Chapter 6: Team 10

"Stop fussing over it Minato! You haven't made any changes to it in days so I don't see why you have to keep reading it" Kushina said, as she sat down at the breakfast table early that morning. Minato was busy reading over a scroll with a list of names on it that he had divided up weeks before.

"There's just so many things to consider" Minato sighed, as he rolled it up one more time. "I'm telling you, deciding on the Genin squads this year is much more difficult than before, there's such a vast array of different personalities and abilities and even deciding on the Sensei's is giving me a headache."

"Don't lie Minato, you've been spending all this time deciding on Naruto's team" Kushina joked, joining her husband at the table. "I've taken a peak at that scroll, you've paired him with basically everyone at some stage."

"Yeah, I'm not sure if that's because I'm indecisive or if Naruto's just that much of an enigma" Minato joked. "Although, I'm pretty settled with it now I think I was just making sure that I hadn't left anyone out by mistake."

"Minato Namikaze making a mistake? Never!" Kushina said sarcastically, although it was obviously in good humour.

"It's not too late you know" Minato called out to her as she went back into the kitchen. "I could assign you to a team if you wanted."

"Heck no, I didn't come out of retirement just to teach a bunch of Genin some basic jutsu" Kushina replied forcefully. "I want that adrenaline of being out on a mission again, that pure thrill of knowing that you're on the edge of death can't be beat!"

Hearing his wife talking about such risks in a casual way wasn't something that Minato was willing to encourage but his arguments over the past few months had fallen on deaf ears. After over a decade of being a housewife and raising their son, she was ready to go back to the life of a Jonin once more.

"Well don't be expecting anything like that right away" Minato warned her. "After all, no one else who had been retired for so long would be allowed to go straight back into A rank missions without sharpening their skills."

"Yes of course" Kushina responded. "Anyway, shouldn't you get going now? You have a lot to do today."

"Doesn't really make it different to any other day then" Minato chuckled. "Actually, this is one of my favourite days of the year. All that excitement from both the new Genin and the instructors is palpable, I can't wait to see their faces when they find out who they're with."

As if he was trying to mimic this excitement, Minato practically jumped up from his seat, kissed his wife goodbye and moved towards the door.

"Oh yeah, make sure you wake Naruto up soon" he called to Kushina. "I do not want him to be late for today."

After receiving assurances that it would be done, Minato set off. Initially, he had intended to go straight to the Jonin meeting room where he would reveal the teams but discussion of lateness gave him an idea. He took a right just before his office and headed towards the training field.

"Hard to believe it's been this long" Minato said, as he walked over to the memorial stone and Kakashi who was standing before it. "Seems like yesterday that I was putting you all through your paces, if I remember you and Obito spent most of the time arguing."

"We got the bells in the end" Kakashi pointed out. "Even if you went easy on us."

"Well, I'm not as harsh as you Kakashi" Minato said, laughing slightly as he did. "I wasn't going to go all out, even though you were a Chunin those two were fresh out of the academy. Maybe you should give your Genin teams more of a chance in the future, maybe then one of them may actually pass."

"I've told you before, unlike you I don't grade on whether they can get the bells" Kakashi responded. "As long as they can work as a team and show some promise, then I'll pass them. It's just that no one ever thinks to work as a team; they're all too selfish."

Minato was tempted to remind Kakashi of how long it took for his old team to show any kind of teamwork but thought better of it.

"Well, the last thing we want any team of yours to learn is your lateness habits" Minato said. "Come on, if you don't come with me now you'll probably miss the whole thing."

Master and student walked away from the stone and set off towards the meeting.

"So, are you going to put me out of my misery now or make me wait to find out who I'm going to be getting this time?" Kakashi asked, sounding slightly hopeful.

"That's actually one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you before" Minato replied. "I'm not telling you who you've got but I will tell you that you won't be with Naruto."

"Oh right" Kakashi muttered, the hope in his voice quickly turning to obvious disappointment.

"It's just that he's known you all his life and it's a little unfair to let him be taught by someone he's already close to while the rest have to deal with stress of people they don't know" Minato explained. "Besides, it would tough for you to be impartial."

"Yeah, I guess you're right as usual" Kakashi said, at least trying to hide his disappointment a little more.

"All right, I'll tell you who one of the kids are" Minato gave in, hoping he could cheer Kakashi up. "Sasuke Uchiha will be in your team."

"Fugaku's son?" Kakashi responded, looking much more active. "Actually on reflection I'm not sure what to think of that; pressure from Fugaku isn't something I want to encourage."

"I won't deny that he can be slightly intimidating" Minato admitted. "But Sasuke should be a joy to teach, he reminds me a little of you when you were young. His Dad says that he's got at least as much potential as Itachi and his Sharingan should be awakening some time soon."

"Sounds like you and Fugaku are talking a lot more then" Kakashi commented. "So he's getting a little easier to handle?"

It was true that Minato had been seeing a lot more of the Uchiha clan leader than he used to but then again there was no way for him to avoid that. One of the compromises that had been reached was that Fugaku would take Danzo's place on the council, giving him a stage where he could voice his views and have direct access to information regarding the village. At first it had been difficult to deal with the demanding Uchiha but as time went on, he'd learned how to get through the meetings and even found that not all of his ideas were completely ridiculous. At the very least, it was better to hear them this way than to have Fugaku scheming behind his back.

"He's missed the last couple of meetings actually" Minato said. "The police force are a little preoccupied right now, they think they may have found a lead on where Danzo is so they're working overtime."

"You don't sound too confident about that" Kakashi said.

"I've got Jiraiya Sensei out looking for him and he hasn't reported anything back so I definitely have my doubts" Minato explained. "Still, it's officially their investigation so they can do what they like."

The conversation ended as they reached the meeting room. As they walked in, Kakashi joined the assembled group of Jonin and Minato moved to the desk at the front of the hall. He took a glance at those that had gathered, before opening the scroll.

"Everyone I need to speak to is already here so we can start" Minato began. "Firstly, I would like to say congratulations to Kurenai and Kabuto who have just been promoted to Jonin."

Kabuto, who was kitted out in a Konoha uniform, nervously waved at the other Jonin as they clapped him, before he adjusted his glasses that had slipped slightly on his face. He wasn't the most intimidating looking Shinobi that Konoha had, physically he was unimpressive and his immature face and shoulder length grey hair made him appear even younger than he was. However, Minato knew just how valuable he truly was. They'd discovered him after interviewing Danzo's Root associates, he'd been sent on espionage missions in foreign lands without Minato's consent. I turned out that he was a very powerful Shinobi in his own right and his abilities with medical ninjutsu were the best since Lady Tsunade herself.

"So, on to the Genin team allocations" Minato declared, captivating everyone gathered. He went through the first six teams, before finally reaching team 7.

"The Jonin Sensei will be Kakashi Hatake."

Kakashi stepped forward to learn of his team.

"Your team will consist of Sasuke Uchiha" Minato said, glancing over at Fugaku in the corner who appeared to be making a movement slightly similar to a nod. "Ino Yamanaka and Shino Aburame."

There was a small flutter of conversation that went through the group and Minato had a hunch that he knew what they were talking about. Some of them would be asking why Kakashi wasn't given Naruto but he suspected that there was another source of contention.

"What about the Ino-Shika-Cho formation?" someone called out, confirming Minato's suspicions.

"Shikaku, were you on the same Genin team as Inoichi and Choza?" Minato asked the nearby Jonin commander.

"No sir" Shikaku replied in his deep and hoarse voice. "We didn't team up for the first time until we were Chunin."

'There you have it" Minato declared, looking to end the matter quickly. "We all know that it's impossible to team up with the same people in every mission, these kids need to learn versatility rather than relying on the same group all the time. Now then, Kurenai Yuhi will be taking charge of Team 8."

Kurenai stepped forward slightly awkwardly, twirling her flowing black hair with the finger.

"Your team will consist of Sakura Haruno, Kiba Inuzuka and Choji Akimichi" Minato said, which brought about another round of applause. Kabuto was next to be assigned a team, although he was given Genin with only average grades and none of which belonged to a clan.

"Team 10's Jonin Sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi" Minato declared, as Asuma moved to the front with a confident swagger. Minato noted the red and white sash peeking out from the bottom of his jacket, a symbol of pride after his years spent with Guardian Shinobi Twelve. After having been back only a couple of months, Minato had been impressed with both his attitude and skills. He only wished that the 3rd could have seen how well his son had turned out.

"Your team will consist of Hinata Hyuga, Shikamaru Nara" Minato began, pausing before the last name. He smiled just before he continued. "With Naruto Uzumaki completing the group."

Minato could only laugh at the reaction to that announcement. Asuma's jaw literally dropped and he could hear several gasps of shock from around the room. Nobody bothered questioning it after Minato's last response but he could still tell that he had left quite the impression.

"I'll hand this list to Iruka and he'll inform the Genin" Minato continued, as if nothing had happened. "They should be ready for you to go and pick them up in about an hour and Kakashi that means 60 minutes."

Most of the room laughed at the little dig at Kakashi's poor timekeeping skills, which had become legendary. They then all began to filter out of the room, apart from Asuma who purposely held back. Minato knew what he wanted, so he also remained in the room until everyone else had left.

"You wanted to talk to me Asuma?" Minato asked.

"Are you sure about this Lord Hokage?" Asuma said. "I mean, I've only just come back and this is the first Genin group I've taught. Wouldn't you want someone with more experience to watch over your son?"

"Experience is over rated. Not to give myself too much praise but I got Kakashi to Jonin when he was only 13 and he was my first ever student" Minato pointed out. "You'll need to be more confident than this if you want to handle Naruto, not to mention how much effort you'll have to put into making Shikamaru Nara do anything at all."

"That still wasn't an answer" Asuma replied sternly.

"You once said to me that that you wanted to be recognised for what you have accomplished rather than just being the Hokage's son" Minato said. "You've done that, now when anyone thinks of Asuma Sarutobi, they remember all the stories they heard about the loyal guard of the Feudal Lord. That's what Naruto needs now, someone to help him forge his own identity and you're the best person for that job. Besides, you two share the same chakra nature as well."

Despite everything else Minato had said, the last comment was the one that had caught Asuma's attention.

"Well what do you know" Asuma smirked. "So, you're kids got a wind style chakra nature, never would have guessed it. All right, I'll see what I can do for him then."

"That's all I ask" Minato said, as Asuma headed towards the door. Minato prepared to leave as well, before he heard the echo of steps behind him and felt a presence walk towards him.

"If you're here, that means I'm about to here some bad news aren't I?" Minato sighed.

The excitement around the usually bland academy classroom was obvious, as the ten teams sat in different areas awaiting the arrival of their Jonin instructors. Naruto was sat with his feet on the chair, struggling to sit still. After his promotion to Genin, he had changed his outfit and now sported the light mesh like material that the majority of Shinobi wore and had an orange sleeveless jacket over it. His brand new leaf headband was strapped tightly to his forehead, with the knot from the brown band leaving two fairly long strands that hung down the back of his head. He also carried two pouches around his waist, which contained basic equipment such as kunai and Shiruken.

In contrast to Naruto's agitation, Shikamaru was asleep on his chair and Hinata just looked down right terrified. Naruto had always thought of Hinata as slightly strange but still a nice person overall. She very rarely spoke, only really doing so to reply to another who had spoken to her. Yet, Naruto knew that she was from a noble clan in the Hyuga and that as a teammate she would be very useful.

"Who do you think our Sensei will be?" Naruto asked, trying to calm Hinata's nerves and liven up Shikamaru.

"Don't care" Shikamaru replied. "This whole Genin thing is going to be so troublesome no matter who we get, I just hope it isn't someone that expects too much manual labour."

"Figured as much" Naruto muttered as a reply. "What about you Hinata?"

"Oh, I don't know" she said quietly. "I just want them to be understanding and kind."

Naruto nodded in agreement as he scanned the room. Six teams were now left, the other four having already been collected by their teachers. He had to hand it to his Dad; the teams seemed reasonably well mixed in terms of ability. As he looked around, he caught eyes with Sasuke and both glared at each other for a couple of seconds. After being neck and neck at the top of the class for the entire year, it turned out that they both finished with the exact same score and tied for first place. Of course, this only fuelled Naruto's desire to beat Sasuke and he was sure that Sasuke felt the same.

The opening of the door interrupted Naruto's thoughts. Everyone looked over as a bearded man stepped inside while lighting a cigarette.

"I'm here to collect Team 10" he called out, before taking a drag. "Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara and Hinata Hyuga, lets go."

Unsure of what to think, the three of them did as they were told. He led them to a rooftop, where he sat the three Genin opposite him.

"My name is Asuma Sarutobi and I'll be your Jonin instructor," he announced. "At this point, I've been told that we usually get to know each other by asking a few questions. However, I'm not going to do that."

"Why not?" Naruto asked.

"Not really my style" Asuma responded. "I'm not going to learn much from a few nervy responses here. I'd rather learn about you as we go along."

"So, what's the point of this if you're not going to ask us anything?" Shikamaru wondered.

"You catch on quick" Asuma chuckled. "I'm actually here to give you your first assignment."

The announcement caught Naruto off guard, so much so that he actually jumped after Asuma finished speaking.

"We're going on a mission already!" he yelled, getting excited.

"Oh no, it's not a mission" Asuma said gravely. "Actually, it's a test that I'm going to put you through. You see, of the ten teams that graduate, only three will actually become Genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy."

Naruto reacted to this by yelling, Shikamaru looked rather unfussed while Hinata appeared to be quite anxious.

"So, what's the test?" Shikamaru inquired, although he sounded as if he didn't really want to know.

"Well, for starters we're going to be starting right away" Asuma explained. "This'll simulate problems you can have as a Shinobi, especially for Chunin. I'm going to head into the village and disguise myself. You are to treat me as an enemy and your goal is to capture me."

"What? You expect us to catch a Jonin?" Shikamaru exclaimed. "That's not fair, there's no way we can do that!"

"Won't know unless you try and that's the main point of this exercise" Asuma responded, as he drew some blood and made some seals. "Now, after I leave you'll have five minutes before you can come to try and find me. Just to make sure, I'll leave this guy here."

Asuma placed his palm on the ground and summoned a small white monkey wearing a grey vest.

"5 minutes" Asuma said, as he moved over to the edge of the roof. "You have until 4 pm, if I haven't passed you by then consider it a fail."

With his ominous declaration still lingering, Asuma jumped off the roof and headed towards the village. Naruto made a dash to the edge in order to see where he went but by the time he got there, Asuma had vanished.

"He's quicker than he looks" Naruto complimented. "So, what do we do?"

Naruto looked towards Shikamaru, his eyes filled with hope. The young Nara did his best to pretend that he couldn't see but in the end he was reeled in when Hinata looked over to him as well.

"Alright, here's the plan."

The wide window at the back of Minato's office gave him a great view of the entire village. From this vantage point, he watched Naruto lead his team through the village on a hopeless chase to find Asuma. He couldn't help but laugh, despite everything he had taught him Naruto's movements were the least conspicuous he had ever seen.

As he watched, he poured some sake into a glass. It wasn't for him; Minato hadn't drunk alcohol since he was a teenager. He didn't like the effect it had on him, he felt as if he wasn't fully in control of himself and it often made him feel slightly depressed. Still, he normally kept some in his office for these types of conversations.

"Akatsuki, that's a strange name" Minato commented, as he handed the glass over. "So, what do you know about them?"

Jiraiya graciously accepted the drink and downed half of it in one gulp.

"Not much, as you'd expected" Jiraiya replied. "What I have learned sends chills down my spine when I think of it. Orochimaru, Sasori of the Red Sand and Kisame Hoshigaki of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, that's just three of the men that we know are in the organisation. Ten Shinobi of that calibre is a truly terrifying prospect, they obviously want something big."

"But we don't know what that is" Minato sighed, as he held his head in his hands for just a moment of frustration. "What about Madara, is he connected to this?"

Minato had taken to calling the masked man that he fought all that time ago "Madara." He claimed that it was because that was the most likely culprit but the truth was that he couldn't bear the idea of someone else holding that type of power.

"I haven't heard anything but I'd say it's likely" Jiraiya responded. "The majority of members aren't known, so it wouldn't be too difficult to hide himself within the group. Even if he isn't involved right now, this is too good of an opportunity for him to pass up."

"We'll just have to keep an eye out then," Minato decided. "At the very least, with Orochimaru involved we know that this village is likely to become a target in the future."

"Just as I thought" Jiraiya said, as he grinned. "In fact, I've already set up a network to track their movements and dig for more information. You're very predictable at times Minato."

"Yeah, that's I'm worried about" Minato thought, as he lost track of Naruto who was running through the street.

"He had done it, he had finally perfected the jutsu after days of practice and he was ready to complete his goal. It was late at night but he didn't need the cover of darkness to aide him anymore. Thanks to his jutsu, he was now completely invisible to the human eye and he had free reign to go where he wanted. He carefully navigated through the village and towards the bathhouse where-"

Kakashi lifted his eyes up from the book for just a moment, giving him enough time to block the incoming Shiruken. This was followed up by a cloud of blue coloured bugs but a simple Katon was enough for Kakashi to deal with the threat.

"Seems as if they're beginning to get it" Kakashi realised, as he heard the sound of breaking twigs, signifying an attack from behind. He spun around and grabbed Sasuke's arm before his attempted punch could connect. The young Uchiha made several more attempts at landing a blow but Kakashi was equal to every single one.

"Ino!" Sasuke yelled out, sounding a little annoyed.

Kakashi noted that Ino, whom he had been keeping an eye on in the trees, had now changed her stance and was extending her arms in his direction. He paused for just a second, waiting until she had cast the jutsu before he made his move. Once that had been done, he quickly moved Sasuke's body in the way so that he would receive the Mind Transfer.

"As I thought" Kakashi said, as Ino's lifeless body fell to the floor. "It was a good plan but you made it too obvious, it was never going to work on me."

However, the young Genin weren't done yet. With both of Kakashi's hands holding on to Sasuke's wrists, Ino threw another batch of Shiruken at him while Shino did the same from the opposite angle.

"So that's what they're up to" Kakashi realised. "Once I let go to deflect the Shiruken, Sasuke's arm will be free to grab the bells. Not bad."

Before the Shiruken hit him, Kakashi disappeared and was replaced with a log. Kakashi jumped down from the tree he had moved to and walked over to the now tired Genin.

"You've done better than most I'll give you that" Kakashi praised the team. "Surely you have to realise that you can't get these bells?"

"No" Sasuke gasped, catching his breath. "My brother passed this test long ago and I'll do the same just you watch. Shino, Ino spread out time to use our third plan."

The two did as Sasuke instructed and the young Uchiha made hand signs for a Katon jutsu.

"It's just like looking at me when I was his age" Kakashi thought. "Maybe you really do have some potential after all, Sasuke Uchiha."

"Well Hinata, is that him?"

From atop the building they were standing on, Hinata activated her Byakugan, the veins around her eyes becoming raised and harsh. She studied the man down below for a few seconds, comparing the chakra she saw to the chakra that had been used on the summon. Soon enough, she appeared to be satisfied.

"I'm sure this one is him" Hinata replied. "So, we can start the plan?"

"Hell yeah we can!" Naruto yelled, no longer needing to stay hidden. He quickly crossed his two fingers and looked down at Asuma triumphantly.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Two clones of Naruto stood next to the real one, who crossed his arms to display his confidence. Drawing kunai, all three jumped down and attacked. Asuma quickly dealt with the two clones, while the original jumped back and made hand seals.

"Futon: Shinkuha!"

A small gust of wind erupted from Naruto's mouth and was powerful enough to force Asuma to raise his hands in defence. As Naruto kept up his jutsu, a thin shadow ran between his legs and headed towards his Sensei. At first it appeared as if Asuma wouldn't notice but just before he could be touched, the Jonin doubled back and moved out of Shikamaru's range and then overpowered Naruto with a Futon of his own.

"I'm not done yet," Naruto yelled out, pointing his finger at Asuma.

Asuma then realised what Naruto meant, as what seemed to be hundreds of Naruto clones jumped off the nearby rooves and towards Asuma. He was just about to counter, when he realised that he was unable to move.

"I see" Asuma said, as he looked at the ground beneath him. "The clones made a shadow, which then extended Shikamaru's range and I ended up caught by it. That's incredibly impressive."

"Yeah, and now I've got you!" Naruto yelled, each of his clones spreading their arms in expectation.

"Not quite" Asuma smirked, as the Naruto's jumped on him. However, rather than seeing an impressed Jonin, Naruto only found a single log at the bottom of his pile.

"You fell for a Substitution?" Shikamaru moaned, hitting his palm against his forehead.

"Shut up Shikamaru" Naruto shot back angrily. "Hinata, where's Asuma Sensei now?"

"I'm sorry" Hinata stammered, appearing to be getting increasingly upset. "My Byakugan doesn't have a very big range, I can't see that far."

"Well, there's no reason to get distressed over that" Shikamaru pointed out, putting a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Truth be told I'm glad, I don't want to go after him anyway."

"Well it's too bad Shikamaru" Naruto yelled out, punching his arm in the air enthusiastically. "Come on, if I use my clones it'll be easy."

"I very much doubt that" Shikamaru replied, as he slowly walked towards Naruto. "Come on Hinata, the quicker we do this the quicker we can leave."

"Oh, okay."

Just above them, Asuma was smoking a cigarette and watching the Genin as they went.

"Not bad" he grinned. "Definitely enough for a pass. Something about those kids just seems to click, either way the next few months will certainly be interesting. I'm not that eager to get started though, so I'll wait a couple of hours before letting them know."

A/N: This chapter is a little short; I had to rush due to lack of time, as you might be able to tell. The next one probably won't be out for another couple of weeks, as I won't have much chance to write. However, from now on I'll reveal the name of the next chapter in a note at the end of the chapter.

Next chapter: "The Rogue's from Kiri."