Chapter 2

RAGTAG NO JUTSU

"You have faced many trials and hardships to get to this point, but that's nothing compared to what awaits you in the future. Bandits, monsters, Youma, Demons, enemy ninja, there are many obstacles you will face in your careers. The world is a very dangerous place. Now you are only genin, low-rank ninjas. You still have much more to learn." Kaguya payed little attention to Iruka as he gave his speech, her attention being drawn more to why the hell Naruko was here.

Hadn't she failed? She had been dead last their entire time in the Academy. Kaguya had watched her pathetic attempt at a Bunshin and seen her slink away from the academy after being failed yet again. So why the hell was she here?

Probably fucked a proctor or something. Kaguya thought to herself with a shrug.

"…where you will be grouped into teams of varying sizes lead by a Jonin." Iruka finished. And thus, he began calling out teams.

There were many, though Kaguya only payed attention to those who interested her.

The first to do so was a team comprised of Asuka Hattori, Hibari Hibana, Yagyu, Ikaruga Houou, and Katsuragi, under the jounin Kiriya Hatake. First thing Kaguya did was breathe a sigh of relief that she wasn't grouped with Katsuragi. The girls perversions were… tolerable in small doses though they quickly became annoying. She also wasn't present, most likely still where Kaguya left her in the woods. Oh well.

She then focused on the others of the team. Asuka of the Hattori family. Her grandparents were famous Jonin, especially Hanzo, and she was looking to follow in their footsteps.

Then there was Hibari of the Hibana clan. Like the Uchihas and the Hyuugas, the Hibanas had their own Dojutsu, the Kagan, which was capable of mental manipulations, confusion, and empathy.

As to Hibari herself, Kaguya didn't have the greatest opinion of her (not that she really did for any of her peers). She was a klutz, to put it bluntly. Her combat skills were barely adequate, and she didn't really give off the vibe of someone who truly wanted to become a kunoichi. The fact that among the Hibana clan there were only a handful who could fully use the Kagan may have had something to do with it, though considering Kaguya's troubles with her own clan she didn't really want to dwell on the drama of others.

Next was Yagyu. There really wasn't much to say about her, other than her strong devotion to Hibari. Perhaps she'd be able to shape up the girl, perhaps not. Not really any of her business.

The last was (the irritating) Ikaruga, of the Houou clan. They were an old clan with strong ties to the Land of Fire and its Daimyo. They weren't exclusively a ninja clan, instead being heavily involved in the business world, and as ninjas were in many ways a business, they had their hand in that area too, via their presence in Konoha.

The next team to be called out consisted of Yumi, Minori, Shiki, Yozakura, and Murakumo, under Rin Uehara. Of this team, the only that stood out was Yumi, a survivor of the Yuki clan and wielder of their Hyoton Kekkei Genkai.

Then was the next notable team consisting of Yukikaze Mizuki, Tatsurou Akiyama, and Sakura Igawa would be under the jounin Shizuru Senju. She didn't have much to say about them, other than recalling that Yukikaze's mother had disappeared on a mission several years ago.

Then came the next call out.

"Team 7 will be composed of Naruko Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno (Naruko cheered), Satsuki Uchiha (Sakura cheered), and Kaguya Hyuuga (Satsuki grunted) under the jounin Kakashi Hatake."

"Dead last, teachers pet, and broody loner." Kaguya muttered to herself. While a part of her was disappointed that she wasn't on the same team as Lady Hinata, she understood the wisdom. Two Hyuugas would be redundant. And seeing the next team callout, she understood that placing an Aburame, and Inazuka and a Hyuuga on a team made for an excellent tracking and surveillance squad. Besides, Hinata could stand to learn to stand on her own anyways.

The next teams were called out, Team 9 involved someone called Fuuma and some others she forgot about, Team 10 had Shikamaru Igawa and two other weaklings she couldn't be bothered to remember other than that they were a Yamanaka and a Akimichi, and stopped paying attention entirely after that point.

So instead Kaguya looked over her new team mates, going over in her mind what she knew of them.

Sakura Haruno was quite well known to be intelligent and studious, coming in top of the class in all theoretical subjects, having excellent grades. She could easily perform the academy taijutsu katas and any ninjutsu that were taught. The social and seductive aspects taught weren't much of an issue for her either. However, when it came to the practical aspects of combat she performed rather poorly (though Sakura seemed rather oblivious of this fact). While the fact that she wasn't a clan kid put her at a disadvantage, she was even poor by those standards. Judging by Kaguya's (expert) estimation, she had an over-adherence to form and sequence, to her own detriment of predictability. She would perform even worse than Naruko at sparring.

Which brought her to the blonde-haired girl. One couldn't live in Konoha without knowing about Naruko Uzumaki. She was attractive, with her curves and large bust, combined with her hair she kept in long twintails, and to go with that wore bright orange clothing that emphised her looks clearly to garner attention. She also wasn't shy about using her sexuality as a distraction, prank, or diversion. Her desirability was rather ruined by her personality. Loudmouth, prankster, aggressive, tomboyish.

Naruko wasn't fairly complex, all things considered. She wore her heart on her sleeve. Rarely did a thought enter her mind that she didn't make obvious in some manner, whether through her words or body language. That and her predilection for pranks (Kaguya remembered laughing at her defacement of the Hokage mountain a few days ago) and status among the village did endear her to Kaguya, if only slightly.

Naruko was an outcast, similar to her. Kaguya didn't know the reason why so many of the village seemed to dislike Naruko but it didn't seem to actually be in response to anything she had done. Kaguya could empathize quite a bit, though she still found the girl annoying and stupid. At least, she could see why Hinata had such a crush on Naruko. She had a sort of idiots charm to her.

As to Naruko's skills as a ninja. Well… there was a reason she was called "dead last". Naruko was quite frankly, terrible compared to her peers. Her scores on tests were terrible and that was only partially because she skipped school so frequently. The only Ninjutsu Kaguya had seen her successfully perform was the Henge. Her attempt at Bunshin had been laughable, and she was only barely passable at Taijutsu. That coupled with her loudmouth personality made it clear that Team 7 wasn't going to be given any stealth missions.

And so Kaguya turned to the final member of her team. Satsuki Uchiha. The object of affection for so many boys and girls at the academy. Kaguya (though she would never admit it out loud) found Satsuki attractive as well. It was no wonder with her slender curves and dark hair coupled with her brooding nature.

Though despite the all of the fangirls and fanboys, it was clear Satsuki had no interest in romance. She tended to remain aloof from her peers. She had no friends, and interacted with her peers very little, much like Kaguya, and payed little to no attention to the various fans she had. Unlike the rest, she even seemed to not care at all about Kaguya's bizarre appearance.

In regards to Satsuki's abilities, the first thing to come to mind was that she was of the Uchiha clan. The last Uchiha for that matter, considering the rest had been wiped out save for Itachi who was now a missing-nin. Which was horrifying. As much as Kaguya disliked the Hyuugas, she wouldn't wish that fate upon them.

The Uchiha's Dojutsu, the Sharingan was said to rival the Byakugan, and even that it had been derived from the Byakugan. Granted, Satsuki had yet to develop the Sharingan, but her other skills weren't lacking. She was generally top of the class, only being exceeded in certain areas, such Sakura at pure academics, and Kaguya and Hinata at Taijutsu. At everything else, Satsuki was a verified genius.

A team of misfits and outcasts, it seems. Kaguya thought to herself.

"Naruko, just sit down!" Sakura chided.

"Why? Everyone else's sensei have already come. Where the heck is this Kakashi? I'm ready to go!" Naruko shot back.

"Yeah we know already." Sakura said.

Kaguya had been laying stretched out on the bench, dozing slightly, only to look up when she heard the door moving. She had initially thought it was because of the arrival of their sensei, only to see Naruko setting up a prank with the eraser in the doorway.

"Naruko, your asking for trouble." Sakura said.

"Our sensei is a jounin. You really think he'd fall for that?" Satsuki finally spoke up.

"Well, if he's this late I doubt he's that good a ninja anyways." Kaguya shrugged, before laying back down, only to hear footsteps outside of the classroom. She looked up, seeing the door open, and to her surprise, Naruko's prank actually succeeded.

As Kakashi entered the room the eraser fell hitting him square on the head and leaving chalk dust in his hair (not that it really stood out considering it was already white). Thus far, Kaguya wasn't impressed.

Naruko burst out laughing. "Haha! You totally fell for it!"

"I'm sorry, I tried to stop him sensei. I would never do something like that!" Sakura hastily insisted.

"Hmm..." Their future sensei said, leaning down to to pick up the eraser.

"What?"

"My first impression of this group is..." Kakashi started. "You're a bunch of idiots."

After that mess of a first encounter, Kakashi had taken them up to the rooftop of the academy. While there, Kaguya took stock of her new sensei. Not that there was much to read.

Like his relative (Kaguya didn't know or care about details of the relation) Kakashi had white hair. Though ninja were free to wear what they please, he wore the default Konoha outfit of a black shirt and pants under a flak jacket. The only thing to differentiate him was the mask he wore over the lower part of his face and the fact that the cloth part of his forehead protector covered his left eye.

That coupled with his one remaining eye remaining expressionless meant Kaguya couldn't tell much about him.

"Alright, why don't you girls introduce yourselves. One at a time."

"Introduce ourselves. Like, what are we supposed to say?" Sakura asked.

"Well, things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies, that sort of thing."

"Why don't you start?"

"Sure. My name Kakashi Hatake. Things I like or hate? Hmm… I don't feel like telling you that. As for hobbies. Well, I have lots of hobbies."

Kaguya rolled her eyes. This idiot had thus far failed to impress her. Judging from the expressions of her supposed comrades, they were feeling the same thing.

"Now, your turn."

Naruko was the first to speak up.

"I'm Naruko Uzumaki!" She then began to go on and on and on about ramen in such detail that Kaguya had been completely unaware was even possible.

By the gods are you even aware of other foods?

Despite the long, almost philosophical, diatribe about the varieties of ramen that could be found in Konoha, Naruko ended her introduction just as Kaguya had expected. "I'm gonna be Hokage! The greatest Hokage! Believe it! Then the whole village will have to respect me!"

Idiot. Kaguya thought. You think a dead last weakling like you could ever be Hokage? You were lucky to even make genin.

"So, what about you next." He turned to Sakura.

Unfortunately for everyone else, Sakura didn't seem to be able to get anything out, instead of finishing her statements she would just turn to Satsuki and giggle or squee.

Idiot. Kaguya thought. It's not like she's ever given a shit about you before.

Kakashi seemed unperturbed, instead turning towards Kaguya. "So, how about you?"

"Do I have to?"

"Yes." Kakashi said.

Kaguya sighed, before speaking.

"I am Kaguya Hyuuga. I like training. I hate a lot of people, but also grilled asparagus, my hobbies are trying out different instruments. As for my dreams of the future I..." At this Kaguya paused. Truth be told, she honestly hadn't given much thought towards her future. What exactly did she want out of life? Just to be a ninja of the Leaf? Something in her found that prospect deeply unsatisfying. So what then? Considering the Caged Bird Seal, it wasn't like she had that many options. And why was this question bothering her so much?

"...I what?" Kakashi pressed.

Kaguya realized she had been lost in thought for quite some time. She looked away with a huff. "...whatever. This is pointless."

"Alright then." Kakashi turned to Satsuki. "So what about you."

"My name is Satsuki Uchiha. I hate lots of things, and don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream because I will make it a reality. I will restore my clan, and I will destroy a certain someone."

Kaguya did not fail to notice the wave of killing intent pouring out of Satsuki. Whoever she was referring to (Kaguya could make a good guess), she was serious. Kaguya turned to the others. Naruko was looking rather unnerved, though confused. Kakashi didn't seem any different. Sakura however, now looked horny.

Ugh, I've gotta make chunin fast, so I don't have to deal with these idiots anymore. Really wish they had let me graduate early.

"Well good." Kakashi said. "You're each unique and have your own desires. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

"Awesome!" Naruko said, clearly excited. "What kind of mission will it be?"

"Something the five of us will do together, a survival exercise."

"Wait what?!" Kaguya asked, her frustration only growing. The others looked at her, shocked at her outburst, but she didn't care. What the hell was this Kakashi thinking? "A survival exercise?! Why not a real mission?! I already went through all this basic stuff at the academy! I'm not a trainee anymore!"

"Oh, this isn't like your ordinary training."

"So what is it then?" Naruko asked.

At this however, Kakashi merely chuckled, which set Kaguya off even more. Was he laughing at her?!

"The hell? What's so funny?!" She demanded.

Kakashi continued to laugh. "Well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it."

Kaguya merely growled in response.

"Well, to answer your question. Not all of the students will make it as genin. Most will be weeded out and set back to the academy for more training. So to summarize, this is a make-it-or-break-it exam. And the chances of your success are against you."

"What, then what was that whole graduation test for?!"

"That was merely to select candidates who might become genin. Or not. I decide who passes or fails. Be at training ground #3 at 5:00 AM. And bring your ninja gear."

"Hmmph." Kaguya wasn't perturbed. She had aced every subject at the academy (well, most of them). She'd had aced training at the Hyuuga compound. She was far ahead of her peers.

"That's it. Dismissed." Kakashi said, turning away, only to look back briefly. "Oh, and you better skip breakfast tomorrow. Or else you'll puke."

Kaguya merely snorted. She wasn't intimidated by this man's test. She'd show him just how powerful she was.

Well, this was a ton of fun. Working in a way to integrate how the different ninjas from the various series could all fit together was actually really enjoyable. Worldbuilding in general is pretty fun. Got a lot more in store.

~Dragonexx