Chapter 6: Team 7 pt. 1
The next day, the villagers can be heard whispering amonst themselves as they watched Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto walk down the street towards the academy. The reason being that their worse fears had now come true.
The hiate tied around the forehead of the 'Demon Brat' indicated that he was now an official shinobi of Konohagakure.
"They actually allowed that THING to pass the Genin Exams?"
"It was a mistake to let him enter the academy in the first place."
"It's preposterous that he'll be one of those we'll be relying on to protect us."
"The way he has corrupted Uchiha Sama & the Haruno's only daughter is unacceptable."
Naruto sighed in resignation. Here he was again, listening to the same, tired old lines against him. But after last night's revelation, he couldn't blame them for it. It explained a lot about the hatred which the villagers had for him.
But at least now, he didn't have to deal with it alone like before. The proof was the reassuring hands placed on his shoulders which belonged to his two friends.
"Don't you listen to what they say dobe. Those idiots don't know any better." Sasuke said, not looking at the villagers.
"They may see you as something else but we know you better." Sakura stated. "You're our friend Naruto and that won't change no matter what anybody thinks or says."
"Thanks guys." Naruto said with a grateful smile. "You don't know how much your understanding means to me."
"We're the ONLY ones who understand you dobe." Sasuke said with a mischievous smile.
"What was that Teme?!" Naruto asks with a good-natured scowl as he took a playful swipe at his dark haired friend.
Sakura chuckles as she watches two of her closest friends chase one another while trading good natured barbs and insults. Sasuke and Naruto quarreled often with each other but that's just the way siblings were. And the three of them were closer then any siblings could be.
She just wished other people saw Naruto in the same light as she and Sasuke did. But judging from the way they were glaring at her blonde friend, That probably won't happen anytime soon.
The three new genins arrived at the academy where they recieved more glares from some of the parents who were bringing their kids to school. They ignore the looks they were getting and proceeds to their classroom where they were to recieve their team assignments and were greeted by their friends.
"Naruto! Not that I'm not glad to see you're doing ok or anything but what are you doing here?" Kiba greeted. "Didn't you flunk the exams?"
"Troublesome guy." Shikamaru mutters. "Look at his forehead genius. He's got a hiate now so that means he's a genin just like us now."
"Hey, you're right." Kiba said after giving Naruto another look. "When did you get it?"
"I aced Iruka Sensei's makeup exam last night." Naruto stated with a wide grin. "It seemed like Mizuki Sensei made some sorta mistake with the first one so I was given another chance."
"Speaking of Mizuki Sensei, I haven't seen him all morning here." Chouji said. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura just glances knowingly at each other.
"Ahh, who cares about him." Ino stated. "Just don't let the fact that you're now a genin get to your head Naruto."
"Don't worry about the dobe. Whoever gets assigned with him can keep him in line." Sasuke said.
"That's not exactly a reassuring thought." Sakura mutters knowing how hyperactive the blonde jinchuuriki can get.
"C-Congratulations Naruto Kun." Hinata managed stammer out. "I'm glad things went well for you."
"I'm just glad I could graduate together with you guys." Naruto stated, scratching the back of his head in embarassment.
"Do not sell yourself short Naruto." Shino said to him. "Where you are now is simply the result of your own hard work. That is the only logical way you could have passed the Genin exams."
The group then spent the next few minutes discussing the possible team lineups before Iruka came in looking none the worse for wear from last night's ordeal.
"Good morning class. First of I'd like to congratulate all of you for becoming genins which is your first steps in your lives as shinobis." Iruka said looking over the class before his gaze settles momentarily on Naruto whom he gives a smile before continuing. "Of course, I feel that as your instructor for the past four years, it is still my duty to remind you of your responsibilities as shinobis of Konoha."
Iruka's expression then turns serious, prompting the students to sit up a little straighter and pay a little more attention since it seemed like what Iruka's next words are important.
"You are, of course, now duty bound to serve Konoha faithfully for the rest of your days or in some cases, die on her behalf." Iruka stated, looking each and every student in the eyes as he allowed this fact to sink in before continuing.
"But your main reason should NOT be your sense of duty towards your village but rather your love for those who lives in it." Upon seeing the confused faces in his student's faces, he explained further. "The families whom you love, the friendships you have established, the bonds which you have made & all your memories of the good & the bad in Konoha. If these were the driving force in your lives as shinobis of Konoha, it makes the responsibilities easier to bear because you know that you are protecting everything that makes Konoha your home and everyone in it whom you hold very dear to your heart."
"Yes the life of a shinobi is a very difficult one indeed, but if you remember what I've told you today, then it will also be one of the most fulfilling things you've ever done despite all the adversities. And with that out of the way, I'd like to say that I am very proud of each and every one of you. You have worked hard to get to where you are so prove to everyone that you also possess the Will Of Fire which made our village so great." Iruka finishes. He then took out his clipboard to announce the team assignments. "Now then, if there are no more questions, I'll now announce the team assignments."
Iruka goes through Team One to Six without incident. Looking at the next team in his list however, makes him smile. A smile the students knew & recognized could mean trouble for some of them. "Team Seven will be Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto."
"All right!!" Naruto cheered, exchanging high fives with Sasuke who had a smirk in his face and thankful he ended up with his two closest friends. Sakura had a reserved smile but her inner self was jumping and cheering. "Take that Ino Pig!! True love conquers all!! Shannaro!!" Her Inner Persona said as she turns to a fuming Ino and flashes her a victory sign.
Iruka allows the new Team Seven celebrate for a moment before dropping the bombshell. "Your Jounin instructor will be Hatake Kakashi." This announcement prompts Naruto and Sasuke to stop and look at Iruka with wide, unbelieving eyes.
"Did he just say..." Naruto started.
"Hatake Kakashi?!" Sasuke finishes with a scowl.
"You mean "Copy Nin" Kakashi?" Sakura said with a bright smile. "That's great. We get a legendary shinobi as a teacher!" Sakura hears a thump behind her and sees Naruto banging his head on his desk as if trying to wake himself up from a bad dream. Sakura turns to Sasuke and finds that he was scowling more then usual. "What's the matter guys? Aren't you happy we've got an awesome sensei?"
"You don't know him the way we do." Naruto said with a snort.
"Huh?" Sakura blinks in confusion at her new teammate's answer.
"You'll know what we mean when you meet him." Sasuke stated.
Iruka chuckles as he watched the blonde and the brunette rant and rave to their pink-haired friend. He, of course knew of Hatake Kakashi's infamous reputation of being a chronic latecomer, a lazy and seemingly unmotivated individual as well as a reader of a certain series of perverted books which earned him the ire of many kunoichis despite him being one of the best shinobis in the village. Iruka also knew that Naruto and Sasuke has had previous dealings with the infamous Copy Nin so he figured he could get some entertainment from watching the new Team Seven's reaction upon hearing who their instructor was before he continued announcing the team assignments.
"All right and moving right along. Team Eight will be Inuzaka Kiba, Hyuga Hinata and Aburame Shino. Your Jounin Sensei will be Yuuhi Kurenai." Iruka knew that Yuuhi Kurenai was a recently promoted jounin whose skills in genjutsu were almost as good as that of high ranking members of the legendary Yakumo Clan (Naruto filler clan) who specialized in the illusionary arts.
Hinata visibly brightens up as she hears the name of her longtime chunin escort and surrogate elder sister being their sensei. Kiba and Akamaru looked happy because they were posted with two people whom they knew loved the outdoors as much as they dd. Shino's expression was unreadable through his sunglasses and high collar, but those who knew him could tell that he was satisified because he'd be amongst friends in his new team.
"Team Nine is still in rotation from last year. Team Ten will be composed of Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji. Your Jounin Sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma." Iruka raises an eyebrow at this info. He knew Asuma joined the Twelve Guardians of the Fire Temple because of a falling out with his father, the Sandaime Hokage. His posting with one of the teams must mean that they've patched things up.
On their part, Team Ten looked mostly happy with their teamup. Shikamaru was just glad that Chouji is in his team so getting along wouldn't be too troublesome. Chouji was also glad to be teamed up with his long time friend and partner-in-crime, Shikamaru mainly because he was the only one who understood him. Ino however, was stil understandibly upset that she couldn't be on the same team as Sasuke but was nonetheless glad that she was in a team she could work with which basically meant that she could boss Shikamaru and Chouji around with no trouble at all.
"Ok. I guess I've announced everyone's team assignments." Iruka said, putting down his clipboard. "As I've said before, I am very proud of all of you. There has never been a batch of shinobis with so much potential as you all have and I am honored to have been your instructor. I know you will all do very well in your new teams. Good day to everyone." And with that, Iruka leaves the room. The nine friends then huddles together.
"Well I guess this is it for us. Since we're all are gonna be on seperate teams, we probably won't be able to get together like this for a while coz we'll be doing missions and stuff." Naruto said rather somberly
"Aw c'mon. It's not like we won't see each other again." Kiba said. Akamaru yips in agreement from his place inside Kiba's jacket.
"Kiba is correct." Shino stated. "Just because we're on different teams doesn't mean we shouldn't at least stay in touch with each other."
Shino's statement was interrupted by the entrance of a raven haired kunoichi wearing an outfit which basically looked like a bunch of bandages wrapped around her body. But her most startling features were her ruby red eyes which made many wonder if she was somehow related to the Uchihas.
"Team Eight please come with me." The red eyed jounin known as Yuuhi Kurenai calls out.
Naruto turns to the lone female member of Team Eight and smiles. "Well there's your teacher Hinata. You guys take care of yourselves, ok?"
Hinata reddens at Naruto's show of concern but manages to keep her composure. Even after almost three years of friendship, she still couldn't get rid of her habit of stuttering or being nervous around the blonde. But at least she didn't faint anymore. "P-Please don't worry Naruto-Kun. I personally know Kurenai Sensei and I know she'll treat us well."
"We'll see you guys around, ok?" Kiba said with a wave as he and Shino follows Kurenai who glances at Naruto and smiles reassuringly before leaving the room. After a few more moments talking to Naruto, Hinata says goodbye and follows her new teammates and jounin sensei out the door.
The remaining friends continued chatting amongst themselves for a while longer before another jounin enters the room. This one was large, bearded man with a cigarette in his mouth who wore a standard jounin uniform with a scarf with the kanji for "Fire" sticking out from the bottom of his vest. Naruto recognized the man immediately.
"Hey Asuma San!" Naruto greeted with a cheerful wave as the jounin walks over and ruffles the blonde's hair affectionately. The chainsmoking son of the Sandaime had been one of the shinobis who regularly watched over Naruto before his stint as a Temple Guardian.
"Long time no see squirt. I'm here to pick up Team 10. You wouldn't happen to know where they are, do you?" Asuma asked.
"That would be these guys right here." Naruto said, jerking a thumb at Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji. "Good luck trying to train them. You're gonna need it." Naruto added with a foxy grin, earning him a growl from Ino and a muttered 'troublesome' from Shikamaru.
Asuma chuckles at this. "I'll keep that in mind. And since you three are the only other students left, I assume you guys are teamed together?" The jounin asked, getting confirming nods from Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. "Good choice. I know you guys work well together. So who's the lucky sensei?"
Both Naruto and Sasuke scowled and said the name at the same time. "Hatake Kakashi."
Asuma winced inwardly. Although he knew the white haired jounin's reputation as a former ANBU commander, he also knew that Kakashi was the only other person who's even more laid back then he is. But more then that, he knew that both Sasuke and Naruto were familiar with Kakashi's apathetic, uncaring demeanor which grated at the boys nerves. Not that he could blame them for that.
"Now now you two. Don't be like that." Asuma admonished gently. "Kakashi's a highly skilled shinobi and a former ANBU commander so he'll be good for your team. He's just a little... Unmotivated at times so it'll be up to you to give him that little extra push."
"Oh we'll give him a push him all right." Naruto mutters almost to himself.
"We'll push him straight off the edge." Sasuke supplies darkly.
Asuma almost felt sorry for the Copy Nin if he wasn't so damned envious of him in the first place. Out of all the students from this year's impressive batch, Kakashi's team had the most untapped potential having both the Rookie Of the Year in Uchiha Sasuke and the alleged 'dead-last' in Uzumaki Naruto whom Asuma knew was so much better then his grades suggested. The only reason why Naruto was even considered as his batch's dead last was because he had failed the initial genin exam.
But apparently his dad had used that to his advantage and as an excuse to team the long-time friends together as per academy tradition of putting the Rookie Of The Year and the Dead Last in one team. And it was just pure coincidence that their close friend Haruno Sakura was also placed as the third member of their team. Or was it? Asuma suspected that his dad had purposely put these three together to spite the council members who wanted to break their long-time friendship.
In any case, he can't complain too much since he didn't fare to badly in the team he was assigned. Like their parents, the next generation of the Ino-Shika-Chou trio seemed familiar enough with each other that they wouldn't have any problems with each other.
"Well anyways, I gotta take my team now. You guys just hang loose ok?" Asuma said, nodding at the new Team Ten.
"We gotta go now." Ino said to Sakura. "It'll be up to you to keep Naruto in line... And Sasuke safe till I come back for him, ok Billboard Head?"
"Hah! You wish, Ino Pig." Sakura said with a smirk then gives her best friend a heartfelt hug. "Don't worry, I'll take care of them. You guys take care of yourselves too."
Ino returns the hug, their rivalry momentarily forgotten. "Same goes for you guys, ok?"
Shikamaru glances at the two girls with a faint smile as he and Chouji turns to Naruto and Sasuke. "I'd wish you two good luck but I know that there's probably no need for me to do so."
"Now there's a change." Sasuke said with a snort. "For once, you didn't say troublesome like you usually do."
"That's because it's NOT troublesome to wish your friends well." Chouji replied as he munched on his chips.
"We've got this one covered so we'll be fine." Naruto stated. "You guys watch yourselves out there too, you hear?"
"Can do." Shikamaru said as he and Chouji walks away with Asuma and Ino. "Later."
Team Seven watches as Team Ten exits the classroom. After which, Sakura sees Sasuke propping up both his feet up the desk and closing his eyes. "Better make yourself comfortable Sakura. Our new sensei could take a while."
Sakura then looks over at Naruto who was near the entrance placing the blackboard eraser on top of the slightly open classroom door. "What are you doing, Naruto?"
"Pranking Kakashi Sensei, what else." came the blonde's matter-of-fact reply as he checked his handiwork and nods to himself in satisfaction. "To get back at him for being late."
"Oh for crying out loud, Naruto. Kakashi Sensei is a jounin. You don't seriously think he'll fall for a lame prank like that, do you?" Sakura said. "Besides, he can't be that bad can he?"
(Two Hours Later...)
"Ok, so maybe I was wrong about him." Sakura mutters to herself darkly, tapping her desk impatiently as her team continued waiting for their new Sensei to arrive. Her Inner Persona on the other hand, was tearing her hair out by it's roots in sheer frustration. "WHERE THE BLEEPING HELL IS OUR BLEEPING SENSEI?! HOW MUCH LONGER IS THAT BLEEPING MOTHER-BLEEPER GONNA MAKE US WAIT?! SHANNARO!!"
"We told 'ya." Naruto said smugly as he sat relaxing in his chair. Sasuke said nothing as he was also relaxing on his own chair with his eyes closed. He cracks one eye open as he said. "He's here."
True enough, the classroom door opens as a head with gravity defying white hair and a mask peeks in. But as the man starts to speak, the blackboard eraser on top of the door falls on his head as planned.
"Yatta! I told you he'd fall for it." Naruto said to Sakura with his foxy grin and exchanging hi fives with Sasuke.
"W-What the hell are you doing Baka!!" Sakura said as she drove her knuckles up Naruto's skull then turns to the white haired man who was brushing off the chalk powder from his hair and uniform. "I-I apologize for my teammate's childish behavior. I assume you're our new sensei, Hataki Kakashi?" She said apologetically though her Inner Persona was cheering wildly saying the scarecrow got what he deserved.
"That's right. I'm your new instructor Hatake Kakashi." The identified jonin stated lazily as he looks at Sakura then at Naruto and Sasuke. "And my first impression of you guys is... I don't really like any of you."
"The feeling is mutual I can assure you." Sasuke mutters but a warning look from Kakashi silences him.
"In any case, meet me on the roof in five minutes. We can discuss things further there." Kakashi said as he disappears in a puff of smoke. The three genins looks at each other, shrugs and goes out the classroom to follow their new sensei to the rooftop, wondering what their new lives as shinobis was gonna bring them.
Author's Notes: Here's my new chappie guys. Enjoy :)