Son of the White Fang
by Lord Dragon Claw
Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi is the creator of Ranma 1/2 and Masashi Kishimoto is the creator of Naruto.
Corollary: Basic/general knowledge of Ranma 1/2 might be necessary to understand this fic; however, I will try to explain things to the best of my ability.
Chapter One: Genin
Hatake Kakashi's new alarm clock quickly found itself assassinated with one of the kunai he kept under his pillow. He then got up and stretched his muscles. He then got ready for his day, leaving his small apartment only a half-hour after he had awakened. He walked at a leisurely pace, creating a single kagebunshin (shadow clone) and sending it to the Memorial Stone to pay his respects to Uchiha Obito and Rin; his best friends would understand.
This morning, he really needed to vent some frustration - frustration born from some of the dreams he had since Obito died. It wasn't about his friend - it was about a young taijutsu specialist who was sometimes a boy and sometimes a girl and had everyone out to get him/her, including fiancees and rivals. The worst part of it was... they were from the teenager's perspective, rather than from a third-person view.
Truly, the dreams were useful as he developed most of his secret jutsu from those dreams using only the physical half of chakra (ki), but they were often sad. The boy/girl, despite living in a country at peace, kept on getting attacked. He/she was totally clueless when it came to relationships. And the worst dream... fighting a phoenix to the death, and both of them dying from the battle.
Sighing, he went to one of the more secluded training grounds for his morning workout with one of his few living friends...
"YOSH! MY HIP RIVAL! ARE YOU READY TO TAKE ON A TEAM THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW! WILL YOU IMPART THEM WITH YOUR -"
"Guy-san! Shut up. It's too early for your nonsense."
"Oh. Always with the hip attitude and -"
"Look, I want to get some aggression out."
"... Did you have one of the dreams again?"
"Yeah, but it wasn't about my teammates this time."
"Ah. The one about that pigtailed boy again. Okay, we'll begin."
Kakashi always enjoyed his morning spars with Might Guy (at least, when both of them were in the village). Guy was one of the few who knew that the "lazy cyclops" was actually a taijutsu genius and a hard worker, with quite a bit of talent in the area of ninjutsu. Guy was trying out a variation of the Goken (Strong Fist) which reminded Kakashi of Muay Thai. Kakashi was practicing the Keysi fighting method, in which instinct played a large part and mixed it with the style he saw the boy/girl in his dreams use, Musabetsu Kakutou (Indiscriminate Grappling a.k.a. Anything Goes). After a few hours, Kakashi's shadow clone shunshin'd (body flickered) into the area and dispelled. Guy and Kakashi separated after that, as Guy had a team to teach and Kakashi needed to get to the meeting about the new Genin-hopefuls.
Kakashi pulled out the newest edition of his favorite book series and began reading. Sure, the mindless sex scenes were great, but his favorite parts were the plot and the fact that the author had hidden various puzzles therein.
Kakashi knew that the Hokage would be mad at him if he was too late to the meeting, so he arrived only five minutes late rather than the customary hour-and-a-half. He took a spot near one of the windows, his left hand holding his omnipresent orange book while his right hand remained free to attack anyone who decided to use the window as an entry point to attack the Hokage. None were foolish enough to try, but the silver-haired Jounin's time in the ANBU made him a little paranoid about these things.
"Kakashi, I'm surprised," began Sarutobi Asuma, the elder of the Hokage's two sons who had taken up a spot on the other side of Kakashi's window. "You're only barely late today."
"Your father made it clear to me, in no uncertain terms, what would happen if I made him wait too long."
"Okay people! End the chit-chat!" voiced one of the Hokage's Chuunin aides from the Akimichi Clan.
"Thank you, Daichi-san," began the wizened old Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. "As you all know, the end of the current Academy term is nearing, and the heirs to a number of clans are graduating, assuming that they pass the test tomorrow. Posted on the wall behind me are the names of all the Genin-hopefuls in Umino Iruka's and Mizuki's graduating class; as you can see, there are sixty children who may soon become adults - ninja. I will allow each of you two requests on who you want to try and train, assuming that they pass both tests - a first choice and a second choice."
Asuma requested Nara Shikamaru, the heir to the Nara Clan, for he wanted someone to teach strategy to. Barring that, he wanted to train the heir to the Aburame Clan, one Shino.
Yuuhi Kurenai, a new Jounin whom everyone suspected was Asuma's "secret" girlfriend, requested Hyuuga Hinata, the heiress-apparent to the Hyuuga Clan, to nobody's surprise. Her second choice was Haruno Sakura, daughter of a pair of farmers, who probably would be excellent in genjutsu.
The other Jounin voiced their picks, Uchiha Sasuke, the last member of the tragic Uchiha Clan, being one of the more popular requests. Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his visible eye at that.
"Hatake-san, I have yet to hear your requests," stated the Hokage.
"Sorry, Hokage-sama; I was reading page three-hundred ninety one." The silver-haired shinobi smirked a bit when the Hokage had to wipe a bit of blood out from under his nose. Most of the kunoichi in the room glared at the both of them, while a couple of the shinobi in the room who read the books giggled softly and perversely. Kakashi ignored them.
"So, what are your picks?"
"First off, Uzumaki Naruto."
Some murmuring happened in the room. While none present hated the boy, he still wasn't popular and most had been pranked multiple times by the Jinchuuriki.
"Explain," requested the Sandaime.
"Well, he'd be fun to teach. Very unpredictable, and due to... circumstances, he'll have enough chakra to throw jutsu around like candy at a parade. Plus, due to his connection with the Yondaime through his seal, I think I'll have the best methods of motivating him for I watched my sensei train Rin, who had a great deal of chakra to throw around as well."
"Very well. I'll try to make that happen. And your second choice?"
"Inuzuka Kiba. I'll be able to pass along my tracking skills and possibly my Summoning Contract."
"Glad to hear it. All of you have the rest of the day off and I want you all to spend it wisely. Dismissed."
Kakashi spent the rest of the day reading various books - and not just the orange ones either! He had two Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clones) helping him read up on psychology and team dynamics, while he read up on ancient taijutsu styles and another shadow clone was reading the orange book.
Kakashi loved the Kage Bunshin for this purpose. Sure, it was a solid clone and could attack and use jutsu, but it split his chakra evenly amongst all the clones and himself. Though it took one hit to dispel it, the memories of the clone were transferred to the original. Great for spying, chakra training, and reading.
The day after found Kakashi hiding near the Ninja Academy, peering through a small spyglass to watch the Genin Exams. Uchiha Sasuke passed with no problems. Haruno Sakura was a little weak on the practical, but strong in chakra control and the knowledge-based portion. Nara Shikamaru did moderately well on both parts with Akimichi Chouji doing only a little better. Yamanaka Ino did fairly well, though Hyuuga Hinata surpassed her and nearly tied with Sakura. Aburame Shino came in second to Sasuke, doing rather well on the practical and chakra tests but acing the written portion. Just behind him was Inuzuka Kiba who had a higher practical score but an average written score. A number of other students had passed, bringing the grand total up to thirty two. Then, it was time for Uzumaki Naruto's turn...
Written, he didn't seem to do too well. Kakashi was fairly confused, because the boy HAD indeed been studying the books that the silver-haired Jounin had covertly lent him. Feeling something was wrong, he uncovered his Sharingan (Mirror Wheel Eye) and saw a subtle genjutsu had been placed over Naruto's test paper, temporarily changing the questions. Kakashi frowned.
Looks like Hokage-sama needs to review the Chuunin instructors at the Academy...
On the practical, Naruto did fairly well, though his form was positively sloppy... seems some of them had been teaching him wrong, if Mizuki's smirk was any indication. On the bright side, Umino Iruka looked like he was going to have an aneurysm due to the damage that some of Naruto's teachers had done to him. Well, assuming Kakashi was able to teach the boy, he'd have his work cut out for him.
On chakra control and jutsu... well, he kind of failed control but barely passed due to how much chakra he actually had. The leaf they had him stick to his forehead practically incinerated! Jutsu... Kawarimi (Body Replacement) was a little slow but still passed. Henge (Transformation) Kakashi had thought he might fail on, due to how much chakra he could see the boy pour into it with his Sharingan. But he passed. Wait... Henge was a genjutsu! Kakashi should still be able to see Naruto's real body inside the chakra construct that Henge was supposed to be... But, he couldn't see it... Realization hit him like Guy doing a Dynamic Entry to his head.
He actually transformed! He developed a variation of the jutsu allowing him to actually change forms! And that was despite, or perhaps because of, the way he was mistaught!
Kakashi was positively giddy with excitement. Naruto was a genius! Possibly a savant, if his attitude was not a mask of some sort. But what happened next made Kakashi frown. The boy tried to make a Bunshin (Clone), a genjutsu used to distract opponents by making it appear as if there were multiple copies of him, but he overloaded it with chakra, making it look sickly.
Kakashi sighed as Iruka regretfully told Naruto that he had failed. Again.
Covering up his Sharingan and putting his spyglass away, the Jounin laid back and watched the wind blow through the trees in the small copse near the Academy. He sighed as he thought about what to do.
Later that night, using one of the stealth moves developed from one of his dreams about the boy/girl with the pigtail called the Umisenken: Goshin Dai Ryuusei Fu (Ocean of One-Thousand Fists: Self-Protection - Great Shooting Star Cloth) to hide his presence and chakra to check on Naruto as he had seen Mizuki talk with the boy.
He followed the boy to the Hokage Tower, curious as to why he'd be trying to sneak in. As he watched, the boy's stealth techniques were ingenious! No wonder the boy pranked the ANBU Headquarters on a regular basis - he did it to practice his skills!
Kakashi watched as Naruto managed to slip the Kinjutsu Scroll (Forbidden Jutsu) off of it's rack and place a couple of weights on it to keep the pressure sensors from going off. The boy obviously had some talent in infiltration and spying. The Jounin nearly lost his concentration trying to keep from laughing when the blonde used his advanced Henge to turn into a nude woman to make the Hokage pass out from perversion.
Kakashi followed the blonde to a small shack in Training Area 42 where the boy began thinking out loud about "how cool it's going to be to learn a jutsu" from the scroll and use it to pass the Genin Exam. He mumbled something about a make-up test... Hmmm... Well, the boy had been lied to by Mizuki, apparently.
Kakashi watched as the boy complained about how the first jutsu was a variation of the Bunshin. The Jounin rolled his eye, but stayed alert as the blonde tried to learn it. As he watched, Naruto did some of the hand seals backwards... indicating that the boy might be dyslexic. Not a problem though. He'll just learn that he did it the wrong way. Still, Kakashi uncovered his Sharingan to watch the chakra flow and see if he was doing that wrong too.
Annoyed that the jutsu wasn't working, Naruto simply made the final seal, backwards, and yelled Kage Bunshin at the top of his lungs...
Kakashi was flabbergasted. Not only did the jutsu work, but he made fifty clones in one shot! And they were the real clones, too!
Exhausted and happy, Naruto dispelled his clones. The Jounin's eyes widened as he saw most of the chakra from the clones return to the original... The Kage Bunshin didn't do that! Once the clones dispelled, the chakra was gone! Realization hit him again...
He's a genius at jutsu creation and modification! ... well, that, or it was a total fluke.
Just as Naruto was about to open the scroll again to look up another jutsu, Iruka shunshin'd into the clearing.
"Na-Ru-TO!" he growled.
"GAH! Iruka-sensei! I found you!" smiled the blonde after his initial surprise.
"Huh? No you idiot! I found you! What are you doing out here!"
"I'm training! This is for the make-up test, though I was only able to learn one jutsu from the scroll... does that mean I pass?"
Iruka blinked. "What make-up test?"
"Mizuki-sensei said that there was a make-up test that-"
Iruka shoved Naruto out of the way of a barrage of kunai and shuriken, looking like a pincushion for his efforts.
"IRUKA-SENSEI!"
Mizuki's laugh permeated the area as Naruto clutched the scroll for comfort.
Kakashi's anger grew as Mizuki claimed that Naruto was the Kyuubi, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox that had attacked Konoha the day Naruto was born. Mizuki then threw one of his overly-large shuriken at Naruto, who was too shaken up to dodge. Kakashi was about to leap into the fray when Iruka blocked the projectile with his body. Kakashi realized that it had just missed his spine and kidneys, imbedding itself into his digestional tract from behind. Kakashi's anger peaked as Mizuki removed his other shuriken from his back to attack the both of them with, and that's when the Copy Ninja made his move.
Iruka had resigned himself to death while Naruto refused to leave his teacher, who was more of an older brother, behind. Both were surprised to see Mizuki impaled on a kunai held by another man with silver hair.
Mizuki coughed up a little blood while Kakashi spoke.
"Chuunin Mizuki. For the crimes of tricking an innocent child into stealing a valuable heirloom, premeditated murder, assault on a fellow Konoha ninja, and speaking of this village's greatest S-Class secret, even if you got the facts wrong, your sentence is death, to be carried out immediately."
A second kunai found itself lodged into the back of Mizuki's neck, severing the spine and killing him instantly. Dropping the body to the ground, Kakashi turned an appraised Iruka, before removing the giant shuriken and putting some field gauze (taken from one of the storage scrolls in one of the vest pockets on Kakashi's person) on the wound.
"Uzumaki, I need you to hold this bandage in place while I remove the kunai and shuriken from Chuunin Umino."
"H-hai," replied Naruto, nervous about this strange ninja.
"Thanks, Naruto, Hatake-san."
Kakashi saw that Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit, letting the man know that the boy was filing the information away for later use or study.
Once Iruka was properly bandaged, Kakashi suggested going to the hospital to get the medics to work on him properly. Iruka agreed, but not before giving Naruto his hitai-ate (forehead protector) after he told the boy that he wasn't the fox, merely it's container.
When Iruka was safely checked-in, Kakashi and Naruto walked the rest of the way to the Hokage Tower, the alarm no longer running. Apparently, the Hokage had found Naruto with his crystal ball and had watched the proceedings. Kakashi was brought out of his musings by Naruto suddenly breaking the silence.
"H-Hatake... Is it true that I have the fox in me?"
"And why didn't you believe Iruka when he told you?"
"It... it is just too much. It makes sense, especially with how people treat me, but it makes too much sense. The idea is horrifying..."
"Uzumaki, stop. Before you go any further down that train of thought, let me ask you something."
The blonde nodded.
"You know that the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, was a genius when it came to seals, right?"
"Uh-huh."
"He developed your seal so that the fox would be trapped within, unable to influence you or escape in any way unless you let it out. The Yondaime knew your late parents, and believed that you would be a lot like them, and trusted that you could and would contain the Kyuubi while the seal slowly sapped it of its strength and gave it to you. This way, the Kyuubi would never be able to attack anyone ever again."
Naruto stared at the Jounin with hope in his eyes.
"Now come along, Uzumaki. We'll report to the Hokage and you can go to bed, as your final class at the Academy starts early tomorrow."
Naruto grinned, truly happy and very ecstatic about the fact that he had actually passed, despite everything!
The Hokage sighed as he tried to fix the Genin Team Placements. When Naruto passed, that actually evened everything out, so he had to cancel the placement for a random Chuunin to be on the same team as Uchiha Sasuke, to better protect the boy.
Let's see, a number of the Jounins would be able to get their first picks, specifically Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi. Now to balance things out... Hmmm...
Well, though the Council wanted Sasuke to be trained by Kakashi, the Uchiha's last psych evaluation wasn't too good. Having such an instructor would make things difficult as the boy would probably demand that he, and only he, get trained. Better put him on Team Kurenai with Hinata. Since he was breaking tradition, he went and put Sakura on Team Asuma, along with Shikamaru and Chouji; while making the team less about capture and containment, it made the team a bit more versatile. Besides, the girl could get some mentoring on the side from Kurenai. That left him with three more Genin to throw around.
Well, better put Yamanaka Ino on Team Kakashi, so that the genders remained fairly balanced. Adding Kiba to Team Kurenai would cause said team to be taijutsu-heavy, but capable of spying, tracking, and fire support. That left Aburame Shino with Team Kakashi, making his team fairly well-balanced with tracking, interrogation, front-line support, and infiltration.
Yes. Yes. That would do nicely.
The next day found Kakashi sitting in an empty classroom adjacent to Iruka's classroom, finishing the latest edition of the orange-covered Icha Icha series: Icha Icha Paradise. He was also listening to Ino and Naruto complain about one thing or another while they tried to get Shino to join in their conversation.
Once he was finished, making himself two-hours late, just to mess with his new team, he exited the room and went next door.
He knew it was coming, but he didn't care. He simply blinked when the chalkboard eraser landed on his head after he opened the door. He removed it and looked at the three Genin who looked shocked. Two of them were surprised that their sensei would let himself fall for a prank and Naruto because he recognized the teacher.
"You-! I knew it was you when they said who the instructor was!"
"Hmm... Well, my first impression... two of you are idiots. The Aburame is only slightly better. Meet on the roof in five minutes."
With that, Kakashi shunshin'd to the roof.
"Well, I think we should get to know each other better first. Introductions please."
"Sensei," began Ino. "Why don't you go first so you can show us how it is done?"
"Fine. I am Jounin Hatake Kakashi. I like to read... I hate traitors. My hobbies? Meh. I'll maybe tell you later. Dreams for the future or ambitions... well, I have none at the moment."
Kakashi smirked as the two blondes on his team growled in frustration as he had told them only two things about himself.
"Okay. Purple-skirt, you're up."
Ino scowled a bit at the nickname, but she responded immediately.
"My name is Yamanaka Ino. I like working at my mom's floral shop, Sasuke-kun, and romance novels. I hate Billboard-Head Sakura, lazy people, and fatty foods. My dream is to marry Sasuke-kun and have lots of kids."
Oh Kami-sama! I got stuck with a fangirl! Well, at least she's not totally helpless. Maybe some tutoring with Anko will do her some good... Kakashi inwardly smirked at the thought.
"Bugman, you're up."
Shino didn't indicate whether he cared one way or the other about his nickname.
"I am Aburame Shino. I enjoy insects and collecting new specimens. I also enjoy training. I dislike the cold, irrational behavior, and frogs and birds. My ambition is to bring my clan to new heights and perhaps convince the citizens of Konoha to stop scorning my clan."
He'll probably be the smartest of the three. Plus, he'll likely get along with Naruto, or at least Naruto will be able to identify with him a bit.
"Uzumaki. Your turn."
Ino glared at Kakashi for not giving Naruto a nickname. Kakashi smirked.
"I am Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, Sakura-chan, and training! I dislike traitors and waiting for instant-cup ramen to cook!"
"Naruto!" exclaimed Ino, exasperated. "It only takes two or three minutes!"
"That's too long! It should be 'instant' like the label says! Stupid false advertising..."
Kakashi cleared his throat. Naruto had the dignity to look ashamed.
"My dream is to become Hokage to force people to acknowledge my existence."
The Jounin found the dream amusing, but if anyone could do it, it would be Naruto.
"Okay. Well, that does it for today. Tomorrow, we'll have your actual test."
"Wait," began Ino. "Didn't we just take a test! We're Genin now!"
"Not if I say you aren't. You may have passed the Academy test, but you haven't passed my test. Fail, and you'll get sent back to the Academy. Succeed, and I'll recognize you three as members of my team. You'll meet tomorrow at four in the morning at Training Area 33. And don't eat breakfast - you'll just throw it back up."
With that, Kakashi shunshin'd to a different building and used his spyglass to see what his students would do.
Ino left immediately, presumably to chase after Sasuke for a bit.
Naruto extended his hand to Shino.
"What, Uzumaki-san?"
"Well, the civilians hate me too, just like they hate your clan. I thought that maybe we could be friends?"
Shino raised his eyebrow, but he grasped the hand firmly and shook it.
"I'm not sure if you would enjoy it, but would you like to come to my home? We could train, and perhaps plan for tomorrow's test."
"You really think I can?"
Shino nodded, causing Naruto to leap into the air in excitement and Kakashi to smirk. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.
End Chapter One.
Next Chapter: Bell test. What did you think came next?
Author's Notes
I am simply too busy to work on this. Rather than see it die, I'd like to see someone work with this. Hence the Brain Dump.