A.N.: Here comes the third chapter. Now the fun can start.

A.N.2: Now reposted with less grammar errors.

Disclaimer: Nothing changed since yesterday, I still don't own Naruto.

A chop, a jab, a block, a step back then two to the right, spin, charge, retreat an then attack again. Hear the air swish as the blade cuts through it. Jump high, land in a crouch and stab backwards at an imaginary opponent. She finished the kata and sheathed her sword. She smiled. Everything was perfect. She went through the whole exercise without the smallest twitch, with no sign of hesitation and only the slightest hint of the obnoxious pain. Finally, after all the time, her injuries were fully healed.

She still shuddered when she remembered them. She could even now feel the phantom pain of a kunai sliding across her ribs, her attempt to block the strike, then the punch that had shattered her arm. The hit to her head she didn't feel until after she woke up in the hospital two days later. The medics hadn't been sure she would be ever able to resume her shinobi career.

She recalled the time of despair, worsened even when she had heard the results of the Exams. Oh, how she had been proud to make it to the finals. Now she just wanted to kick herself for the stupidity. She hadn't been ready. She might have done well on the first test, but the second one she had passed only thanks to her teammates. In the third part she had lost her first match almost as soon as it begun. She had to realize with shame that she was out of her depth.

And to add insult to injury, both of her teammates had advanced in rank. She didn't. It took some painful introspection, but she realized she hadn't been taking her training seriously enough. She had always prided herself on not being a useless fangirl like so many young kunoichi, but it turned out that wasn't enough. Well, no more. She would now put everything she's got into her training. She'd train and train and then train some more until she'd become the best and even then she wouldn't stop training.

Now only the matter of her team weighted on her mind. Since her teammates had both made chuunin and her recovery had been uncertain, they took off on their different carriers and her squad had been officially disbanded. So now she was a wee little genin without a team and she wouldn't be able to go on missions and enter the Chuunin exams again until she got onto a new one. She'll have to be good so the senseis would fight over her, otherwise she'll stay in the reserves forever.

With that resolve she resumed her training.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Elsewhere~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The young girl was running through the forest at top speed, her three grey dogs, still puppies, at her heels. She strained both her nose and ears to discern what was happening ahead.

This was supposed to be an easy bodyguard mission, but it had suddenly become apparent that it exceeded the parameters of a C-rank.

It had started innocently enough. They were escorting the rich businessman's daughter and her two servants on a trip to visit her aunt in Port city. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the flowers were blooming and the only inconvenience they had encountered so far was the cloud of dust behind the ox-driven cart carrying their client's possessions. A mission as easy as pie, one would say. But their sensei insisted on taking it seriously anyway.

That's why she found herself as the forward scout. It was a logical choice, because she and her canines were able to smell trouble from miles ahead. And they haven't noticed a thing out of the ordinary. That's why they were so startled when they heard a scream from behind.

She turned on her heels and took the air into her nose. Nothing. The wind wasn't blowing today. She channeled chakra to her ears. She picked a crack of broken wood followed by ringing of steel meeting steel. Definitely a battle. She took to the treetops and sped towards their small entourage.

The battle seemed to have reached a peak and was slowly dying down. She pumped even more chakra into her legs and willed herself to go faster. Soon she arrived at the scene. While she had been scouting ahead, they had been attacked from behind.

She saw her sensei defending against two opponents. He was already sporting a gash on his cheek and his left thigh was leaking red. She didn't stop to think, her instincts took over. She jumped from the tree with a battle cry and lunged at the closest opponent. He dodged. She landed on all fours. For a moment, her back was exposed to him. He tried to stab her, but a gray blur jumped him. He barely avoided the snapping jaws. But then a mouth full of sharp teeth closed around his calf. He looked down in surprise. He hadn't realized that there might be more than one dog. That hesitation cost him dearly. The third canine hit his hip and took out a bit of skin. The man screamed.

By the time the girl was back on her feet and joined the fray. A quick application of her clan's secret jutsu gave her feral qualities. With her nails turned into claws she swiped at the man.

She now had a better view of him. He was wearing standard shinobi clothes, dark jumpsuit with a flack jacket of a design she couldn't immediately recognize. He was wearing a hitai-ate on his forehead, but his dirty hair obscured the symbol.

He blocked her attack with ease. "So the little girl came to play," he sneered. "More fun for me." He kicked away the dog biting into his leg. She saw that momentary loss of balance and attacked. He managed to avoid her blow, but one of her dogs got hold of his side. Unfortunately his teeth couldn't penetrate the armored vest. The man batted him away with a fist. "Pathetic," he commented. "Is that all you got?"

She scowled. Of course that wasn't all. It was time to take out the big guns. She reached into her pouch and took out three tiny orbs. "Take that, boys," she shouted throwing the soldier pills to her canine partners. They caught them from the air and promptly swallowed. Their fur stood on its end and darkened. They seemed to grow bigger. "I'll show you just what I've got," hissed the kunoichi.

"Gatsuuga!" She jumped in the air and started spinning, her companions following suit. Soon four small tornado-like projectiles were flying at the attacker from different directions. His eyes widened in surprise, but he was too experienced ninja to be caught off guard that easily. He frantically dodged, but the attacks changed their direction and still followed him. But he was fast. He saw an opening between them and took it. He was able to avoid most of the attack, but one still glanced his thigh. He grimaced in pain when his leg had trouble supporting him.

"You'll pay for this, little shit," he promised. The girl paid him no mind. She and her dogs were readying themselves for another charge.

The man's face suddenly registered surprise and then he toppled forward, revealing the form of the girl's sensei with a bloodied kunai in his hand. "That was reckless, Hana," he chided. The young kunoichi now registered the form of the other attacker lying still on the ground, his throat slit.

"I know, sensei," she admitted. She then looked around. "Where is everyone?" Her sensei pointed behind the cart. She quickly took off. And halted after just a few steps. There were lying her teammates, the ground red with their blood. The maid and the cart driver were sprawled beside them. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak, she could barely breathe. Then she registered a small sound. She awoke from her stupor. One of them was still alive!

She knelt down to the wounded boy and quickly examined him. She was no expert, but she had some basic medical knowledge. Her aunt had been tutoring her in the ways of a veterinarian, but she found little interest in it. The paths of warriors or trackers were more alluring to her. But now she swore that she wouldn't try to skip on her lessons ever again.

Because what she was able to discern wasn't comforting at all. The boy's lung had been punctured and an artery was ruptured. He was slowly drowning in his own blood. She quickly ran through her meager arsenal of medical techniques and came up with a blood stopping jutsu. She hadn't fully mastered it yet, but it would have to do. She forced her shaky fingers into the necessary handseals and was relieved when her hand was enveloped in the familiar green glow. She laid her palm on the wound. She prayed it would work.

The bleeding slowly lessened and then stopped. Hana let out a breath and deactivated the jutsu. It seemed her teammate would live for the while.

She registered soft steps behind her. She whirled to face the newcomer, her arms automatically assuming the fighting stance even though her dogs were calm. It was just her sensei. The man was leaning on the cart, his right hand clutching at his bleeding thigh.

"Sensei," she cried out half relieved, half alarmed.

"How are they?" he asked.

"Juubei lives," she answered.

"And Tokita?"

She walked over her other fallen teammate. She ran a quick diagnostic jutsu over him and then hung her head in defeat. Tears spilled from her eyes.

"I'm sorry," her sensei said slowly, "but now isn't time for grieving."

She wiped her eyes and stood up. She didn't know what she should do now. Now the excitement of the battle turned down, the reality of what had happened dawned on her.

"We cannot linger here," sensei pointed out. "The last one may return anytime when his comrades won't catch up to him."

"Another one?" she asked alarmed.

"Yes, the one who took away our client and took down Juubei and Tokita."

"What are we going to do?" she asked, suddenly feeling very young and helpless. A part of her mind told her to go after the last enemy to complete their mission and avenge her friends, but another didn't want to leave them. And yet another one told her that it didn't matter anyway, since she couldn't defeat the enemy and would wind up dead no matter what she would do.

"We'll have to salvage what we can," the jounin decided. "I'm currently in no shape to fight and you are no match for such an opponent. Is Juubei stable now?"

"I think so, I did what I could."

"Good. Then patch me up the best you can. We must be prepared when the last one shows up."

"Yes, sensei." She started to work.

"Who were they?" she inquired after a while.

"According to their scratched headbands they were nukenin. But they didn't seem like your typical bunch. Their gear was in too good shape. They might have been just pretending so they wouldn't implicate their village."

"So there might be others?" she asked fearfully.

"I hope not. Otherwise we're dead."

"It's finished, sensei," Hana said. "Can you stand on your own?" The man tried it.

"Yes, thank you. This'll do." He limped towards his other surviving student. "How bad off is he?"

She ran a diagnosis and grimaced. "Very bad. I managed to stop his bleeding, but his lung is still collapsed. I'm afraid it would take a much better medic than me to heal him. I don't think he'll survive long enough to get him back to Konoha."

"We'll have to try anyway. Let's get him on the cart. We'll be riding home. The only good thing about this situation is that we still have the oxen."

They carefully lifted the wounded boy. He let out a pained cry that quickly turned into a gurgle. Hana winced. They laid him into the cart. She made sure his wound hadn't opened. At least something went well today.

"What about the others?" she asked.

"The cart is big enough. We can take them to Konoha to their families." They loaded the bodies. Sensei than took the reins and turned the cart around. They began their journey back to Konoha.

She was exhausted after the battle and healing, but she didn't allow herself to rest. She kept looking over her shoulder, expecting an attack anytime.

"Calm down, Hana. I don't think we'll be attacked that soon."

"Why?"

"Our client was taken captive, not killed. That means he has to deliver her somewhere. It seems like the mission is more important to him than his comrades."

She shuddered. Something like that was unforgivable in her clan. But she decided to trust the words of her sensei and rest on the cart for a while. Besides there were still her trusty dogs keeping guard on them.

The journey seemed much longer than when they had traveled in the opposite direction. Hana kept watch over Juubei. She fed him a blood replenishing pill, but it only caused his wound to reopen. She managed to close it again, but he probably lost most of the blood he had regained due to the medicine. It was all she could do to restrain herself from pulling out her hair in frustration. The boy's condition was steadily worsening. His skin became ashen, his breathing too fast and shallow. He won't live to see the evening, she was positive of it. And there wasn't a single thing she could do about it. She hated the feeling of helplessness. And Konoha was still too far.

She watched the sun slowly descending to the horizon. The shadows were lengthening and she half expected an enemy hiding in every one of them. Sometime during the afternoon Juubei stopped breathing. She wanted to cry for him, but instead she just felt numb. There was panic ebbing at the edges of her mind, but she refused to acknowledge it. She knew that if she allowed herself any stronger emotions, she would just break down.

Evening came and they stopped for the night. Her sensei took the first watch. She lay in her sleeping bag, but sleep eluded her. Instead the events of the previous day kept replaying themselves in front of her eyes.

Then it was suddenly morning. Had she dozed off? They packed up the camp and set on the road. She just stared blankly forward. When they were attacked, she didn't even notice it. It took one of her dogs tackling her to the ground to wake her from her stupor.

She quickly scanned her surroundings. Then dodged as a kunai sailed towards her head. She located where it had come from. She sprung to her feet, her own kunai in hand. Her sensei had already thrown a couple of shuriken into the foliage. Their assailant swiftly moved out of the way. Then a hail of senbon flew from the opposite direction. She barely evaded them. There were two enemies?HHH They were screwed.

One of the attackers came out of the bushes and her sensei engaged him. She scanned the trees for the other one.

She heard a kunai whistling in the air, but it wasn't aimed at her. She looked over her shoulder. Her sensei just barely dodged the thrown blade, but it put too much strain on his injured leg. He stumbled and hissed in pain. His opponent capitalized on it. He stabbed at his chest. Sensei managed to block it, but the knife went right through his forearm. She screamed and rushed to his aid.

The other one attacked before she could reach him. She managed to get into a stance and block his strike, but it felt like her bones were breaking. Her dogs immediately jumped the nukenin and forced him to retreat momentarily. But then he pulled out a katana and they had to back off to avoid being cut to pieces. Hana briefly considered her options and took four pills from her pouch. She threw three of them to her partners and swallowed one herself. She leapt away to avoid a vicious sword strike, then activated her Quadruped technique.

"Let's go, boys," she shouted. "Gatsuuga!" Four furry tornados started after the man. He managed to avoid them entirely. "Again," commanded Hana.

This time her opponent didn't run. He ran through some handseals and slammed his fist to the ground. A wall of earth rose from the ground. The four attacking whirlwinds slammed into it painfully. Small cracks appeared in the barrier, but it held. The foursome fell to the ground.

"How did you like that, stupid pups," the man laughed. Hana's head hurt too much to glare at him. "Wimpy little puppies shouldn't play with big bad wolves." She shook her head to clear it. She lifted herself on her hands and knees. The man kicked her side knocking her back down. One of her dogs charged at him, but he punched his muzzle sending him flying. The others finally got to they paws and started at him. He simply grabbed his katana again and easily held them off. One of her trusted friends now sported a long gash along his backside. It looked bad for them.

She somehow got to her feet before the man attacked again. She blocked his blade with a kunai, but she was pushed back nevertheless. The next strike didn't chop off her head only because one of her dogs tackled him. It earned him a punch that broke his ribs.

"Now I had it," the man snapped. "I'll kill the mutts first and than I take my time with you, girl."

Then he was forced to dodge a hail of kunai.

"What the…" he started. Two figures jumped from the trees, weapons drawn, and charged at him. Two more went after the other missing nin. She recognized their armor and masks. An ANBU patrol. They were saved.

The battle took a swift end after that, the outlaws being no match for a superior number of elite warriors. She watched it with indifferent eyes.

"Are you all right, kunoichi-san," one of the masked men asked. She nodded mechanically. "Can you tell us what happened?" She started retelling the events of the last two days. The ANBU had some more questions and she answered obediently. When they said they would be escorting them to Konoha, she wavered on her feet. The one with bear mask had to support her. The exhaustion finally caught up with her. They had to carry her all the way home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hokage's office~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarutobi sighed tiredly when he finished reading the detailed report. It was quite a debacle for a simple C-rank mission, but clients sometimes tended to downplay the amount and wealth of their enemies to save on the mission cost. Rich merchants were the worst. The competition was vicious and they sought to cut their expenses whenever they could. And then they had the gall to play the injured party when disasters like this happened. The elderly Hokage wished he could just have every such idiot assassinated, but then Konoha would soon run out of clients. Usually the only thing he could do when a mission increased in difficulty was to charge higher prices, but self-important cheap-assed morons who got his ninja killed would regret it dearly.

He had already sent a team to find the missing girl and whoever paid that nukenin, if they indeed were such. Nobody got away with killing shinobi of Konoha. Specialists were currently busy with the bodies, trying to discern where did they come from.

He tried to tell himself that it could have been worse. Still, two fresh genin dead and a jounin crippled was a pretty bad outcome, no matter how he looked at it. He forced his thoughts to turn to more positive matters, like what to do with the surviving girl. He picked the files of current genin and started to study them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tenzo fully expected to be sent on a mission when he was suddenly summoned to the Hokage's office, so he took his battle gear. He was therefore surprised when the aged village leader motioned for him to come closer. He looked at his superior in askance, waiting for him to speak.

"Tell me, Tenzo, is Naruto ready for field duty?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Training grounds~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tenzo arrived at the meeting point with time to spare. He used it to reminiscence on the recent events.

When the Hokage had asked him whether Naruto was ready, he had panicked for a moment. What did Sarutobi want with his little boy? But he had to truthfully admit that his young student was now safely on genin level. Then the Professor told him he wanted to put him on a team and make Tenzo their sensei. Saying he was surprised would be an understatement. He had never thought he would be in charge of his own genin squad, but then four years ago he wouldn't have believed he would end up raising a child. Well, life was full of surprises and this one wasn't entirely unwelcome. Though he might want to wait with the final verdict until he met his team in person.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Graveyard~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hana stood silently in front of a new tombstone. It had been only three days since she had been released from the hospital and two since her teammates' funeral. Their sensei couldn't attend, he was still bedridden. She had been shocked when she had heard that he would never regain full use of his arm again. She knew it meant the end of his ninja career. She knew she was being illogical, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it was partially her fault. If she could detect the enemies sooner, if she were with her team when the attack happened, if she were stronger, if she were a better medic… the list went on and on.

Half of the time she doubted if she was worthy of calling herself kunoichi. She had seriously considered quitting many times for the last week, but she couldn't bring herself to actually do so, although that might have been just her fear of her mother's reaction to such news. Her mother was a strong woman, always knowing what to do, never backing off from a challenge, never taking any crap from anybody. Hana wished she could be more like her. If her mother ever found out just how weak her daughter was, she would be extremely disappointed and let her opinion be known in a forceful manner.

Hana sighed. If she wasn't strong now, it didn't mean she couldn't become stronger. She resolved to devote her life to make it happen. She had thought she would have more time to prepare before she'll have to reenter active duty, but then a message arrived saying she had been placed on a new squad. For a moment she had been tempted to refuse, but then she remembered her earlier resolve. If she wanted to become stronger, she should better begin now. Yet she felt very uncomfortable having to face new teammates so soon after losing her old ones. She had no desire to form new bonds when the wounds from the old ones being torn were still raw. But she couldn't back off now. She'll have to go and smile at strange people while her friends were lying dead in the ground.

She looked up at the sky and noticed the hour. She should better be going. It wouldn't do to be late for her very first team meeting. She turned to leave, her three silent companions following he steps.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Somewhere downtown~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was ecstatic. After all the time she was finally placed on a new squad. She couldn't wait to see who her new teammates were going to be. She hoped they wouldn't be jerks like her old ones, who just went on with their lives and left her behind. They barely remembered to visit her in the hospital while she was still recovering. Not that she hated them, but they never became particularly close.

They were both a bit spoiled kids from major clans, talented and among the best at the Academy, while she was just a simple girl from a no-name family with no particular talent. Her only remarkable skill was in handling her kodachi her cousin had given her. She also taught her how to wield it. The short sword had become her love and pride. She polished it thoroughly, tested the sharpness of the blade and then sheathed it.

She donned her customary ninja gear and set off to the training grounds. She couldn't wait to start a new era of her life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tenzo's home~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naruto couldn't sleep with excitement the night before. He had been even more hyper than usual ever since he had heard that he might become a real ninja. Sure, he first had to pass the genin test, but he was confident he could do it. Naturally it turned out to be harder than he imagined. He shuddered when he remembered it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ninja Academy, two days earlier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naruto had never been at the Academy before and he looked around in amazement. Never mind there wasn't much to see, every hallway, every closed door seemed to hold countless secrets of aspiring shinobi education and he couldn't help but wonder what skills would he have learned, what adventures he would have gone through, what friends and rivals he would have made had he attended here. But his musings were soon cut short, as they arrived at a particular door. Tenzo stopped and knocked.

"Come in," someone called. They entered a room. It was a standard classroom with a blackboard and rows of desks, only students were missing. Behind the teacher's desk was sitting a young man with grayish hair. "Hello," he smiled in greeting. "You must be Uzumaki Naruto. Pleased to meet you. I am Mizuki. I will be proctoring your test today." The teacher's politeness seemed forced, but it was better than what Naruto was used to.

"Pleased to meet you too," he replied.

"Well then. If you are prepared, take a seat and we shall begin the written portion." Written test? Naruto cringed inwardly. No matter how much Tenzo tutored him, book knowledge was never his forte. But he wouldn't back off. Not when his dream was within his reach. He put on a brave façade and sat down. Mizuki handed him a sheet of paper and a pen. "You have an hour to complete it. You may begin now."

Naruto turned the paper over and started reading the first question. It was hard, but he felt like he should know this, unfortunately the answer eluded him. He moved on to the second one. It was slightly easier. He started scribbling down what little he remembered.

The hour passed in a similar fashion. Naruto managed to answer around half of the questions, some of them he knew, others he deduced. And where both failed, he just made something up and hoped some of it might hit close to the mark. He could just pray it would be enough to pass.

"Time's up," announced Mizuki and collected his test sheet. He briefly scanned it and looked vaguely pleased at something. Naruto just wished he knew whether it was at his success or failure. "Now comes thrown weapon accuracy." Naruto perked up. That was something he excelled at, even if he said so himself.

They arrived at the target range. Mizuki handed him a handful of practice kunai.

"Am I supposed to throw these?" Naruto scowled.

"Of course," Mizuki said. "Would you prefer to throw stones instead?"

"Yes," the examinee confirmed. "These are completely blunt and unbalanced. And are they even steel? They look like they'd shatter if I threw them too hard."

"So the standard Academy equipment isn't good enough for you?" Mizuki asked sarcastically. "I'm afraid that's all you'll get here."

"If that's so, I understand why do the jounin-senseis always complain about new graduates," Tenzo stated his opinion. "These are really inferior. Your poor students cannot possibly gain any accuracy working with those."

"Tell that to the Council," Mizuki retorted. "They refused to raise our equipment budget again. I'm afraid those are all we have."

"Then it's good I packed my own," Naruto smiled reaching into his pouch. He then proceeded to throw his kunai and shuriken at the targets. He hit every one of them, only a handful went slightly off center.

Mizuki for a moment looked like he swallowed a lemon, but quickly corrected his facial expression. He wrote down Naruto's scores. "You passed this one," he announced. "Now we proceed to the taijutsu exam."

He had to spar against Mizuki. The man wasn't taking it easy on him, but Naruto was used to worse from Anko. Mizuki had to admit he was good enough to pass.

The last portion was ninjutsu. When he was asked to perform Kawarimi, he switched with Mizuki. The proctor had been startled and angered, but he had to admit it was a successful attempt. When performing Henge he turned into Anko minus her coat. Mizuki was staring for a full minute before Tenzo decided that enough was enough and shook him awake. The teacher had to wipe the blood from his nose before he declared Naruto's attempt passable.

The last obstacle before his becoming genin was the Bunshin no jutsu. He still couldn't do its most basic version properly, but he knew its upgrades. He quickly formed a handseal and silently summoned a couple of Kage Bunshin. They appeared beside him and gave Mizuki a high-five.

"That wasn't the correct handseal sequence," Mizuki pointed out.

"But it gave the correct result," Naruto defended. Mizuki looked like he wanted to disagree, but he couldn't come up with a sound argument.

"You passed," he decided. "Congratulations, Uzumaki, you are now officially a shinobi of Konohagakure. Here is your hitai-ate." He handed him a rectangular piece of metal with the engraved Leaf symbol fastened on a dark blue piece of cloth. Naruto took it reverently and carefully fastened it around his forehead. Then he sprung into a victorious dance.

"Yay, I did it, I did it!"

"Calm down, Naruto," Tenzo chastised him, "you're making a spectacle."

"Who cares? I did it! I did it!" Tenzo sighed. When his young charge got into one of these moods, there were precious few things that could make him stop.

"You'll give ninja of Konoha bad name." That made the boy pause. Before he could come up with a reply, Tenzo pressed his advance. "And if you do so, I won't buy you ramen." It was an underhanded tactics, but it was dependable. Tenzo used it strictly as a last resort, since it presented too much of a strain on his budget. But he felt this situation warranted it.

Naruto forcibly calmed himself. "I'll be good," he promised. They started towards Ichiraku's, Naruto's every step bouncing with barely suppressed excitement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back at Tenzo's apartment~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naruto was brought out of his reverie by the sight of the clock. Was it that late already? He put on his sandals and utility belt, and fastened the belt with his brand new ninjato over his blue and black jacket with orange trimming. Then he started roof hopping towards the training grounds. He wouldn't live it down if he started his ninja career by being late.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Training grounds~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tenzo was awoken from his musings by the sound of approaching footsteps. His students were coming. And it looked like they decided to show up at the same time. He jumped down from the tree. Time to put the show on the road.

That's it for today. Next time: the genin test.