Disclaimer: I, in no way shape or form own Naruto or anything else that appears in this fic except the idea, and I'm not too sure about owning that either.
Note: this chapter begins right after the point of Naruto beating the living shit out of Mizuki. Also, for my own sake, I will mostly be using the English translations for techniques, as I really don't want to have to deal with spell check and buggy translators. You all might hate me for this chapter, but it must be written, for I am compelled.
Life levels all men, death reveals the eminent. -Unknown
Chapter 1: Lament
The dust cleared, revealing the broken form of the traitorous chunin, Mizuki. At that moment, Iruka felt that he could not be any prouder of the boy- no, make that young man that stood before him.
"Are you okay Iruka-Sensei?" asked a desperately weary Naruto as the adrenaline started to fade from his system. Even for someone with near legendary stamina, practicing the Shadow Clone Jutsu all night and well into the morning was extremely taxing
"Don't worry Naruto, I'll be just fine," Iruka lied with a grin. He was going to die. He could feel it. Already his vision was starting to fade. 'I still have time to do one thing right at least.' "Hey, Naruto, come here for a second".
"What is it sensei?"
"Just get over here and close your eyes Naruto!" Iruka exclaimed weakly. He was fading fast. When Naruto was in position, he gently secured his head band to Naruto's forehead. "Congratulations, Naruto. You pass."
"Iruka-sensei?" he put forth hesitantly, "Why did you lie to me?"
Iruka did not answer. He was already dead, with one last approving smile etched on his face. Naruto was found weeping over his brother figure's shattered body an hour later.
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Inside the Hokage tower, Hiruzen sighed, suddenly feeling the full weight of his nearly seventy years. Iruka was a very promising chunin, his presence would be sorely missed at the Academy, as well as on active duty. What worried him most, however, was Naruto's mental and emotional state. He motioned to the Anbu hidden in his office. "I want Kakashi in my office within the next ten minutes. Let him know that tardiness will not be tolerated in this matter. Go."
The elderly Hokage breathed in deeply on his carved ivory pipe, as he moved to make the final adjustments to this year's genin team formations. Naruto had, as usual, thrown a monkey wrench into all sorts of carefully laid plans, political intrigues and machinations without even realizing it. As he blew out a smoke ring from his pipe, he began to think. Now that Minato's son had passed, what would be done with him? 'Ah, Naruto, without even realizing it, you have both alleviated one of my biggest worries, and then piled ten more on my desk.'
The old man began to wonder what Danzo's response to having his latest scheme foiled would be when a small beeping sound on his desk interrupted his train of thought. "Hatake Kakashi here to see you sir" he heard his aide say after he pressed the button on the ingenious device under his desk.
"Send him in." he said with carefully concealed shock. He had given the perpetually tardy jonin a strict time limit, but he had expected to wait more than five minutes at least. 'It seems Kakashi is taking this seriously at least. Good.'
"What are your orders sir?" were the first words out of Kakashi's masked mouth upon entering the Hokage's office.
"Have a seat Kakashi," the Hokage answered, becoming the general he was thirty years ago, "we have many things to do, and precious little time in which to accomplish them." As Kakashi sat down, Hiruzen selected a number of files from his desk and passed them to Kakashi.
"The genin candidates Lord Hokage?" came the not unexpected question from the jonin.
"You may not know this Kakashi, but Lightning and Stone are preparing for war" the old warlord blew out another ring of smoke. "Since we are hosting the next Chunin exams, and all five great nations will be participating, we cannot afford to be seen as weak or in decline in any way. With the last minute passing of your sensei's son, not only has Danzo's scheme to place a Root agent on one of the genin squads been foiled, all sense of team balance was tossed out the window, not to mention the politics. That is why you, Kakashi Hatake will be forming up the squads."
The masked jonin remained silent for a few seconds. "May I ask a question sir?"
The old man nodded.
"Why me?" A simple question, one without such a simple answer.
"You have seen war, you have been molded by it more intimately than I was. You are the Fourth's last living student, and have the potential to be Hokage yourself one day. But most of all, you are younger than I, and therefore less likely to be sentimental about the futures of these children. Let us start with your genin squad Kakashi. Squad 7."
"You're reviving Squad 7 sir?" Kakashi knew that to be assigned to Squad 7 was both a blessing and a curse. Every shinobi that had been on a Squad 7 had made their mark on the world. 'Those that survive' Kakashi thought bitterly. Squad 7 had been officially disbanded and decommissioned not long after that disastrous mission where he lost his first and closest friend. The loss of the Uchiha clan heir while on a mission effectively cursed the name of Squad 7. Every Squad 7 since then had a run of unnaturally bad luck that usually ended in death or ruined careers and dreams.
"I know how you feel about this particular squad, but you will be leading it, and you have the opportunity to pick your soldiers, so look over the files and choose them." The Hokage ordered, leaving no room for argument or protest from his subordinate.
The elite jonin took a few minutes, poring over of the files in great detail. Grades, food allergies, weapon scores, chakra levels, all information was grist for the mill that was his mind. Finally he looked up. "Squad 7 will be composed of Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyuga Hinata. Squad 8 will be composed of Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura, and Aburame Shino. Squad 10 will be left to tradition, with the heirs of the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans composing it." Kakashi continued, "Each squad will perform multiple roles. Squad 7 will be able to assault fortified positions, fight on the front lines of battle, and take high profile missions. Squad 8 will be able to track, and then capture or rescue as necessary, as well as reconnaissance. Squad 10 will be a capture and interrogation unit as well as an effective tactical unit."
"And the reason you put the Hyuga girl on Squad 7?" the Hokage inquired.
"Two reasons, One: according to the reports, Naruto is an object of inspiration to her, and she needs to break out of her shell somewhat to be a really effective shinobi, and Two: With her Byakugan, she will be able to prevent Squad 7 from getting into an ambush, not to mention she will be able to tell if Naruto's seal starts leaking. In addition, if her Senju heritage plays out in the right way, there will be an additional safeguard against the seal breaking."
"I see you thought this out. You are dismissed. You will meet your team in exactly one week." As the Hokage said this, the one-eyed jonin took his cue to leave. "Don't be late Kakashi" he chided good naturedly as the jonin exited.
As Kakashi left his office, the elderly Third Hokage pondered the events of the day whilst lighting his pipe and leaning back into his admittedly comfortable chair. He thought it rather odd that there seemed to be no leakage of chakra from the seal, despite the massive killing intent that had radiated from Naruto during the incident. He paused only a moment before writing a missive to his wandering student; emergency recall for fuinjutsu consultation. Letting out a sigh and a puff of smoke, he turned his attention to the next report on his table: Autopsy of Mizuki Touji, Rank Chunin, Status: Traitor. It read as follows.
Chunin Touji was only identifiable by the unique number inscribed on the back of his headband. No teeth were present for imprint records and all fingers and toes had been, for lack of a better descriptor, pulped, and were thus not suitable for imprints either.
Cause of death: Several possible. List is in order of probability.
1. Decapitation
2. Broken neck
3. Broken spine
4. Flayed ribs
5. Punctured Lungs.
Trace elements of several performance enhancing drugs were found in Chunin Touji's tissues and fluids, among these were a number developed by Orochimaru during his illegal research.
The old Hokage let out a long sigh with a puff of smoke.
Next Chapter: Team Formation: Squad 7! As this is a rewrite of a somewhat rushed fic, I will go ahead and let all the shippers, as well as canon fanatics in general know now: This is not canon. Do not expect everything, if anything at all, to happen as it does in canon. A few things will. Pairings? Don't bug me about them please. My story, I'll pair anyone with whoever I want to. I could go on, but I will get to that in the next chapter. And yes, Hinata is part Senju in this story, specifically, her maternal grandmother was a full blooded Senju. And before you all say anything, if Hinata gets wood release, it will be waaaaay down the line.