Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

-A Testament of Things that Never Will-

Naruto hurried to the bridge that was on his way to his training ground. Yuri had told him to meet him there at around eight in the morning and he didn't want to be late. He had overslept by about an hour and he had to skip breakfast just to hope to make it to the meeting on time. This is what he got for staying up too long reading a few of the books that he had rented from the library. He had never been to the library and he guessed that he still technically hadn't, but his clones had so he counted it. With his sensei's help he had managed to rent some of the books that he had been reading and he wanted to finish them before the next days training.

As it turned out, that had been a really dumb idea as it caused him to get to sleep at an ungodly hour and he was now almost late. He charged down the road, his legs burning with the effort due to the gravity seal, and spotted the bridge in the distance. He had to give it to Yuri, whatever had been in that green stuff had really worked wonders. He didn't hurt from the training and he felt better that he had in a long time. He felt stronger and he liked it.

He reached the bridge and found his black-haired sensei leaning on the railing of the bridge. He had a scroll in his hands and rolled it expertly as he read. Naruto was amazed at how fast his eyes moved over the page and he didn't doubt that the man was understanding everything he was reading. With the amount of understanding he expected when Naruto was reading he knew that the man wasn't letting even a single drop of information slip his grasp.

Naruto grinned and said, "Hello, Yuri-sensei."

The man rolled the scroll up with practised ease and stepped away from the railing. Yuri smiled and said, "Good morning, Uzumaki-san. How are you feeling?"

"Great," he shouted. "I haven't felt better than this in a long time."

"That's good to hear." Yuri started to walk toward the village and said, "Did you bring your wallet like we talked about?"

"Hai," he said and pulled out a frog shaped pouch. "I'm still not sure why you told me to bring it."

His sensei waved for him to follow and Naruto fell into step next to him. "I am training you, Uzumaki-san, but that doesn't mean that I will be covering your expenses."

Naruto pouted. "What am I buying?"

If there was one thing that Naruto hated it was spending money needlessly. He had always been alone and he knew the value of a single yen. He remembered the many nights he waited for his orphan check to come in. His stomach would ache for food but he had to save the little he had so that he could at least have a mouth full for the next few days. He never wanted to go hungry again and he wouldn't buy anything unless there was a very good reason for it.

Yuri looked at him. Naruto still found it strange, looking into the man's eyes. It was as if his mind was being read because his sensei always seemed to understand his reasons for asking or doing something when he did it.

"You're hesitance is warranted," he said, "but what you're going to be purchasing will save your life."

"What is it?" Naruto asked. His mind raced with possibilities. A weapon perhaps or maybe some kind of secret scroll with a jutsu that can summon a giant typhoon. Or maybe even a ninja pet that could help him fight in battles.

"New clothes."

Naruto's thoughts screeched to a halt. "New clothes..." he said as if he hadn't heard right. His brain finally registered what Yuri had said and he yelled, "New clothes!?"

"Hush, Uzumaki-san," his sensei scolded him. "A shinobi is ever quiet and, yes, new clothes. The monstrosities that you currently wear can be seen on a new moon night with your enemy's eyes closed. If you are serious about being a shinobi than you must dress the part as well."

"But, but orange," Naruto gasped. He loved his jumpsuit and he would be damned if he allowed this orange hating jerk take it away from him.

Yuri glanced at him and said, "I know that you are taken with your jumpsuit but you must understand that this is for the better."

Naruto shook his head. He had saved his jumpsuit from the trash and he wasn't about to give it up without a fight.

His sensei sighed. "Listen," he said, "I get it, you like your jumpsuit but orange is just too visible. If you wear that on a mission you will not only be putting your life at risk but the lives of the shinobi with you. You have to understand, Uzumaki-san, that there are very few choices that you will make as a shinobi that don't affect another person. If you wear that, you will be spotted, and allies will die due to your childish attachment to that jumpsuit."

Naruto stood his ground and said, "I bet other people like my jumpsuit."

Yuri shook his head and said, "Fine, tell you what. We will ask the owner of the store that we are going to what they think of your jumpsuit. If they like it then I will drop the issue but if they don't then you must get something new. I'm not asking you to spend too much money but enough to get something that will help you stay hidden when out on a mission."

Naruto grinned. There was none who could doubt the power of the color orange and he nodded. "You got yourself a deal."

They continued a short ways into the town and Naruto took notice of people glaring at him. He was used to it and now that he knew what was sealed in him he couldn't entirely blame them. Sure, it wasn't exactly his choice to have the Kyubi sealed inside him but he could understand the resentment that people had for the beast within him. Did it justify how they treated him? No, but it went a long ways in helping him cope with the glares and soft mutters of hate that he could hear.

He stumbled when he felt the air thicken for a second and his heart started to beat faster. He shot a look at his sensei who had just let off a short jet of killing intent. It was weaker than what he had subjected Naruto and his poor clones to the previous day but for the citizens that crowded the street it was as if someone had just set off an explosive tag. Some people fell to the ground and others scrambled into shops to get away of the unknown danger that was on the street.

"Tell me, Uzumaki-san," Yuri said without any indication of what he had just done, "why do you like the color orange so much?"

"I like it because when I wear it everyone notices me," he answered automatically.

He thought about what he said and something didn't quite click with him. While it was true that he wore it to be noticed, that statement went against everything that he had learned about being a shinobi yesterday. Shinobi were supposed to be ghosts in the night but he stood out like a sore thumb for the attention it gathered. A grim thought crossed his mind, maybe it was time to get rid of his precious orange jumpsuit.

They walked in silence. Yuri must have noticed that he wanted time to think and didn't intrude on that. Naruto followed the man down a few streets and, when he entered a shop, he looked at the sign. The Flying Dragon.

Naruto shrugged and enter the establishment. The front half of the store was dominated by racks and racks of clothing of different colors and styles. The back half was filled with weapons of every type and he eyed them with interest.

"We are here for clothing, Uzumaki-san, not a weapon," Yuri said. "When you progress more in you training you may pick up a weapon but for the time being it will only hinder you."

Naruto frowned but accepted the advice. Yuri knew what he was talking about and Naruto trusted his judgment.

"Excuse me," his sensei called. "I need a second opinion if it isn't too much trouble."

There was some clattering from around a rack of weapons and out walked a girl. She had a pink top on, dark grey pants, and blue shinobi sandals. Her brown hair was up in two buns and she smiled happily at them.

"Welcome to the Flying Dragon," she said cheerfully. "I'm Tenten, how can I help you?"

Yuri didn't say anything for a second and just stared at the girl. Tenten looked between his sensei and him but Naruto had no idea what the man was thinking. Finally, Yuri shook his head and rubbed his temple.

"Forgive me," he said. "You look similar to a friend of mine and I thought I had seen a ghost."

Tenten smiled and waved her hand as she said, "Think nothing of it. What can I help you with, sir?"

He pointed at Naruto and said, "What do you think of his clothes?"

She took one glance and said, "Hideous."

"Hey!" Naruto barked.

Yuri ignored him and asked, "What is your professional opinion? I am well aware that it is hard on the eyes."

She nodded and answered, "It is easily spotted by enemy shinobi and because of this it is a danger to him and any shinobi with him."

"Thank you," his sensei said and bowed slightly causing Tenten to blush slightly. He turned to Naruto, a smirk plastered on his face, and said, "So she says."

He looked between the two a few times hoping for his brain to think of something in defense of his color but nothing arose. He sighed and his shoulders slumped. "Fine. I'll get new clothing."

Yuri placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed slightly. He then walked over to the rightmost wall. Displayed on the wall was foot-wear for shinobi and his sensei immediately looked at the combat boot section.

Naruto took and interest and grabbed a pair. If he had put them on they would have completely covered his foot, unlike his sandals that allow his toes to stick out. They were black and a steel plate circled the side.

Yuri glanced at them and said, "No. The steel band would reflect sunlight and could possibly give away your position."

"Ah," Tenten said from behind them. "Our steel is treated with an anti-reflection coating so you don't have to worry about that."

"True, but if that coating gets scratched then the steel underneath will reflect," his sensei countered.

The girl grinned and said, "You really know your stuff."

Yuri bowed slightly and thanked her for her complement. He picked up a boot and handed it to Naruto. "That boot has ceramic plates positioned throughout a double layer of black leather. Ceramic isn't as strong nor as durable as steel plating but you won't have to worry about a reflection giving you away."

Naruto took it, gave it a once over, and handed it to Tenten. "Could you hold this up front for me, Tenten-san. I'm afraid there will be more where that came from."

She accepted the boot and he watched her walk away. He looked back at the boots and found that his black-haired orange hating sensei had vanished. He looked around and found the man pulling a few black shinobi pants off a rack.

"These should be your size," he said when Naruto approached him.

He took the pants and confirmed that they were.

"Try them on after we get the rest of your clothing. No sense in walking back and forth when you can just put it all on in one go."

Naruto couldn't agree more. They moved to the shirt section and the orange hater started looking through them. Naruto stepped around him and looked at some trench coats. He could envision himself wearing one of them and the mental picture he created made him excited at the cool sight that he would make.

"No."

Naruto growled and said, "What do you mean no? Trench coats are cool." Yuri looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Naruto explained, "They hide what you look like underneath so that you can have some kind of surprise stashed and ready to go and they also have a lot of pockets to keep useful supplies in."

"They also trail behind you and blow in the wind. If the free flying fabric were to catch a branch when you were fleeing an enemy then that would be the end of you," Yuri said. "No trench coats."

Naruto folded his arms and muttered, "You're no fun."

"It's not about being fun, Uzumaki-san. It's about keeping you alive."

He sighed. He knew that Yuri was just looking out for him but he could at least let him have some choice in what he would wear.

"This," his sensei said, "will do nicely."

Naruto looked at what his sensei held and saw that it was a dark red leather jerkin with no sleeves. He took it when it was offered to him and was surprised with how heavy it was.

"Two layers of leather with thin steel plates secured between them," Yuri explain. "And...it will look cool with the other clothing that I have selected."

Naruto looked up at the man and saw that he was smiling. His heart beat faster and a new hope surged forward. "You really think it will look cool?"

"Go and see for yourself."

Naruto didn't need to be told twice and he hurried to the changing room. He exited it quickly to grab the rest of his cloths form the counter as he had forgotten about them in his excitement. He all but tore off his jumpsuit and pulled on his new cloths. He looked at himself in the mirror: his jerkin was tight against his skin and his black pants flowed down to where they tucked into his combat boots. There wasn't as much color as he was wanting but he felt that the results was far cooler than anything he had thought up.

He stepped out of the changing room and he heard Tenten say, "Wow. That looks really good on you."

He blushed at the compliment, something he only rarely got especially in regards to his looks, and scratched the back of his head. "R-really?"

"It does," his black-haired sensei agreed. "You'll need three pairs of pants and jerkins and the one pair of boots. Also," he handed something to Naruto, "put that on. It will take time to get used to it but I think you'll like it."

Naruto took the item and looked at it. To his interest it was a kunai pouch but it wasn't like the typical ones he had seen before. It was more slender and longer than the pouches he was used to. He moved to put in around his right leg but stopped when he noticed that there were no cords to tie it to his leg.

"It goes on the small of your back, Uzumaki-san," his sensei answered his confusion. "Place it there and then push a small amount of chakra into it and it will stick like it is part of the jerkin. It will only release after you secure it if you perform the single hand seal for kai, put the hand into to the pouch, and then pulse a small amount of chakra."

Naruto nodded and put it on the small of his back. He pushed some chakra into it and gave it an experimental tug. It didn't budge.

"Looks good," Tenten said. "Will that be all?"

"I believe so, yes," Yuri said.

Naruto approached the counter and asked the question he had been dreading. "How much?"

Tenten smiled as she took each item that was laid out on the counter and pointed at the ones the he wore. She said, "Well, everything here is part of our thirty percent sale we have going on with the only exception being your kunai pouch. Not including the pouch, it comes to, 2380 yen."

Naruto nodded. It was a lot but far less than he had been expecting. He was surprised to hear that there was a sale going on as there were no signs indicating such. He shrugged and chalked it up to his good fortune. "And how much with the kunai pouch?"

"Already paid for," she answered.

Naruto looked at his sensei who said, "A gift."

He grinned and paid his bill. Tenten waved to them as they left the store and Naruto created a clone to take his bags of clothing back to his apartment.

"Remember where this store is, Uzumaki-san," Yuri told him as they walked down the street toward their training ground. "As you grow your clothing will need to be tailored to fit you and they can do that for you. Don't worry about the cost as I've already covered that. Another gift."

Opening his mouth to say something, Naruto felt his stomach growl and he grinned. "Let's get something to eat before training!"

-A Testament to Things that Never Will-

Yuri watched Naruto as the boy went through his exercises. He had to admit that he had more fun training Naruto than he had thought he would and he felt a large amount of pride at the progress the Genin had made over the two week period.

Naruto's chakra control was moving along wonderfully and Yuri had his clone assisting Naruto's with the tree climbing exercise. It was a simple thing for normal Genin but with Naruto's enormous amount of chakra it was a slow moving task. It still boggled Yuri's mind that the exercise wasn't taught in the Academy but Kami forbid the Academy adequately prepare a shinobi for the real world.

His thoughts about the Academy weren't kind and he felt bad about how he felt since Iruka-sensei had done so much for him. The man taught what he thought was vital for shinobi life but was somewhat naive at the amount and quality of training that Genin received from their Jonin-sensei. Most Jonin-sensei had never taught before and had no idea what they were doing. Yuri had done his fair share of training when the war had killed off many of the stronger Jonin and left them with an overabundance of Genin. He was a strict sensei but each of his students grew stronger under his training. He didn't really do anything special besides making the kids do what he did when he trained.

Moving his thoughts back to Naruto, he thought about how he had worked with him on getting his muscle memory for his kunai and shuriken adjusted for the new pouch. It had taken a while but with ten clones constantly trying to hit his fleeing and ambushing clone it had eventually become second nature to the boy. As a side note, his accuracy, rate of throwing, and the speed of his projectiles had benefited from the training and was now above par with regular Genin. He had also become much more aware and cautious of his surroundings due to his clone ambushing the kage bunshin.

His knowledge base was moving along at a steady pace and he was actually surprised at how fast Naruto was picking somethings up. He was still slightly below average in history but with a little over a week before team selections he was confident that Naruto would know everything that he needed to know. His knowledge of chakra had grown as well and Yuri found that he couldn't wait to teach the boy how to manipulate chakra in ways that were only thought possible in dreams and folk tales.

As far as he was concerned, Naruto was hands down the best of his class at taijutsu now. He had seven katas of the Tetsu Sheru down pat and four of the Odayakana Kaze. He had a long ways to go before he had them mastered but both styles were far superior to the Academy style and the Gentle Fist and Uchiha Interceptor Style were marginally comparable at best. If Naruto didn't win every taijutsu spar he ever took part in when he was placed on a team Yuri would find the boy and beat him bloody for the principle of it.

Above all else though, was the remarkable change in character the boy had undergone. Gone was the loud, over impulsive brat and in his place was a calm and patient boy who smiled and laughed more truly than he ever had before in his life. The change was interesting and most likely caused by the many talks that the two had. They spoke of what it meant to be a shinobi and about Naruto's life in general. They spent many hours just talking and Yuri knew just how much that meant to the boy because it would have meant plenty to him when he was a child.

"Naruto," he called to the boy who had just finished a final pull up on a tree branch.

Naruto dropped to the ground with a grace that only a Hyuuga would have been able to copy and walked over to him. He had grown in the two weeks and was now at a good five feet even. It was amazing what an accelerated healing ability would do for the body.

"You needed something, Yuri-sensei?"

"I think it's time I taught you a few jutsu," Yuri said.

Naruto's eyes sparked and the boy jumped into the air, pumping his fist, and whooping like a madman. Did he say calm and patient? Well, he was far more so than before and kids will be kids, Yuri supposed.

He chuckled and said, "Calm down, calm down. The jutsu are nothing truly special but they are definitely powerful in their own right. Do you think you can handle it?"

Naruto smirked, something the boy no doubt picked up from Yuri as the smirk held a confidence that Yuri had been well-known for when he was in his late teens. "Sure am."

Yuri shook his head, a smile gracing his lips. "Alright then. There are two very similar ones that I want to teach you. The first is called the, Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, and the second is called the, Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. They are pretty much the same thing but their uses are completely different. Each of them creates a mass of the associated weapon and are best used in such a way that the weapons are already flying at a fast pace when created. The first is better for diversionary tactics while the second is better if you actually want to hit the enemy as kunai fly faster than shuriken."

He showed the hand signs to Naruto and demonstrated one of them on a tree. He flashed through the hand signs and called out, "Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Tens of kunai appeared in the air in front of him and shot toward the poor tree he had picked as his target. The kunai lodged into the tree with loud thunks and when all the kunai had hit the entire trunk of the tree was just a mess of kunai.

Yuri walked over to the tree and said, "The kunai created with this jutsu are only kage bunshin but are slightly different. Instead of dispelling if they are hit they dispel if they hit a concentration of foreign chakra. This could be a jutsu, a genjutsu, or just a simple chakra pulse. Keep this in mind when you use this jutsu."

Naruto nodded and created ten clones that immediately began working on the jutsu.

Yuri tilted his head and asked, "How do you know that Kage Bunshin can help you learn a jutsu?"

"It makes sense if you think about it," Naruto responded. "Jutsu are just the unique manipulation of chakra and that is done by the mind."

Yuri smirked. "So, your thick head really has been learning something. For a second there it was just empty gas between your ears."

Naruto barked off a quick laugh and went back to his physical exercises.

Yuri shook his head and went back to reading the scroll he had on the theoretical ability of changing matter into pure chakra.

-A Testament to Things that Never Will-

Naruto stepped into the Academy with a flutter of excitement in his chest. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was excited, he couldn't deny it. It had been a month since he had seen Iruka and he couldn't wait to see the look on the man's face when he saw just how much Naruto had changed.

So much had changed for him in the month since the graduation exam. He had become stronger but Yuri was always quick to put him in his place. He was now above average for a Genin but if he were to have a fight with Sasuke, who had graduated at the top of the class, it would be close but Yuri was confident that he would come out the winner.

He had worked hard but he was already further behind everyone to begin with so it was actually mind boggling that he had advanced as far as he had in such a short amount of time. He was smarter, stronger, and more mature than the Naruto of the past and he was happier to. He had calmed down and had finally managed to reel-in his temper that had gotten him into so much trouble in the past.

He walked down the hall and into his old classroom. His eyes glided over the familiar desks, blackboard, and open area in the front of the class where students practiced the academy-three jutsu. Memories, both good and bad, flooded back to him and he took a deep breath. For once in his life he was actually completely happy to be in the room.

He was early and didn't expect any other students to arrive for another half-hour or so. He wanted to talk to Iruka-sensei and since he knew the busy-body always came into the classroom early he figured the best way to find him would be to just come early as well.

He heard the door slide open behind him and he had to consciously stop his hand from pulling a kunai from his pouch out of reflex.

"Excuse me," Iruka's well known voice said, "but this room is reserved for Genin team selections. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Now, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said as he turned toward the man, "do you really want me to leave?"

The brown-haired scared man studied him and a look of surprise and pride emerged on his face. "Naruto-kun?" he asked slowly. "Is that really you?"

"It's been a long time," Naruto said with smirk. "How have you been?"

Iruka stared at him and a huge smile worked its way onto his face. He whooped loudly and rushed over to Naruto and they embraced in a strong hug. Iruka released him and took a step back, his mouth opening and closing. He put a hand on his head and his face evolved into a look a sheer amazement.

"Naruto-kun," he said and looked him up and down, "what happened to you? W-where's the orange and...have you grown?"

Naruto laughed and Iruka-sensei joined him. "I'm fine Iruka-sensei. After Hokage-jiji made me a Genin I started to take my training as a shinobi seriously but it wasn't until I met Yuri-sensei that I really started to make some progress."

"Yuri-sensei?" Iruka asked and Naruto found the man's mixture of confusion and joy humourous.

"A Jonin I met at the training field I was using," he answered. "I ran my mouth and he decided to train me. One month later and here I am."

Iruka-sensei just looked at him. "Kami, Naruto-kun, you look good. You look so...so...so happy. So mature. So confident."

Naruto smirked. "Its been a long month."

The two talked, with Iruka asking dozens of questions and Naruto patiently answering each one, a happy smile on his face. They talked until the door slid open and Naruto saw one of the students from his class come in.

Iruka saw him too, glanced at the clock that was above the door, and said, "It's that time already. I'm sorry, Naruto, but can we-"

"We'll talk over ramen tonight at Ichiraku. Say nine o'clock?" Naruto said.

Iruka nodded. "Works for me, see you then, Naruto-kun."

Naruto waved at Iruka and turned to the desks. He walked to one that was in the back corner, pulled out one of the many books that Yuri had him reading, and flipped to the page he was on.

As he read, more and more people can into the classroom and Naruto took the effort of memorizing who it was, which door they entered from, and where they sat all while he read his book. His awareness and ability to split his concentration was well practiced due to Tetsu Sheru, his ambush training, and the meditation that he actually started to find enjoyable.

More and more people entered the classroom and with each increase in people Naruto felt the pull to bring attention to himself. Yuri had been drilling into his head that shinobi don't bring any unnecessary attention to themselves and he fought off the urge to do so. It seemed that old habits died hard and he concentrated on his book to avoid doing something he'd regret.

His concentration on his book was broken, however, when he heard the loud stomps of footsteps coming from the hall door.

With a loud crack, the door was ripped open and a loud scream of, "I win, Ino-pig!" screeched through the classroom.

Naruto winced when he heard the voice but was happy to find that he felt no longing for the person that created it. He glance up to see Sakura Haruno, his old crush, and Ino Yamanaka come barging into the room.

"Did not, Forehead!" the blonde-haired Ino yelled back.

He mentally groaned when the two started to fight over who would get to sit in the seat next to Sasuke Uchiha but in the end they were silence by Iruka who came into the room and bellowed, "SHUT UP, BRATS!"

The room went deathly quiet and Iruka nodded to himself, a job well done. "Alright, everyone," he said. "Today is the day that you all are assigned your teams and you meet your Jonin-sensei. Today it the true beginning of your shinobi careers and I have high hopes for each one of you. Now, without any further hold up. Team one consists of..."

Naruto listened intently to Iruka-sensei as the man assigned Genin to teams. This was a pivotal point in a shinobi's life because it paired people up with others who would be watching their backs for the next half-year at the very least. The people that created a team or squad would be spending every day together training, doing missions, and entrusting their lives to one another.

He made a silent vow to help and protect the other two Genin that he would share a team with and his ears twitched when he heard Iruka-sensei call off the seventh team.

"Team seven will consist of: Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno-" Iruka paused as he was interrupted by the pinkette cheering loudly. When she finished and sat back down he continued, "Ahem. And the final member of team seven will be Naruto Uzumaki. You-"

"WHAT!?" Sakura roared. "Iruka-sensei, Naruto-baka didn't pass the graduation exam, how can he be a part of my team?"

Iruka-sensei scowled, clearly irritated at being interrupted yet again, and answered, "He was promoted to the rank of Genin soon after the exam. Is there anything else, Haruno-san?"

"If he did graduate then where is he?" she asked.

Iruka-sensei pointed to the corner that Naruto was in and when Sakura, and everyone else in the classroom, looked he gave a small wave. The entire classroom of Genin went silent and several of them had gob-smacked faces. Apparently they were surprised to see him and he was sure that the lack of the glorious color orange was an even bigger shocker.

Iruka-sensei cleared his throat and said, "The Jonin-sensei of team seven is Kakashi Hatake. Moving on..."

Iruka-sensei finished the rest of the teams, instructed the Genin that the Jonin-sensei would pick them up in the classroom, and vanished with the use of the Shunshin Jutsu.

Naruto tried to return to his book but when he felt the eyes of the others around him he sighed, put it away, and said, "If any of your question have anything to do about how I graduated, I'm afraid that I won't be answering them."

Kiba bounded over to him and said, "Damn, man. What happened to you over the past month? You look so different."

"Stuff," Naruto answered with a smirk on his face. "And things."

He avoided the rest of the questions that came at him and managed to get back to his book before the Jonin-sensei arrived. He took note of who the specific sensei were and what they looked like just in case he ran into them at a later date. Eventually the room was left empty except for Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto.

Time went by but Naruto didn't mind as he got to read more of his book and after what was about three hours the door slide open. The blonde took no small amount of pride in the fact that he didn't react at all to the man where his older self would have-

Sakura jumped up and yelled, "You're late!"

-done something like that. His older self would have definitely had done that but all he did was mark his place and store it in his kunai pouch.

The man who walked in had silver-hair, a mask covering the lower part of his face, and a hitai-ate covering his left eye. His clothing was that of a standard Konoha Jonin and the man had a lazy posture that screamed that he didn't want to be where he was.

The man looked up at all of them, looking noticeably longer at Naruto, and said, "Meet me on the roof." He vanished.

Naruto watched the other two scramble to get to the roof as fast as they could but he took his time. He walked slowly and deliberately to the stairs outside that lead to the roof. By the time he made it to his Jonin-sensei about four minutes had passed and Sakura shot him a mean glare.

"Any reason you held us up, Genin?" Kakashi said.

"Mind telling me the same thing, Hatake-san," Naruto countered as he leaned against the railing on the edge of the roof away from the other two Genin. He didn't not like the other two but that didn't mean that he liked them either so he kept his distance until he made up his mind about them.

Kakashi stared at him for a second and finally said, "Introduce yourselves. I would like your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and goals."

Sakura raised her hand and asked, "Could you go first, to show us how?"

Kakashi nodded and said, "You already know my name. As for my likes...and my dislikes...well, I do have hobbies. You next." He pointed at the pinkette.

"My name is Sakura Haruno," she said. "I like Sasuke, I don't like Naruto-baka, my hobby is," she giggled. "My goal is to marry Sasuke."

Kakashi pointed at Sasuke who said, "Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like much nor do I dislike much. I train. My goal, no, my destiny is to kill a certain man."

Kakashi nodded slowly and pointed at Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki," he said. "I like ramen and training with Yuri-sensei which also happens to be my hobby. I don't like people who don't take being a shinobi seriously and my goal..." he stopped. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure what his goal was any more. It had always been to become Hokage but in the past month he had come to realize that the only reason he actually wanted that position was because of the attention that it would have brought him. He frowned and said, "I'm not sure, honestly. For now, I guess my goals are to become a respectable shinobi and protect Konoha. I apologize if that seems unoriginal to you, Hatake-san."

Kakashi stared at him for a fraction of a second longer than was needed. "Interesting," he said. "Alright, meet me tomorrow, around eight, at training ground seven for your Genin test. If you fail the test you will all be sent back to the Academy so do try your hardest. Oh, and I recommend not eating. Wouldn't want to throw up during the test."

-A Testament of Things that Never Will-

Kakashi Hatake, the Shinobi of a Thousand Jutsu, entered the Hokage's office with more on his mind than he wanted. He had read over the reports that the Academy sesnei, Iruka Umino, had prepared for each of the new Genin and all but one had been spot on from what he could tell. The one that was off was the one that detailed Naruto Uzumaki.

The report had said that the Genin was the dead last of the class with the lowest points in all the academic fields, that he had a particular hate for reading, that he was impatient and temperamental, and it even made notable mention of one disturbingly ugly orange jumpsuit. That was what the report said but when he had walked into that room the boy was reading a book, didn't yell at him but calmly marked his place and waited for instructions, and there was no orange jumpsuit. He had to admit, he was a touch disappointed as he wanted to see what the thing looked like if it got the attention of the Academy sensei.

He looked up from his Icha Icha that he hadn't been reading to see the old Hokage standing behind his desk. The man may have been old but his strength was still legendary and recently the man had been getting a but more color in his wrinkled skin. There were rumors that he had found someone that was good enough to spar against but if a shinobi of that caliber was in the village he would have at least heard of them. It wasn't that he, Kakashi, couldn't spar with the old Hokage and give him a workout but he just didn't have the time what with all his Icha Icha and other things he did. Yeah, other things.

"Shinobi usually knock before they enter my office, Kakashi-san," the old Sarutobi said.

His back was to Kakashi and he appeared to be looking out over the village.

"Mah mah," Kakashi said and waved his hand to defuse any tension that his rashness might have caused. He didn't usually just barge in like he had but he had been so engrossed with his thoughts that he had forgotten to knock.

"You have something that you wish to talk about?" Hiruzen asked as he turned around.

Kakashi nodded. "Hai. It's about the report on Naruto Uzumaki."

The old man's wrinkled face smiled and he sat down in his chair. He waved to the chair next to Kakashi and said, "I suspected that I might see you because of that. Now, ask your questions and I will do my best to answer."

Kakashi bowed slightly, put his book away, and sat down in the offered chair. He thought about what his first question would be and decided to start with a general one. "Just what happened over the past month to change Naruto so much?" he asked. "He is nothing like what the Academy report paints him to be."

"That is more of a blanket question than an actual concern," Hiruzen scolded with a smile on his face, "but I think I can manage an answer. I'm sure you're aware of the circumstances surrounding Naruto's promotion?"

"It was in the report."

"Well, that acted as a sort of wake up call for our Naruto-kun," the old man explained. "He saw just how serious the shinobi life can be and started to train with a vengeance the very next day."

"Even if he trained for a year, there is no way a Genin could change that much. They lack the experience needed for quality training," Kakashi countered the Hokage's statement.

"That is correct," Hiruzen agreed, "but Naruto-kun wasn't training alone. About a week into his training he ran into a Jonin by the name of Yuri Karasu. The man took an interest in our blonde Genin and instructed him in his training. The change that you speak of Kakashi isn't as much caused by the training as it is caused by Naruto finally finding someone who gives him the attention he so craves. Now that he no longer has the need to act out for someone to notice him he has calmed down dramatically but I think you'll find that there is still a bit of the old Naruto in there. His joy, his infectious smiles, and his undying determination are only a few of the many things that have stayed true for our young Genin."

Kakashi rubbed his chin. That really did explain a lot but it also summoned more questions to the forefront of his mind. What had Naruto been trained in, how would this new Naruto mix with his other two teammates, just how strong was he, and who was this Yuri Karasu? He had never heard of the man before but that wasn't surprising as he lived in Konoha, the biggest shinobi village in the Land of Fire.

"If I wanted to meet this, Yuri Karasu, where might I look for him?" he asked.

"To be honest, I'm not sure," Hiruzen responded. "The man has been on medical leave for about a month now and finished his finally check-up just yesterday. You could always ask Naruto to introduce you, but tell you what, when I see him I'll tell him that you would like to speak with him about Naruto-kun, will that work?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the masked Jonin said. "That will work just fine."

-A Testament of Things that Never Will-

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-Unbiased Abyss