Chapter 2: Music and Bells: Team 7 is formed.
A week passed since Naruto killed Mizuki and gave back to the scroll of sealing and in that week Naruto found that not having assassinations late at night meant that Naruto had nothing to do at night which made for many a training filled night's until his body finally calmed down enough so that he could sleep, according to Kyuubi Naruto wouldn't be able to sleep a full eight hours ever because of the minimum amount of hours he had been getting for a good six years was so small that his body just couldn't handle long periods of sleep at all. But luckily, Kyuubi had decided to teach him some Jut-su's that weren't rare by any mean's just hard to do, when Kyuubi had told Naruto that the Jut-su's weren't at all that unique, the blonde had just wanted to learn them quicker so that he could show his soon to be Jonin sensei how strong he was becoming, but what Naruto didn't count on was that the Jut-su's he had been given to learn were extremely hard to learn and taxed even his extremely large chakra pools down to at least fifteen percent by the end of the night. But through sure will power and determination, Naruto had managed to perfect three out of the seven Jut-su's he had been given to learn, plus he had taken up doing daily Tai-Jut-su practise to keep his body in shape. By the time one week had been up, the blonde genin was tired, sore and ready to go to sleep for a month, but instead he was sitting down half asleep after yet again another sleepless night of training next to Kiba who seemed pleased that Naruto had only his own faint blood scent wafting around him-thank you training poles for splitting knuckles so damn well-and Shikamaru who also seemed pleased that the energetic blonde was too tired to annoy him.
"KIT YOU KNOW IF YOU REALLY THINK ABOUT IT ONE OF YOUR SIX OF YOUR JUT-SU'S IS THE SAME JUT-SU JUST SPLIT OFF INTO DIFFERENT ELEMENTS" The fox said in a surprised tone which made Naruto snicker a little and then nod.
"Yeah I know but it doesn't make them any easier to master does it" Naruto said jokingly back to his big brother who just sent a comforting wave if chakra through his body, making Naruto forget all about how tired he was and instead warmed him up and let him focus on the classroom.
Ino and Sakura were fighting over who was going to sit next to Sasuke-who in turn looked totally uninterested with everything, Choji was eating another packet of chips, Shikamaru was staring out the window longingly, Kiba was talking to Akamaru energetically and the puppy was barking just as energetically back to his master, and Shino and Hinata was having a quiet conversation with Shino who looked the same as always. It was then that Iruka walked into the room and shouted for the class to –quote-sit down and shut up so he could hear himself think. When the class complied the chunnin sighed peacefully "Good, now I'm so glad to see each and every one of you all here sporting your headbands so proudly, you each have achieved so much to arrive to this point some more than others" Iruka smiled over at Naruto who smiled brightly back. "But things are only going to get harder from here, now each one of you will be put on a three man squad with a Jonin instructor who you will study and serve under the teams are as so..." Naruto tuned out and then closed his eyes and came face to face with Kyuubi who made a cooing noise.
"HELLO LITTLE ONE, TIRED ARE YOU" The large fox asked kindly. Naruto was sure that if he ever told anyone how nice and kind the Kyuubi really was when he wasn't under the control of some mad man he was sure he would be laughed at, hell he had laughed at it in history class once when the teacher had said that it was a blood thirsty beast-apparently according to the fox all the demons were actually quite nice but each had their vices-his was anger. "DON'T WORRY LITTLE ONE, NO TRAINING TONIGHT, I WANT YOU JUST TO REST, EVEN IF THAT MEANS JUST WATCHING THE MOON" Naruto smiled and hugged one of his big brothers tails through the cage bars, when the tail prodded him lightly "GO NOW KIT, I FEAR YOU'LL MISS YOUR OWN TEAM PLACEMENT, AND WE DON'T NEED THAT" The fox said nudging him lightly until Naruto chuckled and then woke up to his surroundings.
"Team 7 will consist of Sakura Hurno, Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto's ear perked up at this and he considered the pink haired Kunochi a little, she was the smartest in their grade-although both he and Kyuubi had an inkling that Shikamaru was smarter than everyone in the room-but lacked the physical prowess that say Ino had, to be said he had high hopes for her "and Sasuke Uchiha" and as quick as those Hopes had come they were dashed out the window at the name of the final member of the team, there was no way Sakura was going to get anywhere with her 'one true love' on the team, that is if he couldn't convince her otherwise.
"Team 8 will consist of Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga and Shino Aburame" Naruto considered each teammate carefully and then smiled when he saw the Hokage's reasoning, with the Inuzukas and the Hyuga's abilities they would be able to track with no problem and then with Shino's bugs they could slowly drain their captive, it was a good plan.
"Team Ten will consist of Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yakamara and Choji Akamichi" Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion, had he really spaced out that much that he didn't catch who was on Team 9 had he, well that really spoke at how alert he was. Naruto looked at Shikamaru next to him who had groaned and slammed his head on his desk, so without even thinking about it Naruto patted his shoulder making Shikamaru groan again.
"It'll be okay" he said in a normal tone, while still patting his back, Kiba held back sniggers as he watched the blonde boy try to calm down the sad lazy cloud watching boy. Naruto turned and smiled at him before scratching behind Akamaru's ears playfully, he didn't know why but Naruto and Akamaru had a friendship that he couldn't fathom, it wasn't like their own but it would be like if he was hurt and Akamaru need to go get help Kiba was sure that the little white puppy would go and get the blonde boy. "Are you happy with your team Kiba" the blonde boy asked nicely
Kiba nodded and then looked away from the blonde, he didn't know the kid too well, the only interaction they had was when they decided to skip classes together. But he knew that the blonde kid was different...brighter then every other young genin that had passed that year. Suddenly nine people walked in and slowly they each introduced themselves as the Jonin instructors but Naruto frown when he found one missing, his team's Jonin instructor to be exact.
"Hello I am Kurenai Yuaka, I will be Team 8's Jonin Instructor, if they would be so kind as to follow me" The ruby eyed woman said motioning for her three students to follow her outside when a black haired man with a small beard walked forwards.
"I am Asuma Hurezen; I will be Team 10's Jonin Instructor, get up and follow me" He said in a kind but rude way, Shikamaru sighed again and banged his head on the table not even registering the soothing motions Naruto was still doing on his back to comfort him. Naruto continued to rub the other boy's back and when he didn't move from his spot he squeezed his shoulder and softly nudged him in the right direction. Shikamaru gave Naruto a confused look to which he just smiled back at. Iruka looked at the last three students in the class room and chuckled nervously.
"Ah it seems your sensei is late, all is and tell you is that his name is Kakashi Hatake, and good luck" Iruka smiled once more and left the three students to their own devices. Naruto smiled and then stretched up cracking his joints as he went and then put his head on his crossed arms and went to sleep which made Kyuubi chuckle a little.
"YOU REALLY DO ACT LIKE A FOX, YOU'D RATHER SLEEP DURING THE DAY THAN AT NIGHT" The demon said as he watched as Naruto's spiritual form leant up against the bars and fell asleep. Sasuke looked at the sleeping blonde and then over to the pink haired girl who was regarding the blonde as well, truthfully the young boy was the most mysterious out of the three of them. No One knew who his parent's were, not even the boy himself knew, and then when he was six he disappeared for three years only to return when he was nine smiling shyly up at the whole class. Then he proceed to be an enigma, having an ANBU escort him to and from school, or the play ground and sometimes he even saw the young boy just hanging out with one of the masked ninja, that itself made the Uchiha suspicious of his newly appointed team mate.
Two hours passed and Sakura and Sasuke were beginning to get annoyed, the pink haired ninja had began to tap her fingers on the table in a irate motion just waiting for her teacher to come so she could chew him out. Sasuke was mad, no scratch that he was furious, but unlike the female member on his team he showed this by a simple twitch of his eye, but when both members of team 7 looked over at Naruto they saw that he was still peacefully asleep although he showed signs of waking. Ten minutes later Naruto lifted his head off the desk and rubbed his eyes and cocked his head to the side when he heard footsteps padding down the hall, but when he looked over to his teammates he noticed that they couldn't hear them, but when a shadow fell across the tinted glass window of the academy door Naruto's whole demeanour picked up. When the man stuck his head through the door Naruto almost froze when he saw the tilted silver hair that reminded him so much of Ookami, but then he looked into the man's lone visible eye, he saw a warmness and secure protection that he'd never had before: something that he'd always wanted. So with a gulp he smiled at the masked man and cocked his head to the side. "You must be our sensei" The man smile-which meant his left eye closed and slight creases in his mask formed-and nodded before looking over the team, Kakashi looked at the two kids giving him evil eyes and then at Naruto who's expression was as innocent and child like as he remembered.
"Yes, that would be me, my first impression of you...I don't like you, not off to a good start" Naruto smiled widely at their teacher and scratched the back of his head, "Now meet me up on the roof" When he disappeared in a pool of smoke, Naruto stood up and stretched cracking his joints before walking out towards the roof, only pausing to look back in the classroom and smiling at the two shocked genin "You Coming?"
Kakashi watched as Naruto sat down first and just stared at the sky, it made Kakashi almost wince at the familiar action. He remembered taking the eight year old Naruto dressed in a hooded cloak and ANBU gear to a grassy hill late one night so that the young boy could watch the stars, but then remembering Naruto from his ANBU days reminded him of the scared and slightly betrayed look that he had seen on the boy's face when he had been walking out of the base with his mask in place for the last time.
"Sensei?" Kakashi's head snapped up and he saw Naruto's bright blue eyes staring right into his own almost as if he could stare into his soul "Are you okay, you were spacing out for a minute there" Before Kakashi could answer his two other students stomped towards him with glares directed at him.
"Alright now that we're all here" there were those death glares again "we can introduce ourselves, you know you likes, your dislikes, your hobbies your dreams for the future things like that"
Sakura frowned slightly "Could you go first sensei, so we know what to do" she asked, motioning towards him with her hand. Naruto smiled and looked so hopeful Kakashi smiled-again they think it was a smile-and nodded.
"Sure" then the older man tapped his finger lightly "Okay my name is Kakashi Hatake, I don't trust you enough to tell you my likes...I don't have many dislikes, my hobbies...my dreams for the future, I never really thought about it" Sakura's brow twitched and she turned to her team
"All he told us was his name" Sasuke gave the pink haired give a nod while Naruto cocked his head to the side and almost whined, actually his whole demeanour seemed to have fallen when he heard Kakashi didn't trust them. Sakura noticed this and couldn't help but feel sorry for the blonde, she had a feeling that having the trust of others meant a lot to the blonde and she knew that he put his trust in others fully; he was just that kind of guy. "Alright, pinkie you're up" Sakura growled at the nickname and then cleared her throat "My Name's Sakura Hurno my likes are..." she looks over to Sasuke and giggles "My hobbies are" and she giggles again "My dreams for the future..."and yet another giggle.
Kakashi could have groaned but stopped the urge "and your dislikes" Sakura hesitated and then made up her mind "INO PIG" she shouted. Naruto's eyes widened and he almost quivered in fear, her voice was scary when she was mad, not that her killer instinct was anything great but just the tone of her voice made even Kyuubi shiver a little.
Kakashi sweat dropped and rubbed him chin 'well at least she's consistent' Kakashi turned to face Sasuke "All right the broody one in the middle"
Sasuke glared a little and then interlaced his fingers trying to ignore the piercing deep blue eyes Naruto had focused on him. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I don't like much, and I have many dislikes, and I can't really say I have a dream, more of an ambition, to kill a certain man" Naruto could feel the hate rolling off the avenger next to him and was immediately reminded of his guardian from years ago and had to advert his eyes sadly.
Kakashi saw this and immediately knew what the young blonde had been thinking about, and he felt the guilt from his ANBU days return, "Okay blondie your turn" Naruto looked up and smiled at the elder man happy that he finally got to introduce himself to the team he hoped would care for him, like he would them.
"My Name is Naruto Uzumaki I like...uh" Naruto paused and looked down and frowned, never once in his life had he been asked what he liked but when his enhanced senses heard the faint string of a harp on the winds a smile graced his face "I like music" Kakashi smiled as he remembered how much Naruto had stuck with Ram in his early days at ANBU, it was a known fact that Ram was the best musician in the whole village. "My hobbies are...I don't really have any hobbies" again Kakashi felt terrible growing up in ANBU the way he did Naruto was never allowed to learn how to do anything other than kill and if he did he wouldn't have been able to do it enough to consider it a hobby. "My dislikes...I hate causing my precious people pain, I would rather take their pain and suffer for them so that they could be happy" Sakura and Sasuke stared at the young boy in shock, never had they heard anyone talk that way: so passionately, "My dream for the future...the be regarded as a protector, a leader instead of a killer" Kakashi nodded and then clapped.
"Good now that we have got to know each other I need you to make sure you go home and get some rest, tomorrow you will have survival training" Naruto perked up at those words, he actually loved survival training, he was just...well he was excellent at it, because he used his instincts to fight he could react in a moment's notice. But the others...didn't feel that way.
"What! Why do we have to do survival training again, we already studied it at the academy" Sakura said making Naruto's good mood disappear, but then suddenly Kakashi began to laugh, his shoulders shaking from the effort to contain the laughter. Naruto watched his sensei and came to the conclusion that he had a lot of secrets.
"This is no ordinary survival training, did you know that out of all the students that passed only nine of them will go on to become actual genin" and with that one sentence Naruto felt his entire world crumble. If he didn't become one of those nine genin then he would be stuck as an ANBU killer for the rest of his life-that wasn't going to happen. "And to make things worse, the failure rate of this test...is about 63%" Both Sakura and Sasuke gasped why Naruto just stared at their sensei with a blank look on his face. "Now please report to the training ground seven at 5:30 am, oh and don't eat breakfast" Naruto stood up and began to walk off, he knew that the silver haired man had more to say but he just couldn't bring himself to care.
"KIT YOU SHOULD RELAX, YOU'LL DO FINE, YOU ALWAYS DO" Naruto smiled slightly at Kyuubi's warm words and then used all the power he had and launched himself off the roof top and towards the forest. Ever since he was a boy even younger than before ANBU Naruto had always loved the forest and when he found out about Kyuubi he became even more entranced with the natural wonder and even sometimes encouraged whatever team he was with at the time to let him sleep outside in a tree or in a hollow. So know that he was out in the glowing forest he hummed happily and then stopped on a random branch and began to climb the tree expertly until he was sitting on the canopy staring out at the view before him.
The world is so beautiful he thought as a blue bird fluttered around him before landing on his shoulder and nestling into the crook of his neck. Naruto smiled at the little bird and stared at the clouds and closed his eyes as he listened to the forest song. Kyuubi hummed along with the forest making Naruto smile brightly.
"YOU SHOULD REST LITTLE ONE" Naruto chuckled and shook his head, and then sighed as the wind ruffled his blonde locks "YOU ARE QUITE THE STRANGE ONE MY LITTLE KIT" Kyuubi said making Naruto laugh a little, if he was strange the Kyuubi was twisted. The sun began to set and Naruto still remained seated on his tree top, the blue bird had flown off a while ago with its mother and Naruto couldn't help but smile sadly at the family, as much as he loved Kyuubi he wanted a mother, he wanted a father but he knew he would never get that.
Kakashi sat on a lower branch and stared at his blonde student through the foliage and couldn't help but shake his head at his antics, he was still like the ball of sunshine that had flooded the ANBU and made their jobs a little more easier and a little easier to get through. But as dusk settled he watched as the kid launched himself from the tree to a different one with the grace of a lemur and the watched as he did it again, it wasn't until he did it a third time that the elder ninja knew what the young blonde was doing. The boy was hunting. Directing his eyesight to line up with the leaping boy Kakashi spotted the young deer calf he was shadowing and the grinned when the boy expertly threw the kunai and hit him in the neck. But what made Kakashi the most surprised is when Naruto leapt down next to the struggling dying body of the deer and put the head in his lap and strokes it until it still. Kakashi smiled slightly as he watched Naruto bless the carcass before removing the deer's innards and then skinned the dead animal. That's when the silver haired ninja decided to leave, even after knowing Naruto on a personal level after all his years in ANBU with the boy Kakashi knew that the blonde didn't like others around when he killed an animal to eat it was disrespectful to watch according to the blonde.
The as the sun finally set Naruto was finally alone in the forest with only Kyuubi and the forest around him as comfort.
Naruto awoke at dawn as the sky started turning a light purple with a yellow tint on the horizon. After three hours of rest the blonde had never felt better, with the three hours he'd gotten in the classroom coupled with the hours he had managed to get that night had made him in a better mood than he had been in weeks. "YOU SEEM TO BE VERY WELL RESTED KIT" Naruto smiled when Kyuubi's voice boomed out through his head and he nodded happily at the demon fox.
"Yep I feel much better...although I don't think that I'll be sleeping tonight" he said in a happy voice before he went over to his dying campfire that held the remains of the deer he had eaten that night. Sighing Naruto walked over to the meat and tore a strip off it and began chewing thoughtfully, the deer he was eating could have been one of the Nara's young foals but the one thing the blonde ANBU killer had learnt very early on was that was in the forest was his to take as long as he showed his gratitude to the animal, most of the time he liked killing the animal in one swift attack so that the animal wasn't given anymore pain then what was necessary but when he missed he would comfort the animal till it die like he had done with the calf the other night.
"KIT ISN'T TIEM YOU WENT AND GAVE YOUR THANKS?" Naruto's eyes widened and he left the meat to be eaten by the scavengers as he raced off towards the very outskirts of the village. Every week sometimes more than once Naruto would go to the Yondiame shrine and pray and give thanks to the hero for saving the village and sacrificing himself to save the village, sometimes he even thanked the great warrior for choosing him to hold the great fox demon in his body. The elderly couple who work at the shrine didn't hate Naruto, in fact they liked the blonde boy, he was quiet and spent a lot of time there reflecting and praying, sometimes he brought back gems and precious things the honour the grave with, so when the boy turned up at the shrine and dawn the doors were already open for him.
Naruto sighed and then sat in front of the shrine in the lotus position and closed his eyes and opened his mind, only when he did this would he be able to pray properly. As he opened his eyes many pictures flew past his minds eyes, pictures of Ookami and Rat, pictures of the village, of the two elderly couple in the shrine, Kyuubi and then Iruka. With practised ease Naruto took began to bless the shrine with the dance of sending. It was a complicated dance but Naruto had done it so many times now it was like riding a bicycle, the only problem about the dance of sending is that you bless the departed spirit with your own chakra so it was quiet draining, especially when you have to bless the god of death as well. The hymn of sending-AN if you want to know what type of hymn I'm thinking of look up the theme for Zankarkand from FFX-continued on and Naruto felt the his chakra begin to be sent to the soul of the Yondiame, it was taxing but Naruto didn't stop, and when he opened his eyes he saw his Chakra taking the form of various animals that were running away from his body and towards the shrine where they would disappear in a burst. The hymn hit its crescendo and Naruto pushed his chakra to its maximum and began to get to the harder part of the dance: where you prove that your offering was pure: by offering the gods of the shrine to look into your soul. In the Yondiame shrine there were four gods, and you could pray to them as well as their statues stood in each corner of the shrine room. The first was a large masked rainbow bird- Valor god of wind, second was a huge horned bracelet wearing wolf-Inferno god of fire, third was A Large horned horse with tassels hanging from its mane-Rai the god of lightning and the fourth god was a large armoured dragon with chains holding it down while it's wings are spread wide a large crystal being held between them-Fennier the god of water and ice. Naruto dropped all insecurities he had and allowed the ancient beasts and their chakra wander through his soul, but not once did he stop dancing not even as the freezing touches of Fennier's aura, or the hellish burning of Inferno's life power, of the sparking and crackling of Rai's emotions, not even when the powerful gale of Valor's judgement swept through him at the same time. Finally after what felt like hours of dancing the gods finally withdrew and the four orbs that laid at each of the statue's feet glowed brightly signalling to Naruto that the gods approved. Finally the hymn died down and Naruto bowed to the shrine again on shaky legs, it would take at least an hour to regain all his chakra but to Naruto the offerings he gave the Fourth Hokage and the gods were more special to him than any village's approval, he had the approval of four gods.
"KIT YOU DID VERY WELL, I DON'T THINK YOU'VE DONE BETTER, I MEAN NOT EVEN INFERNO DOUBTED YOUR CHAKRA THIS TIME" Kyuubi said making Naruto grin when he had first attempted to get the gods approval he had, had to dance for an extra ten minutes as the fire god couldn't make up his mind if the boy was good enough but then on the verge of collapsing the flaming wolf had approved and Naruto had been approved by all four gods before collapsing, then he had woke up one hour later with Ookami starring down at him.
Naruto starred out the window a noticed that the sun was bright and shinning not to mention quite high it had to be at least eight o'clock in the morning. Naruto looked around the shrine and saw only a few people who were spraying to one of the god statues but stayed away from the sending platform which is where Naruto was seated. The caretakers of the shrine smiled at Naruto and Naruto nodded back before praying again, while he didn't have to send again he still like to pray. Something many other people didn't understand was that even after his sending Naruto felt it necessary to give his thanks to everyone the same even if it drained him mentally. By the time he was finished the shrine was filling in with people and Naruto knew he was already late for his team meeting but he couldn't seem to care. Luckily his chakra had returned to 85%, so now the blonde felt he could at least try to pass his survival training. When Naruto arrived at the training ground he happy to see that Kakashi hadn't arrived and with a large grin he leapt down into the field making Sakura squeal and Sasuke shoot him a tired glare, it was obvious they had been here a while.
"Naruto, why were you late" The tired girl gritted out, Naruto didn't understand why the girl was so tired, years of staying up late and getting very little sleep made Naruto use to early mornings.
"I was praying" Sasuke and Sakura gave him a look of disbelief that made Naruto self-conscious, was it really such a strange thing to say that he was praying, so quickly he jumped onto top of one of the wooden training stumps and the brought out his pipe-the instrument-and began to play a haunting but catchy tone. Sasuke's eye widened as the tone rang through his mind, he knew the song but he couldn't place it. Sakura smiled and began to sway with the tune, whatever Naruto was doing before this she didn't care as long as he continued to play he couldn't care less, it was beautiful and her anger just faded away Naruto continued to play his song and as it finished he didn't stop but just continued onto an ancient song that made Sasuke's eyes widen, it was as if the ancient knowledge and messages ran off the notes, it was then that Sasuke noted that Naruto wasn't using any chakra at all to tamper with the notes all of the notes were coming from that little wooden instrument. Kyuubi listened to the music and almost laughed when he noticed that the child was playing the song of sacrifice, the very song that he had sung to the kit as a lullaby when things in ANBU got too bad. Sakura shivered when the wind blew pass her, the song Naruto was playing it felt powerful god like almost celestial.
"Naruto what is that" Sasuke whispered, images of his family were running through his mind and not ones he'd meet but his ancestors and that scared the Uchiha heir more than he would like to admit. The blonde didn't answer but instead began to play a cheerier tune which made the more serious atmosphere dissipate, that is what Naruto loved the most about music, it can change the mood in mere seconds, and he hadn't meant to cause his teammates distress or discomfort.
Two more hours past but neither genin really notice as Naruto had moved to calming and easy listening songs, one moment he would be playing a happy tune one that would be heard in a pub as a drinking song, the next he was playing a soft soothing tune which made Sakura almost fall asleep. When Naruto changed song no one could really tell as the song merely flowed into another, so when Naruto started playing a heart lifting tune Sakura began to laugh joyfully- making Sasuke actually surprised that the sound was actually quite nice-and began clapping along. When Kakashi arrived he saw Naruto sitting atop one of the three training stumps' playing a wooden pipe, which itself was surprising but the fact that he was playing well made Kakashi more than impressed, while Sakura sat on the grass watching Naruto and smiling as he played a catchy tune which had her laughing happily, and Sasuke was leaning against the same training post Naruto was sitting on with a happy smirk on his face as he listened to the music and...Was he watching Sakura?
"Good Morning" he called out cheerfully, suddenly Naruto's music stopped and Sakura's face became angry and Sasuke gave him a death glare worthy of his older brother which was a big feat. "I'm sorry I was so late but a black cat walk in front of me so I had to take the long way around so that I didn't get bad luck" Naruto gave him a big grin and then jumped to his feet still holding onto his pipe.
"Well it's already eleven so are we gonna do this" he asked happily, Sakura laughed a little and nodded before Naruto flipped off the log and landed next to her and smiled back before looking up at him with bright eyes and a happy smile. "So what will we be surviving today?"
Kakashi smiled at his student's and then took out an alarm clock "Me" Kakashi had to stop the laughter that was bubbling to the surface as he looked at Naruto's bright eyes and Sakura and Sasuke's disbelieving ones. Naruto smiled at their sensei and almost clapped, but then saw Sakura's uneasy look and his happiness dropped a little. "Okay here is how the test works, I have two bells" and there they were two little innocent bells on red strings in his hand "and you have to get one before the clock strikes noon to pass which means...one of you will be going back to the academy" Naruto stared at the bells for a moment before his brow furrowed in confusion. "No go" two of the three ninja disappeared in a flash and Kakashi was shocked and devastated that Naruto just stood there with his frown still marring his face. "Ah Naruto you know I don't think you get the idea of the exercise"
Naruto's frown deepened and he leapt back atop the wooden stump and began to play a complicated tune which made Kakashi enraptured with the skill the boy was showing, heck if he fails to be a ninja and didn't want to go back to ANBU he could always be a street performer. But what made things even more strange is that he was doing this performance during the middle of his official genin test to him this would be make it or break it. Sighing Kakashi took out his precious book and began to read happily along with the music. Unlike their sensei the two other members of team 7 were utterly dumbfounded that Naruto was actually playing his pipe at a moment like this. Twenty minutes passed and suddenly Naruto stopped playing his instrument and then leapt into the forest shocking Kakashi as he had not been expecting the blonde to disappear as quickly as he did-and he would be lying if he said he wasn't going to miss the soothing melody that the young blonde had been playing.
Of course its teamwork how stupid could I have been we are always put on three man squads unless the mission calls for more Naruto yelled a mentally making Kyuubi sigh. The boy had a habit of tearing strips into himself if he didn't perform to the standard that had been set for him at the tender age of six. When Naruto felt the tingling of a gen Jut-su being cast he changed his course so he could intercept it so when he saw Sakura about to scream he ran forward and slammed her into a tree under the watchful eyes of Kakashi who winced at Naruto's painful awaking although there was no doubt in his mind that the pink haired scholar would be pulled out of is Gen-jut-su with that pain.
Sakura felt the back of her head explode in pain and then her vision cleared and she was staring into Naruto's bright blue eyes "Sakura I need your help" The pink haired girl's eyebrows rose to her hairline and she looked into his eyes and nodded, "I want to work together"
"Naruto there are two bells" she whispered stressing the word two to the extreme but then shut up when Naruto shook his head violently.
"Doesn't matter now come on we have to get Sasuke" when the two of them entered the field they saw Sasuke buried in the ground with only his head above ground. Sasuke glared at the two of them an unexpectedly Sakura was the one who burst into laughter instead of swooning. Naruto just sighed and squatted until he was eye level with the head."Look I know you're going to hate me but I want to work together, and whoever gets the bells keeps them and don't protests look at yourself" Sasuke looked at the ground but then turned his head away with a snort so Naruto sighed "If you don't help us we won't dig you out" Sasuke froze and then mere moments later he was out of the ground and glaring at Naruto who was dusting his pants off.
"So how are we going to do this" Sasuke asked irritated that he had to actually keep his word to the blonde and team up with him and Sakura to get the bells. Naruto stared at him for a moment unwavering and then at Sakura and then smirked.
Kakashi frowned and glanced over the top of his book, something was wrong, where were his students, they had ten more minutes to get a bell but since Sasuke had tried to get him nothing had happened, Sakura hadn't attacked once and Kakashi couldn't help but wonder if Naruto had really damaged her when he slammed her into the tree earlier. But suddenly a deadly fox like howl echoed through the forest and Kakashi spun around only just in time to dodge a drop kick from Sasuke. Sasuke smirked at their sensei and then began to engage him in a mock Tai-jut-su battle and then in a move that made even the Jonin surprised he sprung over his head and Kakashi completely missed Naruto come in with an upwards kick hitting him firmly in the throat, Kakashi couldn't help but have a proud grin when he saw Naruto's firm stance. Although when Sasuke's arms wrapped around his neck in a choke hold and Naruto had a kunai at his throat he knew that this wasn't just a fluke.
"Sakura Now"
Kakashi's eyes widened when a pink streak shot out of the forest and snatched his bells before he could think, Sasuke leapt from his spot on his back and Naruto took over sweeping his feet from under him and then sat on his chest with the kunai at his throat. The cold metal of the blade mad him freeze and look into the bright eyes of his blonde student. It was hard for the hardened Jonin to remember that this small young blonde had been trained to perfection in Tai-jut-su and speed in ANBU , the kid was just to kind and bright but then when you put him on the battlefield he really did live up to his name. Sasuke had picked up the last bell and now he and Sakura were both standing with the bells in their hands, but unlike Sasuke who had a smirk on his face Sakura had a sad expression on her face before holding out the bell to her blonde teammate.
"Here Naruto take it, all this was your plan" Sakura said holding out the tiny bell and was then shocked when the blonde who was still sitting on their sensei shook his head "but why not don't you want to be a ninja too, I heard you weren't allowed to go back to the academy after this year" she protested.
Naruto smiled at the girl happy that she cared for him enough to give him the bell after she got one "No Sakura, it's yours, look your right if I fail here today that's it I can no longer become a ninja but the thing is I would never purposely take someone else's future away from them do you remember what I said what my dream for the future was: I said that I wanted to be a protector, a leader, what kind of leader would I be if I left my comrades to die" Kakashi froze when he listened to Naruto's speech and couldn't help remember Obito saying that very same thing to him when he had finally achieved Chunnin status.
Sakura look a little taken back and then nodded why holding the bell to her chest like it was a precious object mouthing a silent thank you to Naruto who just shook his head once again. Sasuke watched the exchange with a frown and then glared at Naruto "Are you an idiot you just lost your one chance to be a ninja and you don't care?"
Naruto fixed Sasuke with a confused glance and then smiled sadly "I care, more than you will ever know but a true ninja...they don't cause their teammates however fleeting the team was together they don't cause them pain ever" Sasuke almost took a step back at the pure passion that Naruto's voice contained. Naruto got up and pocketed his Kunai and allowed Kakashi to stand up before taking out his pipe once again and began to play the lighter happier version of the Hymn of sending.
"Naruto what are you doing?" Kakashi asked as he watched the boy with confusion, how was it the blonde who was sure he had failed was able to stand there and play his pipe as if failing wasn't going to set his future in stone. The blonde stopped playing and looked up at him and cocked his head to the side.
"I'm playing my pipe" he said slowly as if talking to a five year old.
Sakura giggled a little when she heard the tone of Naruto's voice and the way he was speaking to their sensei like a five year old, it was funny, the fact that he could make even the Jonin in the village seem like idiots. Sasuke smirked and Kakashi blushed a little, he should have known Naruto would do something like that to him, he had always been a smartass and when the opportunity presented itself to him.
"That's not what I meant" Naruto looked at Kakashi strangely and then cocked his head to the side "I'm passing all three of you" Naruto and the other two genin all stared at their sensei and the silver haired ninja walked over to a large blue stone and bowed his head. Naruto knew this stone, he knew it well Ookami had made him visit it at least once a week when he had been his superior. "This stone holds many of my close personal friends names on it, and all of those names have been KIA"
Naruto looked away and Sakura's face clouded in confusion "It means Killed in action" Naruto said sadly and Sakura's face morphed into one of sadness, hell even Sasuke had the decency to look take aback "A lot of these people died for their teammates, instead completing their missions"
Kakashi nodded and then turned back to his team "I'll admit that ninja who follow the rules, are excellent shinobi there is no doubt about that but...to me people who would abandon their friends...they're worse than trash" Naruto gulped, if he hadn't thought that Kakashi was like Ookami before he defiantly thought he was now. "Okay tomorrow we start missions as Team 7"
Sakura and Sasuke cheered happily while Naruto just smiled warmly at his new sensei and then ran out of the clearing and into the forest making Kakashi smile a little. Then he shushinned away into the Jonin lounge where all the other Jonin senseis were waiting. Asuma was the first to smile and clap him on the back before dragging him to his seat. "Okay let's hear some stories" the bearded man said with a grin. Kakashi rolled his eyes and took his seat and held his book in front of his face and began reading drowning out many of the ramblings of his fellow Jonin.
"Team 8 passed" Kurenai said happily making many of the Jonin look up in surprise "Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame and very skilled at their families jut-su so much in fact that I'm going to suggest to their families that they start advanced training with their boys immediately" Kakashi looked up in interest and couldn't help but wonder if he would have passed the team. "Another thing is all three of them including Hinata work like a well oiled machine already, something about Hinata's compassion and the boy's lives, Shino has a hive like mind and Kiba is used to the pack mentality" Kakashi was shocked, of course Kurenai-the newest Jonin would get the best teamwork team.
Asuma smirked and took a long drag from his cigarette "Team 10 passed. I'm telling you they are the second coming of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation. Except...Ino isn't focused enough to be a real Kunochi and Choji just wants to eat all the time" Asuma paused and then his eyes unfocused "Shikamaru in my opinion is the laziest kid I've ever had to meet, he would rather sleep all night than actually work, but when you put all three on the field together, it's like watching their dads when they were kids, amazing" Asuma said the pride in his voice very noticeable
All the Jonin in the room turned to Kakashi who put his book down and sighed "Team 7...passed" All the other Jonin stared at Kakashi in shock who quickly held up his hand to stop protests "I'm not lying, my team is different, Sasuke is obviously good, he has decent chakra control and can already use fire jut-su, Sakura is smart and swift but needs work, but the most unusual was Naruto. At first he just sat there and played his pipe, then suddenly as if he was struck by lightning he just disappeared the next thing I know I'm being tackled by Naruto and Sakura had the bells, what made me even more surprised is when Sasuke got the other bell Naruto refused to take his offered one off Sakura saying that he couldn't cause his teammates any harm" The Jonin all looked at each other in shock, who would have thought that the demon jailor could be that self sacrificing
"Very well have the teams been decided" The Hokage asked walking into the room with his ANBU guards following only a step behind making all the other ninja in the room freeze and bow their heads in respect for their great leader.
"Yes Lord Hokage" One of the Jonin said scratching his head, "Teams 7, 8 and 10 have passed their unofficial Genin exams" The Hokage paused for a second when the Jonin instructors stood up and was taken back when Kakashi stood up.
"Well I have a feeling we should expect great things from this batch of rookies"