That evening just after dinner there was a knock on the door. Tsunami went and answered it. Iruka stood at the door looking embarrassed.
"Hi, Iruka-sensei," she said cheerfully. She did not really dislike the man, but she was irritated with him and figured that being cheerful would make him squirm.
"Hi, Tsunami-kun," he said. "Is your brother here? Can I speak to him privately?"
"Sure," she said. "I'll go get him from his room.
She went back into "Naruto's room" and created a Shadow Clone. She transformed into her birth form and sent his clone into "Tsunami's room" while he returned to the front room.
"Hello, Iruka-san," he said. "What can I do for you?"
"I came to apologize, Naruto-san," he started.
"Okay," Naruto agreed. "I accept."
"That's it?" Iruka protested.
"Yep," Naruto answered. "I know you didn't try to keep me down maliciously, Iruka-sensei." He noticed Iruka's eyes light up when he called him sensei. "I'm sorry for blowing up at you. As long as we both learn from the situation, it's all good."
"Will you be requesting a retest then?" Iruka asked. "Or are you going to be joining us at the Academy next school year?"
"Hokage-sama already retested me," Naruto said.
"Whose team are you joining?" the teacher asked.
"None," Naruto said. "I'm going straight to the reserves."
"What!?" Iruka exclaimed. "Why?"
"I'm tired of dealing with the prejudice, Iruka-sensei. My time in the Academy was a test to see if I could fit in and Konoha failed. The only reason I accepted a commission is because I enjoy fuuinjutsu and have found a buyer for the seals that Tsunami-chan and I make. You aren't allowed to do fuuinjutsu if you aren't a shinobi."
"But. . ." Iruka was starting to get upset.
"Don't worry about it, Iruka-sensei. I don't like to hold grudges. Maybe I'll try again in a few years—perhaps after I get a reputation as an awesome seal maker."
"You know fuuinjutsu!?" Iruka asked.
Naruto nodded. "Yep. I'm pretty decent, too. I'm getting pretty good at the ones in my Intermediate-level books."
"How did you manage that?" Iruka asked.
"We found some books. I understand that my clan was pretty good at it, so I studied extra hard. Tsunami and I seem to have some talent with them. The Hokage gave us some help with them." Granted that the help was mostly after the fact, but Iruka could not be told about his mom's help.
Iruka sighed. "I see. Would you mind if I came around to take you out to ramen again sometimes?"
"I'd like that," Naruto said with a smile.
"I also owe you the reason why you haven't been able to make Clones," Iruka added.
Naruto laughed. "Don't worry about it, Iruka-sensei. I already know the reason."
"You do!? What is it?"
"I have too much chakra and my chakra is too dense," Naruto explained. "I have a hard time doing genjutsus, especially if they require very little chakra. Despite its classification, the Clone Technique is more genjutsu than ninjutsu."
"Too much chakra?" Iruka said incredulously.
"Sometimes I really overpowered it, just to see if you would notice," Naruto admitted.
"But an Academy student shouldn't have a problem overpowering that technique," Iruka protested.
Naruto snorted. "I have two strikes against me. I'm an Uzumaki and we have more chakra than anyone, which is why my sister also can't do it, and my prisoner stretched out my chakra coils. Your test is biased against my clan and me in particular."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Iruka demanded.
"I told you it was a test," Naruto said. "I may be a bit of a clown, but I'm not stupid enough to bull my way into an organization where I'm not wanted."
"The Academy isn't representative of Konoha's shinobi," Iruka protested.
"It's staffed by Konoha's shinobi, isn't it?" Naruto countered. "But, like I said, I'll probably give Konoha's shinobi another chance at some point."
Iruka sighed and stood up. "Take care of yourself, Naruto-kun. I'll keep in touch."
"You too. Thanks for stopping by and for the apology, Iruka-sensei," Naruto responded.
"Give my best wishes to your sister as well."
A couple of hours later there was another knock on the door. When he answered it, a silver-haired man in a standard Konoha Shinobi outfit was there. The man wore his Leaf Badge on his forehead and had it slanted so it covered one eye. He wore a mask that covered the lower half of his face. Naruto recognized his chakra as belonging to the Dog ANBU that had sometimes guarded him or the Hokage when he was younger.
"Hello, Naruto-kun," he said. "Can I come in and talk to you?"
"Sure," Naruto said, and pointed him toward the front room's only sofa.
"My name is Hatake Kakashi. I was supposed to be your jounin sensei."
Naruto recognized the name from his mom's stories. He raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that I was expected to graduate."
"Hokage-sama told us you were much better than the Academy reported and left a spot open for you. There was some reshuffling that had to be done when you didn't initially pass."
"I see," Naruto said. He waited for Kakashi to continue.
"Hokage-sama told me you passed a retest, but decided to directly enter the reserves instead. I'd like to know why."
"Why do you want to know?" Naruto asked. "Only a couple of people have ever thought I'd amount to anything." He thought it was probably because the man had been his dad's student, but wanted to see how much he would say.
"Let me ask something in return," Kakashi countered. "Why did you let me in?"
"I recognized you from when I was younger."
"You did?" Kakashi looked surprised.
"Chakra sensor," Naruto said.
"Ah," Kakashi said. He hesitated for a few moments. "I wanted you on my team because I owe your parents a debt and this is the first time I've really been permitted to try and repay it."
"You knew my parents?" Naruto asked excitedly, playing his part.
"I did," Kakashi said with a smile. "However, I'm not allowed to say anything. You'll have to ask Hokage-sama about them."
Naruto pouted. "He always says I'm too young."
Kakashi ruffled his hair. "You'll grow up soon enough. So, why did you want to go straight to the reserves?"
"I'm tired of being hated for something that's not my fault," he said. "Jiichan says that Konoha's shinobi are different than the civilians, but I'm not convinced based on my teachers. Only Iruka-sensei treated me decently, and the Headmaster and the other three teachers kept trying to hold me down. Not a very reassuring percentage. Did you come to try and convince me to join your team?"
Kakashi sighed. "I would like to, but I can't really ditch the team I have at this point."
Naruto smiled. Kiba was a friend of sorts, and even if Shino was not friendly, per se, he was polite. He did not really like Sasuke, but he did not want to cause problems for the troubled boy.
"Why didn't you ask for my sister?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Hokage-sama wouldn't let you both be on the same team and when the reshuffle happened, Kurenai-chan wouldn't give her up and I wasn't allowed to say anything that might convince her otherwise."
Naruto nodded. "Thanks for stopping by, Kakashi-san. It's getting late and Tsunami-chan will wake me up when she gets up tomorrow morning."
Kakashi said, "Take care, Naruto-kun."
The next morning, Naruto as Tsunami got to Training Ground 8 at 6:30. Hinata was already there and Sakura showed up within seconds of her.
"Hello, Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan," she greeted her teammates.
They returned greetings. Hinata looked nervous, but that was normal for her. Sakura looked pensive.
"Something wrong, Sakura-chan?" she asked.
"Just thinking," the pink-haired girl said.
"I've never seen you this worried about something," Tsunami said.
Sakura grimaced. "Kurenai-sensei questioned my dedication to being a shinobi yesterday after our meeting."
"This is about your crush on Sasuke, isn't it?" the redhead asked.
"It's not just a crush!" Sakura snapped.
Tsunami held up her hands. "I'm not going to fight you about whether your feelings are real or not. I'm just saying that trying to attract a boy is not a good reason to be a kunoichi. The world is cruel and enemy shinobi are not going to give you a pass because you're only in it for a boy."
"I'm not a kunoichi just for Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted. "I'm a kunoichi because I want to be able to fight for myself and my family!"
"Good for you," Naruto said. "Make sure you take it seriously. Both of my parents were killed in action despite being very powerful shinobi. If you don't take training seriously, you'll probably die and take Hinata-chan and me down with you."
Sakura grimaced. "Yeah, Kurenai-sensei said something similar."
Tsunami turned to Hinata. "You're from a big shinobi family, Hinata-chan. Do you have any ideas about what the test is about?" Her mother had refused to give her any hints when she had asked in her mindscape.
Hinata poked her fingers together. "My family doesn't talk to me much," she stuttered. "I don't believe they think I'll pass."
"Nonsense," Tsunami exclaimed. "We'll work together and help each other pass! Right, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura nodded.
"Remember what Iruka-sensei said yesterday?" Naruto prompted. "He said that teammates were critical to our success as shinobi. We should start working together today!"
Hinata gave her a timid smile.
They worked out some rough tactics if the test involved combat. Hinata would take point with Tsunami backing her up at midrange and Sakura supporting the two of them from longer range. Hinata tried to say that Tsunami was better at close range, but Tsunami disagreed.
"I know the only reason I beat you in spars in the Academy was because you were holding back, Hinata-chan," she said. "You're too nice! Don't worry, I'll beat the niceness out of you! At least for fighting. You can be as nice as you want off-duty." Naruto grinned at her to let her know that she was teasing her.
"You'll beat the niceness out of her?" Sakura said incredulously.
"Well, not really," Tsunami answered. "I have a gift that makes anyone want to clobber me. Just ask my brother. Come to think of it—he has it too!" It was true—her clones could infuriate her.
Hinata giggled behind her raised hand.
Sakura snorted. "I can believe that. Your brother is annoying."
Naruto frowned. "How would you know? You haven't really talked to him since he rescued you from bullies."
Sakura chuckled nervously. "He told you about that? It's not that I wasn't grateful—it's just that he's so loud and orange!"
Tsunami rolled her eyes. Sakura was one to talk about loudness. And orange was a great color. She was sad that her mother had vetoed orange going with her red hair. She did admit that the jumpsuits were not flattering at all. She had started wearing them to get attention and had never stopped even after deciding that it wasn't worth it.
"He saved me from bullies too," Hinata said quietly. She turned bright red when the other two looked at her.
Tsunami still was not sure what Hinata thought about her other self. She always clammed up and turned red whenever she asked.
They talked for another few minutes when Kurenai appeared in a swirl of leaves. "I'm glad to see they you're all on time," she said with a smile.
She pulled out a pink, a red, and a black ball as well as a timer. "There are three baskets with lids on them in the training ground. They're color-coded to the balls."
She tossed a ball to each girl. The balls matched their hair colors.
"The object of the test is to place your ball in the right color basket within half an hour. The only rule is that you have to place your own ball yourself. You can't use a clone to do it for you, Tsunami. Since this is the only rule, I'm not going to answer any questions. I will be trying to stop you, so do your best. Anyone who fails this test will be sent back to the Academy or dropped from the program regardless of how your potential teammates do. Understand?"
All three girls said, "Yes."
Kurenai placed the timer and started it. She disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Shadow Clone," Tsunami said.
"How do you know it wasn't a genjutsu?" Sakura asked.
"I can't be certain, but I'm actually pretty good at sensing them thanks to my chakra sensing technique," Naruto said. "I just can't dispel them subtly.
"We're working together, right? We'll go to whichever basket is closest first, okay?"
Hinata quickly nodded. Sakura followed suit after a second's hesitation.
"Hinata-chan, can you see the baskets with your bloodline?" Naruto asked.
Hinata pointed them out after activating her Byakugan. They were all about equal distance. Sakura's was on the left, Hinata's in the middle, and hers on the right.
"We'll start with Sakura-chan's and work our way clockwise," Naruto said.
"Okay," the other two answered.
They started toward the basket which was about 100 meters away, just within the edge off the woods that made up some of the training ground. Naruto extended her senses using the Mind's Eye Technique. She could feel chakra in the air around them. She pulsed her chakra strongly, sending it out. The feel of the chakra dissipated, but some remained. The chakra increased.
"She's layering genjutsu faster than I can dispel them," Naruto muttered to the others.
"I can see through them with my bloodline," Hinata said, "but I don't know if I can keep it up the whole time."
"Do it as much as you can," Tsunami directed.
The next 10 minutes were extremely frustrating. Hinata did her best to lead them through the genjutsus, but the terrain was littered with traps. Naruto and Sakura both got caught multiple times, and had to be freed. Tsunami was kicking herself at not scouting the training ground out ahead of time. Then she kicked herself again.
"She only said I couldn't use clones to place the balls," Tsunami groaned. She quickly made 20 Shadow Clones and set them out to disarm traps. The clones did not last long due to kunai and shuriken strikes, but Naruto kept replacing them. It took them another seven minutes to get to Sakura's basket.
With a pleased sigh, Sakura placed her ball.
"Let's get Hinata-chan's done," Tsunami said.
"There's only about 10 minutes left, Tsunami-chan," Hinata said. "Maybe we should split up?"
Tsunami shook her head. "There's no way we could do it alone, Hinata-chan. One of us could never make it without help. We'll do it together, okay?"
They fought through the traps and genjutsu. Sadly, Hinata's chakra got too low to keep using the Byakugan.
With less than a minute to go, they finally reached where Hinata's basket was supposed to be. To their delight, Tsunami's basket was right beside Hinata's. They both placed their balls just before they heard the timer go off.
They heard clapping as all the genjutsu dissipated.
"Very good girls," Kurenai said. "There's just one more part of the test."
Naruto rolled her eyes. Sakura groaned. Hinata pushed her fingers together nervously.
"The last part of the test is for you to tell me what the point of the test was," she said.
"It wasn't the balls?" Sakura asked.
"Not the balls," Naruto said. "It appears to be something trickier or she wouldn't have asked."
"It was to see how we would do the challenge," Hinata stuttered nervously. "Whether we would work together."
Hinata and Sakura looked at the Hyuuga princess.
"That's why the last two baskets were together," Hinata said. "If we had split up, one of us would have failed."
Naruto snapped her fingers. "She never said what would fail us."
"I bet if one of us failed then the others would too, right?" Sakura said. "There are no teams with less than 3 genin."
Kurenai smiled. "That's correct, all of you. Additionally, you would have failed if you had tried to pass individually regardless of whether you fulfilled the apparent goals. If you had worked together, I may have passed you even without getting the balls in the baskets."
"Did we pass, Kurenai-sensei?" Tsunami asked.
"Yes, you did," she replied. "Welcome to Team Eight."
Tsunami whooped in celebration.
Sakura yelled, "Yes!"
Hinata smiled shyly.
"I'm giving you the rest of the day off," Kurenai said. "We'll meet here again tomorrow at the same time for training and missions." She smiled again. "Congratulations."
As the four of them made to depart, Hinata nervously asked Tsunami, "Tsunami-chan can I talk to you, please?"
"Sure, Hinata-chan," she answered.