Demon: Welcome back to the Orphan Trio.
Lexboss: So, is the story going to advance soon?
Creeper: Yeah, I wanna see some action and killing!
Demon: Well, yes and no. I'm skipping to the end of the academy, but they haven't graduated just yet.
Creeper: Shit. Dragging your heels, are you?
Demon: Nope, I just want to add a bit more before getting to the main parts.
Lexboss: Oh, ok. By the way, is GoodWriter coming back?
Demon: He should be here any minute.
(GoodWriter walks in)
GoodWriter: You guys won't believe this! Some maniac nearly ran me over outside!
(Creeper slowly walks to the other room)
Lexboss: That's horrible! Are you okay?
GoodWriter: Yeah, but it's shaken me a bit.
Demon: At least you're ok. Hey, where's Creeper?
(Everyone hears Creeper in the other room on the phone)
Creeper: You dumbass! You're supposed to hit him, not scare him!
Demon: Creeper!
Creeper: Oh, fuck. (Creeper runs out of house)
Demon: Alright, while I take care of this, enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way. Nor do I own Ninja Warrior/Sasuke in any way.
"Talking" – Thinking – Demon/Summoning Speaking/Jutsu – Demon/Summon Thinking
The Orphan Trio, Chapter 7: The Time Skip
(4 Years Later)
As it turned out, Kurohi's concerns were completely unnecessary. From the day the course opened to the public, the business plan proved successful. Both ninjas and civilians alike flocked to attempt the course. Unsurprisingly, the civilians didn't do as well as the ninja, but neither managed to advance far at first. Most civilians failed on the first obstacle, while most of the ninja population would make it as far as the third before falling into the water below.
What the trio did not anticipate was the sheer number of ninjas and attempts each day. While the course proved its difficulty, many refused to give up and would continue attempting the course after signing up again. As a result, the line ballooned and there were complaints of some unable to enter because of the constant reattempts. Before long, the three came up with a solution.
The trio set up a restriction of one attempt a day. This would allow everyone who wanted to try to have an opportunity, rather than be kept back by the repeats. Surprisingly, the entrants encouraged the idea, taking the restriction to heart with no arguments. However, the progress level had not improved as a result of the rule.
After a few weeks had passed, the civilian council realized that they were not receiving any money from the obstacle course like they expected. Unsurprisingly, they raised hell at the next meeting, demanding a larger cut of the profits. However, Sarutobi quashed their demands by pointing out that they already agreed to the first cut. Therefore, they could not argue about the matter any longer. This pissed off the civilian council but thrilled Kurohi.
Speaking of Kurohi, the Dark user was excited at the sheer success of his idea. After only a few months, Kurohi managed to pay off the loan in its entirety. Not only that, but the Kiri native realized that he could fund the next course stages with the money coming in. In addition, the trio began taking responsibility for their apartment instead of having the old man pay their rent for them. Sarutobi understood that they wanted to show they could handle themselves and allowed them to pay. Unbeknownst to them, however, the old man secretly put the amount they paid back into their emergency fund, which was comprised of the excess money taken for the light bill for the course.
Within two years of the course opening, the trio completed the entire course and was excited to see what the villagers could do when the full challenge was in front of them. However, they knew it would be a while before any of the later stages would be used, as nobody advanced past the sixth obstacle on the first stage by that time. The furthest point went to, surprisingly, Kakashi Hatake, the unofficial "laziest" ANBU in Konoha's ranks. He had finished the first five obstacles easily enough, but timed out on the Warped Wall when he didn't even try to scale the wall. Seeing the ex-ANBU make it as far as he did easily, the trio knew they should have the prize ready, even if the furthest contestant was still three and a half stages away.
(page break)
Unfortunately, the years spent at the academy were not as happy as their work on the course. For one thing, Sasuke continued his aggression against the trio. The Uchiha would attack them maliciously when he was paired against one of them in spars, which happened fairly often thanks to Mezuki being in charge of the pairings. Even after the trio stopped showing restraint and would fight Sasuke completely, the raven-haired kid wouldn't let up on them.
Worse, whenever one of the trio would defeat Sasuke in their spar, Mezuki or Iruka would announce the Uchiha as the winner, even when Sasuke was on the ground, unconscious. This pissed off the trio because this would drop their grades at the Academy. The worst part was that Sarutobi admitted he couldn't do anything because there wasn't any proof the teachers were sabotaging them. It wasn't long before the trio was teetering on the edge of being bottom of their class.
One of the most infuriating instances was during a lecture about the Fourth Hokage. While listening to the lecture, and ignoring the lies about how the Fourth killed the Kyuubi, Kurohi and Toshi both noticed something while looking at the picture in the book. Their eyes widened as they glanced over to their blonde friend, then back at the book. Meeting each other's glance, they nodded silently, agreeing mentally to have a talk with a certain old man later that day.
(page break)
"What the fuck, old man?!" Kurohi angrily shouted at the Hokage, Toshi glaring next to the Dark user. After the day of class, Kurohi and Toshi switched themselves with clones, which went with Naruto back to the apartment they shared. Meanwhile, the two originals went to the Hokage tower.
Sarutobi was sweating bullets since the two kids entered and demanded he remove his ANBU from the room. It was even worse when Kurohi slammed an open textbook on his desk, pointing at the man in the picture. Minato Namikaze.
"How could you keep this from Naruto, Sarutobi?" Toshi asked angrily, trying to keep his temper down. "There's no way you could not know this. Keeping the fact he contained the Kyuubi secret from him is bad enough, but to keep from him the identity of his father! Naruto always asked us how we feel knowing who are parents were. We could tell that he was hurt and wanted to at least know what the feeling was like."
Sarutobi sighed as he looked at the picture of his deceased successor. "I know Naruto is hurting from not knowing his parents. Believe me, I want to tell him with every fiber of my being, I really do. But, I cannot do that." The Hokage said solemnly, looking back at the duo in front of him.
Kurohi was furious and threw the textbook at the wall, making a dent in the drywall. "What do you mean you can't tell him?! You know who his father is, I fucking bet you know his mother! All you have to do is bring him in here and tell him, you old monkey!"
Sarutobi wasn't happy at Kurohi's outburst, but kept his anger in check. "I can't tell him because it's too dangerous. His father had numerous enemies in Iwa and Kumo. If word gets out that he is the Minato's son, those two villages will send assassins after him." The old man replied, gripping his chair tightly.
This time, Toshi reacted. "So what if he had assassins after him? Naruto had people trying to assassinate him in Konoha too. Hell, we still have people trying to break in our apartment and kill him! It isn't like there is going to be much of a difference!" The Magnet user replied angrily, staring at the old man.
Finally, Sarutobi couldn't hold his anger in and slammed his hands on the desk. "That's exactly my point! There are assassins in our village to begin with! If his parentage goes public, you can imagine easily double, maybe triple the number of attempts on his life! Those seals on your apartment will only hold back so much." Toshi and Kurohi's faces softened a bit when they saw a few tears hit the desk.
"Think about it. Most of the ANBU here hate Naruto and refuse to defend him against the attacks from the villagers. Even Danzo's ROOT agents won't help Naruto. Only a few of them care enough to actually defend him. If Naruto can't be defended in his own village, there's no way he'll be protected from two enemy villages. I can't even hire a personal guard for him because those fucking civilians will call it favoritism."
Tears were flowing on the old man's face as he dropped his head, his hat falling off. "I can't take this shit. I really can't. I failed Minato when the villagers started mistreating Naruto. I won't fail him again by having Iwa kill his legacy."
Toshi and Kurohi looked at each other, then back at the crying man. They felt horrible for how they were acting towards the old man. Kurohi sighed before speaking again. "We understand, Lord Hokage. We apologize for our actions." By this point, Sarutobi started to regain composure, drying his eyes before grabbing and replacing his hat. "I understand. I hold no anger for your outburst. It is completely acceptable."
Toshi decided to speak up. "Lord Hokage, if I may?" Getting a nod, he continued, "Why don't you tell Naruto and ask him to keep it secret? It may need to be secret from the public, but Naruto does deserve to know his parents. Besides, if he knows there would be people trying to kill him, it might motivate him to work harder and improve."
The Hokage sighed before looking at Toshi. "I agree that he should know, but I don't think he's ready to keep this secret. The Kyuubi is a big secret, but his heritage is even more important. I'll tell him, but not until he becomes a bit more experienced. I'll tell him after his first Chunin Exams. Whether he passes or fails, I will inform him of his parents. By that point, he'll be able to handle the responsibility that knowledge involves."
Nodding, Kurohi and Toshi bowed before starting towards the door. Just as Toshi was about to leave, he stopped and spoke, his back to the Hokage. "I'm holding you to that promise. If the time comes and you don't tell him, I will. Regardless of the consequences, he deserves to know the truth." With that, the Magnet user walked out, leaving the aging Hokage alone in his room.
(page break)
Despite all the ups and downs during the years, the trio had finally made it to the end of the academy. They were currently sitting in the room, waiting for the instructors to arrive. Looking around, the trio spotted most of their friends, either waiting patiently for the test or sleeping (Shikamaru and Kiba). They noticed Sakura and Ino, neither of whom the trio befriended after the Sasuke incident, staring at the brooding Uchiha, whom the trio hated. Orphan or not, he was an ass.
As they looked around, they spotted two other students, both of whom were recent additions to the class during the last year. The first student was extremely pale with short black hair. He wore a short black tank-top that exposed his stomach, black pants and sandals, and black gloves. He was currently doodling on a scroll to pass the time. He was Sai, whom they met from Sarutobi and Danzo. It turned out Sai was originally in the ROOT program Danzo ran, but the war hawk felt he would fit better trained as a regular shinobi. Though he was mostly emotionless, he befriended the trio fairly quickly and respected them. However, he would throw a friendly insult towards them here or there, which they would respond in kind.
The other friend, sitting near Sai, was a girl with short, purple hair. She wore a green dress over a yellow shirt, as well as green shorts and green sandals. Her name was Ami. Originally, she was a year ahead of the trio, but had failed the academy's final test once and was held back. As a result, she was a bit hostile to the current class, but Toshi, Kurohi, and Naruto talked with her a bit when they were alone. They had found she was orphaned since birth, which led to stories being passed around about each other's life. Naruto, seeing that Ami was still a bit hostile throughout their stories, decided to show the girl he trusted her. Against the judgment of Toshi and Kurohi, Naruto told Ami about his "tenant". At first, Ami was scared, but soon understood that the blond in front of her was not the demon he contained. She warmed up a lot after that, knowing it was his biggest secret. It wasn't long before Ami was friends with the trio. Sarutobi wasn't too thrilled when he learned Naruto told Ami, but it was Naruto's secret to share with whoever he pleases.
The trio's thoughts were disturbed when the door to the classroom opened, revealing Iruka and Mezuki. However, to the surprise of most of the class, a third instructor entered the room. This instructor was fairly large and wore his headband as a bandanna over his brown hair. He sported a small brown goatee. Seeing the confusion on the students' faces, Iruka cleared his throat and got his students' attention.
"Good morning, students. Today is an important day for you all. Today, you will be taking the final exam to determine whether you are Genin material. The test will be divided into three parts, the written exam, the Taijutsu exam, and the Ninjutsu exam. If you manage to do well enough on each part, then you will pass and be given a headband. This will show you to be an official Genin of Konoha. Now, helping me with this exam is Mezuki and another instructor. Meet Daikoku Funeno." The now-named Daikoku nodded slightly as he watched the students. Iruka continued, "The first test will be a written exam. You will have one hour to complete this portion of the exam." Mezuki and Daikoku passed out the papers to each student, Mezuki smirking slightly as he handed Naruto his paper. After all of the papers were handed out, Iruka was about to call the start of the test when Ami raised her hand. "Yes, Ami?"
"Why is Daikoku-sensei here?" Ami asked. Daikoku was her teacher the previous year and she wondered why he was here when he hadn't been around for the last year. Daikoku nodded and responded to his student. "I'm here to watch over the test. Direct order from the Hokage." Daikoku said, getting a small glare from Mezuki. 'Damn, the old man must be wise to me.' The white-haired man thought before quickly erasing his glare. "Now then, you have one hour. Begin." Iruka said, causing all of the students to start their test.
Lexboss: Demon's not here, so I'll say it. Chapter 7 is finished!
GoodWriter: I have to ask, who's this Daikoku guy?
Lexboss: I looked him up on Narutopedia, and apparently he's actually an academy teacher.
GoodWriter: I would've thought Demon made him up.
Lexboss: Same here, but nope.
GoodWriter: Also, I'm noticing not much is happening so far.
Lexboss: I know, but I'm sure it'll pick up soon.
(Demon walks in, dragging an unconscious Creeper)
Demon: Oh, it'll pick up soon. Trust me.
GoodWriter: What happened to him?
(Creeper groans)
Demon: It turns out this bastard hired that maniac that nearly ran you over to kill you.
Lexboss: Why? I thought he said GoodWriter wasn't worth his third strike?
Demon: He thought hiring someone to do it for him would keep him safe.
GoodWriter: Not very smart on criminal law, is he?
Lexboss: Apparently not.
Demon: Yeah, so I need to figure out what to do with him. Anyway, read and review!
Lexboss: No flames!
(Creeper groans again)
Ninja Warrior Stage 2 Obstacle List (1:30)
Sliding Jump
Salmon Ladder
Balance Tank
Metal Spin
Wall Lift
Ninja Warrior Stage 3 Obstacle List (No time limit)
Rumbling Dice
Body Prop
Globe Grasp
Cliff Hanger
Devil Steps
Inverted Wall
Pipe Slider
Ninja Warrior Stage 4 Obstacle List (:30)
Final Tower