3 days later, Monday; the first day of his Jonin Sensei career. The son just hated him right now as it shined brightly in his windows telling him it was time to wake up, looking down he saw a half-naked Yugito laying with her head on his chest. Just the sight of her made his heart skip a beat, she was his perfection in every way and he would die to protect his family.
He remembered a time when he was conversing with his godfather about how Shinobi measure their legends that are to be told through the ages to come; "A Shinobi's legend is told through their deaths, they could stand against an army and win but when they die a good death worthy of their legend people forget about their life's work and focus only on how they died."
He was damn sure of his skills and was even more sure that he wouldn't die to leave his daughter to grow up alone but just in case he had been setting shadow clones aside since he was back to write down all his knowledge from his Shinobi life and experience to place in the library for his daughter should something happen to him.
Slowly getting out of bed and getting dressed he walked tiredly towards the kitchen where he met his mother looking just as tired both not having had their morning coffee yet.
"Morning Kaa-San"
"Morning, you get your new Genin team today?"
"Yes, expect them to come round every now and then for dinner." He said with a smile, he was looking forward to giving his knowledge to some Genin who would one day most likely have some sort of high ranking within the village since he was getting the infamous 'Team 7' that always ended up as legends.
Making some breakfast before departing to the Hokage's office to watch his new team with the other Jonin Sensei's through the crystal ball that the Sandaime had given to Tsunade for a welcoming present.
Entering the office he found himself being stared at by all the Jonin sensei's, he found Kurenai and Asuma amongst the new Sensei so he assumed that their old team were Jonin or at least Chunin; they were both looking a bit older and Asuma had a few grey hairs here and there in his beard but otherwise looked the same as he remembered.
"Sup."
They all just stared blankly at him still not believing the rumours that were going around about him and how he beat the Sandaime Hokage in battle, "Ok stop staring now it's getting old; let's see my cute Genin team of misfits?"
He walked over to the crystal ball and saw his team, 1 Nara who looked as lazy as the rest and 2 civilian boys who looked excited about finally becoming Genin.
He smiled, the 2 boys reminded him of himself when he was younger and just becoming a ninja, with that in mind he decided he would pass them without the test, he saw greatness in his team.
"Hokage-Sama."
Everyone stopped looking at the ball in front of them and looked towards himself, "What brat?"
"Team 7 Passes; I will pay for a 6 month D rank mission for my team with me as the client. If you need a reason for the mission then just say they will be keeping my compound clean." He finished with an eye smile like his former sensei and older brother figure.
Tsunade developed an eye twitch at how he was debasing some of the oldest traditions of the Jonin senseis.
"What do you mean brat? You haven't even met them yet?"
"Well I saw them through the ball and I'm quite happy with how they are talking to each other and they seem friends so team work is fine."
"That's not what I meant! I meant why the D-Ranked mission?"
"Oh that? I am a firm believer that the academy is shit so I will take the 6 months when they are meant to be doing D-ranked missions to get their level up and then depending on how they do I will take them on some C-ranked missions and recommend them for the Chunin exams; it's been a while aren't they hosted here again this year Tsunade?"
"That, I am annoyed to say is actually a good idea and yes they're hosted here again in around 8 months."
"Good, in that case I shall be on my way to pick up my little team of misfits." He finished with a wave of his hand and disappeared in a flash of light to one of the pre-placed flying thunder god tags that his clones had already placed around the village for ease and reappeared outside the academy.
He walked into the academy with a calm bored like walk and knocked on the door just in time to hear Iruka finish speaking "Team 7 is Shiku Nara, Mino – no last name and Ken – no last name; your Sensei is…" he finished looking at the name and started stuttering in surprise. "Naruto Uchiha Namikaze."
Everyone lifted their heads at that, the son of the fourth Hokage and an Uchiha; they were the greatest Sensei you could get according to their child like views. He chose that moment to walk in the door.
"Yo." He said with a wave and an eye smile.
"Now where are my little team of misfits, raise your hands team 7!" he finished in a calm yet commanding tone. Instantly 3 hands went up, even the lazy Nara girl raised her hand without the word troublesome.
"Good, meet me on the roof and we will have introductions; be there in less than 5 minutes." He said and Shunshin'd in a flock of crows to the roof leaving a room full of surprised Genin.
They all ran out of the room and went to the roof as fast as they can and arrived in just under 4 minutes which surprised him but he kept a stoic face.
"All right good timing, let's begin with introductions; I'll start.
My name is Naruto Uchiha Namikaze but I am also part Uzumaki, I like my family, I dislike those who would seek to harm my family and my dream? To be able to retire without worry that my enemies will hurt my family.
You next Shiku."
"Troublesome, my name is Shiku Nara; I like cloud watching and I dislike rushing. My dreams? I don't really have one at the moment so we will see in the future."
"Ok, next Mino."
"My name is Mino, I don't know my parents and I'm an orphan from what I presume is a civilian family so I hope to become a well-known Shinobi. I like my friends and training, I dislike arrogant people with elitist attitudes and I already said my dream."
"Very well, last is Ken."
"My name is Ken and like Mino I'm an orphan, my parents died in the Suna/Oto invasion years ago. I like my memories of my family and friends, I dislike Oto immensely and my dreams for the future would be to settle down when I'm older and have a semi-large family."
"Ok good, there may be a time when we face Oto forces in the future; this is your one warning, if you disobey me when in the field I will have your Chakra sealed and thrown out of the ranks for insubordination."
Ken shrunk into himself as he weakly nodded his head in affirmation.
"Good now let me explain some things. Usually you would have a secondary test to see how you work together before you become Genin but I have chosen to forgo this test due to the fact that I know you are all friends from you files so teamwork shouldn't be an issue.
For the next 6 months you will be training with me, as I told Tsunade; I am a firm believer that the academy is shit and teach wrong so we will train and then do C rank missions and the occasional B rank mission before I enter you in the Chunin exams in 8 months depending on what level you are all at. Any questions?"
Shiku raised her hand, "We aren't in the academy anymore no raising hands just ask." Naruto stated getting a nod from the young Nara.
"Since we aren't at the academy anymore and we are meant to be doing D rank missions to earn income how will my teammates survive without the orphan stipend they stopped getting when they became Genin?"
"Good question, you just made yourself the strategist on the team when I'm not available. The answer is simple; the next 6 months is going to be a long as D rank mission where at the end of each month you will get a month's worth of D rank pay but don't worry you guys are my team meaning you are family; you're more than welcome to come over to mine for dinner anytime."
They all nodded and the two orphans each had a smile on their face.
"Right the day is still young so I will give you a rough outlay of the next three months of training and then we will reschedule the next 3 months after that to see what needs more focus and what doesn't.
First month is quite simple; I will work you into the ground on Chakra control to not only build your reserves but also strengthen your coils and stamina that you will receive by using Chakra excessively. You will all be getting a seal placed on you that will disrupt your Chakra flow and force it to be piss poor once you mastered the basic Chakra control exercises and every time you get it back up I will remove it for a day to allow you to get used to it then reapply it. This will also expand your Chakra reserves.
Any questions on the first month?"
Once again Shiku raised her hand but then put it down remembering what he said before and asked "How do you know so much about seals to apply such an advanced one?"
"I'm a seal master like my father and godfather. Any other questions?" None.
"Ok then second month is where we start to get into the more physical side of a Shinobi life style; you will all learn my Taijutsu style which is one of the best in the village, I created it when I was younger and is called the Hummingbird. No matter what you will not teach this style to anyone unless you have my express permission which at the moment I will not grant.
I will make you speed demons, I am a firm believer in the fastest Shinobi is the strongest; if they can't touch you then they can't kill you. For this to work I will give each of you Chakra weights at the start of the second month and depending on how you do I will also add a resistance seal that makes it feel like you are always running through water." Naruto finished and the 3 students paled since that sounded more like torture rather than training.
Seeing no questions he decided to finish up his 3 month training regiment, "Month 3 is the fun bit; Ninjutsu training. I have the Sharingan and know lots of techniques from most elements and have created loads myself which I will pass onto you three as my students.
Make no mistake, you three will be legends the likes this world have never seen but you have to work for it, nothing in this life is free and we are Shinobi which is a life of sacrifice, you must be prepared to sacrifice your time, sweat and tears for strength."
"Sadist…" Shiku mumbled under her breath causing Naruto to smile.
Naruto pulled a scroll from his Sage Jacket that he wore and opened it producing 3 of his Tri-pronged Kunai and 3 leather strapped books that looked like Journals.
He handed one of each to his students getting a raised eyebrow.
"Throughout my life I have bled and killed for this village. In fact the Suna/Oto invasion we were going to be overrun by a secondary army of 1000 Shinobi from Suna and Oto; I was the only one who knew about it at the time and didn't have enough time to inform anyone so I summoned the Big 3 of the Toad clan from their homes to take care of the invading summons whilst I faced down an army of 1000 strong on my own.
I killed them all and left only one alive to deliver a message to Suna about betraying us again, I am haunted by the men I've killed; they come to me in my sleep, this is only part of the sacrifice that I have made for this village. The journals are for you to write down about your training, I expect you to write in them once a week and once we start taking missions I expect you three to write a brief over-view of the mission obviously without mentioning specifics; I find that this keeps the dreams away and honours the men I've killed for their sacrifices they gave their country.
To die protecting what you love is a Shinobi's greatest honour and curse; remember that."
All 3 nodded in understanding but then asked about the Kunai, "I am a Namikaze and as such have mastered my father's Jutsu the Hiraishin no Jutsu to an almost inexpressible level, you are expected to keep the Kunai on you at all times so I can reach you should something happen." He said in a commanding voice once again getting nods of understanding, the 3 Genin placed the Kunai and Journals in their pouches.
"Now the day is still young so why don't I show you your first Chakra control exercise?" Not waiting for a response he walked over to a tree with the Genin in tow.
"For a rookie Genin such as yourselves the most difficult place to move the Chakra in your body is the bottom of the feet but Shinobi using it in such a way every day so it is taken for granted and is one of the first skills a Shinobi should learn. Observe."
He calmly walked up the tree leaving 3 stupid looking Genin with open mouths; he hung upside down on the lowest branch so he could still talk to them.
"Channel Chakra to your feet and run up the tree." He said whilst throwing a Kunai at each of their feet. "Too much and you blast off the tree, too little and you slip and fall. No one will catch you so be careful; If you get to the top by the end of the day and I see that your control is adequate and reserves large enough then I will teach you three a basic Jutsu that ninja use every day." He said smiling as he dropped to the floor and leaned against a tree not too far away and begun writing in his own Journal about his Genin team whilst smiling at the attempts the Genin were making.
It became apparent rather quickly that Shiku had medium reserves and high control as most of her clans Genin did due to the amount of Chakra and control it took to manipulate Shadows like they did.
Mino had the largest reserves of the three and poorest control; something that made no sense if his parents were civilians which made him think that they were Ninja but non-clan Ninja. Naruto turned on his Sharingan to watch him get a few steps up the tree and then fall due to using too much Chakra. He shook his head and deactivated his Sharingan.
His third and last student seemed to be rather level headed and reminded him of himself when he was younger; he seemed to think outside the box. He watched as Ken stood a foot of the ground exactly like he did when he was younger getting a feel for the amount of Chakra needed before trying to move up the tree getting just under a quarter the way up before falling.
He smiled; he was going to like his new team.
3 Hours passed and it was almost lunch time; he didn't need his Sharingan to see that his Genin were running on fumes. To be honest he was rather surprised at the fact that they had lasted this long with the exercise. Each Genin had made it just above half way and they seemed to be getting frustrated so he decided to give them a break.
"Alright come down and come over here." He shouted as he put his Journal away, he always liked writing in it and strangely enough he hadn't needed it until his training trip which gave him the idea that it was something to do with the incident he had before leaving for his trip with his godfather.
The Genin waddled over to him; the tree had a nice bit of shade and the sun was burning strong for the summer.
"Sit down and enjoy a break guys, I will go get you lunch and bring it here for you, then we will continue; this will give you a chance to regenerate your Chakra reserves." He said getting a nod before all 3 collapsed under a tree.
Grinning he got up and Shunshin'd to the Dango stand; "Hey Shiro, can I get 4 of the Anko special please."
"You must be hungry to get all that just for yourself?" The man name Shiro who owned the store said.
"Nah, I got a new Genin team and I made them exhaust their Chakra so I thought I would get them lunch whilst they had a break." He finished smiling, Shiro was one of the people that never said anything bad to him when he was younger much like the Ichiraku family but he hardly ever came here due to his reputation in his younger days.
Shiro nodded and prepared the order whilst Naruto took out his money to pay, "Thanks man you're a life saver." He said before Shunshining with his Dango bag to the Nara compound. He made his way to Shikamaru's house where the clan head and his family stayed and knocked.
Shikaku answered the door and was surprised to see the infamous Naruto Uchiha Namikaze that was so popular nowadays.
"Can I help you Naruto?"
"Can I come in? Some things need to be talked about in private." He said ominously without knowing he had piqued the interest of the man.
Opening the door further he let himself in as they walked to the living room which he wife was residing in at the moment.
"Hello Yoshino-san." Naruto said getting her attention.
"Naruto-San"
Sitting down all three descended into an awkward silence before Shikaku decided to brake it, "What can I do for you today Naruto?"
"I recently took a Genin team." He said getting their attention; he made it clear to the council that he wasn't planning on teaching anyone his secrets. "I requested a team and there were 3 Orphans in the class so I decided to take them as a team and make them legends." He finished with a smile.
"That's nice." Yoshino said not really caring but trying to be polite.
"I'll get to the point; this is obviously semi-awkward for us. Who are Shiku Nara's current carers since I know she is an Orphan?" He asked getting their attention.
"My family. She is the daughter of Yoshino's friend so we took her in after they died when she was younger; why?"
"Don't take this the wrong way but she doesn't seem like the typical Nara."
"Explain." Shikaku said taking a little offence to that.
"She is smart, incredibly so but she seems very applied in her training unlike other Nara I've seen; I'm just wondering if there is anything that caused that?"
Shikaku sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Nara's tend to be lazy until they get a wakeup call usually by something happening in the field, like Shikamaru for instance got his when Sasuke left and he was made captain of the retrieval squad; everyone came back with critical injuries except him. He realised that he had been slacking in his training and although he was made Chunin hadn't put the effort in to actually acquire new skills.
She got hers when her parents died."
"Oh, that's terrible."
"It is."
"Well I've gave her a standing invitation like the rest of my team to come over to mine for dinner anytime; we are a team and therefore family." He said getting a smile from Yoshino.
"One more thing before I go; I've observed your clans Shadow manipulation and come to the conclusion that it is a Kekkei Genkai that relies on Shape manipulation, am I correct?" he asked with a knowing look in his eye.
"You are."
"Ok then, I was just deciding if I should get her started on Shape manipulation at a later date. Thanks bye." He said before disappearing in a red flash and reappearing outside Tsunade's office.
He walked in and waved to an irate Tsunade doing paper work. "Yo Tsunade." He said getting her attention.
"What brat? Can't you see I'm busy!" she moaned.
"I'm here to pick up my teams D rank mission that I filed for this morning." He smiled annoying her.
She tossed the scroll at him and he left but not before saying "Shadow clones are incredibly useful don't you think Tsunade?" and disappeared in a red flash towards his Genin's beacon
"I'm back, here's lunch; eat and then continue." He said giving each of them a box of Dango whilst he had his own. They ate in relative silence as they just enjoyed the quiet and food.
The boys were first to finish before continuing and then Shiku joined them, by the end of the day the Genin almost made it to the top; it was more than enough to impress him so he decided to reward them and called them over once again.
"You three have done good work today. I am rather impressed; it seems that given the right incentive you three can find the determination to meet the challenge placed in front of you." He said earning a tired stare from his students.
He produced 3 small scrolls and handed one to each of them; "This contains a Jutsu that is D ranked but is a supplementary Jutsu used by all ninja regularly called Shunshin no Jutsu. One of my clan before it was exterminated was called Shunshin no Shusui across the nations due to his combat version of this technique.
Your reserves should be large enough to use this once or twice but no more than 50 meters distance from the starting point, when you complete it and your reserves are big enough I will give you its older brother that I created called the Flash Step; I made it so my family can transition from the high speeds of the advance Shunshin to the Hiraishin. I don't use it that often so no one knows about it.
You aren't going to learn Hiraishin ever, so don't get your hopes up." He finished with a smile.
They nodded, "Work on this in your own time and no more than 50 meters before I tell you otherwise." He smiled before disappearing in a red flash leaving his extended family to find their own way home.