Chapter .2. Meeting the team

The day dawned like any other except for the fact that Uchiha Itachi woke up on a thick futon in his room; one that he had not seen in over 8 years.

Itachi unclenched his fist and noticed a small square of fabric with the Uchiha fan; for the first time he noticed that it wasn't a piece of Sasuke's shirt like had first thought but it was a piece off of one of his own that he had leant Shikaya after a mission where she had ended up in a blast which had destroyed her shirt and the rest of her supplies. 'So I can bring things back with me'.

Itachi shook himself out of his reverie and left his bedroom after he shut the sliding shoji door; he scowled as he looked up in to the high mirror in the bath room. Itachi spun around when he heard someone open the bathroom door it was Uchiha Mikoto. 'Itachi-kun you should be at the academy already you have your team assignments'

'Hai, I was just on my way'

Itachi took his seat 10 minutes later and looked at the graduating class for this year. It was packed full of 11 and 12 year old genin and only 2 other children close to his age.

'Ok settle down, now for the team announcements…'

Itachi zoned out until he heard his name 'lastly we have Uchiha Itachi, Nara Shikaya and Ryuu Shinran will be team 25 under the jounin sensei; Kawakiri Kasumi

The time travelling Uchiha marvelled at how small his team mates actually were. Shinran was still alive and Shikaya was missing all of her scars and still had short hair that spiked out everywhere; it seemed like the Kyuubi had not attacked yet because Shikaya still seemed happy and carefree unlike after her mother had died she had become more withdrawn and begun to take being ninja serious at age 8. Shikaya grabbed the Shinran's hand and the brown haired 8 year old boy blushed.

'Oi, Uchiha-san you going to join us for a team lunch, cause were a team now'

Itachi grumbled but complied.

Shikaya and Shinran were messing around after lunch where he had been silent and keeping an eye on his surroundings. Itachi watched as Shikaya and Shinran threw the chalk filled erasers to each other and tried to avoid getting dirty. Of course it just so happens; that Shikaya got distracted by something shiny and she completely missed the chalk filled eraser. Kawakiri Kasumi was humming an old wave country song from her youth and was zoned out; after all she was off duty and going to pick up some brats what trouble could they be, after all they were for years younger than the usual genin standard. Itachi watched this and felt a sense of impending doom when he felt his sensei coming closer; the jounin opened the door only to cop a blackboard eraser to the face. Now Kasumi prided herself on her self-control but when you have two 8 year old kids laughing their asses off at you after you just had a shower and decided to wear a new uniform you'd be pissed to. Kasumi wiped chalk away from her eyes but there was still loads everywhere giving the impression of a multi-coloured version of Casper the ghost.

'Academy roof in 5' was all she growled out before disappearing in a plume of smoke.

'Nice one Nara' Shinran muttered as brushed past the older kunoichi, Itachi saw a flicker of hurt on her face before her face became perfectly blank. In this moment she seemed more like the rest of the Nara clan more quiet and lazy.

'Are you alright, Nara-san?' he asked quietly. Apparently it was the wrong thing to say as Shikaya's face began to darken and her hair seemed to cackle with electricity making it go even puffier.

'I don't need your pity or charity Uchiha' secretly the time traveller was impressed that an 8 year old could say his name like it was the vilest thing in the world to her.

'Very well Nara-san, shall we go to the roof before we get in to trouble with our new sensei?'

'Don't you tell me what to do, you bastard weasel'

'What did I do to you?'

Shikaya seemed to be ignoring him in favour of the eagle that landed in a tree outside.

'Nothing, Itachi-teme'

Shikaya smirked at him and ran to the door and giggled. Silently she clapped her hands together and created a chakra string and slammed the door shut. Itachi frowned and tried to open the door which only opened a fraction, he could see the faint string that Shikaya had wrapped around the handle to a kunai she had slammed in the door frame.

'Well this is new' the Uchiha muttered as he resigned himself to trying to but through the chakra strings with a kunai, any ninjutsu he knew from his previous timeline were to destructive or they were things no 6 year old genin should know. Just as he nearly finished getting through the reinforced strings they vanished as Kasumi walked down the stairs to see the Uchiha heir standing the doorway posing with a kunai.

'See sensei I told you Uchiha-san said he was too good for him to go to you, so he was going to make you come to him' Shikaya said with an innocent face, until Kasumi turned to the Uchiha it was then Shikaya smiled very evilly. Shinran said nothing only trying to get this over and done with so he could be out of the way of a now pissed jounin and an annoyed Uchiha as well as a very hyperactive and impish Nara.

'Fine then time for introductions' Kasumi ground out as she gestured to the Nara, then Ryuu and then finally the Uchiha.

'I am Nara Shikaya; I love the colour green and my baby brother that's on the way. I plan on becoming the top kunoichi ANBU and maybe the first female Hokage and I hate stupid clans' the girl glared at both of her male team members.

'I'm Ryuu Shinran; I like blue and training. I want to be a good clan leader. I hate arrogant jerks' he glared at Itachi.

'Uchiha Itachi; and the rest is none of your concern'

'Kawakiri Kasumi; sensei of team 25 and I specialise in water ninjutsu as I originate from Nami no kuni. Now tomorrow we will have some fun and begin the hard stuff' none of the ninja- wannabies including Itachi liked that scary smile on the face of his sensei. 'Meet me at training ground 4 tomorrow at 0500 hours and I wouldn't eat breakfast either my cute minions, otherwise you'll be throwing it back up. Ja ne' the jounin waved and vanished.

/*********/*/*/*

At precisely 5 am Itachi arrived to see two unhappy 8 year olds rubbing their eyes grumbling. Itachi was nearly 7 for which he was thankful at least his team wouldn't be able to call him cry baby when they were the ones grumbling. Itachi looked at the obstacle course that was a permanent fixture built into the very cliffs of Konoha itself. It even came complete with a section that had a waterfall and spinning totem poles that moved with the pressure of the downward flow. A nice beautiful pond underneath that had a nasty habit of randomly turning into a mini hot springs when you least expected it.

Big gaps which were hard to jump across, even with chakra enhanced jumps. Trick seals that dropped paint on you; or turned the stone into quicksand and various other nasty proximity seals. There were monkey bars and bridges and everything to try and simulate a varied landscape filled with danger and unknowns.

A minute later Kasumi walked into the training ground and they all sat on the small grassed area surrounded by bamboo and that had a small stream running through the ground and into a bigger river that was known as the Nanako River.

'You all made it, good. Now I will explain the true genin test that has a 66% failure rate and if you fail you get to go back to the academy. You won't become true genin unless you return all of the shuriken to me by 0900 hours. Now you will notice that there are four sets of shuriken each a different colour; red, green, blue and standard black. You will each be assigned a colour and black shuriken are bonus points, and the genin who returns with the most shuriken gets an automatic pass to the next round, and a head start for the next round'

Shikaya was about to protest when Itachi shook his head and asked 'What colours are we and what rules are there?'

Kasumi smiled and passed them all one shuriken each; Itachi got red, Shikaya got green and Shinran got blue. Kasumi set an alarm for 9 am and vanished to spread about the shuriken they guessed.

'Sensei didn't say when to start looking' Shinran said around a yawn. Itachi said nothing and went to begin looking around the training ground; the genius assumed that Kasumi-sensei was being evil and desperately wanted the young children to fail. The sensei hadn't given any rules so the genin could cheat and steal other coloured shuriken to stop the other two from progressing and she hadn't given a destination for them to present the shuriken at for 9 o'clock.

Shikaya eyed the rolling totems carefully she could see some green shuriken stuck into the rolling logs and she cringed, it meant she was going to get wet. Unless she used her bloodlines trick to stick to the poles in an imitation of the tree walking exercise. Using the ram hand seal she focused chakra to her feet and walked across the rolling logs as if they weren't moving at all, the only issue she had was getting the timing right to swipe the shuriken on the next log, before it rolled over again. Counting to 3 she leapt to the right log and grabbed the shuriken but mistimed it so she ended rolling with the log into the curtain of water from the waterfall and getting drenched.

Shinran looked up at the track leading to the monkey bars; so far he had avoided anything to nasty apart from a paint bomb. He looked down and saw something nasty and brown and he had just stepped in it.

'Dog poo this far out of town you have to be kidding me' and it stunk really bad. In the middle of the splattered stain he spotted two shuriken glinting in the early morning sun. With a nasty scowl the heir picked them up and pushed away nasty thoughts about how unhygienic this was.

By the time it was 9 o'clock the three genin trudged to their first meeting spot. Kasumi grinned in great delight as Shikaya and Shinran were both covered in dirt and something that resembled slime and they smelt horrible. Both were glaring at the still impeccably clean Itachi who hadn't even gotten sweaty.

'Ok my smelly little rats show me your shuriken and then place them in these baskets. Itachi you first, then Shinran and then you Shikaya'

Itachi pulled out each individual shuriken with two green and two blue ones which got him triple points and 4 black shuriken which were double points and four reds which were individual points. Kasumi pointed at Shinran next who only pulled out one blue shuriken and one black shuriken. Shikaya showed her two green shuriken, her one blue and her one black shuriken.

'Not bad kiddies out the 25 shuriken I hid you recovered 18, very nice. So points as they stand are; Itachi on 24 points, Shinran on 5 and lastly Shikaya on 7 points'

Itachi kept his face blank as his dirty team mates turned on him in anger and Kasumi laughed.

'Now Itachi come over here and I'll tell you the next phase and how much of a head start you get. Shinran and Shikaya I'll tell you what you will be doing until a clear winner out of the two of you is chosen'

Kasumi spoke quietly to Itachi and pointed towards the spinning totems and Itachi nodded and ran off up the twisting stone path. Both remaining genin traded nervous glances.

'Well my little smelly blossoms you have a chance to clean up. Your next test is a simple race from here to the other side of the waterfall. You can use any means necessary but the one rule you have to follow is that you must use the clearly marked path and you have to cross the spinning totems, without falling off and if you do you will have to start again from the beginning. Oh by the way Itachi and I will be acting as enemies using non-lethal force to make it interesting. Go'

Shikaya was pushed by Shinran as he took off for the twisting and steep path. Shikaya smiled as she attached a chakra string to the boy's ankle and left it trailing behind him; so at any time she could use it as a trip wire. With her plan in place Shikaya lagged behind content to let Shinran draw all the fire from Itachi, Kasumi and the course itself. Occasionally Kasumi would send kunai, shuriken and small water jutsu at Shikaya. While Itachi focused on Shinran from various stone ledges built into the course.

Shinran groaned at the totem poles that were spinning madly, his balance was shocking and he didn't know how to use his chakra to stick to stuff like he'd seen loads of older ninja do. Breathing deeply he decided to do to it; he managed to get across to the second log and was about to jump for the third and final log before the other side of land when he felt something pull taunt around his ankle and tug him sideways. When he surfaced in the pool underneath he looked up and saw Shikaya waving at him, before he saw the other genin duck away from the edge when Kasumi threw a kunai at her.

Shikaya deflected the kunai with her own and she took a running jump and managed to anchor herself to the logs, even though it meant she was being spun around on a pole while standing sideways. At least now she knew how her clothes felt in a washing machine. The dirt and grime had started to come away under the pressure of the spray. When the log went back to the top and Shikaya was facing the right way she jumped to the second log and once again attached herself, when she felt the surge of extra pressure from the waterfall cascading right on top of her; making the poles spin madly. Shikaya could barely stay attached due to the onslaught but somehow managed to hop across to the edge of the third pole but she had misjudged the distance because she was waterlogged and tired. Hanging on by the tips of her fingers she clawed her way to the top to the pole and lay down. This time the pole wasn't moving.

'Come on Nara, your nearly there' Kasumi called to the kunoichi.

'Come on Shikaya-san, plus Shinran is right behind you' the half dead Shadow user managed to cram her neck and spot Shinran on the first totem. It took all of her willpower and a gentle nudging from her bloodline before Shikaya crouched on top of the last totem and threw herself at the cliff. When she landed it was in a heap and she rolled to a stop further down the walk way, barely awake, and once again covered in dirt.

Shinran made it but in a little bit better condition that their female team mate but not by much.

Kasumi looked at the grim barely standing kids; even Itachi was starting to show some strain and the jounin sighed. She hated what she was going to do next.

'Ok kiddies, Itachi and Shikaya you have a major decision to make, as the winners of the two challenges you get to choose who goes back to the academy. You both have immunity and only you can choose to save Shinran and take his place as an academy bound brat'

'Shikaya, will you save Ryuu Shinran?' the girl looked torn before she turned her head and shook it. Kasumi said nothing and looked at Itachi 'Will you save your team mate, Uchiha Itachi?' Itachi nodded sharply, ignoring the startled looks from both of his team mates and the appraising look from Kasumi.

It was then that Kasumi smiled and said something that would stick in the genin's minds.

'Konoha has what is known as the will of fire, so long as there is one person who carries the spark our fire will always be rekindled and never burn out. Konoha is strong because of team work, where there is a weakness a partner will support you and cover your weakness until you cover it yourself; just as you will for your team'

'Itachi showed his will of fire. Shinran and Shikaya failed but I don't think one willing kid should give you an automatic pass. You all fail. However Itachi I will see if I can get you assigned to me on an individual basis.'

'No I will stay with my team and re-join the academy'

Shinran and Shikaya were both falling asleep on their feet even though they felt crushed. Shikaya got another bout of energy despite her heavy chakra usage.

'Eh, for all the lectures on will of fire, you taking Uchiha would be troublesome. He's a better ninja than I could be and Ryuu has potential too so take the two of them, if I fail I won't have angry parents to deal with'

Kasumi looked vaguely troubled by the fact that Shikaya was so nonchalant about the fact her uncle didn't seem to care over much whether the current heir passed or not. Kasumi resolved to talk to Shikaku about the girl; whether she passed the team or not and damn it just like that Kasumi found herself getting attached to the brat.

'Fine don't all jump on the band wagon, I swear to god Ryuu if you say that you want you give up your position on this team and return to the academy I'm going to throw up. You all pass congratulations team 25'