Tsunade was making her way towards the Konoha hospital. Now that the awards ceremony was over, she had some unfinished business to take care of...
Once inside, Tsunade made her way towards room 101, the room where Uchiha Sasuke was currently staying in. When she opened the door, she saw Haruno Sakura asleep in Sasuke's chest headfirst while their hands were interlocked.
Tsunade couldn't help but smile. It seemed that there was still some good inside the young Uchiha prodigy. That would make her proposition with him go a lot easier.
Tsunade gently woke Sakura up with a tap to her back.
"Tsunade-sama..."
"Sakura," Tsunade spoke softly, "I need to speak with Sasuke for a couple of minutes. Could you please leave the room?"
Sakura nodded her head as she slowly got up from Sasuke's chest. She gave Sasuke a quick kiss on the mouth before being escorted out of the room by one of Tsunade's guards.
Chapter 2: Forbidden Love! The new A-ranked mission!
--
Once Sakura was out of the room and out of hearing range, Tsunade locked the door before turning to Sasuke.
"Just what in the hell were you thinking to go running off like that!?" Tsunade barked, with that former gentleness replaced with a surge of killer intent almost instantly.
"I didn't know you cared...Hokage..."
Tsunade pretended to ignore the obvious disrespect coming from Sasuke's mouth.
"Sasuke..." Tsunade tries again, with a more diplomatic approach, "Those boys risked their lives for you..."
"I never asked for anybody to come after me!" Sasuke yells, gritting his teeth, "This was something that I had to do myself! Why did you make those men waste their lives?"
"Patience, Tsunade...as much as you want to strangle him now, remember your original purpose. Just be calm and then you will be able to reach him..."
"Let me take a seat."
Tsunade grabbed a chair that was inside the room and placed it by Sasuke's bed so that they were closer.
"Sasuke...those boys went after you because they care-"
"Don't give me that shit! Nobody gives a damn about me! Konoha only likes me because I am from one of the most elite clans in this village! They like me simply for being an Uchiha! Nobody gave a damn when my brother killed everyone in my clan except for me! Nobody gave a damn when I had to spend the rest of my life with no family!"
"Sasuke's life...it is very similar to Naruto's..."
"Then you better then anybody knows how Naruto feels."
"Naruto?" Sasuke's eyes went wide at the mention of his name.
Sasuke then thought back...back to when he had faced Naruto attempting to stop him from reaching Orochimaru.
--
"Sasuke! I've found you! Now come on! Let's go back to the village!"
"I have no intention of returning, dobe..."
"Nani? What the hell are you talking about?"
"I've got a mission to fulfill. And I won't let anybody stand in my way. And if you try to stop me, I'll destroy you!"
"That's too bad Sasuke..." said Naruto as he got into a fighting stance. "My orders are to bring you back to the village. I can bring you back conscious, or unconscious. It really doesn't matter either way."
"Hmph." Sasuke let out as he also got into a fighting stance. "You were never able to compare to me. You will always be inferior. Let me prove that to you!"
"Don't say I didn't warn you Sasuke! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
"You moron..."Sasuke spat out as he gripped his right wrist with his left hand and started to draw in energy. "You think you can stand up to my power? You think you're stronger then me?"
"I don't think I'm stronger then you..." said Naruto as his clones helped him gather the energy for his most powerful attack. "It's a fact. You just have a problem understanding that. But now that there is no Kakashi or Sakura around, I'll prove that to you once and for all!"
"Yes...let our attacks prove who is stronger..." Yelled Sasuke as he charged towards Naruto with the attack that he had been taught be Kakashi. "Chidori!!"
"Time to lose, Sasuke-chan! Rasengan!!"
--
"Don't compare me to that moron! We are nothing alike!"
"On the contrary Sasuke, you two both have a lot in common. Nobody else has grown up in this village without family in your generation but you 2. Unlike Naruto however, people respect you and don't hate you. I wish I could say the same about Naruto though."
"Huh?"
"Now I've got your attention Sasuke..."
"Haven't you ever wondered why everyone in this village hates Naruto?"
Sasuke was about to protest, but he found that he couldn't come up with a valid reason.
"You should be grateful, Sasuke. You may not have family, but at least you have people that care about you. This entire village loves you."
"What does this have to do with Naruto?" Sasuke asked as Tsunade poured herself a glass of water from the pitcher that was on the table.
"Lots." Tsunade said before drinking her glass of water and then putting the empty glass back on the table. "Ahh...That's much better. Anyway, while you may have people like Sakura adoring you, Naruto doesn't have anybody. Naruto would give anything to be in your place right now. I know that you have suffered through a lot, but so has Naruto, if not worse. Growing up for Naruto has literally been a living hell."
"Just what exactly happened to Naruto?"
"I'm afraid that is something only Naruto can tell you." Tsunade said as she got up from her chair and made her way towards the door. "What happened to Naruto is highly classified."
Sasuke was quiet while he thought about everything that Tsunade had told him.
"I'm giving you one of 3 options Sasuke." Tsunade said in a more serious tone. "Choice 1 is to go through rehabilitation. While you are on rehab, you will also be on suspension for your earlier actions. If you can successfully make it through rehab, then I will reinstate you as a shinobi of Konoha village and even give you a special mission that I feel will bring out the best of your abilities. If however, after a certain amount of time you are not able to pass your rehab, then I will have no choice but to put a seal on you that prevents you from accessing any of your chakra. You will be incapable of ever being a ninja ever again. You will be just like Rock Lee was after his fight with Gaara. Or if you want, you can make that choice right now."
"And what's my third option?"
Tsunade's face got even sterner. It was so serious that she almost looked like the old lady that she really was instead of the young beauty that she fooled people into thinking she was with her jutsu.
"Death."
Sasuke's boldness and stubbornness had temporarily been wiped away after hearing his third choice. His eyes were wide in shock, and his mouth was opened wide.
"Your actions are considered to be traitorous, especially considering what happened during the chuunin exam with the Sound. If it weren't for one important factor, we would not be having this conversation right now."
Sasuke tried to think. From what Tsunade was telling him, he should have already been dead. But due to some important reason, he wasn't. And in addition to that, he would be given a chance to reclaim his former glory? Normally Sasuke didn't give a damn about anything unless it helped him to further his goals. But this time, he was curious. What was it that allowed him to cheat death?
"Despite what you're thinking," Tsunade says as she looks at Sasuke's face stuck in confusion, "Neither Naruto or Sakura were factors in keeping you alive."
"Then why?!" Sasuke barks out, "Why am I still alive?"
Tsunade hated to admit it, but Sasuke had partially been right earlier. The higher ups did respect Sasuke because of his clan affiliation. He was the last of the Uchiha, a clan as old as the beginning of Konoha itself. And the power that came from the Uchiha was definitely a military advantage. Lots of members in the government were relying on Sasuke to bring in some new Uchiha blood. Since Sasuke was an endangered species, a lot of the officials argued about losing this rarity forever.
The reasons had been logical, Tsunade remembered as she sat in on that meeting. However, it wouldn't be enough to justify keeping Sasuke alive. He had committed treason. To betray your comrades was punishable by death. No questions asked.
Tsunade had also pleaded that to kill Sasuke, would defeat the entire purpose of the retrieval mission. If they wanted Sasuke dead so that he didn't reveal Konoha's secrets, they should have made the mission one of termination instead of retrieval. Killing Sasuke after all of the hard work the retrieval team went through would be a waste.
Unfortunately, even that didn't help Sasuke's case. It wasn't until Tsunade had unveiled her trump card, that she had been able to provide a legitimate reason to keeping Sasuke alive.
"How does your curse seal feel, Sasuke?" Tsunade asks, "Does it bother you?"
"What are you talking about?" Sasuke answers, rubbing his neck where it once lay, "You removed it."
"Exactly," Tsunade answers back, "Your curse seal is what literally saved your live. Are you familiar with the woman known as Mitarashi Anko?"
Sasuke tried to think before things started to come together.
"She was the examiner for the Second Test of the Chuunin exams, why?"
"It turns out," Tsunade begins again, "That she also had a curse seal…"
Sasuke's eyes go wide in shock for the second time that day.
"Did you think you were the only one that Orochimaru ever had an interest in?" Tsunade mocks, "Oh no. You were merely his next test subject in a long line of victims. My point though, is that after conversing with Anko, she had told me that the curse seal sometimes gave her violent and bloodthirsty tendencies. On occasion, it would also make her long for Orochimaru as well. From studying Anko's curse seal, I was able to come to the conclusion that Orochimaru has somewhat of a control on people with his curse seals. That is what makes me feel that you do have some good in you and that given a second chance, you would make the right decision. Now, what is your fate going to be, Sasuke?"
All of the choices sucked, Sasuke thought. Option 2 wasn't even an option to begin with. Why would he want to give up his strength and the one thing he could really call his own? How else would he be able to kill Itachi if he couldn't fight?
Which led to option 3. Sasuke couldn't die. At least, not yet...he was an avenger. He had to make his older brother Itachi die for destroying their family...their heritage...their pride. It was because of Itachi that Sasuke's life was shit right now anyway...
Itachi took everything away from him. Somebody had to destroy Itachi. And only Sasuke could do it. For his clan, Sasuke had to kill his older brother. But if he was dead, then how could he do it?
Which meant that Sasuke had no choice but to take the first option. It cramped his style, but it was better then nothing. At least it gave Sasuke some time to prepare for Itachi. And with the curse seal gone, Sasuke could go full out on his abilities without having to worry about that damn seal sapping power away from him.
"Itachi..." Sasuke smirks, "Your ass is mine...and this time, I will come out on top..."
"Fine. I'll go with the first choice. When I complete your stupid rehab, just what kind of "special" mission do you have for me?
A light smile came to Tsunade's face. If all went according to plan, Sasuke would forget about Itachi unless he showed up himself. And she would be able to get Sasuke to open up even more and fill his heart with love, instead of hate.
"Anbu..."
With those final words, Tsunade opened the door to the room, and left. As she started to walk down the hall, Sakura ran into her.
"Tsunade-sama! Is Sasuke-kun going to be all right?"
"Yes. Sasuke will be just fine. He just needs some rest."
"Arigato." Sakura said as she bowed to her Hokage.
"You're quite welcome. Oh, and in one month, I want you to meet me in my office at 4:00 p.m. There are things that I want to speak to you about. And spread the message to anybody on Asuma's, Kurenai's, or Gai's teams. And if you get to Naruto before I do, give him the same message as well."
"Ok. I'll be there. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to Sasuke-kun."
Sakura then went back into Sasuke's room while Tsunade decided to go back to her office.
"Ahh...young love..."
--
It was now late in the evening. Visiting hours for the hospital were over now, which meant that Sakura had to leave Sasuke and go home. As for Naruto, he was just finishing restocking his kitchen with ramen and milk...fresh milk...
That mission that Naruto had went on with Shikamaru and the others really gave Naruto a lot of money. Also adding in the fact that they weren't even Jounin yet meant that they all got bonuses for doing an assignment that wasn't even in their rank. When Hinata had to cut her visit with Naruto at Ichiraku short, Naruto had decided to take that extra money that he had saved up and do some grocery shopping for essentials, especially ramen. His supply had been running short as of late…
"That's the last one." Naruto says as he put in one more instant cup of ramen inside a cupboard and closed the door. "I now have enough ramen to last me for 2 whole months."
Having completed his task, Naruto was now at a loss of what to do. He was still full from Ichiraku earlier, so he didn't need anything to eat. He wasn't in the mood for training, and due to the results of the retrieval mission, Kakashi had said that there would be no team meetings until further notice. So what was one to do?
Just then, there was a knock at his door.
"Who could that be?" Naruto asked himself as he went towards the door.
It was Hinata, the only one that truly saw the good inside of him.
"Hi, Naruto-kun...I um...wanted to see you and..."
Naruto understood the meaning of those words and invited Hinata in. They both sat down on Naruto's couch. Once they did, Hinata gently gave Naruto a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I missed you, Naruto-kun..." Hinata said as she cuddled up close to Naruto's body and nuzzled her head on his neck.
"Yeah, I missed you too, Hinata-chan..." Naruto replied while he wrapped an arm around Hinata.
They sat like that for what felt like hours, but in reality had only been about 10 minutes. They were content with just being in each other's company, so there was no need for talk.
"Naruto-kun..." Hinata began, finally breaking the long silence. "What are we going to do? If anybody finds out about us, then we could be in trouble."
"I know..." Naruto said seriously, having concern in his blue eyes. "But no matter what happens, I won't let anything happen to you. You are my precious person Hinata-chan, and I'll always be here. That's a promise of a lifetime!" Naruto finished up his speech with a grin.
"Naruto-kun..." Hinata whispered as her entire body turned deep red.
Hinata then looked deeply into Naruto's eyes and gave him a nice, long, sensual kiss, a kiss that she had longed for, ever since she admitted her love for him the previous night. Now that Naruto knew her true feelings, Hinata no longer felt completely shy around him. And Hinata didn't hesitate to show Naruto just how much love she had for him when they were alone.
Hinata wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck as she deepened the kiss. Naruto pulled Hinata's body in closer towards him as he showed his "precious one" just how much she meant to him.
They didn't care that their love was forbidden...everyone could go to hell for all they cared...they were each other's strength, and nothing could tear them apart when they were together...
--
During the rest of the month, Naruto and Hinata secretly trained together. On some days, they forgot about training and just had a make out session instead. But on the days that they actually did train, they taught each other a couple of things. Hinata taught Naruto about controlling the amount of chakra he uses for his techniques some. That was one thing that Naruto had not truly mastered, even when he had learned how to summon Kyubi's chakra from Jiraiya. Even with Kyubi's power boost, wasting energy was still something that could prove hazardous for Naruto if he didn't learn how to control it properly. Naruto in return, had taught Hinata his trademark technique, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Having Hinata learn one of his "preferred moves" not only increased their bond with each other, but also was essential when they wanted to spend time together and didn't want to add suspicion to the rest of the village. Learning Kage Bunshin really came in handy though when Naruto and Hinata would stay out really late at night, and Hinata didn't want to be missed at home. Hinata could just make a Kage Bunshin clone to take over for her until she got home. Nobody suspected a thing, which worked in Hinata's favor.
Finally, it was the day that Tsunade had asked them all to be present, and 10 genin, plus 1 chuunin were all waiting inside Tsunade's office.
"Thank you all for showing up," Tsunade said as the door was shut, "Let's get down to business. As you know, ever since Sandaime died, Konoha has been very busy working to rebuild the village and to prepare against threats such as Orochimaru and the Sound. Based on the events that happened about a month ago, Orochimaru is still alive and is still a threat. Our supply of ninjas is small. Ever since that battle with Orochimaru at the chuunin exams, we lost a lot of dedicated shinobi, and replacing them has been an arduous task, but I think I know a way to solve that problem. But before I tell you all my plans, let's welcome back an old comrade."
As soon as Tsunade opened the door, the eleven members of the Konoha 12 were in shock. There was no mistaking who was outside the door. There was no mistaking the blue and white that this young man wore. There was no mistaking the Uchiha fan on the back of his shirt.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted as she ran towards her teammate and embraced him.
Suddenly, Naruto, Neji, Kiba, Chouji, Lee, and Shikamaru were pissed to see Sasuke in front of them, and for good reason. Neji and Chouji were nearly killed, Kiba's dog Akamaru was killed, and while Naruto did come back alive, he looked like shit. Shikarmaru, Kiba, and Lee were the only ones that didn't come back from the mission looking like they had gone head on with a storm. And the reason for that was because they had assistance from Gaara and his siblings.
Tsunade knew things would get out of control if she didn't clear them up quickly.
"Through my studies, I found out that Sasuke had been controlled by Orochimaru," Tsunade lied, "Sasuke had no say in what he did, so please try not to hold that against him. He is truly sorry for the pain that he has caused you all, and he merely wishes to put it all in the past so that we can all move on. There will be no other questions regarding this. Is that clear?"
Naruto and Sakura knew that was bullshit. Sasuke knew exactly what he was doing! However, they both knew that Tsunade had been doing this their sake and for his, so they kept their mouth shut. Besides, the excuse actually worked! Nobody, not even Shikamaru, suspected a thing.
"Good." Tsunade said once everyone understood. "Now as I was saying, while the celebration was going on about a month ago, I had all of your teachers write a progress report on their students. How everybody was doing, what their strengths were, weaknesses, and so forth. Based on our current situation of rebuilding Konoha, I have decided to split you all up and assign you to different assignments and teams that will bring out the best in your abilities."
"What?" Ino protested, "You're breaking us up? You can't be serious!"
"Settle down." Tsunade says as she gets her clipboard out, "This is for the good of Konoha. Anyway, let's get started. Nara Shikamaru..."
Shikamaru stepped forward a bit.
"Since you are already a chuunin, you will be sent out to do more chuunin assignments out in the field. You are going to start working with other genin and training them to be good shinobi."
Upon hearing that, both Chouji and Ino started to worry.
"You're taking Shikamaru away from Chouji and me? You can't do that!"
"I know that this decision pains you, but you must all put personal feelings aside. Right now, Konoha needs Shikamaru's genius out in the field. Perhaps when things settle down I might reconsider my decision, but for right now, this is what is best."
"Shikamaru..." Ino whispered, as her eyes got watery.
"Shikamaru." Tsunade concludes, "You may go now. Report to my office at 6.am tomorrow for your assignment."
"Shikamaru, wait!" Ino shouted as she embraced him.
"Don't worry Ino." Shikamaru says calmly, "We'll still see each other."
Ino then pulled her head out of Shikamaru's chest and gave him a kiss.
As Ino kissed Shikamaru, he thought back to the advice his father Shikaku had given him one day.
"Even the roughest woman…is tender to the guy she loves…"
At first, Shikamaru had thought his father was speaking nonsense, but now it made sense. Ino, was bossy, egotistical, and just plain rude to him, Chouji, and anybody else that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Shikamaru!"
Shikamaru had just finished making his report to Tsunade when Ino met him outside her office.
"Ino?" Shikamaru asked, "What's the matter? Is Chouji's condition worse?"
"No…" Ino said quietly, "Chouji's fine. His condition is no longer critical. His father is with him."
"Then what's wrong?"
This was when Shikamaru noticed something strange about Ino. Her face started blushing red and it looked like she was finding it difficult to breath.
"Ino?" Shikamaru asked again, "Are you sure you're alright? Maybe we should get you checked into the hospital…"
"No!" Ino cried as she threw herself in Shikamaru's arms, "Please…don't…"
"Ino, I'm taking you to the hospital," Shikamaru says as he grabs her sides, "You're acting really troubleso-"
Before Shikamaru could say anything else, Ino had kissed him.
But after that one incident, Ino was no longer bossy, egotistical, or troublesome. At least, not to him...Everyone else still faced Ino's wrath, but to him she was always gentle and tender.
"Promise me that you'll be careful, ok?" Ino said after breaking their kiss.
"I will."
"Shikamaru." Chouji said, now approaching his teammates. "Take care of yourself. You were my first real friend."
"Likewise." Shikamaru responded. "And take care of Ino for me."
With that said, Shikamaru turned around and left Tsunade's office.
There was a brief silence in the room. Even though Shikamaru might have been a lazy-ass, he was still respected by all of the other genin. The fact that he was the only one to make chuunin was proof of that.
"Ahem." Tsunade coughed, bringing the attention back to her. "As you know, due to our village having to send in most of our shinobi on high ranked missions, the ninja academy had to be closed down. However, if we are to maintain our high morale, then we need to have more ninjas. And the only way to do that, is to have a teacher."
"But Tsunade-sama..." Sakura started, "Isn't Iruka-sensei out doing missions? How can he teach if he is somewhere else? Not even he can be two places at once..."
"That is precisely my point, Sakura." Tsunade answered. "Which is why I'm handing over the ninja academy position to you..."
Those words elicited quite a response from the remaining genin. Sakura? Academy teacher?
"Let me read you a bit of what Kakashi said about you Sakura." Tsunade said as she pulled out a piece of paper from her clipboard.
"Sakura's main talent lies not in her raw power, but in her ability to use ninja skills without wasting any energy. Her chakra control is among some of the best that I have ever seen. Iruka also told me that Sakura was one of his top pupils in ninja academy. Her intelligence was in the top five students. And when I had my team do tree climbing exercises, she was the first one to master it. And she did it on her first try. Sakura's chakra control is better then some of our current chuunin and jounin today…"
"Congratulations, Haruno Sakura..." Tsunade said with a smile.
"Alright, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled as he jumped up into the air.
"I am proud of you, Sakura-san!" Lee also congratulated, "Your flames of youth burn bright!"
"Yeah...good job...I guess..." Ino said, feeling a little bit jealous.
'The students need somebody like you. But that is not all. To ensure that we get our population of ninjas back up, I will also have Yamanaka Ino teach a class as well..."
Just then, both Sakura and Ino hugged each other.
"Congratulations, Ino." Sakura said to her long time best friend.
"Let's teach those kids how to be ninja!" Ino remarked back.
"You may go now ladies. Be at the academy tomorrow at 7am. Umino Iruka will be there to teach you 2 the basics of running a ninja academy."
"One more thing though, Tsunade-sama..." Sakura asks as she turns around, "I thought you had to be a chuunin to be an academy teacher..."
"Normally that would be the case," Tsunade answers, "But right now, Konoha is in a state of emergency. And with Iruka out doing missions, finding someone else qualified for the job is a difficult task. That's why I'm promoting you and Ino to Special Genin."
"Really?" Both girls asked with excitement in their voices. "This will be great!"
"Yes. Now go. You will receive your full instructions from Iruka tomorrow."
"See you later, Sasuke-kun! Bye Naruto!" Sakura yelled to her teammates as she left the office.
"Come by my house tonight, Chouji!" Ino said as she left, "I'll have some cake for you!"
"Cake? Yum!" Chouji yelled back as he patted his stomach in anticipation for food.
"Now...let's see..." Tsunade asked herself as she looked at her clipboard. "Who's next...Ah yes! Rock Lee!"
"Tsunade-sama!" Rock Lee said as he bowed forward with all of the grace that he could bring out. "I await your orders!"
"Rock Lee...I am permanently assigning you under Gai's tutelage. You will now be Gai's assistant, and will follow him wherever he goes on his travels."
"Tsunade-sama! You rock!"
To make sure Tsunade understood this, Lee gave her the "nice guy" pose.
"Go to the Konoha coffee shop right now. Gai is waiting there for you."
"As you wish, Tsunade-sama! So long, everyone! The green beast of Konoha must leave at once!"
And just like that, Rock Lee was gone.
"Hyuga Neji. Step forward."
Neji slowly approached Tsunade.
"Neji...as I told you privately, you are about to begin training for Anbu. However, there will also be two more that will be accompanying you. Gentlemen, when I call your name, step forward. Aburame Shino!"
Shino stepped forward and stood next to Neji.
"Uchiha Sasuke!"
"What?!" Naruto thought, extremely pissed off, "How does Sasuke get to be Anbu? I'm the one that brought his ass back to the village, and he gets to be Anbu? This isn't fair!"
"Obaa-chan!" Naruto yelled. "How does Sasuke get to be Anbu? I should be Anbu! I'm better then him!"
"That's enough, Naruto." Tsunade firmly but calmly said. "I have my reasons. Are you questioning the judgment of your Hokage?"
Tsunade knew that Naruto wouldn't say anything more. By reminding Naruto of her "title", she had put him in his place, even if only briefly.
"Gentlemen. Your Anbu teacher will meet with you tomorrow at 5am by the bridge. Don't be late."
The 3 men then left.
"Ok...there are 5 of you left now...we are almost finished. The next team will be composed of Akimichi Chouji, Inuzuka Kiba, and Tenten."
The 3 called genin immediately stepped forward.
"Report back to me at eight tomorrow morning, and I'll have your assignment."
As Tenten, Kiba, and Chouji left the office, Naruto looked around and saw that it was now empty of everyone except for him, Hinata, Shizune, and Obaa-chan…
"Tsunade-sama..." Hinata began in a soft and timid voice. "Why are Naruto-kun and I the only ones left?"
"Simple." Tsunade answered as she set her clipboard down. "You 2 are going to be on the same team."
Both Naruto and Hinata looked at each other and immediately started blushing.
"But why only us 2?" Naruto asks, "How come our team is so small?"
"Naruto... what do you want more then anything else in the world?"
"To be Hokage!" Naruto said loudly and proudly.
"Why?"
"Because...when I'm Hokage...then the people in the village will have no choice but to acknowledge my existence. They will finally realize that I am a human being...and that I have feelings...and that I'm not a monster...and that there is more to me then the trouble making screw up people always think I am..."
Hinata nearly cried after hearing Naruto's reason of coveting the prestigious title of Hokage. Hinata finally understood why Naruto tried so hard...and why he never gave up.
"Hinata..." Tsunade said to the other genin. "Why do you wish to be shinobi?"
"I want to prove myself...to the village and my clan especially...that I am strong...that I'm not a loser...that I'm not a waste of life..."
Hearing Hinata's reasons for being ninja made something inside of Naruto click. It all sounded so familiar...but why?
"Naruto, Hinata. You two have the same dream..."
"You mean Hinata wants to become Hokage and open up the world's biggest ramen restaurant?"
"No Naruto..." Tsuande said as she smacked her forehead with her hand. Naruto had good intentions, and a good heart, but how could he be so clueless? And this was precisely the reason why Naruto was not quite ready to become chuunin. "Both of you desire acknowledgement. The two of you want the rest of the village to see you for your accomplishments, and not for your failures. You want people to be proud of you when they see you, and not feel like you are a disgrace to them whenever you are in their presence. The two of you would work better off together then with any of the other genin. That's why I'm assigning you two on the same team with a teacher that will be able to bring out the best in both of you..."
"You're going to get Ero-Sennin to teach me again?"
"No, I'm not letting you train under Jiraiya again…" Tsunade answered, "Besides, power is not what you lack, Naruto, but something else..."
"What is it? Tell me!" Naruto demanded.
"It's not my place to tell you, Naruto. It would be better if I let your teacher tell you what you are missing. But I'll let him deal with that tomorrow. Both of you will be training under somebody that is designed to help shinobi's advance to the next rank. Both of you meet back at the stadium at 7:30 am tomorrow. He will be here waiting for you. Now go. It's time for all of us to leave this place."
"Is he good?" Naruto asked.
"Yes. He is very good. He will bring out the best in both of you."
"He better be! Come on Hinata, I'll buy you some ramen!" Naruto yelled as he grabbed Hinata's hand and dragged her outside.
As Tsunade started to shut her office down, she thought back to the letters that had helped her determine the new paths for the Konoha Twelve, particularly Naruto and Hinata.
Unlike the other genin, Tsunade had two people write progress reports about Naruto. In addition to Kakashi, Tsunade also had Jiraiya write a progress report about Naruto. Both letters were very similar in terms of Naruto growing in strength, but there were key points that both ninja hit that made Tsunade strongly consider where to place Naruto.
"In the beginning, things were difficult for Naruto. Getting along with his teammates Sakura and Sasuke was no easy chore. Sasuke is Naruto's biggest rival. Naruto wants to be acknowledged by everyone in the village, but Naruto wants acceptance from Sasuke more then anyone. Ever since the academy days, Naruto was playing catch up with Sasuke. Eventually, Naruto caught up to Sasuke in strength, but that is not what keeps Naruto from reaching his full potential. Naruto can be very hard headed at times. Under situations where a calm mind is necessary to completing a mission, this would prove to be a downfall against Naruto. Naruto does not lack the strength needed to be a chuunin, he lacks the mind of a chuunin. Naruto's skills of deduction are unfortunately, not very good. Naruto must be able to think ahead several steps in order to be a successful chuunin..."
Jiraiya's report was not as articulate as Kakashi's but the same points were brought up.
"Naruto reminds me of Minato…Determined and stubborn. Naruto has great strength, especially when you consider the fact that he has Kyubi inside of him. But Naruto's temper can hurt him in certain situations. He needs to be able to relax a bit more. Extreme anger is not always the answer to winning a battle. Sometimes, a clear mind does the job even better. If Naruto can't understand that, then he is doomed to fail..."
Tsunade then thought back to the progress report that she had Kurenai write about Hinata. And that's where everything started to connect...
"Hinata is such a sweetie! And so shy! I wish there was something I could do to break her out of her shell! She tries so hard not to let anybody down, especially her teammates. Coming from the Hyuga Clan, Hinata is without a doubt a very talented ninja. It is her confidence in her own abilities that is her weakness. Hinata is too passive about a lot of things, and she often lets things go without saying anything about him. However, I discovered something interesting about Hinata...It seems that one of the genin from team 7, Kakashi's team, has caught the eye of our Hinata. Upon closer inspection, I found out that Uzumaki Naruto, the boy that had Kyubi sealed into his body nearly 13 years ago, is an inspiration to Hinata. Somehow, it seems like this boy gives her the courage and strength to do just about anything. There might also be a possibility that Hinata has a crush on the boy. This I'm not certain about, but one thing I do know is that Naruto seems to do more for Hinata then even her own father. I don't agree with a lot of the ways that the Hyuga clan do things, but I would be out of place to tell them in their face. In closing, Hinata's worst enemy is herself..."
This was what made both Naruto and Hinata interesting to Tsunade. Both were trying to reach the same path, and both had the same negative people around them, and their greatest weaknesses were inside them. However, Naruto's greatest weakness was more external while Hinata's was more internal.
"Those 2 will make an interesting team," thought Tsunade as she left the building. She still had a blackjack game later on that night to get to. Sure, she wasn't supposed to be gambling anymore, but nobody said Tsunade couldn't gamble if they couldn't recognize her...
She was known as the legendary sucker for a reason...she still loved to gamble. She seemed to be sucked into games of chance. Perhaps now that she had been Hokage for a bit, she could end that curse and become the legendary winner...
--
Naruto could hardly sleep last night. Not since he became genin had Naruto felt so much anticipation for what was to come. At 7:00 am, Naruto was already out the door and jogging towards the Konoha stadium. He didn't want to make a bad impression for his new teacher that Tsunade "claimed" was really good...
Naruto arrived at his destination with 10 minutes to spare. Hinata was already there 5 minutes prior, so at least he had a good way to kill some time before their teacher arrived.
"Morning, Naruto-kun!" Hinata said as she gave Naruto a hug.
"Morning, Hinata-chan!" Naruto said returning the hug. "Are you ready to meet our teacher?"
"I guess..."
"I hope he isn't going to be late like Kakashi-sensei always was..." Naruto said, tapping his foot on the ground and having his arms crossed against his chest. "If he is as good as Obaa-chan said he was, then he should be early!"
Hinata couldn't help but giggle at Naruto's antics. He always made her laugh and feel good, even when he wasn't trying.
"Good...you 2 both showed up on time...I'm impressed..."
"Nani? What was that?" Naruto asked as he kept looking in every direction to find out the location of where the voice came from.
"Byakugan!" Hinata yelled as she activated the jutsu that came from her advanced bloodline.
Hinata looked all around Naruto and her twice. On the second try, Hinata saw some chakra behind Naruto.
"Naruto-kun! Behind you!"
Naruto turned around and saw smoke disappearing. As the smoke disappeared, a figure that had been hiding in there became clearer to see. When Naruto saw who it was, his mouth opened wide.
"Greetings, Naruto. It's been a long time..."
"Naruto-kun? What is the matter? Do you know who he is?"
Naruto was still startled as he locked eyes with someone that he didn't think he would be seeing again for a very long time...
"Ebisu-sensei? Oba-chan is making Hinata and I train under him? The closet pervert?"
--
Naruto: So the closet pervert is our new teacher, eh? Well you better teach me some new jutsus, or else I'll be forced to use my "Harem no Jutsu" on you!
Ebisu: Naruto! You still haven't learned a thing! A true shinobi does not rely on strength alone!
Naruto: Why couldn't Ero-Sennin be my teacher? He was so much cooler!
Naruto: Next time on Naruto: "Path to Chuunin! The first day of training begins!"
Hinata: Naruto-kun...maybe he does know a couple of things...
Naruto: Yeah, he knows how to be a pervert! If you want to teach me, then you'll have to prove yourself! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!