Disclaimer: I am not now, nor have I ever been, in possession of the ownership rights to Naruto.

AN: I forgot to include this in the last chapter. The results of the assessment: Sarutobi was right. The standards had taken a nosedive.

Rivers of Hades

Chapter 6

Two months had passed since Naruto became Sarutobi's apprentice. Some of the Sandaime's rules had taken some time for Naruto to get used to, like calling him sensei instead of oji-san. Sarutobi himself was having trouble getting used to Naruto using a respectful form of address when speaking to him. Naruto's training was also rather unusual for any shinobi, as Sarutobi wanted Naruto to be well-rounded in as many aspects of shinobi life as possible before specializing.

In addition to the conventional ninja training, such as taijutsu and ninjutsu, Naruto had decided to learn to fight with various weapons as well. Along with kunai and shuriken, he was learning to use kama, various types of swords, and Sarutobi's weapon of choice, the staff. With Sarutobi's help, Naruto had also mastered the Uzumaki whirpool control exercise, walking against the current for over an hour.

His ninjutsu training was more in line with what would be expected from a normal training session. Naruto would be shown a jutsu, and would need to demonstrate a certain level of competence with it before being taught a new one. Also, instead of catering only to his affinities, Sarutobi had decided to teach the jutsu in a set cycle, so Naruto would learn jutsu from all five elements. However, his rotation was different in that for every Raiton and Katon jutsu Naruto learned, he learned two or three jutsu from the other elements.

Taijutsu training was perhaps the most difficult for Sarutobi to teach. Despite him being in excellent health, Sarutobi was simply getting too old to teach taijutsu, especially to someone as energetic as Naruto. One of the best ways to teach taijutsu was a process of explanation, demonstration, the student's attempt, and finally sparring. The first two Sarutobi could handle, and the third would be no problem, but if he were to engage in a spar with Naruto, he would be too sore to move afterwards. It seemed to be one of the few drawbacks to only having one student.

Maito Gai would have happily allowed him to join his team, and had made offers to that effect. Even though Gai would have gladly helped anyone who asked, Sarutobi and Naruto declined the offer, as it would seem that the Hokage was giving special treatment to his student, and neither of them wanted the situation to look like that.

Instead, an agreement was made, where Naruto would spar against Gai's student, Lee, every other day, with both senseis watching. Afterwards, Gai would critique their spar, and work with both genin on improving their form. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than nothing. After about three such sessions, Naruto and Lee had developed a friendly rivalry. Naruto would also join Gai's team on random missions, to give him experience dealing with a team mentality.

For Naruto, the most difficult training he would ever undertake had nothing to do with physical exertion. Sarutobi was training him in the duties of a Hokage, as well as the needed abilities, like managing a budget and how not to accidentally offend a visiting dignitary. That meant that most of the lessons and lectures he had tuned out in the academy had come back to haunt him. Thankfully, Sarutobi made a better teacher for those things than most of the teachers at the academy. Naruto soon caught up to where he should be, and added new lessons on top of it.

Because of the Kage Bunshin trick, paperwork was nowhere near the invincible enemy it had once been. With Naruto handling the 'rubber stamp' level paperwork, and Sarutobi creating two Kage Bunshin to split the remaining work with, the bulk of the day's labor was done within two or three hours, and whatever else entered the office over the course of the day was quickly dealt with as well.

With his desk now regularly free of debris, Sarutobi finally noticed the act of vandalism committed on it by the man who had been both his successor and predecessor. Both master and apprentice found the cartoon of a spiky-haired man giving the Nice Guy pose, with the caption "Namikaze Minato was here" hilarious.

The etiquette lessons were rather grueling. The only thing keeping Naruto there was that, by now, he was well aware of how important they were. He had lost count of the number of times his sensei had been able to deal with someone calmly, and then vent any frustrations when in private. He vividly remembered the first time he had ever seen it happen.

--

It was right after the genin teams had been assigned. Teams 8 and 10 had both passed their second exams easily. Team 7 had failed, as was usual with Kakashi as the possible sensei. The catch was, the council had ordered that Team 7's failure be ignored. It was no secret that the council was sucking up to their precious Uchiha, a fact which disgusted just about everyone who had passed their jounin sensei's test honestly. Sarutobi had argued against it, pointing out how unfair it was to the other teams, those that had failed and who had passed. He got nowhere with that. Team 7's 'pass' was put to a vote, and was approved.

Then someone asked if the rumors that Sarutobi had taken a new student were true. Sarutobi confirmed them, along with identifying Naruto as the chosen pupil. Immediately, the members of the council who favored Sasuke were up in arms, arguing for the Sandaime to take Sasuke as his student instead. Sarutobi used a three-pronged argument to silence them. His first point was that he was under no obligation to take a student. He was doing this because he wanted to teach Naruto. Second, the council had no right to demand that a particular student be taken by a certain teacher. That was for the Hokage to decide. Finally, he pointed out that the council had just overturned Team 7's failure, binding Sasuke to Team 7.

Following that meeting, Sarutobi ushered Naruto into his office, locking the door and invoking a soundproof barrier jutsu. Then, he began to rant, showing a temper Naruto had only seen from the man when people had been caught trying to harm him. He prayed that he would never, ever give his new sensei a reason to get this mad at him.

--

Like everything else involving his ninja career so far, Naruto's missions were unorthodox as well. As the Hokage's apprentice, Naruto often found himself running Sarutobi's errands. Normally, that meant running messages and official documents all over the village, both tasks being chuunin-level, and counted as missions, varying between D- and C-Rank. He wasn't paid for them, as it was one of his duties as an apprentice. He often performed regular D-Rank missions too, to earn some pocket money. He had even managed to catch Tora the cat single-handedly, and was keeping how he did so a secret.

One of Naruto's all-time favorite 'missions' so far had been when Sarutobi had to deal with village business outside the office. The business was important, but someone had to be here to hand out missions. There weren't any dangerous ones on the docket, just some D-Ranks for the genin. He eventually decided to let Naruto handle the assigning. The teams would receive their missions from him, and would report to him when they were done.

"Well, Naruto-kun, do you think you can handle this?"

"I think so, sensei. Four D-Rank missions, with four genin teams coming in. Shouldn't be too hard."

"Yes, that's why I'm not having someone else handle this. Good luck." With that, Sarutobi walked out.

The four missions were garden-variety, one of them literally. A villager's garden needed weeding. The other three were house-painting, unloading and inspecting a shipment of new kunai for a local weapon shop, and catching Tora the cat.

About twenty minutes later, the teams showed up. Gai's team made it first, followed by Asuma and Team 10, then Team 8. Team 7 showed up last, not due to Kakashi, but because two of his genin had gotten in an argument on the way over. Sai had said something to Sakura, resulting in him needing to see a medic-nin. All the genin were wondering why Naruto was in the Hokage's chair.

Sakura stared at Naruto, then piped up.

"Naruto-baka, what's going on? Where's Hokage-sama?"

"Sensei had to leave on village business. I'll be handing out missions to all of you today."

Kiba spoke up.

"So, you're getting at taste of your dream job, huh? What's it like?"

"I like it. It comes with a comfy chair." This earned a laugh from those present who had a sense of humor. He then listed the four missions for the day.

Sasuke walked up and was about to grab one of the scrolls when Naruto said, "What do you think you're doing, Uchiha?"

"Taking a scroll, dobe, what does it look like?"

"You don't just take a mission, it's assigned to you. You should know that by now."

Sasuke was pissed. The dobe was calling him an idiot? How dare he! He clenched his fist.

"Why I oughta..."

"Sasuke! Stop that!" Kakashi admonished. "He's right. Until Hokage-sama returns, Naruto outranks you, at least for this. You would never have done that if Sandaime-sama were here, would you?"

"He outranks me? He's a genin too!"

"Hokage-sama put him in charge of assigning us our missions. That puts him higher up in the chain of command. It also means that when the missions are done, we will report to Naruto as well."

That shut Sasuke up. Naruto knew he'd never get anything close to an apology out of him.

"Well, since that's settled, on with the missions. Usual system, first come, first served. Gai-sensei, which one do you want?"

With Tenten in the room, Gai knew better than to take anything but the mission inspecting new kunai. Team 10 left to go paint a house, and Team 8 headed towards the garden, leaving Team 7 looking for a cat.

Life was good for Naruto. He had become a shinobi, was being trained to become a Hokage with actual experience doing the job, and he got to spend time with one of the handful of people he considered family. How could it get any better?

He had no idea...

--

Due to both his living with Kakashi and being in the Sandaime's office every day, Naruto had a pretty good idea how his other classmates were doing. He saw the three genin teams every time they came to get a mission for the day.

He knew that Team 7 was still having issues. They had failed their initial test, gotten it overturned, and hadn't gotten any better since then. They had currently done double the required amount of missions needed to qualify for a C-Rank mission, but Kakashi kept taking D-Ranks to try and build teamwork. If it kept up, they wouldn't get a C-Rank until after the next Chuunin Exams.

Sasuke-teme was still a brooding, stuck-up jerk, but now he was an angry, brooding stuck-up jerk. He felt that he was being held back because the 'dobe' was being trained by the most powerful ninja in the village, and he wasn't. Sakura hadn't changed at all, in personality, training, anything. It was enough to make Naruto wonder what he had ever seen in her. Sai was... Sai. Something about him just seemed weird. That smile just creeped him out.

Team 10 was a bit better off, but not by much. They had the teamwork thing down, but their... unique (read non-existent) training style held them back. As a result, they probably weren't going to be in the running for most low C-Rank missions any time soon, either.

Team 8, however, seemed to be the best team of Naruto's class. They had the motivation Team 10 lacked, and the teamwork Team 7 needed. And today, Kurenai and the Hokage had judged them ready for their first C-Rank. They were in the office, waiting for a list of the available C-Ranks.

"Hmm... There are several options for a team with your abilities. Let's see..." Looking at the list, Sarutobi's gaze found its way over to see Naruto sitting there, watching what was going on.

'Well, I did say I'd do this when he was ready, and he certainly is...'

"Kurenai, before I give you the mission, I have a favor to ask. Naruto-kun needs some field experience. Since I can't leave the village, would it be alright if he joined your team for this?"

That threw both Kurenai and Naruto for a loop. Naruto was surprised because they hadn't even talked about a field mission for him yet. What was the old man planning?

"I have no problems with that, Hokage-sama. He is welcome to join us."

"Good. Here's your mission. There was once a shinobi clan in a small, coastal country. About eighteen years ago, the clan was decimated in some territory dispute. Their clan library is supposedly untouched, and as it happens, the last known member of that clan is currently a Konoha ninja. Your mission is to locate the library, and if it is still intact, retrieve everything you can, storing it in this scroll," Sarutobi handed Kurenai a heavy-duty storage scroll. "Are there any questions?"

"I have two, Hokage-sama. Where are we headed?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you. It's Uzu no Kuni."

"And the clan name?"

"The Uzumaki clan."

At that, the four members of Team 8 looked at Naruto, who was pale.

"S-Sensei, are you serious?"

"Of course I am. I told you I would send you when you were ready. Now, are there any more questions?"

"One more. How dangerous is this mission?"

"Well, Uzu no Kuni has rebuilt itself. While they no longer have a shinobi force, it is rather peaceful, according to the most recent reports. I doubt anyone else will be trying to locate the library as well, as it is protected in the same fashion most clan libraries are. Beyond that, I cannot be sure."

"Very well. We'll leave tomorrow morning," Turning to look at the four genin, Kurenai said, "Meet up at the main gate tomorrow at seven sharp, with all supplies. We may not see combat, but I want you to prepare for it anyway."

The four responded in unison, "Hai, Kurenai-sensei."

Shino spoke. "I have a question for Naruto. Were you aware of this?"

"Um, I've known about the Uzumaki clan and their library for a little over two years now. I didn't know that sensei was going to give out this mission yet, to myself or have another team come with me."

"I see. Am I correct in assuming the jutsu you performed at the assessment two years ago is a clan technique, not one you created?"

"Yeah. I've only got a small part of what the library supposedly has inside. My clan did a lot of stuff, so there should be a bunch of information on all kinds of topics, not just ninja or clan-only things."

Now Kiba joined the conversation. "So there's stuff there that could benefit the entire village? Cool."

"Alright you three, let's go. You can talk more tomorrow. Good day, Hokage-sama, Naruto."

With that, Kurenai ushered Team 8 out of the office. Sarutobi turned to Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, I'm giving you the rest of the day off to prepare for the mission."

"Alright sensei. So, what are you going to do while I'm gone?"

"I plan on helping Konohamaru with his training. He's been doing much better lately, and I know it's because of you."

That brought a smile to Naruto's face. Shortly after he officially started learning from Sarutobi, Konohamaru had stormed into Sarutobi's office, wooden ninja tool in hand, and proclaimed that he was going to kill the old man. Taking two steps, he fell flat on his face after getting his foot caught in his scarf. Picking himself up, he promptly blamed Naruto, who had been two feet away the entire time.

Naruto took a page from Sakura's book, and hit him on top of the head. Then Konohamaru's teacher, Ebisu, dashed in. After a rather annoying conversation, Naruto left to vent. Ebisu then took off to find his charge, who had followed Naruto out of the tower.

When Konohamaru caught up with Naruto and explained himself, Naruto felt compelled to do something. After setting Konohamaru straight about why he should want to be Hokage, Naruto decided to teach the kid to do something he probably wouldn't learn until he became a genin. Of course, with the new curriculum at the academy, he might learn it there. So Naruto showed him the tree-climbing exercise. For an eight-year-old, he did pretty well. He didn't have enough chakra to complete the exercise, but it was still enough to satisfy both of them. Ebisu, who had been watching from the trees, was so shocked, he fell out of the tree and was knocked out. While the two drug the Tokubetsu Jounin back into town, they declared themselves rivals.

Afterward, Konohamaru had done noticeably better with Ebisu. The two still met up when they were both free. Normally, they'd just sit in a training ground, talking and doing target practice. Naruto soon found himself acting as an older brother to Konohamaru. He loved it. The only problem he saw with his 'family' was that with the exception of Ayame over at Ichiraku, he had nothing but male role models in his life. But hey, that could change later.

"Alright, I'll see you when I get back then. Bye, and thanks for this, sensei."

"My pleasure."

-- -

AN: Well, there you have it. The beginning of the next story arc. The C-Rank for Naruto and Team 8 won't be quite as eventful as the Wave Country arc in canon, but it won't be boring or easy, either. Nothing is when Naruto is involved.

Next time: Uzu no Kuni