AN: A sorry for the long wait, nearly a month!! I've been up to my neck in crap dealing with college and classes so updates have been slow. Good news is that I'm already halfway through the next chapter, bad news is school is about to start so I'm going to be working my ass off either way.
I've realized that I haven't exactly been as clear about the story as I would have liked, so here is a small clarification of things you may have found confusing or not matching with the manga or anime. So here is a clarification of power levels in comparison to the tailed beasts.
A Kage has around two to three tails worth of power. A Kage in his prime would have around 3 where as Sarutobi has only 2 due to his age. The fourth Hokage was the exception to my rule and I estimate him around 4 tails of power. The Sannin in their prime had around 3 tails of power as well. Jiraiya has fallen between the 2-3 tails worth where as Orochimaru is only as powerful as his container which he trains personally. Tsunade after years of disuse has only 2 tails worth of power. A boss summon of the sannin's would have around 1 tail of power. Now Naruto has around 2 tails of power, perhaps slightly more. You however might remember that in his assault on the Raikage, Kyuubi mentions that he has already borrowed one tail of power and can't take any more without losing control over his actions. In my story unlike the manga or anime, Naruto can only draw upon as much power as he himself possess, meaning at best he can only double his power. Any more and he loses control of his actions and he won't remember what happens. Now you may ask why Kyuubi could only lend one tail of power to Naruto during his fight with the Raikage after all according to my logic he should have been able to draw upon 2 tails without too much trouble right? But there is a good explanation for that too. Remember the Kage bunshin Naruto left behind on the wall that later comes in and frees him from torture? Kage bunshin splits ones power in half and the amount of power given to a bunshin can't be controlled. Naruto fought the Raikage at half power whiles doubling up his chakra with the Kyuubi's making him somewhere around the 2 tails. Kakashi is an elite jounin, the best in the village after the Hokage himself with the exception of Naruto. He rates around half a tail of power. A normal jounin has somewhere around only a quarter of a tail of power. But you must remember that power isn't everything, if you have crap control like Naruto, he would still have trouble taking down someone like Kakashi who can use his smaller chakra stores in a much more efficient rate. Genin and chunnin don't even rate on the tailed power radar so I won't mention them. Confused? I am lol. Ask me anything u are confused with, or point out any lapses in logics that my story may contain, but keep in mind that this is a fanfiction! Don't send me reviews telling me how the anime Naruto works, cause this is based entirely on my own logic! I will try to reply to inquiries to my thought process.
I have more shit to explain but I'll wait until later when it becomes necessary to understand the story.
Hokage's Office
At exactly 7 a.m., the expected announcement for the arrival of Naruto drifted in through the wooden doors of the Hokage's office. The old man had been up since 5, giving himself time to shower, eat, and warm up before settling into his comfortable but hated routine of signing papers.
The door opened without a sound, admitting the blonde shinobi and a very amused looking Anko. "Anko-chan, what brings you to my office at this hour?" Normally, the woman wouldn't report in until 8 or 9, which was much better then Kakashi's anytime before 6 in the afternoon. The uncharacteristically happy Anko mussed up her younger companion's blond hair as an answer much to Naruto's annoyance.
"His first day at the academy, thought I'd drop him off." The former hunter-nin scoffed as his sister broke out into a fit of snickering.
"If I can find my way into a hostile village, I'm sure I can get into my classroom without much trouble." The Hokage and Anko both laughed slightly at the miffed blonde's retort.
Sarutobi reached into his piles of paperwork and pulled out a form without even glancing at it. Signing his name on the top dotted line, he beckoned for the blonde to come over and sign on the second line.
A few steps forward and a quick scrawl with the pen and the deal was done. Scanning the document and making sure everything was in order, the Hokage nodded once before reaching over for the seal sitting by the desk light. Pressing the stamp into the inkpad once, Sarutobi slammed it down decisively on the document approving its contents with the seal of the Hokage indicating that it had been read by the village leader.
Placing the document in the out box, which seemed very empty compared to the huge pile of papers resting in the in box, the Hokage pulled out a plank piece of paper and scribbled a quick note before signing his name. Looking up, he let his eyes travel to the standing blonde, and the inpatient kunoichi in the background who was tapping her foot in time to her pulse.
'Am I doing the right thing?' he wondered. 'Is Naruto suited for the life of a genin?'
"Hey old man did you have a heart attack and die or something?!" Shaken out of his thoughts by the impatient Anko's grumbling, the Third banished the answerless questions to the back of his mind. Time would tell. Handing over the note to the hunter-nin, or rather the academy cadet the Hokage reminded himself with great amusement.
"The room number is 103 and the sensei's name is Iruka. The genin exam is tomorrow, but I would like you to attend class today anyways." Not understanding why his leader insisted on him going to class on the second to last day, but nonetheless willing to take orders, Naruto bowed to the Hokage before turning back to Anko and preparing to leave.
The dark haired woman slung a hand over his shoulder and steered him quickly out of the stifling room while throwing a one handed wave at the Hokage who was already signing papers again. "Come on runt, class starts at 8:00 if I remember right, so we have time for some grub!" The blonde nodded wordlessly at his sister's suggestion as they continued down the stairs leading back to the bustling streets of the awakening Konoha.
Classroom 103
Iruka was a patient man. In fact, compared to some people, they could call him an angel blessed saint. His job however would no doubt leave angels tearing out their hair whiles screaming obscenities and cussing in the name of god. Taking a deep slow steadying breath, the academy teacher let it all out in the hopes of calming the raging headache he felt building up.
The scarred man felt a twitch pulsing under his eyes as he tried to calmly and not to mention in vain make himself heard over the noise the class was making. As usual, the many female members of the class, with the exception of a certain shy Hyuuga sitting in the top left corner, were fawning loudly over a brooding dark haired Uchiha.
Sasuke was not a bad student, in fact if he had to choose, Iruka had to say he was the best out of the entire class. True, his attitude needed a little working (ok understatement of the century), but unlike some of his other male classmates, he preferred to angst in silence rather then cause trouble. But honestly speaking, Iruka would give his left arm to have that boy kicked out of his class.
The female sex between the age of 8 and 20 simply seemed to lose all common sense or sanity if you prefer, when they were within a 20 foot radius of the last loyal Uchiha. Or when they happened to lay eyes on him. Or when they were near an object the Uchiha had used or touched. Or when their thoughts just happened to stray to the brooding lad. Ok so they were all insane, but none were as loud and obtrusive as Yamanaka Ino and her rival/former best friend Haruno Sakura.
These two were banshees from hell as Kiba called them, and though he would rather die then say it out loud, Iruka secretly agreed. The blonde Yamanaka was one of the top kunoichi in the class, ranking in the top 3 in all forms of the shinobi art. She seemed to have a good grasp on her family mind techniques, but rarely trained in favor of stalking Sasuke.
Sakura was also competing in the top 3 bracket out of all the kunoichi in the class, though she tended to occupy the bottom of the top 3. She excelled at genjutsu and over all knowledge, but only slightly above average in terms of ninjutsu taijutsu and weapon usage. No matter how stealthy any of these girls may have been, Iruka knew the minute Sasuke showed his face, they would blow their covers in favor of getting his attention.
The pink haired kunoichi in training showed a great control over her chakra, but any praise she may have received was counteracted by the pathetically low stores of said chakra. Even for a genin, her stores of chakra were pathetically low.
The one kunoichi that could truly be called the best in the class in Iruka's opinion was the shy and timid Hyuuga heiress. She showed no aggression unlike her other female peers, but if push came to shove, she could kick ass. You don't grow up as the Hyuuga heiress without learning a thing or two about the art of ass kicking, and though she didn't look it, Iruka knew Hinata was very good at it. Kiba could testify, seeing as he had once on a dare grabbed Hinata's butt. After the ass whipping that left the Inuzaka unconscious and his dog whimpering in the corner of the room, Hinata was never made fun of again for being weird.
Kiba insists till this day that it had been worth it, even the beating he took from the two chunin Hyuuga's that had later cornered him in the alleyway on the way home. Turning his gaze to the loud and obnoxious dog user, Iruka smiled and shook his head as he listened to the ridiculous boasts coming from the boy's mouth. Some day that was going to get him killed. The parka wearing Inuzaka was excellent at ninjutsu and taijutsu. Even Sasuke couldn't beat Kiba easily in a straight on fist fight. His skills in every other aspect were average, and already he showed signs of a potentially legendary tracker.
While musing about the skills of the Inuzaka, Iruka's eyes drifted over to what some of the kids called the reject table. Sitting there was the ever silent Aburame Shino. Next to him in the middle sat the ever sleeping Nara Shikamaru, and to his right sat his best friend, the ever eating Akamichi Choji.
Those 3 were always seen doing the same thing, a stabilizing constant in a classroom full of ever changing miscreants. Shino would best be described as mute, but deadly. Unlike the shy Hyuuga who was always blushing and stuttering, the Aburame heir never spoke out loud. Even Iruka could not honestly remember the last time the glasses wearing boy had spoken.
His grades as expected of a clan heir was excellent in all subjects and he would become a strong and reliable shinobi by all signs he gave as a cadet. The Nara boy on the other hand, was at best a failure. Iruka suspected that under the lazy façade laid a sleeping genius waiting to awaken during the right set of circumstances. Every skill Shikamaru possessed was below average, but by no means was he dead last. No, there was some other nameless idiot that could proudly claim that title, but there is no need to introduce him since he won't be passing the genin exam with Anko.
The fat Akamichi rarely spoke unless spoken to, and if ever he was seen without a bag of chips or some other snack in hand, it was best to run to the nearest shelter and crawl under a bed to await the coming fires of apocalypse. Overall, Choji's skills were average, but he excelled at taijutsu due to his clans trademark techniques. God forbid if anyone ever called him fat within hearing distance, even Iruka doubted he would be able to stop the boy if it came to that. Otherwise, he was as lazy as the Nara that was his closest friend. Well only friend really, but that's a sad story for another day.
As he continued to assess his class, Iruka came to the conclusion that though many would pass, outside of the eight he had specifically named, it was doubtful any would become real genin once they took their jounin's chosen test. "All right class, settle down!"
The class took this as a signal to get louder. "Hey shut the fuck up you little asswipes!!" the class stared down at their sensei in utter shocked silence. Iruka let out a happy sigh.
Blinking he realized that he had been daydreaming again and proceeded to yell at the top of his lungs, "SHUT UP!!" The senseless chattered faded away. "Now I know all of you are excited for the upcoming genin exams." A quiet mumbling broke out again. "But this is no time to slack we will be practicing the henge, bunshin and kawarimi in preparation for tomorrow!"
The class groaned as one upon hearing their teacher's announcement. Rummaging in his desk to look for the roll call sheet, Iruka allowed his thoughts to wander as he called out the names mechanically and ticking them off when he heard the responding "here". Unconsciously his mind drifted to the meeting they had yesterday where the head chunnin instructor had announced that a new student would be arriving in time to graduate with the senior class members.
'Wonder which unlucky motherfucker got saddled with the new kid.' Iruka face faulted as he heard a polite knock at the door. 'Oh hell no' "Come in." The class's mumbling died away as the door swung open. 'Son of a bitch.'
At the doorway stood a short blonde figure Iruka vaguely recognized from somewhere. Smiling away his inner cursing, the man glared at his chattering class before asking though he had already guessed what this was about. "Can I help you?"
"Are you Iruka?" The dry toneless voice sent a shudder through Iruka's body.
'Oh yeah.' The blonde had seemed familiar and with good reason too. Iruka wasn't likely to forget the kids kill record even if he didn't recognize the killer himself. 298 confirmed kills and god knows how many in Cloud was nothing to sneeze at. "Hai, I am Iruka."
The short masked blonde walked over and handed Iruka a note wordlessly. A quick glance at the loopy scrawl that could only belong to the Sadaime had Iruka sighing to himself internally as his worst fear was confirmed. He got the new kid. And apparently, the new kid could slaughter the entire academy and all its occupants on a bad day without too much trouble. Crumpling up the note and nodding at the unmoving Naruto he waved his hand in the air for silence from the talking class.
"Class, I want you to welcome Uzumaki Naruto, your new classmate." Again the room filled with chatter, this time with a hint of curiosity in it. What kind of idiot joined class a day before the final exam? And what was with the mask? "Why don't you take a seat next to Hinata Naruto?"
A quiet eep sounded from the shy girl as her sensei pointed at the empty seat to her right. Unlike most her classmates, the Hyuuga heiress knew exactly who the new kid was. It's hard to forget someone who breaks down you front door carrying the body of you dead kin in the middle of the night. Let's just say Hinata was even more nervous then usual when Naruto made his way up the stairs and took his seat next to her.
Iruka began his lecture about the genin exams taking place the next day, and most of the class tuned him out. Hinata turned to the boy sitting next to her and bravely initiated conversation. "Ah he-hel-hello. I'm Hyuu-uuga Hinata." The girl cheered silently for herself when she managed to get her greeting out in an understandable fashion. Speech therapy was working!
"Uzumaki Naruto." The short terse reply killed any chance the introduction had of blossoming into a real conversation as Hinata lost her nerve due to the blonde's bland answer.
'His voice is so cold.' Naruto allowed his eyes to wander through the classroom once it became apparent Hinata had used up all her courage in one day. He did not pay attention to a word the chunnin was saying, having long since mastered the skills necessary to pass. Profiling each of the students based on their actions and attire, Naruto wondered about the future of Konoha.
'If this is our future shinobi force, we're in trouble.' He curled his lip in disgust as a boy in red picked his nose near the front of the room where Iruka was valiantly trying not to stare at the stomach turning scene. A tinge of green colored the instructor's face as the 12 year old shoved a booger covered finger into his mouth.
"My god that kids going to shove his fist up his nostrils!" exclaimed the horrified Kyuubi. "You humans do the most disgusting things." Looking elsewhere so as not to lose his breakfast, his eyes met those of the Inuzaka. The boy with the dog on his head waved lazily at the blonde prompting a nod of acknowledgement in return. A few caught the exchange between the troublemaker and the new kid and wondered how the brash Inuzaka could know someone so composed.
Brunch 10:25 a.m.
"Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!" Girls crowded around the Uchiha as Iruka dismissed the class for their daily 15 minute break. Offers ranging from eating lunch together to eloping and having children were thrown at poor Sasuke as he made his way over to Kiba.
The last Uchiha literally had to wade through a sea of drooling adolescent girls before he found himself next to the Kiba who was currently talking loudly to a chewing Choji and half listening Shikamaru. Shino just happened to be there, and from how still he sat he was either sleeping or had died without anyone noticing. Oh wait his chest was moving, he's still alive, false alarm.
A sixth sense warned Sasuke to leap out the side window, but he was one step too slow; so much for the great Uchiha reflex. Ino and Sakura both managed to grab one of his arms, and a silent tug-of-war began with Sasuke as both the rope and the prize. Shaking both girls off he tapped Kiba's shoulder to get his attention, stopping the boy in mid boast. Seeing that it was Sasuke, Kiba grumbled slightly as Akamaru whined from the loud noises the two girls made.
"What do you want Sasuke? You wanna fight?!" he demanded. The raven haired Uchiha rolled his eyes at Kiba's challenge.
'Like he could beat me' "You seem to know the new kid. Who is he?" Ino and Sakura stopped their argument in the background and came closer to hear Kiba's answer.
"Who Naruto?" Shikamaru sighed upon hearing the question.
"Is there any other new kid here?" Shikamaru's tone of voice obviously conveyed what everyone with the exception of Kiba thought.
'Idiot!' The tattooed boy scratched his cheek sheepishly as he realized what a dumb question that was.
"His name is Uzumaki Naruto. I don't know what a guy like him is doing at the academy seeing as he's a hunter-nin." Those children from ninja clans gasped at they recognized the highly prestigious title where as Sakura voiced her confusion.
"Hunter-nin?" Sasuke looked intrigued as he waited for an answer. Having his family annihilated before his clan education began; Sasuke was as clueless as Sakura.
It was Ino who answered in the hushed silence following Sasuke's question. "Hunter-nins are the elite amongst the elite. Konoha's Anbu is divided into 3 sections, Village Defense, the ones we see patrolling Konoha, Elite Mission Holders, those that take on the toughest missions." A hushed silence had fallen as Ino continued explaining "And finally the Hunter-nins. They are charged with the duty of retrieval or destruction of Konoha's fallen shinobi so as not to let the secrets of our village fall into enemy hands. They also hunt down renegade shinobi that have defected from villages. Hunters often have to journey deep into enemy territory in order to obtain the bodies of fallen Konoha ninja, and combined with their job of hunting down criminals from the hidden villages, they have the most dangerous job of all."
Shikamaru grunted as he began adding to Ino's summary of the inner workings of Anbu. "The first two divisions Ino explained are a joint unit. Each Anbu is given a mission to complete, and during the course of the mission they are the Elite Mission Holder. Once they complete their mission whether it be success or failure, they are given time off once they return to the village to recuperate. They are then shifted into the Village Defense sector. And once they have sufficiently recovered, they return to active duty."
The pineapple haired boy propped his head of on an arm on his desk. "Hunter-nins are not a part of this work and rest process as there are so few of them, and so they often work continuously with small breaks in-between missions rather then the mission break mission break pattern most Anbu have. It's why most Hunter-nins retire after 6 years of work. Nobody can really handle the stress involved for long." His bored explanation had cast a new light onto the situation.
Perhaps Naruto had retired from the hunter-nin force? But then why was he at the academy? Sasuke mulled over these thoughts as he processed all he had heard. "So how does a mutt like you know someone like him?"
Kiba shrugged in reply to Sasuke's question. "My sis joined the hunter-nin force a few years back. He's dropped by my place a few times to talk or spar with her." The other 4 boys present felt their manhoods twitch at the mention of Kiba's sister. Damn she was hot. Yes, even Sasuke had a slight crush on her at one point in his life, and if he was honest with himself, that crush hadn't gone away.
"Hey Hinata!" The girl who was sitting alone at the top of the classroom blushed slightly as Kiba brought the other's attention on her. "You know who he is?"
Slowly placing down the rice ball she had been nibbling at, she nodded her head. "Hi-his co-ode name is Hu-unter X." Another gasp left Ino's mouth, and Shino seemed to sit up a little straighter.
"No…" whispered the Yamanaka. "The Hunter-X?" Hinata nodded again.
"What is it pig?" questioned Sakura curiously. She had never seen her rival so shocked, not even when they had gotten Hinata to admit she had used her Byakugan to check out Iruka-Sensei ass.
Shino pushed his glasses a little further up his nose before speaking. Everyone went stock still in shock as they heard the Aburame's voice. "Hunter-X is one of our village's most well-known hunter-nins. He has been in service for close to 5 years and already he is ranked as one of the top three most fearsome bounty hunters in the elemental nations. If what I have heard is true, he has never failed a mission and never missed a target he set out to eliminate."
The future members of the rookie nine stared at each other as they digested the Aburame's description of the new kid. "Wait." Sakura shook her head slightly. "If he's so good, what's he doing here?" The pink haired girl sounded skeptical as she addressed the bug user.
'There's no way some kid our age can be stronger then Sasuke-kun." "Damn straight!" yelled inner Sakura.
The stoic Aburame shrugged. "Perhaps he is on a mission."
Kiba snorted in reply. "In this dump? The only mission here is unclogging the damn toilet on the second floor! Who could he possible be after at the academy?" Again Shino shrugged without replying.
Sasuke felt a slow smile tug at his lips as the other boys broke out into argument. 'Finally, a truly worthy challenge.' Sprinting towards the door he headed for the courtyard where most the students hung out during break.
"Sasuke-kun!" shouted Sakura and Ino in sync. Glaring at each other, both girls rushed out the door in a mad dash after their idol.
"Where's he off in such a rush?" grumbled Kiba.
"No doubt to challenge Uzumaki to a fight. How troublesome." Three guesses as to who said that and the first two don't count. Kiba burst out laughing so hard his dog fell off his head and landed with an indignant bark. "Come on Akamaru! Let's go see the teme get his ass kicked!"
The master and loyal dog rushed out the door. Choji looked questioningly at his Nara friend who sighed back. "How troublesome." They both stood up to follow in a more leisurely pace leaving Shino and Hinata behind.
Without a word the Aburame stood up. "Coming?" his mouth was blocked from view due to his coat, and had there been anyone else in the room, Hinata would not have suspected the question had come from Shino. Nodding her head shyly, Hyuuga followed the silent Aburame out the room to the courtyard.
Courtyard
Ignoring the army of girls chattering behind him, Sasuke scanned the sparring area looking for the masked boy. Spotting him seated cross-legged next to a tree, Sasuke sized up his opponent. He didn't look exceptionally dangerous; in fact had he not been wearing a mask Sasuke would have dismissed the new kid altogether. The blonde was dressed in dark brown cargo pants with a standard issued shuriken holster taped over his right leg. A supply pouch hung from his waist, and was slightly covered by the white long sleeved shirt Naruto was wearing.
With the mask in place, it was hard to tell whether he was observing the sky or sleeping. Deciding to find out, Sasuke sauntered over as casually as possible followed by a group of fan girls led by Ino and Sakura. When they neared the masked blonde tilted his head to face them indicating that he was indeed awake. "Can I help you?"
His toneless voice coupled with the creepy blank mask sent a shiver through the girls and most of them backed off leaving only Ino and Sakura behind Sasuke. Letting out a sigh of relief as his fangirls retreated from the masked blonde, Sasuke found himself envying his opponents ability to scare off the crazed girls. 'Maybe I should wear a mask too.'
"Fight me." The simple two words that left his lips would have scared any other academy student, with the exception of perhaps Shino and Kiba, hardly moved the blonde.
"No." Naruto's reply was as short and blunt as Sasuke's challenge. By this time, Kiba and the others had arrived and was standing with the pink and blonde haired fangirls.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Scared?" he sneered, trying to provoke his opponent.
"Hardly." Sasuke could hear a telltale hint of amusement in the seated boy's answer and felt anger stirring in his chest
"Then why?" Naruto returned to his vigilant gaze back to the clouds he had been watching.
"It is hardly worth the effort of fighting someone so inferior in skill." Kiba snickered as he watched Sasuke's face redden slightly from anger.
"You can't talk to Sasuke-kun like that!" shouted Ino.
"Yeah!" her pink haired rival chimed up. "What she-" A sudden crushing force silenced her and dropped her to her knees. Next to her, the other kids also fell into similar kneeling positions panting and gasping with the exception of Shino of course. He was too dignified to pant. Or sweat for that matter.
"Quiet." Naruto growled. "The volume of your voice gates my sensitive hearing." Kiba would have laughed if he didn't feel like he was having an asthma attack. Slowly, the feeling lifted and the kids stoop up shakily, once again with the exception of Shino who was already on his feet, albeit breathing a bit more heavily then usual.
'Just like Itachi!' thought Sasuke shakily. He had felt the ominous force before on the night his brother had slaughtered his clan, and the repeated experience lit a fire in his soul. Charging forward, the dark haired Uchiha snapped a kick at the seated blonde's head. His unexpected movement seemed like a blur to the on looking spectators.
Naruto's hand shot up even faster. To the other children it seemed like his hand had simply appeared right on top of Sasuke's leg, clamping down in a hard grip. The few taijutsu specialists like Kiba and Choji were greatly impressed, as they knew that it was nearly impossible to catch an incoming kick like that. At best, you would be able to block it with your arm reducing the damage done on impact. To be able to stop a kick simply by grabbing the leg took great amount of power to stop the momentum of the kick, and a precise movement to catch the fast moving leg without hurting the hand grabbing it.
Sasuke was as shocked as the other students, perhaps even more so. Nobody had ever caught his kick, not even Iruka sensei who was a chunnin. Jerking his foot, Sasuke found himself unable to dislodge his leg from the seated blonde's iron grip.
"What do you wish to prove Uchiha-san?" Naruto inquired softly. "Facing an opponent stronger then yourself will make you stronger, but fighting someone so far out of your skill level is foolish at best." Naruto's grip tightened till the point the artery in Sasuke's leg was clamped shut cutting off circulation to the foot and grinding the shin bone painfully. "At worst, it can get you killed." His last sentence was let out in a frosty hiss that sent shivers down Sasuke's spine.
Anger flared up inside Sasuke as he realized just how outclassed he was. The fact that Naruto was around his age fueled the rage even further. Flipping himself into the air, he used Naruto's hold on his leg as a pivot point in midair to aim his free leg at the blonde's skull.
Halfway through his maneuver, Sasuke felt himself being jerked by his trapped leg and swung about like he was weightless. Instead of letting go and ducking, Naruto had chosen to swing Sasuke like a club against the tree he was seated by. The light blow, for Naruto anyway, knocked the breath out of Sasuke's lungs, and forced him into a fitful coughing as he crumpled down at the base of the tree.
"Sasuke!" the twin yells belonged to Ino and Sakura while everyone else watched on in silence. By the time Sasuke was back on his feet, Naruto was already walking away back to the academy.
"Where are you going?!" demanded Sasuke. "This fight is far from over!"
Naruto turned around so that he partially faced the roughed up Uchiha. "As I have said before, you are far too weak to face me. You will need to be much stronger before you can even hope to challenge me." The masked blonde continued walking towards the classroom after dismissing Sasuke.
'Weak?!' Anger clouded Sasuke's judgment and involuntarily his hands formed seals as he dashed towards the retreating Naruto. Leaping up into the air, Sasuke gathered chakra and mixed it with the air in his lungs.
Naruto had swiveled around to face Sasuke just in time to see the Uchiha unleash a stram of flames from his mouth. 'Fire spell: Grand Fireball!' The onlookers all gasped as a ball of fire enveloped the unmoving blonde. Many of the girls screamed in fright as the fire consumed the boy, some going as far as fainting. Landing on his feet, Sasuke watched in stupefied shock at the ball of fire where the blonde had once stood.
"I…I did-dn't mean…to.." Sasuke tried to explain as people stared at him in horror.
"Hmmm." Sasuke whirled around at the contemplative humming. The flames had died down and at the center of the scorched ground stood Naruto with slightly singed clothing.
"Hahahaha. Well I'll be damned. He actually tried to kill you! Maybe he has some balls after all." Calmly brushing the soot off his clothing the blonde glanced at the shell shocked Uchiha.
"How did you…?"
"All humans release a small amount of chakra form their bodies" explained Naruto impassively. "Depending on how much chakra you have, you naturally release a constant amount in proportion to the quantity you possessMy reserves are nearly as large as the Hokage's, perhaps even greater and that means I unconsciously leak out a lot more chakra then normal people. Simply put," Naruto shrugged at this point, "the amount of chakra I involuntarily release was strong enough to shield my body from your attack."
Sasuke balled his hands into fists and all his guilt for having killed the blonde vanished. 'Am I still so weak?! What have I been doing all these years?! How will I kill him?' Studying the angry Uchiha Naruto continued speaking.
"Don't be too surprised. There will always be people stronger then you Uchiha-san. This is true for everyone, even me. Those who reach the top find themselves quickly losing their seat to another who has gained even more power. That is one of the ultimate truths in our chaotic world where no other rule seems to hold true."
Grinding his teeth together in fury at his opponent's dispassionate claim, Sasuke felt the retort die in his mouth when a cloud of smoke exploded next to Naruto. When the screen of haze cleared, immediately every male within the vicinity felt their blood head south.
A kunoichi dressed in a very unladylike manner was draped over Naruto and many of the boys, Sasuke included though he would never admit it, would have sold their souls to trade positions with him. Anko remained oblivious to the jealous looks thrown at her by the girls as she nuzzled her little brother's head.
"Hey squirt. Whadya say we ditch this dump?" The blonde looked up at his sister and shook his head a negative.
"I still need to attend class. We are simply on break right now and-"
"Class my ass!" interrupted Anko. "You know everything already. Let's blow this joint and go eat!" Naruto considered for a moment. On one hand, the Hokage had all but ordered him to attend the academy and it was his duty to follow his lord's instructions. But then again, he wasn't learning anything new. Sighing in surrender, he allowed his sister to push him out the front gate leaving a court full of shocked and envious students.
"Damn, she's hotter then Kiba's sister!"
"Yeah, hotter then my..Hey wait a minute!!" The unfortunate boy who commented on Kiba's sister never became a ninja due to missing the genin exam because of a broken arm and sprained back not to mention a few missing molars. After he recovered, he felt that shinobi life was simply too violent for him and instead became a janitor for the Hokage tower. In a way, his services were just as important as any ninjas.
Genin Exams
"Uzumaki-Naruto!" He was the last one to take the physical part of the genin exam.
'Thank god!' Don't take it the wrong way, Iruka loved to teach. He just hated those things he had to teach. "Please throw those shurikens at the target." Even Mizuki was smiling in relief as Naruto stepped into the room. The ten shurikens all hit the bull's-eye at the center.
'Why are we even testing him?' wondered Iruka. "Same with the Kunais." Ten perfect dead on shots so fast Iruka didn't even see the throw. "Now please perform the three basic academy jutsus." A henge imitating Anko left both men shifting uncomfortably at their suddenly tight pants. A quick pop and Naruto had switched with a nearby chair. The former hunter-nin paused for a moment before speaking up.
"I am unable to perform the bunshin." Pulling out a slip of paper he handed it over to Mizuki. Reading over it, the man's eyebrows shot up and vanished into his hair. Apparently according to the Hokage, Naruto had so much chakra he was unable to control it to the extent necessary to create any of the basic illusion bunshins.
The Hokage had excused him from this part of the exam seeing as he was capable of making the shadow, water, and earth clones.
"Well congratulations, you passed this exam with 100 percent, not that it really surprises me." Mizuki handed over a headband which was quickly tied to the blonde's right bicep. Iruka followed Naruto out of the room where he stood next to all those that had passed. "Congratulations to all of you who have passed. You are now officially ninja!" The twenty-seven students cheered slightly at those words. "To those of you who didn't pass, you will have until next year to master the skills and material necessary to become a shinobi of our village. You are all dismissed. Have a nice summer."
The failures left the room while grumbling about the unfairness of the exam and shooting glares at the students who passed. "As for those of you who have passed, come back here tomorrow to get team assignments. Following the failures out of the room, the newly graduated genins all ran up excitedly to their family with the exception of Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke brooded quietly in the corner where as Naruto met up with his eccentric sister. Dreamy sighs echoed throughout the court of the academy as men eyed the kunoichi as discreetly as possible so as not to invoke the wrath of their wives.
Some nearly fainted from the lost of blood in their brains as Kiba's sister Hana waved the two siblings over and embraced the older of the two. Spikes of killing intent washed over Naruto as he too received a hug from Kiba's 17 year old sister. After a bout of chattering followed by congratulations, Naruto and Anko took off to god knows where and parents began to leave with their children.
Classroom
"Team 7 will be Haruno Sakura," The pink haired girl sat up with her fingers crossed under the desk. Sasuke still hadn't been called and only 8 other people remained. "Uchiha Sasuke" A scream of joy left her lips as many of the girls in the room began crying even though they already knew they weren't with the Uchiha. "and Uzumaki Naruto." Sakura's victory dance came to an abrupt halt.
'Oh god not him! He's going to kill me!' all thoughts of the Uchiha left her mind
"Not if we get him first!" cried inner Sakura.
Sasuke had perked up slightly at the pairing. 'Perfect! He'll make an excellent teammate to measure myself against.'
"Team 8 will consist of Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzaka Kiba."
'Ah crap' thought Kiba as he felt Hinata frowned at his back. Shino looked somewhat constipated at the mention of Kiba's name.
"And finally team 10 will be Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akamiji Chouji."
"Hey what happened to team 9?" asked and indignant Ino.
"They're still a team from last year" answered Iruka. "Your senseis will be arriving after lunch. They will call out your team number." His face turned solemn as he looked over the graduated misfits, excuse me, I mean genin. "I wish you all luck on your journey as shinobi."
Hiding his glee as best as he could, Iruka practically ripped the door off its hinges in his hurry to leave. Later a chunnin instructor claimed he saw Iruka skipping down the hallway, but nobody believed him. I mean, it's Iruka we're talking about, come on.
5 hours later
The classroom was empty with the exception of team 7. The 6 o'clock sun left elongated shadows all over the room as the remaining three genin waited for their sensei. Sasuke was brooding by his desk with Sakura fawning over him. Naruto was currently sharpening his weapons at the bottom row of the class for the third time.
"How much you want to bet its Kakashi?"
'I'm no fool Kyuubi.'
"Come on," the demon grinned, "it could be some other tardy ninja you know." Kyuubi burst into laughter at his jab at the silver haired jounin.
'Come now, 5 hours late? I doubt it is anyone else.' The door swung open unexpectedly causing Sakura to jump and Naruto to nearly cut his thumb off with a kunai he had been sharpening mindlessly. 'Who else could walk silently enough to avoid my hearing?'
The cycloptic ninja came into view with one hand scratching the back of his head. "Ahahaha. Sorry about the long wait. I got lost on the road of life." Sasuke snorted at their sensei's lame excuse while Sakura forced a small painful smile onto her face.
"That's the lamest excuse ever!" screeched inner Sakura.
"You think he was testing your patience?" drawled Kyuubi.
'If it were anyone else I would say yes. But this it's Kakashi. His reputation for being tardy exceeds even that of his as the copy cat ninja.'
"Why don't we all go upstairs and get some fresh air? I'm sure you could use the exercise after sitting inside a classroom for four hours."
"Five." Naruto's one word reply prompted Kakashi's famous eye smile. A puff of smoke and the man was gone. Sasuke and Sakura obediently headed for the stairs while Naruto opted to go out the window and up the side of the building. A few seconds of walking and he was on the roof next to the silver haired Kakashi who was leaning casually over the railing.
Flipping over the side of the safety railing and perching himself precariously on the protective metal bar, he stared at Kakashi until the man turned and looked at him.
"So why were you so late?" the emotionless question warned Kakashi that anything besides the truth would prompt a most painful response from the blonde.
The jounin rubbed his head sheepishly before replying. "Got sidetracked. I would have come sooner, but your sister invited me to watch her fail her team." Naruto sighed and shook his head.
"Again?" The Cyclops eye smiled while bringing out his favorite little orange novel from his supply pouch.
"Yep. So tell me, what do you think about those two?" Naruto left his perilous balancing act on the railing and landed next to his sensei. Closing his eyes and recalling everything he had seen or heard about Sakura and Sasuke in the past two days, he prepared to outline his thoughts.
"Haruno-san is currently the third strongest kunoichi of the class with chakra control said to be second to none, better then even the Hyuuga who happens to be the best kunoichi out of the graduating class. I was not able to observe any of her skills as a kunoichi, but if I were to base her stealth capability based on her attempts to garner attention from the Uchiha, then she is a complete failure as a ninja." Here he paused to collect his thoughts. "Her chakra capacity is too low for my senses to correctly judge which may be that contributing factor to her excellent control. Her infatuation with the Uchiha will distract her from training and her growth will no doubt be stunted by having the Uchiha on her team."
Kakashi nodded in understanding as he listened to the blonde's report. He knew that Naruto was impartial when asked for his opinion and was brutally honest, if a bit tactless. "As for the Uchiha, he has a chakra supply strong enough for me to detect, somewhere around the level of genin heading for the chunnin. He is the fastest out of the entire class, but notably not the strongest. He is proficient with taijutsu for a genin, but he won't be facing down a chunnin yet. He seems to be capable of using the Grand Fireball technique, though it appears to be much weaker then it should be. I would suggest you train him in chakra control exercises as soon as possible in order to maximize his efficiency in the ninjutsu department. And as far as I know, he has yet to activate his sharigan."
Kakashi nodded again as Naruto finished his report. He was about to ask what training regiment the blonde would consider for Sakura to see Naruto's judgment capabilities when the rooftop door opened to admit the two students they had been discussing. Kakashi snapped the book shut and nodded his thanks at Naruto before facing his remaining two team members who had taken a seat in front of their sensei.
The jounin studied the annoyed form of Sakura and the dark glare he was receiving from Sasuke. 'These two have a long way to go.'
Smiling beneath his mask, Kakashi put away the book he was holding and waved cheerfully at all three of his possible students. "Since we don't really know each other, why don't we start with our names, likes, dislikes, and dreams for the future."
The pink haired girl raised her hand to get her sensei's attention. "Why don't you go first sensei, to give us an idea of how it works." Kakashi nodded happily and started off the introductions.
"My name is Hatake Kakashi, I like a lot things, not a lot I dislike, and I never really think about the future."
'All we got was his name!' thought Sasuke and Sakura.
"Naruto why don't you go next?"
The masked boy spoke up in a voice that plainly told everyone listening he thought this was a waste of time. "Uzumaki Naruto, I like to learn, create, and perfect new techniques. I dislike this village," three sets of eyebrows vanished into their respective hairlines of pink black and silver. "My dream is to eliminate every criminal in the bingo book."
'Just like I feared, he really has no loyalties to Konoha outside of Anko and the Hokage.'
"Pinky."
A vein throbbed angrily in Sakura's abnormally large forehead as Inner Sakura shouted in outrage, "You're one to talk you silver haired freak!"
"Well my name is Haruno Sakura, I like…" here she trailed off into a fit of giggles. "I dislike pigs!"
"Damn straight!"
"And I dream of…" again she broke off into giggles while staring dreamily at Sasuke. Even the emotionally underdeveloped Naruto got the general hint of where that was going.
'Oh dear god I got a fangirl. Wonder who I pissed off in my past life?' "Emo"
An indignant look crossed Sasuke's face before it reverted back to the cool look of indifference. "Uchiha Sasuke. I like fire techniques, I dislike mindless girls" a glare deflated Sakura's happy mood faster then a needle to a balloon. "I dream…no I will kill that man one day." Sasuke's eyes became chips of ice at the mention of Uchiha Itachi.
Unknown location
Itachi sneezed, completely blowing his cover. In the instant Itachi reflexively closed his eyes during his sneeze, his target took off at a pace that was a mere blur even to his fully matured sharigan eyes.
"Damn it Itach! What the fuck was that?!" bellowed Kisame while swinging his sword around in irritation. "We almost had that little bastard!" The shark man's dance of frustration would have amused the Uchiha greatly had they not just lost their target.
Itachi glared and rubbed his nose furiously on his cloak. Three months of careful planning and tracking and then they lose the five tails just because of a little sneeze.
'I bet it was Sasuke talking about me again. I knew I should have killed the little twerp.'
Rooftop
"Well good, good! Now that we know each other a little better, we'll be doing a survival excercise together tomorrow." Sakura raised her hand again. "We're not in class anymore Sakura" mumbled Kakashi while waving his hand in her direction.
Blushing slightly, the kunoichi asked anyways. "Sensei, we've already done survival drills before back at the academy."
"Ah." The cloth mask stretched slightly and the cyclops's only eye closed in a happy fashion giving an impression of a smile. "But have you been on one where your career as a shinobi is on the line with only a 66 percent chance of passing?"
Sakura's jaws dropped while Sasuke seemed to sit up a little straighter. Naruto turned around and stared out at Konoha indifferently, admiring the view the setting sun made on the bustling village.
"Heh, didn't think so." Kakashi eye smiled again. Reaching into his supply pouch, he pulled out three fliers that he handed over to his trio of students. "Time, date, and location. Don't eat anything, unless you happen to like regurgitating stomach fluids." The jounin waved at his students once before vanishing in a puff of smoke off to no doubt read his perverted little book in privacy.
"Is he serious?" shouted Sakura. Sasuke hmmed noncommittally and smiled to himself.
'A test of skill. If I pass this, I will be one step closer to Itachi!' His eyes narrowed as he stared at his silent teammate while ignoring the ranting Sakura. 'If anyone on this team could pass, it will most likely be Naruto. I can't afford to pass the chance of having such a powerful teammate on my side. And once I have the sharigan, all his secrets will be mine!' His hand clenched around the paper crumpling it into a ball.
Stalking stealthily towards the door, he tried to leave without attracting his pink haired teammates attention. Too late. 'Crap"
"Sasuke-kun! Would you like to-"
"No." shot down before she could even finish asking her question; Sakura felt a bout of depression falling in. The Uchiha's curt answer was followed by the slamming of the rooftop door in the kunoichi's face as if to emphasize his point.
The crestfallen girl turned from the door to find that her other teammate was gone as well. "Way to be a team" grumbled Sakura to no one in particular.
1:00 a.m. Konoha
Naruto stepped back from the door after bidding his sister good-night. It had been a night filled with eating drinking and laughing. Well ok, Anko did most the drinking and laughing while Naruto stuck mostly with eating, but it was still a good night nonetheless.
The blonde genin was now heading towards his own dwelling to settle in a bit earlier then normal, if you call 1:00 in the morning early, in preparation for Kakashi's test.
"It won't be easy, not even for you."
'No, but it will be a good time to observe the capabilities of the sharigan.' The demonic fox snorted while rolling over onto his back indolently.
"You weren't kidding when you said you dreamed to take out all the criminals in the elemental nation?"
'I never say what I don't mean. You should know that better then anyone else." The fox grinned in his cage inside the seal before returning to his former position of resting on his belly.
"More fun for us then." A quick motion from his peripheral vision brought Naruto to an abrupt halt across the rooftops. Noticing the man was waving in his direction, Naruto decided to investigate. As he came close to the chunnin, the blonde recognized him as the one present during his genin exam.
"How can I help you Mizuki-san?" The man handed over a piece of paper.
"Kakashi asked me to deliver this to you. Something about a separate test for you." The chunnin clapped his hand on the blonde' shoulder unknowingly causing Naruto to frown underneath is mask. "Good luck!" Mizuki took off onto the rooftop before vanishing into the darkness leaving the blonde on the ground to unfold the paper and read it on his own.
Naruto,
The test we will be having tomorrow is a challenge for a genin, but I have no illusions about how you will perform, even if I blindfolded you. Instead, with the permission and help of the Hokage, I've come up with a separate test for you. Inside the Hokage tower, there lies the forbidden scroll. Your task is to retrieve the scroll with any means necessary short of killing someone. The Anbu I've placed around the tower have been ordered to stop you with lethal force if necessary, so I'd be careful when going in. The Hokage will be patrolling inside as well, and he has agreed to stop you if he detects your presence. I remind youthat there is a reason why he is Hokage, ad he will stop you if you're not careful. After retrieving the scroll, you will rendezvous with me in training area 62 at 0300 hours. Good luck!
At the bottom was Kakshi's signature and a small drawing of the man holding up two fingers in a peace sign.
AN: So, is it a fake note, or is this a genuine test Kakashi made up just for Naruto? You'll have to stick around to find out! Hopefully I'll get it out soon. Read and review!