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Been gone for a while…
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All the new jounin sensei stood side by side in front of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Team 2?"
"Failed. They only mindlessly attacked with no plan whatsoever. If they had a strategy, they could have passed."
"Team 4"
"Failed as well. They are capable individually, but lack the teamwork necessary."
Each team's sensei was called upon one by one and each of them stated the same result. Failure.
"Team 7?"
The hokage sighed and answered in the place of the absentee, "He'll be here soon enough. Continue with the rest."
The hokage's assistant nodded and continued. "Team 8?"
A black haired kunoichi stepped forward, "Passed. It took them some time, but they eventually realized to use their sensory abilities together to find me."
"Lastly, Team 10."
A bearded ninja answered the call. "Passed. As the new Ino-Shika-Cho generation, they performed well and were able to come up with and execute a decisive plan."
The assistant began to conclude, "Those who have failed will be re-entered into the academy and the passed teams can begin duty after Sunday. About team 7-"
He was interrupted by a disturbance by the window. A silver haired man entered the room. "Am I late?"
The assistant was about to scold the jounin sensei when he was again interrupted, this time by the Hokage himself, "Not at all. All of us were just early."
Kakashi grinned behind his mask sheepishly before the assistant was finally allowed to speak, "Sensei of team 7, Kakashi Hatake. What are the results of your genin test?"
"They passed."
Everyone in the room except Kurenai stared wide-eyed at the silver haired jounin in disbelief.
Asuma was the one to break the silence. "So you finally passed a team, huh?"
Kakashi explained, "They worked together well as a team and were able to catch me in a trap and take the bells from me, passing the test."
One of the jounin nodded, "Of course, how could the Uchiha prodigy fail a small genin test." and Kakashi immediately contradicted him. "Actually, it was Naruto Uzumaki that was able to get them to work together as a team and pass the exam. Not that Sasuke and Sakura didn't do their part."
Hiruzen noted the looks on each of the ninja present upon hearing the name of the young jinchuriki and sighed when he saw looks of scorn behind some of the faces. "Well that concludes this meeting. You may all take your leave."
Naruto was really glad to see Kurama again. After their battle with Kagai Otsutsuki, where Kurama used his life force to defeat the undefeatable enemy, Naruto believed he would never be able to see his partner ever again. But now, he was back to the start and can save everyone from the horrible ending of his original universe.
He got up from his bed and headed out. The first step in getting stronger is training himself.
Training ground 74 was Naruto's favorite place to train. It was one of the few training grounds on top of the Hokage Cliff and was very secluded, a calm ground surrounded by lush trees and greenery, and because of that, it wasn't frequented by anyone else.
Naruto began by strengthening his body. Taijutsu was one of the most important aspects of a ninja. The greatest example of this was Rock Lee, who was able to beat Ruguya, one of the strongest Otsutsuki, into the ground back When Naruto couldn't, Although it had required him to open the ninth gate of purity, shredding his soul to release power even greater than even baryon mode had.
However, the type of taijutsu Naruto specializes in is different from Lee's Strong Fist. Naruto's Unknowing Fist uses speed, flexibility and reflex speed to overwhelm the opponent, to such a degree that even a sharingan couldn't predict his movements. Combined with his extrasensory abilities, Naruto was able to outmatch an experienced jounin in his sleep, quite literally.
Naruto got on the ground and began doing pushups. 1…2…3…
10…
20…
31…
Naruto tried pushing up for 31, but couldn't feel his arms anymore. He rolled over and lay on the grass, his arms tired already. Another important thing to take note of what his current limits were. Overestimating his ability can be dangerous in the midst of combat.
He got back up and continued training, making sure to not overwork his body. He did basic strength training, and made a mental note to make some weights using fuinjutsu to increase the effectiveness of his workout. He also did some stretching and yoga exercises to increase his flexibility.
As the horizon began to turn orange, Naruto was completely exhausted. He decided to call it a day and began to walk back to his apartment.
Hiruzen Sarutobi knocked on the door of 203, Blue Sky Apartments.
No response.
He took note of the fact that the other rooms of the small apartment were completely abandoned, which seemed to be the case for the past few years.
He was about to turn around to leave when he heard the voice of the person he wished to see.
"Oh, Jiji! What brings you here?"
The addressed old man turns to see the blonde climbing up the stairs, noticing that he was tired and sweaty. "So you've been training, eh, Naruto? I came here to invite you for some ramen to celebrate you becoming a genin."
Naruto's eyes lit up at the sound of ramen, but looked down to see his soiled clothes. "That sounds like a great idea Jiji. But first, would it be ok if I took a shower real quick? I promise I won't take long."
Hiruzen chuckled, "Of course, my boy. Take all the time you need"
The hokage watched Naruto unlock his apartment, grab a fresh orange jumpsuit and head into the bathroom. He sat down on the young Uzumaki's bed as he waited for him. He noticed that the usually messy room, littered with instant ramen cups and dirty clothes, was perfectly tidy.
After Naruto got ready, they both left for Ichiraku's. Their commute was silent, with the occasional bow to the Hokage by villagers and their secret looks of scorn at the jinchuriki. However, Hiruzen was able to see all this.
They arrived at the ramen stand, and both ordered Miso Pork Ramen, Naruto's favorite.
Hiruzen was the first to initiate conversation. "So Naruto, congratulations on being an official genin."
Naruto tried to thank him, but he failed as his mouth was full of noodles. Much to Hiruzen's worry, He swallowed all the noodles without chewing and thanked him successfully this time.
Seeing how Naruto was somehow fine after downing the mouthful of noodles, Hiruzen continued the conversation. "So how are your new teammates?"
"Sasuke is a bit of an edgelord, and Sakura keeps fangirling him, but with the way we were able to work together, I'm sure we'll be a great team. I don't know much about Kakashi sensei yet, since his introductions suck, but as long as he trains us properly then he's cool too."
Hiruzen nodded. "I heard it was you who came up with the plan to beat Kakashi. I'm proud of you. Being able to come up with suitable plans to defeat an enemy is a very important skill to become Hokage." He looked toward the young boy from the corner of his eye, "You do still want to become Hokage, right?"
Naruto slammed his bowl onto the table, almost breaking it, and put his face in front of the Hokage. "What kind of question is that, Jiji? How could I abandon my dreams like that and still call myself a ninja?!" Naruto sat back down and stared into his empty ramen bowl. "I still have so much to accomplish. So much to do…"
After some more conversation and bowls of ramen, the topic was quickly forgotten and They left Ichiraku's as Teuchi tried to refuse the Hokages payment. They said their goodbyes and Hiruzen stared at the orange silhouette as it disappeared into the evening crowd.
Naruto had changed.
Hiruzen has put it off as Naruto's antics when Kakashi reported the incident at the library, but Hiruzen decided to find out for himself when Kakashi reported that the Knuckleheaded Uzumaki had got his team together to plan and execute a proper plan.
After being a hokage for so long, seeing so many ninja completely change from long term missions, he had gained the ability to notice such changes in behavior, and Naruto showed a lot of them. From his clean room, to the way he handled the villagers' hateful glances, Hiruzen knew this was not the same Naruto he remembered.
What scared him even more was his response to his ambition. The words themselves were of no consequence, but his expression showed far more. Grief, regret and sorrow, greater than what a twelve year old child should be able to comprehend. Most of all, the sheer determination on his face, as if it was something he must achieve no matter the cost.
He was aware that Naruto now knew of his jinchuriki status thanks to Mizuki, Hiruzen felt that was not the cause for this sudden change.
He just hoped this change was for the better.
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