I don't own Naruto


Two months have gone by since his mother began his training. His Kenjutsu has advanced far more than he anticipated. In Fuinjutsu, he was now able to create storage seals. Explosive tags were on the way to mastery. The lack of Fuinjutsu users in the village allowed him to sell his work as well, for a quick buck.

Sparring sessions with his mother still ended with him needing medical attention, but he was proud of his current pace. His mother commented that he was far better than she as a genin- that helped boost his ego a bit. Not to the point that would make him arrogant, he knew better.

Onto more present matters was his current destination. An Anbu came to his residence and informed him the Hokage wished to speak. He had an idea of the reason, but he would not jump to conclusions.

Upon entering the Hokage building, he headed to the secretary. "Hello miss, I believe the Hokage asked for me, the name is Kazuki Uchiha."

The secretary leaned over the table to better view him. "Oh yes, Kazuki Uchiha, the Hokage's waiting, you may enter."

"Thank you," he replied somewhat peeved due to his height. He then made his way to the office, he knocked and waited for permission to enter.

"Enter"

Once within the office, Kazuki acknowledged the other occupants in the room. At first, his blood ran cold at his luck but hid it well. For the others in the room were Minato Namikaze, Kakashi Hatake, Rin Nohara, and Obito Uchiha.

Back when he guessed the reason behind the meeting, he was not lying. Since his status of being in the reserves, Kazuki had no real way of getting a chance to promotion, due to his lack of team. Yes, one could get a field promotion but required experience with team dynamics. Something he lacked due to always jumping teams for missions. His only option was for a team to lose a teammate, so he could jump in and apply for the chunin exams.

Now this team (Team Minato) did not lose a teammate. Kakashi was already a chunin, which made Obito, and Rin have no third teammate for the exams.

First, forced to interact with Shisui and now this. He would have to scrape the plane to stay out of the timeline.

Cutting his musing, he made his presence known. "You, called Hokage-Sama?"

"Ah, Kazuki-Kun, yes we've waited for you."

Kazuki knew the Hokage didn't mean he was late, but he hated making people wait. Especially people who would later be prominent in the future.

"My apologies for being late and keeping you waiting, Hokage-Sama."

"Don't be, summoned out of the blue gave you a short time to arrive. Now on to the topic of the meeting, Minato if you would."

"Kazuki, it has come to my attention that you lack a team to participate the Chunin exams with, correct?" Kazuki Nodded. "Well, my team here already has one chunin, Kakashi, and two genin Obito, and Rin. The latter wanting to enter the exams, but lack a third teammate, would you care to join them?"

Before Kazuki could respond, Obito made his displeasure known. "Wow, hold up sensei! How could this brat be our teammate? He looks like, what, eight years old? Has he even been on a mission outside the village?"

"Obito! Don't be rude!" Rin scold following with a bop on the head. "Though sensei, what are, ur..."

"Kazuki," Minato budded in.

"...Kazuki-Sans credentials?" Rin finished.

Kazuki was kind of annoyed with the current conversation but made no note to show it. His case would only suffer and most probably throw his chance of promotion away. He did notice that throughout the whole conversation the Hokage was solely observing at him, that unnerved him a bit, not used to calculating eyes. He bet Minato would do the same, Kakashi perhaps to a lesser extent as well.

"I understand both your worries, but I can assure you Kazuki-Kun is more than qualified to join you two," Minato assured both teens. "But I guess you do have a right to discern his credentials. Kazuki Uchiha graduated the academy at..."

"Hold up! He is an Uchiha!?" Obito yelled pointing at Kazuki.

"Wow, that means you're related Obito!" Rin pointed out appearing near Kazuki. "Now that I get a better view, you two also look alike."

Kazuki was now uncomfortable due to Rin invading his bubble. Due to the kage level shinobis in the room, he held back his instinct to use force- opting to move away.

"Yes, he is an Uchiha, and yes, he is Obito's relative, how close is unsure. Now back to his credentials, unless you two have something else to say?" Minato exclaimed narrowing his eyes at the teens. Both Obito and Rin gulped and shook their heads. "Wonderful, now back to it, he graduated the academy within one year, at the age of five. Due to lack of graduates, the reserves were his only option. From there he's had experience with 43 different teams, completing 107 D-rank, 32 C-Rank, and 14 B-Rank missions. To answer one of your earlier questions Obito, he is not eight, but six about to turn seven years old."

That got both teens to gape, and begin to regard him with new light. Kazuki would have scoffed, but due to his mother's tor..., err parental guidance he knew better. Instead, he mentally padded himself- serves them right to judge him.

"Now let us rewind," Minato led, turning his gaze back to him. "Would you join the team Kazuki?"

"Hai, if both your students don't mind, it would be an honor."

"Well, Obito, Rin what is your answer? Kazuki here meets all the requirements, if not him, then your best shot at promotion is until after the war."

"Sure, I guess..." Obito answered.

"What Obito means, is- we would be glad to have Kazuki as our teammate, sensei," Rin elaborated shooting a glare at Obito.

"Excellent! So, there you have it Kazuki, from now until the chunin exams, you will be a part of team seven," Minato stated trying to ruffle Kazuki hair, but said person back away.

"Thank you, for the opportunity," Kazuki bowed.

"Very well, Kazuki meet us tomorrow at training field seven. Well take our leave Hokage-Sama," Minato bowed then left with his team.

Once they left Kazuki turned his attention back to the Hokage. "Will you need anything else Hokage-Sama?"

"No, my boy, dismissed. I'm sure your mother would want to learn about this, so you best go inform her."

"Hai, good day, Hokage-Sama."

Not long after Kazuki's leave did a puff of smoke appear within the Hokage's office.

"You weren't wrong when you mentioned the kid having a social problem, Hokage-Sama," after the smoke cleared out, revealed Minato.

"Indeed, though with the current events in his life, it's only understandable. I only hope to mitigate the effects. You're doing well with Kakashi, perhaps they can relate."

"Hopefully, do you need anything else?"

"Yes, have you decided on my offer yet?"

"I have, but I don't advice a change, due to the war."

Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe. "You are notably correct, so I take it you accept?" Minato nodded. "Splendid, then it will be official after the war. Give Kushina my regards."

Taking that as his queue to leave, Minato used Hiraishin to disappear.


With Kazuki :

Kazuki made his way back to his residence replaying the meeting over. From the moment he stepped into the office, he knew of the details. He had hoped for some random upstart team to request him, but beggars can't be choosers. Anyone in his position would have jumped at the chance to be on Minato's team. Recognition for his Hiraishin came after the war, but he has already made a name for himself.

The war is nearing its end, so it would only be a matter of time to Obito's incident. Not long after would Minato rain hell over the Iwa forces, ending the war.

"Oh, Kazu-chan you're back. How did the meeting go, tell me everything!?" Kazuki reprimanded himself for losing track of his surroundings. That aside he smiled at his mother.

"It went well Ka-san. A team with two members needed another for the chunin exams. Given the opportunity, I accepted."

His mother smiled and ruffled his hair. "That's wonderful Kazu-Chan! Wait! That means that you only have two weeks before the exams to prepare!"

Kazuki felt a shiver run down his spine. Whenever his mother had limited time to do stuff, like training him, she always found a way around it. In most cases, it meant lots and lots of pain.

"Yup, Minato-san told me to meet up tomorrow morning for training."

"In the morning you say. Excellent! That gives me the rest of the day to get you into shape."

Before he could make a hasty escape, his mother grabbed him in a fireman's carry and took him to the training field.

While carried to his tor..., err training session, Kazuki couldn't help but smile. 'What an interesting two weeks this will be.'


Next day- Training Field 7 :

Kazuki was glad that his mother ended training earlier than usual. It gave him plenty of time to recover. Otherwise, he would have been a sore rack this morning- not that he wasn't, but that extra resting time sure helped. His mother being a medic was a bonus too.

With a bath, breakfast, and goodbye to mother, Kazuki made way to training field seven. Upon arriving Kazuki noticed that Kakashi was the only one present.

Kakashi noticed his arrival and nodded in his direction. That surprised him. From what he knew, Kakashi was- well, a dick before Obito's incident. Nonetheless, he returned the nod.

He was half an hour early, recognizing that he had time, he took out a Fuinjutsu book to read. Thanks to his mother, he mastered the basics. That allowed him to begin with the intermediate level material, thus the title of the book-Fuinjutsu Intermediate Level.

There are three levels with Fuinjutsu- beginner, Intermediate, and advanced.

Beginner dives into Fuinjutsu's bigger picture, along with the symbols.

Intermediate dives deeper into the mechanics and different ways to combine the symbols. Lingering at this level allowed the learner to practice with sealing scrolls and explosives. Both of which he has already mastered. Harder material included low-level: sound barriers, seals locked by blood/DNA, gravity seals, space-time theory, etc...

Advanced was by no means the end of the road. At this stage, there are no more fancy seals to work with, but pure theory. Tasked with expanding the given seals in the intermediate session. That is what separates the Fuinjutsu users from the masters. The latter being the ones that risk their lives experimenting, all in hopes of creating something beautiful.

That is why Kazuki was in love with the art. There was no end, just ways to continue to grow, with only one's imagination as the limit.

Kazuki noticed Kakashi giving him a calculating glace. He knew Kakashi was a genius, so him not understanding Fuinjutsu didn't surprise him. Having Minato as a sensei came with its perks. Though, now that he thinks about it, Kakashi never really showed much knowledge of Fuinjutsu in the Anime. Sealing Sasuke's curse mark was the only event that came to mind. Then again Fuinjutsu was not Kakashi forte in his opinion.

It was not long after that Rin showed up greeting Kakashi and waving at him. No other interaction took place, so we waited for Minato, and Obito to arrive. Not long after, a three-pronged kunai dropped in front of the three, Minato appearing seconds later.

"Good morning you four- oh, where is Obito?" Minato asked taking a commendable gaze on the field.

"Hmm, he's probably late as always. No doubt when he gets here, he'll have some ridiculous excuse too." Kakashi answered, not hiding his annoyance.

Minato scratched the back of his head. "Well, I guess we better wait for him."

Kazuki eyed the trio and shrugged. He should have perceived Obito arriving late. Good thing he brought his book.

Upon noticing the book, Minato became surprised. "Fuinjutsu, that is quite the topic, Kazuki."

"Hai Minato-san, I grew interested when my mother brought the topic up. It is quite versatile and only limited by the imagination."

"Indeed, it is. May I ask how far you are into the art?"

Nodding Kazuki took out his notes from a sealing scroll and handed them to Minato. Those only showed his attempts at the intermediate level seals. He has not bothered to invent his own yet, due to inexperience.

"These are all exceptionally well done. I see some simple mistakes, some examples being blank-symbols and arrangement routes, but otherwise, they all seem functional."

Kazuki soaked up everything Minato stated. I wouldn't be favorable for his seals to have useless symbols. Those are usually harmless, but there have been cases where they lead to a seal blowing up in your face. Not having the optimal arrangement can also cost the user problems. Most common would be the use of extra chakra to make it work. The more dangerous would be the seal not activating when prompted due to arrangements.

"Thank you for the advice. I will make sure to consider it further."

"No problem! Can't have you blow up on me, can I?" Minato jokes.

Not seeing the humor, Kazuki stared at Minato. The latter rubbed the back of his head while chuckling.

'I see where Naruto got that from,' Kazuki observed.

A comfortable silence fell upon the group shortly after. Well, for Kazuki that is. Rin kept eying around hoping to spot Obito at any moment. Kakashi was probably thinking of a million different things he could do. And Minato was not the talkative person, but even he's hoping for someone to break the silence.

'Kushina must have rubbed off on him,' Kazuki thought.


15 minutes later :

By this point, it was safe to assume that Kakashi moved onto scheming different ways to kill Obito. Kind of ironic considering how Kakashi turns out in the future. Even Rin hit her breaking point.

"Hey, guys! Sorry, I'm late, but an old lady needed help with her groceries, and she lived on the other side of the village!" Obito ran into the clearing panting up a storm.

Kazuki raised an eyebrow at the excuse, considering it amusing that Kakashi would say the same in the future. Kakashi resisting the urge to pummel Obito added to the amusement.

"Obito! If arriving on time is an issue. Leave your house earlier!" Rin scolded.

"Hmp, as if the loser cares. Even in the academy, he's never been on time," Kakashi exclaimed resulting in angering Obito.

"Well, sorry we're not all heartless, Bakashi!" Obito spoke up in his defense.

Minato seeing that this would get out of hand soon decided to end the bickering. "Alright kids, that's enough. Obito, although your reason is noble, Rin has a point. You need to leave earlier from your residence to counter the chores, understood?"

Sensing the atmosphere calm down, Kazuki closed his book and joined the others.

Minato took notice. "Okay, now that we are all here let's start. Since Kazuki, is new to the group let's introduce ourselves. I'll go first. My name is Minato Namikaze. I adore Fuinjutsu, Kushina my girlfriend, and my group of brats." Minato ruffled the trio's hair. " I dislike fighting for no reason. My dreams would be to have a family someday and to see peace. Your turn Rin."

"Okay! My name is Rin Nohara. I treasure Iryo Ninjutsu and dango." She waved her chakra scalpels as an example. "I dislike perverts, those who take advantage of the week. My dreams are to be a great medic-nin like Tsunade-Sama."

"Don't worry Rin! You are awesome and will surpass that old hag in no time!" Obito encouraged.

"Obito! Be respectful of Tsunade-Sama!" Rin yelled causing Obito to raise his hands in surrender.

"Okay. Okay, now you Kakashi," Minato set things back in motion.

"My name is Kakashi Hatake. I revere my hounds. My only hate is those that disregard the rules." He shot a glare at Obito who scoffed and stuck out his tongue. "My dreams are- well I don't have one."

"I bet it's keeping a sick up their ass the longest," was Obito's remark, earning him a bop to the head from Rin.

"Since you are talkative Obito, introduce yourself."

"Hai, Sensei! My name is Obito Uchiha. I love helping those in need and cats-" Kazuki could have sworn he heard Kakashi say dogs or better, but shrugged it off. That would be so out of character, right? "- I dislike those who abandon their comrades and Bakashi! My dream is to be the strongest Hokage in history!"

"Hmp, as if someone who cannot make it on time can become Hokage," it took all Kazuki's willpower to not snort at the remark. This whole situation was just so ironic, and hilarious.

"Kakashi I understand your views, but you have to put the effort also. Constantly demeaning someone will not do anything worthy, understand?"

"Hai, Sensei."

Nodding at his response, Minato turned to Kazuki. "You're up kiddo."

"Name is Kazuki Uchiha. I value training, dislike clan politics, my dream is to be strong enough to protect those close to me."

"Um, what kind of training do you do Kazuki-san?" He heard from Rin.

Kazuki blinked not expected to elaborate. No one ever cared to ask before. Probably due to his age. Then again, he's taking the chunin exams with them, so perhaps they are just analyzing him. The logic made sense.

"I'm fond of Fuinjutsu, although I'm not to the point of using it for combat besides explosive tags. I mainly focus on Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, and Ninjutsu. Due to my low chakra reserves, currently, the two former, more so."

Rin gave a smile and nodded. "That's awesome! Obito focuses mainly on Ninjutsu, and I am a supporter."

"Aw, come-on Rin, I idolize myself as an allrounder."

Kakashi scoffed. "Your Taijutsu is pitiful and don't get me started on Genjutsu. Like what kind of Uchiha are you, not having any talent in Genjutsu?"

"Are they always like that?" Kazuki asked Minato.

Surprised by the question, Minato took a bit to answer but shortly began chuckled. "Unfortunately, yes."

"I see," Kazuki muttered out trying to hide his annoyance. He expected this but seeing it up close is ridiculous. How do they get anything done?

Minato, however, didn't miss the annoyance and frowned. "Alright, you two settle down. The goal for today is to test Kazuki's skill set so he will spar with Kakashi. Rin, Obito you two continue practicing the lesson from yesterday. After the spar, we'll head out for lunch and discuss a training plan, understood?"

"Hai, Sensei/Minato-San," the four chorused in unison.

After Obito and Rin retreated to another part of the field, both Kakashi and Kazuki faced each other.

"You two are to fight with the intent to kill, don't worry I will stop the fight if it gets out of hand," Minato moved to Kakashi and placed a hand on his forehead.

Kazuki noticed a seal appeared before fading away. Minato then came to him with the intent to do the same. "What does this seal do?" Kazuki knew its purpose, but Minato didn't see that.

Noticing that Kazuki wanted an explanation Minato demonstrated with Kakashi. Minato dropped a kunai next to him, the next moment Kakashi appeared. "The seal is part of my Hiraishin. It allows me to teleport to its location. In this case, teleporting the seal back to me."

Satisfied with the explanation, Kazuki allowed Minato to plant the seal.

"Are both you ready?" Kakashi and Kazuki nodded. "Splendid, Hajime!"

Kakashi wasted no time in closing the distance. 'Fast!' Was Kazuki only though before blocking a punch to the face. 'Strong too!' Kazuki shook out his arm. Seeing another punch, Kazuki sidestepped and threw an uppercut to Kakashi's stomach. Kakashi's blocked the uppercut and gripped his hand. Not being able to release himself, Kakashi hauled and slammed him to the ground.

The slam was hard, but he was still able to see the stomp kick that followed. While on the ground, Kazuki successfully managed to sweep Kakashi's legs. Now horizontal to the ground, Kakashi was not able to block the sidekick, launching him away from Kazuki. Due to Kazuki's lack of strength that distance was not far.

"So, you're commendable in Taijutsu at least, but time to take it up a notch."

One moment Kakashi was meters away, then a punch connected with his face, then one to the stomach, then a side kick to the chest blasting him into a tree. 'Ugh, what is up with me and tree's, seriously.'

He did not dwell on the idea too long upon seeing shuriken fly his way. Deciding that Kakashi was too fast at his current state, Kazuki activated his Sharingan. With a quick Kawarimi, Kazuki appeared a few meters to Kakashi's left. He unsheathed his ninja-to from his back and rushed Kakashi.

Kakashi managed to spot him through his peripheral vision just in time to block a downward slash with a kunai.

"So, it's true. You do have the Sharingan and at your age, impressive." Kazuki gave a raised an eyebrow at that. He doesn't recall telling someone about his Sharingan. "Don't think too hard about it. There's a rumor going around about a six-year-old with the Sharingan."

Kazuki frowned. He didn't care about the knowledge flowing around. The only issue being someone within the clan couldn't keep their lips sealed. Pushing the thoughts away, he re-engaged Kakashi in Kenjutsu.

Kazuki moved swiftly, slicing and stabbing, when appropriate.

Kakashi began to realize that a Kenjutsu match was not in his favor. After slowly getting overwhelmed he brought another Kunai to increase his odds.

Kazuki attempted another downward slash only for Kakashi to jump back. Kazuki used the momentum to do a stab. Kakashi was quick to block via kunai, then used his other kunai to stab. Kazuki ducked and twirled around Kakashi slicing his stomach. Thanks to Kakashi's chunin vest- saved him from receiving a grievous wound.

"To ensure I'm still in one piece later, I'll keep my distance."

Kazuki, however, had another idea. He rushed Kakashi with increased speed thanks to channeling chakra to his legs. Right as he was about to reach Kakashi, smoke bombs dropped around him, blocking his view.

"The Sharingan can predict what it can't see."

Kazuki decided that staying in the smoke would only cause problems. Attempting to jump out failed and met with a kick to the back, sending him back to the ground, still surrounded by smoke.

"I specialize in tracking, thanks to my sense of smell."

Kazuki began thinking of a way to escape. Due to his lack of vision, he could tell exactly where he was. That made using Kawarimi ineffective. Escape via direction would result in a kick. That's when it hit him. Using Hide Like a Mole to move underground could get him to escape. He began to mend into the earth after completing the hand-signs.

"Not so fast!" Kakashi erupted from the ground delivering an uppercut. Not prepared for the attack left Kazuki dazed, which gave Kakashi enough time to complete a jutsu.

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough

The Jutsu hit him point blank, rocketing him across the training field into the river. Kazuki regained his senses when he hit the bottom of the river. As soon as he tried to surface, dozens of kunai with explosive tags surrounded him.

'Noted. Kakashi does not mess around when trying to kill you,' was Kazuki last thought before teleported out of the blast zone.

BOOM!

*Cough* *Cough*

"Are you alright Kazuki? Due to the teleporting, you might feel lightheaded at first," Minato asked helping Kazuki to his feet.

"Hai, I'm alright, thanks."

"You put up quite the fight. Your Taijutsu and Kenjutsu are superb."

Kazuki was glad he did well. Kakashi was probably taking his Jonin exams soon. Winning never crossed his mind going into the fight. The results did satisfy him.

"Here's your sword. You lost it when the wind jutsu hit you," Kakashi handed him his sword.

"Thank you."

Kakashi nodded. "Great fight by the way. Your Kenjutsu is quite impressive."

Kazuki blinked at the compliment. From all the interactions he's witnessed, Kakashi never came off as a polite individual.

"Okay, with that taken care of, let's head out for some lunch," Minato suggested, also calling Obito and Rin over.

"Hey behold! Kakashi got his ass kicked by a kid!" Obito mocked pointing at Kakashi's ruined flak jacket.

"Hmp, honestly Obito he did better than you," Kakashi retorted making his way to the village.

"Hey! Come back here you bastard!"

Once those two made their way Rin soon joined them. Minato was the last to follow giving him another glance. "Well? Hurry up Kazuki, the last one pays!"

Kazuki couldn't fathom what to say. Minato of all people just pulled that trick, on a kid. Surely he wasn't going to make him pay, right? Deciding not to wait and find out he made haste to catch up. At least the weeks that followed wouldn't be dull.

Chapter End :