Disclaimer: Naruto and all associated characters are a property of Masashi Kishimoto. Motoko Kusanagi and all associated elements and characters of Ghost in the Shell are properties of Masamune Shirow.
Jutsu: Original (Translation)
Bijū/Summon/Android Speaking
Bijū/Summon/Android Thoughts
Mental Communications
[Chat Box/Text communication]
A/N: To determine Naruto's affinities in this story I assigned each of the basic elements a numerical value and used a random number generator to make the final decision. Imagine my surprise when the generator selected the same two affinities I had chosen for Naruto in my other story six times in a row. In order to change things up, I will be swapping his primary and secondary affinities.
Edit: 7/26
Beta v.1.1
July 29th, 2245
Shinobi Academy Room 217
12-year-old Naruto sat in class with a bored expression on his face. While the rest of the class was watching the mandatory video on LATTICE, he was listening to the audio feed through his datapad while his eyes scanned over the latest scroll the Hokage had given him.
These past three years had been a constant struggle for the young blond, but he had managed to keep his grades above average in all categories besides Technology. In that category he had managed to maintain a score just below the threshold for an above average score; maintaining his now annual deal with Hokage-jiji.
The latest scroll was the first offensive elemental jutsu he would be allowed to learn for his efforts. The young teen couldn't wait for the final exams to end so he could head out to the training grounds and get to work on learning his first offensive jutsu.
Last year, after fulfilling his end of the deal, the Hokage had given him a chakra affinity test and the corresponding nature manipulation exercises to increase his control over his affinities. While the Hokage forbade him for learning any offensive jutsu until he reached the final years of the Academy, he did allow him to learn Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Formation Wall) as a means to defend himself against Sasuke's Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Great Fireball).
While Naruto didn't think it was fair that he couldn't learn any offensive jutsu, he kept his complaints to himself. The last thing he wanted to do was make the Hokage think he was ungrateful for his efforts and since he had always had problems with chakra control, he understood mastering his nature manipulation was important to helping him learn how to use offensive jutsu properly. Mastering the control exercises would only allow him to learn the jutsu easier as well so he threw himself into completing the exercises with vigor to prove that he was worthy of the Hokage's attention.
Naruto couldn't contain his excitement when he learned that his primary affinity was Suiton with a minor affinity to Fūton. Elements that were contrary to what the majority of Konoha were aligned with. While using Fūton would be a risk against a Katon user like Sasuke, at least he had a strong alignment with water which would counteract any fire jutsu the Uchiha would use against him.
Under the Hokage's guidance, he had been working hard on improving his chakra control for the past five years. After managing to perform the Bunshin successfully and placing in the top five after last year's final exams. Naruto knew that it was his efforts in mastering the nature manipulation exercises that finally allowed him to conquer the ever troublesome (yet absolutely useless in his opinion) Bunshin technique. Naruto only hoped that by completing the regular Bunshin, the Hokage could be convinced to let him learn the Mizu Bunshin he had learned about when the class began studying famous missing ninja from Kiri.
For the first few months, his lessons consisted entirely of converting his chakra into elemental chakra safely. It had been difficult, to say the least, but he had managed to succeed in mastering his first advanced chakra control exercise. Last week, Hokage-jiji gave him an impromptu test of his mastery of the tree climbing, water walking, and Suiton level 1 exercises. When he passed the tests with flying colors, he was rewarded with the water wall technique and permission to start training it over the summer break. If he succeeded in successfully passing all the team exercises for the final two years and still maintained a position within the top five of his class, the Hokage promised a Suiton and a Fūton jutsu for him to learn before the final exams. So far, he was on track to keep that promise, despite all the challenges he faced this year.
In the past, they would have graduated as genin this year and be assigned to a Jōnin sensei to start learning teamwork and performing menial tasks disguised as missions. Not only would they gain experience with dealing with clients and different forms of missions in the safety of the village, but they would be able to bond with their team through the hazing ritual that was known as D-ranks.
Last year, the Hokage had changed the requirements for graduation. Two additional years were added to the curriculum in order to help the students start developing their specialties, provide more hands-on training for specific mission types, and to test team dynamics in a controlled environment. After the first four years in the Academy, the Genin test was administered, as usual, and all students who received a passing grade would be divided into teams based on their overall score and expected combat roles. The teams were readjusted on a quarterly basis so that the instructors could measure adaptability and gauge which team formations were more suitable in real world situations. The students would still perform D-ranked missions as if they were a normal genin team, and those missions would be overseen by Jōnin overseers who were interested in accepting a Genin team in the future. This helped both train the Genin and the Jōnin on functioning as a team and exposed them both to the realities of being a Genin level squad.
In addition to the team based training, however, the students would also have instructors who specialized in teaching different subjects rotating through each team for the next two years. This would not only help the instructors identify which student had an aptitude for a specific specialization, but it allowed them to gain advanced training for their chosen specialization while exposing them to more detailed aspects of the different specializations at the same time.
In the past, a Jōnin sensei who specialized in Genjutsu could be assigned a team that was not suited for their specialization. A student with strong Ninjutsu talent but no Genjutsu talent assigned to that team would be forced to seek out other sources of training or fall back on their clan for instruction. This had prevented many talented Jōnin from meeting the requirements to take on a Genin team because they were too heavily specialized into a certain field to advance their genin team without the assistance of another shinobi. This, in turn, reduced the number of passing combat focused teams that became active after the Academy.
With this new setup, not only could they observe the group dynamics in a controlled setting, the teachers could observe and guide the students down the path that best suited their natural talent and skills. The instructors would develop the foundation for their specialties and establish a training plan that the students could follow and modify as they grew and advanced through the ranks. This freed up the Jōnin sensei to focus more on developing their combat experience and advanced tactics during real world scenarios instead of handling basic skill building and training. The genin teams that managed to pass would also be far more skilled than ordinary genin and more capable of dealing with the realities of being a ninja.
Especially after they had completed the first kill test that Hiruzen had set up for them, but this fact was being kept secret from the students. What better way to eliminate the students who weren't serious about being ninja then to force them into a scenario where they had to kill in order to pass. Not only was it safer for the prospective genin to deal with their first kill in a controlled environment, but there would also be group and individual counseling provided afterward; to help the students deal with the aftermath and decide if they still want to continue on the path of a ninja. Not that they would actually be killing anyone but with a high-level genjutsu and a Mizu Bunshin for extra effect, it would seem real enough to the inexperienced genin.
It hadn't been easy adjusting to the new format that the Hokage had set up in the Academy for the extra two years of instruction. In addition to more advanced technology classes, each quarter he was forced to readjust to a team that, usually, wanted nothing to do with him in the first place. Not only did most of his teammates look down on him, but sometimes they attempted to sabotage him or refused to work with him completely. Naruto was often forced to carry the majority of the workload while covering for his classmates in order to maintain the grades he needed to garner the rewards from the Hokage.
Next, there was dealing with the clients that seemed to enjoy making things difficult for him. Not only did this often make his team hold a grudge against him because they were required to deal with more work because of his presence, but they also had to deal with unreasonable complaints or outright false accusations of theft, damage, or failure to complete their tasks. If it wasn't for the fact that the Hokage was aware of the bias against Naruto, the blond was certain he would have received a failing grade completely. While it was nice being able to earn an income from attending classes, the combination of resentful teammates and ungrateful clients had made it a struggle for the sunny blond to remain optimistic about his situation.
At least a few of the teams he had been assigned to this past year had managed to acknowledge his ability and began actively working with him in order to improve their chances at passing with a higher grade. While they weren't interested in being friends with the fully organic shinobi, they were at least cordial with him instead of downright nasty. Sometimes they even treated him with sympathy once they experienced the blatantly biased treatment that was heaped upon him. It also helped that Naruto was more than willing to pick up all of the extra work that was dumped on them unfairly because of his presence.
This last quarter, however, things had taken a severe turn for the worse. Not only was he paired with Sasuke, but Sakura as well. A group that not only challenged him physically but mentally and emotionally as well. Naruto could only hope that things would get better for him next year since he couldn't possibly be grouped with anyone who hated him more that Sasuke.
To Naruto, it had been a miracle that he had managed to maintain his spot in the top five of his class, despite Sasuke's best efforts.
Naruto's eyes drifted over to the youngest Uchiha of the main family. Sasuke had his dive headset on, like the majority of the class, and was dutifully listening in on the video even if Naruto could tell by his body language that he was utterly bored. The raven haired teen's arrogance had only seemed to grow as the years passed. If Naruto managed to beat him in a spar or any other subject, Sasuke took it upon himself to try and put him down by bringing up his scores in other subjects or trying his hardest to "make him learn his place". This attitude only grew worse once they were teamed together for the last quarter as Naruto was forced not only to deal with the challenges presented to the team but he would also have to compete with the Uchiha instead of working together to overcome the challenge. It didn't help that he had a group of fan girls constantly fanning the flames of the Uchiha's ego, the primary one being Sakura who supported Sasuke completely, regardless if he was in the wrong. Naruto had tried being cordial or even befriending Sasuke on numerous occasions only to be brushed off as "beneath him" or Sasuke "kindly" reminding Naruto of his clanless orphan status.
Like it was hard to forget something like that when you had been alone all of your life and had nothing to remind you of where you came from.
It would have been one thing to be simply brushed off and ignored like the rest of the village, but the fact that Sasuke had gone out of his way to be nasty towards him caused Naruto to start resenting the Uchiha. Not only was he a hypocrite of the highest order, but he was an all around stuck up jerk and asshole to pretty much everyone. Even all the fan girls who sung his praises and threw themselves at him on a daily basis were treated like dirt. Not only that but Sasuke had seemingly put a target on Naruto's back since everyone who tried to suck up to Sasuke would try to put the blond down at every opportunity; as if it would gain the Uchiha's favor in some way. Even some of his former teammates from the previous quarters would either outright ignore him or even join in with the rest of the group because they wanted to fit in.
If they weren't teasing him for a lack of cybernetics then they were insulting him for being an orphan and believing that he had a chance to beat Sasuke at anything. Naruto preferred it when the groupies had simply avoided him in the past, but he refused to back down or fold under the pressure the others were placing on him. Especially not for some stuck up hypocrite's foolish pride.
Naruto's eyes drifted the other member of his current team and the object of his first crush.
Sakura Haruno.
Ever since he had first laid eyes on the pink haired beauty, Naruto had been drawn to her. She was strong, intelligent, caring and the number one Sasuke fan girl which filled Naruto with jealousy and envy for the stuck up raven. Even when Sasuke ignored her or flat out was rude to her, Sakura still went out of her way to make him bento lunches and sweets. She was always loyally cheering the Uchiha on showing that she was dedicated and loyal.
Naruto longed for her beautiful minty green eyes to look upon him instead.
The only real problems he had with Sakura was her love for all things cybernetic and her harsh treatment of him whenever someone else was around. Naruto didn't know why Sakura felt so much pressure to be accepted by the others in class. The pinkette was talented, scored as the top kunoichi consistently, and had major influence amongst the rest of the fangirls. Her determination to win Sasuke's heart was much stronger than the rest of the girls, much to Naruto's chagrin.
Back during the first few years of the Academy, Sakura had been the only girl that had deigned to speak with him and she had been kind to him as well. She was the first person to openly debate his beliefs about cyberization without putting him down for not having any implants or making herself sound like an idiot or hypocrite. Before she fell deep into her crush with Sasuke, Sakura had met with him at the park on occasion, trying to change his opinion about people who chose to get prosthetic bodies and full cyberbrains. Naruto never told her how he was incapable of getting implants because he feared that she would no longer speak to him about the subject if she learned the truth. Since no other girl his own age had ever spoken to him for this long, the last thing he wanted to do was drive her off.
Even though he couldn't agree with her beliefs, he admired her passion for the subject. At first, Naruto thought his crush might have been a result of her being the only girl to pay him any attention, but as he admired her from afar he realized that it was her fiery passion and strong personality that attracted him. Not only that, but she wasn't nearly as shallow as the other girls. Sure she took care of her appearance to some extent; that wasn't unusual for a girl. When compared to girls like Ino Yamanaka and the vast majority of the civilian girls, you could tell that Sakura didn't put nearly as much effort into her looks.
Once she began chasing Sasuke, however, she would treat him with disdain in front of the rest of the class and stopped meeting with him outside of the Academy entirely. While she never said anything overtly harsh towards him, it still hurt him to hear her cheer on Sasuke instead of him.
To hear her put him down and compare him to that arrogant jerk.
To see her beautiful face get marred with a frown or tears whenever Sasuke was particularly rude to her in front of everyone.
Sometimes he wanted to call her out about all the times they had spent with each other in the park or stand up to Sasuke on her behalf, but he kept silent. Not only did he believe that Sakura didn't really need him to stand up for her; she would also be embarrassed and humiliated in front of everyone if they learned she had hung out with the naturalist loser. The last thing Naruto wanted was for her to hate him so he kept her secret if only to hope that someday she would see him in the same way that she saw Sasuke.
Naruto also knew that Sakura's parents were saving up to help her get several cybernetic enhancements after graduation and he often heard her debating with Ino about getting a fully prosthetic body instead of simply enhancing her arms and legs to increase her strength or speed.
Naruto knew he would mourn the day she threw away her beautiful body for the synthetic alternative.
Naruto let out a sigh and scanned the rest of his class in an introspective manner. He looked over the group of students that he might be paired with for the final year and had hope that things would get better for him.
The only kids he tended to get along with were Shikamaru, his friend Chōji Akimichi, and Kiba Inuzuka. While he couldn't consider them friends by any means, since they didn't spend any of their free time with him, they weren't total jerks to him in class and would hang out with him during lunch and recess. There were a few times they would all skip out on class when the opportunity arose. He also hadn't been grouped with any of them this past year, which was the primary source of his hope.
Chōji and Kiba were a part of the small group of kids that had no cybernetic augments besides the minor implant needed to go online. Chōji's family jutsu were incompatible with cybernetics entirely and while there were prosthetics that could match the fabled strength of the Akimichi, their Baika no Jutsu (Expansion Technique) couldn't be accurately replicated. The amount of power behind said jutsu was also far beyond anything a cybernetic body could handle, so the Akimichi clan was primarily unaugmented. Naruto had seen a demonstration by Chōji's father Chōza during Parent's day. It had been impressive to watch the man grow taller than a building and crush an armed suit with his giant hands.
Chōji was primarily Shikamaru's friend and mainly stuck to his side whenever they had days off or were given free time during school hours. Most of the time the tubby teen could be seen munching on some type of snack food while sitting next to the snoozing Nara. Outside of class, it was common to find the duo sprawled out on their backs in the park as they watched the clouds drift by.
The soft-spoken Akimichi was never rude or dismissive to Naruto since the start of the Academy, and he was the only other kid who could truly understand Naruto's love for ramen. Chōji could go on forever about how much he loved Yakiniku-Q and properly grilled pork belly in particular so he didn't look down on Naruto's ramen sermons.
As for Kiba, he was the heir to the Inuzuka clan. A clan whose focus had been on creating tight-knit bonds with their ninken. Adopting the feral aspects of their canine companions was more important to the clan then gaining strength through other means, but they weren't opposed to augmenting their dogs with cybernetics to extend their lifespans and lower the rate of injuries they sustained. A few of the clan members had adopted prosthetic body parts but for some strange reason, the Inuzuka clan jutsu were heavily taxing on cybernetic parts. Even the most advanced cyberbrains were damaged by the way the Inuzuka's brain compositions seemed to fundamentally change when they used their transformation jutsu, so the Inuzuka's restricted themselves to minor implants needed to connect to LATTICE and TRELLIS for missions, or opted out entirely and used the handheld devices like Naruto.
Kiba was probably the closest thing to a friend that Naruto had. The brash Inuzuka was more than willing to compete with Naruto but he never put the blond down in a serious manner. Besides the usual taunts and teasing that went on between most adolescent boys that were close, Kiba was generally kind to Naruto.
Kiba wasn't entirely opposed to hanging out with Naruto during his free time but training Akamaru, caring for the Inuzuka kennels and learning the clan techniques took up most of his time after school and during the weekends. Naruto couldn't hold it against the feral boy since his own free time had begun to dwindle because of training. Plus, he wouldn't begrudge the brunette for spending time with his family and clan since the blond would have done the very same thing.
Naruto's eyes landed on Ino Yamanaka. The mind reader clan's heiress and second place Sasuke fangirl. While Ino was also a confident and proud kunoichi in training; she was also very shallow, pushy, and dismissive to everyone that wasn't a part of her inner circle.
While Ino had also never been nasty towards him, that didn't stop her from mocking his eccentric taste in clothing, lack of cybernetics, or his rivalry with Sasuke. Still, Naruto was naturally inclined to dislike her because of the way she constantly belittled or insulted Sakura. He had been happy with the fact that they hadn't been paired together up to this point since it would be difficult for him not to snap at her for the snobby attitude she tended to convey.
If he did get assigned to work with her, Naruto was certain that Ino was intelligent enough not to sabotage herself by making things difficult for him.
Sitting directly behind Ino was Shino, the stoic and distant heir of the Aburame clan. The Aburame were famous for their use of insects as the primary driver for their jutsu. Due to this symbiosis, the Aburame didn't care about having natural or prosthetic bodies. Their primary goal was to ensure the safety of the hives that lived within their bodies and integrate new forms of insects into their jutsu to make them more effective. As a result, many of the Aburame had switched out to fully cybernetic bodies with augments focusing primarily on increasing their chakra reserves. They didn't really care about diving through cyberspace or linking to the network, but the prosthetic bodies did allow them to have stronger, sturdier bodies that were more resistant to damage. Since the Aburame had been known to lack great physical strength in exchange for housing the hives inside of their bodies, it was only seen as a bonus to eliminate that weakness while also providing a more nurturing environment for the insects themselves.
Naruto hadn't really spent any time with Shino, due to his standoffish nature, but Naruto suspected that he wouldn't have any problems with the Aburame heir. It might be awkward at first but since there was no animosity between the two, Naruto was certain they could manage to work together in order to pass their exams and graduate with the best score possible.
Sitting next to Shino was the shy Hyūga heiress, Hinata. Things would be interesting if he ended up on her team. The kind and soft spoken girl wasn't terrible when it came to her shinobi skills, but Naruto avoided her for multiple reasons. The primary one being the fact that he had been threatened by the Hyūga clan to stay away from her after his attempt to befriend her as a young child.
Naruto had approached her in the park one day as she was making a flower crown and tried to hold a conversation. Instead of responding to his introduction with her own, however, she stuttered for a few seconds before running towards a Hyūga woman who was sitting nearby. As soon as the rest of the Hyūga saw him standing there, they immediately chased him off while throwing the usual threats and curses he got from the meanest villagers. After that, Naruto made an effort to stay away from her in order to avoid drawing the ire of the guards that were always accompanying her.
Once he started attending the Academy, Hinata had spoken to him kindly a few times but she was very shy and lacked confidence in herself. Naruto could tell that Hinata could easily compete with Ino and Sakura if she tried harder, but she was far too timid to assert herself and Naruto found himself getting annoyed with her self-doubt. Hinata was a prime example of someone being fully capable despite her lack of cybernetics but instead of proudly displaying her skill and strength, she chose to act meekly and let people walk all over her. He didn't know what her situation was at home but he highly doubted it was anywhere in the same league of how the village treated him. Most of the villagers treated the Hyūga like royalty so it wasn't like she was receiving bad treatment from everybody.
Naruto knew from first-hand experience that simply allowing people to walk all over you or spit on you never made things better. Allowing those people to see your tears or know that they have broken your spirit only seemed to fan the flames of their hatred and increase the amount of abuse they heaped on you. Only when he began standing up to them defiantly or retaliating against them with pranks did people start to leave him alone. True, it didn't stop them from hating him but they also didn't go out of their way to make him miserable anymore. The worst that he would get now were cold glares and the occasional bits of trash thrown his way if he walked down the wrong street. He had long since memorized all the stores that treated him fairly so he didn't bother investigating any others unless they were newly opened.
If he did end up on her team, Naruto was certain things would only get more difficult for him. Hinata was talented but if she couldn't believe in herself she would only continue to fail and the only way she could truly learn that lesson was to discover that truth on her own. It wouldn't be fair for the other members of the team to be forced into carrying her through difficult situations when she faltered. Naruto wouldn't be surprised if her father used his power on the council to force Naruto off of her team if they were assigned to work together.
Shikamaru, Chōji, and Kiba would all be ideal pairings in terms of cooperation. While he might have to carry most of the physical work with Shikamaru on his team, he had no problem with that. Shikamaru was born to be the brains of any team he was assigned to and Naruto was strong enough to handle most of the dirty work. Only Chōji was physically stronger than him overall, and Kiba was on par with him in terms of physical strength and knowledge so it was unlikely that he would be paired with the Akimichi or the Inuzuka.
Chances were he would get nothing but civilian teammates for the rest of the year and would have to watch his back constantly for sabotage efforts or deal with their nastiness in exchange for gaining some form of cooperation on their part.
It couldn't be worse than being grouped with Sasuke and Sakura again.
Naruto saw Iruka-sensei lift up his dive headset and quickly tucked the scroll away into his vibrant orange and blue jacket. Just one more boring lecture to go and the final exam would begin. While Iruka was the only teacher who had gained Naruto's respect during his time at the Academy, the scarred chūnin was terrible at lectures. If he was teaching them something practical or demonstrating techniques for bukijutsu, taijutsu, or even ninjutsu, however, it was easy to follow along and listen to the man's instructions. Whenever Iruka began lecturing on history, math, or language, Naruto felt like all the energy was being sapped out of his body slowly. Not even tuning out the droll cadence set by the kindhearted sensei could spare you from the effect and it wasn't abnormal to see all but the most dutiful students start slouching in their seats after the first 10 minutes.
Luckily for the whiskered teen, Iruka finished his speech after 4 very long minutes and began laying the ground rules for the final exam while Mizuki (Iruka's assistant) began handing out the written tests.
"All external connections have been disabled for the remainder of the day. You have 1 hour to finish the written exam after which a short recess will be allowed before the start of the physical exams." Iruka stated.
After Mizuki had finished handing out the exam papers and made his way back to the front of the class, Iruka set the timer and ordered the exam to begin.
By the time Naruto finished his exam and double checked his answers, 45 minutes had elapsed. None of the questions had been too difficult for him to puzzle out but there was a handful that required him to check his work a few times. In the end, Naruto still felt positive about his answers and raised his hand in order to have his answer sheet collected.
After the 15 remaining minutes had passed and all the answer sheets collected, the class was released on a 30-minute break while the physical fitness and bukijutsu testing grounds were prepared. Most of the class gathered outside of the training ground that held the obstacle course, milling about in small groups and talking about the test or other miscellaneous topics while waiting for the next stage. A moderate sized group of students had taken the opportunity to change into more functional clothing for the physical test, which wasn't unexpected. Along with most of the girls, there were several boys who had worn more form fitting clothing or simply didn't want their casual clothing to get dirty or torn from the course.
Once the break was over Iruka called the students together and explained the details of the obstacle course and any rules. Once all the rules and restrictions were fully explained and questions were answered, the students were lined up in alphabetical order and called on the run the course. The students were allowed to run the course three times in total if they weren't satisfied with their previous time, with the fastest time being taken for their final grade.
After all the students finished their runs through the course, Naruto was glad to see that he had managed to top Sasuke's score by a few seconds without including the cybernetic penalty. Naruto didn't bother keeping the smirk off his face when the times were posted without penalties first only to watch as the Uchiha's time increased even further once the penalty was included. It was great to see the Uchiha and his fan club seething at the fact that he had beat them all, and knowing that he had could have run the course even faster if chakra had been allowed only made his victory sweeter.
Sasuke managed to claim his revenge during the bukijutsu exam, topping Naruto's score of 74 with a perfect score of 85. Naruto merely huffed in contempt as Sasuke smirked triumphantly and his fan club cheered. It wasn't like his score was terrible, but a few other students had also managed to earn higher scores which only fueled the group of cheering fangirls into taunting Naruto each time someone managed to best his score.
By the time the taijutsu tests began, Sasuke and Naruto were both glaring at each other, envisioning their overwhelming victories in front of the entire class while their humbled rival wept behind them. Usually, when these two were fired up to this degree, Iruka avoided pairing them up in a spar since the chances of them going overboard were highly likely. Since this was the final exam of the year, however, Iruka couldn't alter the sparring brackets that had been set up earlier. Naruto and Sasuke's overall taijutsu scores throughout the year were too close for them to be matched up against anyone else.
"Okay, you two." Iruka got their attention off each other for the moment. "Remember this is a spar, not a fight. If you do not display the proper control I will fail you both, and not just for taijutsu but the whole final exam as well. Understand?" Iruka said sternly as he switched his gaze between the two.
"Yes, Sensei." The boys responded in unison before returning to their glaring match.
Iruka merely sighed before he started reviewing the rules again for safety's sake.
"Remember, no chakra enhancement, no jutsu, and no weapons are allowed. Cybernetic output must be no higher than 45% in all limbs. We will be grading both on offensive and defensive techniques and not who the winner is, so keep that in mind." Iruka concluded before stepping outside of the roped off sparring ring. "The fight will last for two minutes or until one of you is pinned, trapped in a lock, or knocked out of the ring three times."
Iruka looked over as Sasuke and asked. "Are you ready?"
Sasuke just gave him a brief nod without taking his focus off of Naruto.
"Naruto, are you ready?" Iruka asked.
"I'm ready, sensei," Naruto replied. This time, he would prove to that arrogant bastard that he was not someone to be trifled with. This time, he would gain the bastard's respect with his fists if necessary. Even if he had to earn the villager's acceptance one fight at a time, then Sasuke would simply be the first in a very long list.
The time for the childish and petty squabbles was over; it was time to take things seriously.
Iruka brought his hand down and called a start to the fight.
Both teens took off at each other at top speed, leaving a small cloud of dust behind them as they launched their initial charges. The two met in the middle in a flurry of kicks and punches while the rest of the class began cheering or jeering the pair on. Even though most of the class tended to avoid or put down the whiskered blond, there were still a dozen kids who would prefer to see Sasuke put in his place simply due to his arrogant nature.
Naruto quickly parried Sasuke's initial jab, cross combination before ducking low to avoid the follow-up hook and lashing out with a sweep to knock the Uchiha off of his feet.
Sasuke quickly hopped over the sweeping leg before lashing out with a quick snap kick to throw off Naruto's momentum and create an opening for a counter attack. Naruto was prepared for this attack and threw Sasuke off balance by springing up to his feet in a pivot to redirect the kick before lunging forward to bury his shoulder into the raven's gut to try and launch him back out of the ring. Being caught in the air, Sasuke had little recourse but to snap his knees up against his chest in an effort to lower his center of gravity and regain his footing before the blond successfully sent him out of the ring.
As soon as his foot touched the ground, Sasuke gripped Naruto's shoulders and countered his charge by throwing a knee to Naruto's gut to set him up for a rolling throw. Naruto took the attack before wrapping his arm around Sasuke's leg to trap it against his body before stepping forward to keep the Uchiha off balance and set him up for a takedown.
Knowing that he was about to be pinned by the whiskered blond, Sasuke scowled before attempting to wrap his arm around Naruto's neck to trap him in a guillotine choke before his back hit the ground. If he could get the headlock off successfully, then he would be awarded a fall at the same time. Naruto had his chin tucked to his chest and kept his head pressed against Sasuke's chest to stop the Uchiha from gaining the choke, however, and Naruto gained the first takedown when Sasuke's back hit the ground.
Iruka called out the first fall before ordering the two to break apart. Sasuke scowled as he pushed Naruto off of him before shooting the blond a glare, but instead of seeing a taunting smirk or a matching glare, he was surprised to see an intense and serious expression on his opponent's face.
Sasuke resettled his starting stance and observed the Uzumaki closely while waiting for Iruka to start the match once more. Something about seeing the unusually focused expression on his opponent's face started to shift his opinion of the blond.
As an Uchiha and the son of the Clan head, Fugaku, the pressure for him to succeed and surpass all others in every way was intense. Like Itachi, his older brother, Fugaku expected Sasuke to dominate all subjects in the class by a healthy margin and show the power of the Uchiha clan. Sasuke worked hard and trained hard to earn the top marks in his class, but it never seemed to be good enough for his father. Constantly being compared to Itachi had worn down on Sasuke's confidence but he masked his insecurities behind the haughty decorum common for most members of the Uchiha clan. Showing any weakness in front of his father only made his situation worse.
It was bad enough that he had been born with a strange muscle disorder that caused him to experience paralysis at seemingly random times. When Sasuke had learned that he would require prosthesis in order to be able to function as a shinobi, he had been frightened on many levels. Not only had he constantly heard his father put down prosthesis and cybernetics in any form, but he had also heard the numerous horror stories from the Naturalists about failed implant procedures causing you to die a slow and painful death.
Knowing that they would have to cut off his body parts and operate on his brain had been scary concepts for the 5-year-old child, but instead of comfort and reassurance from the one man he looked up to most in his life, he received nothing but a cold shoulder and a sense of disdain. His mother and brother had done their best to reassure and comfort him during this time, but Sasuke had overheard his father and other members of the clan speaking about him as if he were a disgrace to the clan name. Ever since that day, Sasuke pushed himself beyond his limits to master his control over his prosthetic body parts and exceed all expectations on him to try and wash away the shame he had brought on his family for requiring cybernetics.
When a clanless, ostracized orphan with no cybernetic implants began to show him up in class, it was painful for Sasuke. To face his father with his report card and see that look of disapproval was like a dagger to his heart. It also didn't help that his father knew exactly who was keeping up with him and expressed his disappointment that an elite Uchiha was being shown up by commoner trash.
Sasuke was bitter and jealous that he couldn't earn his father's approval with his partially cybernetic body while Naruto, who was completely natural, was able to keep up with him. Knowing that Naruto wasn't getting any advanced training from a clan was another sore point for the young Uchiha. Even Itachi spent some time helping him with his bukijutsu and taijutsu on occasion, and even though Itachi and his mother both silently encouraged him and praised him, it was never enough. Sasuke longed to gain his father's acceptance, no matter how impossible it seemed.
Silently, Sasuke admired Naruto for his strength and perseverance. It was obvious to see that practically everyone in the village scorned him or ignored him in some manner, yet, the unflappable blond never faltered in his beliefs, never questioned himself or his own worth. Ever since he had first laid eyes on the blond, Sasuke knew that he would be the only one to present him with a real challenge. What Sasuke wanted more than anything was to be respected by everyone, but Naruto's constant underhanded comments against those with prosthetic bodies constantly rubbed him the wrong way. Unlike some of the other kids, he didn't really have a choice.
Sure, he could have lived a life without cybernetic enhancements but he would have been required to take numerous supplements and avoid all strenuous exercise. That would have prevented him from becoming a shinobi, which seemed to be far more shameful to his father. Sasuke knew that was the only reason his father allowed his partial body replacement in the first place. It would have been scandalous for the Clan head to have a son that was incapable of being a shinobi or joining the Konoha Military Police.
If Itachi hadn't proven himself to be the ultimate prodigy, the clan would have questioned Fugaku's position as the Clan head. If the leader was incapable of providing powerful heirs, it was viewed as a weakness that could bring dishonor to the clan. Even with Itachi's unquestionable strength, when word had spread about Sasuke's condition there were whispers amongst the elders and council about Fugaku's viability as the leader of the clan.
Sasuke had seen the ugly side of his clan during those years as they verbally attacked the capabilities of his father and questioned the fertility of his mother. He had heard his older brother compare them with vultures on more than one occasion during the inquisition. An inquisition that was only settled when his father, and mother, dominated all their detractors in the proving grounds. His father had even been forced to kill a few, more ambitious, Uchiha who wanted to usurp his position.
That was the day his father taught him his first lesson and started his training.
"Remember this day, Sasuke. Remember that revealing any weakness will only encourage others to take advantage of you and end your life if they can. The only way to ensure your safety is to put them down with overwhelming force. Only through domination can you be certain to drive fear into their hearts and put them in their proper places, crushed beneath your heels." Fugaku had told him in a cold tone.
It had taken Sasuke a few years to realize the truth behind those words. To know that his parents had come under scrutiny and had been forced to fight for their very lives because he was born weak was a painful realization. Even though his father was cold and unyielding to him since his diagnosis, Sasuke believed his father still loved him in his own way. It was the reason why he worked so hard to gain his acceptance and approval, and why it hurt so much when he continually fell short.
Sasuke gritted his teeth and tensed his body in preparation. He had to beat Naruto to gain the respect he deserved. For his father, for his mother, and for his brother, he would defeat Naruto and prove to his clan that he wasn't a failure or mistake. To prove that he had earned his right to exist as an Uchiha and wipe the stain of his weakness from his family's name.
Sasuke barely heard Iruka's voice as he called the match to start once more. He was far too focused on his opponent to hear anything but the beat of his own heart and the rustle of cloth as he dashed forward towards the blond.
Lashing out with a jab, Sasuke feigned the same combination attack he had opened up with the first time, but switched the follow-up cross with a knee instead, forcing Naruto to lower his guard to protect his torso. Once Naruto's arms were lowered, Sasuke landed a quick uppercut to the Uzumaki's jaw, rocking his head back for a follow-up hook that sent Naruto stumbling to the side.
Sasuke, looking to take advantage of Naruto's dazed state, quickly attacked with a roundhouse kick to Naruto's temple. Naruto was quick to recover, however, and managed to trap his leg again, moving to sweep Sasuke's other leg and pin him again. Sasuke was prepared for the move this time. Before Naruto could sweep his leg out from underneath him, Sasuke used his trapped leg to help propel himself into a back handspring, lashing out with his free leg as his body arched to kick Naruto in the chin and free his trapped leg. Pushing off of his arms, he propelled himself back onto his feet and landed in a stance before dashing forward and attempting to land a powerful thrust kick to push Naruto out of the ring.
Naruto barely put his guard up in time to block the powerful kick but was sent flying back towards the edge of the ring. Sasuke wasted no time in chasing after his target and faked another thrust kick to lure Naruto into his trap. When the blond moved to pivot and trap his leg again, the Uchiha sprung his trap. Instead of leaning back and thrusting his leg forward, Sasuke rotated his hip and pivoted on the ball of his foot to land a hook kick to the back of the blond's head. He immediately followed up the attack with a downward left cross to Naruto's jaw, sending him down and out of the ring to gain his first fall.
Sasuke backed off when he heard Iruka call a point in his favor. As he shuffled back to his start position he watched the Uzumaki get back to his feet and rub his jaw. Expecting to see the blond's usual scowl on his face, Sasuke's lips began to curl up into a smirk but paused when he saw nothing but a serious and determined expression on his opponent's face. An expression he was very familiar with as he saw it in the mirror every morning and before bed every night.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he studied Naruto's face again. Every time they had faced each other in the past, the blond had never really shown him the proper respect shown between serious fighters. If Naruto truly respected him as a challenge, he wouldn't smirk or sneer at him as if he weren't a worthy opponent. A true rival took his counterpart seriously and would go all out against them because they acknowledged the other as an equal.
As an Uchiha, he couldn't afford to associate with anyone considered beneath the clan in status. For that reason, the raven haired teen had spurned all overtures of friendship from the person in front of him. Seeing that same fire of determination made Sasuke rethink his view of the blond.
Like him, Naruto was trying to prove his right to exist and gain the approval of others.
Like him, Naruto was constantly driving himself to improve and grow stronger.
Unlike the rest of these fools in his class, Naruto was the only one as serious as he was to become a true shinobi and prove his worth, regardless of his lack of family.
The time he had spent challenging the blond this last quarter had done much to raise his opinion of the purely organic shinobi, but Sasuke could tell that Naruto didn't truly respect him for his skill. The blond only saw him as a weakling that required prosthesis in order to be a shinobi. It was the main reason Sasuke constantly treated him with contempt. Just because he was fortunate enough to have a body healthy enough to not require prosthesis didn't give him the right to put down people who weren't blessed with being born healthy. It also hurt Sasuke's pride whenever Naruto tried to put down his accomplishments as nothing more than a result of his prosthesis.
It wasn't easy to adjust and control a prosthetic body when making delicate or intricate movements. Performing katas, hand seals, or even simple tasks such as folding paper or organizing items inside of a small box were trying tasks that required practice.
To have someone who didn't have to go through the difficulty of adjusting to a prosthetic body write off his struggles as nothing was insulting and degrading. For that reason, Sasuke lashed out at Naruto viciously and with all his frustration and hatred. All he wanted was to be treated with the respect he deserved and every time the blond waived off his efforts as nothing more than a result of his prosthesis it was like a physical slap in the face.
The fact that Sasuke secretly respected Naruto as a rival only made it worse for his pride everytime Naruto made one of those comments. So, Sasuke went out of his way to try and defeat the organic shinobi and force him to acknowledge him as a rival worthy of respect.
Itachi had once told him that in order to become a true shinobi, one had to endure through hardships and survive. In order to surpass your own limits, however, one had to find someone who had struggled and endured as much as they had. Only then could you rely on that person to help you overcome insurmountable odds and constantly drive you into breaking through your own boundaries.
For Itachi, he had listed his often vicious rivalry with Shisui in their youth for making him the prodigy that he was today. Sasuke had never bothered to seek someone out like that because his father had driven home the point that he could only rely on himself for true strength.
His father had constantly warned him that he needed to stand on his own to prove his strength and gain acceptance. Relying on anyone else to gain strength or succeed was admitting to everyone that you were inherently weak. Even pairing up with other Uchiha in any other circumstance beyond training was frowned upon for an Uchiha couldn't shine if there was another nearby to cast a shadow over them.
Sasuke, being eager to please his father, had followed his father's words diligently for most of his life. Even after falling short of his father's expectations for the first four years of the Academy, Sasuke clung to the tidbits of wisdom his father deigned to offer him and continued to push himself. All in an effort to change that disappointed frown into a look of pride and acceptance.
It was only in the past few years that Sasuke began to put more faith in Itachi's words. The only areas he surpassed Naruto by a large margin were Technology and that was only because the whiskered teen put less effort into that subject than he did with History or Math; areas that Sasuke had previously dominated in the past.
When it came to physical exams, ninjutsu, or taijutsu, Naruto was able to compete with him and even beat him often. Most of the teachers considered them fairly even with the top spot changing between them each semester. All throughout his years at the Academy, he had diligently followed his father's lessons and put all of his efforts into training and studying, but he still couldn't gain a lead against the blond when it came to subjects that he believed truly mattered.
None of that mattered if he couldn't earn the blond's respect, so he would try to drive his point home now, in this final fight between them so he could gain the recognition he deserved. Maybe then they could come to an understanding and help each other accomplish their goals. Sasuke had tried standing on his own, maybe it was time for him to take Itachi's advice and reach out to someone else, on his own terms.
Naruto rubbed his jaw as he walked back into the ring and made his way back to the starting spot. Sasuke had hit him hard enough that he had a few sparks in his vision, but it wasn't enough to take him out of the fight. As he prepared to enter his sparring stance, he noticed the oddly intense expression on the Uchiha's face. While he had been tuning out the cheers and taunts of the students around them, Naruto was expecting that usual arrogant smirk to be firmly in place on the raven's face. Instead, he saw nothing but determination and focus.
Naruto had never seen anything but condescension or arrogance on the Uchiha's face whenever they fought with each other and had responded in turn with his own disgust and contempt. Now, however, it seemed that Sasuke was finally recognizing him as an equal.
Iruka called for the match to start once more and this time, Naruto got the jump on Sasuke as he charged in with a telegraphed right cross, hoping to create an opening in Sasuke's guard. When Sasuke side stepped the attack and prepared to throw a left hook to Naruto's ribs, he was unprepared for the sudden elbow that caught him across the temple, blurring his vision temporarily.
Naruto jumped on the opening, throwing an overhead left cross to strike the dazed Uchiha across the jaw to try and knock him out. The punch connected, sending Sasuke stumbling back, but he was quicker on the recovery than Naruto expected and the follow up right hook was neatly evaded by Sasuke when he ducked and pivoted with the momentum of the staggering punch, lashing out with a desperate mule kick that landed right in Naruto's solar plexus.
The force of the kick sent Naruto back a few paces and winded him slightly, but the whiskered teen ignored the pain and dashed back in, throwing a series of punches that were hastily deflected by Sasuke as he attempted to get his feet back under him. When Naruto over extended himself on a left hook, Sasuke took the opportunity to lash out with another thrust kick to his midsection, pushing the blond back into range for a spinning hook kick which was aimed for Naruto's jaw. Sasuke quickly followed up with a front snap kick to try and keep his opponent at a distance.
Naruto managed to duck the spinning hook kick aimed for his head before he rolled to the side to avoid the snap kick. Leaping back up to his feet quickly, Naruto set his stance once more and the two teens stared each other down for a few seconds before charging each other once more. They exchanged another flurry of punches and kicks, trying to find another opening to exploit but with time winding down both of the fighters were being overly cautious to prevent each other from gaining an advantage.
With less than 30 seconds remaining in the fight, both young men charged in for one last exchange. Sasuke leading with a right jab, which Naruto slapped to the side as he stepped outside of the attack and drove a left cross into Sasuke's face. Right as his head was rocked back by the powerful cross, Sasuke had slightly pivoted and trapped Naruto's arms between his. The force of Naruto's punch combined with Sasuke pulling on his trapped arm drew Naruto forward into Sasuke's retaliating elbow, snapping the blond's head back slightly. The only reason that Naruto didn't stagger further back from the devastating attack was due to the fact that Sasuke failed to release his trapped arm fast enough.
Before Sasuke released Naruto's arm to throw a right cross with his full power behind the attack, Naruto used his trapped appendage as leverage to put his full weight behind a right hook aimed for Sasuke's jaw. Sasuke's cross landed squarely on Naruto's left eye a fraction of a second before Naruto's hook landed, forcing a solid shot to the jaw to drift off target impacting on the Uchiha's nose and eye instead.
Naruto and Sasuke were both staggered (and possibly concussed) from the simultaneous blows, and their faces were beginning to swell from the powerful exchanges that had taken place during the "spar". If they hadn't remained calm and determined, Iruka would have disqualified them early on, but since the typical smirks, taunts, and scowls were missing the instructor considered both of the teens fully in control of their emotions and decided not to penalize them for using just a bit more force than expected from a spar.
The teens attempted to right themselves for another charge, but the timer rang out signaling the end of their match. Panting from exertion and feeling the onset of swelling and bruises forming from their battle, the fighters studied each other as if trying to determine who was in worse shape than the other and neither of the two could find themselves at an advantage over the other. The cheers and boos from the rest of the crowd went ignored between the duo and instead of the usual taunting smirks or glares of contempt, the raven, and the blond merely exchanged respectful nods before exiting the ring.
A silent understanding formed between the two and the foundation for a bond was laid. Even if they would never become the best of friends or close confidantes, both boys would respect each other for what they were capable of, not what others believed they were or expected them to be.