DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO
|CHAPTER 2
Six days later, Sakumo was amazed by his progress.
With no instructor to teach him, he tried to remember as much as he could about what Kakashi had told Team 7 when he was training them during their mission in the Land of Waves.
"The soles of the feet are the two hardest places to focus your chakra. You have to maintain a constant level of chakra for a long time. Too little, and you don't stick to the tree. Too much and you break the bark."
It wasn't perfect, but Sakumo could make it all the way to the top of the tree and down again without falling off.
Flipping off the tree, he landed on the ground and grinned at the hundreds of kunai slashes on the trunk of the tree. It hadn't been easy, but he had just taken a massive leap ahead of his classmates.
How much has this affected my stats? Sakumo wondered. He had purposefully not checked while he was training. He didn't want anything distracting him.
"Status."
Name: Sakumo Izuno
Age: 18
Rank: Genin
Chakra Reserves: 1/5
Ninjutsu: 1/5
Taijutsu: 0.5/5
Genjutsu: 0.5/5
Strength: 1/5
Speed: 1/5
Stamina: 1/5
Chakra Control: 1/5
"Hell yes!" Sakumo cheered, as the status window appeared.
During his training these past six days, he had started to notice it becoming easier and easier to mold his chakra and use just the right amount. It might not have seemed like much to someone else, but it was real progress!
Once he got the Tree Walking mastered to the point where it was second nature, Sakumo was sure his Chakra Control stat would be at least a 2, maybe a 2.5. The Water Walking training would boost that to maybe a 4 or 4.5.
At least that's what Sakumo was hoping. From his memories of the manga, he couldn't recall any other Chakra Control exercises being shown after Water Walking.
And not only that, it was just like he had thought!
It wasn't just his chakra control stat that had improved. Thanks to the weights he was wearing, his speed, stamina, and strength stats had also increased.
Only by 0.5, but it had only been a week, and with his progress being shown clearly in numbers, Sakumo felt like he was taking massive steps.
"What should I do now?" he wondered, as he closed the status window. He wasn't supposed to report back to the Academy until tomorrow to be assigned to a Genin Squad.
I could get started on Water Walking... Sakumo glanced at the small stream running through the middle of the grove.
It was an idea, but he had just finished six days of intense training. He could use a break.
For the past week, every morning after waking up he'd eat breakfast and then come here to train until it got dark. Once it got dark, he went home, unsealed his camera, and plugged it into his computer to work on translating the jutsu instructions on the Scroll of Sealing into "Spanish Code" and doing his best to learn the most useful jutsu in the scroll.
He was exhausted.
But if he wasn't training, what was he going to do? I don't have any friends. Sakumo's body slumped. Friendless in two lifetimes. That had to be some kind of loser world record.
He didn't have any hobbies or other goals either. The only goal he had in his life before had been training to become the first Izuno to be promoted to join. And now that he knew the future, he was even more determined to get stronger. He didn't want to die like some weak loser who couldn't even put up a fight.
More training it is, Sakumo decided. It wasn't like he could afford to slack off anyway. Although he didn't think he'd make much progress on the Water Walking before he had to report to the academy tomorrow.
|NARUTO|
The next day, Sakumo was back in Iruka's classroom seated near the door. He looked around the room at the other Genin. Everyone who passed the graduation exam was here except Sakura, Ino, and Shikamaru.
"What are you doing here, Naruto?"
So now we're only missing Sakura and Ino, Sakumo thought as he glanced over his shoulder at Shikamaru who was standing next to the desk Naruto was sitting at.
"Today's meeting is for graduates only."
"Can't you see the headband?" Naruto smirked, flicking the metal resting above his eyes. "As of today, I'm a ninja too!"
Sakumo ignored the rest of that conversation and turned towards the door. He could hear two people running down the hall outside the classroom and a second later the door slammed open.
Blonde and pink mixed as Ino and Sakura shoved each other, both trying to be the first to enter the room and completely oblivious to the show they were putting on.
Mostly Ino, he decided before the two girls managed to finally squeeze through the door, they threw their arms wide and shouted, "I'm first!"
Sakumo rolled his eyes at the display. Then he focused on the amount of skin Ino was showing off. Back when they first started the academy she had been wearing the same purple outfit consisting of a high-collared crop-top blouse and matching apron skirt but kept a lot of her skin covered with bandages.
Censorship is bullshit, he thought watching as Ino's chest heaved under the crop top. He understood why the author of the "Manga" from his memories had changed things, the more people the story was accessible to, the more money the author made.
De-aging the characters was smart and twelve was a good age to pick. Old enough so teenagers wouldn't think the story was for little kids but not so old that younger children couldn't relate at all.
And then there was the lack of brutality. The "Manga" didn't come close to accurately depicting the brutal reality of the Shinobi world.
"Hi, Sakura—"
Sakumo looked up as Naruto tried in vain to get Sakura's attention.
The pink-haired girl ignored his greeting and literally shoved Naruto to the ground, completely focused on Sasuke. "G-good morning, Sasuke," she simpered.
Sasuke barely spared her a glance before looking away again. A clear dismissal that Sakura either willingly ignored or was too stupid to understand because she kept talking.
"Do you mind if I sit next to you?"
"Back off, Sakura," Ino rushed down the steps and shoved Sakura away from Sasuke. "I'm sitting next to Sasuke!"
The two started arguing again over who would get the privilege of sitting next to Sasuke. Thankfully, Iruka chose that moment to walk in.
"Sakura! Ino! Find a seat!" he ordered.
"Y-yes, sensei!" the two girls stuttered.
Sakura sat down next to Sasuke and Ino huffed before moving away and sitting between Shikamaru and Choji.
Once they were seated, Iruka cleared his throat and started his speech. "You're all qualified ninja now," he announced from his podium at the front of the class. "But remember, you're still only genin. From now on, your jonin-sensei will guide you and the rest of your squad."
Sakumo barely heard what Iruka was saying. He'd heard it before and so he let himself get lost in his own head, trying to make plans for the future. I could just use the Jutsu I got from the Scroll of Sealing to force someone else to seal a Bijuu inside of me...
While he made plans on top of plans in his head, Iruka started to announce the three-man squads who would work together during the next stage of training.
"Squad 7. Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki..." Iruka read from a long list.
"Sakura? What about Sakura?" Naruto blurted, popping up awkwardly out of his seat.
Poor guy, Sakumo thought glancing over at the commotion. Sakura was sitting two rows away, and she looked like she'd just lost her best friend. She was taller than Naruto and despite her grating attitude of fawning religiously over Sasuke, she was at least decent eye candy. Clear skin, a pretty face with exotic green eyes, and long pink hair. She would never stretch a shirt out in the chest area like Ino could, but her legs were long and her ass was round and perky in those spandex shorts she was wearing.
If you could ignore her personality, she was a strong 8 when it came to looks.
Sakumo could understand why Naruto was always staring at her, but despite all his gawking, there was one thing about Sakura that Naruto never noticed.
She hated him.
Okay, she might not hate Naruto, but it was obvious she didn't like him either. To Sakura, Naruto was someone she'd never consider dating, and that would never change.
"And the third member of Squad 7 is Sasuke Uchiha."
"Woo hoo!" Sakura shouted, pumping her arms in excitement.
Naruto, on the other hand, was flabbergasted. "But I thought I'd be with Sakura! Not with this jerk!" he whined.
"I'm warning you, Naruto! You better leave Sasuke alone or else!" Sakura practically snarled.
Naruto nervously swung around. Sakura stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at him.
"But Sakura! This guy is really—"
"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura snapped. "Just go sit somewhere else!"
Sakumo shook his head as Naruto shuffled to the other side of the room, while Sakura sat down near Sasuke and batted her eyes lashes at him. She's pathetic, he thought. And he wasn't talking about her childish crush. It was fine that she liked Sasuke right now—but in the future?
After everything he did, she still married him?
It's none of my business, Sakumo shrugged, deciding to ignore squad 7. They were free to make their own choices, even if he found those choices dumb as fuck. He had his own problems to worry about.
"Squad Two. Tarō, Jirō, and Sakumo..." Iruka read from a long list.
Hearing his name being called pulled Sakumo from his thoughts. Tarō and Jirō? He glanced around to see where the two brothers were. He found them near the back of the class.
A set of identical twins, with the same short crop of dark hair and big black eyes. The only way to tell them apart was the way their hair was smoothed on one side and spiky on the other. Tarō's hair was spiky on the left side, and Jirō's was spiky on the right.
They were decent students, middle-of-the-pack type ninja, and the same age as him. Sakumo was fine with them as teammates.
Jirō, on the other hand, took a page out of Naruto's book. He jumped up out of his chair and started whining like a little bitch.
"But I thought we'd be with our brother! Not this loser!"
Loser? Sakumo had been working his ass off to improve. "You took the words right out of my mouth, stupid," he snapped. "Just stay out of my way, okay?"
"Hey! You're the stupid one, stupid!" Jirō sputtered, glaring at him from across the room and getting all red in the face.
"Calm down, Jirō!" Tarō said, pulling his brother back down into his seat. "We always knew that the three of us might be split up."
So much for getting along, Sakumo thought wistfully, as Iruka continued reading from his list. He hadn't needed to respond like that, but he was almost 100 percent sure he was going to have to carry Jirō and Tarō through the genin test.
They only appeared twice in his new memories—once when they failed Kakashi's bell test, and a second time when they thanked him for sending them back to the academy.
Considering the fact that the two brothers had failed their genin test last year just like him and neither brother had better grades than him this year, Sakumo wasn't going to let himself be talked down to like that.
Once Iruka had finished assigning genin to their new teams, the door to the classroom slid open. A stunning dark-haired woman with exotic red eyes stepped into class.
Damn, Kurenai's even more beautiful in person, Sakumo thought, lifting his head. She might not have been the smartest ninja(what kind of jonin tries to use genjutsu on Itachi Uchiha?) but she was at least nice to look at. Kiba and Shino were two lucky bastards.
"Team 8?" she said, already looking at her genin squad. Hinata, Kiba, and Shino stood up and followed her out of the room.
Sakumo waited, his knee bouncing under his desk. Other than Kurenai, Asuma, and Kakashi, he had no idea what other jonin had been assigned a genin squad.
Who is going to be my jonin instructor? he wondered and he didn't have to wait long for that question to be answered.
"Team 2?"
Sakumo vaguely recognized the thirty-something man standing in the doorway, not even bothering to enter the classroom. He had brown spiky hair and dark eyes and he wore the standard attire of a Konoha jonin.
The only reason Sakumo recognized the jonin as Raidō Namiashi was because of the distinct weal-like scar that ran across the bridge of the jonin's nose and down the left side of his face.
"Follow me."
|NARUTO|
After leaving the academy, the newly formed Team 2 followed their jonin instructor as he walked them through the village all the way to a training field.
"Starting today, you three will be working under me as genin of Team 2," Raidō announced before he smirked. "That is if you three can pass the final test to become genin."
"What?" Jirō shouted. "We already did that!"
Raidō shook his head. "C'mon kid, you can't really believe that memorizing a few test answers and performing a basic Jutsu like the Clone Jutsu makes you a genin?"
Sakumo frowned as the two brothers looked at each other nervously. He knew Kakashi had the bell test, but he didn't know what test any other jonin gave their potential genin squad.
The training field was silent for a few tense moments before Raidō started speaking again.
"To be honest, I didn't ask for a genin squad," the jonin said with a put-upon tone. "In fact, I don't want one at all. So, you all fail the test."
"What!" Jirō gasped. "You can't do that!"
"I'm a jonin," Raidō scoffed. "I've more than earned my rank. And I didn't do it to waste my time training some snot-nosed brats."
Sakumo glared at the jonin. "So that's it, you're just going to drop us? What was the point of coming all the way out here? Why not just tell us you were going to fail us back at the academy?"
"Because I'm not actually allowed to fail all of you for no reason," Raidō admitted, scratching at his scar. "However, I don't want to be bogged down by a team of three brats. So I'll take one of you as my student. The other two will return back to the academy for...you three all already failed at least once, right?"
"That's bullshit!" Jirō shouted and broke ranks.
He charged Raidō like a wild animal.
"Jirō!" his brother gasped.
Raidō effortlessly brought Jirō down. Then he sat on Jirō's back and planted a foot on his head. "See? This is why I couldn't stand training you brats," he said.
Jirō's face turned as red as an apple.
"Then who is going to pass?" Sakumo asked. He had a feeling that this test was something similar to the bell test. The three of them would have to agree that they wouldn't abandon their teammates.
That they would fail or pass together, as a team.
"That's up to you three. I'll only accept the strongest as my student." Raidō shrugged as he let Jirō back up off the ground. He walked over to three large logs that were planted in the ground and put a clock on top of the middle log. "This alarm goes off in an hour. I'll be back then and if you three haven't decided which one of you pass...you all fail."
Sakumo blinked as the jonin vanished.
Just a second ago, Raidō was standing at least ten feet in front of him. He hadn't even seen the man move. There wasn't a shadow, a blur, or even any air displacement.
One moment Raidō was there, and the next...he wasn't.
He shook his head and turned to the Jirō and Tarō. "We should—"
As soon as he started talking, the two brothers fanned out in different directions. They both suppressed their chakra and hid from sight in the forest around the training ground.
Before he could even try and explain that Raidō might be testing them to see if they could put the team ahead of themselves Sakumo was forced to roll to the side.
Jirō had darted through the trees and started throwing shuriken with lightning speed. They looked like they were coming from completely different directions, but every one of them hit Sakumo.
Or did they?
"I got him!" Jirō cheered. "Now it's just me and you Tarō!"
He rushed over to where Sakumo had been standing. In his place was a large log riddled with shuriken. He lured me in on purpose! Jirō suddenly realized. Now he knows where I am!
"We shouldn't fight each other," Sakumo said, stepping out of the forest, his hands raised disarmingly. "I've never heard of a genin team without three members."
Jirō smirked. "You're not going to trick me!" he shouted, and shuriken flew even faster at Sakumo.
Is he really so arrogant? Sakumo wondered as he dodged the shuriken. He didn't know if it was because of his new memories, but he had a hard time believing that anyone without half a brain wouldn't be able to see through Raizō's lie.
It was clear there was more to the test, so why couldn't Jirō see that?
Tarō came up behind Sakumo and slammed a kick in his direction. Sakumo grabbed Tarō's foot and flipped him upside down. But Jirō had seen what his brother was doing and aimed a punch at Sakumo's jaw. Sakumo blocked the blow with his elbow.
Sakumo dropped Tarō and jumped backward, out of reach. The twins turned on him. They were huffing and puffing like crazy, but still ready to fight. "Two brothers and me...I guess I'm the odd one out, huh?" he grinned ruefully.
"Guess it turned out to be a good thing all three of us weren't on the same squad? Huh, Tarō?" Jirō said, grinning. "Yarō will definitely pass his test, so at least two of us will be genin."
Sakumo felt a tickle on the back of his neck and ducked.
Tarō's leg swung over his head.
"What the hell?" he demanded, glaring at the twins. "Why can't you two just listen!"
"I'm sorry, Sakumo," Tarō said, and he did look guilty. "But we can't risk you betraying us. And if it's a choice between you and my brother passing this test, I'm choosing Jirō."
Motherfuckers! Sakumo glared at the twins. These two sons of bitches were going to ruin his chances of becoming a Genin!
Jirō grinned and pulled a kunai from the holster on his leg. "One of us is definitely going to pass, Tarō!" he shouted and charged at Sakumo again.
|NARUTO|
I hate these two!
As the sound of an alarm clock filled the training ground, Sakumo glared at the twins standing across from him.
For the past hour, he had done nothing but dodge their attacks and try to get them to see that this test was bullshit. Something they seemed unable to understand.
Sakumo spun around. Raidō had appeared back in the training ground as fast as he left. Tarō and Jirō both looked surprised too.
"No, we have. All three of us are going to—" Sakumo was cut off by the twins.
"Me! They chose me!"
"Stop lying, Jirō! I'm the one they picked, sensei!"
Sakumo sighed as the brothers started to argue. He was screwed. It didn't matter how much he knew about the future, without Jirō and Tarō's cooperation, he was going back to the academy.
"You all fail."
The twins finally went silent at Raidō's announcement. They seemed shocked, and Sakumo decided that he hated them just a little more for their reaction. Those two idiots didn't deserve to be shocked.
"Does that mean we're going back to the academy?" Tarō asked, fidgeting nervously with his headband.
Raidō shook his head. "No, you're all still genin. I was watching the three of you fight, and you all have potential."
Jirō gasped. "Does that mean we—"
"All three of you still failed my test. So you won't be a part of a genin squad. The three of you will be assigned to the Genin Corps."
Genin Corps? Sakumo frowned. He didn't remember that from his memories of the future. And Iruka had never mentioned it at the academy. Why not?
"Follow me," Raidō ordered as he walked out of the training ground.
Team 2 trailed after the jonin in silence until Raidō stopped in front of a two-story building not far from the Hokage Tower. The building was flying a flag with the Hidden Leaf emblem on a black field. There was a sign out front, as well.
On the sign, it said: Konha Gen Rev Cops, which seemed weird.
Sakumo looked at it closer and realized that many of the letters had lost their color or peeled off.
"This is where you guys will be reporting from now on," Raidō said pointing at the building. "The office of the Konoha Genin Reserve Corps. You'll take and report back from missions here."
"Genin reserve corp," Sakumo whispered, and he looked at the sign again. It made sense now. If he read it with the missing letters, it did say: Konoha Genin Reserve Corps.
"No sense standing around gawking," Raidō gestured for them to enter the building.
Inside was a large room with tables and chairs scattered around. And at the back, a long counter spanning the entire length of the room.
Behind the counter was an old man with his arms crossed. Other than the old man, Sakumo, Jirō, Tarō, and Raidō were the only people there.
"Well, this is it for me!" Raidō said with a nod to the man behind the counter. "I know I do this every time, but give them the rundown. Okay, Kosuke?"
"Will do, Raidō," Kosuke replied and waved goodbye to the jonin with his arms still crossed.
Once the door was closed behind Raidō, a strange tension spread through the room. Likely because Kosuke was closely examining Sakumo and the others.
Kosuke? Sakumo frowned as he looked at the man behind the counter. The man definitely looked familiar, and he was sure he knew the name Kosuke from his new memories.
But where...
"Hm..." Kosuke leaned over, resting both elbows on the counter, and rested his chin on top of his clasped hands. He nodded to himself a few times then stood up. "You three don't seem hopeless. Welcome, I'm Kosuke Maruboshi. I'm the chief genin and host here at the office of the Konoha Genin Reserve Corps. You can call me Chief, but Kosuke is fine too."
"Chief," Sakumo walked straight up to the counter. "I have a few questions. The first is are we going to be genin forever?"
Kosuke glanced at Jirō and Tarō before looking back at him. "That's entirely up to you. Lord Hokage is a fair man, so if you train hard and show enough promise, he will promote you."
"Okay," Sakumo breathed a huge sigh of relief. He could still accomplish his dream. "That's good to know."
"What about genin squads? Are we even still a team?" Sakumo motioned to the brothers and himself.
"Yes, but the reserve corps is set up differently, " Kosuke said and walked out from behind the counter. "Follow me."
Sakumo followed after the older the genin. Behind him, Jirō and Tarō trailed along. They stopped at a large wall that seemed to span the length of the entire building and was made entirely of corkboard. There were dozens, probably over a hundred mission requests pinned to the wall.
"This is the mission board. The name should pretty much explain itself, but since you're rookies, I'll clarify. We post the D-rank and C-rank missions the Hokage doesn't want for the jonin led genin squads daily. You can take any mission from the boards on this floor. Because you're rookie genin, you can only take D-rank missions alone. If you want to take a C-rank mission, all three members of the team you were assigned at the academy have to accept. You will not be allowed to take any higher rank missions unless authorized by me. The mission payment is split evenly between all members of the team."
Dog-walking. Babysitting. Trash clean up, Sakumo read some of the D-rank mission requests. He could choose any of these missions and get paid, but he needed a mission that would take him out of the village.
Without a jonin looking over his shoulder, he'd be able to move with a lot more freedom. And yeah, sure, he wasn't going to have a jonin-sensei, but with the jutsu he copied from the Scroll of Sealing, he would have even better teachers.
"Taking a C-Rank mission without a chunin or jonin?" Tarō frowned. "That seems...reckless."
Kosuke nodded. "It is," he agreed. "I've seen hundreds of cocky rookies and genin who've grown arrogant get themselves killed by taking a mission they had no business attempting."
"Then why does the Hokage let them?" Sakumo asked. From what he had seen in the manga, the Hokage was the one who assigned all the missions in the village.
Except now that he was thinking about it...that didn't make sense. There were hundreds of ninja in the Hidden Leaf. The Hokage couldn't possibly personally assign every mission request that came through the gates.
"You're not kids anymore," Kosuke said sternly, glaring at the former members of Team 2. "When you graduated from the academy you became ninjas and adults. No one is going to hold your hands and spoon-feed you."
Too right, Sakumo thought and he stepped forward. He pulled a "Bandit Extermination" mission from the C-rank section of the board.
Kosuke frowned when he noticed what kind of mission request it was. "Are you playing games, kid?"
"No games," Sakumo said and he glanced at his two teammates who looked shocked. They might be content with working their way up, but he needed to get out of the village.
I can't risk someone seeing me train and word getting back to the Hokage about what jutsu I'm trying to use.
Kosuke frowned and he looked over to the twins. "Are you sure your team is ready for a C-rank mission?" the eternal genin asked.
Jirō nodded excitedly, but Tarō shook his head. "No, we're not ready for a C-rank so soon. We just graduated."
"What? Ah, c'mon, Tarō!" Jirō whined. "We're totally ready!"
"No, we're not."
Sakumo frowned as Tarō walked over to the board and picked a simple D-rank mission to walk some of the Inuzuka's dogs.
"Do we have to do anything else, or do we just go?" Tarō asked.
"You report to me at the counter." Kosuke took the mission request back to the counter. He created a copy and hit the copy with a stamp before handing it back. "After the mission is completed, I'll stamp the copy again and you turn it in at the Hokage Tower to get paid."
How am I supposed to get stronger if I can't even leave the village? Sakumo glared at Tarō.
First, they had ruined his chances of getting a jonin sensei, and now they were cockblocking him from taking C-rank missions?
He slammed the Bandit Extermination mission back onto the board and snatched a D-rank gardening mission.
If you could call gardening a ninja mission.
Sakumo bit his tongue to keep from cussing up a storm as he handed the request to Kosuke who stamped it.
Why did the universe insist on kicking him in the dick when all he wanted to do was get stronger?
ANOTHER CHAPTER!
If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to leave a review.
Thanks for reading!