"That wasn't exactly the proper way to greet your teachers, now was it?" Kakashi gave one of his infamous eye smiles to the young Genin. "Especially considering that all of you here are such close friends with me, especially you, Rei, Keiji. Shouldn't you show a little more respect to your father?"
"Our real Dad is dead, and you know it, you stuck-up bastard. And if you ever once speak of yourself like that to me and Keiji, I'll bloody make sure you won't be able to have any children of your own." Rei growled, as she gripped with her left hand the handle of katana. "The only good thing that we had to do with you was finally leaving you and your damn slump of house."
"Wow, the ravennette here has quite a mouth on here. I think I'll be taking a liking towards you. Hiryu, Akemi, am I glad to see my two favorite Uzumaki siblings!" Anko grinned as she suddenly noticed Naruto among them. "Yo Naruto! Finally have had enough of the brats and have decided to move up in rank? Congrats with the promotion and lovin' the new threads, by the way. Really makes you look like a booty magnet if you ask me." Keiji outright laughed at this one.
"Thanks, Anko. Glad that you approve." Naruto nodded to her, seeing curious looks on Hiryu and Akemi. "Is something the matter?"
"We are just a little surprised that you know Anko, that's all." Hiryu answered on his question. "Plus, unlike with others, you seem to be… okay with her, no offence."
"Heh, Naruto and I have known each other for quite a while, for about 4 years by now." Anko informed them all. "He often hangs out on a training field next to Forest of Death, training himself. I drop by from time to time, or let him hang out in my place when he asked for the additional survival training, but to be honest, I think he just wanted to spend more time with little lovely old me~." Anko winked to Naruto, with Akemi blushing at the thoughts.
"Whatever makes you feel better." Naruto simply replied to her, before turning to his group. "Forest of Death is a good place to get your skills in top shape, plus it's quite a nice place for me, considering the circumstances. And what about you two?" Naruto looked at Hiryu and Akemi, with Akemi answering.
"Well, Anko is a close friend of Mom and Dad and has been the one training me in usage and creation of poisons from snakes and antidotes for them." Akemi replied. "For as long as I can remember, she was always something of a surrogate cousin or even a big sister figure to me and Hiryu."
"Aw~, Akemi, you make me blush." Anko said with playful smile. "Well anyway, it looks like Cyclops here and I will be in charge of your little Squad, so if I were you, I would be prepping your graduated butts for the real training from the sexiest and most popular Shinobi in this Village."
"Thanks, Anko. I'm glad that you think of me in that way." Kakashi replied to her, with Anko shooting him a glare.
"She meant "sexiest", not "sexist", pervert. And you are the last person I would consider as the people's choice in popularity contest." Naruto replied in a blunt manner to Kakashi, with Keiji and Anko openly laughing at it, while Hiryu and Rei let out a short chuckle. "Anko is at least a nice sight for eyes. You, on the other hand… Make me want to smash that masked face of yours really hard."
"Same with me and my sis here." Keiji second, with Rei nodding to it. "What the heck was Hokage smocking when he decided to put you in charge of us, anyway? I gonna' take a wild guess that it's weed, since he's always such a stoned supporter of the Will of Fire, friendship, ponies and all the other toxic stuff…"
"Keiji, you'll watch your mouth, or I'll make sure that you and Rei are dropped out of the Shinobi program." Kakashi suddenly threatened him, with Keiji shutting up, but returning the glare. "Lord Fourth has personally made sure that you two had everything you needed after your father's betrayal. You should show him far more respect than that."
"The day I show that guy anymore respect then that will be the day when Hell freezes over." Rei stated with a scowl, with Keiji agreeing with her. "All he did was take away from us the only parent we had left, placed us under you and practically made us into pariahs of this damned Village, all because you've had to place the blame for your flop on someone…"
"Yeah, the only good thing he did for us, Kakashi, was finally agreeing to transfer guardianship over us to Shingen, the guy that has really helped us." Keiji folded his arms, casting a small glance to Hiryu and Akemi. "The only thing that this guy had accomplished with us was making our lives miserable, starting with fabricating the treason of our dad."
"Rei, Keiji, we've told you a hundred times, that your father had assisted the Kumo infiltrator and had plotted to…" Kakashi, unfazed, was begging to explain how it all went down, before Anko had stopped him.
"Look, I know that all of us here have unresolved issues, and you kids have every right to be livid on our fanboy here all you want." Anko decided that it was time to play the negotiator. "But like it or not, but it was decided that he and I get to test and, if you pass the test, train you. We can all stand here and tell who got wronged by whom till the Kingdom Come, or we can get on with the test and if you pass, then the faster you five can get promoted to Chunin and say bye-bye to him. Does that sound good for you?"
The Genin group didn't say a thing for a few moments, exchanging glances between each other. Rei and Keiji had quite a few things to say to Kakashi and they weren't really all too happy with how they got placed in one Squad with him. However, it was either that, or being stuck in the Reserve Corp, waiting for some other team to pick them up, if they had a free spot, along with being unable to even complete basic D-ranks, not to mention C-ranks.
There was a reason why most Genins that were sent into the Reserve Corp had dropped out of Shinobi ranks all together, since most Jonins in Village didn't take individual apprentices, and Genin teams rarely suffered casualties among themselves. In other words, if you were sent into the Reserve Corp, you can already sign your retirement papers and get on with your civilian life. The only thing worse than that was being sent back into the Academy, a fate that had occurred more than often for starting Genin in this Village.
Even though the Team was stuck with one of the worst possible teachers of themselves, they had to agree to this. At the very least, they had Anko along with them, so maybe she would be able to do a good job in teaching and training them. Naruto, who had been observing quite a number of Shinobi for his own training, knew for the fact that while Kakashi always preached of teamwork and its importance, he had no idea of how to train Genins and how to even properly test them. He saw how had tested the previous Teams of Genins, forcing them to fight him over the bells and expecting that they'll know what really was being tested and what was really required from them.
He knew that it was teamwork that he wanted to see from them, but the problem was not in the fact that they couldn't perform it. No, it was in the fact that prior to their test, there wasn't even a single exercise in Academy or a lesson in its importance in the field. In Academy, with the system based around personal achievements, individual work and achievements were far more valued over the group effort, which was none existent. In other words, students were literally being taught to be competitive with each other over being cooperative. After all, why would the title of Rookie of the Year was introduced?
Shacking off his thoughts, Naruto along with others simply nodded, agreeing with Anko, who smiled to them and spoke up.
"Alright, boys and girls, since we've been here long enough, we'll skip the introductions and get right on with the good stuff." Anko smiled to them, as she took out of her pocket four bells and showed them to the Genins. "These bells are what you five will need to get from us. We'll split them among us, so you'll need to get two from both me and Kakashi. Each bell means that one of you gets to be the real Genin, so make sure you get them, since the one that doesn't, will be sent back into the Academy. You've got three hours to complete this test, and you are allowed to use any means necessary, including lethal force. In fact, unless you come at us with the full intent to kill, you'll lose."
"Um, I am sorry to interrupt, but why are there four bells when the traditional Squad is made up of five Genins?" Akemi asked, noticing the quantity of bells. "Are you trying to put us against each other?"
"Well, in a manner of speaking, yes. It's just like with the Academy tests: there are those that pass and get good marks, and those that lose and get bad marks." Kakashi eye-smiled to them again, with Keiji and Rei already noticing that he was not truthful. "And since there's not enough bells for all of you, one of you is getting his bad mark and goes back to Academy. That allows us to… weed out those that aren't ready for this, or aren't good enough for being a Genin." Naruto's eye twitched, as he clenched his fist at this remark. "Though, in my eyes, you all looks quite unprepared and mediocre, at best, as Genins…"
"That's enough of your preaching, Kakashi." Anko stated to him, getting a glance from him. "Anyway, brats, the test starts now, so get on with it!" And as Anko has said it, the Genins immediately disappeared from their sight, hiding away, while she handed to him his pair of bells.
"You know, since I'm the Jonin Instructor of this group, it falls to me to explain those things to them. You are here only as my assistant, Anko, and if I need assistance from you, I'll be sure ask you about it. Do please remember it and try not to sabotage my authority over my Genins." Kakashi casually asked of Anko, as he took out his favorite orange book. "It makes me look bad in their eyes, and in the eyes of Lord Fourth and others."
"Like you care about their opinion, Kakashi." Anko scoffed at him. "If you did care, you would've noticed that they don't really give a damn about this "authority" of yours, and I'm not all that surprised. Especially considering that everyone among them, save for Akemi, has a chip on their shoulders because of you and your revered Fourth Hokage."
"Oh, and what those chips you are talking about may be, Anko?" Kakashi asked, not really caring about it.
"As if you don't know about them…" Anko rolled her eyes. "Well, the twins understandably are pissed at you because of how you basically didn't really take care of them, after you've been tasked by the man that killed their father and caused the death of their mother. Hiryu's beef with you and Lord Fourth is in how you two have nearly caused Akemi's death 5 years ago, when that infiltrator from Iwa had taken kidnapped and escaped the Village, after his failed attempt to kidnap one of the Jinchuuriki. If I recall, Lord Fourth hadn't even send a task group to retrieve the girl, while you even said that she wasn't all that important…" Anko's voice grew colder at this one
"Well, when compared to the life of Narumi, Akemi's wasn't nearly as important." Kakashi missed the deathly glare from Anko. "And we did retrieve the girl in the end."
"Yeah, near two weeks she had to spend in Iwagakure's "care", and don't even make it sound like it was Konoha that saved her." Anko growled at him. "Had it not been for Shingen personally going to Iwa and nearly killing the Third Tsuchikage, Akemi would've been lost. And all the while you and Lord Fourth sat on your asses and did nothing to save the poor girl, while those assholes were breaking the girl and planning on breeding her with all those bastards when she grows up. Care to tell me, why the hell didn't your favorite Hokage do anything to save here, hm?"
"Well, we had to maintain peaceful relations with Iwa, and breaking our peace treaty with them over one girl, wasn't really worth it. What Shingen had done nearly cost us such a hard fought peace, and all for a virtually not important girl." Kakashi simply said to Anko, who nearly blanched from this statement. "Had that infiltrator succeeded in his deed in kidnapping one of Lord Hokage's children, we would've responded with full force, as he had told me, but since he failed…"
"And just because it was the daughter of one of the main political rivals of Hokage, it wasn't worth the effort of retaliating with force?! Are you fucking kidding me?!" Anko nearly shouted at the insensitiveness and indifference of Kakashi. "You know, sometimes I'm starting to understand why Orochimaru would want to put his village to the torch"
"Such words can be easily interpreted as statements of a traitor, Anko…" Kakashi warned her. "And you know how Konoha deals with traitors." Anko casted him one last glare, before deciding to wait for the Genins to come at them.
Meanwhile.
Just as the test officially kicked off, Team 5 leapt towards the tree line and out of sight of their Instructors. Fortunately enough for them, they hadn't split up too far away from each other and were still in a relative proximity. After a minute or two, Team 5 was back together and knelt in the hidden clearing, hiding behind the bushes, deciding to discuss what to do.
"Please tell me that I'm not the only who had noticed him bullshitting back then about the bells and scores?" Rei asked of her team, with the entire team positively answering her. "Oh, thank Kami. Akemi's right, he wants each of us to work on our own."
"Yeah, makes sure that we don't try to gang up on them." Keiji supported Rei's line of thinking. "That ass had always preached to us about the value of friendship and teamwork over individual actions, and now he wants us to come at him like we are a bunch of idiots? Something about this damn bell test doesn't sound right."
"Because the bells don't mean a damn in this test." Naruto simply stated to him, getting the universal attention from his team. "This whole test isn't about getting the bells, but about being able to work together as a team. I've seen how he has been failing every team over this aspect, but before that making sure that the tested Genin thought that all that mattered was getting the bells. Other Jonin I saw gave out a hint or two about how to get the test completed, but he doesn't."
"Naruto is right." Hiryu agreed with him. "Konoha's main doctrine is based around coordinated and coherent teamwork, not individual and lackluster actions of single Shinobi. Looks like we'll have to show them that we can together as a Squad."
"And how exactly do you propose we do that, hm?" Rei asked of Hiryu. "No offence to you three, but I'm really the trusting type, and I only prefer to either work alone, or with this idiot." She pointed at Keiji, who let out a sigh.
"Besides, not all of us know how to act in a group and in a coherent way." Rei pointed out to Hiryu. "I know how you and Akemi may fight, Hiryu, and I can go full combo with Keiji, but I know jack about how Naruto fights and what he can even do."
"She's right, and I don't know exactly what anyone of you really can do." Naruto backed Rei. "But if we want to pass this test, we'll probably need to learn how each of us prefers to fight. I'm best in close and mid-range, prefer to go full frontal assault, overpowering, knocking out or outliving my opponents. I can do Fire and Lightning Jutsu, about fifteen in Fire and five in Lightning, all in close or mid-ranges. Genjutsu is not my forte, but I can place a couple of C and D-ranks, but nothing too major. And as for claymore, I thing I know the basics, but nothing too fancy." Hiryu looked like he was thinking over about this entire thing, until he began talking.
"In other words, you are a power type, focused on strength and endurance over precision and speed. Is that right?" Naruto nodded to Hiryu. "I think I've got an idea on how to impress our examiners…"
Fifteen minutes later.
Kakashi and Anko hadn't said a word to each other, instead continuing to await their Genins' attack on them. It has been some time since they had seen them and both were starting to wonder if they had given up and were simply stalling, or were they planning something up for them. Anko, knowing Shingen's kids well enough, as well as knowing Naruto, knew that something was coming and recalling that Hiryu had always been one with a tactical and strategically oriented look on things, couldn't help but ponder at what he could come up with such a ragtag team. She had a feeling that the Uchiha twins weren't going to back off either, so this was going to be one interesting test to say the least.
As for Kakashi, he wasn't all that worried about this new Squad 5 that Lord Hokage had ordered him to test out. To him, it was pretty much clear that they didn't exactly have what it took to being good Shinobi, or a Team for the matter. After all, in Kakashi's eye, they were just a bunch of misfits and outsiders for the villages, all of whom had the potential for becoming dissidents, and one of them was already an infamous troublemaker.
Being the favorite and best student of Lord Fourth, Kakashi knew very well that Naruto was nothing like his great father or mother, and it was clear to everyone that there was nothing that made him worthy of the legacy of their great Clans. After all, for what other reason would he be denied of his rights as an Heir of Uzumaki and Namikaze? It was pretty obvious, that Naruto simply lacked what it took to be an Uzumaki and a Namikaze. The best he could've done was abide by his parents decision and go along with their judgment, but instead, Naruto had decided to rebel and show off his rebellious nature, becoming a shame and an eyesore for this Village.
Just like with Rei and Keiji, the two kids of a traitorous Uchiha member and an Uzumaki woman that gave up her life for the Village and Hokage. It was a shame that their father was found guilty of cooperating with Kumo. One would think that after witnessing the great sacrifice his wife had done to save this Village, by using Shiki Fuin and sealing Kyuubi in to Hokage's children, he would be honored, that his wife had sacrificed herself for the good of this Village.
Unfortunately, the man didn't learn what true Will of Fire is about, and instead chose betrayal, leaving his children in Kakashi's care for a couple of months. He was nice and kind to them, but they didn't appreciate it one bit, especially when he had tried to make them understand why the death of their father was justified. Too bad that they never understood it, and that Shingen Uzumaki had suddenly intervened and took the twins under his wing. A shame, in Kakashi's opinion, as he believed that he could've made those two into better people than their father and mother.
Just as Kakashi was turning a new page in his book, Anko noticed that the bushes the edge of the clearing shook a little. In the next second, right out of there jumped out Akemi, surprising both Kakashi and Anko with her appearance. The girl looked determined and ready, with Anko noting out.
"So, decided to take a more direct approach?" Anko asked of her, wearing her usual grin on the outside, and getting ready on the inside. "I would've thought that one of the boys would make the first move, but you… I'll say that I'm kinda surprised, Ake-chan."
"Well, that's the whole idea." Akemi smiled to her, before she began to rapidly form hand signs. "Earth Style: Mud Torrent!" And in the next second, right from beneath Akemi eyes, a torrent of mud formed and went right towards the two Jonin at a dangerous speed.
Anko and Kakashi had no trouble evading the torrent and not get stuck in it, splitting up and letting the torrent pass right in between them. Kakashi didn't even drop reading his book, though he was surprised a little that a Genin already could use an Elemental Jutsu like that, but he simply let it slide, thinking that it must've been the result of her training. Anko wasn't all that surprised that Akemi was capable of using Elemental Jutsu, knowing full well that Akemi was able to utilize Water and Earth. What did surprise and concern her was the fact that it was Akemi that attacked first. She knew that the girl never was one for the frontal attacks, preferring to stay behind and support or heal. It would've been normal if Hiryu had opened up, or Naruto, but not Akemi, so what was…
Unfortunately for Anko and Kakashi, just as they've evaded the Mud Torrent, a large wall of dirt and stone formed in between them, separating them from each other. Kakashi, being still full on confident, didn't see much of a point in doing it, while Anko was starting to suspect that Akemi was trying to separate her and Kakashi, which was something smart for a Genin to do. But she would need to follow this up quickly with something…
'Split us up… Divide and conquer. Hiryu must've already put together a plan and this is the first step.' Anko thought to herself with haste, until she noticed that there was something blocking the sky for her. 'What the hell…'
Anko and Kakashi turned their eyes to look at what was the cause of small eclipse, noticing a figure in the middle of a jump, but unable to see clearly who it was from the sun blinding them. However, they were able to see that it had sent in their directions five kunai, two right towards Anko and three towards Kakashi, with the last one for Kakashi being sent with a small interval from the other two, which were sent at the same time. Anko and Kakashi had little effort in evading the incoming projectiles, with Anko, and Kakashi, not to her knowledge, simply moving away from the trajectory of them. Deciding to take a glancing look at them, Anko saw, that one of the kunai had a sealing tag attached to it.
'A timed explosive tag!' Her eyes widened, as she readied to move out of range, but then she had nearly lost her head, if not for her instinctive duck right
Anko now could see that the second attacker was Rei, as she had landed near her, with her Sharingan already blazing, revealing fully developed visual prowess of Uchiha Clan. Rei was aiming to take Anko from a slash above with her katana, as Anko had thought, but she failed. Although, Anko was honestly pretty impressed with this little maneuver that Rei had pulled off with Akemi: split her and Kakashi apart, separate and distract them by kunai with explosives, while launching an attack. Anko had suspected that the boys were focusing up on Kakashi, while Akemi and Rei could take her on.
Rei noticed her missed and moved her blade to angle and sending it to her left, trying to strike Anko, who had jumped away from Rei. However, this is where Anko's luck had ran short, as the explosive tag had activated itself, releasing compressed thick smokescreen, covering at least twelve meters around them. Anko had lost the sight of Rei, as well as cursed herself for forgetting about the tag. Right at the moment when she had prepared to jump out of the place, she found her feet stuck in swamp, before someone had struck the back of her head, knocking her right out of the fight.
As for Kakashi, he didn't even bother to put away his book, simply moving away from the two incoming kunai. He could see that the attacker had wanted to distract him with it, but he already saw through it, and he was preparing to move away from the third incoming projectile. After that, he would go look for the other missing Genin, as well as take care of the attacker and Akemi, and teach them what a real Shinobi would do.
However, he would have to cut his plans short, as the third kunai had suddenly transformed into Naruto, falling right towards Kakashi, with both his arms gripping the large sword above his head. Kakashi had widened his eyes at the sight of his Genin being ready to literally split him in two, and not like in the Make Out Paradise way! He had already prepared to evade Naruto by moving to the side, when the thick smock covered the area, completely covering cutting off any visual contact. The only things that anyone could make out of the mess there was the sound of a slashed flesh, and the sound of a splitting wood.
In the few seconds, the smock began to clear out, revealing Naruto standing, with his claymore's blade resting on his right shoulder. The next one to appear was Hiryu, with his straight sword in his right hand, looking around them. At their feet laid the split log of a tree, indicating Kakashi managing to escape from them. Hiryu was the first one to speak up.
"You were right, Naruto: his reflexes are quite attuned. He must've used Kawarimi just the split second before you or I could've cut him." Hiryu concluded, looking at the log, while Naruto took a closer look at Hiryu. "Didn't even leave me a chance to grab his bells, or to cut him…"
"I wouldn't be so sure, if I were you, Hiryu. Look at your blade." Hiryu took a look at his chokuto, noticing a large blood stain on it. "He wasn't expecting you, and you've been able to cut him before he used the Kawarimi. From the looks of it, I'd say you've cut one of his blood vessels. Where were you aiming at?"
"His left leg, which means that he'll have a hard time moving around, as well as will leave us a trail to follow." Hiryu followed Naruto's observation, as he noticed that Keiji and Rei had jumped right to them. "How did it go with Anko?"
"Went as smooth as woman's touch." Keiji revealed the two bells from Anko, before putting them away. "Decided to knock her out, just to be on the safe side of things. And from where I see it, yours didn't go as planned, eh?"
"No, but we did cut him, possibly seriously." Naruto answered, before he had an idea. "Everyone, leap up, now!" Without any more words, Hiryu, Rei and Keiji decided to follow up this demand, and leapt into the air, while Naruto swiftly knelt down, conjuring hand signs. "Lightning Style: Impulse!" In the next second, Naruto sent right through the earth a wide spread electrical pulse, short and powerful enough to dissipate around the close area.
The trio came landed on their feet, looking at Naruto with a curious eye, before he spoke up to them.
"Kakashi has a habit of using Headhunter Jutsu on Genins, remember? I've seen him pull it off every time he tested out a team, and if he was in the ground here, he would've been forced to evade the pulse." Naruto informed them.
"Keiji, Rei, use your Sharingan and survey the area. I can sense that he's still here, somewhere near us and is hiding." Hiryu stated, bringing up his sword into a striking position, while focusing up his sensory abilities. "Either he knows how to block his flow of chakra, or he's hiding somewhere near a large… Akemi, look out!" Hiryu shouted out to his sister, who stood about fifteen meters away from them.
Akemi had heard him loud and clear, but before she could even move from her spot, she found herself being unable to move, with a kunai pressing to her neck. Just the moment when Hiryu called out to her, Kakashi had emerged from the underground and captured the unsuspecting Akemi. He had to give credit to his new batch of Genins, that they were better than the most, having orchestrated such an audacious plan to defeat him and Anko. He would give them points for the creativity, but leaving out a teammate so wide open for an attack was nothing short of a major mistake on their part. Every Team that Kakashi had tested before did the very same mistake, and every time he exploited it. Now was no different, and with this, he would have to teach these Genins how to properly act as a team.
However, the moment Kakashi's kunai touched Akemi's neck, her entire body changed into a water mass, dropping down on earth. The very next moment that had happened, Kakashi had to dodge a barrage of shuriken coming towards him from the woods, with his leaping into the air, with blood spilling out of his wounded thigh. Unfortunately, even in the air there was no saving for him, as he heard his supposed target speaking up, alongside with Rei, all of a sudden.
"Water Style: Water Bullet!" Two large balls of water, sent from the trees, collided with Kakashi, sending him flying right towards the rest of the group.
The four Genin already were on their way to intercept the sent present, with Keiji and Naruto leaping right towards him, with their weapons drawn out and ready for the strike. Naruto was the first one to get to swing his claymore, sending it at an angled rise, hoping to slash Kakashi diagonally, but unfortunately missing and striking another log in half. Fortunately for him, Keiji, with his Sharingan, was able to track and see where did Kakashi moved, even if he remained in relative invisibility.
Bringing his both scythes out, he sent them on a perpendicular course to each other, striking at the area at Naruto's left. When Naruto and Keiji had landed, they could see Kakashi landing on his healthy foot, with two horizontal slashes on his jacket, covering near the entire torso from one side to another. Kakashi winced and nearly tripped when he put his damaged foot down, feeling how the bleeding increased and it was starting to take its toll on him.
He may've underestimated the Genins, heavily, and he may've already considered them as having passed the test and it seemed like they were literally coming at him with a full intent to kill him. None of the other Genins that he had tested had this kind of resolve and determination to see him killed. In the back of his mind, Kakashi even wondered what he could've done to all of them to earn such an ire…
Just as he had landed and despite the weakness in his lower limbs, Kakashi was still able to move away from the attacking Rei, who had tried to use a thrusting attack on him. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't the best course of actions with him, as Kakashi had moved away from the blade and slammed his fist in her face, hoping to deal at least some damage to her. But, much like before, he had again underestimated his opponents, as Rei had suddenly popped out of existence in a white smock.
'Kage Bunshin! Then she must've really been with Akemi all this time, covering her up and…' Kakashi's train of thoughts was stopped, when he saw Hiryu coming right at him at a blazing speed with his chokuto pointed towards him.
Understanding that he had nearly fell into another distraction, Kakashi desperately used all of his remaining strength to leap away from him, nearly crying out of pain when he put more pressure on his wounded leg. Yet even when he had evaded Hiryu's strike, Kakashi was not out of the hot waters, as the real Rei had come at him from behind, leaping towards him and kicking him in the back of his head. Disoriented, Kakashi was unable to see how Rei used the back of his head as platform to jump away from him, while Naruto went rushing right towards him, with his claymore brought down for another slash. Kakashi had managed to stabilize himself enough to see another incoming attack from Naruto, but…
"Wind Style: Wind Bullet!" Hiryu's voice cried out, with an invisible mass of air escaping his mouth and slamming into Kakashi.
The invisible projectile sent Kakashi flying straight towards Naruto, without any means to stop. Naruto adjusted his course of running, and after carefully measuring up the distance, time and length of his blade, used all of his strength and speed to strike at Kakashi. The claymore's blade tore through the flying Kakashi', ripping out his jacket and leaving him a wound on his side, starting to bleed already. Kakashi's flight wasn't deterred by this minor obstacle, nor was Naruto hit by Hiryu's jutsu, as he had carefully took his position for the prior strike.
Kakashi was only saved from his flight when he suddenly slammed into a wall made of earth, and starting to fall down onto the ground. As he had hit the ground with his back, about six kunai with explosive tags had hit the ground near him, surrounding him, but not exploding. At this point Kakashi was completely exhausted and unable to move, as his wounds were already proving to be serious. At this point, he saw the full Squad 5 appear near him, with Keiji speaking up.
"I wouldn't try to move, scarecrow. Those some of my special tags, which are set off when they sense a movement near them. Not all that perfected, yet, but you try and move, and they'll go boom." Keiji stated to him with smirk. "Man, I only wish I had the camera to record it. Did any of you take it with you, by any chance?"
"No, but I think I'll remember this sight for a long time." Naruto said with chuckle, putting his sword behind his back. "Kakashi Hatake, the self-proclaimed best student of Fourth Hokage and one of the most wanted men from Konoha, beaten and bleeding in the dirt. How does it feel, by the way? To be bested by a bunch of "unprepared and mediocre" Genins, huh?"
"Do any of you mind if I take a little souvenir? Say, that infamous Sharingan of his?" Rei took out a kunai and was ready to make her way towards Kakashi, before Hiryu stopped her. "Ugh, Hiryu, that guy had helped kill my mother and father! Don't tell me you wouldn't want to pay him up for what he said about your dad and sister all those years ago?!" Naruto raised an eyebrow at this one, while Akemi stiffened up at the memory.
"We've done enough already, Rei, and as much as I would want, doing any more harm would only give Fourth an excuse to disband this Squad sentence us all to prison." Hiryu sternly said to Rei, who looked quite displeased at this fact, but put down her kunai. "Now we are under Hokage's jurisdiction, and if we maim Kakashi, we'll be charged with treason, test or no test. Besides, once the word gets around that the five of us have managed to nearly kill Kakashi Hatake, it'll be not just a big blow on his pride, but also on pride of Hokage, as this man was his so-called "personal favorite and best" student."
"Hate to admit it, but Hiryu's right." Naruto agreed with him. "At least Hokage will finally have some dirt on his sparkling public image…"
"Oh, I can assure you that he will." The whole Squad turned around to see Anko coming to them, massaging her neck. "Man, did you guys have to hit me that hard? I mean, you could've snatched the bells and that's it, I wouldn't protest or try to take 'em back. By the way, Ake-chan, can you get Kakashi some medical assistance? He may be an asshole, but its best he doesn't die just now." Akemi nodded at this one and went right ahead towards him with her med kit, while Keiji defused with a hand sign his tags.
"Sorry 'bout that, but we've decided not to take any chances." Keiji replied to her, before pointing to Hiryu. "Any complaints, you can take it up with the guy that came up with the plan."
"I see. I've had the feeling that it was you work, Hiryu. Great job." Anko smiled to him. "Still, I've been out for a little while, and mind telling how'd you come up with all of it?"
"Well, I've had my teammates to thank for making it all possible…"
Flashback. 25 minutes before the fight.
"Our first move will have to be separating them, making sure that they are on their own." Hiryu looked at his sister. "Akemi, can you use your Earth Style to split 'em apart? Like a Mud Wall or something like that?"
"Yeah, I think I can do so." Akemi nodded. "But you do remember that I don't too well alone or in close up fights, right? I could fight for a little bit, but not for long."
"And we'll have to follow up that move of yours, or else we'll be putting Akemi in danger." Keiji pointed out to Hiryu.
"I've already thought about it. Naruto, can you do a Henge into a kunai or shuriken?" Hiryu asked of him, with Naruto nodding to him. "Good. Rei, I want you to make a Shadow Clone, just like I've showed you, and have it leap out of trees the moment Akemi casts her jutsu. Then, I want it to send three us," Hiryu showed to himself, Naruto and Keiji. "Towards Anko and Kakashi, with us in form of kunai."
"Hm, sounds not bad, but I doubt they'll fall for you three transforming back and attacking." Rei argued to Hiryu. "And what would I be doing all this time? Sitting ducks?"
"The point is for us to actually land behind them in kunai forms, and also make sure for Clone to send me first, while Naruto follows behind after a couple of seconds. And as for you, you'll be our reserve and cover for Akemi, if she gets the main attention early on." Hiryu said to her, before explaining everything. "The Clone will then go after Anko, drawing in her attention, while Keiji comes back and strikes from behind. The same will go with us and Kakashi, with Naruto transforming back while in flight and getting his attention. I'll attack once I see that Kakashi's ready to evade. Akemi, will you be able to immobilize both of them at the same time?"
"Sorry, but no. I can only focus up on one of them, so make your choice." Akemi sighed.
"Hm… Naruto, you've watched Kakashi and know how he fights and moves, right? Should we have Akemi stop him, or Anko, in your opinion?" Hiryu asked of him.
"Kakashi may not look like, but he is quite fast and has very attuned reflexes, so he'll evade something like with haste, even under pressure from both of us. It's quite possible that neither you nor I will be able to even hit him before he uses a Kawarimi." Naruto informed them. "Best to take chances with Anko. From what I saw, she isn't particularly fast, not like some of the more dedicated Shinobi, and she relies far more on her specialization in poisons and snakes. Taking her out should be relatively easy with this plan."
"I think I can sweeten this plan a little." Keiji pulled out of his back pouch two kunai with special tags. "Smokescreen tags, with a timer. Charge up enough chakra, and it'll set off after enough time has passed, so be careful with charging. It'll disorientate them, while we'll have an advantage over 'em, since we'll know where they are."
"Good idea. Then Rei and you, with Akemi's help, will take down Anko and get her bells." The trio nodded to this. "Naruto and I'll manage Kakashi, and if he manages to escape, then we'll unite and take him on together. I do hope, though, that we'll at least cut him a little…"
"There's one more thing about Kakashi that we'll best take into account." Naruto spoke up, getting the attention of the group. "After using Kawarimi, he typically prefers to either hide in trees, bushes, or right underground. He especially likes to use the latter, with combination of Headhunter Jutsu, taking out stragglers or those that stand behind the active Genin."
"Eliminating the weak link early on… If that's the case, then he'll come right after Akemi in that case." Rei looked at her. "I think I'll be able to track him with my Sharingan and strike if or when he comes at her."
"If he does come at Akemi, my sensory abilities won't be all that good, since he'll be shielded by large reserves of Akemi." Hiryu said, rubbing his chin, getting a curious eye from Naruto, which white haired man caught. "Sorry, forgot to tell about it."
"No problems, I understand." Naruto nodded, before an idea came to his mind. "Akemi, do you know any of Clone Jutsu?"
"Yeah, Shadow and Water Clone Jutsu." Akemi nodded, before understanding what Naruto meant. "When the smock settles in, I can leave a Clone behind and hide with Rei, and when he comes at me, we'll surprise him, give him no time to react or anything. Strike him with something like a Jutsu, like Water Bullet."
"Sounds neat to me." Rei agreed. "But after that point, assuming that even comes to that, what is our general plan afterwards? You do realize that if even one of the acts goes differently, we'll have to scratch it off?"
"If that does happen… Then I say we'll act together, as a team. We'll go in not one by one, but at least in pairs. When one attacks and draws attention, the other strikes and makes sure he doesn't get away unscathed." Hiryu stated to them. "We keep him moving, constantly focused on what is in front of him, and not what is hidden behind him. Naruto and Keiji will work together, with Naruto drawing his attention and Keiji striking. Rei, her Clone and I will do the same, with her Clone being a main distraction, while Rei and I strike at him. Akemi will assist from range if need arises, give us cover to regroup and get back into action."
"I'm not saying that this plan will work for sure, but what I can say for sure is that right now is our main chance to finally be Genins, actual Shinobi. And all we have to do is beat that asshole, the guy that I'm quite sure has rattled all of us here. He expects us to act as lone children, going at him one by one, and he has seen it done over and over, and each time he took 'em down. I'm not planning on giving him the same pleasure." Hiryu shook his head. "We'll come at him, together, and put our trust in each other. We've got little reason to do so, I know, but… I believe that kicking the living hell out of that masked prick is worth putting aside our differences and showing him something he has been preaching about, yet fails to deliver: teamwork. So, are you ready to kick some major ass?" Hiryu smiled to them, with everyone nodding to him.
End of Flashback.
"…Although it wasn't the best plan, in my own opinion, it did work out in the end, even if it could use a bit of time and attention." Hiryu explained to Anko how they came up with this plan, with her smiling to him. "And as for this much damage to him… Well, considering that it was considered to be an actual mission and with you telling us to come at you with full killing intent, I'd say that we were simply following the instructions." Keiji and Rei chuckled to that one, with Akemi returning to them.
"I've stopped the bleeding, but he does need medical attention and soon. Hiryu had managed to cut several of blood vessels near his crotch, and I only temporarily stopped the bleeding, while Rei most certainly had caused a concussion to him. There were also two cracked ribs, damaged jaw, but worst is probably Naruto's slash of his side, as it had damaged his kidney, but I've managed to stop the internal bleeding." Akemi reported, giving back to Keiji his kunai with explosives. "You'd be best to hurry, or the wounds will just reopen."
"Will do, and thanks, Ake-chan. And as for all of you, a lot of folks here may not like it and there are those that didn't want to happen, but I'll say this: you've passed this test with flying colors in book." Anko laughed to them heartedly, with the Squad cheering all in their own personal capacity. "I know I ain't the best teacher material, or a team player, and I know that the only reason I agreed to tutor you was so that I could get an early promotion to Jonin. That is the truth for you, but what is also the truth, is that I intend to see all five of you graduate into Chunins, and I'll make sure to teach you lot all that I can, and if there's something you need and I can't provide, then I'll find those that can and make 'em help you, even if the scarecrow here doesn't like it. Does that sound good for you?"
"That's the best deal I've heard in my life." Keiji smiled. "And I think that I'm speaking for everyone here, and I'll say that we are game, all of us and 'till the end."
"Couldn't have said better myself." Hiryu agreed.
"I could, but I'll let the idiot here have his moment." Rei chuckled, with Keiji glancing up a glare to her.
"I think we'll do great together, don't you agree, Naruto?" Akemi turned her head to him, with redhead answering.
"Hm… Yeah, I think." Naruto answered, somewhat reserved, still digesting it all in his mind, catching a concerned look from Rei and Akemi about it all. "Um, sorry, I'm just… Not really used to all of this… Being in groups and stuff."
"Nah, don't worry about it. I think we'll break it all in to you pretty soon. Besides, you could've been doing a lot worse than that, if you had stayed in the Academy." Anko hinted at the twins, with Naruto silently agreeing with her. "Alright, since the mask here will be out of commission for a couple of days, I'll be in charge of your lot. I'm expecting all of you near Hokage's Building at 0800 hours, for our first assignments. While we can, we'll be taking up to three D-ranks a day for four days, and next two will be full on training, with time after mission dedicated to them as well, and the last day is a holiday, to catch your breath. Any questions?"
"Just curious, if you are new to all of this, who helped you to prep it all up?" Hiryu asked of Anko.
"I've asked for pointers a couple years back from your old man. Didn't you know that he also had trained a team of Uzumaki back in the day?" Anko informed them all. "I've once asked him about this whole teaching thing, and he gave me a couple of pointers, as well as lot of good information on this subject. Now, if that is all, you are all free to go wherever you want, just don't get into trouble." Anko dismissed them, while she went to get Kakashi delivered in the hospital.
"Well, this'll be fun. I've got some things to take care, so I guess I'll see you guess 'morrow morning." Rei told them, before walking from the clearing, with Keiji deciding to follow her, waving to the trio.
"I think we'll head back home, tell Dad the good news. You wanna tag along, Naruto? I think our parents will be glad if you visit." Hiryu suggested, with Naruto letting out a small sigh.
"You can go on ahead. I've got some… stuff to take care of and I'll drop by later. I want to ask your Dad a couple of questions." Naruto said, with Hiryu and Akemi nodding to him, before using Shunshin and disappearing from the view, while he walked towards his destination.
Hokage's Residence.
Fortunately for Naruto, there was nobody home by the time he had gotten there, so he had no problem to get in and start packing his belongings. He didn't take much, only what he had believed were his most needed essentials: scrolls, standard Shinobi equipment, books, notes, custom acquired sealing equipment and money, which he had saved up or, thanks to Henge, managed to earn through one-time jobs throughout the village. He considered taking cloths, but they were all by now too small for him to wear, so left it there. And as for anything that would remind him of his family… He didn't need it, so Naruto didn't even consider taking it with him. He was only glad to leave this part of life behind him at last.
As he was walking downstairs with the bag behind his back, his headband tied on his right arm, he could clearly hear Minato and Kushina talking in guestroom. With his curiosity piqued, Naruto decided to listen to it, carefully positioning himself to hear it, without being noticed.
"Minato, we have to do something! That whore Aika and bastard Shingen have all but ensnarled Naruto, and that white haired sow has even dared to state that it was our fault that Naruto is such a disappointment to us!" Kushina was quite enraged, as Naruto could her hear screams and pacing. "That arrogant damned bitch, who the hell does she think she accuses and even strikes upon?! Minato, I want those two and their brats out of the Village, they are clearly a threat to our children and us!"
"I know and understand what you want and mean, Kushina, but… I can't simply remove Shingen and his family out of Konoha." Minato tried to sound as diplomatic as possible. "I may have the full support of Shinobi Council, but the civilians and Civilian Council are on his side, not to mention that he has the support of Royal Court and Daimyo himself. And even if I were to make him move out of here, I would be literally driving out of Konoha near two thirds of the civilian population, if not all. And that includes the entire economical sector, and if that happens, Konoha will collapse because we literally won't have anything to buy, sell or any resources for the Clans. Plus… Shingen still holds control over the ROOT, or whatever he now calls it."
'Root, what is this thing?' Naruto thought to himself as he listened.
"The only thing right now I can do is make sure that Aika is fired from the Hospital, because of what she had done to you, and I will do so." Minato assured Kushina, with Naruto being curious about it. "Now, as for Naruto, from what my Anbu had reported to me, he didn't even meet Shingen and Aika until yesterday, but it seems to me that Shingen has been eyeing him up for a long time… I'll try to talk to Naruto one more time and try to reason with him, and I'll be sure that he explains himself and his words to you, Kushina."
"Our little boy… Just how could even say those words to me?! Doesn't he understand that he simply isn't as important as twins, and that we still need him for them?" Kushina paced around, with Naruto silently growling at this one. "And yet he continued to get himself into trouble and embarrass us. First it was his absences, then there was that episode with the twins birthday, and then all of those fights. It's like he doesn't even care about the fact that each of those acts reflects badly on our family! Ugh, Naruto is just like my sister, always thinking of themselves as centers of universe and that all should be as they will, and giving no regard about the actions they take!"
'Look who's talking… And I wouldn't mind meeting that sister of hers.' Naruto thought to himself.
"Yes, he does resemble late Akane in a manner of speaking." Minato sighed, agreeing with Kushina, before speaking up. "Look, Kushina, with Naruto and the others being Genins, I'll have far more opportunities to talk him and make him listen. With Kakashi there, he'll make sure to keep an out for Naruto and teach him what he needs to really do, and if Naruto doesn't listen, I can forcefully stop him from entry into Chuunin Exams, so he and his Squad will be stuck as Genins until the twins graduate. By that time, I'll be sure to place him in their Team, so he'll be around to help and support them, as well as protect them."
'That bastard wants me to be in the same team as those two brats… So that I could protect them?! And he would hold me back just because of that?!' Naruto was practically boiling with rage at this, and having heard enough stepped out and spoke in the open.
"So that's the real reason you've kept me from graduating, huh? So that I could serve as fucking cannon fodder for those two brats?!" Minato and Kushina were shocked and surprised, to see Naruto with his bag behind his back. "Well you can fucking forget about it. The last thing I would ever want is to help those two brats that you love so much." With that said Naruto turned around and started walking to the exit.
"Naruto, you stop right there!" Kushina and Minato stood right in front of him, standing between him and his freedom. "I have had enough of your idiocy and it is time that you've grown up, Naruto! You will put this bag down, apologize to me, and start being the good son and a good brother you are supposed to be!"
"And what if I don't comply with that? You'll what, put me in jail? I've sat for six months in total in a cell because you two never even cared to investigate why I was put there and what were the circumstances. And besides that, you don't even have the right to put me there at the moment." Naruto looked at Minato, who tried to hold back his scowl towards his son. "I'm a Genin now, and thanks to that, I can move out of here, and you can't stop me from doing just that."
"You are still our son, and as parents, you are still our responsibility, Naruto." Minato argued with him. "Look, I understand that we had not been all that attentive to you, Naruto, but you have to understand that…"
"Attentive?! You've fucking forgotten about me, all because of those two damn brats of yours!" Naruto roared at them, before Kushina openly had slapped Naruto across his cheek, cutting him open his lower lip.
"ENOUGH! I have had enough of your damned arrogance, Naruto!" Kushina shouted right at him, while he growled at her. "We have been patient, I have been patient with your antics and your fucking attitude towards us and your siblings, but that stops now! Either put this back down and apologize to us, or you can leave this house and forget the road to us back, because after that, you won't even have a family name!" Naruto looked surprised at this one.
"Kushina, maybe you are taking this too far…"
"No, Minato! I can see now that he'll not understand it by simple words." Kushina turned back to Naruto. "I have done everything for you, Naruto, and I will not allow you keep tarnishing our honored names of Uzumaki and Namikaze any longer. It's because of your attitude that you will never be like your siblings, Narumi and Menma. You do not understand the responsibility and honor, nor do you seem care about them. Had you cared, you would've abided by our decisions and stop this rebellion of yours, but no… Now this it for you, Naruto: either you start acting like my son, or you won't have any family to talk about. I will disown you, erase your name from Uzumaki Clan and Namikaze Clan, and after that, we'll see how you cope." Kushina glared at Naruto, who turned his eyes towards Minato, waiting what he had to say.
"Naruto… We have given you everything you needed, and still you don't understand that Menma and Narumi are more important than you, and you know why. I may not like it, but if you don't stop this foolishness of yours and start acting like you should, I will have no other alternative other than to exile you from my Clan." Minato said to him, though not as firmly as he had wanted. "You could've been worthy that name before, but now… Now you I am not so sure I want such a son, the one that does everything to embarrass us in front of everyone and don't understand his place in this world."
"I understand it, everything." Naruto said in low tone with a bit somber color to it. "But that doesn't mean that I have to abide by it, nor do I have to do anything just because it paints you in the better color. You know why I've always hated you two, ever since that damned birthday? It wasn't because of the heir thing, not completely, no. Oh no, I hate the two of you because I've spent two years of my fucking life, thinking that I mattered to you, as son! I hoped that I could get good enough for you, but you know what I understood back them? I understood that I will never be good enough for you, and only because I wasn't born to carry that damned fox yours, and be treated like some second coming of Sage of Six Paths. You probably don't even care about those two as your children, only as objects of prestige and adoration, that's why they are the ones getting all the attention. And me? Well, I'm just your son, firstborn and not important enough for adoration and respect of people. You two care so fucking much about how everyone praises and respects you, that it disgusts me. You don't need me as a son." Naruto gripped up his bag and moved through them, pushing the two aside.
"And I don't need you two as my parents." Naruto said to them, as he continued moving towards the exit, hearing how Kushina and Minato shouted to him, trying to stop him, but unable to do so.
In the next minute, Naruto opened up the door and took the first step towards his liberation from the life he had before. He knew that those two will carry out their promise about disowning him, but that didn't even bother Naruto at this point. The idea of having no parents had long set in his mind, and he understood that it was true for him, no matter what those two may say. He may've lost his family name officially, but he carried within his blood the pride and honor of Uzumaki, the Clan that he chosen to associate himself with.
Not the Namikaze, that was a random offshoot of some other Clan and were posed by Minato as some great power thanks to him, but the Uzumaki of Uzu, the proud, powerful, honored and great union of clans that had inspired fear and respect in enemies and friends alike. Kushina was nothing like them, nothing like Shingen that deserved, in Naruto's opinion, respect and adoration. And he'll never sink that low just to get some pointless praise and adoration for your posture or position, like Kushina likes.
No, Naruto Uzumaki will walk the path of Uzumaki, and nothing will stop him from doing it now.
Phew, long time no see, over 10K chapter… But you readers deserved it. And now it is official: Squad Five is the real deal and Naruto is kicked out of Uzumaki and Namikaze, but he's an Uzumaki in blood yet.
Now onto the details of this chapter, of which we have several elaborate.
First up, I've seen in many stories that Naruto is always the one coming up with the plans and strategies, like he is the second Shikamaru. Well, here it's Hiryu that is the official tactical and overall leader of the Squad Five, not Naruto. Each of the teammates will and already excels in several areas, and all of them will be vital to the whole success of the Squad, I can assure you of that.
Next up, S5, as I call the Team 5, has managed to defeat Kakashi, one of the more experienced Shinobi, thanks to Hiryu formulating the right strategic plan, based around what he knew his teammates and himself could do, as well as Naruto's information about Kakashi. Kakashi's arrogance and belief in the Genins not being up to his standard greatly helped out. Had this been a serious fight with Kakashi going all out, they wouldn't get off that easy. However, when led right and with a good plan, these 5 can do a lot of damage. Also, as a side note, I had planned to bash Anko as well in this story, but I simply couldn't do it, so she'll be the one training them up, in whatever she can.
Also, yeah, Kushina had a sister in this story. Go ahead with you theories, I know what you are all thinking, and I'm just gonna let you ponder about it all. Write down in reviews and comments you thoughts and theories about it all, we both know what I'm about, so there is possibility of me pulling that good old cliché I used too much…
As for Naruto, we all knew it was coming up sooner or later, so I decided not to prolong it. He may've lost the name of Uzumaki, but not the blood. Besides, it's not like he is losing too much.
Oh, and yeah, Shingen is the one running ROOT now, as well as being responsible for nearly killing the old Onoki for what happened to his daughter.
Next chapter will be time skipping a couple of months for the plot progression, just so you know. Now, as for the question with the harems, I still haven't fully decided yet, but if I do decided to make it, they won't be large like I usually did. Only 3 members tops, no more.
Review, comment, favor and follow this and my other Naruto stories, I really appreciate the feedback and it helps me out a lot. PM or post in review your suggestions and questions as well, so I'll be able to answer them.
Till next time!