Insert disclaimer here
Blah Blah Blah basic text (i.e. description, speech, etc)
Blah Blah Blah Thought or some transaction within someone's mind
Blah Blah Blah Kyuubi talking Jutsu will also be bold
BLAH BLAH BLAH yelling, or emphasis of some sort
Naruto of the Nine Tails
Rated M for language, violence, adult themes, graphic imagery, clowns, gallows humor, rabid fangirls, puns and butchery of the English language.
A/N
OK it's my fault for assuming everyone would understand the 'beta' reference. Basically beta means 'second' and when referring to a member of a pack it means the member that is second in command. Naruto trusts Hinata beyond all others so she is his second.
Also yes I know Hanabi was 5 years younger then Hinata in the actual story but this is FanFiction, anything goes. (and trust me I mean ANYTHING)
On another note, stop whining about how often I update. I update when I finish the chp to my satisfaction and frankly I don't take that long, on some stories that I read I've been waiting 3+ months and that's if the story isn't discontinued(and yes I know I took a long ass time with this chp).
Some of you wanted some 'action' but that's not coming(no pun intended) for a long time so I took pity on you and put a bonus on adult fan fiction check my profile for the link
EDIT: my acount on AFF is no longer being used but no worries I will be posting the lemon as an Omake
Chp 9: Team 7
It was early morning and everyone was waiting for Iruka-sensei to show up. Ino had taken her usual seat (right next to Sasuke) and was talking animatedly with Sakura and Hanabi while Hinata sat on the floor absent mindedly stroking Naruto's tails as she allowed her mind to wander. Then the door opened…
"SIT DOWN SHUT UP!" instantly everyone went quiet to give Iruka their undivided attention, "Ok, after today you will all be full fledged shinobi, which means..." and Iruka proceeded to recite the shinobi code as well as the responsibilities that they would now have. They weren't "children" anymore; they were trained soldiers that happened to look rather young. "Lastly, you will all be split up into three man cells commanded by a Jounin sensei. Understand?" he explained pausing to see that everyone understood, "Good, now cell one will be…"
'I get stuck with a team? This. Sucks,' thought Sasuke as Iruka began listing names.
'How troublesome,' thought Shikamaru.
'I wonder who's team Sasuke-kun is on?' this was about a third of the class.
'Where did I put those chips?' guess who.
"Team Seven will be: Hyuuga Hinata…"
Hinata, at the sound of her name, perked up.
"…Uchiha Sasuke…"
'Ok maybe this won't be so bad,' thought Sasuke hopefully, 'at least Hinata can fight.'
"…and Haruno Sakura."
'I jinxed it,' thought Sasuke as he was taken by the overpowering urge to beat his head against the desk.
Sasuke wasn't the only one that was "displeased" with the team, put more accurately Sakura was livid.
"IRUKA SENSEI I DEMAND A RECOUNT!" she screamed standing up so quickly that she knocked her chair over. "I AM NOT GONNA BE ON A TEAM WITH THAT BASTARD SHANNARO!"
"Sorry Sakura but each team was carefully put together to change one team would unbalance the others," he explained, "Now Team Eight will be Hyuuga Hanabi, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino…"
'Why me?' thought Hanabi smacking her face against her desk. What kitten kicking ax murderer had she been in a past life to warrant this.
"Ha ha," teased Ino in a sing song voice as she stuck her tongue out at her friend, "You got stuck with the horny mutt and the creepy one."
With her head still on the desk Hanabi turned to glare at Ino, "You're just PMSing cause Sasuke isn't on your team," Ino was about to give the little genius a rather large piece of her mind when.
"…and Team Ten will be: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akamichi Chouji."
'The lazy bum and the fat ass,' thought Ino her face as white as a sheet. She loved her friends dearly but being on a team with them? That was a whole different ball of wax.
"Karma's a bitch ain't it," said Hanabi a sadistic grin stretching across her face.
As the members of Team 7 waited for their Jounin sensei to arrive Hinata was once more contently sitting with her back against one of the desks as she ran her hands through Naruto's reddish fur, Sakura had pulled out a copy of "The Shinobi Clan Wars" and seemed to be doing everything she could to ignore Sasuke's existence (which suited him just fine), and Sasuke was…well not doing much of anything.
Lunch had been fairly uneventful. After Iruka had released them saying that their senseis would be coming to collect them after the break everyone had wondered off to eat by themselves (Sasuke), in a group (fangirls ogling Sasuke), or with friends then come back to the room to await the arrival of the Jounins.
That was three hours ago.
'Soooo bored,' unlike his teammates Sasuke had nothing to do and listening to music only does so much. 'Where the hell is our sensei?' For awhile longer Sasuke simply thought in a loop of 'where is sensei,' 'bored,' and 'need something to do' until finally it came to him.
"Ne Sakura can I borrow something to read?" he asked.
"What'cha want?" she asked as she opened her bag in hopes that if she gave him what he wanted quickly he might leave her alone, "I got text books, encyclopedias, an unabridged dictionary of the English language, a few romance novels, my manga collection, the Ninja Almanac, Shuriken for Dummies, The History of Konoha Gold edition…" she listed digging through the average looking school bag.
"…" silence.
"Oi what do you-" Sakura said turning around to face her teammate to find him gawking at her. "Whaaat?" she asked.
"You're carrying ALL of those?"
"Yeaaah," she drawled unsure of what he was getting at, "OF COURSE I'M "Carrying all of those" BAKA WHY ELSE WOULD I LIST THEM!" ranted Inner Sakura.
Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could anyone, let alone a prepubescent, scrawny, bookworm like Sakura, carry that much weight and then there was the question of 'where she kept them,' cause there was no way she fit a library in that little thing…right?
"How is that possible?"
"How is what possible?" countered Sakura. Honestly the boy was making no sense, 'First he asks for something to read...'
"Very uncharacteristic."
'...then he asks if I'm actually carrying the books I give him to choose from...'
"Rather suspicious."
'...now he asks is "that" possible.'
"Hmmmmm…"
'You thinking what I'm thinking?'
"KILL THE IMPOSTER SHANNARO!"
Sensing the danger Sasuke ducked just in time to get out of the path of a flying Encyclopedia Britannica which then sailed across the room to bury itself in the face of the unsuspecting Jounin who had just walked through the door.
Silence…
"My first impression…I hate you," spoke the silver haired Jounin in a "too sweet to be good" voice that clearly telegraphed his irritation. "Follow me."
Five minutes later on the roof of the Academy
Their sensei was now leaning casually against the railing facing his students who were sitting on the stone steps about three feet away, "Let's see, why don't you introduce yourselves."
"Ok, what do you want us to say?" asked Sakura.
"Your name, age, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, something like that."
"Ano, sensei could you go first just so we have something to go on?" requested Hinata.
"I guess I could," he mused, "Ok, my name is Hatake Kakashi, my age doesn't matter, I have no intention of telling you my likes or dislikes, as for goals and dreams…" he paused as if in thought, "I have lots of hobbies."
"So basically we learned his name," said Sakura earning nods from the other two.
"Alright Pinky you go next," spoke the cycloptic Jounin pointing to Sakura to further verify what he meant.
Ignoring the slight on her hair color, "My name is Haruno Sakura. I'm twelve and a half years old next week. I like: reading, learning, training and hanging out with my friends, and teasing Hinata's little sister. I dislike…" glares at the boy to her left, "my dream is to become one of the greatest kunoichi in the village."
'Ok, so a badass bookworm with a grudge.' "Next," he said.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I'm twelve not that it matters. I don't like much, though I dislike quite a few things. My dreams, well they aren't really dreams or rather ambitions, are the death of a man I've sworn to kill and the revival of my clan."
'Saw that coming.' "And you," he said turning to Hinata.
"My name is Hyuuga Hinata, I just turned twelve a few months ago. I like: training, being with my friends, and helping others. I dislike bullies and people who judge others before getting to know them," this last statement peaked Kakashi's interest (though he didn't show it), "and my dream is to help Naruto recover."
Raising his eyebrow ever so slightly at the statement Kakashi thought, 'Well this should be interesting,' before saying, "Alright now that that's out of the way meet me at training field 7 tomorrow morning at 6 for your final exam and don't bother with breakfast you'll just chuck," he said turning to leave but noticed Sakura had her hand up, "Yes?"
"I thought we already had the final exam at the academy, what's this one for?"
"YEAH WHAT THE HELL!"
"The test you took at the academy was to determine if you could be a ninja, my test is to see whether or not you're ready to be a ninja," emphasizing the difference.
9:00 a.m. Training field 7
Konoha was famous for many things, among them it's status as the greatest of all the hidden villages, the number of exceptional ninja it turned out, and it's training areas. Very few knew how many there actually were, many were secret grounds reserved for only the most elite, but that aside, training field 7 was your standard wood with assorted training equipment, nothing special
It is within this area some 3 hours after the appointed meeting time that Kakashi actually showed up.
"Yo," said Kakashi as he poofed into existence.
"YOU'RE LATE!" bellowed Sakura.
"Sorry you see a black cat crossed my path and I had to-"
"LIAR!"
Pulling out a alarm clock and setting it on a nearby post Kakashi sighed, 'They just don't make em as gullible as they used to, but I guess in this profession that's a good thing,' he thought before explaining the exercise, "Get a bell before noon and you pass, don't and you go back to the academy it's that simple," he said dangling two bells in front of them.
"But sensei there's only two bells," said Sakura obviously confused. If they were supposed to get a bell to pass shouldn't there be a bell for each of them to get.
"My test my rules pinky," said the Jounin as he tied the bells to his belt, "remember you'll need to come at me with the intent to kill otherwise you don't have a snowflake's chance in hell of getting a bell," then noticing Hinata had her hand up, "Yes?"
"Are you sure we should be trying to kill you?" she asked tentatively then to clarify, "I know you're a Jounin but couldn't you still get hurt."
"I highly doubt you'll be able to do me any serious harm," he spoke, "Now if there are no further questions..." pausing to be sure that there were in fact now questions, "...you may begin."
Years later Kakashi would, while retelling the story to his wife and three kids, look back and realize that that may not have been the best course of action given the situation.
"Naruto sic'm."
Two oh so simple words spoken in complete calm that made Kakashi realize something, there actually was something worse then Anko finding his book.
'Shit! SHIT! SHIT!' thought the previously overconfident Jounin as he proceeded to bounce around like a toddler that got hold of an energy drink in his attempts to evade the young jinchuuriki, "HINATA CALL HIM OFF!"
After several minutes, Kakashi explaining that the point of the exercise was to test their capabilities not Naruto's (he knew damn well that he didn't want to know the full extent of Naruto's capabilities(at least not while they were directed at him) and Hinata sending Naruto home, they were off to a fresh start.
"Ok whenever you're ready you may begin," with that all three gennin hopefuls disappeared from sight. 'Ok they're all well hidden let's see if they figure out the real point of the exercise.'
Dashing through the forest toward her destination Hinata couldn't help be confused, 'Something's off about this,' she mused. 'We're fresh from the academy sure we were the top three in the class but he's a Jounin, how are we supposed to touch him let alone overpower him? He said we had till noon to get a bell that's simple enough but if that was all there was to it shouldn't there be three bells and what was the point of us not having breakfast?' Still baffled by the odd exercise Hinata moved further into the woods.
Meanwhile
Sakura was creeping through the bushes in an attempt to circle around the seemingly oblivious Jounin, 'Sheesh some Jounin, he's reading during a battle. Oh well that mistake let me get all the way behind him,' oddly enough Inner Sakura was silent almost thoughtful as Sakura crept from her hiding place toward the unsuspecting Jounin. 'Just a little closer…' she thought as she reached for one of the bells.
YOINK! THUD…tumble tumble tumble thwump.
'Ok so maybe he's not as stupid as I thought,' mused Sakura as she glared at her upside down sensei,
"No you're the one that's upside down," Inner Sakura pointed out.
'Oh shut up,'growled Sakura.
"HEY I'M NOT THE ONE THAT GOT US TOSSED INTO A TREE, SHANNARO!"
'Yes, but you didn't do anything to prevent it either,' she answered.
"…"
'That's what I thought.'
"No look at the book…" said Inner Sakura a look of complete horror on her face.
'Huh?' then taking a closer look at the little orange book, 'OH HELL NO!'
"What's wrong Pinky?" asked Kakashi not even looking up as he turned the page, "break a nail?"
"THE"
'PERVERT'
"MUST"
'DIE!'
And with that cerebral combat call the crusade to castrate Kakashi commenced.
(Try saying that five times fast)
Rushing forward Sakura drew back her fist before attempting to drive it into Kakashi's face only to have it blocked, though it still sent the surprised Jounin back a good couple of meters.
'Note to self do NOT get hit by Pinky,' thought Kakashi as he ducked out of the way of a follow up ax kick aimed at his head, 'it could prove hazardous to my health,' he finished as said ax kick created a small crater at the point of impact.
"STAND STILL SHANNARO!"
"Lesson 1," drawled Kakashi as dodged Sakura's attempts to maim him all the while not taking his eyes off his book, "the strength of an attack is moot if you can't hit your target."
Growling in frustration a now thoroughly pissed off Sakura once again went to punch the silver haired Jounin only to connect with thin air, 'Where'd he go!' then feeling someone behind her she glanced over her shoulder.
"Funny fact…" said Kakashi, a little too nicely.
"Yep we're screwed," spoke inner Sakura nodding sagely.
"A definition of insanity is repeating the same action expecting a different result," he finished as he took a step closer never looking up from his book.
"ARE YOU CALLING ME CRAZY?"
'Said the voice in my head.'
2.14 seconds later
"DAMNIT LET ME GO YOU PERVERT!"
Calmly crouched in front of the now hogtied Sakura as though he hadn't heard a word Kakashi spoke, "Lesson 2: Never let an enemy gain your back."
"HIPOCRITE!"
'He's still right though.'
"Well yeah bu-WOAH-OVERKILL MUCH!" cried a startled Inner Sakura as a hail of kunai and shuriken struck the unsuspecting Kakashi.
POOF-Kaka no pincushion turn to log
'Kawarimi, why am I not surprised?' she thought sarcastically. 'Oh well on the up side at least I have a way out of these damn ropes,' as she scooted over to the log now riddled with all manner of things sharp pointy.
Meanwhile
'Ok, Sakura's fine,' thought Hinata from her position on a hill a short distance away as she watched her friend start cutting away at her bonds, 'Now where'd he go?' She had lost track of their sensei when he had used the replacement to escape Sasuke's attack, 'He's probably gone after Sasuke, but, just in case,' forming a few hand seals, 'Byakuugan…'
"Oh no…"
With Sasuke
'Damn it he baited me,' thought Sasuke as he barreled through the trees trying to put distance between himself and his sensei, 'Now I have to-'
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
'Was that Hinata?' he thought skidding to a halt as a blood curdling scream echoed in the forest.
Jingle, jingle, jingle.
'Hm he's concerned…good,' thought Kakashi as he stepped from behind a tree, "Magen: Nise no Kinen-Butsu(1)," he spoke with the air of one commenting on the weather, "quite useful on those who fear the loss of another."
So he'd caught her with an illusion. It made sense, she had always been more of an up close type, but still what could have scared Hinata like that?
'Doesn't matter,' slowly turning to face Kakashi, "I didn't expect Hinata to go down that easily but…" then falling into a Taijutsu stance, "I'm not like her, or Sakura for that matter."
"Say that after you have a bell," once again turning a page in his book.
A moment later and Sasuke had launched a volley of shuriken and kunai only for Kakashi leap to the side (stowing his book, just in case).
"Simple attacks like that aren't going to get you anywhere," he jabbed then seeing a flash of metal, 'Ok, either his aim really sucks or…'
SNAP
'…it's a trap,' he finished once again dodging out of the way as another set of knives flew out of a nearby bush. 'But when did he-WHAT!'
Suddenly Sasuke was behind him aiming a kick at his head to which Kakashi brought up his forearm, stopping the leg and grabbing it with his other hand all in the same motion. Then Sasuke threw a right hook using his captive leg for further leverage but once again Kakashi stopped him easily catching the fist. Deciding to push his advantage in free appendages Sasuke brought his free leg over and down on Kakashi's head who simply shifted his arm into its path, incidentally leaving his mid section wide open a fact which he realized as Sasuke made a grab at… air.
(it's that whole realization leading to action thing)
'He wasn't kidding I couldn't even read Icha Icha he's better then the others, if only just, but he still has a long way to go.'
Not saying a word Sasuke squared off with his teacher before flashing through a set of hand seals and taking a deep breath.
'What the hell, his chakra system shouldn't be developed enough for that!' thought a stunned Kakashi just before Sasuke exhaled engulfing his teacher in a massive fire ball.
A moment later the smoke cleared, no Kakashi…
'Shit where'd he go?' thought Sasuke as he began glancing in every direction for the smut reading Jounin, 'Not in front, right, left, behind, above, whe-' oof
"BELOW YOU FOOL!" cried... Hinata?
As he was pondering why his teammate had just sent him flying he noticed something, a hand sticking out of the ground? Then it hit him 'Doton!' but that wasn't what really surprised him, what did was no sooner had Hinata landed then she proceeded to rip Kakashi from the ground like some oversized weed and hurl him into a tree.
Now by this point you can probably guess that Sasuke was justly confused... and more than a little scared. Since when had Hinata insulted anyone (other then fox haters)? Since when did she kick like a possessed mule on Redbull? Since when could she toss around a grown man like a half empty sack of potatoes? And since when did crying look so scary? Seriously the girl looked murderous.
Glancing over at the slightly dazed Kakashi it clicked…
Flashback
'Was that Hinata?' he thought skidding to a halt.
Gingle, gingle, gingle.
"Magen: Nise no Kinen-Butsu(1)," he spoke with the air of one commenting on the weather, "quite useful on those who fear the loss of another."
End Flashback
Luckily (at least for Kakashi's health insurance provider) whatever plans Hinata may have had to maim him were cut short as a shrill ringing reached their ears.
"My how time flies," chirped Kakashi as he poofed away leaving a still fuming Hinata alone with rather unsettled Sasuke.
'What the hell did he show her?'
Several minutes later
'Hogtied by someone reading smut or bound to a post like a rotisserie chicken I can't decide which is worse.'
"Why are we tied up again?"
'Last one to get here after the bell rang.'
"Again with the hypocrisy."
They had gathered in a small clearing in the middle of grounds with 3 training post (to one of which Sakura was tied to) and a carved stone.
"Well here's the good news," spoke Kakashi, "None of you need to worry about going back to the academy."
"Really?" asked a thoroughly confused Sakura.
"Yep, instead of going back to the Academy, which would be a complete waste of time, you three should just quit being ninja all together."
"And why should we do that?" growled Hinata obviously still irked.
"You're just a bunch of brats that don't understand what it means to be a ninja, hell you couldn't even see the point of the exercise."
"And what, oh knower of all things ninja related, was to point of having gennin try to steal bells from a Jounin?" asked Hinata with sarcasm practically dripping off her lips.
"Teamwork," spoke Kakashi, "You were supposed to figure out that you needed to work together. A single gennin hasn't got a snowflakes chance in hell, but a team of ge-" 'Why is she smirking? That can't be good.'
"So if we figured that out before time ran out we pass?"
"Yeaaaaah," said Kakashi cautiously, what was the point of asking that?
"So," said Hinata turning to the other two, "we're agreed that we would need to work as a team to get a bell?"
"Uhhh, yes?"
"Hn," translation: yes.
"Ok then according to what you just told us we pass."
…
"Say what?" asked a now completely confused Kakkashi.
"You said that if we figured that out before-"
"Noon, right but the timer already…went…off," smacking himself in the forehead, "You screwed with my clock didn't you?" he accused, glaring at Hinata.
The only response he got was a very smug grin from his blue haired student.
And so began Team 7.
Edited: 10/26/10
End Notes
Ok that took an obscenely longer then I had planned, but before you kill me I do have perfectly valid reasons.
work- 40 hours a week during the holidays and you wouldn't want to do much when you got home either
1 the Holidays themselves
2 my cousin coming to visit(hadn't seen him in years)
3 family vacation
4 getting sick(several times)
5 my personal life(yes I have one)
And then after all that I finally realized something, it's a hellava lot easier to do a "rewrite" when you actually have the original to look at.
For those of you afraid that Naruto won't be 'human' again just wait and see and as to what Kakashi showed Hinata I'm not telling you what it was just know that it will play a role later on.
Just so you know I'm going to be finishing the next chp of WtH before I get to the next NOTNT but that shouldn't be long.
Muse Rant
Muse is on an extended leave of absence due to personal issues.
Cliff notes
(1) Magen: nise no kinen-butsu Demonic illusion: false memorial – the victim is forced to watch someone die, usually in a gruesome or disturbing manner.