Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 4

After two hours of leaving them to their own devices, and watching how they interacted, Kakashi finally decided it was time to show himself to his new team. With any luck these brats would figure out the goal of the next day's test, and he would be their teacher for the foreseeable future.

Deciding to forgo the flashy entrance of a teleportation (always a good way to impress new young ninja) he decided to get to the classroom the old fashioned way. He walked into it.

All three children looked at him, and then the pink haired girl stood, pointed and accusing finger at him, and shouted, "You're late! What kind of example are you showing to your team?" She scolded.

"Haruno-san. Please do not talk that way to our teacher before he even opens his mouth." The blond one sighed.

"Hn." Was all the Uchiha felt was appropriate to interject.

Kakashi looked at all of them, the red faced girl, the bored looking blond, and the broody kid, and said with a smile, "Hm.. how can I say this? My first impression is... I hate you."

"What?" Another outburst from the girl. Her file did indicate she was loud and assertive, but that didn't really prepare him for this.

"You shouted at him before he could even introduce himself, what did you think he was going to say? That he loves your hair?" His sensei's son asked derisively. The girl, Sakura if he remembered correctly, turned to address her teammate, but before she could go into tirade mode Kakashi interrupted, telling them to follow him to the roof.

He leaned casually against the railing while the three settled in to sit. The blond one took out a deck of cards that Kakashi had seen him playing with before and began to shuffle them absent mindedly.

"How about we start with introductions?" He asked, and the girl frowned.

"What do you want to know?" She inquired.

The jounin shrugged and said, "How about your likes, dislikes, your dreams for the future and things like that?" He offered.

The girl perked up. "Why don't you go first?"

The man smiled. "Oh... me? Well, my name is Kakashi Hatake... I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes... Dreams for the future... hm. And I have lots of hobbies."

Sakura scowled. "So the only thing we learned is his name?" She whispered to her teammates.

Kakashi clapped once to get their attention again, "Now it's your turn, how about you first pinkie?"

Sakura smiled brightly. "Well my name is Sakura Haruno and the thing I like is... well the person I like is..." She glanced over at the Uchiha and blushed and giggled. "And um, my dream for the future..." Again another glance at the boy, this time accompanied by a shrill squeal. "What I dislike is Naruto!" She then humphed.

The blond just snorted and said, "Trust me, Haruno-san, the feeling is mutual."

Kakashi sighed. The way it was going, it didn't look like this team would pass his test either. "Alright, now you." He pointed at the Uchiha.

The boy spoke from behind dramatically folded hands. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are a lot of things I dislike and I don't really like anything. And... I can't really call it a dream, but my ambition is the resurrection of my clan and..." Here he paused, for a dramatic effect most likely. "To kill a certain man."

Kakashi bit back the urge to roll his eyes. 'Like I thought.' "And lastly, your turn blondie."

The kid smiled. "Well, my name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen, my precious people, and my cards. I dislike bigoted people, cats, and the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook. My dream..." At this the kid's eyes grew serious and distant, "Is to keep all of the promises I've made to my precious people."

Kakashi lifted one eyebrow. He couldn't figure this kid out, from his files up until the graduation test, the kid is depicted as a below average loud mouth with a problem with authority figures. But the boy sitting in front of him was also the same one who revealed the traitor who had wormed his way into the Academy. Which persona was real?

Shaking off his thoughts, he crossed his arms. "Right, well we're done with introductions. Tomorrow the real deal starts. We're going to do survival training!" He announced.

"Training?" The Uchiha scoffed.

The jounin smirked. "Well, it's not going to be a normal sort of training, your opponent will be me."

"Why?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Well, you may freak out when I tell you this but... Out of the twenty seven graduated students, only nine will become genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy. This training is a very difficult exam with a fail rate of sixty six percent!" He said, and sat back to watch the reactions. The girl looked scared. The Uchiha looked anxious but determined. And the Uzumaki just... smiled. What in the world was wrong with this kid? Shouldn't he at least be worried or something? Maybe he was too cocky... though he didn't really give off that sort of vibe.

"Anyway, tomorrow you have to show your real skills at the training ground. Bring all the ninja tools you have at your disposal." He moved to leave, then added as a seeming after thought, "And skip breakfast. You might throw up."

OoOo

Naruto flinched when Sakura began yelling at Kakashi-sensei. Yeah, the guy was over two hours late, but that didn't mean he couldn't pin her ass to the wall for disrespect. He couldn't believe he ever acted with that same amount of disregard to their powerful teacher.

He scolded her lightly. Then Kakashi-sensei said the same exact thing he did in the other time line upon their first meeting, and Naruto bit back a laugh. The guy was as blunt as ever.

Sakura's outrage at his assessment irritated Naruto, and he chided her again. Really, she was such a self-righteous child. He was prepared for her loud and insulting comeback, but luckily Kakashi-sensei cut her off.

They made their way to the roof, and sat in a position familiar to Naruto. And then it was time for the introductions. Kakashi in his usual unhelpful way reeled off about himself saying absolutely nothing of use, though the time traveler mentally filled in what the man didn't say.

"My name is Kakashi Hatake. I like my dogs, miso soup, and Icha Icha books. I dislike tempura, traitors, and people who abandon their team. My hobbies are training, staring at the Memorial stone, and reading Icha Icha Paradise." He thought.

He glanced at Sakura when she whispered, "So the only thing we learned is his name?" 'You learn a whole lot more if you pay attention to what's not being said.' Naruto mused.

He quirked up an eyebrow when th girl expressed her dislike for him in her own introduction. "Trust me, Haruno-san, the feeling is mutual." He drawled.

Before he knew it, it was his turn. He sighed when he revealed his dream. He had to accomplish it. All of it. Sasuke couldn't be let to defect, Sakura had to be pointed in the right direction. Hell, he had even broken a small promise to Kakashi-sensei when he died. He had to go to the man's birthday party! Not to mention becoming Hokage, which was a promise he had made to himself, Tsunade, and everyone who believed in him.

After the whole 'Sixty six percent of your classmates will fail, don't eat breakfast,' spiel, Kakashi left. Naruto smiled because there was no one who could fuck with people's heads quite like the man.

He parted with his new/old teammates at the door, and went to walk to his apartment but stopped dead because an ANBU member who had not been there a moment before was now in his way. An lo and behold, it was 'Inu'.

"Hello, Inu-san." He said pleasantly, giving off no indication that he knew exactly who the man was.

"Uzumaki-san. I've been instructed to escort you to the Hokage Tower." Kakashi said.

Naruto tilted his head, thinking for a moment why the old man would want to see him, and when he realized it he almost hit himself in the forehead. Of course Jiji would want to talk to him. Other than Iruka-sensei he was the only one who knew Naruto well enough currently to notice something odd. He would have gotten the reports on the graduated genin and seen the unusually high score that Naruto had managed. Not to mention that Imamura-sensei would have had to go to him to request permission to take on Naruto as a student. He berated himself mentally for being an idiot, but outwardly calmly said, "Of course, Inu-san. Lead the way."

They made it to the Hokage Tower quickly, avoiding any foot traffic by taking the high route. Naruto vaguely wondered if the civilians ever complained formally about the ninja who liberally used their roofs as a road.

They easily made it to the inner most part of the Tower, bypassing several barriers until they made it to the door that lead to the Hokage's office. Naruto remembered that while Tsunade had been in office the poor thing had to be repaired quite often.

Kakashi knocked and the Hokage, in his omniscient way, called calmly, "Come in, Naruto."

Naruto glanced over at his teacher, but the man had disappeared. He entered the office alone and smiled at the wizened old man who was sitting on the floor painting what looked to be a seal of some sort.

"Yo, old man." Naruto greeted easily, quashing the urge to tackle the man in a hug. He doubted it would be well received. He had missed the old guy, though, and had mourned him just as heartbroken as his grandson had.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was a powerful man, even at his advanced age, and one could almost feel his aura of strength.

"Hello, Naruto." He greeted easily. "Why don't you sit down?"

Naruto grinned and plopped himself on the floor right next to the man. "So, jiji, what was so important that you had to send ANBU to come pick me up?" He asked in feigned curiosity. He was preparing himself for whatever the man would say next.

The Sandaime looked him in the eye and asked point blank. "What's your plan for dealing with the Akatsuki?"

Naruto had been prepared for a lot of things to come out of the Hokage's mouth, but nothing on Earth could have made him ready for that.

OoOo

Kakashi was once again out of his ANBU uniform. He was standing on top of the Hokage monument across from a man he had no reason before now to speak to. He rubbed his neck and smiled. "Sorry I'm late, I had to help a kitten get home." He explained.

The man shook his head. "You are not late. In fact, you're early." He smirked.

Kakashi frowned. "Our meeting was supposed to happen two hours ago." He pointed out.

The other man shook his head. "No, I just told you it was supposed to happen two hours ago. I have heard about your chronic lateness, Kakashi-san, and preempted it."

Kakashi laughed at that. "Clever, Imamura-san. No one else has ever tried that." Regaining his seriousness, he then said, "So why did you ask me to meet you here in the first place?"

Hiroyuki ran his hand through his hair and answered, "Because you and I need to talk about a mutual student."

The white haired ninja frowned. As far as he was aware, the other man had never accepted a team. Not to mention the only students Kakashi had were the ones who he was testing tomorrow. "Mutual student?" He prompted.

Hiroyuki nodded. "Yes, I have asked Naruto Uzumaki to be my apprentice to learn about the kenjutsu style of my clan, and he has accepted." He told the man.

"Wait a moment. You asked one of my students to be your student too? Does the Hokage know about this?" Kakashi demanded.

The dark haired man nodded. "I got the Sandaime's approval first. I know it is rare for a new genin to become the apprentice of someone else while still being on a genin team, but it is not unheard of."

Kakashi crossed his arms. "And what if he and his teammates fail my test tomorrow and get sent back to the Academy?" He asked.

"Then I will still teach him. Your test, and whether or not he is an official ninja, have no sway over my decision to train him. I have a feeling he will excel in the Imamura kenjutsu style, and am adamant in seeing that he does so. He is starting much later than most students that have studied the art before, but it is not entirely too late for him to learn."

Kakashi growled. He felt vaguely like this man was intruding on his territory. Stealing his student (whether the kid was officially his or not didn't matter right now). "And I have no say in this?"

Hiroyuki shook his head. "I am sorry that you are insulted by this, but the only ones who can stop this are myself, the Sandaime, or young Uzumaki. The only reason I am telling you is so you are not shocked when I accompany my apprentice on his out of village missions." Of course he wasn't sorry, though. He felt that the Hatake had far too much of an ego, and it needed to be pounded down a bit.

"And what of training? How will we know that our training schedules and techniques will not clash." Kakashi asked. He knew he was defeated, but that didn't mean he would give up the fight entirely.

"Scheduling is no problem. Though he is currently unaware of it, Uzumaki will come to live with me and we will be communicating enough that I can schedule training hours that fit his schedule. As for the techniques, I will only be teaching him the kenjutsu style of my family and the techniques that support it." Hiroyuki said. He glanced at the setting sun. "Uzumaki should be getting out of his meeting with the Hokage soon. I must go. I plan to meet him at his ome to inform him of his change in residence. If we are done here, Hatake-san?"

Kakashi just nodded grudgingly, and watched the other man jump down from the mountain and easily land on the nearest platform.

Damn, now he had to pass this team. It was a matter of pride! It had now become a contest to see who was the better teacher.

OoOo

"Uh... what?" Naruto managed to say after a minute.

The Hokage smiled at him. "You must think me a foolish old man, Naruto, if you believe that I only got wind of your odd behavior after the genin exam."

The blond rubbed the back of his neck, trying to figure out where the old man was going with this, and how he knew that Naruto was aware of and had plans for the Akatsuki.

Continuing, the Sandaime said, "I had heard that you were acting oddly calm at the Academy. I, being the suspicious man that I am, not only had ANBU watching you, but also observed your actions myself with a handy technique or two."

At this the boy scowled. "I was being stalked?" He asked indignantly. He was more mad at himself than the Hokage, of course. As a sage he should have realized that he was being spyed on by various sources.

"Oh, you must understand. It was for the safety of the village. A lot of people would love to get their hands on you, and I had to make sure that someone hadn't grabbed you and replaced you with an imposter!" The man assured him.

Naruto sighed. "Great, so I was being stalked for the Greater Good. That makes it so much better."

He didn't expect the blow upside his head.

"I would love to set the ANBU on whoever rendered you this cynical, brat."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Assuming that you heard, saw, and memorized my private conversation with Iruka-sensei, I'm think it's safe to say that my out look on like began changing with your death, and was cemented when my best friend put his hand through my chest. o how come you didn't have your dog drag me out of bed last night or something?"

"Well, not only is that rude, but your story rang true so I didn't think you were a threat to the village. Although I do think you need a few refresher courses in manners yourself." The old man told him.

Naruto laughed. "You have no idea old man. I spent three years traveling with your pervert of a student, and he taught me everything he knows!"

Hiruzen's eyebrows shot up. "You did not mention that to Iruka-san last night." He said.

"Not that, nor the fact that after you Tsunade becomes Hokage. Nor a bunch of other things. If I did then I would have spent a lot more than two hours talking to him last night. o how did you react to the fact that I'm a magical time-traveler? I was actually going to tell you myself, but you just saved me a lot of time being nosy." Naruto leaned forward to get a better look at some of the smaller kanji on the seal the Hokage was working on.

"Tsunade? You're not joking? How did you get her back into the village. When she left she swore never to return." The Sandaime said incredulously. He ignored the boy's question, not willing to admit how badly the story had shocked him.

Naruto glanced at him with a wry smile. "Well, it's a pretty long story, but it basically boils down to she lost a bet with me, and I reminded her of both her little brother and dead lover. he even gave me that cursed necklace of hers. Which is kind of messed up when you think about it. Maybe instead of making her Hokage we should have got her some psychological help..." He said jokingly.

The older man rolled his eyes. "Anyway, back to the original question, how do you plan on dealing with the Akatsuki? And for that matter, how do you plan on keeping young Sasuke from defecting?"

Naruto pointed to one painted figure, "That's wrong." He said calmly. Then he sat back again and smirked at the old man. "And that's exactly why I planned on bringing you into the loop. I don't want to go against the Akatsuki by myself this time. Last time it got the Leaf entirely obliterated off the map, killing everyone. This time I plan on having the backing of every ninja in your power. We need to put them down before they can really become a problem. I know Itachi Uchiha is your inside man. Do you think you could somehow get me in touch with him?" He asked.

"I don't know, he's in pretty deep right now." The Hokage said slowly, contemplatively.

Naruto frowned. "Well I need to give him some warnings about the Mangekyou that he's using so freely right now, not to mention I need his insight if any sort of plan is going to work."

The Hokage nodded. "Alright, then. I will make sure you and Itachi-san are able to communicate safely. It might take a while though. I don't even know where Itachi-san is."

Naruto nodded. "You may go now, but do not be shocked it Kakashi brings you here again soon." Hiruzen instructed, and Naruto stood easily upon his dismissal.

The time-traveler was almost to the door when he stopped and said, "One more question, old man. What was Itachi-san's code name when he was in ANBU?"

Looking at him oddly, the old man answered, "Weasel. Why?"

Naruto snorted, said something under his breath that vaguely sounded like 'Figures', then said loud enough for the man to hear, "No reason, good night old man."

After the boy was gone, the Hokage shook his head. "Even at nineteen that boy is still odd."

I bet you guys thought I would end it on that itty bitty cliff hanger, huh? Don't get me wrong, I thought about it but... then the chapter would be a very short one. Even now it's not all that impressive length wise, but it seemed longer while I was writing it, and I'm too tired to write any more. So anyway, that should answer the question of one of my dear reviewers Agoge, who reviewed each chapter (I meant to send you a PM, darling, but I read your reviews via email on my iPod, and I'm too tech-challenged to use that to respond. I hope you don't mind). And hey, I updated on time! Let's hope this becomes a habit, ne? All my love, with cookies to reviewers, I'll see y'all next time!