A/N: I might not be updating in a while. By the way, it was raining today. I was running and slipped and fell. In public. On a separate note, you don't know how happy I am to receive your reviews. Minato and Sasuke will not kiss because Minato is sensible enough not to get up on the table and stare Sasuke down.
Chapter 5: Team
Minato was dreading going to the academy to receive his team placement, seeing as what happened the night before between himself and his sensei. He dragged himself out of bed and busied himself with morning preparations, trying to take his mind off the imminent meeting. After heading out for school, he took the ground route, meeting some of his friends along the way. He had always felt sad about the fact that his friends were actually befriending someone they didn't know the first thing about and yet they thought they knew everything. Someone who never existed in the first place.
It felt horrible having to hide who he was from the people around him but it was obligatory. Upon reaching the academy, they were greeted by the sight of Ino and Sakura, neck and neck, racing toward the door, before causing it to explode outwards as they rushed in, fighting over who had the honour of sitting next to their crush. Minato took the opportunity of slipping into the seat next to Sasuke in the confusion. "Hey," he greeted. Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement and returned the greeting.
After the exchange of pleasantries, Sakura sat down in the other empty seat next to Sasuke, having won the debate/ battle with her rival/ best friend. He started to make small talk with Sasuke, discussing their would-be team and new sensei when Iruka entered the room and did the usual routine of taking attendance. After calling role, he started rattling off a speech that would bore even an old man to tears. After the incredibly boring speech, he finally got to what they had all been anticipating, team placements.
"Alright. Team 1 is…" he droned on, which Minato tuned out, until he heard 'his' name. "Team 7 will be Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Your Jounin sensei is Hatake Kakashi. Team 8 will be Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Hinata. Your Jounin sensei is Yuhi Kurenai. Team 9 is still in circulation. Team 10 will be Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino. Your Jounin sensei is Sarutobi Asuma. The Rookie of the Year is Sasuke. Congratulations and I wish you luck in all your endeavours. It was a pleasure teaching you all."
With his piece said, he made his way out, but stopped when he passed 'Naruto' and said "I want to speak with you. Meet me outside the classroom." And with that, he left. Minato got up and followed after his sensei, getting questioning glances from his friends. He smiled reassuringly and left out the door, trailing after his sensei. Iruka wordlessly led Minato into the classroom opposite and begun his interrogation.
"What is it you wanted to discuss sensei?" Minato asked nervously.
"What happened last night? I want to know. As your sensei I ask you to tell me." Iruka questioned.
"What are you talking about sensei?" Minato asked, cocking his head to the side in mock confusion.
"You know what I'm talking about! You turned into the Yondaime and beat Mizuki! Mizuki also freaking tigerized! Tell me everything now!" he shouted, tired of playing games.
"Sensei, are you sure it wasn't just a dream? Are you feeling okay?" he asked, placing his hand on his sensei's forehead.
"Kunai pouch! Now!" Iruka glared at his irksome student. Minato reluctantly handed it over, breaking out in cold sweat as his sensei opened it and begun to search for something. "If yesterday's events were a dream, then what is this?" he asked, his voice sweet as honey and yet laced with poison as he produced a tri-pronged kunai from 'Naruto's' pouch.
"Um… A really tiny pitchfork?" he asked, smiling sweetly.
"Nice try Naruto. Spill it. Now! And I mean it!" Iruka snapped.
Minato turned away "What do you want to know? I swear I'll tell the truth. It might even be refreshing." Iruka could see that he meant it.
"For starters, who are you?" he queried.
"Namikaze Minato. Yondaime Hokage." 'Naruto' confessed.
"Why are you posing as a student?" he asked. Minato then retold his story to his sensei, half doubting if he could trust the man. After telling his sensei everything, he watched as the dumbstruck look on Iruka's face slowly disappear as he began to comprehend what he had just been told. "So basically you don't want to resume office until we prove ourselves and want me to keep this a secret?" Iruka summarised.
"Wow! You just summarised my one hour long story in thirty seconds. But essentially, yes. So can you?" Minato pleaded.
"Okay, but I have doubts about not telling the Hokage about this…" Iruka trailed off before being tackled by a chibified Yondaime
"Thanks sensei! That's a load off my chest! I've gotta go meet my old student. Wait he's my sensei now. You have no idea how weird this feels." Minato babbled in his relief as he made his way back to his original classroom. 'Wait. If Kakashi's my sensei now, he's definitely going to arrive late.' He thought, never really understanding why he had constantly gyrated towards being extremely late.
Upon reaching the classroom, he noted that it was empty apart from his teammates, the rest having been taken away by their new teachers already. He chuckled lightly, entering the classroom and dragging his new team mates towards Ichiraku's, so suddenly that Sasuke and Sakura were too shocked to even protest. Upon arriving, he dropped them unceremoniously on the floor and proceeded to order 10 bowls of miso ramen for himself.
His team mates got up, nonplussed and livid. "What did you do that for Naruto?" Sakura shouted, afraid that they would miss their chance at becoming ninja by being late to meet their sensei. "Listen. I know Hatake-san well enough to know that he will be at least 2 hours late so stop and smell the roses. Come order something to eat!" 'Naruto' replied cheerily. "Naruto! How can you just-" "I'll take one beef ramen" she was cut off by Sasuke who had sat down beside 'Naruto', watching his blonde team mate inhale bowl after bowl of ramen and yet with amazing poise.
Sakura tentatively sat down beside her crush, and ordered a cup of green tea. "What? That's it? Nothing else?" 'Naruto' asked, horrified. "Well, I'm on a diet. So…" she trailed off, turning scarlet. "Look Sakura. If you want to be a ninja, you have to eat. If you faint or get weak from the lack of food while on a mission, you not only put the mission in jeopardy, but also your life and your team mates'. Besides, you'll burn off the extra fats and calories during training and missions so there is nothing wrong in eating." 'Naruto' lectured.
Sakura looked over at her love interest who nodded stoically, agreeing with what 'Naruto' had just said. Taking their advice, she ordered a bowl of chicken ramen. The three got to know each other through that meal, forging a bond between the three that would be strengthened with the trials that awaited them. After finishing their lunch, they walked leisurely over to the academy and entered their classroom and resumed their wait for their wayward sensei.
Kakashi strolled down the halls of the academy after spending his time mourning at the Memorial Stone. His heart still ached whenever he was reminded of them. He could never truly move on, distracting himself with his perverted books and missions. This was the same as every other team he had tested, they would fail and he would go back to his missions, mourning and porn books.
Only, this time, the last loyal Uchiha had to be factored into the equation. Although he was only a Genin, the reports stated that he was already a prodigy on his way to greatness. The other boy was also a potential force to be reckoned with in the future because, if the reports were correct, he, a mere academy student, had defeated a Chunin in an all out battle, no holds barred. The female, although originating from a civilian family, had incredible chakra control, vast knowledge and passable taijutsu skills. This team showed promise.
'They might just make it' mused Kakashi as he poked his head through the door and nearly had a heart attack. Sitting behind the desk was, at first glance, his sensei. He stood, stupefied, before shaking his head and looking again, telling himself over and over that his sensei was dead and would not be coming back, no matter how much he wanted it to happen. He opened his eyes to see his three new charges staring at him and registered the awkwardness of the situation. He did a sweep of the classroom and saw a blond child that had most likely been the 'apparition' of his sensei that he saw.
The three newly minted Genin were chatting about how their new sensei might look like when the door creaked open. They directed their attention to the door and saw a man with gravity defying silver hair staring wide eyed at them, looking as if he'd seen a ghost. The man at the door then proceeded to shake his head like a dog shaking water out of its fur before glancing around the room and back at them.
They simply stared.
"Meet me on the roof" the man said lazily before using shunshin to transport himself onto the roof. The three then got up and made their way to the roof, speculating what the man would teach them and why he told them to meet on the roof. Their sensei was already on the roof by the time they arrived and was standing by the railing staring out at the village as he waited for them to settle down. "Okay you guys. Introduce yourselves. Tell us your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams." He drawled.
"Um sensei, why don't you go first so we know how it's done?" Sakura inquired. "Okay. My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes… I like a lot of things. My dislikes… I dislike some things. My hobbies… I have lots of hobbies and my dreams are none of your concern" he stated good-naturedly.
"But sensei, all we learned was your name!" Sakura protested.
"Is that so…" Kakashi trailed off.
"Anyways, my name is Sakura. My likes are my friends and…" she glanced at Sasuke. "I dislike Ino pig, my hobbies are studying, reading and…" she trailed off, glancing at her love interest once again. "My dream is…" she looked lovingly at her crush, eliciting an eye roll from the target of her gaze.
The Uchiha of the group took the initiative to go next. "My name is Sasuke. My likes are my comrades and very few other things. I have many dislikes. My hobbies are training, learning new jutsu and sometimes hanging out with my friends. My dream, no, ambition, is to kill a certain man."
"My name is Naruto. I like my comrades and ramen. I dislike people who hurt my comrades, traitors and the three minutes it takes for the ramen to cook. My hobbies are training and eating ramen. My dream for the future is to be Hokage." He said calmly. 'Not the ball of energy I expected. There is still hope for this team yet, but they still have to pass my test. I shouldn't get my hopes up but this team just might pass.' Kakashi speculated.
"Alright. Meet me at 7am in Training Ground 7 for a survival test," the silver haired man announced.
"But sensei, we already took the test and passed. We weren't informed of a second test." Sakura said.
"Well, there is another test. You guys are technically not Genin yet and to become one, you have to pass my test. But be warned, there's a 66.6% failure rate. Oh, and I advise you not to eat breakfast if you don't want to puke. Don't be late." Kakashi departed in a swirl of leaves.
Remembering himself giving this test to his Genin team, Minato warned his team mates "Have breakfast tomorrow. Not a big one, but just eat enough to fill your stomach. Oh and come an hour later than the time he stated. We'll discuss battle strategies in the extra one hour."
"But sensei said not to eat and we'll be late if we do what you want us to." Sakura interjected.
"Don't you trust me?" Minato whimpered, pulling the 'Puppy Dog Eyes' to get her to comply.
"Okay, but if we lose our chance to become Genin, it will be all your fault" Sakura sighed, unable to resist the Puppy Dog Eyes.
"Thanks Sakura-chan!" Minato chirped, mentally rolling his eyes for having to resort to such degrading tricks for the sake of his team. They parted ways from the academy, Sakura heading home, Sasuke making a beeline towards the training grounds in the Uchiha compound and Minato dashing across the village to scout out Training Ground 7 and to train there as well as familiarise himself with the layout of the grounds. All three of them taking their first step down the path to becoming Team 7.
A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. My sis was hogging the computer. By the way, I think that the training ground Team 7 used in the anime/manga was training ground 3 but I'm not otaku enough to change what so many other fanfic authors pen down. I think this story is going to be very disjointed so correct any mistakes you see please. It will help me improve the story. And could you… um… sorta like review?