Naruto sighed as he leaned against the railing of his clubhouse overlooking the city of Konoha. It had been five years since he took the name of Numbah Kyu(9). When he'd been recruited the former Numbah Ichi(1) was adamant about forming a team he could trust no matter what. He really wished for Itachi while he was just starting up, but he had decommissioned the agent himself.

The first person he recruited was Numbah Hachi(8), a steady rock he could always depend on to keep him grounded. Shino was the smartest boy he trusted, and could pull away from headquarters, or else he'd have taken Shikamaru in a heartbeat. To be honest the stoic bug user in training scared him, but Naruto knew that he was loyal... despite calling him 'queen' all the time.

After him came a shy girl that Shino had recommended, and proved to be an invaluable member of the team. Hinata had taken the title of Numbah Nana(7), and became the pilot and science member of the group. She was absolutely brilliant with creating two-by-four technology, and pulling out just the right plan if Naruto didn't have one.

Then they got an older adviser member, Tenten or Numbah Zyuu(10), she was a year older than he was, but followed his orders perfectly. She also seemed to be obsessed with helping Hinata with new weapons and came in very handy as the gunner on the crafts. Her accuracy set new records at the KND:HQ, and to be frank, she was scary intense when firing off weapons.

The final member had barely cleared the tests to make the primary squad instead of the backup squad. Numbah Roku(6), was a bit of a fashion obsessed girl, but was a good solid member of the squad. If only she didn't have such major issues with Numbah Go(5) over Numbah Ichi. He couldn't even understand what Sakura and Ino saw in that Sasuke-teme, but it did keep them on edge. Now he just had to figure out a way to keep them apart.

The HQ had given him the primary responsibility over protecting Konoha from the adults, despite the other squad being lower in the count. It was especially odd that a number in the middle of the count was in charge, but the others deferred to him in the majority of the problems, and so he continued being the leader. The problem was he was about to get a new squad of kids to train up, he was being decommissioned soon, and had to have the replacements ready.

The profiles on the group didn't look promising, but he was fairly certain Itachi thought the same when he got Naruto's profile. He did see one that stuck out in his mind, and felt that he'd be a good replacement leader. He had to wait until Numbah Zyuu(10) arrived for their meeting.

Sidestepping he snagged the long scarf that was falling past right where he had been. "You're late Zyuu, not a good quality in a leader..." Naruto stated with a smirk as the brown haired boy pulled himself up.

"Yeah, yeah, I'd have gotten you if you hadn't moved..." the brat groused while glaring defiantly at Naruto. "So you're the primary squad leader... you don't look like your profile says..."

"They don't update those for active members Konohamaru," Naruto answered while leaning against the railing again, pointing out towards the village below. "Take a good look kid, all that you see is what you're responsible for. Think you're up to it?"

"Damn straight I am, I'm going to be the best! Better than even you!" Konohamaru proclaimed jabbing a finger at Naruto.

"Not until I say you're ready brat... not until I say you're ready..." Naruto answered, echoing the words Itachi had told him all those years ago. Oh yeah, this was going to be fun.