Naruto hummed as he walked towards the Hokage Tower. His hands were stuffed deep in his pockets and he had his hoodie on, since it was a sunny day. A few minutes later Naruto knocked on Hiruzen's door.
"Come in."
Hence invited he stepped into the room and folded his hands, pouting. Hiruzen chuckled at his behaviour and set his papers aside, focusing his attention completely on Naruto.
"Good morning, Naruto." he wished with a grin. Naruto walked over to his table and sat down on a chair before him.
"Yeah, yeah. Good morning, Old Man. Please tell me you have a good reason to drag me here while I could be at Ichiraku's enjoying miso ramen!" he pouted once more. The whiff of ramen hit his nose as his mind produced a steaming hot image of his favourite miso ramen. He automatically started to drool causing Hiruzen to laugh out loud.
"Well, yes, Naruto. I do have a good reason. It's about your tussle with Mizuki last night."
"Oh yeah...so what did you want to ask me?" questioned Naruto, leaning back on the chair. Hiruzen planted his elbows on the table and grasped his palms together.
"Tell me all that happened in detail. Do not miss out even a single part, Naruto."
Naruto folded his hands and his face turned serious. He closed his eyes and collected his words, carefully selecting each one of them.
"Yesterday, at the graduation exam, I was able to perform the Kage Bunshin. I was so happy that my practice paid off. My other techniques were also performed without flaws, so I expected that I would be the top student. But I wanted to hear it from Iruka-sensei. After a few hours, I went to find him but I found out that he was busy evaluating scores. It was already late so I decided to ask him the next day and I was about to return when I met Mizuki-sensei. Since he was a teacher too, I figured he would know about the scores. So I decided to ask him." explained Naruto.
Hiruzen, focusing his entire attention on Naruto, listened patiently, and nodded.
"And I went over to him and asked him if he knew about the scores. Mizuki-sensei then told me that even though my techniques were flawless, I wouldn't be the top student. There were others who did it slightly better than me, apparently. But he asked me not to worry, because he had a secret mission that the teachers were in charge of. He said that he could give that to one student only, and because he was impressed by my presentation, he said he would give it to me."
Another nod.
"So I agreed to take on his mission, and he asked me to get a scroll from your office. The scroll of...of.."
"The Scroll of Sealings." came the aid.
"Oh yeah that thing. So I agreed and ran to your office but you weren't here. I thought it was a part of the mission so I grabbed the scroll and rushed back to the forest."
"That's on me, I shouldn't have had that meeting so late." mused Hiruzen before nodding to Naruto again.
"I got to the forest, but there was nobody there. At first I was afraid that I may have gone to the wrong spot, I mean, the forest is big after all. After checking many times, I got bored and opened the scroll to see if there would be any interesting drawings inside. But there was just a load of writings I didn't understand. I went through the scroll feeling more and more bored when I saw a drawing with a huge number of people surrounding one shinobi. They all looked exactly identical, and they were holding out the same hand-sign too."
"The Multi Shadow clone." inwardly gasped Hiruzen.
"There was a lot of writing beside it, but I didn't understand much. Next to it was a huge painting of a shinobi showing the chakra pathways. It was blue here and green there, with red and yellow mixing in at the edges. The human figure was holding out the same hand-sign too. And there was another picture beside it showing how the chakra should be circulated. I had nothing to do anyway so I started to memorize the pattern. I had just finished studying it and was about to try it out when Iruka-sensei arrived."
"I see. I know what happened from here, Naruto. It was very brave of you to protect your sensei from harm." smiled Hiruzen and Naruto scratched at the back of his head sheepishly.
"Well, I was feeling very angry at Mizuki-sensei for throwing that shuriken at me and Iruka-sensei. If it wasn't for Iruka-sensei I would've been toast. But Mizuki-sensei kept attacking us and I kept feeling all this rage, y'know? And then I just couldn't take it anymore and I felt like I had to do something. All of a sudden I remembered that picture I saw in the scroll and I decided to give it a try. I still can't believe I was able to pull that off." Naruto continued, secretly hoping the trick would work.
Just like he predicted, Hiruzen's composure showed a very minute change when the word "rage" was pronounced. He focused his attention on Naruto again, and leaned forward.
"What do you mean by rage, Naruto?"
"Here comes the hard part." gulped Naruto as he looked down at the floor. Looking back into Hiruzen's eyes again, he began uncertainly.
"I mean, it felt like there was this burning sensation going through my body and my stomach tightened. My entire body felt hot and my eyes started to feel numb. My teeth felt weird and itchy too. It was just like that other time, and I kinda felt scared at the start. But then I felt mad again as my hands and legs began to feel itchy too. It was so weird but I couldn't think about that because my mind felt blank. And then I suddenly remembered that picture. It seemed as if my chakra was bubbling around, y'know? So when I decided to try it, all I could think of was those two pictures showing the chakra pathways." Naruto blurted out.
He peeped into Hiruzen's face, to see if it had worked. Hiruzen seemed half surprised and half amused. The old man opened his mouth as to say something, but then closed it again. Then he opened it and was about to say something again when the door opened and Morino Ibiki walked in. He glanced at Hiruzen and nodded.
"We're done with him."
Hiruzen nodded in response. Then he turned to Naruto again, speaking in a soft voice.
"I'm sorry Naruto, but I'll have to go now. But remember this. You're stronger than you think you are. You have this...spark in you, it's...it's amazing. Whatever you chose to do with it, you'll be great. So give your best and work hard. And if you're free this weekend, I can clear my schedule a little bit and maybe we can go over to our pond again." winked Hiruzen, smiling as Naruto's face beamed.
"Yeah! I'll work hard and become Hokage soon, believe it! I'll go train now, see you this weekend then, old man." he grinned. Standing up, Naruto ran past Ibiki and waved to Hiruzen before dashing down the stairs.
Hiruzen sighed with a smile as the room fell silent again. Ibiki stood in silence with a smile on his face.
"He almost always brightens the hour." smiled Hiruzen in a low tone as Ibiki looked at him, amused.
"Yeah. I can see that." he replied as Hiruzen looked through the window to see a blue-gold blur dash away on the rooftops.
"He gets that from his mother." commented Hiruzen, standing up and placing the Hokage hat on his head.
"Now, let's take a look at the man, shall we?" said Hiruzen as both men snapped back onto their guards, the room turning serious again.
"Yes, Lord Third."
(Ninja Academy, Konoha)
Naruto yawned as he stretched his hands. Sighing, he rested his chin on the table.
Hearing footsteps to his right, he looked back to see Shikamaru lazily trudging along the stairs. Blonde and black looked at each other, the former with a smile and the latter with a slightly stunned expression.
"What are you doing here, Naruto? This isn't a place for drop-outs, you can't be here unless you graduate." he reminded, looking at Naruto lazily.
Naruto gasped slightly before smiling sinisterly.
"Ohh, he's gonna regret this."
Sharpening his tone as much as he could so that his voice wouldn't cross Shikamaru, he took a deep breath.
"OH YEAH? DO YOU SEE THIS? DO YOU SEE THIS? OPEN YOUR EYES SHIKAMARU, IT'S A REGULATION HEADBAND."
A little while later Shikamaru trudged onward nursing his poor ears and Naruto leaned back in his seat with a twinkle in his eye.
After this little conversation, things got boring again and Naruto couldn't help yawning once more. He stretched himself on his desk again, and started observing his classmates.
He caught Sakura and Ino fidgeting to his right, both trying to get the closest seat to Sasuke, who was seated on his left. "Doesn't either of them realise that even if they were to get that seat, I'm still between them and Sasuke?" he thought, facepalming mentally.
"I guess we really were children back then." he chuckled as he turned his head slightly to get a better view. And none too sooner, because just as he settled into a comfortable observing position, an all-out war broke out between the two girls, a war which seemed to him deadlier than the Fourth Shinobi War. Quickly averting his gaze and turning his head in opposite direction, he hoped that they wouldn't kick him from his perch between them and the emo when the class door opened and Iruka sensei walked in.
Clearing his throat loud enough for the whole class to hear, he waited until the students became quiet before smiling warmly at his students.
"Good job, everyone. You have passed the initial test and are on your way to officially becoming the genin of Konohagakure. I am very proud of you all (here he looked at Naruto with a twinkle in his eyes) and I'm happy to see you working hard to improve yourself and overcome your flaws."
"However, don't celebrate just yet. Because the second part of the graduation exams starts now." he declared, causing the students to get nervous.
Consulting his famous clip-pad once more, Iruka explained the concept to the students.
"You will now be allocated to three-man teams under a Jounin sensei. This high-ranking shinobi will test your skills and they will decide whether to pass or fail you. So be careful out there, and good luck to you all. Now your names will be called out and you will be allocated to your respective teams." continued Iruka.
"Hey Sasuke-kun, do you think I'll be in your team? Don't you wish I was?" chirped Ino, causing Sakura to jolt.
"Of course not, Ino pig! I'm going to be in his team! He wants me to be in his team, not you!" retorted Sakura and a mini-war broke out again.
"You?! Who would want you in their team, billboard brat! I'm sure I'm the one Sasuke wants. Right, Sasuke-kun?"
Their attention turned to Sasuke and Naruto leaned far back into his seat, giving the girls a better view at Sasuke. He was pretty sure that if he was in their view, their rage would be directed at him rather than at each other. Sasuke, who was staring out of the window, shifted his gaze ever so slightly to look at them.
"Shut up. You're both annoying." he scoffed, and the girls stopped their competition for a brief moment, only to resume it again. Chuckling to himself, Naruto stretched his legs and folded his arms, waiting for the names to be announced.
After a brief recheck, Iruka looked at the students again.
"The squads are as follows."
A brief while later the class was in disarray. Ino was dejected about the fact that she wasn't in Sasuke's team, Shikamaru concerned that he was thrown in a troublesome team, Hinata nervously greeting her new teammates she knew nothing about (and trying her best not to be spooked by Shino), Choji downing his packet of chips noisily in celebration (he was happy being paired with Shikamaru), Sakura joining him in celebration over Ino's defeat, Akamaru barking wildly, and so on.
It took Iruka a little over fifteen minutes to quiet the class again, and by the time he was done his throat was parched and dry. Drinking water from a bottle on the teacher's desk, he glanced at his pad again. A few moments later he looked at the class once more.
"And finally, Naruto Uzumaki, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, in squad 7" he announced, causing Sakura to nearly whoop out of joy. Naruto closed his eyes and folded his arms once again, and Sasuke stared at Iruka.
"Sensei, I have a question." declared Sasuke, standing up.
"Go on." came the reply.
"Why do I have to be paired with these two?" asked Sasuke, pointing to Naruto and Sakura.
"Every year, the teams are created based on the evaluations we teachers make on the students, Sasuke. A lot of people had the maximum score in the physical test, but you were the one with the highest score in the written test. To balance the team, you are paired with the one with the lowest score. And Naruto was the one with the lowest score." he answered.
Naruto heard a gasp to his right, and turned around. Dropping Sakura (whom she was until now shaking by the shoulders), Ino looked at him with a wide open jaw.
"Didn't you ace the test? You even performed all three clones at once!" asked Ino out loud, eliciting several gasps from students. Everyone thought Naruto would flunk his practical exam too.
"You performed all three at once?" asked Sasuke from beside him and Naruto could do nothing but laugh nervously.
"I mean, the practical exam went well but I was practicing my shadow clone all the time so I couldn't study for the written exam." lied Naruto. He had purposefully messed up his written test, he had to be on team 7 after all. He had decided not to make major changes in the past unless it was absolutely necessary.
"Well, you did well enough to pass, so congratulations for that, Naruto. Now, your senseis will arrive shortly, and I have to go. Good luck, everyone, and be good!" said Iruka, eying everyone with a smile. With a wave to his class, he walked out the door and entered another room where he found Hiruzen seated on a chair waiting for him.
"So, he's passed this time?" asked Hiruzen, pointing to the chair in front of him.
"Yes, and as far as the physical test is concerned, with flying colors." replied Iruka, seating himself on the chair provided for him. Handing him a closed book with a bookmark sticking out, Hiruzen lit his pipe.
Opening the book, Iruka scanned it's contents. It contained the information regarding the Jounin in charge of the newly-formed teams. Noting the names of the teachers, Iruka glanced at the info on team 7 and gasped. He stood up and faced Hiruzen directly.
"You're allotting them to him?!" he asked with wide eyes, receiving a nod from Hiruzen.
"But you know about his track record! None of the teams ever given to him have been able to pass his test!" retorted Iruka as Hiruzen drew at his pipe.
"I'm aware, Iruka. But there's a reason I assigned him to team 7." replied Hiruzen as Iruka calmed down and sat down again. Hiruzen puffed at his pipe, causing rings of smoke to drift lazily in the air. He remained quiet for a few moments before leaning forward and planting his elbows on the table between them. Iruka leaned forward too and at a flare of Hiruzen's chakra, ANBU surrounded the room. Iruka noticed that and gulped; if Hiruzen was willing to display his ANBU forces then this was a serious matter.
"Haven't you noticed Naruto acting a little...strange lately?" whispered Hiruzen, puzzling Iruka.
"What do you mean, Lord Third?" he asked, as Hiruzen took a while to reply.
"That kid was never really one to make good impressions, and lasting ones at that until a while ago. And I'm not just mentioning his progress in the Kage Bunshin." muttered Hiruzen as Iruka listened with rapt attention.
"Remember that time when he underwent a case of chakra exhaustion?" Hiruzen looked at Iruka, the latter nodding with a gulp.
"It wasn't chakra exhaustion. Not partly, atleast. Naruto has a huge chakra supply, as you're well aware. It was like his chakra had condensed on an unprecedented scale, so much that it even pulled in the Kyubi's chakra. And not only that. When he came to me the next day, his explanation regarding his condition was on par with a full-scale medical ninja's." sighed Hiruzen, rubbing his temples with his fingers. Iruka was immersed in thought; Hiruzen was right, Naruto did seem to have improved explosively after that night.
"And that's why I assigned him to team 7. I've already asked that man to look into the matter without alerting Naruto. I believe in Naruto, he isn't a threat. But if the Kyubi has something to do with this, there comes the real issue. I know of only two people who can be of help in this situation, and one isn't in a position to aid us currently." explained Hiruzen as Iruka turned his gaze into the table.
"Besides, we also have the last survivor of the Uchiha clan in the same team. You know how talented the boy is. With proper training and the correct guidance, there's a good chance he can unlock his clan's bloodline. After all, even if he did manage to awaken it, he will need someone to guide him." Hiruzen flared his chakra as the ANBU at the door moved aside and the door flung open.
"And who better than Kakashi of the Sharingan for that?" questioned Hiruzen as the man walked into the room, his orange book in hand, his one visible eye staring lazily at the occupants of the room.
"I didn't exactly need a dramatic entrance, you know?" he commented, leaning against the wall beside the table with a nod to Iruka.
"No wonder he was interested in Naruto, he must have been aware of the placement." thought Iruka as he got up.
"Well, I don't have any complaints. Please take care of my students, Kakashi-san." smiled Iruka, looking at Kakashi. The white-haired scarecrow-man eye-smiled like only he could waving to Iruka as he spoke in a cheerful voice.
"Don't worry, Iruka-san. I'll make sure to take good care of them." he replied with a nod, relieving Iruka to some extent. Nodding to Hiruzen and Kakashi, he walked to the door as the ANBU guards stepped aside, opening the door for him.
Kakashi stared out of the window. Soon he heard the door shut and closed his book. Walking over to Hiruzen, he occupied the seat Iruka had sat on until then.
"So... you've told him?" he asked, eliciting a nod from Hiruzen.
"I did. He deserves to know, Kakashi. Don't worry, for I have not told him everything." assured Hiruzen as Kakashi leaned back in his seat.
"Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha..." he murmured, shifting his gaze to the ceiling.
"Well, I guess I'll have to go pick my team up." he declared after a while, standing up and going to the door.
"You're leaving already? The other teachers would be surprised. Kakashi Hatake is going to show up early?" chuckled Hiruzen in an amused way, causing Kakashi to stop and look over his shoulder.
"Of course not."
Hey guys! Wyld here. Extremely sorry for the late update, but hey, like I promised you, I will keep writing even if I'm three years late. It's just hard for me to get the timing right, like, I find it hard to balance between school life and my passion as a writer. But thing is I love creating these stories in my head and playing them in a loop when I'm bored. Believe it or not, I've already made up four other stories in my head, and all I have to do is just bring them to life. But for now, I've decided to focus on this fanfic till I'm free enough to go two to three at a time. So, FOR NOW, my other ideas will have to wait it out inside my head, and all the fight scenes I've imagined will have to be carried out in my mind till I start on them. So keep reading, guys, and maybe if I'm lucky enough I'll upload two to three chapters at once. MAYBE.
Well this is it for chapter six. NGL, can't wait for the next chapter myself, haha. I've yet to do a ton of stuff but I'll take it slow, I don't want to rush my first fanfic. So please bear with me, and if you do I promise I'll never stop writing this fanfic. Your support and happiness when you read this fanfic is my only driving force, after all. Oh, and the rereader offer still holds, I'll be able to post fanfics quicker if i have someone to check the chapter for mistakes instead of doing it myself. So if you're interested, please let me know in the reviews or please DM me. Alright then, I'll shut up now, cya in the next fanfic!
Time to go look at mini neji memes.