Erm, haha... Hi there.
Yeah... Sorry for the asdkasjdak-ly late update, people! It was really a hectic month for me though, you know? Right... no, of course you wouldn't. Let's just say I had a ****load of homework, a fever, a huge*** writer's block, but worst of all, I lost the original eleventh (this) chapter (which might have contributed to my writer's block).
Andandand - I made a mistake with Naruto's team number TAT Their team number is 9, not 10. Those of you who forgot or don't know about this, please don't mind this message :)
And, not sure if any of you will notice, but I've tried working on writing descriptions (someone informed me that I have been missing out on that... and looking back I realized I didn't write the surroundings and stuff at all). I suck at describing, though...
And, the reason why I chose nine as Naruto's team's number is because their team would be a little like Team Gai (they're Team Nine-remember the academy teacher telling Naruto's class that "team Nine is still in circulation"?) not personality-wise of course. Just their abilities and all that resembles them a little.
Oh, by the way, I decided to stop replying to reviews here, and to reply via PM as it takes too much space. I'll try to get my replies for the last chapter done at least by the end of this week, if not sooner.
Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a (-n early) HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I apologize if it is rushed. I tried to read through it a few times and fix the chapter, but if you find any obvious, distracting mistakes please do tell me!
Naruto, Genma, and Kakashi, all leaning against the black bark of a tree, waited at the third training ground which seemed to be their team's now. Sakumo had told them the day before, during their first meeting back at the academy, to wait for him here at six in the morning, and be prepared. They all were, but also tired from waking up so early and downright nervous. Also irritated from having autumn leaves stuck in their hair.
This was their real test. The Genin Exams, apparently, were just hosted to wipe out the hopeless.
She guessed they would be fine; their team had an advantage compared to the others. All three of them know each other after many spars, and, from what she could tell, got on rather well.
But what if this was a test where they were pitted against each other? Naruto frowned, deep in thought. That wasn't likely. When was there ever anything less than a three-man-cell?
Or were they going to be pitted against each other, with the winner joining with two other winners to form a team?
She snapped out of her thoughts at the sounds of crunching dead leaves, and looked up to see Sakumo's tall figure. "Sakumo-sensei!" Her voice had come out as a surprised squeak. Embarrassed, she coughed. "Good morning." The other two stood up and greeted their sensei as well, and the three were replied with a smile and nod.
"It's getting pretty chilly, huh? I see you've changed your style," he commented, addressing to Naruto's new attire.
She now wore a dark orange jacket that had a black hood and sleeves, with black khaki pants and boots. Next to her, Kakashi merely wore an unzipped black jacket over his usual navy blue outfit. Genma had on what he normally did, a red long scarf, long-sleeved, beige top, and black knee-length shorts. The Shiranui walked from behind them to stand on the other side of Naruto to see Sakumo, and noticed that, like his son, he wore all navy blue minus the jacket.
Sakumo immediately got onto explaining about the Bell Test. Throughout the instructions and objective of it, Naruto grew annoyed of the light, slow pounding in her ears, and how, for some reason, Genma had pink hair. The hue immediately changed back to the usual dark brown, and she had to blink twice. She pinched the bridge of her nose, much like how her mother did whenever Minato acted foolish.
Absently she rubbed her forehead, and recounted the rules in her head. Basically, they had to get a bell from Sensei before the alarm rings nine hours into the morning, and there were only two, meaning that one has to fail and leaveー
What.
Her jaw went slack. What? She repeated again in her head, blinking furiously. So only two would pass? Or one, even?
She gauged the other two's reactions, and saw their shock as well. Kakashi met her gaze, eyes holding a sliver of panic. She couldn't blame him. He may be tough, but not enough to not worry about this test. There might even be a chance where they can't get the bell at all, seeing as this was Hatake Sakumo they're dealing with.
She looked at Genma, and noticed his face scrunched in bemusement after taking in the rules of the Bell Test. Naruto could tell what he was thinking, because it was the same course her mind had taken before the man came.
Genma pondered even further than she did, though, because one thing did not make sense. Even if the winners were separated into different teams, what was the point of putting them together with the ones that failed in the first place? Wouldn't it have been much easier and efficient to have another Genin Exam? And judging from what he remembered of the team placement, all of them were chosen with thought. Team Eight, the one Inuzuka Kippei, Hyuuga Shizuka, and Aburame Muta are in, is specialized for tracking; all three of them are from the clans with the best senses.
Team Nine was put together by how the genin fare with each other, their best skills and teamwork. Naruto was really what usually put him and Kakashi together in their hangouts, and they got along together fine when she was around. He knew his hands with weapons, Kakashi and Naruto's stealthiness, the latter's stamina and chakra levels, and the former's speed rounded the team's abilities pretty high. Not to mention, that all three of them were above ten in the rankings of the Genin Exams.
Team Seven was put together by the dead last, rookie and kunoichi of the year, but becauseーfrom what Genma had already guessedーhe, Naruto, and Kakashi were better put together, they chose the ones from the other grade, which were the kids named Obito, Rin, and Gai. Apparently, from what the Shiranui gathered, the Uchiha had suddenly boosted up his grades (Genma remembered Naruto mentioning something about giving away a copy of all of her notes to a random boy in another class...), enough to get the best out of his class, and his ninjutsu and stamina were impressive for his age. Of course, the boy hadn't managed to top Naruto and Kakashi, but Genma guessed the boy was good enough to stand his own against them. Rin was a smart kunoichi, and had excellent chakra control, but he hadn't gotten much information on her to know anything else. The third member of Team Seven was a... flashy one. Gai.
Genma knew quite a lot about him without searching around. That boy had superb taijutsu, though lacked in everything else. If it weren't for his amazing stamina and strength that exceeded Naruto and Kakashi's ownーwhich was saying somethingーand surprisingly good marks on the written exams (Genma suspected this was through vigorous studying), he would have failed the Exams.
Team Seven's members were wisely put together, he concluded. They make up for each other's lack in a part, and, if he heard right, they get along well.
Sakumo set down the alarm clock, snapping Genma out of his thoughts. "You may come at me with the intent to kill," he said pleasantly, and all three former academy students widened their eyes. "Weapons, the best jutsus you know. Just not at each other, 'kay?"
Naruto frowned, recovering from her prior shock. It didn't make sense. How can one measly fresh-out-of-the-academy-student take a bell from an elite jounin?
Before she had the time to ask, though, he cleared his throat, and began counting down from three.
They prepared themselves, bending their knees.
"Go!"
The three dispersed.
Naruto would've gone head-on if she hadn't been so familiar with fighting the man. She had learned immediately that it was stupid to do so; Sakumo could shove her to the ground in a heartbeat.
So she tried forming ideas.
She could go out of the training grounds and steal a bunch of useful seals from her mother and father(and apologize for it later). Her home wasn't too far away, and there was plenty of time from now.
Two problems to that though. One, how was she supposed to go home without being noticed? She knew the jounin had psychic powers. She just knew.
And the other problem is, even if she did reach her house how was she supposed to get the seals to work? Sure, she could try unlocking the box she knew her father put them in, but could she operate them? Chakra she had plenty of, but what about the amount of it she needed for each one? And, more importantly, how was she supposed to know what did what?
She would hate to have her parents get mad at her for that.
So there's only one option left (other than going suicide-mode by attacking Sakumo). Team up with either Kakashi or Genma and grab a bell for themselves, leaving the left over one to fail.
Naruto scoffed. No way is she ever going to even think of doing that. Leaving behind one of her best friends? She huffed at the mere thought, and decided.
She was going to get the two bells with them, and complain to the Hokage 'til their throats go raw.
That in mind, she went to look for the other two.
Her walking evolved to cheerful skipping, her mind feeling lighter than it had been a mere few minutes ago.
Kakashi tensed, until he registered that Naruto would hide her presence if she wanted to attack him. He let her come closer to him until they were both crouched side by side, watching their sensei. "What do you want?"
A small grin streaked over her face, and Kakashi eyed her warily. "Let's go get the bells," she said, oblivious to his wide eyes and, hidden underneath the navy mask, his slack jaw. "With Genma."
Gaining his composure, he shot an annoyed glare. "Didn't you hear the rules of this test? He said we had toー"
"He never told us to not work together. So I don't see what's wrong." Naruto smirked, before crawling out from under the stiff, brown veil of the tree's leaves and standing. "Loosen up, Scarecrow. We'll show him up with teamwork. He can't say no to us if we make an awesome show of it."
The silver haired boy contemplated her words reluctantly, and he nodded with exasperation. "Fine, but if we fail, it would be completely your fault." It wasn't like he had a better idea, anyways.
Before she appeared, he had no idea of what he should do; going down to fight his father alone would surely result in him shoved to the ground in less than even a minute. A small, unnoticed pout settled on his face, disliking how he seemed to follow Naruto more frequently these days.
Naruto grinned, letting him crawl out before grabbing his hand to drag him off so they could find their third teammate.
Genma hadn't hesitated when he agreed with their plan. They decided to map out their moves, occasionally eyeing where their sensei stood. Naruto and Kakashi would try to keep the man distracted and bind him up, seeing as they were most familiar with the man's fighting style, and Genma would aim for the right time to swoop in and grab the bells.
A pretty simple, typical plan, Genma guessed, but it would do.
Besides, he could bet Sakumo wouldn't suspect that they were all working together. After thinking thoroughly through the test and its objective, he played with the idea that the rules were to set the three of them against each other. Maybe the two of them will team up leaving the third member out, which is what Naruto and Kakashi would seem to be doing in Sakumo's eyes.
It would be highly likely that the man wouldn't go all out. What would be the point of the test, then? There was no way one, let alone three genin would be able to win against the White Fang of Konoha.
Either Hatake Sakumo doesn't want them to pass, or he's waiting to see if they'll see the true meaning behind this Bell Test.
Genma watched the blonde in front of him, who was discussing with Kakashi how they would approach their sensei. Did she figure this all out before he even did?
Still, he was surprised that Naruto managed to bait Kakashi in. The boy was stubborn and stuck right onto the rules, and yet he's going against the most important one of this test that will determine their future careers.
Kakashi, who had noticed him staring at the blonde, glared at Genma. Naruto, unaware that he wasn't paying attention, continued to talk as she scribbled their plan out on a paper.
"You've changed a lot," Genma ended up saying.
Kakashi blinked before scowling again, and, at Naruto's impatient tugging, he went back to listening to her rattle on about how they should do their part.
Five Naruto shadow clones charged towards Sakumo first, catching him off guard for a moment. He dodged every one of their attacks, making sure that none of them reached the jingling bells strapped to his right hip. "This won't get you anywhere, Naruto."
He was only replied with their devious grins, before he sensed Kakashi coming down from behind. "So you two are working together, hm?" He clutched one of the bunch of Naruto's wrist and Kakashi's flying foot, before throwing them into the water.
"So where are you really, Naruto?" He looked past the crowd of yellow, and raised a brow. "I've never failed to notice your tactic of standing behind and letting the clones do your job."
"Right here!" A smirking Naruto came leaping out of a tree high in the air, unraveling a scroll. "Take this!"
Rocks her size came down on him like meteors, before landing in a circle around him. Sakumo furrowed his brows, before noticing something was off about them. Almost likeー
They all had chakra.
His eyes widened, but Sakumo was too late.
As the boulders disappeared in a puff of smoke, each replaced by one Uzumaki Naruto, he tried to escape. He realized that the girl had used smoke bombs. He coughed, cringing as his nose stung at the smell; she must have added something to them.
Naruto grinned. He didn't seem to notice the wires.
What he also seemed to miss, was that Kakashi had snuck inside the dusty clouds. Awesome.
Sakumo widened his eyes as his legs and arms were bound rather painfully, and he lost his balance. On his chest, he craned his neck to watch his two students, raising a brow. "What are you two going to do now? You both have your hands full."
They had to keep hold of the wires and stay as far away from him as possible. How were they going to get the bells? Naruto obviously needed her left over clones to keep a strong hold of the bunch of wires, and Kakashi couldn't make a shadow clone.
Unless...
His train of thought stood corrected when Genma appeared in front of him and crouched over to get the bells.
Sakumo smirked, despite his situation. "So? Who are you going to give that other bell to?"
Kakashi was scared when Genma actually seemed to contemplate it. Naruto, however, grinned, trusting the boy. "Well, I could kill you here, you know." He said casually, and to support his point he drew a kunai to the man's neck. "I could kill you, or you could allow all of us to pass. Either way, we would win."
"Valid statement." His eyes grew serious. "Do you have the courage to kill me, though?"
Genma tensed, taken aback, and the man chuckled, shaking his head. "Thought so," he said, before facing the whole team with a wide smile.
"Naruto, Kakashi, Genma, welcome to Team Nine."
Team Nine were surprised to see Team Seven at outside the Hokage's office. "Hi, Tou-chan!" Naruto grinned, immediately running up to Minato. The man smiled pleasantly down at her, patting her head as she wound her arms around his waist. "Guess what, guess what?"
"What is it, Naruto?" He asked her, although he already knew the answer.
"I passed! Me, Kakashi, and Genma passed!"
"Kakashi, Genma, and I," he corrected with a smile. "Congratulations, you three."
Genma and Kakashi nodded, though the latter was taken aback. Was he seeing right? This composed jounin was supposed to be that wreck who slept over? As if sensing his son's thoughts, Sakumo ruffled his hair rather roughly in silent warning. "It's nice to see you again, Minato," the silver haired man said pleasantly. "You're doing well, hm?"
Minato forced a chuckle, averting his eyes to the fly on the wall. "Erm, yes, I am. Thank you for last time, Sempai." A dark shade of red tinted his cheeks, and Kakashi huffed.
"No problem. You're welcome any time."
All the genin except the Hatake looked between the two in confusion, before the green-clad, bushy browed one shifted his gaze to Naruto. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the blush that even reached Gai's neck.
Sakumo laughed a little at Minato's obvious embarrassment, before turning his attention to his team. "Well, you guys could stay here and talk to them while Minato and I go report."
The two adults walked away, leaving the six genin in an awkward silence.
Naruto and Obito were the first to break it, as the teams had hoped. Naruto walked to the Uchiha, "I remember you. I didn't get your name last time, though." Raising her hand, she smiled. "Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you again."
Obito shook it, a matching grin on his face. "Uchiha Obito."
Stepping back, the blonde addressed her teammates, seeing as they didn't introduce themselves. "Hatake Kakashi," the silver haired boy next to her nodded once. "He's not very... uh, friendly at first, but he will be once you get to know him." Naruto then turned to the taller boy by her other side. "This guy here is Genma Shiranui. He doesn't talk much, so don't let that mind you."
Obito nodded, grinning at them. His teammates walked up to introduce themselves as well, the brunette going first.
"Nohara Rin, it's nice to meet you."
"M-Maito Gai, it's a p-pleasure to meet you!" The boy said, his words coming out in a rush. Naruto raised a brow; he was looking rather sick with his red face.
"It's nice to meet you, too, but are you okay? You look kinda... um."
Obito laughed rather loudly, grabbing her attention in an instant. "It's fine, it's fine, he's always like that. Get's a little shy when meeting new people." Rin only nodded beside him, grinning ear to ear in amusement.
You've got to be kidding me, Genma and Kakashi shared a glance before rolling their eyes behind their oblivious, blonde teammate.
"Good work." Hiruzen stashed a document away into his drawer, and placed his attention on the two jounin. "I'll expect you to hand me a brief report of your team's performance."
"Hai, Hokage-sama," they replied in unison.
"You two will be sharing one training ground seeing as the rest are full, and I don't think it would be a bad idea to even share the same time." The leader leaned back into his chair, "It might give good results."
The Hokage nodded thoughtfully as he contemplated and liked the idea. "Gai can train with Kakashi and Naruto in taijutsu while Obito can train with them in ninjutsu. It would be quite likely that Rin would be training at the hospital, most of the time, after all. Either one of you can train Genma in weaponry when your hands are free." He smiled, "It would give you two less problems, and allow you to focus on each individual without leaving out the others."
He noticed Minato's unwavering, serious eyes, and raised a brow. "Well, do whatever you think works, you two." He sighed, gazing back at the blue, sharp orbs. "Sakumo, you're dismissed."
Said man bowed, eyed the two for a moment, before leaving the room.
"So? What do you want to ask?"
Minato just got straight to the point, "Did you have anything to do with Naruto's time at the hospital?"
The Hokage didn't bat an eyelid, staying silent, and the blond's lips thinned into a grim line. "You personally brought Naruto to the hospital. I heard that she was with you in the secluded part of this building before she collapsed. Kushina and Jiraiya have been acting differently ever since they went to your office soon after Naruto woke up, and were called for more than they were before. The girl herself has changed, though one would have to look closely to notice it." He took a deep breath, closing his eyes to calm his raging thoughts down. Minato opened them again and demanded softly, "What did you do?"
Minato, the Hokage thought, inwardly sighing; you were always the sharpest. "The answer to that, I'm afraid, is for much later. However, it's nothing you should worry about; Naruto isn't in danger, not anymore," He promised, and, unaffected by the other man's narrowed gaze, he took out a packet from his drawer. "You are dismissed."
Minato frowned and stayed for a moment to watch the Hokage, until he gave up. Curtly, the Namikaze bowed, and left.
"Send Kushina and Jiraiya in." The anbu that hid in the shadows acknowledged the order with a nod, and vanished.
Naruto walked home with her father, and noticed something was off with him today. It was one of those moods he occasionally had after a particularly tough mission, something that seemed to leave a bitter taste in his mouth. She had learned that it was best to treat these moods with distractions. "Tou-chan, what's for dinner?"
"Hm?" He blinked, out of his deep train of thought, and finally gave a small smile. Naruto could see it was a tired one. "Oh, how does Kaa-chan's special ramen sound? We can help out with cooking, too."
Naruto grinned, making his smile bigger, and nodded vigorously. "Yesterday, Kaa-chan said we're out of noodles." She tightened her tiny hand in his larger one, and looked for a supermarket, "We have to buy groceries."
"We sure do," Minato's eyes twinkled, and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
After they went to buy the noodles (and packs of ramen flavored snacks and pocky) they returned home. Naruto missed the way Minato's eyes seemed to sharpen when he noticed that Kushina wasn't in, despite it being a Sunday. He heard she didn't have any missions to do today and when that was the case, the Uzumaki usually lingered around at the house during the late afternoon.
"Where'd Kaa-chan go?" Naruto furrowed her brows, checking the kitchen. "She's not here."
"Maybe something urgent came up," he said more to himself than to her, setting down the plastic bags. "Why don't you go take a shower now, Naruto?"
"Okay!"
The man waited until the girl had shut the bathroom door to form his shadow clone and sneak away.
"I didn't think we wereーwould beーthat close," Jiraiya admitted, "in the future. Seeing the fragments of her life then..." It made him realize that the girl had been holding back. A lot.
He knew why, and felt like beating himself up for it. The girls always put others before herself; Naruto knew he would feel uncomfortable if she clung onto him and told him all about their closeness when she turned into his future apprentice. She understood that he wouldn't know what to do, and kept a distance between them, which he didn't take notice of.
It was so like her that it made him want to cry. Almost.
To walk into one's shoes is scarily accurate in their case. Jiraiya and Kushina literally saw what happened from Naruto's eyes. They felt everything she did in her whole life for the whole of the past week; happiness, love, heartbreak, despair. Everything.
The loneliness was indescribable.
When they had been watching Naruto's childhood, Kushina had to take a break more than once. Knowing that her daughter had to shoulder the same fate she did was hard to take in.
In fact, Naruto had it worse than she did. While not many knew about her status as jinchuuriki, Naruto was a different case. The survivors and people left from the future attack had used the girl as a scapegoat to cast their rage, loneliness, and hatred, and made sure to have the oblivious, younger generations to do the same.
And Naruto was alone.
Kushina had her relatives to comfort her whenever she was upset. Naruto, however, was a different story; before her eyes were set on the Hokage Monument, the girl had always been crying, crying alone in a secret corner of the orphanage. The Sandaime, who was, as expected, much older than the one she knew, didn't have enough time to watch over the girl completely. Instead, he had to use ANBU as guards, and they never interacted with the people they were assigned, unless deemed necessary.
One thing the woman was glad about, however, was that Naruto had grown up into a wonderful kunoichi of Konohagakure. She had found dear friends to trust, depend on, and even took on hers and Minato's dream. Keeping that in mind, her sullen face had brightened up.
It didn't stay that way for long, though, as Jiraiya spoke. "What are we going to do now? With Sakumo." Kushina widened her eyes, shooting her gaze on him. "Though Naruto didn't remember it very well, it's clear that Sakumo committed seppuku because of peer pressure and shame after a mission he lead went wrongーwhich might mean that whatever mistake he made was against what we expect from him."
"Our knowledge of his future is very limited," the Hokage pinched the bridge of his nose, furrowing his brows. "She sure is your daughter, Kushina. I wish she had studied as enthusiastically as she does now. Thank goodness Kakashi was her team teacher, though it would have been better if he was more informative."
"Hey!" Kushina huffed in annoyance; it wasn't their fault. They hadn't known that learning history would prove necessary, and it usually wasn't. Naruto was just unfortunate to have been zapped back in time. The atmosphere grew heavier with seriousness, and the irritation fell from her face. "Well, making him a jounin sensei was wise; that would prevent him from taking A and B-ranks."
"But that would mean someone else has to take care of the mission, and possibly shoulder what was supposed to be Sakumo's burden," Jiraiya cut in, voice low. "And for Sakumo to mess up is odd. A fatal mistake in a mission equals to mostly death, or worseー" he narrowed his eyes, "ーabandoning the rules."
"You can't come back to the village until you achieve the objective of the mission, of course, unless the Kage calls for you. Leaving the mission behind is something he would never even think of doing, no matter how impossible it is." Kushina sucked in a breath, already knowing what must have happened. "That is, unless it would have his comrades dead for nothing."
Hiruzen sighed heavily, leaning against the desk. "The most likely cause for his so-called shame was him saving his teammates by ordering the team to retreat, and abandon the mission. And, because the contempt from his peers, the village, was too much, he committed an honorable suicide." Kushina frowned at that, her brows knit closely together as she thought carefully on his words.
"For everyone to give the cold shoulder on the respected White Fang must mean that the mission was a vital one to our village," she bit her bottom lip, pausing as she sorted out her estimations. "And going back to what Jiraiya said, I can't believe that Sakumo-san would make such a horrible mistake to resort to abandoning the mission."
"What if it was a mistake on our spies' part?" Hiruzen suggested, eyes sharpening at the new idea.
"That does seem likely," she agreed, "it's not uncommon for missions ranked B and above."
"Seeing as the mission is going to be something that causes even the civilians to make such a fuss over it and ruin the White Fang's reputation, it could not have been a B-rank. And S-ranks are rarely anything but solo missions," the Hokage massaged the bridge of his nose. "Well, that narrows it down considerably."
Kushina wrinkled her nose, "An A-rank, huh? Of course, we could be wrong, but doubt it."
"Well, it's not like we can skip that mission," Jiraiya said solemnly, voicing out everyone's unspoken thoughts. "And we can't just ignore it and throw the task onto someone else's shoulders."
"We can't really do anything or prepare for it unless we find out more about the mission," the Uzumaki combed a hand through her long, fiery hair. It was a small habit she did whenever she was thinking over something, and Minato had often commented on it. "We don't even know when it is or the details of the mission." Jiraiya let out a breath of irritation.
"This sure is complicated."
"Our first mission?" Naruto repeated, joy and excitement filling her eyes. At their sensei's nod, she grinned, and whirled around to see her teammates. "Did you hear that, guys?"
Kakashi nodded, eyes wide, and Genma smirked, one side of his cheek bulging from the lollipop in his mouth. Taking it out, he turned to Sakumo, "What rank?"
"C." Sakumo rubbed his chin with a thumb thoughtfully, "It's a simple escort mission to and from Otafuku Gai; that's a recently build town, and apparently our client is a man who wants to open up a shop there."
"Is he rich?" Naruto inquired curiously, and glared at Genma in envy as he moved the candy against his other cheek. She wanted to eat a lollipop, too...
"I think so," the Hatake chuckled. "I heard he's pretty stingy about his money though. Only thing keeping him from hiring better security is the cost."
"I don't like stingy people," she wrinkled her nose disapprovingly, her previous elation for their first team mission gone already.
Kakashi eyed her with a raised eyebrow. "Like you're any different."
"Hey!"
"Everyone knows itー" Naruto's bangs seemed to spike up, very much like an angered cat.
"Scarecrow!"
"Kamaboko!"
"You two..." Sakumo sighed, making them tense and immediately stop their bickering. "Just look at Genma. Follow his example."
The two scowled at their teammate, who scowled back in annoyance.
"Oi, you three, let's go." The three genin perked up.
"We have a client to meet."
Sarutobi Hiruzen sat back, thoroughly satisfied with this year's bunch of fresh genin. Unlike most years, this particular one was rather large in quantity, and the kids had raw potential. Them being extraordinarily young could be counted as both an advantage or a disadvantage; they may be too young and fail the missions, or they may prove to be successful and stay alive, protecting Konoha as they grow stronger and stronger. He can only hope and believe it would be the latter.
War was approaching.
The Hokage sighed heavily, and picked up his pipe. Chewing on the tip, he stared at the lightly crinkled paper. Konohagakure needed as many protectors, warriors, as possible; the number of attacks coming from neighboring shinobi villages is increasing at a worrying rate.
Hiruzen rested his head against his palm, deciding to switch to different matters in his head as he rubbed his temple tiredly. Thinking back on Naruto's memories, a small smile touched his face, entertained by the memory of seeing Kakashi as such a perverted oddball. The future version of him definitely took after his father, with his mother's narrow jawline and facial structure (though it was hard to distinguish due to the darn mask). And to think that the stoic, stiff boy he knew now would eventually be the sensei of such a dysfunctional team!
His momentary, small amusement soon disappeared once remembering about one of Kakashi's future students.
Uchiha Sasuke.
What on earth was he going to do for that boy? Of course, he would avoid the Uchiha 'Massacre', but what about Danzō? From what he saw through everything Naruto knew, the man never changed, never realized the wrong in his doings. From what he knew, Danzō was always too stubborn to admit that the things he did was wrong.
The Sandaime knew there was only one option to deal with the man. Though Danzō didn't realize it, he had more than enough evidence of his crimes, and it would surely catch the slippery man redhanded. Well, maybe the man did, but merely didn't believe the Hokage would take such a risky step. The Shimura had followers in ROOTーwhich was supposed to be disbandedーafter all. And, as far as his knowledge extends, the only people left who would care for him when gone were Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura. The Sarutobi wasn't even sure if the latter two even liked Danzō. They got along well, but he could tell that their supposed closeness was artificial, only there to keep appearances and their social standing stable.
The knocking of his door snapped him out of his thoughts. "Enter," his gruff voice called out. Hiruzen's musings have gotten into it, it seemed.
"Hokage-sama, Namikaze Minato is here to see you." The female secretary paused for a short moment, noticing his weary face. "Shall I send him away?"
"Please tell him I had a sudden appointment." He sighed once she left the room, rubbing his forehead. One problem he had to face before Danzō, apparently, was his stubborn but highly promising jounin shinobi.
Good grief.
Naruto stared up at the short, chubby man curiously. She didn't expect him to have such a happy, pleasant grin upon meeting them for the first time at the Hokage's office; when Sakumo-sensei had told them about his trait of being stingy, she pictured their client to be all scowls and growls. Plus, his son, a four year old boy, was pretty cute, too. Almost like a puppy. Though he shyly hid behind his father, he kept stealing peeks at her and her teammates.
Both had a light shade of brown for their short, curly hair, dark green eyes, and while the father's nose was crooked and tall, the son's nose was straight. Sakumo inwardly sighed with a little relief; their attire was civilian, but appropriate for the possibility of the mission going bad. Easy to run in. Not that a measly C-rank mission would be too hard, but one can never be sure.
"I'm Dai, and this is my son, Natsu." He pushed Natsu forward, urging him to greet them properly. The boy's red face glowed as he gave a quick nod and kept his eyes on the ground. "Sorry, he insists on coming with me, and, well, my wife thinks it will be a good experience for him to have a look outside Konoha. You know, before it's too... late."
Sakumo's eyes shone in understanding; the news of conflict starting up had spread through the village, and was rumored to be a long one. "I'm Hatake Sakumo. Don't worry, you both will be safe in our hands," he sent the two civilians a reassuring smile, and looked down at his team, pride evident in his eyes. "Though they may not look it, these three are all excellent students of mine. Introduce yourselves, kiddos."
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! It's nice to meet you," the blonde girl of the bunch announced cheerfully, and Dai had taken an immediate liking to her. She was adorable.
Smiling, he shook her tiny hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Naruto-chan." Turning to the boy next to her, he took notice of his silver hair, similiar to their jounin sensei's.
Dai raised a brow, noticing the way the kid had took a small step closer to the Uzumaki, and a knowing smile grew on his face. "Hatake Kakashi," the boy nodded his head as a greeting, before looking squarely at Natsu.
The last genin seemed to be a little older than his teammates, being slightly taller. Dai took note of the starking similarity between him and Kakashi; how he also nodded once, and addressed himself without using any unnecessary words. "Shiranui Genma."
Sakumo shot them a disapproving look, obviously at their short introductions, before offering Dai and Natsu an apologetic smile. "As you can see, these two aren't talkers. They're working on it, though." He set his hands on the boys' shoulders, unnerving them. "Aren't you?"
"...Yes... sir."
"...Yes, sir."
Natsu stared curiously at the blonde girl walking next to him from the corner of his eyes, not at all noticing the heavy glaring casted his way. Ninjas seemed really cool. They looked really cool. The way they walked, watched their surroundings carefully, the clothes they wore; all of it made them look awesome.
Being a ninja would seem really cool, that is what he concluded in his young mind.
He enjoyed the soft breeze of the wind, and the warm rays of sunshine. He was grateful for the season; had it been summer, it would have been too hot, and had it been winter, it would have been too cold. Autumn was the season he favored.
He guessed he also liked the colors of autumn too. Genma heard from his father that C-ranks weren't dangerous, so he took his time staring at the trees' red, brown, and yellow leaves. He didn't turn around to see his two teammates, knowing that they are glaring at every rustle the trees make.
He had only been partially correct, however. Kakashi was focused on scowling at their client's son, who seemed to be watching Naruto way too much. Did the boy, Natsu, not see that he was being too close to her?
Apparently not.
Genma sighed irritably, and nudged him. "You're ruining the mood."
"What mood?" Kakashi shot back, loud enough for Naruto and Natsu to hear.
The latter let a small pout show. "Are they always like that?" He whispered, facing the blonde.
Naruto wrinkled her nose disapprovingly at her teammates, and smiled at him. "Yeah. I wish those two will stop," she huffed, "but it's mostly Kakashi starting the fights."
"Why?"
"Who knows." Rolling her eyes, she brightened up when she asked him, "So, what does your daddy do?"
A wide grin lightened his face at the swift change of subject, and, with much adoration for his father, explained. "Papa makes tons and tons of toys, and everyone loves 'em." He took out a hand-sized robot dog from his pocket, "This is one of them, and when you switch it on, it acts like a real puppy!"
Kakashi and Genma's banter long forgotten, Naruto's eyes widened when Natsu flipped the switch. The dog came to life, wagging it's tail once seeing the attention he was given. "Woah! How'd he do that?"
"Papa uses magic," Natsu grinned. "He called it Catra!"
"Catra?" Naruto blinked at him, and looked back down at the robot puppy in his hand, "Do you mean "chakra"?"
"Oh! Yeah!"
"Hmm..." The two turned around to see Sakumo rub his chin thoughtfully. "I knew there were different ways of using chakra, but to think that it can be even used for toysーSo you use chakra instead of batteries?" He asked, turning to Dai.
"Yes," the man said happily, pleased to be able to share his work. "It takes quite a while, though. My chakra may be higher than the average civilian's, but making "chakra-batteries" take much more than that."
Genma looked away from Kakashi, his interest now on their conversation. "Have you had ninja training, Dai-san?"
The man blinked, and smiled down at the boy sheepishly. "I have, but because it didn't really work out because my chakra reserves never got bigger, I dropped out. I kept working on my chakra control, though, and eventually came up with the idea of making toys like the one Natsu has here."
Sakumo nodded, and, curious, inquired, "How did you come up with the idea?"
"I actually went back and forth with part-time jobs before my wifeーgirlfriend at that timeーsuggested it." He chuckled, reminiscing his memories. "She was joking, though she does adore nutcrackers a lot more than the average person. She hadn't expected me to take it seriously, but I did. Initially my shop was an ordinary one, before I thought of ways to make my toys more realisticーI remember it was thanks to a certain customer..." He seemed to be trying to recall said customer, before his eyes landed on Naruto.
"...Is there something on my face?" She asked warily, and self-consciously rubbed her cheek.
"No, I remember! That customer looks just like you!" He rubbed his chin, "Well, he has your hair and eyes, which, I must say, are quite rare. I don't think I've seen anyone else in my life with such vivid blonde and blue."
Sakumo raised his brows in surprise, "Ah, you're talking about Minato?"
"Maybe I am."
"Well, that explains how you know how to store chakra in your toys," the jounin said, looking at Natsu's robot puppy. "Seals."
"Exactly," Dai grinned, "he was the one who suggested it. I asked a shinobi friend of mine who had a knack for fuuinjutsu, and he showed me the easiest one to use to make a chakra battery." He took out a slip of paper, and Naruto recognized it. Her father had some lying around on his desk, letting her take a look at them. "My years of constant chakra training had helped me greatly in my job, and I'm pretty proud of it." The toymaker chuckled, bouncing slightly to readjust the bag on his back.
Sakumo hummed thoughtfully, inwardly calculating just how clever the man beside him is. He had to hand it to him; what Dai achieved wasn't something the average civilian could come up with, and on top of that go through with it.
Shaking his head in wonder, he then focused back on the mission. Their leisure walk had gotten them close enough to be just over halfway there to Otafuku Gai. "We're near a small town that has a few inns, I believe," he said to the team, taking out his map and studying it. "It would be a good idea to stop there for the night."
Naruto and Kakashi were about to protest as they still had a couple of hours before evening comes, but the former noticed Natsu's exhaustion. She nudged her best friend and pointedly gave a glance at the younger boy, making Kakashi realize the reason they were stopping so soon. He didn't like it, but he guessed it was only normal; Natsu was four, and a civilian without any ninja training whatsoever. His father would get mad if he couldn't understand that.
"Fine." Sakumo shot him an exasperated look, but he shook it off. At least he attempted to keep that little tinge of annoyance out of his voice. That should be worth something, shouldn't it?
Naruto had given him the same face as their sensei, but in the end smiled. Under his mask, Kakashi beamed.
He knew Naruto would understand. She always did.