jiraiya and Kakashi. "It's no secret that you two are found of those three boy's. It's even more obvious the skill and talent that those three have but war is anything but predicable and I'm allowing this against my better judgement…do not make me regret this" Hiruzen said with an edge he rarely ever had to use anymore. After taking another deep hit of his pipe the grizzled Hokage dismissed his former student and Kakashi.
"You want to tell them the good news or should I" Jiraiya asked.
"For now, I suggest we leave it a surprise, let them enjoy tonight. Because by the end of the week they will heading of to get their first taste of war" Kakashi said with an eye smile. He was excited more excited than he had been in a long time. Tomorrow he would begin his training and take his first steps in ensuring his Sensi's dream of his son surpassing him and becoming the greatest Ninja the world had ever seen.