A/N - Writin onnnn ma sofa, watchin tha shows, playin games with the pros...
So I watched Straight Outta Compton recently and damn was that a good movie. Even if you don't agree with everything in it you have to admit that the acting, story and general feel of it is fantastic; not to mention that it's introduced me to the older Hip Hop genre and some rap songs that were before my time.
I don't own Naruto, if somebody reading wouldn't mind passing the rights to it on over then I could really make a great continuation story, I'm serious, hit me up; I've laid out a perfect plot while doing some of my more tedious coursework.
Chapter Six - Making Impressions
"LEE! Listen close, only those who have not yet witnessed the springtime of youth chose to walk from place to place." One of many fond memories of Guy sensei's teachings sparked across his mind causing him to crack a dazzling smile. Listening to the sacred teaching he was, of course, running through the yawning village of Konoha. Noticing his shadow on the opposite rooftop as he ran was quite I strange thing for him, after all it had only been a few months since he perfected the tree climbing technique.
Another smile cracked across his face at his success. Many had told him he'd never be a ninja yet he'd proven them wrong, likewise, many told him that he'd never be able to harness the chakra control because of his simple lack of skill, he proved them wrong.
This time his cracked smile stayed put, as it always did at this specific moment each and every day. Coming around the corner the training fields came into view, another reason that he curiously noted as his sprint slowed was the fresh aroma that only the scent of pine held and past that was the endless sky which was home to a setting sun, its luminous glow dimming as it was just disappearing behind the famed Hokage monument.
The reason he loved this was very simple, so simple that he couldn't understand why others didn't see it too. He was a very fortunate person, he lived in a beautiful place, he had friends that he cared for and others that cared for him so while he may not have the natural talent that many did, what he had was a drive. He wanted to protect this place, to prove his doubters wrong and to surpass his sensei.
Approaching the area amplified these thoughts, pushing them forward.
On a day like this nothing could go wrong, bad things didn't happen on days like this as it wouldn't be right. It was like saying that the sun wouldn't rise in the morning, or that the birds wouldn't sing. You just accepted these things as they were, and that they simply happened or where meant to be that way.
He had slowed down to a walk as he approached his destination, training ground nine. In this sleepy hour active ninja were finishing their shifts, civilians were going to sleep and Konoha's bustling nightlife had not yet got underway. He was not on duty, nor did he enjoy the activities that bustling nightlife entailed so that's why he came here, "To bathe in the springtime of youth." It was a whisper in the night, but one bathed in determination. Many would question, maybe even laugh at the phrase but it held great meaning for him.
As he finally entered the field the small echoes of slaps and grunts broke his sound frame. Without thought his footsteps were immediately silenced on reflex, his body positioned in a stance lower to the ground as he silently approached the tree line hopping for further investigation. Over a year of ninja training did that to the most redundant of rookie's.
Edging ever closer his subject of curiosity came into view. An experienced Genin team by the looks of it, this was strange for two reasons. Nobody beside Team Ten, his team trained at this hour, the other was what the team was doing. Wanting to keep his distance he hung back, it was common knowledge that observing another Shinobi was considered rude and rightly so. A Shinobi relied on trickery and surprise, it was in their nature to deal with a problem quickly and to do that one had to be well prepared. For another, this being himself, to come along and witness the trickery or surprise then it made the purpose of training worthless; everything the ninja had worked for would be corrupted as it was known to another.
Although this unwritten rule was more applicable to Jounin and Chunin it was still well within reason to respect a Genin team. The voice in his head told him he should leave, find another training ground and get his routine training done. He didn't.
"Such agility." The words slipped out, more out of awe than purpose.
He had to get closer and so he did. Low to the ground, slow movements, he needed to find out who this was. Using the vegetation he lessened the distance so that the dark silhouette was no more.
Standing tall and arms crossed was Kakashi Hatake. He had forgone his usual green vest leaving his fitted black battle suit exposed; everyone knew who he was. In front of him, to his left and right were two students, even he could tell that the blonde was a Yamanaka and everyone knew the Uchiha. Both showed severe signs of fatigue and although standing, it was clear that they had been doing this for a while and even more so that they were running out of energy.
Opposing them was what interested him. Kneeling and in obvious pain was another blonde, this time a boy. One knee grounded but the other refused to give. Hands on knee and without sound he slowly rose up, the only sign of weakness being a slight stagger.
That's when it clicked, one's self-admittedly slow mind should have figured it out once he had saw Kakashi but looking across the field at the fourth and final member made it all fit together.
Guy had given him a description on his fellow Genin, Naruto Uzumaki. He could list facts upon facts about him, strengths and weaknesses. "Average height, less that average build, relies heavily on technique and speed to overpower his opponen-." His words were caught in his mouth when the blood red and yellow streak kicked out crushing a boulder were his teammate once was standing.
"Such flames of youth... to come so far in such a short time. You will be my rival Naruto-kun." It was an un-youthful act but the temptation to watch was too great, so he did.
Not breaking eye contact his view was the same as last time. Kakashi standing rigid, arms crossed and waiting to see if he would go on, Ino and Sasuke were prepared if need be although neither looked happy. It had been three months since the formation of the team and they had worked hard, very hard.
Eerie silence filled the standoff, they had been going for hours now, he didn't know how many but they had started early in the day and the sun had just set. Something about this was just... funny, a snort escaped him. The fact he could train for three straight months and still get beaten to a pulp just got to him. His giggling allowed the warm liquid to seep into his mouth giving it a temporary dark red stain before it stopped, silence returning.
His face fell into a familiar scowl, one that he naturally wore when fighting.
He'd keep going, it wasn't a matter of stopping, and he would be forced to stop before he'd give in but...
Maybe they were right?
Just because Ino thought he was a little crazy, he was happy. Sasuke was definitely right when he was called stubborn but everyone's different, right? But damn it he wasn't a nobody, Kakashi didn't have the right to call him that, not yet anyway.
The man had ridiculed all three of them, treated them like less than dirt and then always gave them the same response when questioned, "I'm your sensei, not your friend."
It had been fine at the start; although he wasn't talkative he was friendly and edged them into his regime. They had time to adjust to the life of a ninja and he respected that but after a week or so it all changed, he had stepped up "training" and with it his attitude changed. The man they knew had always been distant, a to the point sort of guy but now he was business and nothing but it. The scarecrow, as they had begun calling him, had a very bad reputation for being late, and he was with them for that single week, but with the change he was pinpoint precise.
If he said training started at six, you were to be there ten to six. He would arrive on time to the dot.
Working them to the bone had been brutal, although the others hadn't noticed Kakashi had his ways of pushing Team Seven and none of them were nice. Ino had been nearly reduced to tears several times; although it wasn't as deep cutting as what he or Sasuke received it was enough to make anyone hate him.
Sasuke was given the name of failure, comically hailed as the only Uchiha prodigy to come number two behind a civilian; another common insult was to mention the once great Uchiha clan. Sasuke had sworn to remove the bastard's left Sharingan eye and at this point he didn't blame him. All of this was used as motivation, motivation to prove him wrong, he made it all too clear that Naruto would never become anything, made it clear that he would peak at Chunin like most civilians do before never amounting to anything greater.
He had been silent, he had worked hard and ultimately he had put up with it but everyone had a threshold, a breaking point. He had just hit his.
It was payback time, all his talk and smack of beating the Elite Jounin wasn't wasted breath, he wouldn't give up like the other two, not until he won.
He swayed slightly, his raw throat ground out, "Again."
Kakashi's lone eye danced at the word. 'He's more like Obito than I thought.' The boy seemed to take many bad qualities from people he once knew. The small scowl that he wore when fighting belonged to his sensei's silent arrogance, he was rude and direct like Kushina yet manipulative and mysterious like Itachi; he was also a stubborn fool, like Obito.
Ino just looked at his bloodied and bruised form clear worry and stress evident on her face, surprisingly Sasuke looked at him much the same. It looked like he was trying to mouth out something to him but his vision was too blurred... it didn't matter much anyway.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "Give up." Naruto spat before wiping his mouth before slowly dropping into his fighting stance, "So be it."
Before he knew it Kakashi was in front of him delivering a swift side kick to his head, his senses had dropped from the damage he had received he should have dodged that.
Flying through the air he braced for impact and it came with a literal crack, this being Sasuke's foot making direct contact with his back. He gritted his teeth and without letting out a sound brushed the kick off before returning a punch to Sasuke's ribs. Following this up he grabbed his left arm and in a brawler fashion roughly snapped it back as he moved around his body.
"That's it, build up momentum." It was a three on one battle that had been going on for a while meaning he easily heard the loud and fatigued stomps of Ino running from his blind spot, he frowned not enjoying what the encounters that came with this test.
Still holding Sasuke's arm back he was able to crouch and pull him around using him as a shield to take the hit before throwing him aside to continue his barrage.
Foregoing the human shield tactic he jumped towards Ino hoping to deliver a punch that she narrowly avoided causing him to land very catlike on his honkers. Snapping his head up he took in everything.
After three months of perception being drilled into him, it was everything.
The farthest one away was Sasuke; he had travelled quite a distance with that jump to knock away Ino. He was currently running towards him around ten feet directly behind him, like Ino he was heavy footed thanks to fatigue.
Ino had backpedalled to avoid his punch, she was in direct line of sight preparing a Jutsu, he looked closer, the ram seal meant clan Jutsu and he'd bet his left nut on what it was. It had to be avoided.
Kakashi, like always was silent, not the slightest bit fatigued from a days' work of fun for him. The man was strong, way out of his league so he had to surprise him if he wanted to achieve his goal, I surprise wouldn't be enough though, he had learned that throughout the day. He would need to be deceived, manipulated.
Finding him was always hard but he did have a solution, smell. Picking up the scent of smell not five feet to his far right immediately widened his eyes, "Not that easy dog breath." He rolled left before kicking to his feet, not a second later a fist cracked where he once stood making a small crater.
The man smelt like a dog, it was a pungent smell and although hard to pick up, once recognised it could be followed to a certain extent.
Not even a minute in and this was his best start yet. He was badly injured, badly beaten and he was struggling to keep consciousness but unlike his teammates he had stamina, plenty of it. Each round was becoming harder, yet easier. It was more like facing one opponent rather than three the longer it drew on, the problem was getting his body to do so. It had the energy, for some reason it always did, the barrier would be his injuries.
Azure eyes narrowed as he took in all three opponents before they charged. He stood still, calculative eyes doing their job before taking off. Dancing and springing around the three proved difficult but he definitely had the experience to do so, at times all that was needed was a simple change of footwork or the follow up flow of a stance as one would move through their kata's but that could only do so much for him before he would be caught.
Whether his reflexes had dulled or evolved he didn't know as he failed to flinch while narrowly avoiding a haymaker, he had learned that after getting bruises on your bruises your body would tend not to worry about another.
This was followed by two kicks, Ino going high while Kakashi went low and that's where his unpredictable side came in. With a jump and a twist he dodged both but failed when a fist outstretched fist from Sasuke made contact with his hasty cross armed defence.
For anyone watching, which there was, it all looked like a well choreographed dance; in its simplicity it was, there were the fast bullet like movements and then the graceful manoeuvres that made it look like meaningless fun as you dodged a bone breaking kick. Naruto sighed inwardly, 'if only.'
Over the last three months any superiority he had over Sasuke remained minimal. If he would get stronger, so would the other and vice versa. Naruto was confident in his ability to beat the Uchiha but during this all day event his confidence had been questioned.
As he slid back from the punch he shook his arms out from the sting, "That hurt, bastard."
Sasuke didn't even manage the usual smirk, the effects of battle wearing on him, 'He really is running on empty, Ino too.'
Before getting too unfocused he saw Ino reaching for kunai, he couldn't allow that. He charged forward in a reckless rush.
With her Kunai withdrawn in the hopes of throwing the basic rush caught her off guard making her swing wildly but like her stamina freak for a teammate she too had been training and it just so happened that she was a natural with her kunai. Although the swing was wild and certainly rough it was also timed to perfection and would make contact.
Scowl on face Naruto channelled chakra to the soles of his feet causing an instant stop as he stuck in place just out of the short weapons reach. With the overexertion of the initial attack playing a big part in such a small weapons hopes to deal a blow it caused Ino to miss the single shot at him that she was sure to get, and it that sense anyone could guess what would happen next.
Being completely exposed Naruto quickly disarmed her kunai before pointing it just under her chin, careful not to let it touch, "Surrender." It wasn't a question, if she didn't comply then he would have to resort to knock out, he'd do it on Sasuke, he'd pay to do it on Kakashi but damn it he was a gentleman, one such as himself didn't hit a woman.
Ino understood the situation as well as he did and immediately dropped her guard.
"Well, I don't have to deal with you anymore, thanks." He gave her a smile and even managed a wink, the former returned as a gesture of thanks.
Turning around he took in the sight of his other adversaries, "And then there were two..." Kakashi looked the same as always, bored and unchallenged, he couldn't say he was surprised.
Just as the duo were about to take off Sasuke interrupted, "I'm too tired and I'm not risking greater injury due to one of your 'lessons'." Blatant disrespect towards Kakashi had turned into a trait of Sasuke's, one of which had not been present at the start. Usually it just landed him extra work like more laps of the field or maybe another D-rank to be completed for the end of the week however it looked like Sasuke really didn't care right about now.
Again Kakashi just looked at Sasuke, one eye leaking no emotion before he broke the silence, "You did very well Sasuke, you too Ino. Today has shown me that two of my pupils are willing to do what needs to be done, take what needs to be taken and most importantly, to do what their leader tells them to follow my rules," his now narrowed eye glanced at Naruto, "without question."
Sasuke simply nodded his head, unsure how to respond to that. He had been driven to train like a slave for the past three months, it had been made clear right from the start by Kakashi, it had also been made clear what he was going to teach, how he would do it and what it was to work towards. This, this day right here was what all their hard work was for, he had accepted his supposed failure many hours ago as Kakashi was just too strong, so why had the man gave him and his fellow loser a compliment while Naruto was still fighting, still refusing to back done, like he and Ino had.
During the fight he was hoping the stubborn prick would give up, simply getting the defeat over with. He respected the guy for it, didn't mean he had to like it.
Kakashi again moved his focus on to the two, "You may leave, each of you rest up and get ready for tomorrow, you will each be accompanying a different team for your first C-Ranked mission tomorrow, Sasuke, you will leave from the main gate at ten thirty am sharp. Ino, you are likewise only you are leaving from the west gate at a later time of eleven am, " He eye smiled portraying the first emotion to the Genin in months, "I was able to persuade them to move the leaving times a little further back as I knew you would be tired...dismissed."
With that Sasuke shunshined away, pure shock evident on his face, shock or either disbelief, even the experienced Jounin couldn't tell.
Ino had remained a few seconds longer causing Kakashi to shoo her off accompanied by the hand gesture and everything. She left but he didn't miss the failed attempt at a hidden, good luck towards her remaining teammate.
Damn, did they really think he was that bad? I suppose his training was working then.
One thing he'd managed to nail into those two over the last three months was respect. It had been a problem, Sasuke was a replica of himself during his youth thinking his ideas and plans were the ones that needed to be used, it was blind ignorance, others call it overconfidence, both would get you killed... or others as he knew. It was a disease that had to be removed and he found the most effective way was killing it, by this he meant that Sasuke had been knocked down a peg or two in the few months of their "friendship." Getting rid of the boy's goal wasn't something he neither could nor wanted to control, ultimately was that a personal matter between Sasuke and his brother. Even now, if he knew what Sasuke did, he would think alike to the last Uchiha in Konoha.
Ino was an easier case, her problem was being bossy so he often used calculative, if not mean counters to every idea or suggestion that wasn't perfect, even then it received a little scrutiny. In basic form and from her teammates viewpoints he bullied her, to be perfectly honest, he did. He didn't like it but Ino was able to work successfully with her teammates, add her two cents for plans while also being able to make key decisions without being bias toward her own ideas. He bullied her, he scrutinised her but she was now a better ninja for it, a smarter ninja. With the qualities he drilled into her in a short three months she would make a better clan head too.
She had been easily broken and sculpted to fit her own desires. He had pulled out the weeds, removed the impurities to allow her to grow into a better Ninja and ultimately better person.
The process was one that would usually happen over time through maturing and experiences but to be quite frank, he didn't have time.
He needed to ensure that his students were trained well by the time of his appointment, if that meant starting the first three months with an Anbu recruit training and mental rehabilitation then so be it.
It eventually broke Ino, Sasuke at last feel during his test, like he knew he would.
Then there was Naruto.
His three months had been successful, like his teammates he had made progress on everything taught, he excelled in it. The problem with Naruto was one he had expected, he knew this exact event was going to happen right from the start.
(Flashback)
"Fine. My name is Ino Yamanaka; my likes are flowers and other pretty things as well as my family. My dislikes are idiots and people who take things too seriously. I have two goals in life; one of them is to be with the man of my dreams and the other is to surpass my father to become the strongest Yamanaka clan head."
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, my likes are training and that's it. My dislikes are...," he looked towards Naruto. "My dream for the future, no, my ambition is to... avenge my family." He left it at that.
This time Kakashi did let his surprise show. 'To think that he's changed that much; everyone always said he was revenge obsessed.' Obviously, he still held major hatred for that man but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as he thought it would be. 'Who would have thought I would be pleasantly surprised coming out of this, those two will still need some work but not anywhere near as much as I thought... hopefully Naruto will be t-'
"Stop zoning out like that ya damn Cyclops, we want to get started on something important."
His glazed over eyes slowly came back into focus only to see Naruto leaning back, legs and arms crossed looking thoroughly relaxed, however he didn't look to happy. "Oh, you're in a rush. That's quite hypocritical coming from the guy that was sleeping earlier."
"Ehh, that's not the way I see it," he scratched the back of his head before shoving his hands into his pockets, "Time sleeping is time well spent, it means I'm resting which allows me to train harder; sitting here watching you and knowing all too well what you're thinking about just wastes time, and by the way, I'm a completely different barrel of fish than these two." He gave a challenging smirk to finish.
Kakashi locked eyes his with those all too familiar blue, "That's quite a statement Naruto, please, enlighten us." He could see that the boy meant every word of what he said.
"Hmm, maybe later."
(Flashback End)
He was a smart kid, the meaning behind this test, behind Kakashi's treatment had been figured out.
Naruto locked eyes with the man, at the minute he was seeing red. He put his all into this, everything he had been thrown for a victory so why did they get rewarded and he didn't. He wasn't jealous, he wasn't annoyed that they were rewarded and he wasn't. What he didn't like was this double act.
"You said we'd have to beat you to earn our reward, OUR reward." Naruto all but shouted it, gone was his usual laid back demeanour.
The only remnant of the once great clan paid a homage to it by his response, "And so what. I laid out the plan for your team, I told you what you'd be learning and that once the time was up you'd be tested. If you passed the test you could move on with your progression and with my training. While the others showed me today that they understood the double meaning, they passed while you didn't. Ino was the first one, so she gave up and thus had to join my team."
Kakashi continued the explanation holding nothing back, "Sasuke was a different story, he didn't understand the test but he set aside his ignorance and admitted defeat against overwhelming odds, thus accepting and correcting his flaws. Then you."
It hit the blonde hard, and with widened eyes he lowered himself to the ground. Something about having a full day of being beaten to a pulp by your two best friends and your abnormally powerful sensei would do that to you, it had been done to himself and former team members by Minato-sensei. Now it had been passed on.
Oh how he did love tradition, after all he didn't do the bell test so it was important he kept something running.
Walking towards the sitting form of his lone student he quickly lifted up his hitai-ate, one Sharingan enhanced Jutsu later and the intruder had been dealt with, the kid had been given a show alright but he wouldn't need to listen to this next bit.
Coming to a halt in front of him he replicated Naruto earlier by hunkering down in a cat like pose. Naruto was beat, legs sprawled out arms hanging loosely by his side and head lowered. It was the pose of a beaten man. The stench of blood was strong, this was backed up by multiple bruises and cuts over his body, he was sure that his clothes hid the most of them.
"Naruto..." No response.
His soft voice was raised, "Naruto." Again, no response.
"Naruto!" Intense azure eyes snapped up to the raised call. His face remained calm but an uncharacteristic shiver was sent crawling up his spine. He could look at them many times and be unaffected as their owner controlled them, kept them dead for a better word, but when he let them loose, let them leak the natural intensity that they possessed it would cut through you like the sharpest of kunai.
He often swore that Minato must have had a Dojutsu, his stare matched that of any Hyuga or Uchiha, and Naruto had a similar stare.
"Naruto; you now understand the meaning of this test, or for a better word, your test?" It was another age old gem, a see underneath the underneath style test that had been so dearly preached since the founding village. It gave a goal but held another individual one for each member present yet still retained the element of teamwork. A team like his needed to really get stung a little, to experience what it was like in a cruel world outside Konoha. A world that only battle experience, cunning and skill could save you from; this was the second best thing before risking fresh Anbu recruits to the horrors that would come. He took this conception, toned it and refined it to suit his team.
Ino had submitted and Sasuke had given up as much as it killed him to do so and now Naruto would too. Naruto would give up, he would give him the lecture of how knowing your limits and the fine line between bravery and stupidity before rewarding his changed student with his first C-Ranked mission.
He had taught them well, too well.
The Naruto in front of him widened its eyes before gaining a sickly sweet smile, "Behind youuuuu." The only word Kakashi could use to describe the guided squeal was paranormal, it didn't sound natural.
It wasn't too long before he felt the prod of a kunai to his neck before the real Naruto spoke, a large, albeit pained, bloody grin, "I know the meaning of the test too Kakashi-sensei. The thing is, I don't give up."
Kakashi stayed stationary, unresponsive yet calm. Had he really been outplayed by a Genin, was it true that after nearly nine hours of constant fighting Kakashi had finally made a mistake, did he just let Naruto under his guard?
He chuckled lowly before leaning around so that his good right eye was looking into the victors. It was important to be gracious in defeat as it wouldn't happen again, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised Naruto, you wouldn't give up until you found a way to win." 'Like your father,' His silent thoughts continued.
Naruto received a genuine eye smile that for some reason gave him warmth. It made him feel good. "I guess this is where are real team friendship begins. Congratulations you beat my clone... "With that the clone pushed back popping itself with the sharp edged kunai however it did catch the way Naruto looked at him, despite his treatment the boy felt proud because of his words. He'd be sure to use that for some harmless teasing later.
Naruto had pooped the clone - the clone that took him nine hours to beat... "What a fuckin asshole." He had an all out war with an elite Jounin for this disappointment.
A late night verbal rant that may or may not have awoken nearby families was never given a chance to take flight as he looked down at the remnants of the Kakashi clone.
There was the fancy gold entailed writing and outlines that only C-Rank and above had but what really caught his eye was the huge medieval styled font letter standing slap bang in the middle of this marvellous gift. It was the letter B. "I bloody love you Kaka-sensei."
What could he say; the way to his heart was high paying, career enhancing opportunities.
In front of him were some of the finer Jonin among his ranks, every single man and woman present was a finely tuned machine. To the regular eye each one would look like a standard person and thus they were able to converse and mingle with whoever they chose and whenever they chose to do so. Often compared to a switch, the finest Shinobi, these Shinobi, could pass for a civilian yet when this switch activated they were worth a hundred in most situation situations.
They were faster, stronger, and had reflexes that had been honed over many years of training not to mention even the most redundant of them had a fast thinking and decisive mind.
"So why is it your half an hour late, Kakashi!" The last of the Kage's thoughts were spoken in level tone as the masked disturbance walked in near the end of his meeting.
For the most part ignoring his fellow Jonin, Kakashi ambled his way through most of them in quite an awkward manner, the small whisper of apologies on a very unapologetic face being seen as he slipped past. Reaching his spot, in between Gai and Asuma he copied everyone else by sitting down on the futon provided.
He could feel all eyes on him, particularly Kurenai's. It was no secret the woman hated his lateness, come to think of it the woman hated a lot of things not that it bothered him though.
Summing up the entire situation Kakashi broke the awkward silence, "I don't see why you're surprised, ya'know this happens quite often."
The Kage exhaled a long puff of smoke, "Oh I know." It did happen often, and like always it would be up to Kakashi to gather the information that he missed.
He set the pipe back in its proper place before clasping his hands together, a tired sigh echoing the room before he continued, "As I was saying, more Chunin and Jonin will need to be sent to the eastern borders, as far as we know the Kiri civil war is still raging on. Enemy ninja fleeing or potentially deserting their village will seek the land of fire or lightning to house them and we all know the threat that foreign Shinobi can be."
The speech continued. Listings of news updates and various pieces of information regarding changes in the village to less secretive information that spies managed to take from other villages, it even held some on their alliance with Suna. It was all part of the monthly update, a meeting between all Jonin Ninja that, in a sense, was an information overview so everyone was informed. If there were any major news that somehow didn't make its way through the grapevine it would be informed here.
Another prominent and quite regular topic in these meetings were the development of their Genin, this was important for multiple reasons and also why he hadn't attended the last three meetings. In hindsight it was pretty stupid trying to hide his team's development from his fellow ninja but the Hokage was fine with his one on one reports.
All Jonin held responsibility and so it was important for them to know about the future leaders and protectors of the village, nothing too serious of course but just a basic idea of how their training was going as well as their chance of promotion. He would compare it to a family gathering, each Ninja enjoyed hearing about 'most' of the recruits.
He thought it was about time he showed off his cute little Genin.
"So Kakashi, most of us here haven't heard about your team." The aged Sarutobi cut him out of his thoughts on cue.
Another thing he duly noted was that most meant everyone but him. The enigma that was Team Seven had weighed on the minds of many for good and bad reasons. He had two clan heirs on his team, really three but they didn't know that. One of them clan heirs was the last loyal Uchiha; he also just happened to be a prodigy and then the last of the cumbersome batch just happened to have a demon stored in his gut. Yup, his team was interesting alright.
'You better believe I'm the best damn sensei because you guys are about to earn a lot of respect. Consider this another reward.' Following the moral code of a Ninja he wouldn't be giving away any secrets, but he'd let them know how far his team had progressed.
The Next Day
After a night's rest Naruto was used to waking up blemish, bruise and cut free so it was quite the surprised when he came into contact with a mirror during his morning routine. Although swelling was all but nonexistent the rest of his body was littered with cuts, so many that he wasn't quite sure how he got them all. Not something he'd lose sleep over but it was rather infuriating picking up so many wounds that he couldn't count them.
He had woken a few neighbours with his rather colourful self ridicule that morning.
On a brighter note, thankfully his face had healed up pretty well the only intruder being a small bruise on the left of his forehead; he wouldn't forget how he received that one as visions of Ino's mid air kick made him grimace. The girl was as sweet as honey but hit like a freight train...
Now he didn't usually care too much about his looks but he wanted to be presentable at least.
His thoughts made him absentmindedly ignore the wide berth he received when walking through the morning panic of Konoha. It was a Saturday and that meant the unspoken rule of working family matriarchs doing their shopping was getting well underway. He was no stranger to it but after twelve years it still got to him; despite being so busy a few that passed still found time to send him glares, each one being returned as he walked head down and hands casually in pockets.
It didn't take too long before he took to the rooftops, a morning walk would have been nice but he didn't mind being a few minutes early.
Approaching the main gate he was surprised to see the assembled team there and waiting. His mission scroll had been very... Kakashi-like to put it plainly, he was given the time to arrive, his team member's names and the objective, this being to travel to the capital and await further orders. "It wouldn't be Kakashi unless I was being shoved into something completely foreign and out of my reach." Naruto was a realist and he knew for a fact that he'd only be a hindrance to his team members.
Clicking his teeth in frustration he went over scenarios in his head; a fresh Chunin, maybe with a little luck. Everything above that was a no-no.
He was a rookie albeit the best one but the title meant nothing when he was an inexperienced Genin who had yet to leave the walls; it was safe to assume that he was in over his depth, then again, what better way to learn.
It had been thanks to a lot of stupidity and luck that he managed to land the one needed hit onto Kakashi's clone, it also had taken nine hours or so of gruelling combat but he pulled through.
With his last minute confident thoughts pushing him forward he was ready.
Finally approaching them he focused he was uncharacteristically nervous about what he was getting into. The first man had brown hair with one mid length bang covering his right eye. His forehead protector was worn bandanna style and he wore the usual outfit for higher ranked Konoha Shinobi. Naruto managed to prevent a sigh of relief as he knew this man as one of the Chunin that usually guarded the main gate of the village, Izumo Kamizuki.
Never to be seen apart his usual partner was nearby, Kotetsu Hagane. Spiky black hair and a goatee adorned his face as well as a bandaged up nose. Benefiting to one another Kotetsu was also dressed in the standard uniform of Konoha higher-ups.
The final member to complete the four man team and whom he assumed was the leading Jonin was an unknown to him. An older man in his mid to late forties, curly brown bed hair that contorted all angles was his most prominent feature along with intense green eyes and a very permanent scowl. Although the eyes and expression were both aimed at Naruto he could tell they didn't hold any meaning, it was a simple case of a professional Ninja who took his mission seriously, this was his way of going about it. As if to reignite the trend that Naruto had just broken, the Jonin's attire consisted of the Konoha usual.
The blonde knew all too well about being too forthcoming so he was yet again thankful for the small talent that was an emotionless mask. Naruto walked up to his leading unnamed Jonin to report in, "Genin Naruto Uzumaki, reporting for B-Rank mission to the capital."
The older Jonin had watched the rookie walk right in without a second thought whilst under his gaze, it was a good sign. "Fresh Genin Naruto Uzumaki," he broke a smile, "Well this just got interesting."
Before Naruto could take anything from the words the Jonin got straight into business, "The names Keshi kid... now before those two come over I'll give you the rundown of what I expect since I know you're new to this," he leaned past Keshi's shoulder and sure enough the Chunin duo were walking towards them. "Thanks to your sensei I know that you're capable and as such I'll be treating you so," he finished with a rough hand to the back, "you listen to my orders and we won't have a problem kid."
Again Naruto didn't manage a response before the two elder Chunin bumbled into the conversation smiling widely, "Ah, don't bother listening to that old fart, the name's Naruto, right?"
His blank face started to relax when he saw how casual they were being, "Yeah, that's me. You know, now that I think about it, this is the first time I've seen you guys not watching the gate?"
Kotetsu let out a long prolonged groan, it was made clear his first wondering had touched on a soft spot of the duo, "Please don't remind me, quick word of advice, if you ever get given gate duty refuse it. It starts off as a one off thing but very soon its two maybe three times a month, before you know it we're doing it every day. I'd far rather be doing things like this, maybe even take a shot at an A-Rank once and awhile."
Izumo turned to give a sly smirk to Naruto, "He complains but here's a little life hack for us ninja, it's the only C-Rank mission that doesn't require lengthy trips outside the village, that means it's an easy liven money maker," He rubbed his fingers together comically causing the other two to face palm. They really weren't giving the ninja of Konoha a good impression for the innocent rookie.
That was until the three Ninja noticed Naruto's hungry eyes before he responded deadly serious, "I think I'll keep that in mind." All he had to do was persuade Sasuke which was always easy and he was so about to abuse that, hell, with his Kage Bunshin he wouldn't even need too. Just send a few on over early every day, volunteer for the job and it was set, he'd be rolling in Ryo.
He was forced to cut his train of thought so as not to start foaming at the mouth.
Keshi steeped in and keeping character made a serious point, "Wise words Izumo, the more time you spend doing missions the more toes you step on. In this day in age your days are numbered from that point on."
The three Ninja looked at him surprised. It was clear from first view that the man was a professional through and through, for him to come out and say that was very contradicting to the lifestyle he chose to live and the attitude he displayed. It was Naruto who questioned this, voice curious, "I can think of plenty that those words apply to, what's with the change of heart old man." They called him kid so it was only fair to give an age related counter.
Mocking a glare Keshi responded, "Hmm, I'm surprised Kakashi hasn't explained it to you."
Naruto just shrugged, "It's not my fault he can't string two sentences together without reading his porn."
With a snort Keshi shook his head, "While that may be true Kakashi Hatake is still regarded as one of Konoha's top Jonin, even more so after his break."
It was quite a shock to the village when he had been taken off the active Shinobi list, one did not go from that sort of position in the Anbu to retirement so quickly and so it was no surprise that people managed to figure out the reasoning. Although most didn't know much about it, the three years that Kakashi had taken out rejuvenated the man in a sense and now he was firm favourite for becoming the Fifth Hokage. With all this true it was interesting to see what the man's student thought of him.
Naruto just clicked his teeth giving him a deadpan look, "Top Jonin or not reading pornography in the presence of preteens is probably illegal," he thought on it, "no it is illegal. That's five years and a permanent trip to the sex offenders list, thank you very much."
Seeing said preteen obviously very knowledgeable in the rules and pressing them was something anyway. Gladding accepting the chance to move the topic on for the sake of his fellow Jonin the excuse came when he spotted the carrier pidgin they had been waiting on circling overhead.
Holding out his arm it quickly spotted him before landing, "Enough chatter, it's about time this thing arrived... now how do I get you to work," The man spoke the latter part with various frustration, he was part of the many that could never get carrier pigeon seals to work, as experienced as he was it always took a few attempts to get.
Carrier pigeons were used commonly for Konoha's Shinobi missions, it was a fast easy way of transport and although quite stone edge compared to newer technology it was still commonly used for basic one off messages, seeing one this close was no treat but what did catch his eye was the item his senior was struggling with, a seal.
Naruto shook his head, "There's an easier way to open it," not wasting time he leaned over and quickly removed the seal from the birds leg and in a puff of smoke it puffed open revealing a large and particularly fancy carriage.
Raising one eyebrow he looked at both Izumo and Kotetsu who just shrugged, "Uhh, why do we need a carriage?"
"That would be because of me, Naruto-san."
His luck was so shitty he could smell it.
The trip that day had been a strange experience for him.
With Kotetsu and Izumo flanking either side of the carriage it had been up to him to cover the rear, he was well versed in the position, as was he the others. Kakashi had thoroughly drilled team tactics into him; any physical training was met with equal mental, be it strategies, different fighting styles or basic information. What he, as well as his teammates had forgotten was that this covered many other important lessons of being a Shinobi like learning the different knot types for different situations, the slip knot, half knot and his personal favourite the hangman's knot were all under his arsenal.
He couldn't complain. His first day on a real Shinobi mission had been largely uneventful, he was sort of thankful for that.
With all these things adding up one would think Naruto would be pretty content as the team stopped for the night, he had already eaten and had plenty of warmth despite being the farthest from their open makeshift fire, but since the unknown arrival of their escort he had remained silent.
Lying on his side he lifted his head from the various Fuinjutsu scrolls he had laid out in front of him before he locked eyes with her. Koharu Utatane, one of the three elders in the village.
The scenario had been happening quite often. He would look up to steal a glance at her and at the same time she would look at him, the two had a bit of history together so when this happened the locking of eyes would turn to silent glares before going back to what they were previously doing.
The other members had noticed this friction from the very start and he was dreading tomorrow because of it. Their entire trip had been taken in silence, Keshi had taken to driving the carriage and of course Koharu was inside it, the retired Ninja had made it clear she wanted the mission completed to the highest standard and the fact that she outranked all of them meant that they could only fall to her demands.
They weren't unacceptable out of order demands but they were set up to benefit and protect the high and mighty hag of the village. Like who the hell did she think she was?
Communication was to be kept to a minimum unless something came up, was one.
Another was the speed that they travelled at. As if walking behind a slow carriage wasn't bad enough they weren't even allowed to utilise its full speed, instead being restricted to an apparently safer, easier and stealthier escort. What the fuck were stealthy about two fully grown horses pulling a creaking carriage?
Then came the last point which was easily the worst. He was being forced to scout ahead every half hour before reporting back any information directly to Keshi who would then report to her. As if his nerves weren't already shaking beforehand he now had many opportunities for mistakes to be made and by this point he reckoned that was her goal.
Now Naruto was confident in his abilities, he was referred to as cocky, a little stuck up and damn he was stubborn. His 'war' with Kakashi proved as much but had something that just nicked away at them and his just happened to be getting things wrong, to fail. He wanted to perform his first mission, no, every mission to the highest of standards.
Under these circumstances he wasn't getting a decent run of it.
Working with strangers was something that didn't appear until Chunin yet Kakashi had thrust this upon him, add Koharu's self made preferences and he didn't have great odds of staying in peoples good books, eventually a mistake would be made and he'd get the blame for it.
Because of all this the rookie knew better than push his luck and instead did his thing, the others following his example. Keshi was on lookout and Izumo and Kotetsu had been gone for a while, one had been given the task of securing their perimeter while the other collected firewood to fuel them for the night, not that he felt the cold anyway. Again he looked across the clearing and took some sadistic pleasure at seeing Koharu shiver due to the late night freeze.
Naruto just shook his head for what felt the up tenth time that day, he had better things to be doing rather than happily watch an old lady freeze to death. 'I have some time, might as well make the most of it.'
Getting up and letting out a low groan as he stretched Naruto made his way out of the clearing making a point to taunt the lady as he was wearing no top, only his usual bottoms and arm bracers,
The inevitable question came, "Where are you going?"
He lazily turned around and gave a yawn, "Well I was planning to go to sleep," he waved at his form, "But I thought I'd work myself, an up in coming Ninja like myself is a finely tuned machine you know, sleeping on such a marvellous evening as this would be a sin towards my village."
It was said in a sickly sweet tone that would taunt the most passive of enemies. The sarcasm was evident.
As he walked away the familiar feeling of glaring eyes pierced his skull, he briefly wondered if it was right doing this to an elderly woman coming towards the end of her years, he didn't think on it for long.
One hundred vs. the original fight later and the Uzumaki was walking back to camp feeling thoroughly worked over by his clones. It had been quite the brawl and he was more than happy with how his reflexes were coming along, in a sense it was like getting battle experience only in this case a hundred times faster, the whole muscle memory thing was a charm although it was unusable for progressing his physical abilities it held many advantages, the only downside to the technique was that the disadvantage was a bitch.
It gave a sore head and not the take a pill and you're good kind, the traumatising migraine X the number of clones' kind and it never helped that he could make a lot of them. His conscious told him not too and like the evil little boy that he was he disobeyed it.
The result, his brain was putty for at least seventy two hours of the week.
"Hmm, just a thought Keshi, what's the biggest advantage about having all that experience? Like do you really think it makes that much of a difference in the tougher situations like they say?" He picked up the voice of a curious Kotetsu upon returning to the camp, all three Ninja circling the campfire for heat.
Naruto grinned, he had arrived at a good time, "I can't name you the advantages but I know plenty of downsides to it. Never pass a bathroom, don't trust a fart and never waste a hard-on. You don't know when it'll just give in and die in a painful shrivelled up mess." Even fried his brain was still an asshole.
A round of laughs loosened him up a bit compared to earlier so he joined the circle earning him a playful dig in the ribs by Keshi who then fired back with his own question at the witty Genin under his command, "Say Naruto, I'm not one to go off gossip but I don't know a lot about you, what's so appealing about being a Ninja." He concealed the true meaning of the question well, the boy didn't have a choice in his career path but he was interested to see his take on it.
Naruto lay back exposing his bare chest to the heat as he thought before answering, "To be quite honest I don't know. You all know that I never had any authority figures in my life. I was kicked from the orphanage at six which was great, course the old man had somebody drop by every so often to clean the place and check up on me but I was never really pushed into it, more expected than anything," It was a question he never really thought about before which was strange, his mind questioned everything but apparently not this, being a Ninja was in his blood, "To be honest I live a pretty great life, I was free until I decided to serve the village so yeah, easy come easy go." He had left out the stealing for necessity bit and some of the less pleasant facts but he was nearly sure he'd take that to the grave with him, the rest had been pretty true though; he had grown up that way and didn't know anything different. 'It could only get better.'
There were a few moments of silence before Izumo spoke, "Damn kid, you had it rough."
It was stating the obvious but the fact that they knew why and he didn't which left a lingering guilt over the group. Izumo leaned back before throwing another log on the fire, "By the way, what were you doing while you were gone. I was going to check up on you but Keshi said you were fine."
Naruto grinned at the question, "I was doing a little training before calling it a night," He lowered his voice, "mainly just to get away from sunshine over there but still."
The joke wasn't enough to stop a frown, "Who trains during a mission, be careful you don't burn yourself out kid."
Naruto just grinned back, "I have to work hard to get strong, and besides, I can rest when I'm dead."
Keshi had been quite silent since Naruto had joined the fray as he watched and analysed the boy because to be quite honest, Naruto was an interesting kid.
When finding out about the late addition to the team he was more than sceptical, a Genin leaving the comfort of their Jonin-sensei for missions was uncommon, not unheard of but uncommon nonetheless. Another point was Naruto's ability, he had been reassured by Kakashi and the Hokage that Naruto could hold his own. It was quite the backing and despite his better judgement he complied.
Their mission was going to be interesting and he had a fair idea on what actually they were going into, however so did Kakashi and Sarutobi. The fact that they still backed him spoke words in their confidence of him.
Although the day had been uneventful the boy had been like a workhorse. Splitting off from the pack at Koharu's orders was a job made for failure for someone as fresh as he but the boy did so without complaint or question, nor did he question any orders from Izumo, Kotetsu or himself.
Although he was ignored by the civilians he was often a topic of hot debate by the Ninja, albeit the talk was never positive but he was at the forefront of people's minds and so far the boy was quite different from what many seemed to believe.
He was the holder of the strongest Bijuu, a confident straightforward kid that was just that, a kid. He acted like a kid, he was boisterous and cocky but likable too.
He had warmed to the odd kid but he was still cautious of the tenant he held however it didn't stop him from handing out some life advice, "I'm sure you'll reach whatever your goal is Naruto but don't rush into things all right, enjoy your youth."
Naruto just rolled his eyes, "Awe, getting soft on me already are you? Thanks for the advice but I doubt I'll be using it. I need to get a nice enough apartment and more than a couple sets of clothes before I have a hope of landing a chick; then I have a few things that'd I'd like to do. I'll need to be strong and have money for all of them so it's not an option."
The three rugged men that they were all came to the joint conclusion that the boy had a well laid out plan, although they were left wondering at his goals.
Naruto received a playful punch to the shoulder before Kotetsu started with a smile, "You're not a bad guy Naruto. A little feminine with that highlighted spikey hair but I suppose everyone's different, right?"
Naruto fired back on instinct with a snort, "Highlighted, Ha, no way man this shit's natural. I do wonder what's under that bandage though; you've got to be hiding something?
Again the men busted with laughter, "No way it's natural. You're kidding right," was the general reaction to such a statement.
He was outnumbered three to one and on the losing side, "Honestly, right hand onto heart it's natural."
Keshi shook his head, it'd been the first mission for a while that he'd really laughed, "You'd argue black is white, kid."
The response was one they'd come to expect from the loud mouthed preteen.
"And I'd win."
A/N - So there's another chapter punched in, the next will hopefully be within the week.
Update schedule sort of just destroyed itself since September. I started School again after summer and it was all a blur.
It's all good right?
Please don't hurt me!
This was the first chap to the next Arc, it's not that long, a few chapters tops but don't hold me to it either, I'll be covering some pretty important world building stuff as well as getting some kickass fights in.
It's Wednesday and I'm ill af. Somebody get me a coffee.