Hiashi stood outside of the academy building. With him stood the Hyuga elders, all of them expecting Hyuga Hinata to come out of that building, donning a Konoha hitaiate. So, they waited outside of the academy, filling the "reception" area with other villages and shinobi alike. It saddened Hiashi to ruin his children's childhood, but it was better to get strong early, then die before you know what life is. He hoped that Hinata understood his choice for her survival.
Plenty of civilian families stood outside the area. Each of them without noble status, or something that distinguishes themselves from the rest, but they still chattered incessantly. Each of them bragging about how their child was "so smart" despite graduating at the age of twelve. They boasted about their child's successes almost as if they were their own, because a part of them wished that it was them that was becoming the shinobi, not their children.
Most of the civilian adults in the crowd failed to become Genin during the third shinobi war. They failed because of how hard the test was back then. The graduation was built for quick succession in skill so that a Jounin teacher could grab a team of Genin and go out of Konohagakure without fearing for the lives of their students be lost to a stupid mistake. Still, despite the requirement, many graduates ended up dying, one of the darker stains on Konoha's reputation. Still, it wasn't as dark as Kumogakure or Iwagakure, who had no such "hard" graduation test, and instead, allowed anyone willing to fight, to fight. This of course led to countless losses for those two nations.
But, now wasn't a time to worry about the past. The children of those here were inside the very building they surrounded. Taking a test that would prove whether or not they had the chance to become a true shinobi. Many parents hoped that their child would end up being the "top dog" of the class with the highest scores, and display the skill necessary to be a "stand out" shinobi. But, only two parties knew that they had a chance for those positions.
On the very other side of the Hyuga, the Uchiha waited. Fugaku stood stock still, his face impassive and patient. He didn't "expect" Naruto and Sasuke to pass, he "knew" that they would. It was just a matter of who would graduate under them. Though, despite his firm belief that each of them would succeed, Fugaku couldn't help but wonder about his youngest son, Uchiha Sasuke. He wasn't the same "type" of child as Naruto or Itachi, he didn't get everything on his first try, or his second, or his third. But, he continued trying to. He still had his issues as a shinobi, and as such Fugaku worried that he wouldn't be at the top of his class, but he knew that they had taught him the requirement to pass from the class.
As students started piling out in alphabetical order, some donning hitaite with smiles on their faces, and some downcast, glaring at the ground as their parents consoled them for their failure. Many promises of congratulations, many tears for the failures. But, eventually, a timid form slowly tip-toed out of the building. They stuck to the corner, trying to hide from the masses.
Hiashi saw Hinata do this. For a minute, he feared that she didn't pass and that he would have to become one of the many to console a child who failed. But, then his eyes got bombarded with a reflection of light coming from around Hinata's neck. It signified her triumph over the test, while also quelling Hiashi's fear.
Hiashi appeared over Hinata, looming over her like a giant. She attempted to shrink even smaller, but then Hiashi dropped to one knee. He brought his arms around Hinata, before pulling her into a hug. He wanted to lift her up and spin her around in circles singing a joyous song, but that wouldn't do with his reputation in the public. Instead, he hugged his daughter, and whispered happy words into her ears, happy that she was able to pass the test that broke many other students. But, he still was curious about a single thing… "Why were you trying to hide when you came out of the building?" he asked, his voice in whisper.
Her eyes widened, obviously not expecting to be caught on her little gesture. "'W-w..well… I th…ought that it w-would be rude to….. display sup-super-superiority over others." Hinata stuttered, struggling to remember how to pronounce superiority.
Hiashi tugged Hinata even closer to himself. He was baffled at her innocence, but thought better on reprimanding her for it. Instead, tonight was going to be a day of celebration, and he wasn't going to be the one who ruined the mood.
More students came and went, and Fugaku and the rest of the Uchiha's were eventually left with a much smaller crowd than before. With only a handful of families left, the Uchiha waited lazily for the sons of their clan head to finally reveal themselves. Eventually, Uchiha Sasuke stepped out of the building. He ran out of the building, diving straight into his fathers arms.
Fugaku hugged his child, the tears from Sasuke's head soaking his previously dry shirt. He didn't mind, it wasn't often that he and Sasuke shared a moment like this. Though, it confused him as to why Sasuke was acting like this, there was no way that he failed, had there? But, eventually he got sick of the incoherent wails without answers. He allowed distance to form from him and his son and he looked Sasuke into the eye. "What happened?" he demanded.
"I…. I…" that was all he could get out before breaking out into sobs.
"Did you fail?" Fugaku asked, though, his question was met with a shaking of Sasuke's head. "Then what's wrong?"
"I almost failed… I was so close… he almost failed me." Sasuke cried more.
"You passed Sasuke. Well done." Fugaku calmly stated, hoping his calmness would quell the feelings inside the boy.
As he guessed, it worked. Sasuke looked up at Fugaku and stopped crying. Being reassured by the rare praise that his father gave out. He felt light, he felt so happy that he finally got that insignificant amount of praise, that he forgot about almost failing the exam.
Slowly, Naruto walked out of the academy. His hands were in his pockets and he lazily walked into the Uchiha "camp". His face was emotionless and impassive. His eyes portrayed complete, utter, boredom. His physique reeked of ignorance, yet he remained constantly in the aware. "I passed as expected, Fugaku-sama." Naruto announced, bowing to Fugaku.
Fugaku nodded towards Naruto. Looking at Naruto, he was reminded of Itachi, so calm and monotone, nothing fazing this "soldier." Fugaku sometimes feared for Naruto. His mental health was in such a precarious state the Fugaku didn't know if he should be pleased, or very concerned. Emotions were sparse and usually non-existent. He never reacted like Sasuke would, not anymore. He no longer copied the mannerisms of Sasuke, but even so, Naruto looked like he was nothing more than a shell walking to and fro. Though, with how much he seemed like Itachi, getting Naruto into a therapist would probably be for the better. If his "role model" Itachi was in such an odd place mentally, then Naruto himself would probably fit somewhere along the lines as well.
But, now wasn't the time to worry about the sanity of your children, now was the time to celebrate, take your children to somewhere nice, and just enjoy yourselves in public. Or, in Naruto's case, watch everyone else enjoy themselves in public, while you eat a perfectly free meal around those that you have lived with for two years.
-_-Later-_-
"Welcome back class, I hope you enjoyed your two days off." Iruka greeted.
His words were meant with some nods and some groans. Sasuke was twiddling his thumbs, waiting for this just to be over with. Naruto wasn't here, and he was worried that he wouldn't make it. "Now, time for the attendance. …" He started listing off names, and then the student would reply with a "here".
"Uchiha Sasuke."
"Here," Sasuke would yell back.
"Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka called out.
Almost as if he was on cue, Naruto strolled into the academy. His small frame and baby face twisting the lazy and impassive look on his face into some sort of frown that looked like any second it could break into a pouty face. The elder class looked at him and laughed openly, this kid… he didn't belong here.
He must be lost trying to find the first year classroom. "Oi, hotshot, first years is down the hall."
Naruto turned to the man who spoke, his face, though still baby looking, was serious. But, the threat came from Naruto's eyes… for a single moment, they had turned blood red with a slit going vertically down the middle… the child almost jumped out of his chair in fright, but when he looked back again, Naruto's eyes were back into their natural Cerulean.
Naruto found a seat next to Sasuke, and they were easily two of the smallest students in class… except for one Hyuga princess hiding in the very corner of the classroom. Nobody had noticed her enter, as she was the first one to enter the school. And thus, she was able to find a hiding spot in the corner of the room without any perturbing her with any form of nonsense. Her father would have wanted her to have been in the front of the class, showing off her skill and Hyuga nobility to everyone in the class, but she wouldn't dare do that in front of so many children, especially children that were twice her size.
"As you all know, you all took the graduation test on Friday. We have scoured through the results, and here are the top, and worse, students of each gender."
Sasuke looked at Naruto, searching for some type of protection from his younger brother. Naruto understood Sasuke's goals, and allowed Sasuke to some "happy" emotion, if only to ease the turmoil inside of his brother. "The worst male and female students for this year are…. Uchiha Sasuke, and Yamamoto Asako."
Laughter erupted from the crowds, and Sasuke attempted to make his body even smaller than it already was. Naruto stood up, his cerulean eyes now dark blue and filled with an anger filled haze. For Iruka, this was an odd occurrence, Naruto was never this emotional, even Naruto himself didn't understand where these emotions came from, but he went along with it anyway. He glared at everyone who had been laughing. "Stop laughing, or I'll-" he was interrupted however.
"Or you'll what, pipsqueak?" a large, slightly fat student mocked.
To the students, Naruto disappeared from his seat… and appeared right in front of the student. His leg was extended, and it was only a few millimeters from the kids face… only blocked by Iruka's outstretched hand. Naruto ripped his leg out of Iruka's grasp, and turned his back towards his fellow student. He walked back over to Sasuke and sat next to him, once again allowing Sasuke to find comfort in his existence.
"Now… for the two students with the highest grades…. Please give a hand to…. Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Hinata." Iruka announced.
Naruto glanced over at Hinata, sending her a brief smile before looking back towards Iruka. "Now for the teams, team One….. Team Seven. Uzumaki Naruto….. Uchiha Sasuke….. and Hyuga Hinata." He announces.
Naruto once more glanced over at Hinata before looking at his own brother. This wasn't quite what he was expecting, but he knew it was most likely one of the Sandaime's most latest schemes. Keep family close to him, if only to make sure that he would always have a watchful eye on him. Still, he was happy with this team structure. It wouldn't hamper what he already knew about Sasuke, and he and Hinata could possibly work together. It was a win-win situation, and of course, there was no chance of Naruto "accidentally" killing one of those idiot students who believed that they could laugh at his brothers plight.
"You are dismissed for now.. please come back by lunch time for your Jounin-sensei." Iruka ordered.
And thus, all the students started leaving the classroom, until it was only Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto walking slowly and Sasuke walking faster than him, wanting to leave the school as soon as possible. Though, it was only due to Naruto's reaction speed that stopped him from getting slugged in the face the moment he took a step outside of the building. Naruto had the fist of the perpetrator in his hand, as he wondered why he would attack them.
Before he could contemplate this further, two of their friends tried getting him from the back. He spun kicked one, getting them off of him, before head butting the other one. Sasuke ran away from Naruto, and Naruto was happy that he left. He used a seal-less substitution and took off his training weights. Three seconds later… the three bullies collapsed to the ground. Naruto's mind wondered if they would get far to become a shinobi, or if they could even get further than Genin. But, Naruto just put his weights back on, before he caught up to Sasuke once more.
-_-Later-_-
They were back at the academy. This time, Naruto and Sasuke weren't the only ones in the class, as they were in the class with Hinata. Unbeknownst to any of them though, Kakashi was sitting on the top of the roof top contemplating how he should go about introducing himself to his new charges. He thought about going either the proper way of introduction and give them a good amount of details about himself, or the vague way… he chose the vague way.
And thus, Kakashi was going down the stairs slowly. He made it down and he opened the door. He looked around the room… he was almost shocked to find three six year olds. It was rare for an entire team to pass out early, the only team that comes to his mind is the legendary Sannin.
Kakashi's eyes landed on strands of blonde hair, and his heart almost stopped at how similar Naruto looked to Minato. Obviously the baby face didn't help much, but he still felt like he was looking at Minato, or at the very least, in the essence of his son.
Kakashi stopped his mind from wandering. He beckoned his would-be students to the roof, and asked them to introduce themselves. "I think it would be better if you began, sensei." Naruto informed.
Sasuke nodded his head at what Naruto said. "Well… My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes… I'm not going to tell you. My dislikes… I'm not interested in telling you. My hobbies…. I'm not sure I should tell you. My dream for the future…. I've never really thought of it. What about you, blondie?" Kakashi announces.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen, training, and my family. I dislike those who show disdain towards my family, I dislike those who grow complacent, and I dislike a certain man… My hobbies include training, and reading books on Fuinjutsu. My dream for the future is to become a man that my parents would be proud of." Naruto responded.
Kakashi then pointed at Hinata this time. "Hi… My name is Hyuga Hinata…. I like my family, and cinnamon buns. I dislike being "too young to know". My hobbies are training an watering flowers… my dream for the future is to become a good clan leader for the Hyuga clan."
Then, the last one who remained. "Erm… Hi.. I'm Uchiha Sasuke.. I like my family, and tomatoes. I dislike not having tomatoes. My dream for the future, is to be a child that my father will be proud of."
Kakashi nodded at them. "Well.. I got some bad news for your dreams to be ninjas.. There's actually one more challenge for you to become Genin." He glanced around at the shocked looks on Hinata's and Sasuke's face and was disappointed by the calm visage that Naruto retained.
"Meet me at training field seven at seven am in the morning. Disperse." Kakashi ordered, and then he disappeared.
Naruto grabbed Sasuke and they started the trek back towards the Uchiha compound, leaving Hinata alone to walk to the Hyuga compound all alone. Hinata was happy that she was finally a ninja, but she was fearful, she feared that she wouldn't pass the next challenge, and that she would fail and that the Hyuga clan would rid of her clan heir status because of her failings. But, she was glad that she at the very least had a chance to accomplish her goals.
Naruto silently thought to himself as he and Sasuke walked down the roads paved by others work into the Uchiha compound. And Naruto split away from Sasuke, heading into his own room before closing the door and faceplanting onto his bed. He relaxed under the safety of being home sweet home, but was also anxious, he was just waiting for the moment to get out of the Uchiha's household. It was only a matter of time, after all.
"And so you prepare to leave the den of lions, into the world of wolves."
-_-Fin-_-
If I remind myself, I'll make an Omake for this chapter, for now though, I am dead-beat tired. I just wrote this entire thing in less than two hours, and it was already late when I started. So, I'm going to publish this, and then run for the hills, the lumpy hills of my pillows.
Finished December 9th, 2018 (At approximately 4 am)
Published December 12th, 2018.