The day of the Genin Exam was a Naruto day. The teacher's aide was up to his old tricks. The questions on the written exam were too difficult. Most of the kunai and shuriken bounced. Naruto was eliminated quickly in his spar against the aide. He could not dispel the genjutsu, which he guessed was B-rank rather than the E-Rank everyone else got. He did do well in the physical condition portion of the test, but doubted that would be enough.
He was waiting for his ninjutsu test when he saw that the clone that had spent most of the day as Tsunami had her new Leaf Badge, so he knew he would be able to become a shinobi even if he as Naruto failed. He had "happened" to draw the last spot, but he thought that was the aide's doing in order to prolong the agony.
He successfully did a Replacement and Disguise, but his Clones looked half dead.
"I'm sorry, but you fail, Naruto-kun," Iruka said sadly.
"Ah, come on, Iruka-kun," the aide said. "He did manage to make them."
"These wouldn't fool anyone, Mizuki-kun," Iruka said. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but you'll have to try again next year."
"What?" he said, "I know my sister can't do Clones either and you passed her!"
"Naruto-kun, Tsunami-kun passed every other test except the genjutsu," Iruka explained. "You failed the written, the taijutsu, the genjutsu, and the throwing test as well. In order to pass you have to pass four of the six subjects or get an exceptional grade in either taijutsu or ninjutsu. You just aren't ready yet. I'm sure you'll get it next year."
Naruto's temper finally gave out. "Hypocrite," he hissed. "I know for a fact that my skills are near matches for my sister's!"
"The tests say they aren't," Iruka insisted.
"You trust the stupid tests?" Naruto sneered as he glared at the aide. "My taijutsu is better than any other boy's in the class except for Kiba and the Uchiha and you know it. How could I fail a fair test?"
Iruka just stared at him open-mouthed.
"I told you there was something wrong with my written tests and the throwing weapons I was using last year, but you never did anything."
"I checked the tests, Naruto. They were the same as everyone else's," Iruka said.
"Did you check for genjutsu residues?" Naruto asked.
"Naruto, there wasn't a point. Everyone in the Academy is a professional," he insisted.
"You do realize that your predecessor was fired for purposefully sabotaging my education, don't you?" Naruto said. He glared at the aide whose face was too blank.
"What!?" Iruka shouted.
"You didn't know?" Naruto asked incredulously. "Maybe the corruption runs deeper than I thought," he muttered.
He started to turn away and then looked at Iruka. "I'll have you know, sensei, that you failed my test too."
"Huh?" Iruka said.
"Out of all the students in your class, only my sister and I couldn't do the Clone Technique, but you never tried to find out why."
Naruto started walking toward the door. "I hope you learn from your mistake and become a better teacher, Iruka-san."
"I promise, next year, we'll figure out the Clone. . ."
"I won't be coming back, Iruka-san," Naruto said.
"But your dream. . ." Iruka said.
"I've decided that it isn't worth all the backstabbing." He glared at the aide. "Maybe my sister will fulfill my dream."
"Hi, Jiichan," Naruto said as he walked into the Hokage's office.
"Hello, Naruto-kun," the Old Man responded.
"I've come to report on our wager," Naruto said seriously.
The Hokage activated the privacy seals and sighed. "I don't have a good feeling about this."
"I failed every test except physical condition and maybe ninjutsu, depending on how they scored it," he reported.
"And Tsunami?" the Old Man asked.
"Passed everything except genjutsu dispelling and the Clone Technique."
The Hokage sighed. "I thought for sure that Iruka-kun would treat you fairly."
"He did," said Naruto. "He was just too trusting of his rat-fink aide, Mizuki. Mizuki used a genjutsu on my written tests and another one to hide that he was giving me dull throwing weapons. The genjutsus he cast on me to dispel were B-rank rather than E-rank, from what I can tell. Not that it would've mattered, I can't dispel the E-rank ones the standard way normally."
"Did you talk to Iruka or the Headmaster about it?" the Old Man asked.
Naruto nodded. "I told Iruka there was something wrong with the weapons and that I was getting much harder written tests than Tsunami. He did a shallow investigation and then wrote it off as sour grapes."
The Hokage put the flat of his palm against his forehead. "I thought I had the Academy straightened out." He turned to Naruto. "You should have told me, even if it messed up your game with Tsunami."
Naruto chuckled ruefully. "That reminds me, I kind of blew up at Iruka when he told me I failed. He said that he didn't know that my old teacher was fired for sabotaging me."
The Old Man groaned. "The Headmaster must have been trying to sweep it under the rug to save face."
"Oh, and Mizuki knows that I know he was sabotaging me," Naruto added. "He also had two students who helped out distracting Iruka."
"Alright, I'll have someone deal with him," the Hokage said. "Who were the accomplices?"
"Sato and Inue."
The Hokage leaned forward over his desk. "Are you sure you want to go through with our wager, Naruto-kun? I can give you a retest or even just say that I did on the basis of Tsunami passing."
Naruto nodded slowly. "I want to try living without all the hate, Jiichan. Tsunami isn't treated perfectly, because she's my 'sister,' but she's treated a lot better than I am as me. Even since she's been around I've been treated a little better. I think I appear more human because I have a sister. Everyone my age knows me as the 'Dead Last' while Tsunami is acknowledged as a serious shinobi. I want to escape my reputation too. I'm going to do it—at least for a while."
"What will you do as Naruto?" the Hokage asked. "I assume you're not going back to the Academy."
"Mom pointed me to a shinobi supply store. I showed the proprietor, Old Man Higurashi, some seals I made and he was interested in buying them. I'm getting close to what Mom calls Advanced Fuuinjutsu. I should be able to supplement the mission pay I get as Tsunami decently doing that. I'll probably see if there are any others that are interested."
"I'll get you an interview with our ANBU quartermaster as well," the Old Man said.
"Thanks, Jiichan!"
The old man had a nasty smirk on his face. "You know Naruto-kun, only official shinobi can engage in shinobi activities such as fuuinjutsu. Academy students are just about the only ones who are exempt."
Naruto frowned. "Jiichan, are you seriously going to take this away from me?"
The Old Man coughed. "If I could offer a potential solution?"
Naruto nodded.
"I make you a genin, but put you on the reserve list instead of assigning you to a team. That way you officially have basic shinobi privileges so you can make your seals under your real name, but it doesn't interfere with your experiment. It also provides you with an out that doesn't blow your secret if you decide to end your experiment."
Naruto sighed. "Okay, Jiichan. That sounds okay. Anything else?"
The Hokage nodded. "I'll be telling your jounin sensei the truth about you and Tsunami. They need to know in case something happens. Also, give your team a real overview of your abilities, but ask them not to spread it around. I'd like to keep the fact that you're Kushina's child obscure to the general population for as long as we can."
Naruto grimaced. "I don't like it, but I understand, Jiichan."
That night Naruto told his mom the results of the genin exam.
"Oh, Naruto-chan," she said. "I'm so sorry."
He shrugged it off. "I'm actually okay. At this point I'd rather just skip the drama as much as possible. Jiichan put the real me in the reserves so that I could make seals and sell them to shinobi shops. If I decide to end the experiment, I can pick up where I left off without too many problems."
"Well," she said, "I'm glad the Hokage had the foresight to think of that, because I'm sure it wasn't your idea."
"Hey!" he protested.
His mom laughed. "You get your lack of strategic planning from me. That's why I was never too upset when your father became Hokage instead of me. He was much better suited for it." She grinned. "But I still wore the pants in the family, Hokage or not!"
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Hey, since I'm a genin now, can you teach me the shortcut to creating lots of Shadow Clones?"
"That's hardly a genin-level technique, Naruto-chan," she said.
He transformed into a six-year-old version of Tsunami. "Pwease, momma?" She gave her mother her best puppy-dog eyes.
Her mom giggled. "Stop that, brat." She lightly swatted the back of Naruto's head. "Well, you certainly have the chakra for it. Okay, I'll teach it to you and lift your restrictions on the number of Shadow Clones you can make. Just be careful. Okay?"
Naruto aged into her 12-year-old girl form. "I will."
"Okay. This is how you do the Multi Shadow Clone Technique. You use the same clone hand seal, but instead of pinching off your chakra into portions, you set up a series of regular peaks and valleys like a sine wave in the chakra you focus through the hand seal." She drew an example on the ground with her chakra to make sure Naruto knew what she was talking about. Trigonometry was important for sealing. "The number of peaks is the number of Shadow Clones you make."
Naruto nodded and got to work.
The next Monday, Naruto as Tsunami went to the Academy for team assignments. She was excited to be a real shinobi. A part of her was disappointed that she was not doing it with her true face, but the rest of her was giddy with the idea of pulling the biggest prank ever as well as being treated as a normal kid. She wondered what her jounin sensei would think of her. If she were being honest with herself, she would have to admit that she was extremely nervous because of the Fox and her "real" Disguise.
She arrived a little early and sat down next to Hinata. It had been useless to try and sit next to Sakura or Ino for most of this year, since they inevitably fought over who got to sit next to the Uchiha. Sure enough, not long after she took her seat, she heard them arguing at the door. Sakura managed to get into the room first and smugly sat down next to Sasuke. Ino argued loudly with her until Iruka came in and used his Big Head Technique to quiet the class down.
As Iruka was about to start, Miyagi called out, "Where are Sato-san and Inue-san? They passed."
"Mizuki-san is involved in an investigation, which is why he's not here," Iruka explained. "Sato-san and Inue-san were called in as witnesses."
The class silently digested that. Most of them knew that Sato and Inue were Mizuki's stooges. Naruto was pleased to hear that Mizuki was getting his just desserts.
Iruka gave a speech on the responsibilities they now had as genin and how important their teammates were to their success. He wished them luck. Tsunami noticed that he would glance at her with a guilty look occasionally. He wondered if that was from the chewing out she gave him as Naruto or if the Hokage had also talked to him.
When it came time to announce the teams, she listened with half an ear until her daydreams were interrupted by the shrieks the fangirls when the Uchiha was assigned to an all-male team. She could swear she saw the corners of his mouth twitch up slightly for a second or two. Ino and Sakura both offered to take Shino or Kiba's place so that "Sasuke-kun" wouldn't have to be on a team with "losers." Iruka denied them.
Her team was announced next. "Team Eight: Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Hinata, and Uzumaki Tsunami."
An all-kunoichi team? Interesting. She wondered if their sensei would be a kunoichi as well.
The team assignments ended with Ino complaining about getting stuck with a repeat of her dad's team. She loudly offered to trade with Sakura, because even the "Shy Girl" was better than the "Lazy Bum" and the "Bottomless Pit." Iruka stopped that by repeating that all team assignments were final.
Hinata and Naruto ate lunch together. Sakura was off trying to eat with Sasuke. Hinata looked like she was trying to ask Tsunami something, but she never managed to get the nerve to do it.
After lunch, everyone met in the classroom again. At precisely one o'clock, the door opened and a dark-haired woman stood in the door way. She was very pretty, but dressed oddly in an outfit that appeared to be made out of strips of bandages. Her piercing red eyes lingered on Naruto's before she said, "Team Eight, follow me please."
As they left, they saw several other adult shinobi approaching the classroom. Their presumed sensei led the girls out into the field behind the Academy where she gestured for them to sit.
"I'd like to start with introductions," she said, "I'll start. My name is Yuuhi Kuernai. I'm known as 'Konoha's Genjutsu Mistress.' I'm a fairly new jounin, but I'm excited to be your sensei. I like crafting new genjutsu. I dislike perverts. One of my goals is to show that kunoichi can be just as good as male shinobi. This year there was an unusual number of talented female graduates, so I asked Hokage-sama if I could make an all-kunoichi team and he graciously granted this team to me. I already know Hinata-chan and I'd like to get to know the rest of you. Sakura-san, please go next. Tell me your skills, likes, dislikes, and goals."
Sakura sat up straight and said, "My name is Haruno Sakura. Iruka-sensei said I have really good chakra control and I can do all the ninjutsu we were taught really well. I like. . ." She glanced toward the Academy and blushed. "I hate Ino-pig!" she shouted. "My goal is. . ." She glanced back toward the Academy and blushed harder.
Kurenai frowned deeply at her response. "You can go next, Hinata-chan."
Hinata shrank into herself a little, but said, "My name is Hyuuga Hinata. I know my clan's taijutsu style, the Gentle Fist and I have my clan's bloodline ability, the Byakugan. I like my sister and pressing flowers. I dislike bullies and when family doesn't get along. My goal is to turn my clan into a real family." She spoke quietly with a stutter. She kept pressing her fingers together in her standard nervous habit. By the end, she was almost whispering.
Kurenai looked at her with encouragement before turning to Tsunami. "You next, Tsunami-san."
Tsunami sat up straight and smiled brightly. "My name is Uzumaki Tsunami. I know one of my clan's specialized taijutsu styles, the Whirling Tide style; the Shadow Clone Technique; one of my clan's special ninjutsu, the Adamantine Attacking Chains; some sealing techniques up to about intermediate level; and I can sense chakra to about 200 meters. Hokage-sama has asked that we keep the fact that my brother and I are from the real Uzumaki clan a secret for as long as possible, so please don't pass my skills on to anyone. I like my brother, ramen, and finding out about my clan. I dislike the three minutes it takes to cook instant ramen, bigots, and bullies. My goal is to surpass all the previous Hokages!"
"You're from a clan!?" Sakura exclaimed. "Why doesn't anyone know?"
"My clan was mostly wiped out in the Second Shinobi War and my mom was kidnapped by Kumo because of some characteristics of our clan that they wanted when she was young, so the Hokage was keeping it on the down low."
Hinata shrank into herself even more at the mention of Kumo.
"What characteristics are those, Tsunami-chan?" Sakura asked.
"Long life and high chakra reserves," she replied.
"Thank you, all of you," Kurenai said. "I'm sorry to say that you aren't quite genin."
"We passed the test, Kurenai-sensei," Sakura protested.
"That was just a preliminary screening test, to see if you had the basic skills in order to be a shinobi. Tomorrow I will be testing you to make sure you have the basic qualities that Konoha looks for in its representatives. Please meet at Training Ground Eight tomorrow morning at 7 o'clock. Before you leave, I'd like to talk to each of you individually."
She made the clone hand seal and two Shadow Clones popped into existence. One of them said, "Tsunami-san, please follow me."
When they were some ways away, Kurenai asked. "Do you mind if we talk in your apartment?"
Naruto shook her head no and led her home. When they got there, she deactivated the security seals on her apartment and led her inside.
"Have a seat, Sensei," she said gesturing to a couch.
Kurenai looked at her for several moments before saying, "I have to admit, Naruto-san, that when Hokage-sama told me who Tsunami really was, I was disappointed."
Naruto scowled.
Kurenai continued, "Not because I had anything against you, personally, but because I thought Tsunami was a real girl and I thought we could have the first all-kunoichi team that Konoha has had in fifteen years."
Naruto sighed. "When I'm a girl, I'm a real girl. I'm actually experiencing the end of my period right now. I don't feel comfortable showing you, but if you want you can check out my trash for evidence."
"That won't be necessary," Kurenai said. "Hokage-sama said that the transformation was complete, but I'm not sure how that is possible without a horrendous chakra drain."
"I think being able to do a true transformation is an ability my tenant gives me. I've had some indication that my mom, who was its previous jailer, had the same ability. Based on legend, that is an ability that kitsune have."
Kurenai sighed. "Hokage-sama ordered me to accept you into my team as Tsunami. I'd much rather have you on it as Naruto, but I'll deal with it." She stared into Tsunami's eyes. "However, if I catch you using Tsunami's form to perv on me or the other girls, I'll place you in one of my worst genjutsu and kick you off the team so fast, your head will spin!"
"Hey, I'm not like that!" she protested. Besides, Mom would kill me if she found out, she thought to herself. "I'm just trying to escape a horrible life that I didn't deserve!"
Kurenai's look softened. "I'm not unsympathetic to your situation. Hokage-sama told me some of what has happened to you, but I will not accept you using it to take advantage of the others, okay?"
She nodded.
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow, then. Good luck."