Chapter 4

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage sat in his office frowning at the report on his desk.

A troubling situation had just gotten a whole lot worse. A stationary shop owner; one Touji Mizuki, had just been found to be a sleeper agent by none other than Naruto.

Reports suggested Naruto had stumbled on Mizuki preparing to use a forbidden skin sheathing technique to leave the village with the information he had collected over the years. The information had consisted of astonishingly detailed maps of the entire village. It had included blueprints of all the major buildings and the public evacuation points. There had even been estimations on how to find the village hidden in the massive rainforest that covered half the continent.

Thankfully, those had been incorrect.

The Hokage would still follow protocol and have Yamato and the remaining Senju alter the forest surrounding the village. Clean up teams would be dispatched to ensure there were no trails that led to the village. It was troubling that a sleeper agent had managed to gather so much information right under Internal Security's nose.

It was troubling, but it was conceivable. The Hokage could think of at least five sleeper agents he had successfully installed into the various villages

The fact that Touji Mizuki had been assassinated within less than a day of his discovery was truly alarming.

It had happened despite the heavy guard his hospital bed had been placed under. Preliminary reports stated that he died from his injuries. However, full autopsy had shown an expert assassination had taken place. Internal security would be chaotic for at least the next month. They now knew they had at least one more sleeper (or worse still a traitor) and they were fully trained.

Most sleeper agents were installed by psychologically indoctrinating children then sending them, untrained in the shinobi arts with plenty of scrolls designed for self- teaching. Ninja villages simply wouldn't accept residency applications from people trained by other villages. Even when they did, the level of scrutiny they put the applicant under would certainly discover any hidden agenda. The situation led to sleeper agents often being very skilled in techniques but not fully trained. Unfortunately, whoever had carried out the assassination was trained to the highest level. It would have taken a minimum of Special Jounin skill level to pull off an assassination like that.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed and placed the file into its proper place. It was getting late and he was going home. The village would just have to cope without him for a couple of hours.

As he made his way home, he allowed his mind to drift to Naruto. Thinking about his actions brought a swell of pride to Hiruzen. Naruto had shown himself to be more than ready to begin his path in Ninja life. Hiruzen had personally read each of Naruto's six debriefs and what stood out to both him and Internal Security was the shear diligence in his actions.

When the internal patrol team had initially investigated the stationary shop, they were shocked to see a captive with perfect, level four restraints. The debriefing reports showed that Naruto had the correct mindset needed for a combatant Ninja role. Hiruzen knew that in many ways, the mindset of a ninja was what mattered the most.

He had already placed a waver on Naruto's file that would grant him acceptance on his application for a Gennin Combatant Ninja position despite his scores. He actually would have done it anyway, but the events that had transpired gave the perfect excuse.

The Sandaime Hokage decided that he would personally deliver Naruto's acceptance letter tomorrow. It would be good to see Naruto's reaction.


As I marched along with my classmates in the procession, I could hardly tear the grin from my face. The Konoho Graduation ceremony was a grand affair and last week, if anyone had asked me if I was looking forward to it, my answer would have been a vehement no.

But that was a week ago. Just seven days ago, when I looked into my future I could only despair.

My good fortune was all down to a silver haired man who had tried to kill me.

Our entire year group of around 50 teenagers marched along with me. The deep sound of massive drums synchronized each of our footfalls. The graduation march occurred every year, starting at the Academy Building and ending in the Polos Amphitheatre. It was a large event, with people crammed onto the pavements whilst we marched through the streets. All of us were dressed in loose white, hooded robes tied with golden thread. We marched with one hand gripping an ornate kunai to our chests with our heads high in military precision.

None of that mattered to me. Neither did the large crowd. The reason for my happiness was the twofold: my place in the procession and the black band of the Konoho forehead protector holding up my hood.

Of our year group, all of us had graduated and the white robes signified that. At the back of our procession, eight students marched who had graduated but hadn't been accepted into any formal position amongst the Konoho military ranks. There hoods were unadorned and even as I glanced at them, I noticed they marched with lowered heads, cowls obscuring their faces. A week ago, I was certain that was where I was going to march in the procession.

In front of them marched the students who had all managed to make last minute applications to various departments when there combatant ninja applications had been rejected. Each of these students wore Konoho forehead protectors attached to bands of colours relating to their new department. Green for the Medical corps, red for the research division and blue for internal security, took up a good chunk of the student body.

Right at the front of the procession our group of 15 students marched with deep black forehead protectors, heads held high. We marched with the knowledge that we were who the crowds had come to see. Even the slight tingling in my legs could not put a dampener on my spirits.

I wore the black forehead protector of a Gennin Combatant Ninja. Even looking at the very front of the procession at Sasuke did not stop my grin.

Sasuke had been announced our year valedictorian and therefore marched at the head of the procession in deep gold robes in contrast to our white. Instead of an ornate kunai, he held a long pole atop which the Konoho flag was attached.

The procession ended with the drummers and Sasuke marching us into a large, ornate amphitheatre. We filled into a neat three-row column with Sasuke at our head. Sharply, we turned as one and with our free hand, gave a salute to the balcony where I could just make out the form of The Hokage.

We stood to attention as the First Firearm Shimura Danzou; head of the Internal Security Division addressed us. What followed was dry speech after speech about the importance of our journeys as academy graduates. Tuning the speeches out, I subtly let my eyes drift to the seats. I saw they were filled with family of the students and a few dignitaries. My eyes rested for a moment on the Hokage box. My heart filled with an almost indescribable mix of emotions. I felt, pride, gratitude and a sense of determination in equal measure.

The Hokage had placed a waver on my file and had given me an official commendation for my actions in apprehending the nameless sleeper agent I had encountered. His waver had meant that my subpar marks would be accepted and that I could realise my dream. I was determined Hiruzen-jiji would never regret going out on a limb for me.

With that thought in my head, I tuned out the bland speeches as I silently began listing the 26 classifications of illusionary techniques and how the detect them.


Even as I sat, chatting to Sakura my heart pounded and I fought to keep a grin from splitting my face. I literally could not believe my luck. Not only had I been accepted into a Gennin combatant Ninja position but also, I had Sakura on my assigned cell.

Even having Sasuke as my other team member could only really be a positive thing. It meant that they would be taking this cell seriously. Plus, Sasuke was so introverted and anti-social it meant Sakura would only really have me to talk to.

"Naruto, it is not funny!" Sakura said, scandalised by my amusement.

"Seriously, I cannot believe the cheek of Kiba. I mean he has pinched my bum before but this was a whole other level. His hand just cupped my ass and... lingered. The dog! It's like he has become immune to a good slap."

Even as she told me the story, her eyes danced and a smile played at her lips. Sakura always took the small things in good spirit.

"So what do you think Naruto, if he is moving up a level should I graduate from slapping him to punching him in the face?" I mirrored her half smile as I replied

"Well Kiba needs to learn some self-control so you should do whatever you feel is necessary."

I paused for a moment and let the laugh I had been fighting spill out.

"Naruto, it isn't funny! " She admonished, slapping my arm lightly. I threw my arms up in mock surrender,

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't take your anger out on me. If I'm going to get beaten about it's only fair that I get to enjoy your ass too."

"As if" Sakura replied, lightly hitting me again but I took careful note of the smile still playing at her lips. Feeling brave I responded,

"You should cut Kiba a little slack though, he is only human. Really, it is your own fault."

"Ahh, the perils of being the perfect specimen of female beauty." She finally cracked, a full smile covering her face. Turning, she raised her voice to cover the distance of the room,

"Sasuke, you still alive over there? You are more than welcome to join us teamie."

We were in a relatively large unused office. Sasuke had chosen to stand across the room at the large window starring silently out at the village and the vast surrounding forest. Sakura and I were sat on a burgundy leather sofa by the door. Sakura had entered first and immediately hopped onto the sofa. She sat on the armrest, feet on the seats. Within seconds, she had kicked off her sandals exposing neatly painted toenails to the world. I noted all this even as I entered slowly scouring the unknown room for threats. Sasuke entered much like me; on high alert. I had sat down on the sofa after I was sufficiently comfortable that the room held no immediate threats and that I had a good mental layout of the space. Upon sitting Sakura had immediately plopped her bare feet into my lap and drawn me into conversation.

For all that I like Sakura (and that was a lot) I was fully aware that in many ways she was thoroughly unprepared for a combatant role. I knew from the second I realised we would be on a squad together that I would do everything I could to protect her. The fact that she treated me as an equal without hesitation in every instance made her a precious person to me.

Halfway through Sasuke's reply all conversation stopped as suddenly the door started to move inwards.

The door opened and the man who would be our sensei walked into the room. The man moved in complete, effortless silence. The fact that none of us had detected his arrival until the door had started to move attested to that. He had dark brown, glossy hair peppered by the occasional streak of gray. His hair reached to the middle of his back in a style usually worn by girls.

His skin was the first shocking thing about him.

It was the unnatural pure ivory of paper. The contrast of his long dark hair only accentuated this bone white complexion. Centring his face were the most disturbing pair of eyes I had ever seen. His irises sparkled a reflective golden that had hypnotic effect even when seen for even the briefest of periods. Neatly bisecting his irises were a pair of reptilian, elongated pupils. He blinked, shocking us further with his eyelids that closed from side to side rather than up and above.

As I surveyed his face, I spotted the slight looseness of skin and the occasional wrinkle, judging the man to be between 40 – 60 years old.

The man wore loose robes tied by rope creating plenty of hidden spaced in a style I myself preferred. He moved in a seamless fashion coming to a stop as we hurried to stand before him at attention. I purposely slowed myself down so Sakura would have enough time to jump back into her sandals without being noticeably behind.

Within seconds we stood before him ready to officially meet the man who would likely influence our careers the most.

His face softened into a smile which helped a little as he said,

"Hello, my apprentices." Unfortunately his voice was just as creepy as his face, it was deep with an odd rasp to it. Even his way of holding syllables put me on edge.

"Please, please at ease." This allowed us all to relax from our formal stances. Sakura took it as an invitation to cross back to sofa and sit down. I was hesitant as I watched his face for his reaction but he just smiled saying,

"An excellent idea." He grabbed himself a free chair from the main desk and sat down in front of the sofa

"Sit boys. Make yourselves comfortable," he said.

Both Sasuke and I made our way to the sofa, sensing it would be rude not to when he had already seated himself in front of it. For a few seconds longer than normal, the man just smiled whilst looking at us. After a moment he said,

"It is good to finally see you face to face. The Hokage approached me personally about accepting you three as my students." That sent a thrill of pride racing up my spine. If this was who I suspected, we were extraordinarily lucky.

"After studying your files I think it will be an honour to nurture such potential."

The serpentine man paused for a moment, his tone fell an octave and his voice gained an official ring.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke," he paused and looked each of us in the eye as he said our names.

"I am Kantasi Orochimaru and I will be your sensei on this three man team."

Sakura and I glanced at each other and could not help but give massive grins. I spotted Sasuke on the end of the sofa giving himself a small nod of satisfaction.

"Well now that is settled I would like to invite you all back to my house. You must all be tired from today's ceremony. Drinks and libation for all!" We quickly agreed. It was still late afternoon and turning down the first invitation of our sensei seemed like a faux pas.