Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto series. It does make a darn good sandbox, though!
Author's Note at the end of the chapter.
Ninko, Chapter 7: Of Futures Lost
"I have another favor for you, Hiruzen-kun..."
Errant sunbeams alighted upon his closed eyes, and despite himself, Naruto groaned.
The blond-haired boy pulled his pillow over his face, attempting to stave off the waking world for as long as possible. "It can't be morning yet..." the boy mumbled into his pillow.
It came as little surprise to the boy when he received nary a response.
His plot to revolt against the coming day was undone when his alarm clock began its infernal squawking. Pulling the pillow off his face, Naruto glared at the inanimate agent of discord as though it were a mortal foe. "Traitor," the boy mumbled under his breath, "I give you a place to rest and outlet for power, and yet you wage war upon my sleep!"
Naturally, his tactless foe simply continued making an infernal racket, until the blond-haired child yanked the chord out of the outlet with a feeling of grim satisfaction.
"If your done conversing with your alarm clock," a voice intoned, "you really should get to the academy, you don't want to be late for your most important day as an academy student, do you?"
Turning, the blond-haired child regarded his guardian with a look of bemusement. "Your the absolute last person who should be scolding another's tardiness, Cyclops-sensei."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just get ready, Naru-chan," the gray haired shinobi replied listlessly.
Sighing, Naruto acquiesced. Three years had passed since the fateful council meeting, in which Naruto's guardianship had been turned over towards Kakashi, and he began instruction under Bandage-san's friends.
Slipping out of his pajamas, the academy student pulled on his clothes. Glancing forlornly at the orange and blue jumpsuit he'd received on his birthday last month, Naruto pulled a pair of pants similar to that Konoha's standard issue shinobi gear, except a full black in lieu of the standard navy blue. In addition, he wore a black fishnet shirt beneath a dark red shirt, with the former's sleeves ending just above his elbow and the latter's an inch or two higher. The red shirt ended in a slight v-neck, showing the fishnet shirt beneath it.
Pulling the red shirt over himself, he began the task of wrapping his wrists with thick bandages. It was a chore, but it insured a shinobi always had easy access to a tourniquet. After wrapping his wrists, he moved on to his mid-thigh, wrapping the at roughly the location his kunai holster would rest against his leg. Finally, he slid on black leather wrist-guards over the bandages, and finished with putting on some plain black fingerless gloves. Turning towards the mirror he groaned, not a speck of orange to be found. Groaning, he pulled a simple, black, long-sleeved haori that ended just above his knees, with sleeves that extended past his hands. It made him look even younger than his nine years, and he scowled at his whiskered reflection.
Walking out of his room, Naruto moved into the kitchen and was surprised to find a breakfast waiting on the wooden table. A simple meal of eggs, toast and bacon, though even that was a rarity. Settling himself into his seat, Naruto didn't bother to hide the look of confusion that spread over his face. "Back a week early and had time to make breakfast? How'd you manage that, Cyclops-sensei?"
His question was a reasonable one. Sharingan Kakashi was an infamous shinobi, and he spent more time outside of the village than in. His notoriety was such that many wealthy clients selected him by name, even for tasks well below his skills. It was part of the reason the man had yet to gain a genin team: he brought in more money of the village of Konoha than any other single shinobi. An unfortunate consequence was that Naruto virtually lived alone. How the one-eyed jounin avoided burnout could only be explained by his lackadaisical demeanor, chronic tardiness and obsession with publicly reading smut: he took personal time whenever the opportunity presented itself.
"The mission didn't take nearly as long as anticipated. It wasn't a contracted mission this time, it was an assignment by Hokage-sama. I was to lead a team on a patrol near the border of Hi no Kuni and send one of the ANBU in Iwa to rendezvous with a spy. Our man was already waiting for us when we arrived near the border," Kakashi said, simply.
The blond-haired boy frowned, scrutinizing the small patch of skin his sensei and guardian left uncovered. "You're hiding something from me," the boy stated bluntly.
Sighing, Kakashi looked up from his food. 'He's certainly progressing well. If I let my guard down, the boy can read me like a book...' the shinobi thought, proudly. '...I only wish I could be the one to help him grow.'
While Kakashi had a hand in Naruto's development, he simply wasn't present nearly enough to be a constant instructor for the child. As it was, teaching the child a technique of any real difficult would be nearly impossible, as he jounin was often away for week or months at a time. Any advice or guidance would have to wait for short periods between missions: dangerous, when teaching a child so young the arts of a shinobi. Especially once with Naruto's...condition.
It was what necessitated Danzou's intervention in the boy's life. At first, Kakashi had loathed the Hokage's decision to allow the warmongerer to instruct the boy, but he understood that it was necessary. Naruto had grown into a capable child, his skills easily put him on par with genin twice his age and experience. Nevertheless, the decision had more subtle ramifications. With Danzou given the ability to oversee Naruto's training, an uneasy alliance was formed between Danzou and the Sandaime. With the two united behind a single goal, the Council's influence over the village's politics was marginalized. Though it was an underhanded tactic, with the cold war between Iwa and Konoha escalating, swift movement was necessary. It was the only plausible solution short of declaring open war and giving the Hokage complete control over village matters. Of course, such an action would have cataclysmic ramifications, and could spark another shinobi war.
"Yo, Cyclops-sensei! Don't you ignore me you one eyed basta-"
"Oi, calm down Naru-chan. No need to throw a tantrum," Kakashi replied coolly, "if you're going to act your age, perhaps you should be put back into the class with your peers?" Kakashi questioned, subtly steering the conversation away from his previous mission. It was underhanded, but he didn't want to discuss it with the impressionable lad. The reason it was such a simple mission was because the spy had been nailed to a tree with a ninjatou near the border. Iwa's counter-intelligence had stepped up it's game, and it was unlikely the war would remain in the shadows much longer at this rate.
"Psh, nice try Cyclops-sensei! It's too late for you to make that threat."
"Are you certain about that?"
"...y' know, these are really good eggs."
"Why, thank-you Naru-chan!" Kakashi replied with his signature eye-smile.
Conversation from there mostly consisted of small talk and their normal banter. It was hardly a normal family dynamic. In the orphanage, Naruto had grown into an extremely independent child, with little respect for authority. Kakashi, on the other hand, saw little need to exercise authority unless the situation absolutely demanded it. Dysfunctional though it may be, the blond-haired orphan wouldn't trade it for the world.
"So tell me, Naruto-kun, what did you learn while I was away?" the silver haired shinobi queried calmly, reading his orange-covered smut.
"No a thing!" Naruto said, pouting, his arms crossed over his chest. "Bandage-san said I had the week off. Sighing, Naruto leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially towards his masked guardian, "I think he was mad about that prank on the Council chambers. No one can take a joke in this damn village!"
Kakashi ignored the child's colorful language with practiced ease. What bothered him, however, was the fact that Danzou had freely surrendered what may well be his last opportunity to train the child for months. After today, a great deal would change in Naruto's life.
"Oi, why is it so hot in here?" Naruto mentioned suddenly, and frowning Kakashi agreed. The kitchen did seem to be far hotter than usual. As he saw Naruto rub some sweat off his brow with a napkin, Kakashi drew a labored breath in through his mask. The thin cloth mask had become saturated with sweat over the course of a moment. Lifting his hands up to his mask, be began to pull...before pausing, forming a ram seal and fluctuating his chakra. Instantly, the heat ebbed, and he eye-smiled at his blond-haired ward.
"Nice try, Naruto-kun, but you'll have to do better than that. It's nearly autumn, and it's eigth in the morning. It wouldn't suddenly go over a hundred degrees over the course of a heartbeat."
"Tch, whatever," the boy said, pouting. "I almost had you, though! I'll see what's beneath that mask eventually, Cyclops-yarou!"
Shaking his head, Kakashi tuned out any further bluster, picking up his book from where he'd dropped it on the floor and giggling to himself. 'Jiraya-sama always brings it back to the old reliables, the bath house!'
Still, Kakashi had to admit the his blond-haired ward had a nack for genjutsu. Against a less experienced foe, it was probable that they'd be enough of a distraction to enable an incapacitating blow. Kakashi had never had much of a knack for them as a child, and even after gaining his Sharingan, using the Copy-wheel eye was so chakra intensive it was better to overwhelm his opponent than craft a distracting illusion.
"Well, I'm going to head down to the academy!" Naruto said, waving energetically at him. He picked up the punishing amount of orange in his peripheral vision and sighed. That brat seemed to live to be a walking bulls-eye. After all that time shopping for a new outfit too...
Turning the page, Kakashi frowned. Hadn't he been waring that outfit when he'd arrived at the table. Frowning, he turned his eyes towards his precious Icha Icha before giggling. 'Jiraya-sama always bring it back to the old reliables, the bath house!'
'...wait a minute, didn't I...' Dropping his book to the table with a feeling of genuine fear, Kakashi brought his hands into the ram seal once more before dispelling a second illusion. Before his very eyes his precious Icha Icha transformed into the morning's paper. 'Then that flash of orange was...'
"Damn you, Uzumaki Naruto!"
Walking away from a nearby dumpster empty-handed, a blond-haired academy student cackled.
"Well, well, thank-you for joining us," the class' sensei, a black-haired chuunin in her early twenties, drawled. "Now, take a seat."
"Aheh, will do sensei!"
Quickly, the blond haired boy surveyed the classroom for a seat. To his surprise, nearly every spot was taken, save one. As he made his way to the open seat, he noticed the looks of surprise on the student's faces. All of his classmates were at least three years his senior, to see such a young child show up so late in the year must have taken them by surprise.
Naruto struggled to keep his face reserved, but he grinned despite himself. Finally, Jiji saw what an awesome ninja he was! No more hanging around with kids who couldn't even manage a decent henge. Sitting down in his seat, he glanced over to the girl on his left, a Hyuuga judging by her pupil-less eyes. The Hyuuga's blueish-black hair was tied back into a bun, and she wore vestments he'd frequently seen members of the Hyuuga's branch family wearing. Her hitai-ite was tied around her forehead and the cloth was what kept her hair tied back into a bun. 'Thrifty.'
"Uh, sensei?" a brown haired girl near the front row queried, raising her hand. Naruto noticed her hair was cut shorter than most other girls in the class, ending at shoulder length. She appeared to be wearing a keikogi, black bottoms with a green top.
"Yes, Hiyori-chan?"
"Is that new kid?" the brown haired girl queried, gesturing towards were Naruto had taken a seat. "Isn't he a bit...y'know...scrawny?"
"Oi!" Naruto shouted in response, standing up in his seat and glaring at his 'antagonist'. "Why don't you say that too my face?!"
Looking over her shoulder the brown haired girl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I would, but my back's kinda sore. Don't think I can bend down far enough, shrimp."
The classroom erupted in laughter and Naruto's face turned red as a cherry. Not one to be outdone, he crossed his arms before sticking his nose in the air. "Oh, I didn't know you were so old as to have a bad back. Sorry about that, Baba."
"What did you say, pipsqueak?!"
Rubbing his ear as though it pained him, Naruto faked a wince. "Oi, oi, quiet down there Baba. Are 'ya deaf too?"
Naruto couldn't help but antagonize the girl, it was refreshing to be treated as a kid, instead of as a pariah. It was clear that the majority of these kids didn't didn't have a clue who he was, it was refreshing.
"That's quite enough from the both of you, Uzumaki-kun, Mitokado-chan. If you two want to flirt," the sensei declared, pausing for a moment to watch both of the kid's faces heat up in embarrassment, "you can do it on your own time."
The woman effortlessly hid a smile at the children's mortification. 'That'll teach you little brats to interrupt my class!'
"Anyway, as I was about to say before I was so rudely interrupted," the chuunin stated, glancing at the chastised Uzumaki Naruto, "yes, Mitokado-chan, Naruto is here to fill the open spot in the roster. Since we had twenty-three students pass the exam, he was extended the opportunity to fill in the empty spot, since he was able to pass the exam to become a genin despite being three years your junior."
At that, many of the eyes in the classroom turned towards the blond-haired child, and despite himself he felt his cheeks grow warmer. 'Do they all have to stare at me? It's not like I'm the first to graduate a couple years early.'
"Now, your jounin-senseis will arrive and designate the teams you've all been assigned to. Let me say once more, congratulations. I'm sure you'll do Konoha proud," the chuunin stated with a smile, before scanning the entirety of the room with her hands on her hips. "All of you. Now, do try to make a good first impression, alright? You're ninja, adults in the eyes of the village. It's time to act like it. Now-"
Whatever the chuunin-sensei was about to say was interrupted as classrooms door was flung open, and a woman in her late twenties strode in. She wore a yukata, cut to end just below the knees and colored a rich black. Stylized flames extended from the sleeves and the collar area. A white obi was tied around her waist and a wakizashi was sheath on her left. Black hair flowed down her shoulders and green eyes surveyed the room. "Yo!" the woman shouted, her voice commanding respect and doing fair of job startling the collected academy students. "I'm here for team four: Hyuuga Miyuki, Mitokado Hiyori and Uzumaki Naruto. Meet me at training ground number for; you have five minutes."
A seal and she shunshined away in a whirlwind of swirling, burning leaves.
Silence descended upon the room, before Naruto came to a realization. "Wait, did she say training ground four?"
The blond-haired Naruto glanced at the brown-haired Hiyori the teacher had addressed mere moments ago, and shared a look of disbelief. "That's over a mile away!"
The both stumbled out of their seats, running towards the door as though the hounds of hell were at their heels, while a far more subdued Hyuuga followed in their wake.
"Wow, six minutes and fifty seconds. Pretty darn good for kids like yourselves," their jounin-sensei remarked, giving them a one-woman round of applause. The three children simply glared at their antagonist, greedily sucking in air as they collapsed to a position that could roughly be considered sitting. Minutes passed, and the newly graduated academy students finally stilled their breathing. Smiling at them with an expression far too cheerful, their sensei continued from where she left off. "Now that we're all here, let's begin your final exam."
"Hold on a second," Hiyori interrupted, confusion thick in her tone "we already took our final exam."
"Nuh-uh!" their sensei replied tauntingly. "I still have a chance to get you little brats 'outta my hair!"
"Shouldn't we...y'know, introduce ourselves?" Naruto interjected before Hiyori could rise to their sensei's bait.
"Tch, I don't see much of reason why...you kid's 'll probably be headed back for another year at the academy before the day is done..." Sighing dramatically, their sensei stood. "Fine, fine. I'm Namiashi Akane. Rank: Jounin. Birthday: June 13th. Birthplace: Konohagakure no sato. Favorite Color: Red. Hobby: Breaking the fingers of nosy genin. That good enough for ya?" she queried, crossing her arms and glaring.
"Aheh, yeah, that's perfect," Naruto replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
"Excellent!" Akane replied, a smiling exuberantly.
'She's more flighty than Cyclops-sensei!'
"Alright then, enough stalling. It's testing time!"
"But, uh...sensei-"
"Did you think I was joking about breaking fingers, Uzumaki-kun?"
Waiting for a moment, the jounin nodded. "Mmm, no response? Good. Now, this final exam is bit more practical than the one taken in the academy. Instead of examining your knowledge, I want to see how you apply it. Do well, and you pass. Fail, and you and the majority of your classmates repeat another year. Got it?"
"What exactly does the test entail, Namiashi-sensei?" Hyuuga Miyuki calmly inquired.
"Why, I'm glad you asked Miyuki-chan!" Reaching into the sleeves of her yukata, Akane pulled out a simple palm-sized piece of parchment with a seal inscribed. Channel chakra into it, she pulled out an analog alarm clock and placed it on the ground next to her. "Right now, it's nine in the morning. This alarm is set to ring in two hours. Your task is to survive until this alarm rings. Simple, neh?"
"Holy on, what do you mean survive?! You wouldn't kill us, would you?" Naruto asked, clearly perturbed.
"Oh of course not, Naruto-kun," their sensei said soothingly, swapping from last-name to first-name address as quickly as she swapped emotions. "Well, not intentionally, at least. I always tend to...break...fragile things. Ah well, I'm sure you kids 'll do fine, just stay conscious until the alarm rings! You know what, to be nice, I'll give you a thirty second head start."
"Thirty seconds, hardly enough time to conceal ourselves from a jounin," Miyuki commented.
"Oh, I know. But hiding around for up to two hours wouldn't be much fun, would it?"
"Fair enough," the pale-eyed girl replied simply.
All was silent for a moment, before Naruto piped up once more. "So, uh...when does the thirty seconds start?"
"Oh, hmm...about fifteen seconds ago."
Waving a hand in front of her face to clear the dust, Akane surveyed the spots her genin had just vanished from. "Hmm, I didn't know those brats knew shunshin..."
Update: Fixed the slip up with the names in the academy scene.
Japanese Term List/Jutsu List
Baba: Old Lady
Haori: A article of clothing worn over other layers as though a trench coat, but with obvious differences in appearance and materials.
Yukata: A light, summer kimono.
Keikogi: The vestments worn by martial artists and (I believe) kendo practitioners.
A/N: And there we go, a three-year time skip! I hope the transition wasn't too sudden, but I personally was growing tired of writing from the perspective of a six-year old, which was why Naruto had little screen time in the previous chapters. By the way, I'm adding a poll to my profile page regarding a secondary affinity, I'd like to hear your opinion on the matter. Be warned, just because something gets the highest number of votes doesn't mean I'll chose it, but I'll certainly consider it!
Also, thank-you all very much to those who reviewed last chapter. You brought up many excellent points, and I attempted to address them with this chapter. Just to clear up any confusion:
Karibanu: I understand what you're saying about the Kyuubi seeming a bit too human, and I'm trying to take opportunities to rectify that. I don't want to give to much of a spoiler for the rest of the story, but this is certainly not the first time Kyuubi has taken the form of a human, so he/she'll certainly have practice with human customs, which I hope explains a bit. That said, I do intend to prove the title of 'demon' true. Oh, and I decided to remove a few of the un-needed Japanese words in this chapter, to see how it affects the feeling of the chapters. I'll keep it up for a few more chapters and decided which style I prefer more. Thanks for the suggestion!
Pineapple: Hmm, I see what you mean, now that I think about it. I hope I explained a bit of it this chapter, but even then it seems a bit fishy to me to. At this point, though, it's become too important of a plot point to do away with, so I'll attempt to justify it as time progresses. And to be honest, I'm not sure who I'll have Naruto paired with at this point. Let me tell you that a great deal will occur with this genin team, and I intend to do a few things I've never seen done, but always wanted to see. If you're displeased with a pairing, or you think it doesn't work, feel free to mention it. These characters are going to be developing, and as of now they're extremely young. I don't believe in 'true love' between 12-15 year olds, so nothing is set in stone. And don't worry about me being offended by reviews, I love critique. I'm writing this story so I can grow as a...well...writer. Any advice is much appreciated.
sugoi-chan: Thanks! With these next few chapters, I'm going to be gradually moving out of the land of cliche and into new, (mostly) unexplored wilderness, I hope you enjoy it.
mi5tan: I'll be putting Naruto through hell, believe me. I hope I'll be able to recognize him at the end.
relor: Thanks, I hope to improve the quality even more as things continue forward!
Silent Blade: Last chapter gave me a lot of reviews, and it really is an emboldening thing to read what people think about your work, it really makes it worth it to know that someone enjoys it. I'm updating rather slowly at this point, so I'm going to see if I can pick up the pace. School has just started one again, though, so I can't make any promises.
JNottle: Indeed, the Kyuubi will be influencing Naruto a great deal. In fact, the influence is more or less the entire premise of this story. I still intend to keep the traits that make him who is is: flawed, human. The impulsiveness, recklessness and foolish determination are here to stay, I assure you all. However, he'll be maturing far more quickly, and the world of a shinobi is going to leave scars far earlier than it does in canon.
Lord Myst: Yup! I feel extremely uncomfortable writing from the perspective of a six-year old, because I don't remember a dang thing from when I was that age, and I don't interact with little tikes in the slightest. Now that he has a few more years behind him, and has reached canon age, I feel less ridiculous about making him into a shinobi.
Next time, I'll probably avoid writing so much in response, but I won't lie, I'm rather stoked about the number of reviews I received. Until next time!