Forged in Will
THREE DAYS LATER AT THE ACADEMY
Ino walked into the classroom as she chewed nervously on her lower lip. Today was the day of the Genin finals, and it was still quite early so the only people that she noticed in the classroom was Sasuke Uchiha, Iruka Umino, Mizuki, and to her complete surprise, the sleeping form of Shikamaru Nara. Deciding to ignore her crush as she had been doing for the last few days and was surprisingly getting more response from him than she had ever had before, Ino walked towards her friend and sat down next to him. "Honestly how in the world can he sleep when the exam begins in only a few minutes?" wondered the blonde girl as she roughly shook the boy's shoulder to rouse him from his slumber. "Hey Shika, wake up already!" she said loudly when she got no response to her earlier attempt at making the Nara awake.
"Hmmm," he grunted before slowly sitting up. "Why did you wake me Ino?" asked Shikamaru in a disgruntled voice as he wanted to go back to his nap. Seeing that there was no way of that happening with Ino beside him, he sighed, "troublesome."
"Because the exam will start in fifteen minutes and how can you sleep anyway when the finals are so near?" asked Ino, looking incredulously at her classmate.
"Because mom woke me up an hour before she usually does and I feel really sleepy," came the lame excuse, and the blonde just shook her head slowly. Whose brilliant idea was it to even consider that Shikamaru could become a shinobi? Yes he was extra-ordinarily smart but that was where all his talents ended, he was so lazy that no amount of work could bring him to become a shinobi of any type. At least that was what the blonde girl thought at the moment because she had no idea how wrong she was. "By the way have you seen Naruto today?" asked the Nara making her think of her new friend.
"No, I didn't even see him yesterday. Do you think he is alright?" Ino wondered loudly as she looked at Shikamaru for an answer.
"Don't look at me, I even went with Kiba and Choji looking for him all over town yesterday but didn't find him. Nobody that I know has any idea where he is," replied Shikamaru in a crestfallen voice. The new energetic and blonde friend that he had made recently was quite fun to be around and his Shogi skills were almost on par with the Nara heir's; at times making him wonder just how smart was this new friend of his? He turned to look at Ino only to see her attention focused on something else, when he turned his head he saw that it was her rival…or was she her friend now, Sakura walking into the classroom. She stopped as she stepped into the class and looked around before her eyes landed on them and she made her way over.
"Hey Ino," she said in a gloomy voice as she sat down next to her friend.
"You look really tired," commented her blonde friend as she looked at her with a critical eye. Sakura had slight rings under her eyes and her body posture said that she was ready to fall asleep at a moment's notice.
"Yea, it wasn't a great day yesterday," she replied, still gloomily and Ino knew the reason.
"You had no luck finding him either, huh?" Ino stated more than asked because Sakura's mood was quite easy to read, especially since she had known her for about seven years now.
"You know what I don't understand is how someone can vanish so completely that nobody knows where he is," said the pink haired Kunoichi, she was still quite surprised that even someone who was close to Naruto, like Kurenai, had no idea where he had disappeared off to. If he did not turn up in class by the end of today, Ino and Sakura were both going to ask Iruka to run a full missing person's report. If the blonde boy did not have a family to take care of him, he could be sure as hell that he had good friends, even though they knew him for only a few days.
"So what? I don't think there is anything to worry about, I am sure he will turn up today," said Kiba as he took the usual spot and put Akamaru down on the floor.
"I hope you are right," muttered Ino absent-mindedly. The day they had played ninja-tag was when she had seen her new friend in a different light. She had talked about it to Sakura who had also agreed that she felt the same way about Naruto, but they could not figure out exactly what they felt. It was mainly because Naruto was so fast that he never got tagged by Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, or even Akamaru. And every time any of them tried to get Ino or Sakura, Naruto would get there and carry them off. Kiba had tried to tell Naruto that it was against the rules but the blonde boy had defended his actions by saying what kind of ninja leaves their teammates behind? She was roused out of her thoughts as the bell rang and students started to enter the class. Sakura set her bag down on the seat next to her so that she could save it for Naruto just like she had been doing for the last few days.
"I really hope he does turn up today, maybe then he can give me some hints about the Henge jutsu," said Choji as he crammed some more chips into his mouth. It was an old habit of the young Akimichi to start eating more and more when he was nervous.
"Don't worry Choji, I am sure you will do fine," said Sakura, she had never had any reason to behave with the boy badly, he might have even been considered normal if he decided to stop his unhealthy eating habits and paid more attention people rather than edible objects.
"I hope (crunch crunch crunch) you are right," responded Choji before shoving more chips into his already stuffed mouth. The bell rang again, signaling that it was now time to start the classes for the day. The classroom was almost completely packed but to the disappointment of a few people a certain blonde haired and blue eyed boy was still not in sight.
"I still don't know why Naruto has been avoiding school like this," muttered Ino to her group.
"Maybe he is scared of the exam, I know I am and I have been here for as long as a shinobi should to become a genin, he just started a little more than a week ago," commented the Inuzuka, and his reasoning was good enough that he did not get punched in the head by the two fussing Kunoichis. Across a few rows of desks someone else had also heard the conversation and was having his own thoughts on the blonde's actions as well.
"Yes, I am quite sure that the reason of his absence might be more than the fact that he is scared," thought the raven haired boy, as he sat quietly in a classic broody pose, completely ignoring the annoying voice next to him as it tried to communicate with him in a very enthusiastic manner. His musings were interrupted as Mizuki started to speak to the students.
"Aright class, we will go ahead and begin the exams. You will be called into the room over there," he paused as he indicated the sub-office that was connected to their classroom before continuing. "You will be called in the alphabetical order according to your name. Once you are inside that room, farther information will be given for what the instructors want you to do. After you are done with the exam, just resume your seat in the class since we have some important news for everyone. Best luck to all of you and I hope that every one of my students become successful genins in the future," he ended his instructions with an encouraging smile before following Iruka into the small office.
TWO HOURS AND FOURTEEN MINUTES LATER
Sasuke walked out of the small office looking as smug as ever, holding a new Konoha head band in his hand. It did not come as a surprise to anybody that Sasuke had passed the test easily, and will not surprise anyone if he ended up getting the highest score in the class. Sakura's and Ino's eyes almost desperately looked at the door of the classroom before going back towards the small office, Naruto's name would be called any second now and he wasn't here, that was automatically a failing grade if one did not show up for the Genin finals.
"Naruto Uzumaki," came the inevitable call and almost all heads turned towards the door in anticipation to see if the blonde would show up, and to everyone's surprise Naruto walked in through the door and stiffly headed for the small office.
"It was almost as if he was waiting outside the class," said Kiba and Shikamaru nodded.
"Something fishy is going on," thought the Nara but just said "Troublesome," to show his indifference to the whole deal.
Soon after Naruto walked out of the office and without hesitation jumped out the window of the classroom, he didn't even give a passing glance towards his new friends. "What the heck?" muttered Sakura as she looked towards Ino.
"Yea, what's his deal?" wondered the blonde girl aloud; it was certainly not like Naruto to act so…weirdly towards his classmates, and especially the people whom he interacted with so much energy and enthusiasm.
"Okay, I don't know what's going on but something is definitely off about this whole situation," said the Nara, which piqued the interest of the girls and Choji, but Kiba looked as bored as ever.
"I think you are reading a lot into it. I mean he didn't pass the exam so it could just be that he is feeling down about it and wants to spend some time alone," said the Inuzuka in a stoic voice, and Akamaru gave a small bark in agreement.
"How can you tell he didn't pass?" snapped Sakura, they only saw Naruto for like two seconds after he got out of the side office before he jumped out the window.
"He didn't have a head band with him, duh," said Kiba with a raised eyebrow.
"Ino Yamanaka," came Mizuki's voice and Ino paled a little bit.
"Wish me luck," muttered the girl as she slowly got up and made her way towards the office.
"Good luck Ino!" Sakura's voice reached her ears but didn't make her feel any better as she entered the office, silently praying to Kami to help her just this once.
Naruto landed outside the class and immediately moved to the second part of his plan. Man did Ino and Sakura look pissed when he went in and didn't even smile at them. He was going to have to face them later and tell them a made up excuse so that they didn't kill him, and he would be really sad if they decided to break their friendship with him over this. The blonde spotted the swing soon enough and knew what he would have to do, now he would have to find a secluded spot in the village where he could face Mizuki and take him down without any prying eyes. He took to the rooftops and was quickly on his way towards the forest, there were many places on the outskirts of the forest near Area forty-four where people rarely ventured and knew that one of those spots would be perfect for the task he was going to do. As he moved he spotted another chakra signature following him, a very familiar one.
"Anko-chan, you know I can tell when you are following me," said the blonde as a sly grin stretched across his face.
"Damn, the gaki is getting too skilled for his own good," muttered the snake summoner as she dropped her invisibility jutsu and moved faster to catch up to the person she regarded as a younger brother. "What are you doing here boy, I thought you would be in school," she commented as she kept up with him. It wasn't hard to tell that he was making a bee-line for the forest.
"I know but I got a mission from Jiji," replied the young jinchuuriki excitedly. They were finally close enough to the forest so that he could make out the small clearings that dotted the area surrounding the forest.
"Yeah, I heard. So what are you looking in the forest for?" Anko was now seriously wondering what the genin was planning. She was sure he was not stupid enough to lure him into the forest and try to take the Chuunin down by himself; therefore he probably had a plan, maybe even vicious enough for her to use it later in a mission herself. The Jounin licked her lips in anticipation as she voiced her thoughts.
"Well I figured if I could make him follow me into the forest alone then I could use it to my advantage to take him down. Anyway, what I really need is for someone to tell him where I am after I steal the scroll. So..." Anko could easily tell what he was thinking as he gave her the expectant look.
"Ah damn it you know I can't say no to that look!" she huffed in frustration as the blonde gave her a huge grin and a quick hug before leaping off again.
SEVERAL HOURS LATER
Iruka turned again, this was getting pretty irritating to say the least. He was looking for Naruto for the last two hours since the Hokage sounded the alarm that the Scroll of Sealing was missing from his office. The academy instructor had already checked six of his blonde student's usual hiding spots but had no luck finding him. If this time he did not find Naruto he was going straight for the usual training grounds where Naruto trained with the Sandaime Hokage privately. He landed in the clearing and was immediately aware that Naruto was here. The grass was trampled freshly and the chakra residue was still here. "Was he training while waiting for Mizuki to find him?" wondered the teacher incredulously. The more he looked at the clearing, the more it became apparent that someone was using it as a training ground.
"Iruka-sensei, what are you doing here?" asked the blonde, he had appeared right behind his teacher, the scroll was attached diagonally across his back.
"Naruto, stop doing that! You nearly made me attack you," said Iruka as he turned to see the blue-eyed twelve years old.
"Hehehe, sorry it's just that Kakashi and Tenzo sensei made sure that I knew how to move without making a single sound that I can usually scare people if they do not see me coming, well everyone except for Anko-chan," Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he gave a large grin to his academy teacher.
"So you are planning to make him come here and bring him down?" wondered Iruka aloud as he looked around, it was childish but still pretty well thought out. "I am impressed Naruto, a simple yet effective plan good job."
"Eh, thanks but…" Naruto started talking but suddenly his body stiffened as he seemed to sense something. "Quick Iruka-sensei, hide someone is coming here!"
"TOO LATE!" yelled a voice and suddenly Naruto felt himself being shoved aside as Iruka took his spot where he was standing only moments ago. The blonde turned around to see many kunais sticking out of his teacher's body, but fortunately none of them seemed fatal and most of the wounds were only bleeding little, so he decided to play the ignorant boy that he was supposed to be in front of the white-haired Chuunin.
"Naruto, give me the scroll!" shouted Mizuki from his perch at the tree.
"Hey! Hey! What's going on here?" asked Naruto as he turned his head from Mizuki towards Iruka and back.
"Naruto don't give him the scroll, not even if your life depends on it!" shouted back Iruka as he understood his student's subtle ploy. "That scroll is very dangerous; it has all kinds of forbidden jutsus written in it. Mizuki used you to get it for himself."
"There's no point in you having it," said Mizuki suddenly as a cunning smirk stretched across his pale face.
"And why's that?" asked Naruto glaring at the traitor with all the hatred he could muster in his sapphire blue eyes.
"I guess I will just have to tell you the truth," responded the white haired shinobi with an exaggerated sigh as he pointed at Naruto. Iruka's eyes grew wide as he suddenly realized what Mizuki was referring to. This was not in the plan; the boy will break if he came to know about something like this on a mission!
"N-No don't!" he shouted but it was in vain.
"Twelve years ago…you know about the demon Fox being killed right?" Mizuki asked as he looked at Naruto with that sickening smile still on his face. "Since that incident, a new rule was created for this village. But Naruto, this rule was never meant to be told to you."
"Not to me? What is this rule?" asked Naruto, now genuinely curious to know what Mizuki was truly referring to, but the only answer he got was a dark chuckle from the man, it was more than a little disturbing to the young Jinchuuriki. "What…kind of rule is it?"
"The rule is that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that you are THE DEMON FOX!" Mizuki screamed.
"What do you mean?" shouted back Naruto, there was no way he was the fox…just no way.
"It means that you are the Nine Tailed Fox that killed a lot of people; the same beast that also killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village." There was no stopping Mizuki now, he was going to tell the little demon just who and what he was today.
"STOP IT!" yelled Iruka.
"You were sealed up by the Fourth Hokage, the man that you admire the most. You have been lied to by everyone! Didn't you find it odd how everyone hated you? Even Iruka is the same, he actually hates you too!"
"No Naruto, don't listen to him!"
"Nobody will ever accept you!" Mizuki jumped off the tree, heading straight for the jinchuuriki who seemed to have frozen in place. "That scroll was used to seal you up!"
"UGH!" Naruto suddenly found himself face to face with the academy instructor, a massive shuriken sticking out of his back. "My teacher defended me, he put his life on the line for ME?" thought the blonde as he stared at the pained face of Iruka-sensei.
"Why…?"
"Yeah Naruto, you must have been in a lot of pain too. Maybe if I had done a better job of protecting you, you might not have to feel this way," said Iruka, as tears streamed down his face. The blonde slowly got to his feet. He looked at Iruka with blank eyes before taking off, sprinting as fast as he could away from them. "NARUTO!"
"Hehehe, sorry but Naruto isn't the type to have a change of heart. He is probably planning to use the scroll to get revenge on the village right now," said Mizuki, he knew some day this would come. Fortunately he was going to get out now, whether he had the scroll or not. Still it wouldn't hurt t try. "You saw that look in his eyes earlier…those were the eyes of a demon." Iruka slowly grabbed the shuriken on his back before pulling it out with a grunt.
"Naruto…" said Iruka as he took deep breaths. "Isn't like that…"
"It doesn't matter; I will kill Naruto and get the scroll. As for you, I will take care of you later," with that the Chuunin took to the tree tops again.
"Found him," muttered Iruka as he spotted the form of Naruto jumping from tree to tree. "Hey Naruto, hurry pass me the scroll. Mizuki is still after it!" The blonde screeched to a stop as he looked at Iruka before…lunging at the academy instructor knocking him off the tree branch.
"What? How Naruto…How did you know I wasn't Iruka?" asked the Iruka before a puff of smoke engulfed him and the henge dispelled to show Mizuki looking at the blonde angrily.
"Because," Naruto formed a seal as his own jutsu dispelled as well. "I am Iruka."
"Heh whatever," muttered the white haired chuunin. "You would even transform into the thing that killed your parents."
"I will not let a mad man like you get your hands on the scroll." Iruka stated, he was a loyal shinobi of the village and he would rather die that give the scroll over to someone like Mizuki.
"You are the mad man, Naruto and I am the same!" snarled Mizuki making Iruka raise an eyebrow.
"The same?" questioned the black haired chuunin curiously.
"If you use the jutsus in that scroll, you can do whatever you want. There is no way that a demon fox wouldn't try to use that power to destroy the village that imprisoned him for the last twelve years," said Mizuki matter of factly.
"Yeah," said Iruka, but he was unaware that Naruto was also listening to their conversation from a hidden spot.
"I knew it," muttered the blonde. "Nobody acknowledges me…deep down everyone believes that I was the damned Fox, don't they?"
"The Demon Fox would do something like that, but Naruto is different." The blonde's head snapped up at that, his blue eyes wide at what he thought his teacher was implying. "But he would never do something like that. I have acknowledged him as one of my most excellent students and a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village. He is Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Grrrr…WHATEVER," Mizuki huffed in rage as he tried to take deep breaths to calm himself down. "Iruka, I said I will take care of you later but I changed my mind. I will kill you right now!" Mizuki was spinning his last massive shuriken in his hand, as he pulled his arm back and took aim.
"So…this is it huh?" muttered Iruka as he closed his eyes and accepted his fate. At least he had died defending one of the strongest shinobis he knew. Just as Mizuki was about to let it fly, he was hit in his chest with tremendous force, knocking him several yards back and his shuriken flew off in a skewed angle, completely missing the intended target. The sudden cry of pain made Iruka open his eyes as he saw Naruto standing in front of him, the scroll was on the ground, and he had his right hand on it.
"Don't touch Iruka-sensei," he growled in a low voice. "OR I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Shut up punk!" shouted Mizuki in anger as he got up and dusted his clothes off. "I can kill someone like you in one shot!"
"Try it trash, I will return the pain a thousand times over!"
"Then do it, damn Fox!"
"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" hundreds of solid Naruto clones appeared all over the clearing.
"Damn," muttered Shikaku Nara.
"We were really worried over nothing," said Chouza as he nodded in accord.
"For a moment I really thought the kid lost it, but he really is one tough nut to crack huh," said Inoichi as the three of them walked off. There was no need for them here anymore. He looked up at the tree to see Anko grinning…well like she usually does and Kakashi putting his head-band back over his left eye.
THE NEXT DAY AT THE ACADEMY
Naruto walked slowly down the hallway of the academy as he approached a specific classroom very apprehensively. Today was the day that Genin teams will be assigned to their Jounin senseis. But what scared Naruto more was the fact that he would have to face two of the most fearsome Kunoichis in the Hidden Leaf. Gulping very audibly, Naruto slowly walked into the class, and as expected Shikamaru called his name and waved him over.
"Yo Naruto," said the Nara before putting his head back on his desk.
"Naruto, you better be ready to run," whispered Kiba as he leaned close to Naruto's ear, the blonde could already guess why the Inuzuka was saying that. He was clearly sitting next to the two pissed off Kunoichis, and that could be very bad for anyone's health. Choji was eating his chips but the panicked look in his eyes was clear indication that he was also worried for his blonde friend.
"Er…hello Sakura-chan, Ino-chan," he said as he looked slightly to the ladies sitting next to him from the corner of his eyes.
"Naruto, I hope you have a very good explanation for missing so many days of school and worrying us to death," hissed Ino as she glared at the blonde male sitting next to her, Sakura was also giving a piercing glare to the blonde with her deep green eyes. Naruto gave a deep sigh before turning towards the girls to present his explanation.
"Well you see…I had not been feeling so well the last few days, and then I got admitted to the hospital, and even though I wanted to come here, the doctors said that I could not leave unless they made sure I was alright. I hope I did not worry you too much…" Naruto trailed off as he tried to look as guilty as possible. With the training he had received from some of the top ANBU operatives in Konoha, the kunoichi girls fell for the excuse.
"Oh," said Sakura as he held a hand to her mouth and Ino looked at Naruto with wide eyes.
"I am so sorry; I didn't mean it like…" Ino started to say but Naruto waved her apology off dismissively.
"Don't worry about it Sakura-chan, Ino-chan you were just worried about me," shot back the blonde before giving both of them one his dazzlingly bright grins. "See I'm fine!" Sakura smiled and Ino also nodded, it seemed they had their old friend back, and for them that was all that mattered.
"Hey, wanna play ninja tag later today? We can also talk about our Jounin senseis once we meet up," asked Kiba as he looked from Naruto to the girls sitting next to him.
"Hmm, not a bad idea but I get Naruto in my team this time," said Shikamaru, his head was still down on his desk.
"No, I want to be in Naruto's team too," exclaimed Sakura, if she was in Naruto's tem it was guaranteed that she would never get tagged.
"But you had him last time," interjected Kiba. "You can take Choji this time."
"No fair, Choji always gets tagged easily," pouted Ino, making Naruto want to be in the same team as her again. But then that would not be fair to the others, suddenly an alternative idea popped into his head.
"He how about it's me and Choji against all of you?" everyone turned to look at the whisker marked boy like he was crazy except Shikamaru, who thought that was the best way to have a balanced team. One was very easily caught while the other was impossible to tag. One was quite slow and the other, extremely fast.
"Hey it makes sense. Choji and Naruto makes a perfectly balanced team, I am in favor," said the Nara, making the Inuzuka automatically agree with plan. Choji, seeing as he was getting the best tag player he had ever seen in his own team also agreed wholeheartedly. This made the votes three to two, so it was decided. It will be Naruto and Choji against the four of them.
"Alright students, settle down settle down," shouted Iruka over the din that was his classroom. After much yelling and shouting, Iruka finally settled his class down and now everyone present was looking at him with expectant eyes. "As you all know, you will be assigned to you genin teams and senseis today. So please listen as I call your name and announce the team you have been assigned to and who your Jounin sensei is." Iruka quickly hurried over to his desk before picking up a clipboard ans started reading the name of the teams.
It had only been a couple minutes after Iruka had called all the teams that a very beautiful Kunoichi walked into the room, her red eyes quickly scanned the class before speaking "Team Eight, please follow me."
"Hey, don't forget I will see ya in the evening," said Kiba as he walked out of the classroom followed by a very nervous looking Hinata and a…very heavily clothed Shino.
"Heh," muttered Ino as another fifteen minutes had passed. "It looks like our Jounin senseis are slackers." That was when a heavily bearded Jounin walked into the classroom.
"Team Ten," he said lazily before walking back out of the classroom.
"Or it's just your sensei," said Ino, a little startled, to Sakura as she followed Shikamaru and Choji out of the classroom.
MORE THAN AN HOUR LATER
One could easily see that Sakura was angrier than she had ever been before in her life. She had been sitting in the classroom for the last hour and a half waiting for her Jounin Sensei to show up but that man had yet to show his face to his students. It didn't help that Naruto had grown so bored that he had fallen asleep after she had idly asked him where he was having lunch, and any attempts she made to talk with the Uchiha had only resulted in classic popular response of "Hn." It infuriated her to no end that she had two people with her in the classroom, yet both of them had apparently found better things to do than talk to her! She supposed that she could wake Naruto up, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it no matter how many times she tried. He just looked so much like a…baby, so at peace just sleeping there with a small smile caressing his face. It wasn't the usual grin that she got to see, though that is a sight in itself, it was more like a genuine smile, one that she had never seen on his face before.
"Ughh," fumed the pink haired kunoichi as she got out of her seat and stomped to the window and looked over the academy grounds where a younger batch of kids were practicing their target skills. "Where is that baka of a sensei of ours?" grumbled the kunoichi as she stared at the misgivings and the failings of the kids that they had also, no doubt, done when they were younger. Thoughts of them being young automatically drew the pink haired girl's thoughts to her blonde haired teammate's mysterious past. He definitely appeared like a simple enough boy who was very friendly towards others, but his past made him an enigma to all his classmates. Who was he, where had he been when they had been in the ninja academy, and how could he be so skilled even if he had never set foot in a ninja school until a week before the graduating class? Her thoughts were interrupted when a man with hair like threaded silver poked his head through the partially open door.
"Team Seven pl…well you are the only ones left, meet me in the roof," he demanded before vanishing before Sakura could even utter a single word of rebuke as her anger caught up to her full force. Sasuke stood up, and surprisingly Naruto had also woken up at the exact moment needed, and three proceeded to make way to the roof of the academy. A grumbling Sakura was the first one to enter, followed by a serious looking black haired boy, and finally a serene looking boy who seemed to have a knowing smirk on his face as he strolled onto the roof and sat down next to his teammates. Kakashi was apparently reading a very offensive looking book, in Sakura's opinion, but nobody else seemed to care so she instead decided to attack her sensei because of his tardiness.
"You are late, and not just by a few minutes but by more than an hour and a half!" she huffed as the mask wearing ninja looked up from his book with a bored look on his face.
"How perceptive of you," he muttered before pointing at her and saying in a louder voice. "Well, let's introduce ourselves to each other, how about we start with you?"
"Umm, why don't you go first sensei, that way we can have an example," asked Sakura timidly, suddenly self conscious of herself in the presence of their sensei and her team.
"My name is Kakashi Hatake, I have many likes and dislikes and a few hobbies, but those are none of your business. Your turn," he drawled before returning his attention to the orange covered book that he had been reading. The only thing they learned about him was his name, noted Sasuke silently but didn't voice anything yet.
"My name is Sakura Haruno. My dream," she stole a quick glance at her teammates and blushed, "My future," again she looked at the dark haired boy sitting next to her and blushed. "As for hobbies, I like playing with a very close friend and collecting exotic ribbons," she pointed to a bright red rib boned head band of Konoha that she was wearing on her hair. "I also like reading about the human anatomy. The only things I hate are bullies and people who decide to torment others for no reason." Well that took Kakashi a little by surprise, he had thought she would be an ardent fan of the Uchiha, if Iruka's words held any merit, and to a degree she was. But she could be a lot more with just a slight push in the right direction.
"Alright, you next," he said as he pointed towards Sasuke.
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha," he rasped his voice barely above a whisper; it did not help the matter that he held his hands right over his mouth either. "I have a dream, well more of an ambition and that is to resurrect my clan, and to kill a certain man."
"Cool," thought Sakura.
"Creepy," thought Naruto.
"Great!" thought Kakashi. "So I have a semi fan-girl, a mentally imbalanced brat high on revenge, and Naruto, the only positive and normal member in his team. "And they think Naruto is weird."
"Alright and you?" he said as he looked at the blonde but did not really have to point since Naruto was the only one left.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki!" proclaimed the jinchuuriki loudly. "I like ramen, especially Ichiraku's, and training, and hate the three minutes it takes ramen to heat up. My dream is to become the Hokage of Konoha one day!"
"Big dream," thought Sakura.
"Dope," thought Sasuke a little annoyed.
"Well, I knew that," thought Kakashi lazily.
"Alright, now that we are all good friends," everybody sweat dropped except for Kakashi, who was giving his unique eye-smile to his students. "I will meet you guys tomorrow for the last test before you become full-fledged genins. Meet me at training ground ten at six o'clock tomorrow and don't eat breakfast."
"Oh darn!" thought Sakura. "I had nearly forgotten about that," she remembered the little chat she had with Kurenai Yuuhi back at the ramen stand where she had gone to have lunch with Naruto and Ino the previous week. She quickly realized that she was the only one still standing on the roof; her teammates were already moving towards the exit after her sensei. "Hey wait up," she called as she ran to catch up.
Team Seven reached the road leading out of the academy and Sasuke seemed to be going the opposite direction to Naruto who was apparently talking to Kakashi-sensei about something. Not wanting to have a repeat of the previous week when she had asked Sasuke for a date, Sakura decided that she would follow Naruto and hang out with him until she found a better way to get Sasuke's affections, so she started after the blonde although she followed him a few steps behind not wanting to interrupt the discussion he was having with the masked Jounin.
"Kakashi-sensei, did you know about this?" asked Naruto in a subdued voice, it was clear what he was referring to.
"Yes, Naruto I knew," replied the former ANBU operative as he looked at the blonde closely.
"Exactly how many people knew about my status?" he asked as anger started to form in the pit of his stomach. Even Jiji had hid the truth about him.
"Only the people from your generation do not know about you," said Kakashi with a sigh, since the blonde had come to know of the truth, the Jounin decided it was best for him to know the whole truth. Not to his surprise he saw the blonde nod. After all he was quite perceptive and it was not that hard to notice the harsh glares and open hatred that the villagers showed towards him whenever they saw him.
"And none of you decided it was important for me to know why I was treated the way by the people from my own village?" he questioned, yet the way his tone sounded made the Jounin flinch. He wished could do something, anything, to ease the blonde from the pain he was surely feeling.
"Naruto, I can understand your feelings right now, but you have to understand we had no choice." Kakashi stopped as he turned to look at the downcast expression of his, now official, student.
"No choice?" he questioned in a hollow voice as he looked up at Kakashi with a hurt expression. "NO CHOICE!" shouted the blonde as he glared at the defeated expression that Kakashi had on his face.
"What could we do?" asked the Jounin as he returned his student's glare with a calm look. "Hiruzen Sarutobi in not only the Hokage but also your official guardian, there was no way we could go against his word without ending ourselves in the ANBU cells, and even more importantly you have to understand that all the people you have to consider your precious people, they consider you precious too. Anko, Kurenai, and even Iruka see you as their little brother, and you know Asuma is your Uncle. Tenzo sees you as one of his dearest friends and I…" he trailed off as he looked down hesitating to tell Naruto just how important he had become to the Jounin.
"You what sensei, what do you see me as?" asked Naruto as he looked at the Jounin with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Naruto, you are my pillar, you were the one that helped me get over my…own fears. You helped me understand what it meant to lead a free life, a life where you can move on from the past and look to the future. You were the reason I could move on from the death of Obito and Rin's sacrifice, I could move on from the noble act of my sensei and his wife Kushina, and also forgive my father for his betrayal against Konoha. Do you know why, because you made me realize that there is nothing more important than the people you hold dear to your heart, and my father held his teammates dear so for their sake he did what he thought was the only way to save them. Naruto you are more than blood to me…you are family," Kakashi whispered the final part out but it was audible to the young jinchuuriki. Kakashi did look at the blonde's face to see the stunned expression he had on. It shouldn't be that much of a shock, he was important to the people who came to know him.
"I didn't realize that you all thought of me like that," muttered Naruto as he looked sheepishly back up at his teacher.
"Did you talk to Hokage-sama about this yet?" asked Kakashi, if he was being so cold towards them, how cold was he to the person he considered a grandfather? "Well, how did it go?" Naruto took a deep breath before answering.
"Let's just say it is going to take some time for me and him to get back to the same terms as we were before. I forgave him, but I still need a little time to get over this in my own way. I hope you understand," he said as he looked up at Kakashi and gave a small smile, very unlike the one he usually threw around.
Kakashi nodded, "Of course Naruto, take all the time you need. By the way, want to get some ramen, my treat," enticed the masked Jounin only to get the most surprising answer.
"No, I've got to take up someone on an earlier offer," he replied as he turned around to walk back towards Sakura who seemed to be looking towards them with green eyes so wide that they were ready to pop off her face.
"They do seem to grow up fast," thought the masked Jounin as he made his way towards one of the joints where all the Jounins decided they wanted to meet up for lunch and talk about their genin teams. He stopped when Naruto's voice reached him.
"You know I will not be getting to the training grounds before eight," the nonchalant and familiar way that Naruto shouted it brought a smile to the retreating Kakashi's face.
"N-Naruto, are you alright?" asked Sakura as she saw her teammate walk back to her after having what appeared to be a heated conversation with their sensei.
"Fine Sakura-chan, where do you want to go for lunch?" he asked as he gave his usual broad grin to her making her believe that he was alright.
"How about something other than ramen?" asked the kunoichi hopefully, but got a whine in return.
"Sakura-chaaaaan."
FEW HOURS LATER AT THE LAKESIDE
Naruto and Sakura came to the lakeside as was expected a few hours later to find the rest of his friends already there, along with their genin teams. Even bushy-brows and Tenten had shown up, which was surprising considering the fact that Neji was not with them. Ino, Hinata, and Tenten were talking amongst themselves under a tree and Sakura quickly hurried to join them while Naruto went over to the place the boys had claimed. Shino was leaning against a tree as he stoically listened to the conversations that they were having, but did not have much to say himself. Kiba, Choji and Shikamaru were the ones that were talking constantly, while Lee was doing simple stretches as he listened to the conversation intently.
"Hey guys, how was your first day with the Jounin Senseis?" asked the blonde excitedly as he joined the others and sat down next to Shikamaru.
"We had lunch together as we got to know a little bit about each other," said Choji and Shikamaru nodded in agreement, that was Asuma-sensei for you and by the way he loved barbeque and steaks.
"What about you?" asked Naruto as he turned to Kiba, who gave him a small grin before he started speaking.
"Went to the park where we talked for a while. She said that she would give us a simple team exercise tomorrow before we began more intense training and doing missions."
"Hmm, how was yours Naruto?" asked Choji as he snacked on some more chips.
"Nothing too fancy, he arrived kinda late and we met him on the roof of the academy where we talked and introduced ourselves. He said that he would give us a survival test tomorrow morning before taking us on as his official genin team," replied Naruto as he got wide eyed stares from his friends, even Shino was looking at Naruto curiously and Lee had stopped his stretching as he tried to think why their sensei would do something like that. "What?" asked Naruto, a little thrown off by their odd reactions.
"Well since technically we are all genins, why would your sensei decide to give you another test before making you his official team?" Naruto heard Shino talk for the first time, but after he got over his shock he started to get suspicious.
"Hmm, it does make me wonder why he would be giving us a second test. If it's the bell test then he probably just wants to see if we can work as a team. That probably serves the purpose of letting him know where we stand skill wise, not a bad idea to gauge new students' abilities," thought Naruto before dismissing their worries with a wave of his hand. "It does not matter, we can deal with that when we have to," said the blonde before turning to look at them excitedly. "So can we play ninja tag now?"
"You really like it don't you?" asked Shikamaru as he looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow.
Hey guys, I hope you liked it. So, yes I am keeping the Cannon teams but still I am going to change a lot of things because our main character is different. As always ideas and opinions from readers are always welcome and if you would like to discuss the story in farther detail, just send me a quick P.M. Still loving the reviews I have been getting lately, so please keep them coming Poll about Zabuza's sword still stands. Sorry for the late update people but as I said, my internship and teaching job has started this month so I will probably a chapter a week, sorry. And please, please, please don't forget to review.
Thanks,
Tanneal.