Naruto walked the path he knew led to training field 3. The Sandaime didn't come out and say which team he would be assigned to, but Naruto suspected it would be Minato's. Adding a fourth member to a team would be difficult, the only place it could really be beneficial would be on a team with a medic shinobi. From Kakashi, Naruto knew that Team Minato was one of the few teams during the Third Great Shinobi War that had a medic specialist. Naruto tried not to get excited about the idea of spending time with his father, or even better, training with his father. He didn't know why he was here or how long he would be here. It would be best to not get attached to anyone. Still, he couldn't deny that he was a little excited.
It had been weird walking down the streets of Konoha that morning. Naruto had become used to the stares of the villagers. When he was young they would stare at him and talk about him with disgust, then it changed to curiosity, and now it was awe. He hated it when people stared at him; he had long ago given up his desire to be acknowledged by everyone. Now his only goal was to protect them, which would be hard since he was no longer in the right time period. Naruto stopped walked. It was a good thing he had decided not to reveal his status as a jinchuuriki. Having two Kyuubi jinchuuriki's in the same time period would be a dead giveaway to his situation.
Kyuubi had warned him against using any techniques above genin. That left him with taijutsu and water element. He would have to slow down his reaction time with his taijutsu, but that shouldn't be too difficult. It was a good thing he only knew the basics of water element. At least he would be able to work his full capability with it. This would give him an opportunity to practice it too. He had already master wind and fire by the time he became Hokage. Since then he had little time to train, the result being that his water jutsu was taking longer to master. He had been working on it for several months, but he could only do the basics.
As he continued walking, an idea came to Naruto. If a nineteen year old shinobi was still a genin, he needed to have the attitude to match that. No genin that old would be serious about life. Besides, as Hokage he had to act mature or people would doubt the idea to make a teenager Hokage. What chance would he have again that allowed him to act like a kid? Grinning, Naruto walked onto the training field before him. If Kakashi had been accurate about his old team, and Kakashi was always accurate, then he would get along well with Obito. Kakashi himself? Not so much.
oOoOo
Kakashi knew the moment the man strode onto the training field that he was going to be a nuisance. From his stupid grin to his obnoxiously loud greeting, it was no mystery that he was still a genin. How did he survive by himself for years? His behavior screamed 'kill me now.' This idiot better not hold him back.
"Kakashi!" Kakashi looked up to see Minato in front of him. That man looked frustrated. "I asked you to introduce yourself to your knew teammate."
Kakashi glared at the man. "Hatake Kakashi."
The man smiled wider. Didn't the idiot know when he was being glared at? "Naruto! Nice to meet you, Kakashi." Kakashi flinched. No honorific? Who did this guy think he was?
Minato must have sensed the death wishes stemming from Kakashi. "This morning I want to see your abilities, Naruto." Minato turned to Obito. "You're going to be Naruto's opponent."
Obito nodded. Kakashi grimaced under his mask. The two idiots training together? That was going to be a waste of his time.
oOoOo
Rin stared at the blonde haired, blue eyed man that walked onto the field. She figured it was irrational, but she had thought that since he looked so much like Minato, that he probably acted like him too. He was the complete opposite. The first thing Naruto had done was wave to them and shout out a loud 'hello.' It had been so far from what Rin was expected that she actually jumped, startled. Then he had addressed all of them by their first name, without any honorifics. Minato was the only person he used an honorific for.
Rin walked to the edge of the training grounds. With Obito's fire jutsu's it was best to give the two of them their space. Once she and Kakashi were behind the posts, Minato gave the signal for them to start. Rin hoped Obito wouldn't hurt Naruto.
"It'll be weird having a new addition to the team." Rin looked up at Minato, hoping he wouldn't be too drawn into the fight to not respond.
"It will be strange for a few weeks, but you'll get used to him. I will warn you that this will probably affect you the most." Minato glanced down at her before looking back at the fight. He must've seen her confusion, because he continued. "With only two teammates, your medic status has only been of assistance after battle. With a third teammate, you will be able to attend to those in need during a battle."
That was a good thing. Even while still in the academy, Rin had wanted to become a medic shinobi. With Naruto's arrival, it seemed to be happening.
oOoOo
Minato wasn't sure it was a good idea to out Obito against Naruto. He had originally intended for it to be Kakashi, but that had changed as soon as Naruto showed up. He didn't know what he was expecting from the boy (and yes, despite his age he was definitely still a boy) but it hadn't been this. It was no surprise that Naruto had remained a genin. Obito may be hyperactive, but Naruto was bordering obnoxious. Don't misunderstand, he liked the boy, his personality was just unexpected. After a few days, Minato knew he would get used to the boy's attitude. Until then Minato hoped none of his team killed the boy.
Obito was a good shinobi, but he struggled with control. Kakashi had been ideal because he knew how to go easy on a weaker opponent. If Naruto couldn't keep up with Obito he would get burned. As it was, Naruto was actually doing an okay job. He hadn't managed to land any hit on Obito, but he had also avoided being hit.
Obito made the signs for Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu. In order to counter, Naruto made a hand seal that Minato knew was incorrect. A thin layer of water went up as a shield, but Obito's fire went through it. Minato could tell from Naruto's face as he dodged that the jutsu had been weaker than he'd thought. Naruto looked around, seeming to study the surrounding area. Naruto adjusted his position to a crouch. He didn't move until Obito started to make the signs for another fire jutsu. As soon as Obito started the signs, Naruto lunged forward. Obito was too distracted from focusing on the signs to react fast enough. Naruto punched Obito in the stomach. Obito stumbled backwards before charging in again. Another punch, this time to the head. Obito may have had the advantage in long range attacks, but Naruto had the advantage in close range.
"That's enough." Minato stepped forward as Naruto swung to land another hit on Obito. Naruto paused inches from his fist making contact. Minato was impressed with Naruto's reflexes. "Your taijutsu is above average, Naruto-kun, but your ninjutsu is needs a lot of work." It was a good thing Minato's affinity was for water.
Naruto grinned. "When can you train me to get better?" Naruto took a few steps toward him, his hand folded together like he was begging.
"Right now." He turned to face the rest of his team. "Kakashi, I want you to practice putting chakra into your ankles and knees. It helps increase your speed. I don't want you trying it when I'm not around though; it uses a lot of chakra." Kakashi's face remained blank, but he nodded. "Rin and Obito, I want you to work on chakra control. Obito, knowing how to make a large fire is important, but so is being able to control your chakra to the point of being able to make a small, but powerful fire. Your goal is to increasingly make smaller fires. Rin, in medical jutsu's lack of control can be deadly. Go to the river and get a large fish. Practice keeping the fish alive. Do it for five minute intervals. After the five minutes, release the fish, rest for thirty seconds and then start the process over again." Finally he turned back to Naruto. "Naruto, we're going to be working on the hand signs for water jutsu's."
Naruto stared at him, a dazed expression on his face. "What?" Minato asked.
Naruto snapped out of his daze. "Nothing, I just wasn't expecting you to focus on me first." Why wouldn't he have? Naruto didn't know how to make a proper water sign, if that wasn't fixed then their team could be in danger. Plus it only made sense that Minato would focus his attention on his new student first. Learn all of his capabilities.
Minato looked over at his other three students. Kakashi, Rin, and Obito were all practicing what he had told them too. Time to start with Naruto.
"I'm sure you noticed that the water shield you used against Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu was weak. The reason is that you performed the seals in the wrong order." Naruto slapped himself on the forehead.
"I can't believe I messed up the seals! I knew I should've paid more attention to sensei!" Minato was once again surprised by the boy's outburst. Naruto was calm one minute, then incredibly loud the next.
"It's okay that you messed up the seals as long as you learn them the right way now." Naruto nodded. "You switched ram and tiger. The correct seal is bird, monkey, hare, ram, dragon. By using tiger in place of ram, the jutsu lost its strength. Remember that the tiger seal is more common in fire jutsu's than in water jutsu's."
"So the seal is bird," Naruto made the bird seal, "monkey," he made the monkey seal, "hare," he made the hare seal, "ram," he made the ram seal, "and dragon." He made the dragon seal.
"Correct. Run though the seal a few more times before putting any chakra into it." Minato was once again surprised and impressed by the boy. Naruto's loud behavior and only average skill lead him to believe the boy was a slacker, but Naruto clearly had a desire to learn. Naruto stood, doing the seals repetitively, mouthing the names of the seals as he did them. After Naruto went through the seals ten times, Minato allowed him to use chakra. "But remember, this is your first time doing this with the correct seal. It will take practice for you to master it."
Naruto nodded, but Minato suspected he didn't hear his warning. Naruto focused on his hands as he made the seal. Bird, monkey, hare, ram, dragon. A wall of water rose up in front of Naruto. It looked to be about a foot thick. The height and width of the water shield was strong enough to withstand a fire attack. Minato stared at Naruto, mouth agape. "This was your first time. How did you do that?" He stuttered.
Naruto just grinned like an idiot. "I'm a fast learner."
Minato didn't know what he had expected from the boy, but he did know that he was sure they were all wrong. He also suspected this wasn't going to be the only time Naruto left him speechless.
oOoOo
If you asked Obito what his first thoughts of Naruto were, he would lie. Not because he had thought the man was an idiot. Nor that he seemed too happy. It would be because he knew the loudness and the big grin were fakes. Naruto might not be a troubled person or even a liar, but there was no doubt in Obito's mind that he was wearing a mask. He knew because it was the same mask he put on every morning. It came as no surprise to Obito that no one else noticed. They never did.
A/N: Sorry this is shorter than the other, but I didn't want to extend it beyond their initial meetings.
I had someone complain in a review that all Naruto ever seems to know is Kage Bunshin, Rasengan, and Sage Mode. I would like to say that the reason Kyuubi told Naruto not to use those is because he shouldn't know any of those techniques. Kage Bunshin was a Konoha technique that few knew, Rasengan was created by Minato and he only taught it to Jiraiya, and Sage Mode was unique to Jiraiya at the time. I personally don't think this is all Naruto is capable of, this is merely what would immediately give him away. Thank you for reading and please review.