Once again, it was the start of the school year at the Ninja Academy and the assembled crowd was as big as it always was. Among the throng of students were two fourth year students who had made their way to the posted class lists. One of the girls said to the other, "Hey Ino, do you think we'll be in the same homeroom this year?"

A girl with short blond hair and wearing a purple dress turned to look at her friend. "I don't know Sakura. We were together in first year and third year so hopefully we'll be together for another year." Ino's voice changed to a teasing tone as she looked at her best friend with her short pink hair and sporting a red dress. "After all, as a civilian student you'll need my help to keep your high standing in class. That large forehead of yours might help with all of the bookwork. However, it takes more than smarts to be a great kunoichi like me!"

Ino and Sakura had been friends ever since the two of them had met in on a playground years ago when they were little kids. The two girls' friendship was a bit odd back in first year at the Academy since Ino came from a shinobi clan while Sakura was civilian born. Sakura's father had been part of the shinobi forces, but he had only been an average chunin before enemy poison forced him to take an honorable discharge early in the Third Shinobi War years before she had been born. He had been the first shinobi from his clan and Sakura's mother came from a long line of merchants. This made Sakura a civilian born student, abet one with higher social standing in school since she wasn't a 'pure' civilian student.

There were different expectations and standards expected of shinobi depending on their background in both the Academy and mission results. This wasn't a form of discrimination as the shinobi forces were very meritorious allowing anyone to raise to the rank their skills and abilities could carry them. It was simply general trends that had been observed since the creation of the Hidden Villages. Lowest on this totem pole were the pure civilian background students. The vast majority of those applicants washed out of the Academy and those that did make it into the shinobi forces typically only rose to the rank of chunin. There were a few Jonin from pure civilian backgrounds, but they were rare. This did not mean it was impossible for a shinobi from a pure civilian family to become a legend as Jiraiya of the Sannin showed. It was generally assumed that this trend was due to the fact that these shinobi started off with a relative chakra handicap compared to their compatriots and less focusing on the shinobi arts from their families.

Next on the totem pole came the civilian children who had a ninja or two in the family, especially those with a parent who had been a ninja or a close relative like an aunt or uncle. These students typically got more support for training at home to help with lessons at the Academy. If their mothers had been kunoichis then they usually didn't have a chakra handicap that those with civilian mothers had. It was more common for the shinobi parent in this category to be the father since most kunoichis tended to marry shinobis. Far fewer of these civilian students left the Academy thanks to the support of ninja family member and they were more likely to go further in their ninja careers.

At the top of the totem pole were the students from shinobi families and shinobi clans. In terms of performance expectations and career progress the two groups were identical. Children from shinobi families and shinobi clans typically had a more developed chakra system thanks to their mothers more powerful chakra systems as kunoichis. The children also had the support and early training that the families and clans employed in child rearing which set these kids up to excel as shinobi. It was a good thing too that children of shinobi families and clans generally did well as shinobis since they were pretty much locked into that career path. Family honor and the general need for the shinobi skills to protect themselves from those seeking vengeance over someone a family member had killed on a mission made it extremely difficult for these children to leave the shinobi forces or the regular military. Those few who had left the military life completely typically became trapped inside the village unable to leave for fear of being killed by those wanting vengeance that could get them outside the village's protection.

The difference between a shinobi family and a shinobi clan was one of age and prestige. The shinobi families had been rare in the Warring States Era, but blossomed under the Hidden Village system as shinobi with civilian backgrounds got together and started families. The shinobi clans were the old blood of the shinobi world with the clans having been employed as shinobi longer than most could remember. Of the two shinobi subsets, the families were a distinct minority compared to the clans. This disparity had a simple explanation. Talented shinobi from civilian backgrounds or shinobi families starting out tended to get absorbed into the established shinobi clans via marriage. This tendency was an old one harkening back to the Warring States Era when it wasn't unheard of for shinobi clans to train orphans that had caught a leader's eye for one reason or another and then have the orphan marry into the clan as an adult.

Sakura quickly fired an insult back at Ino unwilling to just back down at the childish jab at her parents. "Like you're one to talk Ino, I consistently scored higher than you last year! Resting on your ancestors' laurels just makes you suited to get roasted. Hope you like the taste of apple in your mouth when they cook you up." Given Ino's name, it was a pretty common insult in the Academy to compare the bossy girl to a roasted pig.

Ino let out an annoyed snort and turned away from Sakura for a moment silently conceding their little verbal spar. After a moment she returned her gaze to board with the posted classrooms and the students in each class. Smiles appeared on both girls faces when they saw their names in the same classroom. They then turned to face each other and grinned at that simple joy.

The pink haired girl then put a finger to her chin and muttered, "I wonder who else will be in our class and if we know them?" Ino joined Sakura with a questioning look on her face and then both girls turned to look at the rest of their class's list. Most of the names were familiar to the girls having had one or two classes with the people that would be sharing their homeroom over the previous three years.

One name stood out to Sakura and she paused when she read it on the list. "Hey Ino, it looks like we have Naruto Uzumaki in our homeroom. Didn't you have him in Advance Stealth last year?" Sakura had never had any classes with Naruto and only occasionally crossed his path in the Academy's hallways. All she knew about the boy was hearsay and she was curious about the only person in homeroom she was completely certain she didn't know.

With a nod of her head the blond haired girl answered her friend. "Yes I did. He's a friendly and confident guy usually with a smile on his face. Always seemed pretty quick on the uptake in class. If Naruto didn't get what we covered in class, which was pretty rare, then he always got it by the time he showed up for the next class session. He didn't rub in how well he was doing which is surprising for a guy and he usually was helping some of the other students in class that were having trouble."

Sakura nodded her head and then the two girls started walking to their classroom. As they rounded the corner Sakura asked, "So did we get the better of the two for homeroom?" Everyone in their year knew about the Uchiha/Uzumaki rivalry. How could they not when the boys had been shifted mid-year so that they weren't in the same classes?

Ino shrugged her shoulders and adjusted her book bag. "It's hard to say on that one Sakura. I had Sasuke as a fellow student in Poisons last year. On the looks scale Sasuke beats Naruto hands down with his bad boy image. Naruto's looks aren't too shabby if you can get past his eyes. There's just something creepy about those blue within blue eyes and how they look like they've seen far too much than they should. However, Naruto is much friendlier, helpful, and cheerier than Sasuke. There's also the fact that Sasuke is too full of pride over his clan, their kekkei genkai, and doesn't tolerate disrespect on those fronts. Rather pathetic given that his parents and most of his clan were nothing more than filthy traitors."

The girls then changed subjects to some of the new articles they had read in a fashion magazine that helped kunoichi modify civilian clothes for combat. This new subject kept the girls talking as they finished their trip to the classroom and occupied their time until the teacher showed up. The homeroom instructor was a chunin named Iruka Umino who hit the ground running with a refresher lecture on using chakra to enhance one's physical abilities and the various limitations that this involved.

Fourth year seemed to fly by for Naruto and his classmates. Soon enough the two day long final testing was upon them. The first day of testing covered all of the bookwork for the students and was quite exhausting for all of the students. Even Naruto with his seemingly unlimited energy and the ability to stretch time out to think by going into his mindscape was exhausted after the last test was done on the first day. The next day was pure practical testing and the first test on the list for the day was general physical fitness.

Kiba was complaining as the class stood in the drizzle waiting for their tester to show up. "What the hell man? Why are we doing all of these tests in the rain. It was a gorgeous day yesterday when they locked us all inside with the written tests. If only someone had paid attention to the weatherman we could have done the practicals yesterday in good weather instead of in the mud." Several of the other students mumbled in agreement and a couple of the girls started to complain about what the drizzle was doing to their outfits.

Naruto stepped out of line and turned to look at his classmates before speaking up. "Quit complaining about the weather! I joined the Academy to become a shinobi and I thought that all of you did as well. Otherwise, you wouldn't have lasted these past four years here at the Academy. It sucks that we're taking this test in the rain and I wish we had the weather from yesterday. However, being a shinobi means doing a mission even when things don't go your way. No one says to the Hokage, 'I can't take a mission today sir because it's too cold outside or it's raining.' They just buckle down and do the mission. We just get to prove that we can do so too earlier than most ninjas. So what do you say we give all of the previous classes who did these tests in good weather a big middle finger by beating their records with a minor handicap?"

Up on the roof, the Academy headmaster Roshi looked down on the assembled students who were fired up from Naruto's speech. A small grin appeared on Roshi's face through his white beard as he looked at the proceedings. The headmaster turned to look at his two chunin companions and said, "Spirited bunch this year. Letting the weather get to them is not going to work anymore after that speech so you might as well get started on the testing." The two chunin nodded their heads and used the shunshin jutsu to disappear from the rooftop.

One of the chunin appeared in front of the students and said, "Well said student Uzumaki. Now get back in line so that the first practical test can begin." Naruto quickly returned to his place in the group of students and then the chunin continued to speak. "This is a test of your physical fitness to see if you meet one of the basic requirements to be a shinobi. Turn your attention to the Academy's basic PT ground."

Every student did so and noticed the changes in the training ground's setup. There were hurtles of different heights set up at random intervals on the track surrounding most of the training ground. Inside the track course were a series of monkey bars, concrete tubes, paths of buckets and a ten foot wooden wall with several lengths of rope on one side. Everyone noticed that there was enough of each obstacle to match the number of lanes on the track. There was a large ramp near the track with a matching ramp on the other side of the track. Orange cones were then set up from the ramp in a path leading to the Academy's pool with balance beams set up at the half way point. Again, there were enough balance beams for each path to have one beam.

The chunin then spoke up after he gave the students a chance to look at the course. "Your test is as follows. When I call your name up you will get in a lane on the track. Once I say go you will make three laps around the track. You will then immediately proceed to the inner course where you will use the monkey bars for your lane, crawl through the concrete tubes, step through the lane of buckets, and then used the rope to climb up the wall which you will then jump off of to land on the other side. Note that hitting any hurtles on the track, skipping any bar on the monkey bars, or not stepping in any of the buckets for your row will result in a time penalty added onto your final score. After you have landed from the wall, you will run up to the ramp and jump across the gap created by the track lanes to the companion ramp. You will then proceed along the marked lanes to the Academy pool while making sure to cross the length of the balance beam when you come to it. Finally, when you get to the pool you will dive in and swim the length of the pool underwater until you reach the other side and ring the bell set up to indicate you have completed the course. Massive time penalties will be given to anyone who rises to the surface to breathe while swimming and will be noted by my companion who will be recording your unmodified time on the course. Passing this test requires a final time score of 15 minutes or less."

Naruto waited for his turn to come up which was an hour later on the fifth round of testing. He took his place on the track ignoring the fact that he was soaked to the bone and kept focused on what he was about to do. When Naruto was given the signal he took off like a bat out of hell down his course. The other people on the track with him were only given a periphery acknowledgement. Their results did not matter at the moment; what mattered right now was him completing this course correctly and quickly. Naruto made his way through the track course quickly making sure to keep track of his laps while avoiding the hurtles on the track. He then proceeded to the monkey bars where he made sure to grab each bar even though he could do them two at a time. The tube and the buckets came next and they had become filled in mud by this point when Naruto handled those parts of the course. Naruto took three seconds when he got to the wall to remove most of the mud from his sandals before scaling the wall. Naruto knew that there was a hidden time penalty for anyone who used chakra to wall walk up is wall as this was a test of one's physical abilities. It just wasn't talked about since few academy students would know the technique. Those three seconds proved a valuable investment as Naruto quickly got over the wall while his fellow students did not get over the wall so easily.

Jumping over the track on the ramps wasn't a problem for Naruto with the bit of a run he was able to get. He then jumped onto the balance beam taking care not to step where the water had made the beam too slick. Judging from the ground around the balance beam some of the other students who had gone before him hadn't been careful and had fallen off of the beam. Once Naruto got off the balance beam he preceded the rest of the way to the school pool. When he got to the pool he took a deep breath and made a running dive into the pool. Naruto hurriedly swam under the water making sure to keep several inches below the surface to avoid the time penalties. He reached the other end of the pool just as his lungs were starting to complain from holding his breath and quickly rang the bell.

The other Chunin examiner noted Naruto's time on his chart and said, "Get out of the water and head to the locker room. You can change in there and then report to the gymnasium for Taijutsu testing."

Like most Academy students, Naruto knew how to take a three minute shower and got himself dressed quickly afterwards. Naruto immediately headed from the locker room to the gymnasium with only a minor stop to grab a power bar and energy drink that was set up on a table for the students along the path from the locker room to the gym. As he walked, Naruto ate the power bar and washed it down with the energy drink to replenish what he had lost from the physical fitness test. He threw out the used wrapper and the empty bottle in a trashcan at the gym door before entering it.

Once in the gym, Naruto was sent to the bleachers where earlier takers of the physical fitness test were sitting with the last members of the class that started on the Taijutsu testing. Judging from the time limits on the taijutsu matches, Naruto figured it would be another hour before his taijutsu testing would occur. Then it would be on to Genjutsu testing. After lunch there would be a late lunch/hidden poison recognition test.

Thank you grandfather Keigo for getting that little addition to the practical lineup was Naruto's sarcastic thought about the hidden test. At lunch each student would randomly grab one pre-prepared lunch tray to eat and each tray had a number on it. The number let the lunch personnel, who would be chunins in disguise, know what food item or utensil had been poisoned and what the poison was. None of the poisons used were fatal or caused long lasting problems. However, any student who failed this test by either failing to detect and avoid the poison or failed to identify what they had been poisoned by and get the proper antidote would have an extremely bad time for the rest of the day. Most of the failures of this test would have to finish their practical exams tomorrow in a special makeup session since their poisoning would make them unable to continue the testing today.

Even without Keigo's memories, Naruto could understand the logic behind his grandfather's changes to the poison practical and why it had been changed by Hiruzen. Before Keigo's suggested changeup the poison practical had involved the students simply walking down a line up cups with a few filled with poisons and most filled with colored water. They were supposed to identify which cups had the poisons and what the poisons were. The test never tested the students' abilities in real world situations and was practically the theoretical poison test repeated. This test made sure that the students had absorbed their lessons in a controlled, but still real manner.

The next test on Naruto's class's rotation after lunch was shuriken and kunai usage. In that test they'd have to so competency in throwing the weapons and in maintaining the weapons. Being able to use the weapons wasn't much good if you couldn't keep them in battle ready condition out in the field. After that would be the Ninjutsu test which consisted of Kawarimi, Bunshin, Henge, and an optional extra jutsu for extra credit. The ninjutsu test would be the final test of the day. The extra courses had their last day of class for testing in those courses. Getting everyone tested would be nearly impossible otherwise for scheduling purposes.

Naruto was pulled from his musings when Kiba plopped down on the bench next to him. "Man Naruto, that physical fitness test was brutal. It seemed like something straight out of my sister's threats."

That comment earned the prankster king of the class a chuckle from Naruto. "If that's the case," Naruto started to tease his friend, "then you'd best prepare to be here again next year for the Academy Kiba. After all, aren't you counting on the Practicals to graduate this year?"

Kiba responded to Naruto's teasing by giving the boy the finger. "Shut up Naruto," Kiba eagerly shot back. "I don't have a kekkei genkai like you that lets me recall every boring fact the instructors try to tell us under a minor hypnotic genjutsu. Besides, I also had to spend an additional half hour standing in the mud and the rain before I could take my test. If they just did the tests in alphabetical order you'd be sitting in my place."

"We didn't have the tests in alphabetical order because in real life things are not so organized Kiba. If we did take the tests in alphabetical order then the seating arrangements on the bleachers would be different due to different people choosing when to sit at different times. You'll have to get Shikamaru or Shino to calculate the odds that I would actually be sitting in that spot on the bleachers. I just know that they'd be extremely low. Sakura probably could calculate the odds as well, but I seriously doubt that she'd help you after you turned her hair lime green."

Once Naruto shut Kiba down the duo quieted down and proceeded to observe the other students on the bleachers. Kiba was looking at the girls being tested hoping to see a panty shot. Naruto was looking at the girls as well, but not for the reasons Kiba was looking. Aima Sophia took all of the mystery out of girls for Naruto. They were still as confusing as all hell to Naruto even with the ancestral memories since trying to go in depth with the memories of the opposite gender gave him a massive headache. Naruto had written that off as a side-effect of men and women having different brains. The blond student's interest in his female classmates was over who would graduate and who of those would remain in the shinobi forces. Girls were naturally more flexible and generally had better chakra control then boys at the cost of being physically weaker and typically having lesser chakra reserves. Add in the fact that a lot of girls became enamored with looking beautiful at this age whereas most boys wanted to be awesome fighters and you get the typical two to one gender ratio.

There were a couple of girls that Naruto judged would not be getting their headbands this year. Additionally there were a fair amount of girls who would rate passing the Academy exam, but were unlikely to pass the Jonins' final exam. Who knew which of them would choose to take the remedial training and who would choose to join the reformed police force? Joining the ashigaru wasn't really an option for failed kunoichi unless they wanted to be in a purse support work like supply or field medic.

As Naruto's eyes scanned the girls, his eyes landed on Sakura Haruno and his eyes narrowed slightly. She was one of the girls that Naruto judged had a good probability of passing the Jonins' final. Naruto didn't know too much about her other than the fact that she routinely got good grades in class and came from a civilian background. A look at the girl showed that she was physically cute and had the potential to be become attractive when she grew up. What bugged Naruto about Sakura was the fact that every time he touched her either in a spar or just accidentally bumping into her during school he felt a quick feeling of something. The feeling was faint and disappeared very quickly, but it happened every time they touched. Naruto knew he wasn't feeling a crush thanks to Aima Sophia. He could easily see himself thinking the feeling was a crush if he didn't have his ancestral memories to compare what an actual crush felt like. After another second, Naruto moved his eyes to the next girl and continued his guessing game.

Hiruzen came to the Ninja Academy the day after the practical finals and headed to the headmaster's office. Inside the office was headmaster Roshi who was wearing a turtle shell while busy at work with a bunch of papers on his desk. A small smirk appeared on Hiruzen's face for a few seconds as he noticed the sweat on his friend's bald head. Having a full head of hair was something the Hokage loved to hold over the headmaster when the friends were in a joking mood.

Roshi piped up as he pulled a book from his shelf into his hand with an invisible chakra string and started to open it. "Yes Hiruzen, I know I'm late in sending in my reports on the latest batch of graduates with the team selections for you to rubberstamp. We happened to have a good crop this year so I'm expecting the daimyo's tithe to rather slim this time." The daimyo's tithe was polite way to refer to those who passed the Academy test and ended up joining the ashigaru.

Hiruzen pulled out his pipe and asked, "If the tithe is small then what is the issue? I know that this was year had the highest graduating percentage in a decade. However, I don't see why the additional paperwork would cause you to be researching this heavily."

The headmaster put the reference book down and shot his boss a nasty glare. He then shot back, "Don't tell me you forgot about Team Composition Directive 13 that you issued three months ago? I agree that specializing our genin teams too much is dangerous, but it means that I've had to create new plans out of whole cloth instead of recycling the old patterns. That leads me to my issue with Team Composition Directive 1 and the headache that the Uchiha and the Uzumaki created for me!"

The Hokage raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why would either Naruto or Sasuke being the Rookie of the Year create a major issue? They've probably got different strengths, but at their level of development it would not make much of an issue for the team composition. Besides, it's not like that title actually means anything after the kids graduate." During the rare break times in the office Hiruzen would use his globe to observe the students in the Academy. It was relaxing to see the next generation hard at work learning and it let him be somewhat aware of his future subordinates.

Sasuke and Naruto took their training seriously and were in the top bracket of both skill and conditioning for their age group. Hiruzen was fairly confident that either boy would be able to kill a full grown bandit or a small group of bandits without much issue. Any concerns about the boys freezing in combat would be put aside once they handled the final initiation into being a ninja which happened a month after the Jonin's final testing of the genins to be. The final initiation simply involved the new genins each executing a condemned criminal that was shipped to Konoha from the daimyo's gallows. Failing to complete the final initiation wouldn't result in a genin being kicked out of the shinobi force. However, the genin in question wouldn't be allowed to advance past D rank missions and support work inside the village until he or she proved that they wouldn't freeze up in possible life or death situations. Given Sasuke's experience with the Uchiha Purge and Naruto's extra memories, Hiruzen figured that both boys wouldn't have a real problem with the final initiation.

Roshi quickly explained to his commander and friend. "Those two are the most driven students this year and they are within a hairs breath of each other in terms of academy rankings. In their actual abilities I have to personally rate Naruto as the better ninja. Sasuke's extremely good, but he also played the Academy's ranking system a bit. Unlike Naruto, Sasuke only took two extra courses knowing that we only use the third course's grades possibly replace the scores of the class they scored the lowest in. It's there to give one extra skills as a genin, but it's unfair from a grading perspective for the better students to have a chance to get further ahead in their GPAs. Naruto focused on using the Academy to learning the most skills he could to help him in his later career."

"Furthermore, the question of which one of them deserves the title of Rookie of the Year is coming down to a ruling I need to make on the boy's ninjutsu tests. Sasuke did the basic three jutsus flawlessly and executed a wonderful Goukakyuu jutsu. Naruto preformed the basic three jutsu substituting the Kage bunshin in place of the regular bunshin without any of the examiners noticing. It's kind of pathetic that none of the instructors here have caught on to Naruto's little ruse. For his extra jutsu, Naruto demonstrated his own creation of the Kusa Senbon jutsu. It's a very innovative and simple jutsu that lets Naruto temporarily give blades of grass the strength and hardness of steel senbon. The Kusa Senbon jutsu ends about twenty seconds after the blades of grass leave Naruto's hands."

Hiruzen stroke his beard as he listened to Roshi's dilemma. "That's quite a conundrum that you have on your hands Roshi. Naruto's jutsu sounds extremely useful and practical, but from your description I would have to rate it as a D rank jutsu."

Roshi nodded his head, "I think you see my dilemma. On the one hand I have a talented student who was able to flawlessly execute a C rank jutsu that is beyond the grasp of most of his peer group at this time. On the other hand I've got a student that was actually able to hide, really hide and not just have the chunins humor him, a B rank jutsu as an E rank jutsu and create his own jutsu. The Academy rules don't say anything about a student inventing their own jutsu because usually don't start on jutsu creation until their Jonins! By the book Sasuke should get the award, but Naruto obviously has the edge over Sasuke if he was able to do just one of the things he pulled on the test. I'm at my wits end on this issue and almost at the point of joining my taijutsu happy nephew in running around the village on my hands just to get away from it!"

This was serious indeed as it was well known among the older generation that Roshi did not like the fact that his sister had married Dai Maito and found his nephew Gai to be very annoying. It didn't stop Roshi from asking Gui to sign the turtle contract. Hiruzen then decided to help his friend make his decision. "If Sasuke should have the title according to current regulations then he should get the title Rookie of the Year. However, I think Naruto should quietly be given an award for discovering points in the Academy's grading criteria that need to be revised along with showing where a few of the instructors have gotten lax in their training. Since there is no title for such an award, why don't we stick with a simple cash reward? That extra 700,000 ryo in the school budget that the instructors were asking to use to renovate the teachers' lounge should do in my mind."

Roshi chucked and replied, "That sound good in my book Hiruzen. 700,000 ryo is a good chuck of change, but not absurd, for a genin to earn on some good missions. Besides, if a student can honestly pull one over on a chunin instructor then the instructor is obviously too lax in their own training to rate extra luxuries."

Author's notes:

Happy Christmas readers, for those of you who are still confused about my comments from last chapter about younger ninjas and why I nerfed Itachi let me re-explain it. Some of you posted comments about how chakra changes everything from the analogy I used on pure physical abilities. Chakra does change things when your opponent doesn't also have access to chakra. Thus, it is not a problem for a new genin to be able to slay your typical bandit who just has some weapons training and non-chakra training. If a genin were to fight an adult ninja or even an ashigaru (regular soldiers) who have chakra, we're right back to the situation of a pre-teen trying to win a fight against a reasonable fit adult. Most of the time the poor kid is just going to get his or her ass handed to them on a silver platter.

Now, let me answer some questions that you will no doubt have from this chapter. Most of the Academy exam was my own creation. In the series, we're told that the test is answering some questions and preforming three jutsus. That seems kind of hard to believe, even with the Jonins having their own test, as a valid test for people who are supposed to be trained as semi-mercenary Special Forces. I also added some darker twists with the poison test and the final initiation. While not suited for a shonen manga, I felt that these changes were appropriate for a setting in which pre-teens are expected to be a nation's warriors. You don't want your guards to be taken out by a simple poison. You also don't want a significant percentage, 25% of a genin team if just one member has problems, freezing due to an enemy attack or making their first kill opening up the opportunity to kill them in turn. The poison test and having the genin take the executioner's place allows Konoha to test and help the new ninja through these situations in a controlled manner. It's ruthless, but it is a way to make a condemned man's death have some use and isn't that different than using a condemned criminal to rate the cutting ability of a blade. Samurai actually rated swords by how many men they could cut through with a single strike using condemned men in real life.

On to some other points that people will likely raise. I used the romanji version of Gai's name instead of the more popular Might Guy version. I just find it annoying to use one convention for almost everyone's name and then have a person break it. This is especially true since I've been using the western convention of first name and last name to go with the character's name and using romanji since everyone else's name isn't shifted in the translation from Japanese to English. So in this story I'm referring to this guy as Gai Maito. Thank you Quathis for catching a mistake on my part due to lack of sleep.

On the issue of Sasuke, let me be clear on a few things. He doesn't have a horde of fangirls since being the son of two traitors from a disgraced clan is a major turn off. He is a very talented and driven young student. Kakashi commented in the series that most genins wouldn't be able to pull off a jutsu like the Goukakyuu at Sasuke's age when he gave the bell test. Unlike the series, this Sasuke has the source of his frustrations and anger close at hand and a way to show Naruto up with the title of Rookie of the Year. So Sasuke worked hard to prove he was best ninja by the Academy standards whereas Naruto worked hard to build up the skills he knew he would need in the future. Similar results at this level, but the differences will start to show for the different methods.

Naruto was able to fool the Academy instructors because they were looking for a regular bunshin and Naruto made his kage bunshin look like a regular bunshin enough to not create suspicions. The vast majority of all attempts by students to hide their abilities, if they wish to try, don't work because the chunins know all the tricks that the students are going to think up. Roshi knew it would be difficult for someone like Naruto to create a regular bunshin and thus could spot the signs that the chunins missed. As a result, the instructors are losing the equivalent of 7,000 dollars, I'm using 100 ryo = 1 dollar, that would have gone to new amenities in their lounge.