Summary: She looks up to gaze at his coal obsidian eyes as he gazes downward at her enchanting sky blue eyes. They both thought, "Is this love?" Who says opposites can't attract? SasuFemNaru… MORE PAIRINGS INSIDE
Pairings: SasuFemNaru, ItaFemKyuu, LeeSaku, NejiTen, ShikaTema, KibaHina, ChouIno
Warnings: OOC-ness, language
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Kesshite Wasuremasu
by Aesura
Team Seven
It was another beautiful day in Konoha. The sun was ablaze in the morning sky, bathing upon the roof tops and shining through the windows of the various buildings. Birds were chirping, signaling the start of a new day.
In a mansion a few miles from the populated area of the village, a mop of blonde hair stuck out from under a bed cover sheet. A groan was emitted underneath the covers from the ray of sunlight penetrating through the bedspread. A sleepy Yondaime sat up in bed, letting out a yawn while scratching the back of his head. Bandages wrapped around the outer areas of his face from the injuries of Mizuki's weapons last night.
He felt like sleeping the day away and he would have had not for the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen. His stomach grumbled in hunger. With an embarrassed and lighthearted smile, he jumps out of his bed and landed on the floor. He goes to his closet, picking a set of casual clothing and puts them on. Heading down a flight of stairs, Minato begins to make his way towards the vicinity of the kitchen, being brought in by the sweet smell of food. Minato realizing that the only person that could cook food as good as it smells was his wife, but she's gone, leaving only one person..
"Naru-chan?" the blonde stepped into the kitchen. Inside, he found his daughter happily cooking away at the stove, a mini banquet sitting on the kitchen table behind her.
The table was covered in a wide assortment of breakfast food. A large display of pancakes could be seen, the sweet smell of strawberries garnished on top of the fluffy mounds. On either side of the pancakes were two plates, each having tender but cooked bacon, scrambled eggs, and cooked, diced tomatoes. Two large glasses of orange juice near each plate completed the spread.
The blonde gave a broad grin. "Now that is what you call food! Too bad she didn't cook up any ramen.." As Minato continued to grin, his eyes surveyed the table once more. Naruto then walked over to the table, a plate of onigiri in her hands. She placed them on the table, turning to face her father in the process.
"Ohayo, otou-san! I made breakfast for us," she said, giving off a sweet smile. Minato gave a fatherly smile back, his eyes still transfixed on all of the delicious looking food.
"So dig in, otou-san!"
At this, Naruto sat down and began to eat her set of the pancakes. She cut the soft fluffy pancakes with her knife, the strawberries she sliced through spilled out its sweetened juice over the tips of her knife. Her fork punctured the cut pancake piece as she brought it straight to her mouth. A small giggle muffled out of her closed lips.
"This tastes so good! You should try it otou-san!" Naruto said grinning as she cut another piece and placed it into her waiting mouth.
The blonde at her request sat down. Minato using both hands to grab onto the plate which held the bacon and eggs with tomato on the side, he dragged it till it was in front of him, his hands searched for the fork and knife, each on either side of his plate. He cut into the evenly cooked bacon, a small piece of eggs being ripped off and placed onto his fork, along with the bacon as he placed it into his mouth. Minato's blue eyes lit up instantly.
"This really is good!" he exclaimed, taking another bite in his mouth.
"I haven't eaten this well since last time Kushina cooked." The blonde began to shovel the food into his mouth.
Naruto paused from her almost finished pancakes. "I'm glad you like it otou-san."
They ate in silence for the next two minutes, neither saying a word until Minato broke the silence. "Hey Naru-chan, when did you learned how to cook like this?"
Naruto looked at her otou-san with one eye as she gulped down a quarter of her orange juice. Setting the glass down, she answered, "If you're on the road with Ero-sennin and all he does is his 'researching' and writing his perverted books, then you'll need to learn how to cook for yourself. He couldn't boil water to save his life!"
He chuckled at her choice of words. So true. "I guess you're right, Naru-chan."
They both finished eating in silence, Minato looking at his daughter after they had finished. As she was placing the soiled dishes into the sink, he asked, "Naru-chan. Could you do me a favor?"
Naruto turned around from the sink, averting her attention to her otou-san now. "What is it?"
The older blonde rose from his seated position, walking over to the kitchen countertop. A lone scroll laid there, its green and mahogany colors bordering the inner and outer areas of the rolled-up parchment. The seal of the Hokage sealed the scroll intact, letting viewers know that it's from the Hokage himself.
"Could you deliver this to Sarutobi. He should be going to the Hokage's office any time soon. It's very important that he receives this message," he requested, handing the scroll to Naruto.
She took the scroll from his hand, inspecting it curiously. "Sandaime-jiji? Sure! I'll give this to him on my way to the Academy."
Running out of the kitchen in a hurry as she tucked the scroll security in her pouch, Naruto shouted over her shoulder. "I'll see you later, otou-san!"
Minato watched as his daughter ran out of the kitchen door, hearing the door slam on her way out. He just sighed and stood up, stretching his arms into the air to stretch out some cramped muscles, satisfied to feel the cracks that responded. "Well, I should get ready for my day…"
The Sandaime was currently strolling down the corridor that leads to the Hokage's office. He decided to pay the current Hokage a visit, after what went down last night. As he turned the door knob open and entered the room, he saw a figure sitting in the Hokage's chair, their back turned to him. But even in that posture, he could still see some traces of blonde hair sticking from behind the chair.
"Aah, Minato! Glad to see you're up!" Sarutobi greeted, smiling in the process. He walked towards the Hokage, who was still obscured by the turned chair, until he was in front of the desk that separated the two.
"I just thought I drop by and see how you're doing. But by the looks of things it seems that you're just fine." He stopped his rambling to see if the blonde was going to respond. When he didn't, Sarutobi continued on.
"But I must say that I'm surprised that you're not sleeping over your paperwork again, let alone come to work after yesterday's events. You usually look for every little excuse to get out of work."
The Sandaime chuckled at his comment, but the blonde wasn't laughing along with him. The older man realizes this, his chortling slurring off. The atmosphere now lingered on with an awkward silence. From what he could detect, the blonde gave off a pissed-off aura, ready to be unleashed at any moment. He must not be in a good mood right now. "Ehh, hey lad, I didn't mean it like th—"
The figure swirled around in the chair they were sitting in. Their arms were crossed with impatience at the man before them, an angry frown settled on their face. But this person wasn't the Yondaime, it was…
"N-Naruto?"
As if waken from the position she was in, she shot up from her seat, slamming her hands on to the desk. "What the hell took you so long, Sandaime-jiji? I've been waiting here for twenty fucking minutes! Where the hell were you?"
It took a few moments for the Sandaime to get over his shock. Whether it was for seeing Naruto instead of Minato or Naruto's colorful language, he didn't know. Maybe it was both. "Now, now. Mind your language, Naruto. A young girl such as yourself shouldn't be saying those kinds of words," counseled the old man.
"Yeah, yeah," she waved off with no consideration of his words whatsoever, standing up from the Hokage chair. He just sighed in defeat at her answer, sauntering over to the Hokage seat as he and Naruto switched places.
"So, Naruto, why did you need to see me?" the old man asked, chewing on the handle of his pipe as he watched the blond stood on the opposite side of the desk.
"Oh!" Naruto snapped out of her angry sulking, it being replaced with one of realization. Digging around for the object she seeks in her ninja pouch, she pulled out the scroll her otou-san asked her to deliver.
"Otou-san wanted me to give you this scroll. He said for you to read it." She held out the scroll in her palm, waiting for retired Hokage to take it.
"Arigatou, Naruto," he said sincerely, seizing the object intended for him. "Speaking of which, where is—"
The Sandaime cut off his unanswered question as they both look up at the sound of a weapon withdrawal coming from behind the slightly opened door.
"-Fight me, old man!" came an unruly yell as the door to the office was flung open with a heavy crash. Naruto watched as a small boy runs in wielding a sharp shuriken in his hand, aiming straight for the Sandaime.
"The title of Godaime belongs to me, Konohamaru!" Unfortunately, the boy fell flat to the floor, tripping over his own two feet.
"Itai…!" he yelled in his hands on the ground, the cry of pain muffled as he scrunched up into a ball.
"Who is this kid?" Naruto thought, sweatdropping at the child's clumsiness. Suddenly, a new voice diverts Naruto to the door again.
"Aaahh!"
Another man raced into the office, dressed entirely in black. He wore a pair of circular shades covering his eyes, his hite-ate tied around his head like a bandana. Naruto's face settled in an unhappy pout. "…That closet pervert is here as well."
She remembered the time when her otou-san assigned him to be her mentor whenever he had to do Hokage duties. Of course, she never liked her "sensei". He always kept calling her Young Mistress like it was her name and never let her have any fun.
"'Fun' is not the path of becoming a great Hokage, Young Mistress. It takes hard work and training. And the quickest path of becoming Hokage is to learn from me," he always says.
Pfth. Yeah right. When they were reviewing over chakra control, she caught him sneaking a peek at the girls in the bathhouse. He just said that he'd never performed such a vulgar behavior when she asked him about her observation. She had to practically beg her otou-san to fired Ebisu from his tutoring job. Konohamaru sat up and rubbed his head. "Is this a trap?"
"Are you okay, Honorable Grandson?" Ebisu asked in alarm. "There are no traps here by the way," he concluded, adjusting his sunglasses a little ways higher.
Ebisu then turned his gazed to the other occupant in the office. He gasped in surprise. "That girl is… Young Mistress."
After easing the soreness on his face somewhat, Konohamaru glanced to the left of him, his eyes came to settle on Naruto who stood not so far away. He leaped up and walked in front of the blonde, pointing an accusing finger at her in a challenging manner. "I get it! You did something, didn't you?"
"You just tripped over your own two feet!" Naruto retorted snippily, feeling her eyebrow twitch in annoyance. She was already late to get to the Academy on time, and this little squirt isn't helping with that problem. She grabbed Konohamaru's collar and lifted him a couple of feet into the air.
"Young Mistress!" Ebisu yelled in panic and distress. "Please unhand him. That boy is the grandson of our great Sandaime-sama!"
Naruto shot him a dirty look. "Again with the 'Young Mistress," she thought angrily.
Naruto looked down at the kid. Ebisu said that he was the grandson of the Sandaime. She had wanted to beat the crap out of this little punk-Sandaime-jiji's grandson or not-for accusing her of a false crime, but the memory of what Ebisu called that kid came back to her. "He calls you 'Honorable Grandson'… He must only see you by that title, rather than as Konohamaru, a kid who had dreams like everyone else. Just as I'm always seen to him as 'Young Mistress', the daughter of the Yondaime, I was treated differently because of that…"
But to Konohamaru, he thought differently. "She stopped right after finding out that I'm the grandson of a Hokage. Heh, she must be the same as the glasses-teacher and everyone else."
"What's the matter?" Konohamaru demanded. "Why don't you hit me if you can! You're no match for a grandson of a Hokage!"
Naruto humphed at the very idea. "Like I care about that!…"
She raised a fist, and brought it crashing down on top of the smaller boy's head. "..Konohamaru!"
Konohamaru looked up at the blonde with shocked wide eyes while falling down to the floor by the impact of her fist.
"She said.. my name…?" he wondered, gradually losing consciousness. He passed out right on the spot.
"N-NANI?" Ebisu cried, his mouth hanging agape, still trying to comprehend what just happened.
"I know I should punish Young Mistress for committing such an act on the Honorable Grandson of our respected Sandaime, but she is the daughter of our village's active Hokage, the venerated Yondaime. Oh what am I to do?"
The Sandaime just sighed into his hands, like these kinds of events were natural for him. "Oh well."
Ebisu turned to face the Sandaime, pleading for his advice. "Sandaime-sama, what should we do about this problem? Young Mistress-"
Ebisu looked over at her direction, only to see a vacant spot of where she used to be. He looked around too see if she was still in the room. "Young Mistress! She's goneeeee!"
"I believe she went the Academy. It's the day she, along with the other graduated students, get assigned to their genin teams. She mustn't be last for this important day."
"Eh?" he stopped hyperventilating and looked at the Hokage with a perplexed expression for a moment. Then the news dawned on him, suddenly remembering what today was.
"I-I mean, yes, of course! I knew I taught Young Mistress well, keeping up with her studies and such. Well, I believe we should take our leave, right Honorable Grandson?"
He looks at the spot where his student was but found him also not there either. "Honorable Grandson? Blast it! Where is he this time?"
"It looks like he ran off again…" the Sandaime answered in a composed tone.
Ebisu turned to face the Hokage, his appearance now deprived from the supposed controlled look, substituted with the one of panic again. "Nani? That's an emergency!"
He ran quickly out of the Hokage's office, hoping that he wasn't too far away from the runaway kid. "Honorable Grandson!"
The Sandaime stared at the door Ebisu dashed out of. "Eh.. How did he grow up to be like that?"
Shaking his head, he now directed his attention to the scroll Naruto had given him. He wondered what could be so important to tell him that Minato had to send a scroll. He could of just went over here and tell him in person. Those injuries he'd received were minor, only flesh wounds. Pushing the assumptions from his mind, he loosened the edge of the scroll, unraveling its contents with curiosity.
Hey Old Man,
If you're reading this letter, then that means Naru-chan must have gotten it to you. Anyway, just to let you know, Article B, Section 5 of the Hokage manual states that if the active Hokage is injured or enable to carry out the Kage's job, then the retired or runner-up Hokage must temporally take the place as Hokage. And since I'm in no condition to carry out the Hokage job, I'm leaving it all in your capable hands. Good luck, old man. You're going to need it.
-Namikaze Minato
The old man's wooden pipe fell out of his mouth, landing at the base of his feet.
"MINATO!"
Somewhere in the outskirts part of Konoha, Minato sneezed, waking him up from his cat nap. "Huh, someone must be talking about me…"
He just shrugged it off and dozed off again.
The classroom was noisy as usual as soon as Naruto slid the door open. She looked around, noting that most of the seats were already taken.
"Sigh. I was hoping to sit next by Hinata-chan today, but…" Naruto glanced up to see her friend sitting beside a brunette boy with a dog on his head, trying to get the shy Hyuuga girl to talk. "Why am I always late?..."
She walked over and slumped in the only open seat closest to her. But what she didn't know that there was a person sitting next by her, the infamous Uchiha Sasuke, who was taking a side glance at the discouraged blonde. Naruto watched as most of the kids congratulated one another for passing the exams while the others bragged about their future plans now that they're true ninjas. Suddenly, the noise of what sounded like a herd of elephants outside the classroom snapped both Naruto and Sasuke out of their gazes. The door slid open abruptly as two girls, a pink-haired one and a blonde one, tried to get through the door, pushing each other out of the way to see who would come first. They both got through the door at the same time, spreading out their hands simultaneously. "GOAL!"
The two kunoichis shot daggers at each other, their hand being at each other's cheek, then dropped them while panting heavily from the heavy run. The blonde turned her head towards her rival, a tired yet mocking smirk set on her face. "I win again, Sakura."
Sakura grinned evilly. "What are you talking about Ino-pig? My toe entered the class before yours by a centimeter. Are you blind?"
Naruto sweatdropped at the scene while Sasuke just turned his gaze from the "presidents" of his annoying fanclub.
"These girls actually graduated?" Naruto thought unbelievably. Sakura then turned around to glance at her "true love." Her face instantly brightened up and ran to the young Uchiha, ignoring Ino's protest.
"Get out of my way!" Sakura shouted, pushing Naruto from her line of view of her crush. But unfortunately for Sakura, she pushed Naruto forward, right where Sasuke was sitting. Ino and the rest of the fan-girls gathered around to see what the commotion was about near their Sasuke-kun. The rest of the students also turned towards the scene, curious at what's happening. Utter silence fell through the class.
Naruto. Was. Kissing. Sasuke. Right. On. The. Lips.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sakura felt like a bomb has exploded in her world.
'CHA! I was supposed to get Sasuke-kun's first kiss!' Inner-Sakura shouted, punching an invisible force in the air.
That banshee cry snapped the two kissers back to reality, parting the kiss as Naruto quickly sat up. Pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke, she yelled, "What the hell, you teme! You fucking kiss me on the lips!"
Both noticeably didn't see the redness on each other's faces. Sasuke, who now has gotten himself to sitting position, countered, "I kissed you? You were the one who fell on top of me, dobe!"
An angry vein popped on Naruto's head. "Don't call me that, teme!"
He just averted his gaze directly on Naruto's blue eyes. "Fine then, usuratonkachi."
Naruto was about to beat the crap out of the raven-haired boy, until she sensed a pitiful excuse of killer intent directed towards her from Sasuke's fangirls. Sasuke felt the same presence intended for him, coming from the most of the males in the room. Apparently, Naruto had her own fanclub formed (without her knowledge) over night that could rival Sasuke's. They both shot the opposing glares a killer intent so dangerous that it made everyone quiver in fear. Naruto was not in the mood to deal with them, not after that teme kissed her. The Uchiha's motive for the killer intent was different. It was like he had a possessive aura around him, threatening to kill anyone who tries to claim what's rightfully his. The two fanclubs backed off for now, both thinking the same things. "You are now my eternal rival, Sasuke/Naruto!"
Hatake Kakashi was late again. This time he was late to the review session to pick genin for teams. Though it's not like it really mattered anyway. No students have ever passed his test, and he doubt that his new team will pass this time around. Kakashi walked into the Hokage's office where the other jounins were standing. His presence was not unnoticed. Sandaime spoke, "Nice of you to finally join us Kakashi."
Kakashi had his visible eye closed in a sheepish way. "Sorry I'm late, I ended up knocking my alarm clock out the window some how and didn't hear it go off."
Everyone in the room sighed frowningly at the copy-nin's excuse. Walking over to where the rest of the jounin are, Kakashi took his place next to a newer female jounin, Kurenai and a male jounin named Asuma. "Is that her? The Yondaime's daughter, Namikaze Naruto," the silver-haired shinobi asked, gazing into the Hokage's crystal ball.
"That's right," the Sandaime answered. They looked at the crystal ball again to now see the Namikaze heir yelling at the Uchiha, both having red faces for some reason.
"Hm. She really hasn't change that much since I last seen her. Still a loud mouth as always," the jounin mused.
The elder Hokage cleared his throat, getting the attention of the jounins in the room. "As I was saying, you have been chosen to be the jounin instructors of the new genin teams."
He shuffled through his papers, finally locating what he was looking for. Three folders were now in his hand. "These folders will tell you the stats of your newly acquired genin team, about their advantages and disadvantages."
He handed one to Kurenai. "Kurenai, your team is Team Eight: Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
The next folder was for Asuma. "Your team is Team Ten: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji."
Asuma nodded his head in understanding. The Hokage chuckled as he handed the last folder to Kakashi, saying, "Kakashi, you get Team Seven: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Namikaze Naruto."
Oh, the irony of it all.
"Settle down, everyone," Iruka said hushing the class down as soon when he got in. Everybody went back to their seats and listened for Iruka's final instructions. "Beginning today all of you are now official Leaf shinobis but you are still merely rookie genin. Now you will be assigned missions by the village. The hard part has just started so do your best."
"Today we will divide the class into three-man teams and each team will be assigned a jounin sensei. You will follow your jounin sensei's instructions as you complete your assigned missions. The team arrangements were made to balance out each team's strength so that not one team will come out as overwhelmingly powerful."
A shocked look crossed Naruto's, Sakura's, and Ino's faces. "Three-man teams?"
Iruka took out a clipboard with various names written on it. "If there are no questions, we'll start of with Team One..."
"I wonder who's going to be in Sasuke-kun's team," Ino asked behind Sakura, waiting for her to take the bait.
"I don't know," Sakura replied back nonchalantly, not going to fall into Ino's trap. She shot her blonde rival a hateful glower.
'CHA! I'm the one who's going to team up with him of course!' Inner-Sakura shouted with her fist clenched in fury.
"Three-man teams? Sounds like they'll slow me down…" Sasuke thoughtfully propped his chin on his hands as his mind raced with the possible combinations of the teams that could be one of his own. He took another side glance at a certain blonde.
Naruto crossed her arms, considering who she wanted to be teamed up with. "Well, I guess anybody would do, as long as it's not with that teme," thought Naruto.
"Next, Team Seven consists of Namikaze Naruto…" Naruto's attention perked up after she heard her name called.
"..Haruno Sakura…" Sakura was shocked at being teamed up with the very person she wanted to beat up to a pulp for kissing her Sasuke-kun. Then a scowl appeared on her face, giving her rival a death glare. "Naruto, you're going to be so sorry that you stole Sasuke-kun's kiss away from me!"
"This couldn't get any worse.." Naruto thought as she felt the anger emitting from the pink-haired girl aimed at her.
"…and Uchiha Sasuke."
"YATTA!" Sakura cried out, jumping out of her seat in delight as Sasuke's face could be seen buried in his arms. Naruto could have sworn that he was moaning.
Naruto fought the urged to bang her head on the table over and over again. "Great. I'm teamed up with a girl who wants to kill me and a boy who I want to kill…"
She was too busy sulking to notice a pair of lavender eyes staring down at her. "So I'm in a different team than Naruto-chan…" a discouraged Hyuuga thought at not being teamed up with her friend.
"Next, Team Eight. Hyuuga Hinata.."
The sound of her name being called snapped Hinata out of her pondering. "H-Hai."
"…Inuzuka Kiba.." Said Kiba smirked at hearing his name being called.
"and Abrame Shino." Shino remained impassive, only adjusting his shades with his finger a bit.
Sakura turned behind her to face Ino with a triumph grin. "Take that Ino-pig!"
Sakura gave Ino a victory sign. An angry vein popped on Ino's forehead from the unfair placement. She grounded her teeth together while clenching both of her hands in fury.
"Why do you get to be with him?" Ino angrily exclaimed.
'Alright! Love prevails!' Inner Sakura exclaimed exuberantly.
A brunette boy to Ino's left watched as she continued to seethe. "How troublesome."
"Why do girls like such a guy anyway?" he asked lazily, not really knowing why he asked that sort of question in the first place. It would just create an excuse for her to talk about how great Sasuke-kun is and what not.
Ino glared angrily at the person who made that comment. "Don't you even know that, Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru glanced at Ino's direction, now regretting asking that question. "I'm not a girl."
Ino just sighed at his response. She looked away, smiling. "That's why you're not popular.
She probed her hand underneath her chin. "I wouldn't want to team up with a guy like you."
"Team Ten: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru.."
A shock look crossed Ino's face as Shikamaru taunted her bad luck. "Looks like you have to team up with me."
She growled at his attitude.
"and… Akimichi Chouji." Chouji paid no attention as he stuffed chips into his mouth.
In contrast, Ino's face fell at the thought of her being in a team with a lazy ass ninja, as well as a chip loving eating one. She slumped in her seat in despair. "Not him too…" Today was just not her day.
"That's it for the groups-"
"Iruka-sensei! Why does forehead girl and Naruto get to be teamed up with Sasuke-kun?" Ino angrily exclaimed as she pointed at the cheerful Sakura and shooting Naruto a hate-filled glare which she ignored. Maybe Iruka might change the teams…
"Well… this year, we did things a little differently that would affect the outcome of the teams since Naruto-san just joined us… Naruto-san and Sakura just… happened to be teamed up with Sasuke…" Iruka haplessly smiled as Ino's face that resembled a banshee's.
..Or not.
Iruka heaved a sigh before continuing on with his speech. "Okay, your jounin senseis should be arriving shortly. They will call for their acquired team, and you will leave with them to start your life as a shinobi. Even though that life can be dangerous and comes with many obstacles and hardships, I have no doubt in my mind that all of you will do just fine. Good luck."
With that, he made a hand sign and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"He's late," said Naruto, clenching her teeth, becoming impatient. The three Genin were the only three left in the classroom. Sasuke sat in a seat, while Sakura silently fumed about their teacher. They waited for three hours for their late sensei and he still isn't here yet.
"Naruto, why don't you sit still?" Sakura's green eyes were now focused on Naruto, who was pacing back and forth about a yard away from the door. The blonde stopped her pacing and turned around to face Sakura, a slight frown upon her face.
"But why is our sensei the only one late? All the other teams went somewhere with their new senseis already and-" Naruto abruptly cut herself off when she sensed an unknown chakra. Naruto stilled. Blue eyes darted towards the door and narrowed. All emotions of her previous conversation diminished, now replaced by anger at her late sensei. Confused by the odd behavior both Sasuke and Sakura looked towards the door. As the door started to slide open, Naruto expertly threw a kunai at the intruder. Luckily, the man caught it before the weapon could bury itself in his flesh. The catcher revealed to be a lazy looking jounin. Realization of who it was crossed Naruto's face.
"Oi, what are you doing here, Kakashi-oji?" Naruto nearly shouted, pointing a finger at the silver-haired man.
Kakashi examined the finely sharpen kunai for a few moments before turning his attention back to the loud blonde. "Now, now, Naruto. I expect you to call me Kakashi-sensei from now on."
"NANI? You're our sensei?" Two pairs of eyes turned towards Naruto once her query with their sensei was over. Many thoughts raced through the other two genin's minds. How does Naruto know this man? Kakashi coughed, surveyed his team as three pairs of eyes focused solely on him.
"How should I say this… My first impression of you guys are…" He cupped his chin with his hand, pausing to think.
"I hate you." Disgruntled looks spread across each of their faces.
"Meet me on the roof so we can get better acquainted." He then disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Emerald, cerulean, and onyx eyes stared blankly at the empty spot that was once occupied.
A few minutes later, the newly formed Team Seven and their instructor sat themselves on the roof of the academy building under the veranda. "Let's see, why don't you introduce yourselves."
Kakashi looked at his new team with a lax expression in his eyes, as he leaned casually against the railing. The team sat down on the steps with Sasuke in the middle, Naruto sitting to his left and Sakura to his right.
"Introduce ourselves? What should we say?" Sakura asked.
Kakashi shrugged. "How about your like and dislikes, dreams about the future, hobbies ..something like that."
"Introduce yourself first Sensei. After all we don't know much about you," said Sakura.
"Me?" Kakashi pointed to himself, considering the thought.
"Hm… well, I guess that's fair. I'm Hatake Kakashi. I have no intention to tell you my likes and dislikes." Naruto and Sakura looked with surprise at their sensei's response.
"As for my dream…" Kakashi looked up, as if deciding whether or not to tell them. "I have lots of hobbies…" The others gave him annoyed looks as he trailed off.
"So all we found out was his name," Sakura muttered to her other two teammates in sheer irritation.
"Now it's your turn." Kakashi diverted their attention back to him.
Kakashi's eyes flicked towards Naruto. "Tell your teammates a little about yourself, blondie."
Naruto narrowed his eyes at her sensei, pouting at the name he referred to her as. Kakashi smirked under his mask. That word always got as rise out of her ever since she was a child. She tried to ignore the nickname and continued on with her introduction. "My name is Namikaze Naruto. I like hanging out with Hinata-chan, ramen, cooking, and people who are nice and true to themselves. I dislike people who judge others before they get to know them, and people who put down others just to show them who's stronger. My hobbies are training, learning new jutsus, and spending time with otou-san. And my dream…" she gave a determined look. "..is to one day be Hokage, the best shinobi than any of the previous Hokages!"
The Jounin's face turned to one of surprise once she heard her say her dream. He gave a light smile to that. He never thought his sensei's daughter would follow in his footsteps. "Well, hasn't she turned out interesting."
"Okay, next," Kakashi said, turning his gaze to the pink-haired girl. She blushed, trying to act cute. "I'm Haruno Sakura. I like… well, the person I like is…" She coyly looked at the boy to her left as she continued.
"And my hobby is… well, my dream is to…" She kept glancing at Sasuke with a blush and suddenly squealed.
"And what do you hate?" Kakashi asked, trying to get thekunoichi back on topic.
"Ino-pig and Naruto," she said deadpanned, her mood suddenly darkening. Naruto looks over at her surprisingly mute expression.
"Girls at her age must be more interested in love than ninja training." His gaze level onto the boy sitting in the center. "Last guy."
Sakura giggled when it was Sasuke's turn. Sasuke stared right back at the silver haired jounin, his hands hiding the lower part of his face from his sensei's eyes. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like a few things that I don't feel like mentioning. My hobbies are training with aniki and learning new jutsus. I dislike sweets and HATE fangirls."
Sakura slightly flinched at the disgust that seeped into his voice.
"Also, I have an ambition that I have no intention to leave as just a dream: to keep my promise I made to a certain person long ago." An eerie pause stretched out after Sasuke finished his introduction. They were staring at him with different thoughts racing through their heads.
"Sasuke-kun is SO cool," Sakura thought in awe.
"Hm? I wonder who?" mused Kakashi, not expecting that kind of response.
"A promise?" Naruto thought, a vague memory seeming to sprout back into her mind suddenly..
"Arigatou! It's a promise!"
Naruto shook her head to rid herself of that memory. She needed to concentrate more on what's going on before her, not going down memory lane.
"Alright, you three all have unique personalities. I like that. We'll begin a mission starting tomorrow."
"Hai! What kind of mission is that, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said excitedly.
Gazing at his students he shrugged, "First, we're going to do something that we four can do."
Sakura's expression was curious as she questioned, "What is it?"
"Survival training," Kakashi stated, his voice firm yet his expression lazy.
"Survival training?" Naruto frowned at the answer as she felt all the excitement drain away from her body. She already did enough training when she was traveling with Ero-sennin.
"Why is our mission survival training?" Sasuke murmured.
Sakura seemed to agree. "Yeah, we had plenty of training at the academy."
"This is no ordinary training," said Kakashi, closing his eyes.
Naruto tilted her head in confusion. "Then what kind of training is it?" Their sensei started chuckling at the prospect of getting a rise out them.
"Hey, what's so funny sensei?" Sakura questioned, surprised as well as puzzled.
He raised his hand as if in a gesture of dismissal. "Well, if I say this, then I'm sure you three are going to be surprised."
"Huh?"
Kakashi's eyes slowly opened, narrowing his gaze on to the three and frowning. He switched to a cold, emotionless voice. "Of 27 graduates, only nine are going to become Genins. The other 18 will be sent back to the academy. In other words, this training is going to be a difficult test with a dropout rate of 66%."
As expected, their expressions were priceless.
"See? You three are surprised!" Kakashi pointed out, sniggering a bit.
"What! We worked so hard in the academy. What's the point of graduating?" Sakura exclaimed, absolutely mortified at the thought of failing.
Kakashi again looked bored. "That? It just picks out those who are qualified to become a genin."
"NANI?" Sakura couldn't believe what she's hearing.
Kakashi ignored Sakura's violent reaction. "Anyway, I'm going to determine whether you pass or fail tomorrow at the training grounds near the Shinobi Memorial. Bring your ninja equipment and meet at exactly five in the morning!"
Different emotions were racing across each shinobi's face. Naruto was shivering. It was not because of fear of failing, but out of anger. "I'm not going to lose to a thing like this. I'll prove to Kakashi-sensei that my training wasn't all for nothing!"
Sakura clenched her fists at what will happen if she fails. "If I fail this test, I'm going to be separated from Sasuke-kun. This is a trial of love!"
Sasuke shook slightly at the thought of failing a mere survival test. No, he will pass and uphold the Uchiha name.
"Oh yeah, don't eat breakfast. You're going to throw up if you do." He allowed his words to sink into his students' heads. The team blanched at the idea. "Now then, meeting's over." He gave a wave off.
It was mid-evening in Konoha as Uchiha Sasuke arrived at the porch of his home. The Uchiha manor was so huge that it was hard not to see it. The young Uchiha was feeling very good about himself. Not only did he found the girl he was searching for after all these years, he's even on the same team as her. Sure, they didn't get off to a good start, with the whole unexpected kissing, but the Uchiha liked a good challenge. It makes the prize that more desirable. Sliding the door open, he took off his sandals announced loudly, "I'm home."
There was no reply in return. Assuming that his parents must be out and aniki was on another mission, he stepped into the first room in the foyer: the living room. The living room was extremely elegant, with beautiful tatami mats that were obviously new, for they had a lovely yellow-green sheen. The tatami mats were edged in a strip of silk with a pattern of green and gold. Not far away in an alcove hung a scroll written in a beautiful hand, which turned out to be a gift to Uchiha Fugaku from the Sandaime for his support and aid to the Uchiha Police Force. Beneath it, on the wooden base of the alcove, an arrangement of blossoming dogwood branches rose up out of a shallow dish that was irregular in shape with a cracked glaze of the deepest black.
Suddenly, he heard someone's laughter and another person's voice drawing nearer from the kitchen. Entering the adjacent room, he discovered aniki and Shisui in the midst of their conversation. Uchiha Shisui, Itachi's best friend and three years his senior, was leaning against the kitchen counter. He'd grown tall and muscular, although not too bulky. His hair was cut short, some sticking out and defying gravity, but in a stylish way. The ladies, both young and suspiciously older, were only too happy to tell him how good it looked for his long angular face. "Oh, hello, Otouto." he greeted his brother as he and Shisui noticed his presence. "You seem surprisingly happy today. Is there some reason for it?"
Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets and smirked, an infamous Uchiha trait. "I'm one step closer in achieving my ambition."
With that said, he walked out of the room. When Shisui was sure Sasuke was out of earshot, he suddenly burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Itachi asked with slightly narrowed eyes, wary of his sudden outburst.
"Oh-oh! Don't you remember, years ago, I mean, when you "abandoned" your brother in the forest one day? He said that he "married" the Yondaime's daughter?" he asked, amused. Itachi paled. That memory was anything but vague in his mind…
"How am I going to tell okaa-san about this? I was supposed to be watching over him today!" Itachi started to think of some excuses that will get him out of this predicament, but he came up empty handed. 'I could say that I was getting a snack for otouto, and I got lost. …No, okaa-san will never believe that. Or I could say that I was helping an old lady get her cat down from a tree. …Hell no. I'll just sound like Kakashi-san. What if I—'
"We're home!" Sasuke shouted with enthusiasm.
'-Oh shit..'
Taking off his sandals in a hurry, Sasuke ran to the kitchen. He couldn't wait to tell kaa-san the good news. "KAA-SAN!"
Itachi tailed behind him, a dreaded feeling coming to him.He kept my eyes glued on his little brother's back, nearly crushing a discarded scroll on the floor with his foot as he rushed after him. No matter what, he couldn't afford to let Sasuke out of his sight. Entering the kitchen, the two brothers saw their mother cooking up dinner. She turned around when hearing her younger child calling for her, now facing her two sons. She gave them both a motherly smile once she saw them. Itachi wondered how long that smile would last on her face. "How was your day Sasu-chan?" she asked, kneeling down to his height level as Sasuke ran up to her.
Sasuke didn't let his kaa-san's nickname of him bring down his mood. After all, who could be sad on their own wedding day? And he got some great news, for now his kaa-san has a new daughter-in-law. "Kaa-san, guess what?"
Oh no, he already started!
"I made a new friend today!"
He had no choice.
"She's real pretty too!"
He has to…
"And today, she now my—"
A swift hand clasped over the young boy's mouth, preventing another word from escaping his lips. "Otouto, shouldn't you go rest up for training tomorrow?"
Sasuke struggled to peel off aniki's hand, only succeeding in gazing dumbly at him. "Huh?"
"I'm going to help you with that shuriken jutsu you've been wanting to learn."
Sasuke's face light up. This day could get any better. "Hai!"
Getting out of his older brother's grasp, Sasuke started to run out of the room, but his kaa-san's voice stopped him when he was just an inch away from the exit.
Crap.
"Sasu-chan, you never told me what your new friend is now, or her name for that matter," she stated, her curiosity at who this mysterious friend could be. And a girl no less.
Fucking crap.
Sasuke face lit up in realization, almost forgetting why he came to his kaa-san in the first place. "Oh, she's now my—"
"Best friend." They both turned towards Itachi's direction, a questioning look on their faces as to why he answered in such a quick manner. Recomposing himself to his usual cool demeanor, he said, "Otouto was saying that she is now his best friend."
"But that's not—" Sasuke started to object, ''Cause she's my wife!'' Though he never had time to finished his statement because a hand clasped over his mouth again. Itachi covered Sasuke's mouth for the second time today, picking him up around the abdomen and hauled him out of the kitchen before he could utter another word. Their mother would give him "The Look" and show him her true wrath if she ever found out about this predicament. Maybe keeping his otouto occupied with helping him train will make him forget all about this mess.
Mikoto just shook her head, sighing in bewilderment. "I'll never understand those two."
A shiver sent down Itachi's spine at the very thought. He barely escaped that one, especially with his otouto's constant outbursts. Shisui burst out laughing again at Itachi's reaction. Who knew the great Uchiha Itachi would be easily frightened by his own mother? Though, Shisui wouldn't really blame him. His mother could get real scary from time to time.
"Shisui, shut up," Itachi hissed, his face tinged with a faint blush of embarrassment.
"Heh heh. Gomen, Itachi. I'm bad at whispering," Shisui said between gasps, waving his hand up and down to calm his friend down. Itachi sigh, and Shisui's voice was muffled.
"Shisui, learn to hold in your laughter." Itachi said to Shisui, as Shisui's mouth was covered by Itachi's hand. Shisui pried Itachi's hand from his mouth, standing opposite to him. Making his way to the door he said leeringly, "Yeaah. That will be the day you dress up in a kimono like some princess!"
"…" Itachi growled, his Sharingan activating, the three totems spinning around wildly in his eyes. Oh he was so dead. Then, he bolted at full speed outside as Itachi chased after him, his eyes murderous. The last thing the villagers saw were two dark blurs that were Uchiha Itachi and his best friend, Shisui's cackling filling the air.
Naruto lay down on the roof and gazed up at the stars, folding her arms behind her head. Twinkling in the heavens above, they looked like they didn't have any care in the world. It was nightfall and the stars were shining down on Konoha brightly tonight. She closed her eyes, musing over her thoughts. Today she met her teammates and sensei.
That Sasuke-teme who wears his ever-smug face, Haruno Sakura who looks at Uchiha as if he was the most handsome guy in the entire universe, and their half-eyed sensei Hatake Kakashi. The first day was a blast… their arrogant sensei ordered them to arrive at the Shinobi Memorial tomorrow at five in the morning and not to eat any breakfast. Stupid Kakashi-sensei. Who knew that he'll be her sensei out of all people? She opened her eyes and sighed, sensing a familiar presence coming near her.
"There you are." Her otou-san said as he sat down beside her. "I've been looking everywhere for you."
Naruto sat up from her laid-back position, her hands supporting her weight on either side of her. "Gomen, otou-san. I just needed to get out and think for a while, you know, fresh air and all."
He fixed his eyes on his daughter's face, who didn't even glance at him. "How's your day?"
Naruto's once peaceful expression was now marred to one of annoyance. "Don't ask me… it's the worst…"
Not heeding to what Naruto retorted, he continued on anyway. "Why?"
"I am assigned in the worst team."
Minato couldn't help but smirk at her answer. "And why is that?"
"I'm teamed up with that prick Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura who hates me for some reason…OH! In addition, do not forget my newest and most arrogant sensei I have ever had… Kakashi-sensei... Argh! What more worst can happen, ne?" Naruto complained, shifting her body, turning towards the older man.
A surprised and an amused look appeared on Minato's face. He never would have thought that his former student would be the sensei of her daughter. "Kakashi? He's a good man… he'll be a good sensei…"
Naruto scoffed at her otou-san's reply. "Don't tell me… I'll never believe you… he's always late…"
"Yeah," said Minato. "But…" he pondered back to the past for a brief moment, the time of The Third Great Shinobi War, the time when his genin team and him traveled to Iwagakure, the time when his team came back to Konoha with one member short… "..He has a good reason…"
A curious face showed up on Naruto's face then. Was there some true reason behind her new sensei's lateness? "What do you mean?"
He sighed. "That is something for another day."
Naruto mentally huffed, but her otou-san sounded serious, so she decided to drop the subject for now. A few minutes passed where father and daughter were just gazing up in the clear, night sky.
"Otou-san," Naruto said, breaking the silence. "Kakashi-sensei that tomorrow there's going to be a survival test to determine if my team will become genins or not. Do you know what it's going to be?"
He smiled inwardly to himself. If he had to guess, he would probably say the bell test, the same test he gave his students, the same test that his sensei gave to him, and so forth. He could still remember his bell test like it was just yesterday…
"DAMN!" An unruly swear could be heard throughout the training area, sending startled birds flying to a more tranquil haven. Two figures, a boy and a girl both at the age of twelve, slightly flinched at the shout coming from their other teammate about twenty yards away. Their survival test was now over. They had to get a bell from their sensei before the timer went off. To make a long story short, they all failed.
"It's too late to be angry—you didn't get the bells," said their sensei, standing near the spot where the rambunctious brat had curse.
"But I was close! That's not fair!" argued a blonde haired boy, tied up in the center of the three wooden posts. This boy, Namikaze Minato, was fairly covered with dirt, but that didn't prevent his spiky blonde haired to poke through.
"It doesn't matter. On a mission, there's no such thing as being 'close.'"
"But why am I the only one who's tied up?" He struggled against his bounds in emphasis.
"Your trap was a complete failure, you didn't pay any attention to my movements," stated the white haired jounin, leaning forward so he was in direct line with his student's face.
"Besides which…" he grabbed the two untouched bells from his side, jingling as he clutched the ends in his fist.
"Don't EVER try to trick the Great Jiraiya again!" he screamed, his face showing complete anger. He raised his fist up, fuming at the mere memory of that event. A deadpanned look appeared on Minato's face. '…That's why…'
All he did was his 'Operation Overload.' Nothing serious, just some traps here and there, dozens of kunais and shuriken flying at him, paint buckets dropping their contents on him, eggs, tomatoes, banana peels, smacking down at him. His sensei triggered many paper bombs and sensory bombs after he got out of 'Phase 1'. There were many nets and holes all around the places he landed, but thankfully for him, he managed to escape all of them. Well, okay not all of them. One of the holes was hidden in many layers of Genjutsu and his sensei was about to jump out of its general direction, but a rain of senbon needles distracted him and he ended up falling in it. Now falling into a hole wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't filled half way with very thick honey, feathers, glitter and confetti. But what was even worse was that at that moment, a bee hive was thrown in. Yup, nothing serious. Though he did had to clean up after the timer went off, and he did lost his hite-ate somewhere in the process, but he didn't die!
Jiraiya turned his attention to the sky now, his mood changing. "But, even if none of you managed to get the bells, I think I'll take you three as my team. I suppose you weren't so bad."
Minato lowered his head, his bangs covering up his eyes as if he had just heard the most grieving news possible.
"Hey did you hear me?" Jiraiya said, sensing his drastic change in demeanor.
"Don't make that face—you passed! From now on, I'll teach you…" he was cut off by the voice of his tied-up student.
"In that case, sensei, you're gonna teach…" he lifted his head in with determine look in his blue eyes, showing off his trademark grin. "The future Yondaime!" he finished off.
Silence ensue the field for quite a while. Then, Jiraiya smiled down at Minato, a light smirk spreading on his face, breaking the tense atmosphere. 'What an interesting kid…'
Minato's face lit up, now back to his cheerful, talkative self again. "So when do we start real missions?"
Jiraiya let the kid blabber on, his thoughts focused somewhere else now. 'I was sure that he'd complete his training. He has real talent – and is so eager to learn… But talent alone ain't enough.'
"Will you teach us some awesome jutsus?"
'Gaki, I tied you here to see if you have a will to fight, and you managed to surprise me completely…'
"Jiraiya-sensei?" Minato said, his attitude changing at his sensei's lack of response to his questions.
A slicing sound of a kunai to a rope was all that was heard. As quick as the ropes were bound around the boy, they now fell in pieces around his feet. Jiraiya kneeled down in front of Minato, a surprised look appeared on the blonde's face. "You know, I think people should enjoy the simple pleasures in life, but at the same time we should always try to reach high," consoled the jounin.
"Even if it might me hard or impossible." Jiraiya silently thought of a pissed-off Tsunade, kicking him one hundred miles away from civilization after he had asked her to go out with him for the up-tenth time. He silently cried inside from the still throbbing pain.
"Anyway, I just want you to know" he said, standing up, "I like people with dreams like yours." Minato's eyes widen at his sensei's statement. He… was the first one who ever acknowledged his goal, his dream…
"Heh - enough talking. Go tell your teammates the good news, and I'll look for my hite-ate."
"Sure!" Minato said smiling, running off to his teammates' location. Jiraiya glanced back at his retreating form, grinning slightly. Suddenly, Minato skidded to a halt, twisting around to face his sensei's back. "Sensei!"
Jiraiya looked over his shoulder in query. "But you know, I was serious!"
Minato's eyes burned with confidence, his grin not wavering. "I'm not going to lose. I won't die… 'till I become Yondaime Hokage!"
He shook his head at that fond memory. Turning to face his daughter, he lightly ruffled her hair, earning a pout face in return. "Gomen, Naru-chan. That wouldn't be fair." Naruto groan in defeat, receiving a chuckle out of her father.
"But…" he began, making Naruto's ears perked up. "I will help you in preparing for the test."
Naruto's face glowed into one of excitement, her eyes sparkling under the moon. "Really, otou-san? What is it? A new ninjutsu?"
"No… it's our family's fighting style." That grabbed Naruto's attention fully, her anticipation altering to one of mute awe.
"Do you remember when you defeated Mizuki at the forest yesterday?" Minato met her daughter's gaze, cerulean eyes meeting cerulean eyes.
"Hai. All I remember was wanting to get revenge on him.. for what he did. Suddenly, my body was surrounded by this golden aura…"
Minato nodded, fully remembering that event. "That, Naru-chan, is the basic step of one of my signature moves, the Hiraishin no Jutsu. To fully master that technique, you first must learn the Namikaze Style."
Credit for the responsible, homekeeper Naruto idea goes to Hikory. :D
Now, I know that I kinda squished episodes 2 and 3 together, but I didn't really want to write a whole chapter on Naruto's and Konohamaru's acquaintance..
Some of you peoples might be disappointed at how Itachi deals with his mother, or you guys wanted him to get in trouble (if you do, then you're a sadist! ..XD). Well, he is, but not right now. It's going to be a while before he does. And yes, Shisui's still alive, since Itachi didn't kill his entire clan and all. He's still going have the Mangekyou Sharingan, but he got it in a different way. It'll be revealed in due time.
I know that the Uchiha flashback was bad, don't rub it in!
[moving on] So…don't you peoples just love Sasuke's new ambition or don't you peoples just love Sasuke's new ambition? Guess who he's referring to… ;)