"Are you sure this is the picture you want?" the Hokage asked, shaking his head.
"Yeah," Naruko said. Just be glad I decided not to go with my original idea of face paint, she thought. I think you can live with me giving two thumbs up.
"Whatever," the Hokage told her, looking like he didn't want to argue the point further, "You're cleared to go. Tomorrow morning, report to the Academy - your normal classroom - for your team assignment."
"Right," Naruko grinned, "Thanks!" She turned to leave.
"Hey, old man," came a voice from the doorway, "Fight me!"
The Hokage looked over to see a kid dart into the room, holding a kunai in one hand. He dashed towards the Hokage...only to trip on the long scarf he was wearing.
"Blast, a trap!" the kid complained. The Hokage sighed, his hand covering his face. His grandson, acting like he always did.
"There were no traps," Ebisu pointed out, walking into the room, "Konohamaru, what did I tell you about doing such things?"
The kid turned, and spotted Naruko. "You did this!" he shouted, pointing at her. Ebisu looked over at Naruko, sneering. It wasn't hard for the Hokage to guess what he was thinking.
Naruko, paying Ebisu no heed, walked up and promptly bopped the kid on the head.
"Ow!"
"It wasn't my fault, kid," Naruko told him, "You might want to ditch the scarf, if you keep tripping on it."
"No way!" he protested. Naruko shrugged, and walked past the boy, leaving the office.
The Hokage sighed, "Can you take him elsewhere, please?"
"At once, Lord Hokage!" Ebisu grabbed Konohamaru and hauled him off.
Ebisu really disliked the Kyuubi brat. Naruko was as annoying as they came, and to think what was inside her...he had been disappointed to find out she had become a genin.
"Come on," he said, leading Konohamaru out of the Hokage's office. There was no need to interrupt official business.
"Ebisu-sensei," Konohamaru asked, "Who was that girl?"
"A nuisance, young master," he answered, "Come on, you don't want to be late for your lesson."
"A nuisance, huh?" Konohamaru said thoughtfully as they walked down the hall, "Maybe..."
Good, Ebisu thought. The last thing he needed was the Hokage's grandson hero-worshiping someone like that.
Naruko wondered what was up with that kid. Trying to attack the Hokage like that was weird.
In a way, Konohamaru reminded her of herself when she was younger. She remembered how many times she'd caught her pigtails on branches and bushes while training. Eventually, she'd wised up and had her hair cut short. Thus her advice about not wearing the scarf.
Anyway, she was bored. There was nothing for her to do until tomorrow. While normally she would take the time to play a joke on someone, she doubted it would look good for a genin to do something like that.
She yawned, walking down the street. She supposed she could go train a little. After all, becoming Hokage was not something that would be easy. There were no shortcuts, after all.
"Uh, Naruko." She turned to see Hinata standing there. "Would you...like to go get some ramen? I know you have to be upset after..." Her voice trailed off for a moment as she saw the headband Naruko was now wearing. "Did you.."
"Of course I did!" Naruko boasted, "I never give up! And now I'm a genin!"
"That's...wonderful!" Hinata smiled, "Congratulations."
"Well, we can still go over to Ichiraku," Naruko suggested impishly, "You know, to celebrate."
"Right!" Hinata nodded.
"So Mizuki-sensei was...a traitor?" Hinata could hardly believe it. He'd always seemed so nice to her.
"Yeah, he tried to kill Iruka-sensei and me," Naruko grinned, "But I pounded him flat!"
"Incredible," Hinata murmured. Naruko was already so strong...unlike her. She had a long way to go before she could hope to do things like that.
"So, you heard we're getting assigned to teams tomorrow, right?" Naruko paused to slurp up a long strand of ramen noodles. "Who do you want to be on a team with?"
"Um...you," Hinata said, "And uh..." She blushed, ducking her head.
"Kiba, right?" Naruko chuckled.
"...yes..." Hinata felt her face grow even hotter.
"Heh, that would be fun, wouldn't it? Just don't get too distracted," Naruko commented, "You don't want to be like the other girls in our class. Sasuke this, Sasuke that...ugh, what's so special about that guy?"
"I...don't know," Hinata said, "He always seems...gloomy." While she did feel sorry for the solitary ninja, she didn't think there was anything she could do about it.
"Well, gloomy doesn't make you a good ninja," Naruko observed, "Anyway...check, please!"
"See you later, Hinata!" Naruko called out, then began to walk home. The sun was beginning to set.
Well, there went my training time, she thought. Oh well, it didn't matter anyway. She'd have plenty of opportunities to train in the days to come.
She ignored the glares of the villagers that she walked past. Go ahead and look at me that way, Naruko thought. I'm a genin. Someday, I will be Hokage. And then, you will all respect me.
She wondered how they'd feel if they had a demon fox stuck inside their body. If they knew what it was like, they wouldn't act the way they did.
It was kind of stupid anyway. For now, she'd head home, and relax a little. After all, tomorrow was likely to be a long day.
"Lord Hokage, are you certain about these assignments? It's not exactly policy."
The Hokage sighed. "Look, the Nara clan would raise too much of a fuss if we did it the normal way. We have no choice but to put Shikamaru Nara on that team, instead of on the same team as Sasuke Uchiha."
"But having two kunoichi on one team is..." the man protested.
"Uncommon, but it has happened in the past." The Hokage was tired of all the traditionalists. He might be old, but he wasn't that stubborn. "Just deliver that to the Academy at once."
"Yes, Lord Hokage." The man exited the room, carrying the folder with the genin assignments.
The Hokage stood up, feeling his back pains act up yet again. Normally, these assignments weren't a problem. But with multiple conflicting standards, one of them had to go. And personally, he thought it was a stupid rule, sticking the genin with the lowest grades on the same team as the one with the highest.
The solution - assigning the second lowest instead - had been his idea of a compromise. But some people just didn't want to compromise. They insisted on doing things the same way, every time.
At least Danzo wasn't nosing around in all this, he thought bitterly as headed off to get some sleep.
Naruko walked into the classroom, feeling pumped. Ignoring the astonished glances of the other genin, she took a seat among the others. No matter what they said, she had earned it.
She was just settling in when she heard a pair of familiar voices. Oh no, not those two...
"I'll get there first!"
"You wish, forehead girl!"
"What did you call me, pig girl?"
"You heard me! And you're the bigger pig!"
The two burst into the classroom doorway, struggling to get through. They both made it at the same time, falling flat on their faces.
"See?" Sakura grunted, "I was here first."
"Ha," Ino retorted, "I clearly won."
Idiots, Naruko thought to herself.
Sakura got up and brushed herself off. After all, she had to look good for Sasuke.
Darting forward, she forced her way past Naruko and sat down right next to the other ninja. As usual, Sasuke looked both bored and cool.
Wait a second, she thought, turning. What was Naruko doing here? Sakura had heard that the yellow-haired girl had failed to graduate.
It didn't matter, she decided. There was no way that they would put a loser like Naruko on the same team as her.
As the rest of the class filed in, Sakura forced herself to pay attention as Iruka-sensei followed them in. This was the important part.
"Congratulations on becoming genin," Iruka spoke, "As per customs, you will now be assigned to a team. Each team consists of three genin and a single jonin to act as your leader and sensei. You were all carefully selected to best fit with your teammates."
He paused, letting this sink in. He knew a lot of people were initially hesitant about who they were assigned to work with. However, the instructors and village elders had gotten better at balancing teams for skill. So it was rare that such complaints lasted long.
"Without further ado," he continued, "I will now announce the teams. Team 1 will consist of..."
Naruko waited as the teams were called out. Finally, she thought. She couldn't wait to actually go on missions.
"Team 7 will consist of..." Iruka paused, "Naruko Uzumaki!"
Naruko grinned, fighting the urge to shout.
"Sakura Haruno!"
Naruko groaned. She heard Sakura groaning too.
"And Sasuke Uchiha!"
Great, she thought sarcastically as Sakura cheered. Sakura was annoying enough as it was. Oh well, she'd just have to make the best of it. After all, they'd put her on this team for a reason.
"Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake. You will meet him this afternoon in room 2-E."
Aw, Hinata let out a sigh, I wanted to be on the same team as Naruko.
"Team 8 will consist of...Hinata Hyuuga!"
So this is my team?
"Shino Aburame!"
She looked over at Shino, who as always wore dark glasses and a long gray cloak. She didn't know anything about him.
"And Kiba Inuzuka!"
Hinata felt her face grow hot.
"Your sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi, and you'll meet her this afternoon in room 2-F."
Naruko grinned at Hinata, who was too busy blushing to notice. At least Hinata had gotten half of what she wanted.
Maybe, if she was lucky, Sakura would turn out alright. Maybe she ought to try to be friendly later.
"Team 10 will consist of...Shikamaru Nara! Choji Akamichi! And Ino Yamanaka!"
Heh, so Shikamaru and Choji got to be on the same team as well. Those two were inseparable.
"Asuma Sarutobi will be your sensei. Meet him this afternoon in room 3-B."
Naruko leaned back and waited as the other teams were announced. She wondered what kind of person this Kakashi would be like. Hopefully, the cool kind..
Grumbling as he exited the classroom, Sasuke was not happy.
Stuck on a team with those two stupid girls...he hoped they wouldn't hold him back. If they did, he'd have to deal with them.
At least Naruko didn't seem as useless as Sakura. While they both were incompetent, Naruko actually was decent at strategy, if unorthodox. He could make use of that.
Either way, he would accomplish what he set out to do.
Itachi would die.
"Hey, Sakura," Naruko waved as she jogged towards her, "Want to go get some ramen?"
Sakura blinked. What was Naruko trying to do? She had planned to go meet up with Sasuke, and ask him to go have lunch. She could understand Naruko trying to beat her to it...but to ask her to go eat together instead? It didn't make sense.
"Let me go ask Sasuke first," she said cautiously.
"Good idea!" Naruko grinned, "Let's go look for him!"
Together? Sakura was really confused now. Naruko had never spent any time with anyone but Hinata or Iruka-sensei before. Not that she had cared that much.
This had to be about being on the same team then. And as long as Naruko wasn't chasing Sasuke herself, Sakura supposed it was okay to be friendly.
"Okay," she nodded, and off they went.
Naruko had barely walked half a street with Sakura when her stomach began to rebel. She had no idea why it happened, but one moment it was fine, and the next it hurt worse than anything she could remember
"Ugh," she grunted, feeling her abdomen cramp. She...she had to go now, before even worse things happened. She ran off, ignoring Sakura, and clutching her belly the whole time.
She just hoped she could find a bathroom fast enough. If not...Naruko didn't want to think about it.
"So she lives in a place like this?" Kakashi commented.
"Unfortunately, yes," the Hokage said, glancing around the messy apartment. The whole place resembled a pigsty more than any human's house. Trash was scattered on the floor and even the table, along with dirty clothes. The whole place smelled of sweat and mold, and even the Hokage - who had smelled the blood and gore of more than one battlefield - was disgusted.
"This milk...is a week out of date," Kakashi noted, picking up an empty carton off the table.
The Hokage just sighed. Naruko was not a neat person, that much was obvious. Hopefully Kakashi could instill some discipline into the teenager, and help her focus. They both knew the consequences if he failed.
"Just make sure she is tested correctly," he told Kakashi, "I know it might be tempting for a number of reasons, but we still need to make sure she becomes a skilled kunoichi."
"Right, right," Kakashi nodded, and in a flash, headed out. The Hokage sighed again, and left the room, turning the light off as he left.
Sakura could not believe Naruko had ditched her like that. It didn't make sense, but then again Naruko had always seemed odd.
It didn't matter either way, as she had just spotted Sasuke walking along on the road ahead. She ran up to him. "Sasuke, want to go eat lunch?"
"I just ate," he told her.
"Okay, want to hang out?" she asked, feeling a little upset.
"Get lost," Sasuke stated, and walked off. She stared, confused. Did he honestly not want to spend any time with her? Sakura sighed and turned. She might as well get something to eat.
Naruko groaned as she walked into the classroom. She hadn't gotten anything to eat, and her stomach was still bothering her a little.
Looking around, she saw that Sasuke and Sakura had both already arrived and were waiting. Apparently their sensei had not gotten here yet.
Taking a seat, Naruko wondered where the heck this late sensei was. She knew she herself was late, although she had a good excuse. For a minute, she was tempted to play a prank. Maybe the old eraser on the door trick...
No, she didn't really feel like doing that. It always had been a bit of a pain trying to reach, due to her height. Coupled with her stomach issues...not a good idea.
She sat back and waited. Thankfully, it didn't take long.
The door opened to reveal a skinny man with gray hair. He wore his headband tilted over one eye, and had a mask covering the lower part of his face. So this was Kakashi.
"Hmmm, you seem like an interesting bunch," Kakashi said, "Let's step outside, and we can introduce ourselves."
Kakashi had to admit the three were an odd bunch. Sasuke had the look of someone who only cared about his goals, and saw other people as a means to that end. Sakura was a typical lovestruck girl...a fact that brought back more than a few painful memories for him.
As for Naruko...she seemed generally cheerful, if a little more quiet than he had expected. Still, she had potential, as did all three. Fourth Hokage, I definitely won't let you down.
"Let's start the introductions, then," Kakashi said, "You can tell me stuff like hobbies, likes, dislikes, dreams, and so on."
"Hey, why don't you start first?" Naruko insisted.
"Yeah, I don't know about you..." Sakura agreed. Kakashi resisted the urge to smirk at the odd glance Naruko gave Sakura.
"Okay, I'm Kakashi Hatake. I don't feel like discussing my likes or dislikes. As for dreams for the future...well, I have a lot of hobbies," he told them, noncommittally, "That sound good?"
"So, we learned nothing but his name," Sakura grumbled. Kakashi could tell the other two weren't exactly amused either.
"Moving on, what about you?" he changed the subject, "Let's start on the right," He pointed at Naruko.
"I'm Naruko Uzumaki," she answered cheerfully, "I like ramen, either from a cup or from a restaurant. Although I hate having to wait on it to cook..."
"Ramen, huh?" Kakashi commented.
"Anyway, my dream is to become Hokage! Then the villagers will respect me!" She tweaked her headband, studying Kakashi's face. His expression remained neutral. "Oh, and I guess jokes are a hobby for me."
"Whatever," Sasuke said, "Sasuke Uchiha. I don't really like anything. I also don't really have a dream...I guess you could call it a goal...an ambition. I want to revive the Uchiha clan...and to kill a specific person."
Wait...kill? Naruko blinked, surprised. That seemed a little...excessive. Looking across, she could see Sakura blushing. Of course, she'd only see it as a sign of coolness.
"And last, you," Kakashi spoke.
"Oh, I'm Sakura Haruno!" she said, "The person I like...oh, my dream for the future..." She broke off, blushing heavily. Naruko resisted the urge to groan.
Sasuke shook his head, annoyed at the other two. They weren't exactly the best teammates, but he'd just have to live with them.
"Tomorrow, we will begin our work," Kakashi suddenly said, "And by work, I mean a training exam."
"Training exam?" Naruko asked.
"A super difficult training exam, where you have to face off with me." Kakashi said, "You only have a 1 in 3 chance of even passing it."
"What? We got tested enough at the academy!" she protested. Sasuke had to admit he wasn't exactly happy with the prospect either.
"That was just to determine if you had enough skill to make it this far." Kakashi looked at each of them. "Be out there first thing tomorrow morning. Oh, and don't try to eat breakfast, you'll only make yourself sick. Here are the details." He passed out pieces of paper to each of them.
Sasuke read it quickly. So, the exam was held near one of the training grounds. Fair enough, he thought.
"See you tomorrow!" Kakashi said cheerfully, and headed off. Sasuke turned to go home as well. Tomorrow was certainly going to be an interesting day.
Author's Note: Took me a while to write this one, because I was busy with real life stuff.
Don't worry if you aren't seeing any major differences from canon just yet. The real meat in that area starts to come in the next chapter. I promise!
And yes, Naruko is slightly shorter in this fic than canon Naruto (by 1-2 inches). That will probably come up again later, heh.
Enjoy!