Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Kaito yawned as he rolled out of his bed. Today was the day he would officially become a Genin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. When he remembered that, he suddenly felt a huge surge of energy. Glancing over at his clock that read 5:00 am, he realized he got up way too early, and that he had at least two hours to kill. Sighing, he leaped out of bed and decided to check to see if either of his sisters were awake, while he still had his amazing mood.
"Did you sleep in your clothes, again?"
He jerked around to see, Rei, leaning against the wall, staring at him with a raised eyebrow. It seemed she had come to him, not the other way around. Kaito chose to ignore her and instead walked into the bathroom to take a shower. He had changed his mind; sisters were too annoying to talk to in the morning. She would probably find a way to pummel his magnificent morning into the ground.
"Wait." Kaito stopped and sighed. He silently turned to face her, motioning for her to continue. "I just wanted to congratulate you on your graduation and wish you luck with whatever comes next for you. I have the official Jonin ceremony today, so I won't be able to see you until this afternoon. Later, bro." With that, she grinned, walked down the stairs and out the door.
He knew it. She killed his mood. It wasn't the congratulations that did it, but the mention of her Jonin promotion. Yesterday he had been extremely proud of her - ecstatic at her promotion - but just now, the realization hit him – hard. She was his measuring stick. He needed to be like her to please dad. Well, actually, father still wasn't thrilled with his sister, but being worse would be his death sentence.
It was true he loved and admired his sister, but he could not help but feel jealous at her good fortune. She was blessed with incredible skill for this new age, while he was stuck so far behind. Even when she congratulated him, she somehow made him feel inferior. If she knew that mentioning the Jonin ceremony would upset him, she would have avoided that subject like the devil to protect his feelings, and that made it even worse. Everything is so much simpler when people are cruel sadistic beasts. Then you would never feel bad about feeling jealous of them.
After his shower re-rejuvenated him, he walked down the stairs and fixed himself waffles with lots of syrup. Kaito and Rei rarely used syrup, because father never used it. Father never forbade sugar – Mother even used to bring some chocolate home all the time when the children were younger – but it was clear he did not truly approve of it. "Oh, honey you're already up. I was just coming down to make a special breakfast for you but it seems you beat me to it." His mother walked in startled to see her son awake.
"I know I'm usually never up before noon but you didn't even check with your Byakugan." Kaito mock sighed, teasing his mother. "Am I that predictable?"
His mother just chuckled with him before changing the subject. "Seriously, I just wanted to say how proud of you I am, again. You're my special little boy." His mother wrapped him into an enormous embrace, squeezing him tightly. Kaito sighed for real this time.
He was glad that people were trying to encourage him, but this was a little much. It was almost as if they realized how pathetic he felt and were going out of their way to offer as much support as possible. He snorted. What a ridiculous thought.
Kaito decided to leave before he had any more stupid 'revelations.'
"See you around, Mom. I'm going to go see Uncle Neji. I mean Neji – err…- Kun? Sama? Shoot I can't remember."
"That's fine, dear. He should be at the western training ground, around now."
"Hey, Uncle Neji." Kaito greeted as he strolled up to watch Neji obliterate a practice dummy. Kaito stopped on the outskirts of the grounds Neji replied without looking up from his training. "Hello, Kaito. You're never up this early.Was their something you needed?"
"Nah, not really. I woke up too early, 'cause I was excited about meeting my instructor and all. Didn't want to go back to sleep so I came to find you."
"I see."
For a while, Kaito enjoyed the silence while watching Neji continue to beat the training equipment.
Finally, Kaito worked up the courage to timidly ask Neji a question. "Why," He paused and gulped. This would be awkward. He restarted. "Why, do you and father hate each other?"
Startled at the unexpected question, Neji stopped in mid punch to gaze at the boy with wide eyes. After what seemed to be an eternity to Kaito, Neji chuckled. Seeing Kaito's confused look Neji explained.
"Sasuke and I don't hate each other. I respect him, and I'm positive he feels the same way."
"Then why do you guys argue all the time?"
Neji chuckled again. "Sasuke and I, along with some other Jonin, are…eternal rivals, as Rock Lee would say. All of us make everything into a competition, but as you've seen, some of us take it too far. Both Sasuke and myself hate losing, even in the most inconsequential matters." Neji walked over to Kaito and sat down motioning the boy to do the same next to him.
"You see," Neji continued, "when you get farther along in your ninja career, you'll realize that rivalries are not only common, but beneficial as well. Trying your hardest to surpass a fellow ninja is the one of the greatest motivations in the world. However, never get so caught up in your quest to win that you make stupid decisions. Many ninja regret their actions because of their foolhardiness."
"Is that what happened to my father-"
"I believe that it is time for you to leave. You don't want to be late do you?" Neji interjected, visibly uncomfortable with the topic.
"But Uncle Neji!" Kaito whined.
Neji sighed, cursing his low resistance against the boy. Kaito had a special place in Neji's heart. "Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to have this conversation with you. It's not my place to say. If you want to ask someone who will have to ask your father."
Realizing that he would receive no more information from his uncle, he began to trudge to the academy. The rest of his life was waiting ahead of him, and he might as well get an early start on it.
Reiji was sauntering down a road of Konoha. He was tall for his age, around 5 foot 8 inches, and had long auburn hair. His dark green eyes scanned the street looking for some sort of entertainment.
He brought out a pack of cards and began flipping them back and forth, from hand to hand, and whistled his favorite tune. He had no idea what song it was; it was just catchy and he liked it. Grinning playfully at all the pretty girls, he continued strolling down the street. He was a brand new Genin and was on his way to the Academy, hoping to…acquire some useful information, before anyone else got there.
Stealing was a better word. His family mastered the arts of espionage and stealth, meaning that from time to time they extracted a little extra payment from Konoha for their services. He was, also, the top ninja in his class – which did not mean anything – but he still rubbed it in some of the other kid's faces, anyway.
Lost in thought he had not been looking to where he was going, and ran into someone. Both of them fell onto the ground, and Reiji's cards scattered all over the muddy ground.
"Hey, watch it!" He shouted, disgruntled that someone ruined his perfect morning. He was irritated because his long, brown trench coat had mud splattered all over it, now.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." Kaito said apologetically, brushing himself off as he got up. When he looked down at the person he ran into his expression changed. Reiji was ignoring the other person, kneeling down to pick up his cards. "Oh. It's you. Y'know that is where you should be. On the ground kissing my feet." Kaito smirked.
Looking up he cursed softly. Few people could manage to grate on Reiji's nerves like Kaito could. "Watch where you're going klutz!"
"Hn. Sorry, but I just couldn't see the master of stealth. You forgive me right?" Kaito said in a sickly sweet voice. There was no doubt the kid wasn't sorry at all.
Growling, Reiji shook his head and picked up the cards. Reiji never understood it. He could beat Kaito in everything, except their little verbal skirmishes.
In the beginning, Reiji had tried to be nice to the kid, but scathing remarks were all that greeted him in return. Nothing would deter the kid either. Beating him in sparring only made Kaito even more spiteful. Maybe, it was that their egos were both just so huge they were incompatible.
Suddenly, Reiji thought of what could be the real reason Kaito tried to humiliate him. "You're jealous."
"Huh?" Kaito responded, pretending to not understand what Reiji was talking about.
The taller boy smirked. "That's why you hate my guts, because you're jealous that I'm better than you, the great Uchyuga."
Reiji had hit the nail on the head. Seeing yet another person surpass him caused Kaito to lash out. Like with his sister it was hard to feel jealous if the person was nice to you, so Kaito forced the hatred between them. Unfortunately, nowadays it wasn't so forced. Even though Reiji was right, hell would freeze over before Kaito ever let him know that. So he forced a laugh.
"You wish. Why would I want your skills? All you can do is run and hide sort of well. Who would be jealous of that?"
Scowling Reiji brushed past Kaito and stalked toward the Academy. Maybe he was right or maybe he was wrong, but he right now he didn't feel like arguing with the moron.
When Reiji left, Kaito sighed. He was lucky he had perfected lying, a long time ago.
Humming, Naruto strolled down the streets of Konoha, looking for something to do. He was disappointed that he would have to teach some snotty punks, but there was nothing he could do about it. As he was lost in thought, he noticed someone was following him. Sighing he just continued wandering the town, hoping they would get bored, since he did not feel like confronting anyone at the moment.
After a while, the pursuers were still following him, so he quickened his pace. Soon he was all out sprinting to shake his follower.
Finally, Naruto stopped and turned around, exasperated at the ridiculousness of the situation. The pursuer stopped right behind him.
Fake rocks, he thought, looking at a square box, painted to look like rocks. What's up with that?
"That's the worst disguise of all time! There's no such thing as square rocks! It's completely obvious!" Naruto shouted at the perpetrator.
"You saw through my disguise, again! You're slick, boss. Just what I'd expect from my greatest rival." Suddenly the box exploded and three, different colored smokes rose into the sky. Coughing, one of them said. "I think we used a little too much gunpowder, you guys." Seeing Naruto glaring at them, the three of them jumped up.
"I'm-"
"I know who you guys are. You're Moegi, Udon and Konohamaru. You don't need to introduce yourselves every single time we meet. What are you guys doing?" a disgruntled Naruto asked.
"Well, boss-"
"Another thing, why do you guys still call me boss?"
"Well, we're not Super Jonin, like you boss. Until, us rivals are equal, you're still the boss, boss"
"Well, I am pretty super." Naruto replied arrogantly. He stopped and looked semi-serious, again. "But since we are officially the same rank, you could just call me Naruto."
"But, our level compared to you, is like your level compared to Kakashi."
Nice Naruto was gone. "What?! I'm way better tha Kakashi-sensei. I could beat him any day of the week." Naruto barked.
"Really, Naruto?" An amused voice asked behind him. Naruto paled, as he began to chuckle nervously.
Kakashi had always been good, even before his Sharingan eye. Yet, he had only gotten better as the years passed. He had mastered the lightning fist fighting style, ranking him at almost Sannin level.
Naruto gulped and slowly turned around to face his former sensei – still giggling uneasily. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei. How are you?" Naruto asked innocently.
"He is sort of right, Konohamaru." Kakashi stated, ignoring Naruto for the moment. "It would be a closer match than most would think, and if Naruto used his…ace in the hole, he would be able to pull out with a win"
Naruto knew exactly what Kakashi was talking about. The nine-tailed fox. Naruto rarely used this power anymore, instead trying to rely on his own fighting prowess. However, certain situations did sometimes call for it. If he ever needed to fight Kakashi to the death, that would be one.
"But, Naruto," Kakashi continued, "how can you blame him for calling you boss, when you still call me Kakashi-sensei?"
Darn him. Kakashi was right, as usual. Naruto crossed his arms and sulked, refusing to answer. Instead, he turned his attention back to the three stooges.
"Yeah, well what are you guys doing here? You never answered me earlier."
"I was going to outfox my greatest rival. We were gonna sneak up on you using this rock box as camouflage-"
"Why do you three use such an apparent disguise? Like Naruto said, it is completely obvious. You guys aren't kids anymore, you're in your thirties." Kakashi raised his eyebrow as he interrupted, mildly perplexed.
"They've always used it, so don't bother questioning it, or else they'll do their acting-dumb-thing. It's annoying." Naruto whispered to Kakashi. "In real fights, they don't fool around like this, though. I hope." The last part he muttered to himself.
Kakashi chuckled. "It's funny hearing you, of all people, call something annoying." Ignoring Naruto's scowl Kakashi cut through any potential rebuttal by saying, "I have to go now, Naruto. I'm already a half an hour late for my meeting with Sakura and Sasuke." Kakashi paused before he asked. "Do you want to go? Before you ask, yes it is at Ichiraku's."
"YEAH! RAMEN! What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"Ino-Pig!"
"Billboard Brow!"
People stopped to watch the spectacle. Two girls had been walking down the street, until they had noticed each other. The two had stopped and stared at the other, when suddenly, they both lunged forward, into one big hug.
"How are you?" the Ino gushed, finally releasing the pink-haired girl.
"Fine and you?" Sakura replied smiling.
Ino sighed. "Ok, I guess. I didn't really want to teach this time around. But it's probably 'bout time, though. I don't know how I managed to not have to do it before – maybe just luck – but my luck finally ran out."
"Aww, I'm sorry to hear that, Ino. But, it's not that bad. I had to do it, a couple years ago, when the hospital wasn't as busy, and my kids were nice."
"I'm not worried about that – I can take anything those kids think they can throw at me – but I'm afraid that I'll mess everything up. I mean, what if I can't protect them?" Ino asked losing her usual self-assurance.
Sakura smiled at her friend. "I'm sure you'll do fine. You're a strong ninja, and I'm positive you won't let any harm come to those little tykes."
Ino grimaced. "Little tykes? What century are you living in?"
"Ino-Pig!" Sakura growled, dangerously low.
"Just kidding, forehead. Don't have a cow." Ino teased. She got serious, though, when she realized something. "Speaking of those kids, I need to hurry to the Academy, or I'm gonna be late. See ya."
"Yeah, bye Ino." Sakura smiled, again, as Ino ran past her. The two still kept their old nick-names and still teased each other, but Ino and Sakura were best friends.
Not knowing what to do Sakura wandered the town for a bit, gazing at all the expensive items on sale. Eventually, Sakura spotted Naruto and Kakashi walking towards her. Naruto was talking animatedly about something, while Kakashi half listened and tried to read his perverted, orange book.
Kakashi looked up and spotted her. "Sakura, over here." Kakashi yelled, sounding relieved to find something to distract Naruto.
"Hey guys. What are you guys doing?"
"We're on our way to Ichiraku's to meet up with you and Sasuke. Why aren't you there? I'm already forty-five minutes late."
"Oh! I almost forgot. Sasuke told me he couldn't make it for lunch, so we're going to get together for dinner. Naruto, you're invited if you want to come."
"Why wasn't invited before, huh?!" Naruto shouted.
"Because you SHOULD be at the Academy by now. So, I'm a little curious why you aren't there now." Sakura replied exasperatedly.
"AHH! I FORGOT! I gotta go!" Naruto started to run off down the street before he stopped and turned around. "Why did you even invite me if you knew you were gonna make me late, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto snapped.
"I forgot about that. Oops." Kakashi said casually, without looking up from his book. Naruto just screamed and ran towards the Academy.
"Yo, Shino, buddy, what's up? Haven't seen you in a while." Kiba said catching sight of the mysterious Jonin drifting throughout the village.
"Kiba." Shino greeted.
"Hey, man, I'd been looking for you. I'm going to meet Hinata at Ichiraku's right now and you should come along too. It'll be like a team ten reunion." Akamaru barked beside his master, also wanting Shino to come.
Instead of answering, Shino just started walking toward the Ramen stand. Used to his friend's quietness, Kiba fell in step beside Shino. The two walked in silence the rest of the way to the restaurant. They sat down at the bar and waited for Hinata to show up.
Five minutes later Hinata walked in. "Hinata, over here." Kiba shouted, waving his arms to get her attention.
"Hello, Kiba. Hello, Shino. How are you both?" She asked as she slid into the seat on Kiba's left. Shino, on Kiba's right, answered concisely, "Fine."
"Well, I'm pretty good, except for having to train those kids. Aw, man, that's gonna suck." Kiba growled in irritation. Tossing his problems aside for the moment, Kiba perked up and asked. "So, how about you? You doing good?"
"I have been fine, Kiba. My son, Kaito, just passed his Genin test, and Rei became a Jonin yesterday. They've both grown so much."
"Good for them, Hinata. You and Sasuke ought to be proud. Who knows, maybe the little squirt will be in my squad." Kiba cheered, happy for his friend. When the food came, Kiba began to reminisce.
"It's surprising how much you yourself have grown, Hinata. You used to be a shy, quiet little girl. Now you're a sort of shy, kind of quiet women. That's a huge improvement." Kiba said jumping out of his seat to give her a pat on the back.
Hinata giggled at her friend's silliness. It was true. She still was shy and quiet but much more outgoing than before.
Realizing what time it was, Hinata started. "Oh, I think I should leave now. I want to get to Rei's ceremony early. Thank you both for inviting me. I hope we can do this again soon." Hinata said.
"Aww, man, you practically just got here." Kiba pouted. Shrugging, he turned back to his ramen and smiled. "Whatever, it's no problem. We'll see you later."
Before Hinata could leave, though, a voice stopped her.
"It is surprising." Shino said, startling his two teammates.
"I think that's the most I've ever heard you say at once, Shino. You okay? You got a fever?" Kiba said, mock frowning and putting his hand on Shino's forehead.
"What's surprising, Shino?" Hinata asked quietly, ignoring Kiba.
Shino swatted Kiba's hand away and continued. "How lucky we've been. No one we know has died in a very long time, and none of our closest friends has come even close to peril in a decade. The odds that all of the Rookie Nine, Gai's team, Gaara's team and all of our Jonin instructors surviving this long are slim, at best."
"Well, there hasn't been a lot of ninja activity lately. All of the ninja's have been experiencing a decline in the quality and quantity of their ninja." Hinata stated.
After a few moments, Shino replied. "That is an even scarier thought. It means we may be fighting a battle no one is powerful enough to fight. The extinction of the shinobi is on the horizon and even the strongest of all warriors cannot hope to fight that."
Author's Notes
Hmm... looking back I realized how many of them were just wandering around the town. Oh, well, like I said there have been less missions so they're all bored and looking for stuff to do.
Sorry, that this chapter was still introducing/re-introducing all the characters. The actual story SHOULD start next chapter.
This chapter was purposefully vague on what the other pairings were in order to give you more time to decide and tell me.
Gaara, Rock Lee, Temari and Shikimaru are definitely in the next chapter. Especially Gaara. He was going to be in this one but his scene was cut, because it did not fit in well.
Some of you are probably upset that Naruto isn't a god that can beat anyone. He can however beat most people.If he was already at max potential than he couldn't grow at all.
In my opinion, ninja don't hit their twenty's and stop becoming stronger, so Kakashi would keep growing as well. We even see him training by himself during the Chunin exams. In addition, the Sannin probably weren't suddenly the best fighters of their time at 18. They were definitely good, but not the best ever.
The idea for Reiji was shamelessly borrowed from a marvel comic book character. I barely even changed the name, talents or personality. Guess if you can name him.
Finally, I'm slowly introducing the major OC's. When I read some fics they always throw the names and brief descriptions of ten new characters at me in the first sentence. I can never remember who is who. I am trying to avoid that by slowly introducing the major ones. If I'm still going to fast, tell me.