BiG Konoha

by Opa-sensei

OP smart prodigy Naruto. I'm bad at summaries, Naruto is part of a clan, has a harem. it's pretty sick. Read it. Now.

14. Genin at last

Chapter 14

Genin At Last

3 years later

Hyūga Clan Compound

Morning

Natsumi Hyūga smiled as she watched her her mistress prepare for what would be the most important day in her life so far, as well as her biggest achievement. Natsu sighed, reminiscing about the past and the trials and tribulations her young mistress had to endure to get to this point.

The girl had grown so much over the past three years. Both physically and mentally, Hinata had gone from a child to an adolescent. Natsumi knew in a few years that Hinata would be a young woman, much like herself.

Natsumi would like to consider herself young. She was only just reaching her thirties, and she had no lack of suitors after her. Natsumi was certain that her mistress, though far more beautiful than her, wouldn't have as many suitors as she did. The girl only had eyes for one after all.

Natsumi giggled to herself. The two made a perfect couple. The shy an gentle angelic heiress and the wild and untamed heir. It sounded like something one would read from a romance novel.

"Why are you laughing to yourself, Natsumi?."

Hinata's voice snapped the woman out of her train of thoughts. Natsumi laughed sheepishly and looked up to find Hinata staring at her quizzically. Natsumi suppressed a gasp. The girl had really grown a lot over the years.

Hinata's hair was had grown out a bit and was now long enough to reach her chin level. Her dark purple locks looked even more vibrant and beautiful, and were left to fall in a natural feminine style.

(AN: Think Hinata's hairstyle in Boruto)

Hinata's face was now almost devoid of the baby fat, and looked more angled and gorgeous. Her eyes stood out, and her eyelashes appeared much more pronounced. Her lips had experienced a growth spurt, and weren't just like thin lines anymore. Now they were more full and had a healthy pink color.

The girl had grown fairly tall, standing at 5'2 which could be considered tall for a thirteen year old. She had discarded her pink and white fur trimmed for a light bronze colored hooded jacket. The hoodie was just as baggy as her former jacket, hiding what Natsumi knew would make most girls Hinata's age envious.

Hinata wore dark blue pants that that stopped just under her calf. There was a strap tied around her right thigh with a black pouch attacked to it. A smaller off-white colored pouch was fastened on her rear. Hinata completed her outfit with blue standard shinobi sandals.

"Nothing Hinata-sama. I just remembered something funny is all." Natsumi said with the wave of her hands. Her gaze landed cloth lined metal plate in Hinata's hand. "Have you decided where you'll wear your hitai-ate, Hinata-sama?." She asked.

Hinata accepted the woman's explanation and nodded her head to the her question. Hinata had a gentle smile on her face as held the hitai-ate with both hands and stared at it. She was finally here.

"Naruto-kun told me how he's going to wear his, so I've decided to do the same." Hinata said. It was a decision both her and her friend Bonnie had made. Along with a promise that they would both be on the same team.

Natsumi clasped her hands together and squealed like a schoolgirl. "You two are such a cute couple, I can't get over it!." Natsumi said with a big smile.

Hinata blushed lightly but didn't contest the woman's words. She and Naruto, a couple?. She liked how that sounded. They were practically one, with home much time they spent together.

"Hinata-chan!."

A yell from outside the Hyūga main branch residence resounded. Natsumi narrowed her eyes at the feminine sounding voice. "It's Hinata-sama's rival in love!." Natsumi said with a look of hatred. "Stay here Hinata-sama, I will go and vanquish your foe!." Natsumi said rushing to the door.

Hinata held the woman back with a sweatdrop. The woman comically struggled to break free from Hinata's hold. "Bonnie-chan doesn't need to be vanquished, Natsumi." Hinata said.

The woman always got like this when she saw or heard anything related to Bonnie. To Natsumi Bonnie was a thorn in Hinata's side and a huge stumbling block in the way of both Hinata and Naruto's destined happy life together.

Whenever the two crossed paths it never ended well. Natsumi was convinced Bonnie was a demon spawn dedicated to ruining Hinata's life, while Bonnie claimed Natsumi was a bad servant not fit to even serve a donkey.

Their meetings became more and more frequent after Hinata got her father's permission for Bonnie to enter the clan compound. Hinata had to do a lot of convincing on both ends.

Her father was not in full support of the company Hinata was keeping. Bonnie 'was' an associate in Naruto's trip to Tetsu no Kuni. As Hiashi saw it, both Bonnie and Naruto were bad influences on his daughter.

If not for the fact that Hinata was performing extremely well in the clan trainings and activities, Hiashi wouldn't have been so agreeable to her demands. He couldn't turn away an Uzumaki heir, but Bonnie was just a civilian. He didn't have to treat her as respectfully as he did Naruto.

As for Bonnie, it was as though she could sense Hiashi's unwillingness and acted in kind. To Bonnie, if someone didn't think she deserved their respect then she wouldn't bother with them. It was only for Hinata's sake that the blonde relented.

"Stay here Natsumi." Hinata said. The woman still struggled to leave the room. Hinata held her back with more strength. "That's an order." Hinata said in a more stern voice.

Natsumi finally stopped fighting and went to one side of the room with a pouty look on her face. The spawn of Satan escaped her sword yet again. Natsumi huffed.

Hinata sighed. Natsumi was a great help, but sometimes she was a little too exhausting. It was hard to believe that Hinata was the minor in this dynamic. The Hyūga girl left the grumbling woman behind, her hitai-ate still in hand.

Hinata walked out to find Bonnie standing with a kunai drawn. Hinata shook her head in an amusement at the blonde girl's reaction. She prepared herself in the event that it was Natsumi that emerged from the house first.

"You should have let her come at me, Hinata-chan." Bonnie said, putting the kunai back into her pouch.

Bonnie had changed visibly compared to most students in their class. Being over a year older, meant that she was turning fifteen soon while most kids in their class were just thirteen.

Bonnie had gotten what could only be called a glow up. The dual-colored eyed girl had gotten reasonably taller, reaching 5'5. She had matured to a the extent of Kimiko three years ago, and had a more womanly appearance.

Bonnie didn't develop too much in the chest department, but was at least a good ways better than a particular floorboard in their class. Her hips had become far more defined, and her rear matched this definitely. That was her best quality according to Naruto.

Bonnie's curly hair was still cut short, there were carved designs done on one side of her hair. Her freckled face looked far more alluring, and the geeky glasses she wore only added to her appeal.

Bonnie wasn't dressed as modestly as Hinata, nor was she shy to flaunt her natural curves. She wore a V-neck short-sleeved red a blue crop top with a long-sleeved mesh undershirt, that was also cropped.

Her stomach was left bare showcasing a smooth freckled skin and a pierced belly button. She wore black baggy pants that stopped just above her calves and the usual blue shinobi sandals.

As per usual, there was a bandage strap tied around the right thigh with a black pouched strapped on to it. Bonnie's rear pouch was larger than the norm and was big enough to carry about four medium sized scrolls.

Bonnie completed her outfit with a pair of gloves that matched the color and design of her top, along with black elbow straps.

Beside Bonnie was a white dog with a similar appearance to the pup Kiba carried around. The dog was fully grown with straighter fur and sharp looking silver colored eyes. There was a black collar around its neck with a green Konoha insignia as its pendant.

The dog calmly sat, not paying mind to the playful puppies running around her. The puppies were clearly twins. They had matching brown and white fur and almost catlike ears.

The two twins didn't belong to Bonnie, they were actually Hinata's pets. The duo always came out to greet and play with the bigger dog when she came around. This dog was of course the ninken Naruto had procured from the Inuzuka clan for Bonnie. Yukimaru.

"Good morning Bonnie-chan." Hinata said with a smile. She turned to nod at Yukimaru. "Good morning Yukimaru-san."

"Good morning." Bonnie said with a smile of her own.

"Morning." Yukimaru said. She was an inu of few words, but for the nice Hyūga girl she could spare a few. The same couldn't be said for her actual partner.

"We should start heading out. Naruto-kun said he'll meet us at the academy." Hinata informed Bonnie as they begun to walk out of the compound. The two puppies tried to follow after them, but a stern bark from Yukimaru wiped such ideas out from their head.

The ninken decided to stay back in the Hyūga clan longer to appease the little dogs.

"He came by?." Bonnie asked Hinata with a raised eyebrow.

"He came earlier and told me that we should go ahead." Hinata answered. She turned to Bonnie. "Where's your hitai-ate?." Hinata asked. She couldn't find the girl's proof of graduation anywhere.

Bonnie patted the pouch on her thigh. "Right here." She then grinned mischievously. "Boss might try to play a fast one on us, so I'm not wearing it until I'm sure he's as we promised."

Hinata giggled. Bonnie was so childish sometimes, it was the same for Naruto. Despite being the most mature students in the academy Hinata knew, the two had dumb and childish moments like these.

'I'm not wearing mine either so the same could be said about me.' Hinata mused.

"Alright!." Bonnie punched a fist into the air, suddenly feeling pumped up.

Who was she kidding. She was feeling pumped up the whole way here. They were finally graduating and were going for team assignments. After getting assigned a jōnin sensei that would mean one thing. Missions. And missions meant finally leaving these stuffy walls.

Bonnie longed to spread her wings and fly into the world, and that feeling was magnified now she was so close to achieving her dreams. Bonnie had so much fun on the last expedition she and Naruto went on.

It had been three years since then. Three years since she had seen her friends in Shirubāsheru. Three years since she had left this village. Bonnie was desperate to leave. To explore. To see for herself what the shinobi world was truly like.

That was her ambition. It would be an several times better if she could experience all those different places with the two most precious people in her life. Bonnie didn't want to jinx it but... How great would it be if they were on the same team?.

---

Yoritomo Ward - Miyajima

"Sakura, hurry up you're gonna be late!." Mebuki cupped her hand beside her mouth and yelled for her daughter to make haste. She waited beside the stairs for a mop of pink hair to hurry down as usual.

Mebuki couldn't believe how fast the years had gone by. It almost felt like yesterday when she was cradling a tiny baby Sakura in her hands with her husband, Kizashi, standing behind with a stupid grin on his face.

It had been thirteen whole years since then. Thirteen. Where had the time gone to?.

In those thirteen years so much had changed. Her husband and Sakura's father was no longer with them. She had officially retired from the literary world and was now more focused on her businesses and her civilian council duties.

Mebuki had to work a lot these past years after finally taking the reins for the businesses that Kizashi left behind. She could no longer go on relying on her brother-in-law now she was retired.

This way despite being retired, she would have still a lot going for herself. Now that Sakura was beginning her journey as a shinobi, Mebuki knew that meant that she would be left alone in this house more often.

The hours of shinobi were unpredictable. She would end up feeling lonely if she stayed idle at this age in Sakura's life. Managing a shipping company and art galleries would be a good enough distraction with her baby girl out of the house and village.

Said baby girl jogged down the stairs as Mebuki had anticipated. Sakura had grown a lot over the years. Though she often complained that she wasn't developing as quickly as some of her classmates.

Mebuki knew that Sakura would be a late bloomer much like herself. Still the girl had grown more beautiful with the added years. Her hair was longer and face was more angular, like a lady's.

Sakura had grown significantly taller and was now just a few inches shy of her mother. Though Mebuki wasn't exactly the tallest of people.

Sakura was dressed in a red long short-sleeved Chinese style dress with waist height splits and white outlines. There were four white circle designs on the dress. One on Sakura's upper back area, one on front of lower end of her dress and two on the side of her sleeves.

She wore dark green tight shorts with the standard bandage straps and a strapped on pouch on her right thigh. She had popular blue shinobi sandals and hitai-ate, but wore it over her head like a headband.

It was quite the stylish position, and Mebuki commended Sakura on this. Just like her mother, she had style.

"You look really great dear." Mebuki complimented her daughter, genuinely impressed by how stylish he daughter managed to be despite the new profession she had taken on.

Sakura smiled with a bashful expression. Her mother complimented her a lot, but there was just something different about today. Maybe it was the amount of effort she had put into her getup. It was simple, but it still made her standout positively. She would like to see Ino-buta beat this.

"You look great too mom." Sakura said, passing a compliment back to her mother.

The older Haruno took it better. Of course she knew she looked great. If she didn't she wouldn't dare come out of her room. She was a woman with a high reputation. She couldn't even afford to look good, it had to be at least great.

"I'll take you to the academy." Mebuki said to her daughter.

Normally Sakura would be against this as it would be embarrassing, but today was a really special day and she was sure many of her classmates would be accompanied by their parents. Her mom wasn't exactly in support of her career choice but had to bare with it since it was what she wanted.

For her mother to insist on accompanying her on this day meant a lot to Sakura, as she was sure meant a lot to the woman. Sakura nodded in agreement to her mother's request, a happy smile adorning her face.

---

Shōdai District - Uchiha Clan Compound

"I'm off." Sasuke said to his mother as he slipped his sandals on, grabbing a few things before descending down the short flight of stairs.

Mikoto watched the departing back of her son with what could only be described as a maternal smile. She was hit with a feeling of deja vu. She knew it was because this sight was almost identical to the one she beheld when Itachi was leaving for the hokage manor to make his early graduation official.

Speaking of early graduations, Sasuke was the most eligible for the option but ultimately had to turn it down on her request. Mikoto returned to the village from time to time, and these days her presence was more frequent than usual.

She insisted that Sasuke got the full experience of the academy, knowing that once he graduated he would be hurled right into a world of madness, greed, death and corruption. Mikoto wanted to stave that inevitability off as long as possible.

This way Sasuke could at least say he had a childhood, something she blamed herself for allowing Fugaku to rob her first son of. Now, though Itachi was an outstanding young man, he was still a little too odd for Mikoto's liking.

He didn't have much in the ways of her qualities, instead he was almost a replica of his father. However, Fugaku wasn't nearly as socially impaired as his son. He still had friends and drinking buddies he hung out with.

Though their places of gathering were formal and hid friends were very reserved people, they were still friends of his. It was not the same for Itachi. Aside from Shisui he basically had no friends.

It wasn't because people didn't like him or were afraid of him or something. The candidates of his friendship were shinobi. Being a little socially awkward was normal for them. But in Itachi's case, it was nigh impossible to befriend him.

Itachi simply didn't know how to make or keep a friend. Only the perceptive and energetic Shisui could break down the walls Itachi unconsciously put up and established himself as his friend. It helped that they literally grew up together too.

Mikoto wouldn't see her second child being put through the same thing. So she made sure Fugaku had little influence on Sasuke's training and left him in the hands of the academy and his brother. This way Sasuke could grow at his own pace, and not the presumed pace of Uchiha Madara that Fugaku wanted all his possible heirs to match.

Her efforts had bore fruit. Though not the most cheerful kid in the bunch, Sasuke was still a relatively normal and social compared to your standard Uchiha. He had other interests outside training and ensuring the reemergence of a greater Uchiha clan.

Mikoto was satisfied with the results of years of conflicts and fights with Fugaku over leaving Sasuke to 'waste away' in the academy. If not for the fact that Fugaku already had Itachi, Mikoto wasn't sure she would have been able to stop the stubborn man from psychologically castrating Sasuke too.

Now Sasuke was a physically and psychologically healthy thirteen year old genin with his future ahead of him. Mikoto smiled. It also helped that Kushina's son was graduating at the same time as him.

Mikoto hoped they would be placed on the same team. She meant to push the two closer so they could become best of friends like she and Kushina hoped, but never really got the chance.

Sasuke had an interest in kenjutsu and had trained a few times with Naruto under Ha or an Uzuki elder when they were five, but that was about it. Naruto branched into twin katanas and Sasuke preferred a light tsuguri so Ha who was more of a jack-of-all-trades was no longer a suitable teacher for them.

Naruto took Yūgao on as his kenjutsu trainer, while Sasuke learnt under an Uzuki clan elder before being deemed ready to disciple under Uchiha Shii. The two boys didn't see each other, aside from in the academy, since then.

Mikoto would be ecstatic if they still ended up as friends, but that was in the boys' hands as well as the hokage's. There was little Mikoto could do at this point to facilitate a friendship.

Well, if a friendship wasn't possible they could always be rivals like she and Kushina were in the earlier days. Rivalry often led to friendship or at least comradeship. Though her son didn't have accomplishments on the level of Kushina's son yet, he could still compete in other areas.

Like appearance for example. In Mikoto's opinion though Naruto was an extremely cute kid, her son still edged him off in good-looks. It was close though. Close, but Sasuke was superior.

Sasuke had his usual backwards spiking hair with two large bangs framing his cheeks. He had grown to look more masculine, and the formerly cute looking scowl on his face now matched the standard Uchiha expression.

He had grown tall, almost as tall as Naruto and had a healthy built with a mixture of lean muscle and a low presence of fat. He has immaculate white skin and raven colored eyes. He looked very refined and handsome.

Mikoto wasn't at all surprised that so many girls stalked him on his way home. Just like his father and brother his luck with the ladies was only second to his talent.

And his style.

Sasuke dressed in a short-sleeved blue high collared shirt with an Uchiha logo on the back. There were two white arm-warmers with blue straps on his arms, followed by white shorts and bandaged shin bands. He wore the standard blue Konoha shinobi sandals.

The he had the usual bandage and thigh pouch and the back pocket one. His newly acquired blue hitai-ate was tied in the standard position.

He had the appearance of a serious shinobi, but to Mikoto he just looked like a cute little boy playing ninja. She was sure that would change over the years. For now she could only enjoy it while it lasted, because soon one day her boy would return a man.

Until then...

Mikoto stared in the direction of the Uzumaki/Uzuki compound with an unreadable expression.

---

Uzumaki/Uzuki clan compound

Training Room

"Are you guys finished?." Yūgao asked with her chin resting on her palm. She was leaning against a metal railing leisurely and dressed in kind. The woman was dressed as plainly as a civilian. Today was an off day for her.

Yūgao's mother, Eri, stood beside her with a disapproving look in her eyes. Standing next to her daughter just showed just how much more taller Yūgao was compared to her.

Standing together like this the two looked more like sisters than mother and daughter. The duo had similar looks of disapproval on their faces as they regarded the three actual siblings standing in the training room.

"Yep." Saya said with a sigh, wiping the sweat off her brows with the back of her hand. She scooted to one side to give space to a maid who was crouched on her knees, scrubbing the floor with a large brush.

There were six other maids doing the same thing. Some worked on the floor while others on the walls. The walls, ceiling and floor of the training room was stained with red splash marks from their earlier 'exercise'.

After they were done they had to call in some maids to tidy up the place before the blood dried.

"Was such a thing truly necessary?." Eri asked. She never understood why these there's parents sanctioned such an activity, nor why it even existed. She had tried to talk the ōkami out of agreeing to it but to no avail.

In the end it was just as bad and ugly as she feared it would be. She glared at Ha. He was the worst. He took the whole thing too serious and seemed to be enjoying it too. What a sicko.

"Yes." Ha said, grinning shamelessly at the stink eye Eri was giving him. He untied the bloodied bandages from his hands. He wished he could have used a sword, but the intention was to test and not kill so he was unarmed.

Yūgao shook her head at the man's reaction. "I expect this kind of thing from Ha, and to an extent I can see why Saya went along with it. But you, Tate?. I don't get how you could be a part of something so barbaric." Yūgao said to the large docile man.

The man looked as harmless as ever even when he was beating the daylights out of Naruto along with his siblings. It was a very odd sight. Ha was grinning like a madman, Saya looked calm and professional while Tate appeared unwilling, yet they all attacked him with fervor.

"It's a tad crude, but it is tradition. We can't ignore the rites of passage." Tate said matter-of-factly. "Wakate-sama joined our sibling-hood three years ago, and as tradition demands he has to graduate from apprenticeship to membership before officially becoming a genin." Tate said.

"Yeah yeah." Yūgao waved her hand, not wanting to hear it. She already knew how their 'graduation' worked. She knew it was coming once Naruto made the decision to become one of them.

The Jean Clad Gang, as Ha fondly nicknamed them. A unit of Uzuki kenjutsu specialists dedicated to the simple arts of killing and destruction in every shade and form.

The group started with Ha himself, after he was beaten to near death by his sensei in a bid to prove his 'heart'. Ha went on carrying out this tradition on anybody who dared to officially become his understudy.

The first person brave enough to take the position was his own broker, Tate. On Tate's team assignment day he was forced to fight Ha in direct hand to hand combat.

Though the young Tate was as big as his elder brother even then, the difference between a fresh genin and a jōnin was not something that mere physical superiority could surmount.

Like Ha in the past, Tate was beaten severely and forced to leave for the team assignments without any treatment.

If he was unable to take the beating then he wasn't worth being called a genin of Konoha. If he couldn't make it to the clan assignments then it was the same.

The next to suffer the fate, as well as the first tag teamed beat down were Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui. Ha would put that down as one of his favorite memories.

The two Uchiha were one of the few who decide to complete their kenjutsu training with an Uzuki rather that swapping back to their clan elders once the basics of the techniques has been beaten into them.

This made the two Uchiha very special to Ha. So special that he put his A-game and beat them up so badly their mothers literally could not recognize them.

Beating up Shisui was easy enough. Without the use of ninjutsu he was a lot less elusive. However, Itachi as usual was a problem. Hitting him actually took Ha some effort and he was just a genin while Shisui was going to make a direct jump to chunin.

The genin proved more difficult than the chunin. Naturally this wasn't enough to stop Ha from beating him senseless. Tate was left to batter Shisui while Ha chased Itachi across the training room like a man possessed by an evil spirit.

The next in line for torture was Saya. Saya more or less got pressured to join by the fact that both of her brothers were already a part.

Despite avoiding the gang til she turned chunin. Once she accepted the jean jacket she had unknowingly joined them.

When she did, she found her kenjutsu skill grew by leaps and bounds. However, there was another thing waiting for her in leaps and bounds. A brutal beat down.

Only Shisui who had developed a crush on the girl refused to participate in the rites of passage. Itachi had no feelings whatsoever for the blonde girl. All he had was a heart filled resentment and a fist itching for vengeance.

Tate at least tried to take it easy on Saya since she was a girl and his little sister. Ha did not. Itachi did not. The two made sure she was crawling her way back to the ōkami.

The next to suffer was Gekko Hayate. The man was already a chunin but was obsessed with perfecting his kenjutsu so came to the Uzuki clan when he heard they were training shinobi.

Obviously this privilege didn't extend to anybody but after successfully wooing his crush, Yūgao, he was able to become the only exception.

Hayate was the only exception in more ways than one. Not only was he the only non Uzuki, Uchiha, Namikaze and Inuzuka to be handed the privilege of the special kenjutsu training he was also the only person to ever take a beat down from five people in the history of the tradition.

And what an epic beatdown it was. Shisui didn't sit it out and was more than willing to participate. Tate had no reason to hold back. Ha was Ha. Itachi felt his fists itch again. And finally Saya... it was revenge time.

She didn't care that Hayate had absolutely nothing to do with the punishment she was subjected to. All she knew was that she had gone from being the piñata to the bat. She fully explored this new role.

Hayate had to be administered some first-aid or he would have really died on that day. Shisui had to restrain Itachi who had seemed hellbent on becoming Hayate's murderer. Even Ha had to tell him to chill.

This was mostly why Saya and Tate didn't have too much mercy for Naruto. He had suffered even less as badly as Itachi and Shisui. The way one would hit and stranger and family was naturally different.

"Compared to what Itachi, Shisui, Saya and Hayate went through this was nothing." Ha pointed out.

Yūgao had to conceded that point. She wasn't present for Itachi's and Shisui's rite of passage, but she had seen the evil that was done to Saya and the downright murder attempt on Hayate. It was true. Naruto did get off easy.

"Hayate was out sick, Itachi and Shisui are on missions too. The gaki was fucking lucky." Ha said. There was still a smile on his face, though his words made it sound like he was dissatisfied. "Itachi and Shisui are gonna be pissed that they missed it." Ha laughed.

Tate smiled lightly. Saya smirk with her hands akimbo. "Can Itachi even get pissed?."

"How can you even ask that after what he did that poor motherfucker, Hayate?." Ha asked with an incredulous expression. If that wasn't a pissed off Itachi then he would concede to him immediately. The young man was far crazier than him if that was true.

Saya blinked. "Yeah, totally forgot about that one." She frowned in annoyance. "It's kind of overshadowed by the beatdown he gave me."

Ha cackled in memory of the Uchiha boy looking like a man on a mission, doing his absolute best to stomp a mud hole into Saya. It was a thing of beauty.

"Shisui-san said they didn't talk for a month after that." Tate added in amusement.

"That Itachi is a real mental case. Remember when he did this–" Ha was saying then abruptly changed demeanors to resemble the one of Itachi. He pointed at Saya with a cold and detached stare. "Now crawl back to your clan head and tell her you have passed." Ha said in his best impression of the Uchiha's voice before bursting out laughter.

Even Yūgao and the more reserved Tate joined in. They could remember that vividly, more so the contorted expression on Shisui's face as he watched his best friend treat his crush like a dog.

Only Saya and Eri were not laughing, and strangely enough it was the former that had a small smile on her face while like the latter looked upset.

"That's enough!." Eri snapped at the group of laughing jōnin. She glared particularly at the one beside her. "Stop glorifying this madness." Eri said in annoyance. She opened her mouth to say more but stopped then huffed and turned to leave.

Silence.

"Hayate couldn't even fucking crawl..."

Roars of laughter echoed across the training room one more. This time even Saya joined in.

---

Civilian Section - Shinobi Academy

Naruto casually made his way into the academy compound. His hand massaged his sore jaw that had been dislodged several times by his loving surrogate siblings.

Naruto was filled with a deep hatred just thinking about the trio. How could they even call something like that a tradition?. They were just looking for an excuse to take out their frustrations on a weaker opponent. As simple as that.

Naruto couldn't wait for one of them to accept an understudy into the ranks. He wouldn't be the last person to experience that torture. He had to unleash it on someone else. He just had to.

Thankfully, three of his senpais were unable to make it, else Naruto wasn't sure he would have been able to survive today. The epic beatdown Hayate was stated to have suffered came from five people. Naruto was lucky. Extremely lucky.

He would have been the guy who got beat on by six jōnins. That didn't sound like fun at all.

The Uzumaki ascended the flight of stairs. He could hear the Iruka's voice. He was counting down to the final seconds til it was officially time to start the team announcement. The rite of passage had taken up more time than he anticipated.

Naruto picked up the pace and rushed to the classroom he had spent a better part of three years in. He had endured the academy for three years without coming late, not even once. He would be damned if he was late on the very last day.

The legacy of the never late-coming troublemaker would not die like this!. Naruto slammed into the door like a cannon ball, knocking it off its hinges.

He paid no attention to the broken up door, nor the gasps of surprise from his classmates and immediately shot to the seat reserved for him. Naruto sighed in relief. Safety.

Naruto looked up at Iruka and grinned victoriously. Just a second early. Even if it was a fraction of a second it was still time. Technically speaking he was right on time. He was not late.

Crack!

The stopwatch in Iruka's hands cracked under the pressure of his grip. 'So close!.' Iruka thought in dismay. He really thought today was going to be the day he caught this kid.

Today technically didn't even count and wouldn't be included in Naruto's files since they were already closed. However, what Iruka and Naruto were contesting for wasn't mere piece of paper. It was for their honor. It was proof of their dedication.

One accurate timekeeper and another brutally punctual student. It was a battle for supremacy. A battle that Naruto had always been winning by the skin of his teeth, and did so on their final bout. Iruka could bow out, proud that he had lost to a master at the peak of his craft.

"Everybody is on time today... that's a first." Iruka said, earning a chorus of laughter from the newly grads.

Three years of these annoying little chibis. They had all grown so much and so quick. Iruka had started this job and hated picking it due to the class he got, but now on the final day as their instructor he couldn't help but feel emotional.

He was going to miss them all so much. Even Naruto. He was a difficult student to handle, but after some time Iruka finally got the hang of it. Iruka could proudly claim to be one of the few people who had managed to get Uzumaki Naruto to listen.

"Okay settle down. Your senseis are actually watching you from a secret room, so you better behave or you'll give them a bad impression." Iruka said, waving the classroom into silence. A trick that was hard earned but well worth it.

Iruka turned to Mizuki and the co-teachers shared a nod. Mizuki pulled out a scroll and handed it to Iruka before going to the side. Iruka was normally the one doing all the announcements and speaking.

He was more of an assistant, helping with compilation of the notes and grading the tests. This was a system of work that Mizuki was most comfortable with. Iruka was better suited with facing a crowd, while he did his best work alone.

"Okay listen up!. I'm going announce your teams. When I do your jōnin sensei will come in to take you, so be quiet and try not to embarrass me or yourselves." Iruka said.

The class instantly became as quiet as a graveyard. The newly promoted genin stayed stared on with serious and determined expressions. They were the ones that made the cut. They became genin. They had made it this far, and now it was time to reap the fruit of the their labour. They could not mess this up.

Iruka smiled. These kids had really grown over the years. He was a little sad to fail some of them, but it came with the job. He had to be unbiased and critical. Those students would be better served pursuing a different career.

Out of about forty students only sixteen passed. Uchiha Sasuke was named rookie of the year. Haruno Sakura was the rookie kunoichi of the year. Finally, the deadlast was Bonnie.

Iruka unfurled the scroll.

"You made it in time, Naruto-kun." Hinata whispered from beside the blonde.

"I came earlier than you did today, boss." Bonnie said with a grin.

Naruto smiled at the two. "Yeah." He hoped he ended up in the same team with at least one of these wonderful girls. It would be perfect if they ended up in the same team, but would that even be possible?.

Naruto had planned on convincing them to drop out with him just before the graduation, so they could all take apprenticeships under a jōnin of their choice. But Naruto decided against it in the end.

Things were going perfectly for Hinata in the Hyūga clan. He couldn't ask the girl to fall out with her clan just because of him. When she was more or less an outcast, it didn't matter what she decided to do. However, now Hinata was the jewel of the main branch. They would never accept her dropping out.

Then there was also the case of him blackmailing the village and then attacking Kazuto. The hokage had given him a final warning, threatening him to never let him get into the shinobi roster if he struck out for the third time.

Naruto was pretty sure convincing students to drop out or dropping out himself would be considered a third strike. Naruto ended up playing himself into the Sandaime's hands. He planned on going along with the man's desire for him to experience the academy, but going his own route in the end.

That failed spectacularly.

Naruto was now more or less trapped in the academy. All he could do was hope to Kami that he was placed in a decent team. His efforts to rank in the direct middle of the class ended up coming back to bite him in the ass.

Everybody knew the rookie of the year got an elite jōnin as a sensei. Now as things were, he would probably get a jōnin he could defeat in a fight. In that event Naruto would get a chunin exams form as soon as they were out and participate by himself like Uchiha Itachi had done.

He definitely wouldn't be stagnant for months to a year because his sensei was a bum. Hell no.

"Team 5..." Iruka's voice resounded. The announcements had started. "Lerry-Green Kazuto, Eiko Haru and Oboro Chika." Iruka announced the names.

Kazuto was the first to stand. The boy had turned eighteen and visibly looked older than the rest of his classmates. He had developed sideburns and a little stubble. He slicked his hair back and wore a large gold chain around his neck. His hitai-ate was wore in the standard position.

Haru stood up next. The timid boy was one of the surprise graduates after Bonnie. Nobody expected him to do as well as he did. Now his hard work was paying off, and he even scored a team with his crush and best friend. Life couldn't be better.

Haru was dressed in an all black shinobi garb with brown holsters hanging under his arms. He had the usual thigh and rear pouches and wore black shinobi sandals and wore his hitai-ate like an armband. Finally, he wore his usual dark red goggles.

Haru and Kazuto shared a look and grinned at each other. The next few months was going to amazing with their best friend there to experience it with them.

'Lucky bastards.' Naruto cussed.

'Quit hating.' The Kyuubi snorted.

Chika was the last to stand. She was a girl with blue jaw length and brown eyes. She had a pretty girly face but had an icy countenance. She was fourteen years this year, and stood at 5'3.

Chika was a slender shapely girl and was easily one of the most sought out girls in academy. She was dressed in black leather jacket and white undershirt. She wore a black shirt with visible black tights under it.

Her leg pouch was hidden by her skirt and the second one hung on her waist instead. She wore heeled shinobi sandals. Her blue hitai-ate was tied in the standard position.

"Come out to the front." Iruka said.

The three genin obediently followed the instructions of their soon to be ex-sensei. They stood side by side facing the rest of the class. Pride was painted on Kazuto's face. Haru was stealing glances at his crush. Chika had the same icy expression on her face.

"Your sensei will be Uchiha Izumi." Iruka announced.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Uchiha Izumi. Wasn't that the woman Shisui said was always stalking Itachi?. She applied to be a jōnin instructor?. Crazy.

"Meet me at training ground 5." A feminine voice suddenly reverberated in the room, causing some of the genin to bristle. Even Mizuki was somewhat taken aback by the sudden speech.

Chika was the first in the newly established team to get over her daze and immediately dashed out the room. Haru saw his crush/teammate running away and instinctively ran after her. Kazuto hesitated before doing the same.

"Where is training ground 5 anyway?." Kazuto's questioning voice resounded.

"I'm sure Chika knows." Haru's voice came next.

"I don't." Was the simple response from Chika.

"THEN WHY DID YOU START RUNNING?!."

Iruka chuckled. Would those two be fine under Uchiha Izumi?. He didn't know much about the woman. But she was just twenty years old and was already a jōnin. That meant she was extremely talented.

And Uchiha have a history of pushing training pretty far and doing extreme exercises. Aside from Chika, Iruka wasn't too sure if the team would be cut out to handle a sensei like that.

Well. They were not his responsibility anymore. All he could do was hope for the best and wish them luck.

"Team 10!." Iruka shouted.

"Why isn't it in order?!." Kiba yelled in frustration. The anxiety was killing him. He wanted to find out who his teammates and sensei were already.

"Shut up Kiba!." An equally anxious Sakura snapped. Dammit she had to be on the same team as Sasuke. If it turned out Haru looted all the good luck she would find him and beat him to a pulp.

"Nara Shikamaru!." Iruka ignored the two. Nobody was going to embarrass him in front of several jōnin and possibly the hokage today.

The Nara rubbed the back of his neck, muttering something as he stood up. He made his way to the front of the class. No sense waiting in his seat knowing he'd still have to come out in the end.

"Yamanaka Ino!."

Ino shivered. The same team as Shikamaru. Then that meant...

Sakura who didn't know about the tradition of the three clans was biting her fingernails nervously. If Iruka said Uchi-anything she would immediately blow this class to hell. Losing Sasuke was one thing, losing Sasuke to Ino was completely unacceptable.

"Akimichi Chōji!."

"YAAAATTTAAAA!." Sakura pumped her fists into the air in celebration. It was as though she had scored the same team as Sasuke. Ino losing meant almost as much to her.

Ino banged her head into her desk and cried comically. It was as she thought. That dreadful Ino-Shika-Cho curse. She was a fool to believe her father when she said it could be different for her. Her fate had been set in stone when she was given the name Ino.

Ino despondently dragged herself to the front of the class. Chōji walked a safe distance away from her, knowing that that depression could instantly turn into aggression.

The rotund boy waved at Shikamaru who was already in the front of the class. At least he got to be on the same team as his best friend. Shikamaru gave him a slight smile.

"Your sensei is Sarutobi Asuma."

After Iruka finished speaking a tall and buff looking brown haired and bearded man with a cigarette in his mouth walked into the classroom. He scrutinized the three genin for a few seconds before turning to leave.

"Come on, let's go get lunch." Asuma said.

"Sweet!." Chōji celebrated, and immediately ran after the man. Shikamaru shrugged and joined the two. The ghost of Yamanaka Ino basically dragged herself out of the class. She was moving even slower than Shikamaru.

'Motherfucker!.' Naruto cussed again. Ino's luck was shit, but Chōji and Shikamaru ended up in the same team and like Haru and Kazuto they were best friends.

'C'mon, even you predicted they would be in the same team.' Kyuubi said with a roll of its eyes.

'If keep on being right then I'm fucked. I don't want to be right dammit!. Prove me wrong!.'

'You're an idiot.'

Unbeknownst to Naruto and Kyuubi, another person shared the same concerns as the jinchuriki.

'Dammit!. All the good luck is being used up. At this point I'll end up in the same team as Shino!.' Sakura thought, grabbing her hair in frustration.

"Team 8!."

"All I want is numerical order!." Kiba slapped the table in annoyance. That was a lie. All he wanted was to hear his damned name and get this overwith.

"Shut up Kiba!." Sakura and Naruto roared in unison.

"Inuzuka Kiba!."

"Finally!." Kiba jumped out from his seat and land in front of the class. That was a relief. He was worried he would lose it for a second there. Now... Who were his teammates?.

"Hyūga Hinata!."

"Motherfucker!."

"Don't cuss in my class Naruto!." Iruka snapped. He had just had it with these kids. Couldn't they just act responsibly for two minutes?. After team Nami left everything went to hell.

Naruto continuously cussed underneath his breath. Bonnie turned to Hinata and to her surprise, she was smiling. Hinata noticed Bonnie's stare and gave her a reassuring look.

They had both guessed from Naruto's reaction that they wouldn't be in the same team.

Hinata boldly placed a kiss on the still cussing blonde's cheek. Naruto's words stopped abruptly. Hinata rose to her feet. The blonde jinchuriki and Hyūga heiress matched gazes. One looked sad while the other calm.

"I'll wait for when we both make chunin. Then we can go on our first mission together." Hinata said. Before Naruto could respond she had already used the seals for shunshin and appeared beside a shell shocked Kiba.

Naruto blinked. His expression then settled into boredom. If Hinata wanted him to believe that she was fine then that was what she would do. Even though he could clearly see the sadness in her eyes.

'You'll have to find a way to bring her to your side.'

'I know.'

Not much words had to be said. The priority was getting Hinata on his side, regardless of what team she was in. As she said, they could work together as a team once they were chunin. But if it was possible, Naruto would make sure it happened sooner.

"Let's see who her sensei is." Naruto said to Bonnie.

"You seem relaxed, boss." Bonnie remarked.

"Cuz I'm sure you and I will be in the same team now. All that's left is Hinata-chan." Naruto said.

"How do you know?." Bonnie asked.

"Probability." He replied. "There's no way the Senju brothers will be broken up, and you came last, so there's also no way you'd be on their team."

"Aburame Shino!."

Naruto went on explaining as the last genin on team 8 was announced. "After team 8 is announced, that leaves two possible three man cell teams. There are seven of us left, we have an extra. So either of these three things can happen." Naruto raised three fingers.

"Your sensei is Yūhi Kurenai."

Naruto paused in his explanation and grinned so wide that his eyes almost squinted close. Bonnie shivered as she felt a weird sensation coursing through her body. The entire room was immediately enveloped in this feeling.

Kurenai stepped through the door. Her eyes landed on Naruto first, shelfing her genin team for later. "Muzzle it, Naruto." The woman said in commanding tone.

Naruto chuckled but didn't say anything. He did do as Kurenai said though and drew his chakra back in. It was hard to control when he was so... excited.

'Lady long legs. You're Hinata-chan's sensei?... perfect.' Naruto thought with a laugh.

'The Hyūga girl might as well be on your teammate. Her sensei is your mate, I guess you are pretty lucky.' Kyuubi said. It wouldn't say it but it was a little happy that Hinata still had a place in Naruto's side beside being on a different team.

'I never knew she was even going for the jōnin sensei gig. She just finished her training, it's quite the leap backward.' Naruto thought.

He had witnessed Kurenai's training to become a deviant shinobi first hand. It was a hard and tasking path but the rewards were huge. The woman was now so much more superior to her former self that it was almost funny.

Even her demeanor was slightly different. She carried herself in an different manner. It was very similar to the way Kotohime and Mina for example carried themselves.

Like a woman who knew that no matter where she was she could still standout. Naruto could comfortably say that Kurenai was completely superior from the woman that he had defeated three years ago.

Kurenai led her genin team away. She spared Naruto one last glare. She caught him ogling her ass. The blonde grinned and pretended like he hadn't been caught and waved Hinata away.

"Team 7!."

Naruto heard Iruka announce and resumed his explanation. "As I was saying. There are three possibilities. First, we're put in three teams. Two regular trio of genin teams, while the rookie of the year gets a solo team with an elite jōnin." Naruto said.

"Uchiha Sasuke!."

Sakura's breath hitched. This was it. This was the deciding moment.

"That possibility has been ruled out." Naruto said with a smirk. If Sasuke was on a solo genin team then they would save him for last. "There remains two. They make three teams again, but this time with the Senju siblings in a two man team and the rookie and kunoichi rookie as another."

"Haruno Sakura!."

"YESSSSS!." Sakura practically teleported to Sasuke's side with a look of elation, relief and unbridled love on her face as she stared at her new teammate and longtime crush.

At this point it didn't matter who her other teammate was. She would even take the deadlast bushy browed kid from the upper class that miraculously graduated after Kimiko's and Kuraidesu's set.

"Uzumaki Naruto!."

Sakura nodded in acceptance. He was a little wild but he was funny, cute and really formidable. With him and Sasuke together, the other teams wouldn't stand a chance. She would have to work extra hard so not to fall into their shadows.

Naruto rose to his feet. His eyes stared at the nervous looking Bonnie. He grabbed her hand and smiled reassuringly. "Only one possibility remains. There are two teams, and the last place genin is put in as an extra in one of the teams."

Bonnie's heart was beating wildly. Naruto's deductions were always spot on. And right now it seemed like that was the only possibility. If Iruka mentioned a jōnin sensei, then it would mean she was on the other team and not Naruto's.

It would mean they would have to separate.

'Please...' Bonnie begged an existence she thought she had stopped believing in years ago.

"Bonnie!."

Iruka's words were like warmth in the coldest of blizzards. A single tear rolled down Bonnie's face, her heart continued to pound but this time in joy. Utter and complete joy.

They didn't have to separate. She didn't have to be away from him. They would be together. Her and her boss. They were together.

"We're teammates now, Bon." Naruto said pulling the girl to her feet and cleaning the the wetness from her face.

"Thank goodness." Bonnie said.

The two walked hand in hand to the front of the class, ignoring the stares from the three remaining unassigned genin and their new teammates.

Sakura watched the two descend down from rows of seats, holding hands like lovebirds. How great would it be if she and Sasuke could do something like that?.

Sakura regarded the two closely for the first time. Bonnie had visibly grown, and Sakura wouldn't deny that she wasn't envious of her curves. The girl had truly gone from a caterpillar to butterfly.

As for Naruto... 'Sweet Kami, when did Naruto become this?!.' Sakura screamed in her mind. She realized she hadn't really paid attention to how much Naruto had grown.

The Uzumaki was supposed to be a year younger than them, yet he looked a year older. He was twelve, but ended up looking like a fourteen year old like Haru.

Naruto had grown taller and was now standing at 5'5, the height of many adults in the village. He was as tall as Sakura's mother and he wasn't even eighteen yet.

Naruto's face had become a lot more masculine, even more than Sasuke's. He looked more like a teenager than a preteen. The black line under his eyes were still pronounced. This made his almost glowing blue eyes stand out.

The whisker marks on his face no longer made him look cute. Sakura could only associate it with one word... sexy. His wild blonde hair had grown up to lightly graze his back. He held it in the usual ponytail with the sides more visibly trimmed down.

The thing that stood out to Sakura was how fit he was looking. He wasn't bulky like Ino's new sensei and was more on the lean side but there was a bit of bulk in the the right place.

For lack of a better word, Naruto looked more chiseled than ripped. He looked very solid. Sakura was sure if she ran into him it would hurt her and probably wouldn't even tickle him.

The Uzumaki had gotten a piercing done that Sakura was certain he didn't have until today. There was a small dot piercing on just over the corner of his left eyebrow.

He was also dressed differently today like most of them. He wore a sleeveless orange hoodie with black line design on the end and and black somewhat baggy pants that were held at his calf area. The mesh undershirt he wore was visible from sloped neck of the hoodie.

He wore his usual dark green camouflage shinobi sandals and the blue hitai-ate was left to hand snugly on his neck. Bonnie wore her hitai-ate the same, and Sakura noticed Hinata had worn it that way too.

The most notable addition in Naruto's new dress code was the oversized tattered looking blue jean jacket he wore over the hoodie.

The jacket was left undone, leaving Naruto's clothed chest visible. The jacket was long enough to cover his pockets, and the sleeves were particularly long. However, Naruto folded them enough to leave his hands barely visible.

Naruto allowed the hood of orange hoodie to fall over the jean jacket's back. The blonde looked overdressed, tattered but at the same time stylish. Sakura didn't know how he managed this.

She was also lost at how he had gotten this good-looking under the radar. Sakura was having a hard time picking Sasuke's looks over his.

Though she still picked Sasuke, the fact that she had to consider it was testament of how handsome Naruto had gotten.

Naruto and Bonnie took their places beside Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto was standing next to Sakura, the pink haired girl was still staring at him from the corner of her eyes.

'Those damned whisker marks!.' inner Sakura thought.

Sakura couldn't help but agree. Those damned whisker marks. And only he had a face that could make such a thing work. She was sure it would look odd on others.

"Your team's sensei is Mitarashi Anko!."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. That woman?. He remembered his mother saying something about her needing a monthly psyche evaluation. Also he hadn't heard much about her accomplishments.

Shisui told him that the standard for a rookie of the year was an elite jōnin sensei. That meant this woman was an A-rank kunoichi which was automatically an elite jōnin.

Granted he would agree he was ignorant since he didn't know any of Konoha's A-rank kunoichi aside from his mother and the two rival Seal Masters.

Sakura didn't have much of a reaction to the name. She didn't know her. She only had information on the really powerful shinobi, aside from that she was ignorant.

She was a little happy it was a woman though. This meant that the females in their team outnumbered the men. A rare occurrence.

Bonnie was the same as Sakura. She didn't know much about Mitarashi Anko, though she knew her story and her connection to her boss, and that was it.

She didn't mind if she was really strong or not. As long as she treated all of them fairly and took them out on cool missions outside the village or even the country then everything was fine.

Naruto was speechless. There were so many questions going through his head but the loudest of them was of the why category. Why did Anko enlist for the jōnin instructor job?.

The woman had just made it into the A-rank a year or so ago, and was entering the prime years of her life as a shinobi. Why did she suddenly to teach a bunch of genin. It was the same for Kurenai, though she wasn't in the A-rank yet.

Naruto didn't understand why the women suddenly wanted to waste their prime years teaching brats when they could be making a name for themselves in the Elemental Nations. Was it because of him?.

'Woah now, egomaniac. Take a break from all that self cock gobbling.'

'It was just a thought.' Naruto rolled his eyes at the Kyuubi's words.

"Alright, where are my gakis!."

A voice that Naruto was very familiar with resounded. Naruto and his fellow genin turned to the door where the sound was coming from.

However when Naruto felt a pair an arm on his neck and something soft pressing against his cheeks he knew they had been tricked. A pair of golden eyes stared into Naruto's blue orbs.

"Hello baby." Anko said with a wide grin, drawing the attention of the two kunoichi from the door. Sasuke had already realized Anko was behind them and began to size up the woman.

Her first impression already left a mark on the Uchiha. She was looking far more skilled than he anticipated. Though what she was about to do to Naruto left the Uchiha more creeped out than impressed.

Naruto felt a sensation of something dribbling down his cheek. He had been cut without even realizing. Probably a numbing instant poison Anko concocted. It was a non-toxic type poison but very deadly.

She could stab an opponent in the liver during a struggle and they wouldn't even realize it until it was too late.

Naruto then felt a warm and went sensation on his cheek. He knew what that was. The fact he could feel it meant that she put the antidote on her tongue.

Anko's long tongue flicked Naruto's earlobe before returning to her mouth. Anko moaned in delight at the taste, her hot breath was brushing against his skin.

"Tasty." Anko said in childish delight.

"Want more?." Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow. "There's a lot more stuff even tastier than that, packed full in my b–" Naruto was saying then suddenly passed out mid sentence.

Anko easily caught him with one hand like he was a stuffed animal then hoisted him to the top of her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. There was a senbon sticking out from the back of Naruto's neck. She still had the wide grin on her face.

"Name's the sexy ass Mitarashi Anko, as you already know. I will be kicking your teeth in for the next couple months or years if you want. Now saddle up. We're going to training ground 44." Anko said, not even waiting for a response. She was already at the door carrying the unconscious Naruto with her.

Bonnie quickly followed after her, or was it Naruto?. Sasuke joined in after a pause. Sakura hesitated the longest but still joined them in the end. Training ground 44. Wasn't that a restricted area?.

Iruka watched the quarto leave with the sadistic elite jōnin and shook his head in pity. This was the team he genuinely felt sorry for announcing. They got Anko. Sakura was celebrating and Bonnie looked relieved, then they got Anko.

They thought they were lucky?. Their luck was shit. 'Poor bastards.' Iruka thought.

"Team 6... Your sensei will be Shiranui Genma."

---

Shinobi Section - Training Ground 44

Sasuke, Sakura and Bonnie followed behind their new sensei and Naruto who was still on unconscious on her shoulder. Sakura and Bonnie whispered to each other all the way here.

The two weren't friends, and barely said a word to each other while they were in the academy. However, since they were now on the same team they figured it would be better to get along.

Sakura tried to bring Sasuke into their conversation, but the Uchiha boy remained silent no matter what they said. The closest thing he had given to a contribution in their discussion was a snort.

Sakura sighed as Sasuke ignored yet another one of her questions. Now they were out of the rowdy classroom Sakura had begun to realize just how quiet Sasuke really was.

They had been walking for about an hour since leaving the academy and Sasuke hadn't said a word since then. They could have taken the train, but their sensei insisted that they walked.

'You need to keep your muscles warm and loose.' She said.

Sakura's muscles felt more sore than anything. At least they had finally arrived at their destination. Training ground 44. A training ground that was also considered a restricted area, from what Sakura had read.

There were mesh fences surrounding a gigantic forest that the genin couldn't see an end of. The sounds of different types of animals reverberated at random, and there was a strange aura surrounding that forest that made their hair stand on end.

That place was very dangerous. Sakura and Bonnie gulped. They hoped their sensei wouldn't ask them to go into that kind of place. Some of the sounds they were hearing sounded far too deep and loud to be from any small animal.

Thankfully, Anko stopped just over a hundred meters away from the mesh fences. The elite jōnin tossed the unconscious Naruto a few metres away turned to face the three genin.

Bonnie stared in the direction of her boss. The boy landed in a very awkward position. His face and hands were planted into the ground, while his lower body was in the air, with his legs dangling at his back.

"Eyes on me." Anko said, calling for Bonnie and the rest of the genin's attention. The trio stared at her, eliciting a grin. "Good. Before we get started, introductions. State your names, talents and ambitions. Starting with..." Anko took a pause in consideration before pointing at Bonnie. "Freckles."

Bonnie gave Anko a dry look. Really?. That was going to be her nickname?. Couldn't this new sensei of their be imaginative, like Naruto for example.

Bonnie put aside her grievances and did as she had been instructed to. "My name is Bonnie. Just Bonnie. That's the name the orphanage gave me, and I never really got about thinking up a last name. I plan on letting my reputation decide one for me.

"Anyways, I'm fourteen years old and my hobbies slash talents are working on gadgets and stuff like that. I love experiments, physics, chemistry and biology to an extent. My ambition is to become really rich and really famous. Also, I'd like to device a weapon that can destroy the world." Bonnie finish with a shrug.

Anko nodded in acceptance. "So an orphan that wants to destroy the world. Gotcha." Anko said, snapping her fingers at Bonnie. Her grin got wider when the girl gave her the stink eye.

"I didn't know you are an orphan Bonnie." Sakura said in a mixture of surprise and sadness. She hadn't been particularly nice to the girl, and she never stood up for her when their classmates picked on her.

Sakura felt guilty. If she had known... No. Was that really an excuse?. She should have stood up for her no matter what. Just like Ino had stood up for her back in the day. She should have done the same for Bonnie.

"Okay, next up. Pixie dust." Anko said.

'Pixie dust?. Where did that even come from?.' Sakura wondered. Sakura decided to follow the same format as Bonnie and began to speak.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I'm thirteen years old. My hobbies are dressing up, shopping, baking and..." She glanced at Sasuke briefly. "I really like books, reading and I write a little too, though I'm not nearly as good as my mom. I also really really really like..." She glanced at Sasuke again. "My ambition is to become a great kunoichi, make my mom proud and hopefully one day settle down with..." Another glance. "And get married." Sakura finished with a mild blush on her face.

Anko watched the whole thing play out with a amused expression. There was nothing wrong with a girl having a crush. The same way that there was nothing wrong with a sensei beating the fangirl out of her student.

Sakura could have her crush, just as long as it didn't stand in the way of her getting crushed by her sensei.

Anko wasn't about to take a schoolgirl out on a mission. She would have to iron this girl out, and whip her into a competent teammate for the rest of the genin as soon as possible.

Anko regarded the object of the girl's affection and possibly the greatest headache for her on this team. Well, that's if she didn't consider the embodiment of a migraine that was Naruto.

"Alright, Broodist you're up next." Anko said to the Uchiha boy.

Sasuke didn't visibly react to the nickname. As long as this woman could make him a stronger shinobi, he didn't care what she called him.

"Uchiha Sasuke. Thirteen years. Hobbies: archery, training and sword fighting. Likes: competent senseis and teammates. Dislikes: incompetent senseis and teammates. Ambition: becoming an SS-rank shinobi." Sasuke kept it as brief as possible and went silent as soon as he was finished.

"SS-rank, like the Yondaime?." Bonnie asked. She didn't know much about shinobi ranks before but ever since she found out about Naruto's accomplishment she formed an interest in it. Now she was current on the Bingo Books.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in affirmation.

Bonnie sweatdropped. Couldn't he just say yes?.

Anko glanced at the Uchiha briefly. Aside from Naruto, he was the student the Sandaime was very particular about when he told her what team she would be responsible for.

According to the hokage, he was more outgoing than your average Uchiha and as things stood, Anko really couldn't see it. Also, the boy was apparently neglected by his father and didn't get much attention in the training sense from his mother.

The hokage tasked Anko with helping him bring out the potential he was sure he had. And judging from the boy's lofty ambitions, it was clear he shared the hokage's opinion on his potential.

Anko would have to see the extent of it with her own eyes before she could make a decision. She had shared a home with only SS-rank shinobi in the history of the Bingo Books and knew better than most how terrifying his realm of power was.

Anko had also shared a home with a shinobi who had potential equal to the Yondaime's and another with the highest combat potential she has ever seen in her entire life. So it would take a whole lot to impress Mitarashi Anko.

"Naruto will introduce himself later." Anko said. She took off her trench coat and threw it to the side. It ended up landing on Naruto's rear. Whether or not that was intentional or a mistake was a mystery.

The genin couldn't tell from Anko's serious expression either. The woman cracked her knuckles, a slim smile working its way to her lips. "I'll introduce myself with these." She said with a dark chuckle.

Sakura was taken off-guard by the sudden change of moods. One second they were introducing themselves and the next their sensei looked ready to attack them. What inspired this?.

Sakura turned to the side and found that Sasuke had already taken a fighting stance. Even Bonnie was making distance between herself and the rest of them.

Sakura reminded herself that she was still standing in the same position. She should do something before–

"Oof!." The air was knocked out of Sakura's lungs as a firm fist slammed into her stomach. Sakura's eyes went wide in shock and her forehead creased in pain before she was sent skidding away like a rag doll.

Anko stared at the rolling form of her newest responsibility with a frown. The girl was a complete mess. She lacked awareness, her instincts were dull, she was slow to react and she couldn't take a punch to save her life.

'I'm gonna have to put a whole lot of effort if I'm gonna take this girl outside Konoha. With the way she is she wouldn't even last a minute outside these walls.' Anko thought to herself.

She instinctively duck under a roundhouse kick aimed at her head. She glanced up at the Uchiha boy who already had a kunai and a few shuriken drawn. 'Taking the initiative to attack. Good.' Anko thought in approval.

She threw a punch at the Uchiha's exposed midsection, earning a smirk from the boy. Clearly that was what he wanted.

In a surprising burst of agility, Sasuke let go of the shuriken in his hands then grabbed unto her wrist and used it to hold himself up. He arched his body forward and released his grip on her wrist, allowing gravity to drive the kunai in his hand straight towards Anko's neck.

Anko was a little surprised by the maneuver, but Sasuke's execution of it was far too slow and telegraphed to ever have any hopes of hurting her.

Anko's hand shut forward in a blur, latching on to Sasuke's wrist, stopping his stab and bending his wrist to the opposite angle. Sasuke winced his pain, but to Anko's surprise he didn't scream. Instead he countered by swinging his free hand towards Anko.

The free shuriken followed the trajectory of this move and slashed at Anko's form.

'Good use of binding wires.' Anko thought.

Sasuke soon found that he wasn't the only one full of surprises. Anko arched her body in an angle that was human impossible, dodging the shurikens with relative ease. She then spun to the the opposite direction and slammed Sasuke into the grassy ground in a brutal fashion.

"Ghuck!." Sasuke coughed out blood and grimaced in pain.

Anko's physical strength was far higher than he could have ever anticipated. He could feel a sore pain in his ribs. He may have fractured something from that.

Sasuke could still feel Anko's solid grip on his hand. He felt her pick him up from the ground, and the fight would have ended there if not for the intervention of...

VRMMMM!

Anko heard the sound of what could only be a chainsaw and had to release Sasuke lest she take a nasty cut from the sharp looking spinning blades.

Anko looked up and found a metallic human shaped figure with a massive chainsaw in its hand. The robot had a comical shape, yet looked very intimidating holding the oversized revving machine with both hands.

Anko raised an eyebrow. She had seen a few robotic like prosthetics and a few high tech machines, but she had never seen an actual robot before.

'Did Freckles actually make this thing?.' Anko thought in wonder. If she did then color her impressed. For a fourteen year old this was beyond impressive.

What was the girl even doing being a shinobi?. She would be better served working for a high-tech company.

'Also she said her ambition is to be rich and famous. Bitch, how can you be poor and make a fucking robot?.'

The robot's red eyes locked on Anko. It's chainsaw engine revved as it charged at Anko. The jōnin was taken aback by its speed. The damned thing moved almost as fast as the Uchiha boy and it was ten times larger.

'How is that possible...' Anko wondered. She easily avoided the telegraphed swing of the bot and rewarded with a kick to the side. Naturally the light kick didn't send it back by much.

Anko wasn't bothered. It was a experimental blow anyway. She had confirmed her suspicions. The robot may be several times the size of a human, but it was somewhat only as light as an adult male.

Whatever Bonnie used to make this thing was both sturdy and extremely light. Again, Anko wondered how this girl could still call herself poor. This robot clearly cost a fortune.

Just looking at the shiny metallic fighter Anko almost felt bad about having to do what she was about to do. Almost.

Anko disappeared in a blur of speed. She reappeared behind the robot with a metal binding wire in hand. Anko wrapped the thin line around the robot's neck and avoided another slash from its chainsaw. She took the opportunity to wrap the wire around one of its hands.

Anko continued dodging the wild slashes from the robot, and binding it with the wire whenever she did. After a few seconds, Anko was satisfied with her work and jumped away from the robot, tugging the wire in the process.

The robot struggled helplessly to break free from the metallic binds but to no avail. In the end it only succeeded in throwing itself to the ground in a loud thud. Anko stared at the comical scene of the robot flopping around like a fish, still trying break free from the binding wire.

'It's pretty fast and powerful, but its combat intelligence is too low. A group of organized genin could easily take it down. Though I suppose for a genin fresh out of the academy that's already impressive enough.' Anko mused.

"Now to wrap this up." She said, turning to find that Sasuke was no longer in the spot she left him in.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu!."

A wave of heat erupted from nearby and Anko knew that it was too late to dodge. She turned to the direction of her attacker just before the large ball of flames slammed into her figure.

The fireball exploded upon impact, scorching the grass black and rendering all nearby life into ashes. Sasuke watched the flame spread for a couple of metres before slowly disappearing as the chakra that sustained them were used up.

As expected there was no trace of Anko. Just a burnt remains of what looked to be a log. She had used the kawarimi just in the nick of time.

Sasuke had been convinced since she slammed him into the ground. Making quick work of Bonnie's robot, and substituting herself with a log to avoid his fireball jutsu was just further affirmation. This woman was formidable.

"You've completely mastered the trademark Uchiha katon jutsu."

Sasuke turned to face Anko who was leisurely sitting on a large stone a few metres away. There wasn't a sign of any burns on her. She had substituted herself before the flames could even touch her.

Sasuke didn't respond and instead took out another kunai. The woman could attack at a moment's notice. He wouldn't be letting his guard down.

"Fight's over." Anko informed. She gestured to a direction.

Sasuke hesitated before turning to where she was pointing at. There he found two Ankos carrying a tied up Bonnie and an unconscious Sakura towards them.

'She found Bonnie while she was fighting me and the robot?.' Sasuke thought in shock.

Anko making quick work of them was already impressive. The jōnin could still manage to spare time to locate the hidden genin meanwhile. Sasuke realized just how much beyond his league this woman was.

'Just like nii-san...' The Uchiha thought. He returned his kunai back to his pouch and watched in silence as the clones dropped the girls next to him before dispelling into clouds of smoke.

"You can untie them if you want." Anko said. She sweatdropped as Sasuke sat down on the floor next to them instead. "Or not." Anko said then chuckled when she saw Bonnie glare at Sasuke.

"With the exception of Pixie, you two did pretty well for genin." Anko said, giving the duo a thumbs up. Naturally, only Bonnie reacted positively to the compliment. Sasuke just grunted.

"A genin with a good grasp of taijutsu who can perform a C-rank attack type ninjutsu and a genin who can remotely control a robot that can even give a chunin a little trouble. I guess I can work with that." Anko rubbed her chin as she spoke.

Bonnie grinned proudly. It felt good to have someone aside from Naruto acknowledge her work. "That's just one of my babies. His name is Paulie, and I'll make sure to upgrade him so he'll be able to cut you in half next time, sensei."

"I look forward to it." Anko said in approval. "What kinda metal is that guy made of anyway?." Anko asked.

"A tribrid of Uzu, Kumo and chakra metal. I haven't given it a name yet. I'm thinking... Uto?." Bonnie said. She noticed the deadpanned look her sensei was giving her and blushed a little. "What?. He funds me. The least I can do is name a stupid alloy after him."

Anko hummed in realization. That explained how the girl could claim to be poor while working on things that would cost a fortune to even attempt. It turned out Naruto was her sponsor.

"You combined three alloys?."

To Bonnie's surprise she found the high and mighty Uchiha Sasuke directing a question at her of all people. It felt really weird, still Bonnie replied. "Yep."

"Hn. You're more capable than I anticipated." Sasuke said.

Bonnie's eyes widened in disbelief. Did Uchiha Sasuke just compliment her?. He was actually speaking to her, not only that he was saying words of compliment too. Was she dreaming?.

"Broodha is correct." Anko said. "Though you might want to keep the existence of this metal on a down low." Anko advised.

From what she'd observed, the metal was both flexible and very sturdy. Bonnie also revealed that it could serve as a medium for chakra too.

That would easily make it the most valuable metal on the globe. If shinobi found out that Bonnie could fashion such an alloy then there would be no lack of people coming to kidnap or coerce the genin.

"Hai, Anko-sensei." Bonnie said. Naruto had told her as much when she made the first ever Uto metal.

'Hmm, Anko-sensei... Has a nice ring to it.' Anko thought with a smirk. The smirk got wider when she thought about Naruto having to address her the same way from now on.

Speaking of which. She turned to the direction she has left the boy in and only found her jacket. Anko's smirk got sharper. As expected. A tranquilizer that would keep most shinobi out for the whole day could only keep him down for an hour at best.

"I was gonna critique the others before dealing with you, baby." Anko said. She didn't bother turning to the direction she knew the boy was in. Behind her.

Naruto had his hands in his jean jacket pockets with an annoyed look on his face. Anko had sedated him with a damned senbon then left him in a very embarrassing position while she fought the rest of his new teammates. If this wasn't neglect, then Naruto didn't know what was.

"I've told you to stop calling me that." Naruto growled out. He was twelve. He couldn't be considered a baby by any stretch of the word, yet Anko still insisted on referring to him in such a fashion.

"I've never been good at listening." Anko said with a shrug.

"I hope your ass is good at taking a beating then." Naruto said and after that he flipped over the purple haired woman and landed I'm front of his teammates. With a wave of his hand, the metal binds restraining Bonnie were sliced in half. "Wake Sakura up." He instructed the girl.

"Roger." Bonnie said, and immediately went about doing what Naruto had instructed her to.

Sasuke stared at the blonde with furrowed eyebrows. He wasn't able to make out how Naruto had freed Bonnie from the metallic binds. Either the blonde used a technique he couldn't perceive to break them, or...

'He's fast.' Sasuke concluded.

Sakura's eyelids fluttered open. She blinked in confusion at the sight of her teammates having a standoff with their sensei.

For starters, Bonnie had red lines on her skin from the tight wires that were used to bind her. Sasuke had scuff marks all over his body and there was a dried line of blood going down from the corner of his mouth to his chin. Out of her teammates only Naruto looked to be in good condition.

Sakura recalled her last memory before passing out. Anko had attacked her and punched her in the stomach. The sore feeling in her stomach the she didn't realize was there until now made her wince.

Her teammates must have been roughed up by their sensei too. And Naruto who was unconscious all the while was the only one who had been left out.

"You guys did introductions, right?." Naruto asked. Bonnie nodded. "Likes and dislikes, all that kinda stuff?." Bonnie nodded again. Naruto snickered. "Damn, Anko when did you get this cheesy?." Naruto asked the woman with a grin.

A thick mark appeared on Anko's head and she sent a glare at the annoying boy. "It's Anko-sensei to you now, you brat!." Anko said.

Naruto stared at Anko blankly before bursting into laughter. He didn't mind the stares he was getting from his teammates and went on laughing his ass off. He cleaned the tears from the corner of his eyes and smirked at the snake summoner.

"My only sensei is and always will be my obassan, and I don't even call her sensei. What makes you think I'd call you that?." Naruto asked in amusement.

'Aside from the fact that she's hot as fox.' Kyuubi added from Naruto's mind.

"Aside from the fact that you're hot as fox." Naruto willfully incorporated the bijuu's words into his own statement. He watched Anko freeze in her words, looking speechless. It was likely she was about to say something along those lines.

Naruto took advantage of Anko's momentary lapse of concentration and pointed at her. "You may be my teacher, but you ain't my sensei!." Naruto declared.

"Boss..." Bonnie said with a facepalm and sighed. And he was calling Anko cheesy?.

"That makes no sense." Sakura muttered out, staring at the blonde idiot who was still pointing at their sensei.

"Idiot." Sasuke said with a snort.

Naruto was still pointing at Anko, but the smile on his face had turned upside-down. His forehead creased and his eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Damn these teammates of his. Why were they embarrassing him in front of Anko?.

He looked and sounded cool. He didn't care what any of them said. He was a the coolest guy. Naruto exhaled. In any case that was not important. What was important was the elite jōnin seated on the rock ahead of him.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, aged twelve. My hobbies are studying fūinjutsu, hitting on sexy girls, researching sexy girls, and sexy girls–"

"Sexy girls is not a hobby!." Sakura interjected with a dry stare, sounding a little annoyed. She knew Naruto was a pervert, but couldn't he reel it in a little?.

"Don't interrupt me and stop hobby shaming me!." Naruto yelled back at the pinkette. "As I was saying. My likes are the ramen special Teuchu-jiji makes for me, my nakama, fūinjutsu, kenjutsu, ass, tiddies, yoga pants, crop tops, booty shorts, hot pants, lingerie, miniskirts, leggings, panties, sports bras, bikinis, stockings, b–"

"WE GET IT!." Bonnie, Sakura and Anko yelled in unison.

Naruto smirked. As long as they knew. "My dislikes are; anything that is a waste of my time, clothes that leave too much to imagination, women that I can't seduce, overpriced hookers–"

"Boss, I swear if you say one more perverted thing I'll fucking cut your balls off!."

Naruto paused. "And people who threaten to cut my balls off. My dream is to conquer the world... and conquer the kunoichi and women of the world." Naruto said. His finger was still pointed at Anko. "And I'm gonna start with you."

After saying that, Naruto disappeared in a blur of speed. He reappeared at Anko's side with a sharp gleam in his eyes. "Taijutsu!." He yelled as threw a kick at the stationary woman.

Anko raised a hand to block the kick, but found it was too powerful. The snake summoner was sent flying like a rocket, and Naruto was already hot on her tracks. 'He's strong.' Anko said, flipping herself over and righting herself just in time to block a Spartan kick from Naruto.

This time, with her foot planted on the ground, Anko was only sent a few steps back. She grabbed hold of Naruto's Anko and was about to give him the same treatment as Sasuke, but found Naruto wasn't as easy as the Uchiha boy.

Naruto let her grab onto his leg, trusting her strength to hold him up as he swung the heel of his free leg at her head. Anko caught the attack with her second hand, but Naruto was already on the move.

The blonde threw his body to the side, embedding his fingers into the ground in a show of strength, then he showcased even more impressive power and lifted Anko with his leg. The grin on his face told her that he was intent on driving her headfirst into the floor.

Anko released Naruto's legs, escaping his intentions and was left midair. A decision she soon came to regret. Naruto channeled chakra into is one foot as soon as it touched the ground, using it to give himself a steady foundation for...

Snap!

One of the most epic backwards uppercuts you would ever see. The power behind Naruto's fist was enough to dislodge Anko's jaw from its natural position. However, Naruto knew that wouldn't be nearly enough to keep her down even momentarily.

The blonde spun immediately to face her, with the intention of scoring another punch while she was still dazed. He was greeted by palm to the chest. Naruto coughed in pain and was sent flying.

Much like Anko, he managed to right himself, and much like him, Anko was already there when he did. Anko drove a knee into his exposed side, knocking him off balance. An elbow to the face sent him crashing painfully into the ground.

Anko's hits hurt. They hurt far more than any hit he had had the displeasure of taking in his time. The woman hit far harder than even Tate and he was almost double her weight. It didn't feel good taking blows from such a woman.

Anko looked down on the laying blonde and placed her foot on his chest. She realigned her jaw and gave him a smirk. "Taijutsu." She said. When Naruto said that she knew he meant that they would be using taijutsu only. In the end, though he was good. She was still superior to him in this regard.

Naruto's eyes parted open and he mirrored Anko's smirk. "Nice view." He said and actually got a tinge of redness to appear on the woman's cheek.

Before she could reply, Naruto's smile turned wolfish. Anko knew that could never be a good thing. An oppressive wave of chakra suddenly permeated the area, cascading currents of the raw intent to do battle mixed in with the terrifying amount of chakra radiating out of Naruto's form.

His eyes shone like two torchlights and a black wisp of chakra begun leaking out of his ankles. Anko immediately shunshin'd away from the blonde jinchuriki.

Her expression was solemn as she drew out a silver colored kunai. She knew that once he said the word she knew he was going to say, all other weapons she had would become completely useless. She had this kunai fashioned specially to fight him.

"Bukijutsu."

The wisps of black chakra billowing out of Naruto's ankles instantly solidified, turning into a interlocking pattern in the air. This patterns swirling around wildly, becoming more and more lifelike with every passing moment before settling in the form of two long black chains. One on each of Naruto's legs.

The black chains curled around Naruto's legs and snaked up his pants, extending beyond their initial perceived length, before reappearing from his sleeves.

The ends of the chains curled into the form of a spring and pushed the laying Naruto up to his feet. The two chains danced around like they were around, with a seemingly mannerism of a playful child.

"What the hell is that?." Sakura asked.

The rest of the genin were left to watch as Naruto actually put up a good fight against their jōnin sensei, and even managed to hit her. Now, the blonde was using weird chains that appeared out of nowhere and seemed to be moving on their own accord.

Sakura was quite disturbed by this scene, especially when the chain went into Naruto's clothes. They were wriggling like snakes, and the black color made them somewhat look like the reptile.

"Kongō Fūsa (Adamantine Sealing Chains)." Bonnie answered. "They're boss' kekkei genkai." Bonnie went on to elaborate.

Sakura's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Naruto has a kekkei genkai?."

Sasuke was taken aback by the realization as well, but not as much as he was by seeing Naruto go toe to toe with their sensei. Sasuke had fought the woman and was barely able to last a round. So he knew just how skilled she was.

Naruto was actually a match for her. Sasuke could tell. She was actually putting in effort when fighting against him. For starters, he moved almost as fast as she did. He hit very hard and he even managed to hit her.

The best Sasuke had done was force her to use kawarimi no jutsu, while his teammate managed to actually land a hit. Sasuke was struggling to come to terms with what he was witnessing.

How could Naruto be this strong?. How was it even possible?. And if he was this powerful, then did he (Sasuke) really merit the rookie of the year title?. Was he even worthy to call himself such a thing with a classmate this strong?.

Sasuke began to wonder. If Naruto was this strong and kept it under wraps, then what of his other classmates?. Wasn't there a good chance that there were others like Naruto who were far more powerful than they let on?.

Even he didn't do his absolute best in the academy, but the disparity between what he showed in the academy and his actual strength wasn't this exaggerated.

Naruto was in the direct middle of the class, and in combat he was just in the top five and didn't seem like much of a challenge for the top spot. Yet, here he was taking on a jōnin like it was second nature.

Jōnin. Anko wasn't just a mere jōnin, she was an elite jōnin. Elite jōnin were miles away from standard jōnin. So, for Naruto to give her this much trouble meant there was no chance he was at the chunin rank in terms of skill.

Sasuke stared at the blonde boy in utter disbelief. The most rational conclusion he could arrive at sounded the most fantastical. This 'genin' he was looking at had strength comparable to a jōnin.

"Sasuke-kun, what's the matter?." Sakura asked, taking notice of the odd look on the Uchiha's face. He was staring at Naruto a little too intensely, Sakura was beginning to worry.

"...Nothing." Sasuke said after a brief pause, schooling his features and returning back to his usual expression.

Bonnie too had taken notice of how the Uchiha was staring at her boss but didn't say anything. She could understand where the boy was coming from. Unlike Sakura who had been unconscious the while, Bonnie had seen Sasuke's fight with their sensei.

She had seen it, so she could put what Naruto was accomplishing now in perspective. As Anko had said, Sasuke wasn't a simple genin, yet he couldn't even make her put in effort. Compared to Naruto who was considerably a match for her, the disparity was demoralizing to say the least.

"Bringing the big guns out already, baby?." Anko asked with a smirk.

Though she seemed relaxed, in truth she was keeping an eye of those chains of Naruto's. She had learnt firsthand just how quickly and abruptly they could move.

"The big guns are all I can afford to use when fighting you Anko." Naruto replied. The chains begun rising into the air slowly, making jittery clanking noises as they did.

"I told you, it's Anko-sensei to you." Anko said. Her grip on her kunai tightened as she prepared to pounce forward. "Also, aren't those things considered embodiments of fūinjutsu?." Anko asked.

"I won't be using their sealing properties. Also, I told you. I'm never gonna call you that." Naruto said. The chains straightened out in the air like rods. Naruto moved his hands downward to grab them.

"Then I guess I'm gonna have to make you." Anko said.

"You can try." When Naruto's hands touched the chakra chains the area he touched to the end of the chain immediately morphed into two thin black swords with their handles held firmly in Naruto's hands. "But you will fail." Naruto said.

With that they both disappeared in a blur of speed. They reappeared just beside a large tree and clashed weapons. The tree was instantly cleaved in half by the razor sharp shock waves of their attack.

Sparks were forced by the friction of the two sharp objects clashing together. Naruto and Anko struggled briefly, but Anko's clear physical superiority won over Naruto's superior weapon in the end.

Anko pushed Naruto back with a single arm. A normal kunai had already worked its way into Anko's free hand. She stabbed at the jinchuriki's arm, aiming to incapacitate him in a single move.

However, just before the kunai could land one of Naruto's swords changed shape again and turned into gauntlet large enough to cover Naruto's arm. The kunai snapped in half like a toothpick after making contact with the chakra construct.

Naruto was already losing the battle of strength with both hands, so taking out one was like forfeiting the contest. However, this was what he wanted. Naruto relaxed his hand, allowing Anko to overpower him but she ended up losing her balance in the process.

The gauntlet transformed back into a sword and Naruto unleashed a merciless slash at Anko's shoulder.

Slash!

Naruto frowned. He ended up cutting a log in half instead. Naruto instinctively jumped away to avoid a barrage of kunai thrown his way. He had to raise his blades to deflect another barrage of kunai coming from another direction.

Naruto spent the next few seconds being consistently peppered by projectiles from an enemy he couldn't even see. Naruto knew if things continued this way he would be playing into Anko's hands.

The jinchuriki deflected another volley of shuriken and shut his eyes in concentration. The chain attached to the handle of one of his swords extended and Naruto began to spin it like a propeller.

His eyes snapped open and his a grin adorned hid features. "Found ya!." He yelled and threw the spinning shuriken like attack at the direction he was certain Anko was in. The chakra chains extended several dozen metres before the blade found its mark.

Anko emerged from behind a large rock that had been been cleaved in half by Naruto's barbaric attack. She was still midair when she heard Naruto's voice resound again.

"Gotcha bitch!." Naruto said with an evil laugh. The propeller attack suddenly moved towards like it had a mind of its own.

'Shit! I forgot he can control these things with his mind.' Anko cursed. She raised the silver kunai defensively and braced herself for impact.

As she expected the bladed attack was packed with so much brute force that it sent her flying into the floor. She skidded on the ground like a pebble but was forced to push herself into the air when she found Naruto driving a stab at her.

Anko's scalp tingled as she stared at the black blade that was just a few centimeters away from lodging itself into her arm. It had suddenly turned into a scythe and its curved blade was pointed at her unguarded neck.

"Fuck." Anko cussed.

Naruto swung upwards with a savage look in his eyes. Blood splattered on the grass and Anko managed to make distance between herself and Naruto. The two surrogate siblings stared at each other.

Anko's forehead was covered with blood, but it was not her own. Naruto stared at the gash on his shoulder. He just got this jacket and he already got it banged up this bad.

Naruto clicked his tongue. He thought he had gotten her, but who would have thought the woman would use her tongue to slow his arm then outmaneuver herself out of harms way. She also managed to to injure him before escaping too.

That was the way with elite jōnin. They could turn the tables the moment you thought you had them beat. Until you put them down, you couldn't say you'd won the fight.

Also... One of the weapons in Naruto's hands returned to its chain from and retracted. Naruto grabbed his injured shoulder and fell to his knees. His vision was already beginning to get foggy.

"Poison..." Naruto gritted his teeth and struggled to get his body to listen to him but was unsuccessful in the end.

When fighting a jōnin like Anko, one hit could be end of the fight. Naruto had worked up a high tolerance for genjutsu and poison thanks to the Kyuubi, and he was confident that 99% of the known poisons in the world would have no effect on him.

However, Anko's talent with poison was even comparable to his talent with fūinjutsu. The woman managed to concoct poison that had an effect on him.

Naruto watched the blurry figure the snake mistress approaching him. She stopped just a few feet away from him, and though he couldn't make it out, he was certain that she was grinning.

"So, gonna call me sensei yet?." Anko asked. The poison she administered was potent enough to put the populace of an entire hidden village in a vegetative state for days, yet it could just make this kid have trouble moving.

"You know I'm never gonna call you that." Naruto said, still fighting in vain to get his body to listen to his commands.

Anko narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you implying I'm unfit to be your sensei?." She asked in a dangerous voice.

"Yes." Naruto said without hesitation. "You're only fit to be my wom–" A kick found its way to his jaw before he could finish the sentence. With his body paralyzed, Naruto couldn't put up a fight and was knocked on the ground.

"Stop it. I already told you, that's not gonna happen. You're far too young to be thinking about all that stuff anyways." Anko chided. "You should only see me as a big sister, and now a sensei." Anko advised.

Naruto stared at the woman with a grin. Somehow that kick seemed to have cleared up his vision. A big sister?. A sensei?.

Yeah right. Uzumaki Naruto saw what he saw and wanted what he wanted. He didn't care what anybody else had to say about it.

The only opinion that mattered was his own. 'Does she really think I will ever see her as anything else?.'

'She has no idea just how big our plans are.' Kyuubi said with a cackle.

'She's ignorant.' Naruto concurred.

'But that can be remedied.' Kyuubi said.

'We will remedy it.'

'We will.'

'We must.'

'Let's show her. So she can understand.'

'So she can behold it.'

'Let's show her... the power of our depravity!.' jinchuriki and bijuu bellowed in unison.

"Fūinjutsu."

Naruto's voice reverberated. Anko felt a a cold sensation go down her spine. This was a ninja art that she had little to no skill in.

One that Naruto had the most obscene level of talent in. One that granted him access to an ability that made even her shudder in trepidation. And Anko knew once he said that word there could only be one thing on his mind.

The pool of blood that had formed from the gash on Naruto's shoulder rippled.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu: Sensei-tekina kitsune no su no tai–/Summoning technique rise of the tyrannical fox d–"

"Alright that's enough!." Anko said, clamping her hand over the blonde's mouth. 'Kami, does he wanna drag an entire ANBU squad here?.' Anko said to herself.

The crazy kid was about to turn part of the terrain into a fox den. If that didn't catch the attention of the ANBU then Anko wasn't sure what would.

She glared at Naruto. She didn't want to throw in the towel just yet, and was fully prepared to fight him til he said the magic words. However, the team and her resume took priority.

Anko wasn't about to be that jōnin sensei that got into trouble with the ANBU on her first day. Also, she wasn't sure that the rest of her genin seeing that jutsu would be a good thing.

"Let's stop here." Anko said. She released Naruto's mouth to allow him to give what she wanted to be a positive response.

But Naruto was Naruto. That was one wishful thinking. "I'll agree to stop, but on one condition." Naruto said with a smirk. He was still paralyzed and laying on the grass.

(AN: How was he able to use Kuchiyose no jutsu without handseals?. Very simple. But the answer will come at a later date.)

Anko rolled her eyes but still waited for the blonde to state his terms. She was the one asking them to stop, so it was her loss in a way. She would have to reward him for his win, even if he technically didn't win.

"Nothing perverted though." Anko added as an afterthought.

Naruto gave her a blank look. "Kuchiyose no jutsu: Sensei-tekina kit–"

"Alright alright alright!. It can be a little bit perverted, just a little. If you try to make me do anything over the top with you then the whole deals off. Agreed?." Anko said.

Naruto took a pause to consider the terms. They were reasonable enough. In any case, he already knew what he wanted. "Agreed." Naruto said. He then smirked. "I would say let's shake on it, but I'm a little tied up at the moment."

"Hardy har-ha. Just state you terms." Anko said, crossing her arms under her bust in anticipation. She was prepared for him to say something over the top and turn him down immediately.

"I want you to convince lady long legs to give me a kiss. On the lips. It should last for a minimum of ten seconds. If it doesn't then I can ask for a do-over." Naruto said in a business-like voice. It was as though he and Anko were negotiating a deal for a company or something.

Anko was completely caught off guard by Naruto's request and almost fell face first into the ground. Out of all the things she expected him to ask for this wasn't...

Goddammit this wasn't even on the list of worst possible things Naruto could ask her to do. Aside from surprise, Anko found that she was a little annoyed at the blonde. And it wasn't for the right reasons.

"Why Kurenai?." Anko asked with a calm expression.

"Why not?." Naruto fired back. He wanted to shrug and add something else but his shoulders wouldn't listen to him. Damn this poison. "Would you prefer if I asked for you?. Cuz if you do, then I will."

"Don't be stupid, of course not." Anko said with a snort. Her cheeks were a little pink. She had been exposed. She was mostly annoyed at Naruto because he was showing more interest in her friend than her.

Not that she wanted him to ask for something like that from her. It was just that in a situation where Naruto did ask for something like that, she expected his first choice to be her. According to the law of porno, a boy's first choice was always his big sister.

"Then I'll settle for lady long legs I guess." Naruto said then frowned. Again he wanted to shrug but couldn't.

Anko felt a little better hearing Naruto phrase it as 'settling'. Perhaps she was his first choice. Anko then stared at the boy with a curious expression. "What makes you think I'll do it?." She asked.

"Cuz it doesn't go against the condition you gave. I am not asking you to do anything over the top with me." Naruto pointed out.

Anko nodded. That was fair enough. "And if I can't convince her?." She asked.

"I believe in you."

"Cut the crap."

"Okay, then I guess I'll think of another way you can make it up to me."

"My condition still stands."

"Yeah yeah."

Anko nodded then rose to her feet, satisfied with the deal she had struck with the blonde. How would she convince a person of lofty morals like Kurenai to kiss this little pervert, she had no clue. Anko knew she would figure it out. She always did.

"Alright, take this. It should offset the effects of the poison." Anko said, taking out a small pill from one of the hidden compartments in her pouch. She placed the pill into Naruto's mouth and told him to swallow.

It didn't take long for the pill to take effect, and Naruto was already on his feet. Anko dressed the gash on his shoulder, though it was mostly for show. In a few more minutes the wound would have completely disappeared.

Anko led the Uzumaki towards the rest of his teammates. She knew that limp of his was fake, and he was just using it as an excuse to walk behind her.

Anko made a mental note to stab Jiraiya a dozen times in the liver when next he showed his face to her. He had taken her pure and innocent little brother and turned him into a raging pervert.

"So, where next to?. Hokage manor for our first mission?." Naruto asked. They were just a short distance away from the rest of the team, so they could probably hear what they were saying. The sparkling look in Bonnie's eyes told him he was correct.

"Mission?. You all have to be out of your goddamned minds if you think I'll take your sorry asses on a mission." Anko said with a bark of laughter.

Naruto's eyebrows twitched. He had already been to one of the most dangerous places for a shinobi in the whole world. How was he not ready for a little escort, raid and bandit mop up?.

"With the exception of the baby, the rest of you aren't ready to go bring those gates." Anko went further to say.

Naruto was about to smile but then realized what Anko had referred to him as. The baby. What was he, a rapper?.

Naruto glared at Bonnie and Sakura who were in the process of laughing at his expense, then at Sasuke who was smirking. Naturally, the Uchiha didn't give a damn how he felt.

Anko grinned. It was time for criticism and her favorite excuse to give shinobi a verbal beat down. She started with Sasuke. "Broodist, you're skilled for a fresh genin and I'm sure you'd give some chunin a run for their money, but aside from that you're all ass and no crack."

"I'm not sure that's an expression Anko-sen–"

"Shut up freckles, I'm gonna do you next so just wait." Anko said, hushing the scientist with a casual wave before turning back to the scowling Sasuke. Obviously he didn't like being called an ass with no crack.

"Your taijutsu is okay, but your hits are way too telegraphed. That's down to your lack of actual combat experience, so I can overlook that. However, what I can't accept is how weak your attacks are. You didn't touch me but I already know you hit like a little bitch." Anko said.

"Sasuke-kun is not weak." Sakura couldn't stand for someone, not even if it was their team sensei, talking down on Sasuke like that.

Sasuke was the rookie of the year, and the senseis in the academy always hailed him as a rarely seen talent. No matter what, he wasn't as incapable as this woman was trying to make him think he was. Sakura wouldn't believe it.

"You better shut your ass up when I'm talking, genin." Anko said, giving Sakura one of the most bone chilling glares she had ever had the displeasure of being at the receiving end of. It looked even scarier than Naruto's trademark move 'The Stare'.

"I'm saving you for last, and I have a whole lot I wanna say about you. So, if I was you I'd shut my little fangirl mouth up and prepare myself for what is to come." Anko said harshly. She felt a little sick in her stomach when she saw Sakura's eyes moistened. "Bitch, if you cry in front of me I'll fucking gut you." Anko took out a kunai and pointed it at Sakura.

Sakura yelped in fear and instinctively ran to hide behind the person she subconsciously knew was the only one who could protect her from Anko here. Naruto.

Naruto raised an eyebrow before deciding to go with the flow. He didn't really have a problem with Sakura, so he wasn't about to throw her out to the wolves. Though, it was true what Anko was saying.

Anko returned back to stare at the Uchiha boy. She found that Sasuke wasn't scowling as intensely as usual, and looked a little mellow. Her threat to gut Sakura had an effect on the Uchiha as well.

"As I was saying, you hit like a little girl. You're pretty fast, but your don't use your speed in the right way. Your strongest point should be your speed in casting ninjutsu, and not throwing shuriken.

"A katon jutsu beats any shuriken you could ever throw. Get your priorities straight." Anko said.

Sasuke nodded his head, accepting the criticism and advice. He would begin working on using handseals faster or using them one-handed like his brother. That way he could multi task as he fought.

"Also, I read in your file that you're skilled in kenjutsu. How come I didn't see you pull out a sword?." Anko asked.

She had read all their files, and it stated that Sasuke had started kenjutsu training when he was five. He even trained with Naruto for a few months during the period. She was surprised to see him attacking her with a kunai instead.

"The clan hasn't given me one yet." Sasuke replied. According to the elder that trained him, a fitting sword would be bestowed on him when the time was right. Til then, he would have to keep training with bokken (wooden swords).

Anko sighed and shook her head. Clans and their stupid traditions. Why teach someone to use a sword if you weren't going to give them one?. She was sure they would have some bullshit reason that probably made sense if she asked.

"When we're done here follow Naruto to his clan and give a blacksmith the specs for the sword you want, I'll pay." Anko instructed.

Sasuke blinked. She was offering to have a sword made for him?. Sasuke never expected such a thing from a woman he barely knew. Having a weapon customized for a shinobi was very expensive. Not just anybody could afford it.

Sasuke was sure even if he pulled all his savings together he would barely be able to get a customized set of kunai, not to mention a sword. Anko was an elite jōnin, so the financial burden wouldn't be much of an issue for her.

However... Spending money on oneself and spending on others were two things entirely. Not to mention that she just met Sasuke today, yet she was willing to go so far for his development. The Uchiha wouldn't say it, but this meant a lot to him.

Sasuke just nodded his head. Anko was completely ignorant on just how much of an impact she had had on the Uchiha by making that offer.

To her it getting him a sword was natural. If it made him stronger, then all the better. She wanted to raise a powerful team and would spare no expenses to do so.

"Next up, freckles." Anko said, turning to Bonnie.

Now being this genin's financial support scared her. She didn't have the endless pockets of the Uzumaki, nor access to a buttload of money like Naruto. Anko had no intention of sharing the burden of Bonnie's finance.

However they had been making it work before now, they would have to continue.

"You ain't worth two ryō in a fight by yourself. You might even be worse than Pixie over there." Anko said, gesturing at Sakura who was still hiding behind Naruto. Anko sweatdropped. "As I was saying... You can't fight, which I get since you focus more on creating bots that can fight in your place.

"However, you know as well as me that that won't cut it. You can take the role of support in the team and have the rest of us protect you, but when it comes down to you have to at least be able to keep your own life by yourself."

Bonnie nodded. "Hai Anko-sensei." It was like Anko had said. Having her babies fight for her wouldn't cut it in every situation. If she couldn't protect herself without support then she would be more of a burden to the team than a boon.

The issue was that Bonnie frankly had no talent in the shinobi arts. She was recorded as the least physically talented person to ever enroll into the academy.

If not for her extraordinary intellect she wouldn't have ever graduated. Despite having the highest GPA in the academy she still graduated at the absolute bottom of her class's grads. That was just how poor Bonnie's physical and technical stats were.

Bonnie doubted she would be able to reach an actual genin rank even if she tried her hardest. Some people were just not fit to be shinobi and she was one of them.

"You can try making one of the super suits you made for me yourself and keeping a few droids live to protect you." Naruto suggested.

The suit Bonnie made for him was invaluable and he had seen just how capable her creations were. If she spared some for her protection and used the suit as a last line of defense then he was sure she would be alright on the field.

"That's gonna take some time. The blueprints I have for the new and improved Uto suit will take me at least a month to build, and I might even need longer to re-program my babies to protect me better." Bonnie said.

She wasn't stupid. She already had the intention of creating a mechanical vanguard to protect her and started drawing out specs for the next Uto suit mainly for herself. Building such things required a lot of time and a lot of testing. A month would barely be enough.

"A month or two is fine." Anko said. She wasn't clear on what the Uto suit was, but if it could make Bonnie more competent then all the better. "I'm gonna need a month at least to polish you brats up before we can start taking missions." Anko said.

Bonnie smiled. "Then you should have said so from the start, Anko-sensei!. I'll go get started right now. Boss, I need some cash–"

"Hold your horses. I'm not done." Anko said, leveling a gaze at the pink haired genin. Bonnie mouthed an 'oh' then went to the side.

"Pixie. I'll be blunt. You suck. You're easily the weakest person in the team, and that's saying something since freckles can't even fight. Honestly speaking, I don't know where your talent lies.

"According to your file you pick up jutsu the fastest in the academy's recent history, but there's a huge difference between actual jutsu and the shit you were taught in the academy.

"So as things stand, I don't even know what to do with you. Your physicals are trash, your battle awareness is nonexistent and frankly speaking you are looking like a failed attempt at being a kunoichi already.

"And that's being generous."

Sakura's lip trembled uncontrollably as she tightened her hold on Naruto's sleeve. She was named rookie kunoichi of the year, and both her senseis had said she was destined for great things.

Her mother was so proud when she found out just hoe capable her little girl was. She spent the whole day praising her. Sakura had spent a better part of her time in the academy being lauded with praises by teachers and students alike.

She was a civilian who managed to top over students from prominent clans. She was the ultimate underdog that had triumphed in the end.

Sakura had developed a subconscious complacency for shinobi arts. When she started out she was more serious about it, but when she found most things just came second nature to her that passion dwindled.

She thought it was just easy stuff, but when she saw people like Kiba, Chōji and Bonnie struggle to do the same Sakura's opinion of it and subsequently herself changed. It wasn't that the tests and exercises were simple. It was her. It had always been her.

Talent. Something that she never thought she would be considered to have. Compared to her mother, who could write the most beautiful and inspiring of stories in a few months, Sakura was only good at reading.

The stories she did try to write ended up looking like plagiarised versions of multiple stories he read. Sakura buried herself in tons of books, trying her hardest to squeeze out what little literary talent she must have inherited from her mother's genes.

She didn't. Sakura found that she hadn't inherited even a smidgen of her mother's talent write the pen. Nor did she have a keen eye of an entrepreneur like her father was said to have. Sakura found that she didn't have even one of her parent's outstanding talents. Not a single one.

All she inherited from them were their oddities. An unnatural hair color that attracted bullies and made people tag her as a liar whenever she said it wasn't dyed. A large forehead that she had been teased over for a most of her life. Stunted growth hormones, making her a late bloomer and a terrible temper.

Sakura had all her parents negatives, but not a single one of the positives. She mostly masked it, but she had a very low self esteem and opinion of herself.

Thus, when it was revealed that she had a high degree of talent in shinobi arts Sakura was ecstatic. In an instant she had gone from the big foreheaded liar to one of the popular girls in class.

Her pink her was no longer considered an eyesore but beautiful. Her loud voice was unanimously accepted as the voice of the female portion of the class, and with her reputation not a single person dared to speak ill about her forehead.

Sakura had transformed from the ugly duckling to a beautiful graceful swan in the matter of days. This abrupt shift of social standing soon got to her head.

It was why she stopped following Ino's lead, as she found that she was even more 'special' than the girl. It was why though she didn't pick on anyone, she still looked down on some of her classmates. They weren't as special as her. They weren't on her level.

The more she excelled in class the more sure she was of this assessment. The more reason she had to not think much of the way of shinobi. If things came so easy for her, then she probably would be able to reach Tsunade's level without much effort, right?.

That was how Sakura saw it. And that was why she was so convinced she was the one meant for Sasuke. He, the only person in their class with more talent than her. No one else could compete.

Just her. Only she was fit to stand beside him.

However, now Sakura was forced to see the harsh cold reality. Sasuke wasn't as flawless as she thought, and she was even worse off. In an instant she had gone from rookie kunoichi with the highest potential to even less than the deadlast.

Sakura knew it wasn't fair to refer to Bonnie with such a term, but that was the reality. Reality did not care about feelings. Her reality was the same with the one before she found her confidence. Useless.

Sakura lay her on Naruto's shoulder. He was strong. He didn't bother doing his best in the academy because he knew he was already good enough. That was self-assuresdness, not the flimsy version of it she thought she possessed.

Sakura knew it wasn't fair to use him as a mental and physical support but she couldn't help herself right now. She would go to Sasuke, but she was afraid he would reject her.

Sakura decided to place her trust that Naruto would just remain as he was and shield her from the gaze of their sensei. She could do nothing else but this. She didn't know what else to do.

"I think what Anko-sensei meant to say was we will find a way to make you stronger, Sakura."

Sakura heard Naruto say. She wanted to look up but she was afraid she would see Anko glaring at her again. "Really?." She asked in a muffled voice.

Naruto looked up at Anko who was nonchalantly picking her ear before pausing in realization of something. The snake summoner then grinned at him. He had called her Anko-sensei.

Naruto knew what he said, and mostly said it for Sakura's benefit. If he referred to her any other way then his words of encouragement would sound a lot less believable. This was a sacrifice for the greater good.

"Yes. Isn't that right, Anko-sensei?." Naruto said.

"Sure thing!." Anko said. She was far too ecstatic over Naruto calling her sensei to care about what she was agreeing to. In any case, she did plan on making Sakura at least a little competent before setting out of missions.

Sakura looked up and found a smiling Anko and was somewhat put at ease. She remained partly behind Naruto just in case. The woman's abrupt attack was still fresh on her mind.

She couldn't bring herself to totally feel at ease around someone who could pick her apart so casually.

"Alright, that should conclude it." Anko said dusting her hands together.

"Uh... Anko-sensei, you didn't say anything about Naruto." Sakura said, finding her voice and confidence to speak to the woman.

Anko raised an eyebrow. "What do want me to tell him?. Beat me up next time?."

"I will!." Naruto quipped.

"Keep dreaming brat." Anko said with a snort. "The baby is different from you guys. He actually has combat experience and has been living like a real shinobi since he turned five.

"He has over seven years of 'real' training and experience ahead of you three. If he wasn't even this strong with all the talent he has he might as well commit suicide." Anko said.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the woman. As if getting this strong was a breeze for him. He had to get beat up this morning just to earn this jean jacket he was wearing. With trainers like that how could his life be considered easy?.

He had to risk his life numerous times to get this powerful. The amount of pressure his obassan put on him was damn near enough to turn coal into diamond. Everything was training, there were always lofty expectations and he could never disappoint. Never.

Naruto would like to see anyone in his class survive hid obassan and siblings for a week. Aside from maybe Sasuke or the Senju twins they would all die before the half of the week.

'I'd like to see another bijuu that can put up with your ass kit. I swear you're always throwing yourself a pity party.'

'Go to hell, fox.'

'Already been there. They sent me out cuz the shit I did gave even the devil the chills. Hah. Get it?. Gave the devil the chills... in hell... and hell is hot. Oi, laugh at my good joke dammit!.'

'The only good joke here is you.'

'And I was so funny your parents died laughing.'

'...'

'Too soon?.'

"With that said. You four, get in there." Anko said, pointing at the mesh gate protected forest behind her. She grinned as the four genin paled.

"B-b-but that's the Forest of Death!." Sakura argued. The oppressive feeling coming from that place was still steadily radiating and she had by no means gotten accustomed to it.

"It's a restricted area." Sasuke added to Sakura's point. He too knew what that place was and he was very certain it was considered the most dangerous place in the entire village.

"I thought I passed this stupid mock test, why are you punishing me?!." Naruto yelled.

"Sensei I'll die!." Bonnie was practically about to weep. She only had Paulie with her. As usual Yukimaru refused to accompany her anywhere but the Hyūga clan compound.

The ninken said she would only actively follow Bonnie when she was going out on actual missions. Other than that, she was on her own. The dog returned to the apartment they shared or the Inuzuka clan.

"Yes pixie, that's the Forest of Death. Yes, broodist its considered a restricted area but I'm only sending you to the periphery. Jōnin are allowed to send people that far. Yes, my baby you did pass but momma loves to watch you squirm, so get. And yes Bonnie you will die." Anko said, addressing all the questions and concerns of her genin.

"That's not comforting at all!." Sakura yelled with tears in her eyes.

"You... you won't take me alive!." Bonnie began running but soon found that her body wasn't listening to her. There was a senbon sticking out of her shoulder. The girl cussed and fell in a heap.

"Any more runners?." Anko said with a grin, casually picking her teeth with a senbon. It felt really good to have a genin team. Why didn't she take one earlier?.

Naruto sighed, resigning himself to his fate. Could he even outrun Anko if she gave him a head start?. Plus did he even have the heart to abandon these three hopeless rookies?. Well he'd abandon Sasuke any day but Bonnie was his responsibility and Sakura was holding onto his jacket.

That was code for 'I need you' in anime... or was it hentai?. Naruto wasn't clear on that, but he was still willing to protect the saintly virgins of his team.

"Alright, let's roll." Naruto said, picking Bonnie up and placing her on his shoulder. "Antidote." He pointed his free hand to Anko. He swiftly caught the red pill that was thrown at him. He wouldn't administer it yet, as he was positive Bonnie would try to run again.

"You're going?." Sakura stared at Naruto incredulously.

"We don't really have a say in the matter. We either go or she'll drag us in kicking and screaming, and I for one want to keep my dignity." Naruto said.

His words were enough to convince Sasuke. The Uchiha rose to his feet and dusted himself off and immediately started walking towards the forest. The closer he came the stronger that oppressive feeling got.

"Looks like Sasuke's game. Are you?." Naruto asked offering his hand to Sakura.

Sakura stared at the direction of her crush. He was going off on his own as usual again. She never liked seeing that. She wouldn't just follow after him without hesitation though. Crush or not, that forest literally felt like death. But Sakura was hard-pressed to refuse with the rest of her teammates taking a step forward.

Sakura took Naruto's hand and let him lead her and the paralyzed Bonnie to Sasuke who was already a few metres shy of the mesh fences.

Anko watched the quarto with a smile. Everything was as she expected it to be, save for a few surprises like Bonnie's capabilities and Sasuke's agreeableness.

As expected, Sakura was the most naïve of the bunch and the least prepared for the life they had stepped into.

However, Anko was sure the academy still worked. For them to call her rookie kunoichi of the year must have meant she had some sort of talent Anko hadn't discovered yet.

For Bonnie, she offered the most surprises. Though she wasn't physically or technically up to snuff for shinobi standards, she balanced this with a ridiculously high IQ and inventions that Anko was sure would shock the entire world.

The only issue Anko had with the girl was how dependent she was on Naruto. She seemed to value the word of the jinchuriki over everything, and while Naruto was capable shinobi that level of dependency was never a good thing.

She would have to make sure to instil a bit of independence in the young kunoichi.

Next, Sasuke. She was beginning to see elements of what the hokage and the boy's file said. While he was very much an Uchiha, he was obviously more outgoing and normal than your average Uchiha.

He was quiet, but Anko could see from his expression that he had a lot of things on his mind. He wasn't a blank piece of paper like his brother for example, nor was he a walking embodiment of stick in the mud like his father.

Sasuke, though not as social as Shisui, was one of the next best thing you could expect from an Uchiha in the social sense. He paid rapt attention to what his teammates were saying, though he pretended not to. He genuinely saw them as human beings, and not just their titles as his teammates.

He was a skilled shinobi already, though not on the level of his brother Itachi. This was understandable since Sasuke was stated to be neglected by but his parents, nor was he given the same push the Uchiha heir was.

Anko preferred this type of Uchiha over the cold and effective kind. It would be far easier to train him, not to mention work with him. Anko had worked with Itachi once and she did not enjoy the experience at all.

Finally, Naruto. Not much had to be said about him. The boy was as capable and dependable as ever. Anko was glad to see him making an effort to get along with his teammates. She had a little worry that he would feel it was beneath him.

In the end Naruto couldn't resist being needed by people. When Sakura hid behind him, Anko noticed that his stance changed a little. He stood ahead of her protectively.

He didn't offer any word of complaint when she tasked him with helping Sasuke get a sword. He also swooped in to offer ideas and support to Bonnie when she needed it.

That was just the kind of person he was. Anko planned on playing on this and having him play support role as she trained his teammates to an acceptable level.

He was already a solid B-rank nin. There was hardly anything she could teach him. All she could do was pass her experience to him, and assisting her in training the rest would be a perfect means to accomplish this.

Anko nodded to herself. That was what she would do. It was still rough for the time being but she had a strategy and that was what mattered. It would only get better with time.

---

Civilian section - Teuchi Ramen Shop

"I hate her." Bonnie grumbled for the umpteenth time as she more or less dragged herself along the street.

The girl was covered in scoff marks and blood stains. There were numerous cuts and bruises across her body and even more hidden under the torn up clothes she was wearing. There was a deep scowl on her face, but even that looked saggy due to how exhausted she was.

Beside Bonnie were her three teammates who were in similar conditions, though Naruto looked in far better condition and didn't look tired at all. Still, the blonde's clothes were in a mess and he was visibly the filthiest of the bunch.

"I'm going to file for a transfer." Sakura said, looking very serious.

What they were forced to experience for the past four hours was just beyond inhumane. Sakura was sure she was dead on numerous occasions, and there were far too many close calls.

She was sure her heart had grown tired of skipping a beat.

If not for the presence of her teammates she would have already been a cold corpse in the Forest of Death. That was why Sakura was sure she had sufficient reason to ask for a transfer or even a change of senseis.

A woman who could send them into such a deathtrap was not fit to call herself a sensei. She was a demon. Only a demon would do something like that.

"We made the decision to go in. She didn't force us." Sasuke said then grunted in pain. Dammit his back hurt. That gorilla looking thing had really done a number on him.

Sakura found herself disagreeing with her crush for the first time since meeting him. Anko didn't say anything, but the threats and consequences of refusal was painted across her devilishly smiling face. How could Sasuke act like he didn't see that?.

"You said Anko-sensei would throw us in if we refused, right Naruto?." Sakura said, turning to the blonde that had saved her life more times than she could count today for support.

Naruto had a solemn expression and his hands shoved in his pants pockets. He looked very serious at this moment. Sakura was sure there was a lot going through his mind.

"Sasuke." Naruto spoke out, calling to the Uchiha. Sasuke turned to face him. "I can't feel my left nut. Is that normal?." Naruto asked in very serious tone.

Sakura's face turned beet red while Bonnie made to laugh but ended up hurting herself in the process. She glared at the whiskered boy but there was a small curve gracing her lips.

Sasuke gave the blonde a blank stare before turning back to face the road. "I don't know. But I think you should have that looked at."

"That's what I'm afraid of. All our clan doctors and med-nins are men. Old ugly ass men. Do the Uchiha have any female doctors or med-nins?." Naruto asked.

"Izumi, the jōnin sensei of team 5 is a skilled field medic." Sasuke replied.

"Thanks." Naruto said, looking relieved. Uchiha Izumi. He would try giving her a shot. He just hoped Kazuto wasn't there, or he might try to break that bastard in half again.

Sakura sweatdropped at the scene. 'Are they bonding, and over something like that?.' Sakura wondered. Boys were so simple it was weird.

"Alright, we're here." Naruto made a bend to the side and stopped in front of a food stall. He noticed the weird looks his three teammates were giving him. He raised an eyebrow. "What?."

"You said we were going to a place guaranteed to make us feel better, Naruto." Sakura said. "I thought you meant a hospital, or at least an onsen and not... this." Sakura said, pointing at the ramen stand's signboard.

Bonnie nodded sagely, agreeing with her words while Sasuke grunted. Sasuke agreed with her. Sakura filed that huge win for celebration later.

"The food here is great, its my absolute best." Naruto said.

"That's what we're afraid of." Bonnie said.

The three genin faces twisted up in disgust as they recalled the numerous revolting dishes Naruto had brought to school. Bonnie had developed a tolerance for watching him eat, but never actually eating it.

A place that sold what Naruto found edible was automatically crap, that was Bonnie's motto.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the reaction of his teammates. It was true he ate some weird stuff, but they acted like it wasn't just weird animal parts and was dung or something.

"Teuchi-ojisan makes different kinda ramen specifically for me. Aside from the stuff on the Naruto ramen special menu, the rest should be perfectly fine for your pallets. Now get in already!." Naruto said, drawing the curtain open.

To his surprise he found people that he knew aside from Teuchi and Ayame. Naruto blinked in surprise. "Hinata-chan?." He said.

The Hyūga girl was seated with her teammates, three large steaming bowls ahead of them. It wasn't only team 8 present. Team 6 and team 10 were here. The only missing ones were team 5.

All the fresh genin had a bowl or two bowls of ramen ahead of them. Of course the ravenous Chōji had four that he was eating from at once. The stacked up dirty dishes next to him numbered over a dozen.

"Naruto-kun?." Hinata stared at her crush and first friend in surprise before blushing slightly. "You're finally here." She said.

"Oi, its team 7." Ikema, the kunoichi on team 6 was the next to take notice of Naruto and the rest and announced their appearance.

"Hinata was right, they did come here after all." Ino said. She had ordered a bowl of miso ramen that she had barely eaten into. She knew at this rate Chōji would eat through the whole shop before she could even eat a quarter of this.

"Take a good look Akamaru. They're a team that was so trash they had to give them an extra member!." Kiba said with a snicker.

"Yiip!." Akamaru barked.

"That's not what I meant Akamaru, of course I consider you a member of team 8!"

"Yiip..."

"Don't get all sulky like Shino."

"Heya Naruto. Sorry for crashing your joint like this. It was the closest and cheapest option." Shikamaru said with a yawn. Truth be told he was more tired than hungry, but the majority said they wanted food. He couldn't fight democracy.

"Hinata-chan, did you bring them here?." Naruto asked. The Hyūga nodded. Naruto wore a faux hurt expression. "But this is our spot. How could you?." Naruto said, holding his chest as if in pain.

Hinata smiled at the blonde a slapped him playfully. "Stop being so melodramatic Naruto-kun." Hinata said. She turned to the rest of team 7 with a smile. "Come in." She ushered them in as if it was her establishment. She held on to Bonnie's hand and pulled her to the side to question her.

"I hope this place has a powder room." Sakura said, walking by Naruto and towards a young lady who she assumed worked here.

Naruto nodded absentmindedly at Sakura's words and watched the Hinata and Bonnie with a shake of his head. Cast to the side yet again. Story of his life.

'The real story of your life is special cuz there's a millennia old fox in your gut.' Kyuubi quipped.

'Can it fox.'

Naruto and Sasuke took seats side by side, between Kiba and the Senju brothers. The Inuzuka was doing his best to rile Sasuke up by teasing him about team 7's numerical disadvantage.

"I mean, how does it feel rookie of the year?. How does it feel knowing that even hokage-sama knows you ain't all that so he had to put Naruto in the team as an extra to balance the odds?." Kiba said with a mocking smile.

Sasuke paid no attention to the Inuzuka boy and went through the menu that the nice brown haired lady had offered to him before leaving with Sakura. Surprisingly, the place had a powder room.

It was Naruto who ended up having the reaction out of the two. A tick mark appeared on his temple. First they were intruding on his sanctuary, and now someone had the effrontery to badmouth him in this place?.

"Oi, why am I the extra dog breath?." Naruto demanded.

Kiba smirked. Well, the intended target was Sasuke but Naruto would suffice he supposed. "Why not?. With all the shit you pulled you should have been long since expelled, yet you were tossed into the a team with an elite jōnin to support their precious rookie of the year."

"That is a bad assessment, Kiba-san." Shino adjusted his glasses as he said.

"Shut up Shino, just who's side are you on?." Kiba glared at his teammate. They had the opportunity to take a swing at Sasuke and this damned guy wanted to ruin it for him.

Shino wanted to say he was on the side of logic but knew it would upset Kiba further so kept it to himself. That was the most logical course of action.

"So you think I was put on team 7 to support Sasuke?. Because the hokage who knows he 'isn't all that' for some reason decided to play favorites. How does that make any sense?." Naruto stared at the Inuzuka quizzically.

"Uchiha tax." Kiba shrugged. "They partly found the village so the shinobi and civilian populace feel entitled to kiss their asses." Kiba pointed out, showcasing a surprising grasp of the village's history.

Naruto gave Kiba a dry expression and gestured at the Senju twins beside him. "And them. The Senju basically took on the leadership role in the village pre and post establishment. Why isn't Konoha kissing their asses to the point of granting them an extra teammate and an elite jōnin sensei?."

Naruto then gestured to, as though he was offering Kiba a place to speak. "Go on, oh wise one, I would like to hear your answer."

Kiba of course was completely stomped. He was most just speaking out his ass and didn't really believe half the things he was saying. However, Naruto had put him on the spot, forcing him to defend the accusations he made so offhandedly.

It was true that Konoha favoured the founding clans and even the Uzumaki to a large extent. However, this favoritism had no place in the academy.

Though there were elements of it in the attitudes of the faculty, no student would be given a free pass or favored simply due to their ancestry.

It was Naruto had said. If the village was treating Sasuke with favouritism the same or even more should have been extended to the Senju siblings. Yet, they neither got an extra teammate nor an elite jōnin sensei.

The Uchiha and Senju tax in the academy was a myth.

"Crickets." Senku said before bursting into laughter. He was accompanied by the rest of the genin.

Kiba growled in annoyance but didn't say a word. He had set himself up for that one. The room returned to a more relaxed atmosphere.

"So, what was your sensei like Naruto?." Ino asked, getting the attention of the blonde who was shamelessly flirting with the ramen waitress Awho had just returned. "I've heard stories about Mitarashi Anko from my daddy. She used to work in the IT division, still works as a consultant now I think." Ino muttered the last part to herself.

"Anko-sensei?. She's nice. Big ol tits and an amazing ass." Naruto said without much thought, giving his first opinion of Anko and naturally it was his best opinion. You could take the man out of the culture, but you could never take the culture out of the man.

Ino gave the blonde and the rest of the males who were blushing a dry expression. "I'm asking what's she's like as a person, not what her cup size is." Ino deadpanned.

"–Though if you can throw that in it'd be highly appreciated." Senku added right after Ino, earning a glare from the female portion of the room. Why were they antagonizing him so blatantly?. Naruto said something more vile and nobody batted an aye.

Was this the legendary Uzumaki tax?.

It was actually the pervert pass. Naruto was a well known degenerated pervert. No matter what he said, nobody would judge him. They already considered him the lowest of the low. He couldn't disappoint them. They had no expectations of him.

"As a man of the people, I will deliver." Naruto said with a deep sigh as though he was going through a lot of trouble doing this. "They're double Gs." Naruto said, pointing out two fingers for the good of the people.

Kiba's jaw went slack and the unchewed ramen in his mouth rolled out. Chōji actually took a break from eating. Shikamaru's snores hitched. Senku had the most envious looking face of all time. Senki's chopsticks snapped in two and Shino adjusted his glasses.

Only Sasuke didn't have a reaction. Talking about Anko's knockers was nothing. He had seen her in practically nothing but a transparent mesh top and what looked like stickers that barely hid her erogenous areas.

If he managed to keep a straight face then, what could shake him now?.

"We got stuck with a damned thug for a sensei, while team 7 got a bona-fide gyaru." Senku smashed his fists into the table with a look of anguish. 'It should have been me!.'

"We got a hairy ossan, but he's pretty cool so it balances it out I guess." Shikamaru said with a shrug. The man was almost as laid-back as him and didn't give them much trouble and even took them out to eat. He was okay by the Nara boy's standards.

"Well, our sensei is a total babe but I wish she was as 'expressive' as I hear your team's sensei is." Kiba said.

When he met his sensei it felt like love at first sight, but after seeing what her personality was like Kiba was left a little disappointed.

"Lady long legs is alright." Naruto said. He wouldn't mind having Kurenai as his sensei. Though he would trade Anko for anyone, it would have been really fun messing with the Yūhi woman.

"Lady long legs?." Kiba raised an eyebrow in question.

Naruto realized he'd said something he probably shouldn't have and was about to make amends when an evil thought crossed his mind. The blonde grinned mischievously. "Yeah, that's Kurenai-sensei's nickname from when she was a genin." Naruto lied.

Kiba narrowed his eyes at the blonde suspiciously. He would have to be really stupid or gullible to just take Naruto's word for it. "How do you know?." Kiba asked.

"Kurenai-sensei is a friend of my nee-san's. You can ask her or Hinata if you want. She was best friends with Yūgao-chan and Anko-sensei back in the day. They all called her lady long legs. Now I do too, since I'm her special friend." Naruto said, wagging his eyebrows as he said.

"You ain't a special anything to my sensei!." Kiba said defensively.

He had only known the woman for a few hours, but in his Inuzuka brain she was already part of his pack. Thus Kiba acted like a guard dog for her benefit. He would do the same for his teammates. Loyalty just came second nature to Inuzuka.

"You only get to call her that cuz of your sister. There's nothing special about it. I can call her that if I wanted to." Kiba said dismissively.

The Inuzuka was so caught up in his own nonsense that he didn't realize Naruto was smiling at him like the cat who ate the canary. 'Hook line and sinker.' Naruto thought. The Inuzuka boy was as easy as ever.

"We were speaking about the tests our senseis gave us before you guys came in." Senku said, changing the topic. "You guys look like you really went through the worst of it." The green haired Senju commented on team 7's state of dressing.

"Oh, you guys got rough handled too?." Naruto asked. He had to do all the talking since Sasuke wasn't really... equipped for conversations like these. At least not yet.

"Yeah." Senku said, rubbing the sore spot on his shoulder. "Genma-sensei really put us through the wringer. The whole second genin exams took me off guard, I swear."

"Second genin exams?." Naruto repeated in confusion. What the hell was that?. The rest of the genin but Sasuke gave him a weird causing the him to blush slightly. "What?."

"Didn't your sensei tell you guys something about another exam with a ridiculously low percentage of passing?." Ino asked the Uzumaki.

Naruto shook his head. "No. Though I was unconscious for some time." Naruto said, recalling that he didn't join in their mock battle until after the others were defeated. He hadn't even seen how Sakura was taken down.

The jinchuriki turned to Sasuke who was sipping on a glass of milk he had ordered. "Did Anko-sensei say anything about a second genin exam?." He asked. The Uchiha shook his head. Naruto turned back to Ino. "Nope, she didn't bring anything like that up." Naruto said.

"Huh... weird." Ino said. "Hold on. If she didn't give you guys another genin test, then why do you guys look all beat up?." Ino questioned.

"She did give us a test." Sakura, who had returned from the inner room of the shop looking a little better said. She squeezed between Naruto and Sasuke, pushing aside blonde a little with her shoulders to make room for herself.

"Only she didn't say anything about it being a second genin exam. She just attacked us right off the bat. Then when she was done kicking all our butts she made us going into that accursed place." Sakura shivered as her memories of the experience in that place flashed through her mind.

"What accursed place?." Ikema asked.

"Training ground 44." Naruto replied.

"The Forest of Death?." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. He wanted to take a nap, but ever since team 7 showed up it had been one big revelation to the next. Troublesome team.

"I thought that place was a restricted area." Senku said. He had heard of the forest that was rumoured to be the source of their ancestors special ability. Though he didn't believe the stories, he was still clear on how dangerous that place was.

"About twenty percent of its total surface area is technically not restricted. Jōnin reserve a right to allow shinobi within its periphery. This is logically at their own risk." Shino added. There was hardly any expanse of forestry in the village's territory that the Aburame hadn't studied in depth.

"That's the excuse Anko-sensei used to send us into that hell." Sakura said with a bitter smile. She wanted to sue. Could she even sue?.

"Was it that bad?." Chōji asked. He shivered a little at the hollow stare Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto shot at him. Damn he was just asking. He wasn't the enemy here.

"I almost died a total of a hundred and seven times." Sasuke said.

The rest of the genin. Kami. It was that bad?. The rookie of the year almost lost his life over a hundred times just by being there for how long again...

"I honestly lost count after three hundred." Sakura said with a hollow chuckle. She knew she would be having nothing but nightmares tonight.

She would have to buy one of those ready-made privacy seals or have Naruto make her one. She didn't want her mom to hear her scream. That would only make her worry, though to be honest there was good reason to be worried.

"Well goddamn, if it was that bad for the rookie and rookie kunoichi of the year then what about Bonnie?." Ikema asked.

"I'm not sure since I was mostly doing my absolute best to stay alive, but it most have been a dozen at best. Just going by the screams. I could be wrong." Sakura said. Sasuke nodded, agreeing with her assessment.

Ikema gave the a blank stare before bursting into laughter. When she found that they weren't joining in, she stopped. Their expressions were the same; extremely serious. "Wait. You're being serious?." Ikema said in disbelief.

"I wouldn't lie about this." Sakura said.

Ikema racked her brain for a logical explanation for such an anomaly and could find none. It just sounded completely impossible to her. She had seen Bonnie in a fight. There was no way she was more capable than these two. Absolutely no way.

"How..." Was all Ikema could say.

Sakura pinched Naruto's whiskered cheek, earning a halfhearted 'ow' from the blonde. "This guy. He played favorites and prioritized Bonnie. He was protecting her, so she was hardly ever in danger the whole four hours we were there."

"Naruto?." Kiba turned to the Uzumaki. Him again. Why was it that whenever something weird happened he was always right in the middle of it.

"Naruto could still spare time to protect Bonnie?." Ino asked. She too was giving the unassuming looking blonde a curious stare. There was always a lot of mystery shrouded around the Uzumaki heir.

"Yes. This big oaf is a perfect meat shield." Sakura said with a smile, releasing Naruto's cheek to pat him on the head. She ignored the protests from the blonde. "I was just unlucky, since I'm not his girlfriend so he ignored me."

"I did not." Naruto protested. "Bonnie protected you with Paulie while I protected her. That was the plan. Bonnie is physically the weakest of us four. She's better suited protecting others than herself. If I neglected anyone then it was myself." Naruto gestured at himself. "I got all beat up protecting you girls. You should be kissing me not patting me on the head like some d– Oi!. Stop that!."

Hinata watched the Naruto and Sakura fool around from the corner she was talking with Bonnie in. "They surprisingly got chummy really quick." Hinata commented with a calm expression.

Bonnie smirked at the Hyūga and flicked her nose, eliciting a small noise in pain. "Stop being so jealous. It doesn't suit you." Bonnie said.

Hinata pouted. "It's still weird how they get along so well." Hinata insisted.

"Four hours of fighting for your lives together will do that. Believe it or not I and Sasuke actually get along fine now." Bonnie said with a shrug. People said facing adversity together was the best way to form bonds. She had confirmed that first hand.

"Was it really that bad?." Hinata asked with a look of worry. Her sensei had only forced them to work together before passing them. They didn't have to go through anything extreme like team 7.

"It was terrible." Bonnie said without hesitation. "I think it was particularly worse from Sakura, considering that she just got off from Anko-sensei verbally tearing her a new one. She struggled the most, and no matter what boss says he neglected her a bit.

"I think letting her get all chummy with him now is his way of making up for prioritising me over her so blatantly." Bonnie said.

Hinata stared at Naruto and Sakura in thought. The pink haired woman was playfully pulling at the blonde's hair while laughing over something that was clearly said at his expense. The blonde had a frown on his face that Hinata knew was not genuine.

It was as Bonnie had said. Hinata knew Naruto well enough and this was typical of him. He always tried to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders and when he showed his very human side and bias he did his absolute best to make up for it.

He was a perfectionist and always punished himself on the times that he showed his imperfections. Hinata wanted to take this side of Naruto away, and make him see that there was nothing wrong with being human. With being flawed.

"I just hope it stays that way." Hinata said. She watched Naruto and Sakura mock fight with each other while trying to force Sasuke to take the role as referee.

Bonnie glanced at her teammates briefly. She wouldn't lie, she could see what Hinata was talking about. Naruto and Sakura got along all too well. It was a wonder how they hadn't become friends long ago.

"Well, this is boss we're talking about. Can he really keep it that way if Sakura shows interest?." Bonnie said. Hinata didn't dare answer that question. "Well, Sakura is all for Sasuke, so I guess we're fine." Bonnie said with a shrug.

"The list so far is, me, you, Saya-chan and possibly Aya-chan." Hinata said, listing out the potential love interests of her crush. These women/girls were also her rivals for Naruto's affection.

"Don't forget the princess from Tetsu no Kuni." Bonnie reminded.

Hinata sighed. It wasn't that she forgot about Azula. Hinata was just a little worried when it came to the princess of Ryūjin Empire.

Out of all of Naruto's love interests she was easily the one with the most potential. Not to mention, Naruto said her strength three years ago was already comparable to a jōnin. Only Kami knew how strong she had gotten.

Be it strength or influence, Azula offered far more to Naruto than any of them. And since she was a princess, Hinata was sure she was absolutely not inferior to any of them in terms of beauty.

Of course, Naruto had told her time and time again that he wasn't interested in what she had to offer him. She was told, but Hinata would never believe it. She had seen it in Naruto's actions that he was to a degree that kind of person.

He kept Bonnie around more, and prioritizes her presence more than anyone else's, not because he loved her the most but because she had the most use to him. It was simple.

Though Hinata was certain that Naruto had feelings for her, she was as sure that she would still be relegated to the side if she didn't pull her own weight.

She didn't want the role of servant to Naruto that, as unfair as it sounded, Saya accepted for herself. She wanted to be his equal. She wanted to stand beside him, not behind him.

And to do that, Hinata had to do better. She had to work harder than the rest of the competition. She had to prove she had the most value. And she would.

Hinata leveled a calm gaze at the laughing pinkette. There she was, seeming like a perfectly harmless girl. Completely unassuming. One wouldn't expect much from the rookie kunoichi of the year but Hinata knew better.

The byakugan gave her foresight to things that normal eyes could not perceive. This was how she was able to determine Naruto's strength before he opened up about it to her. This was how she was able to tell who the true powerhouses in this village were.

Hinata could see it all, and she could see it very clearly in Haruno Sakura. Should she set her eyes on Naruto as well she would become her biggest rival yet.

That chakra... Hinata had never seen someone with chakra coils so immaculate. It was as though an artist had sculpted her chakra network. Hinata had only seen and heard of two people possessing such a thing before.

Namikaze Kimiko. The girl's chakra network was even more refined looking than Sakura's and there were several more pathways than normal. Hinata tried to count them all and ended up having a migraine.

The second person, whom she had only heard of possessing this kind of chakra network in tales was Senju Tsunade.

If one was to use the sannin as a reference for how powerful people with such chakra network could be then...

'Haruno Sakura and Namikaze Kimiko...' Hinata said in her mind. These were potentially S-rank threats to her.

---

Blue Clam Bar

"Bartender, another round!."

"I'm not pouring anything else until you pay up your debt!."

"I told you I'll pay you when my cheque comes in..."

"That was six months ago."

A blushed faced Genma crinkled his nose in irritation. He turned his eyes to the man sitting beside him and began to smile.

"Don't even think about it." Asuma said before the durag wearing jōnin could finish. He gave the man the stink eye while gesturing to the several empty bottles in front of them. "And who's gonna pay for all this?." Asuma asked.

"You said you *hic* got it though." Genma said with a pout.

Asuma's face scrunched up at the sight of the grown man pouting. He barely resisted the urge to slap him square on the face and was about to retort heatedly that he had never said such a thing.

"Quit being such a cheapskate, Sarutobi. Buy the man a drink, you know he's going through a rough patch." A lightly blushed faced Anko commented from beside the bearded jōnin.

All the newly appointed jōnin senseis had decided to gather at the Blue Clam to unwind/celebrate after successfully passing their genin teams. Though more complaining was done than celebrating in the end.

Genma had gotten drunk the fastest, however the jōnin had claimed to have forgotten hid wallet for the umpteenth time and aimed to lodge all his expenses on Asuma.

Asuma was not having this. He had only offered to buy the ladies a round, and never spoke a word about buying Genma anything. The wily man had managed to snake his way into the deal, now clung to Asuma like a leach, refusing to let go until his pockets were empty.

This had already happened in the past, and Asuma was not about to be the guy who had been suckered twice.

"He's always going through a rough patch." Asuma said in indignation. He hadn't even gotten drunk and his bill was already sky high. What kind of situation was this?.

Kurenai giggled from the side. This was a sound that Asuma greatly enjoyed, and its source was the main reason he decided to buy these drunks a bottle of anything. "It's true, Genma is always going through a rough patch, or is momentarily short on funds or forgot his wallet." Kurenai pointed out.

"I know that." Anko said then grinned slyly as she pointed at the durag wearing jōnin. "I'm talking about the rough patch he's going through after scoring the second best genin team from the pile." Anko said.

Kurenai and Asuma rolled their eyes in unison while Genma narrowed his eyes.

'Here we go again.' Kurenai and Asuma thought.

Ever since their genin teams were appointed to them by the hokage, Anko and Genma had been incessantly arguing between themselves on who got the better team.

"For the last time, Mitarashi, your genin ain't better than mine!." Genma said.

His excitement triggered a flux of chakra that in turn caused a chain reaction that temporarily increased his metabolism which effectively led to the dissipation of his highness. This only added to Genma's annoyance.

"Its not my fault that you're delusional, Shiranui." Anko said with a mocking smile. "B-rank trumps unranked, and that's a fact." Anko said, slapping the table lightly to punctuate her statement.

"There are many skilled shinobi that are either wrongly ranked or aren't even placed in the Bingo Books." Genma argued, unwilling to concede to Anko's point.

Anko snorted, barely holding back a laugh. "And your genin are amongst these shinobi?. Face the reality. Unless you're saying that your genin can hit B-rank –is that what you're saying?." Anko said, leaning forward to stare at the obviously annoyed man with a teasing look.

"Just having the Uzumaki boy does not make your team automatically better than all ours." Genma said, turning to the rest of the jōnin senseis for support. They couldn't just sit back and watch as Anko talked down on their brats. Only they should reserve the right to do that.

"I don't just have Naruto. Yeah, he's the most capable out of the bunch but the other three have a lot of potential." Anko said. 'Well I still haven't figured out what Sakura's potential lies in.' Anko said to herself. She wouldn't say it out loud though. These bitter jōnin would only hold it over her head.

"One rookie of the year, one rookie kunoichi of the year, a B-rank genin and a deadlast that's full of surprises. How can it be in doubt that I bagged the best genin team?. Hell, I could even argue that my team is superior to Gai's!." Anko said proudly.

"Chill out a bit, Anko." Asuma said, finally losing his patience with the woman's bragging. "Gai actually trained his genin. You were given ready-made products, at least compared to the rest of us. Isn't that saying something about your capabilities as a jōnin sensei?." Asuma asked with a smirk.

Contrary to the Sarutobi's expectations, Anko did not visibly look to take offense. Instead she shot him a nonchalant grin. "I'm A-rank. That's all the fucking validation of my capabilities I need bucko."

"That said, you should be the last person trying to engage me in a debate, Shiranui." Anko turned back to Genma. "You're a B-ranker, just like my genin. When you're feeling under the weather I could have Naruto school your gakis in your place. Free of charge."

Genma's durag was stretched tight due to the comical bulging veins. He really wanted to turn this woman into snake soup, but in the end she was right. She was A-rank. She was stronger than him, at least for the time being.

"All my hate Mitarashi. All my hate." Was all Genma could say in the face of the annoying snake mistress.

"Not all of us have the opportunity to directly fight an A-rank shinobi and prove that we're on that level, Anko." Kurenai said.

The elusive A-rank title was associated such. Simply having the strength did not mean you would be recognized. One had to first have an opportunity to do showcase their capabilities.

The surest way would be to directly defeat or kill an A-rank. A-rank weren't common cabbages. They wouldn't just roam around the Elemental Nations, nor would they be willing to offer their heads as a stepping stone for other shinobi.

The A-rank tier came with a lot of benefits and perks. Directly losing to a B-ranker would ensure the rise of said B-rankers rank, but would also put the rank of the A-ranker in danger of dropping.

Not many shinobi were willing to take this risk. Going from being able to take B-rank and even some A-rank missions solo to needing a team for the most low level of B-rank missions was not a fate any shinobi wanted to suffer.

So, A-rank and above shinobi often avoided conflict amongst lower ranks. First because they were far more powerful than average shinobi and secondly due to wariness of an upset.

A-rankers fought other A-rankers. This was an unspoken rule in the shinobi world. Kurenai was pointing out how Anko was fortunate enough to face an A-rank shinobi willing to risk it all in a fight against her.

This gave Anko the rare opportunity to prove that she was on the elite rank. She directly killed the A-rank shinobi in single combat and her mission repertoire and kill count was already comfortably comparable to other A-rank shinobi.

Anko breezed into the ranking after taking down the A-rank nin.

"I'm right here aren't I?." Anko said. "I'm willing to kick all your asses to prove you ain't A-rank material yet."

Kurenai sighed. She was beginning to see why Genma and Asuma always complained about Anko. She was really annoying truth be told. "We both know Bingo doesn't use intra-village battles as basis for any of their rankings." Kurenai said. "Though there are special occasions. You could choose to betray the village and I'll be happy to take you down and prove my rank, Anko." Kurenai said with a smirk.

"Keep dreaming." Anko crossed her hands and looked away. Teasing Kurenai never ended well. Not to mention she didn't want her in a bad mood before she made the request she was dreading to make.

"Izumi still isn't here." Asuma said, changing the topic. He stared out a window. The sun was beginning to set. At this rate the Uchiha wouldn't show up.

"She must have been held up by something." Genma suggested with a shrug.

"Maybe she's stalking Itachi again." Anko said with a snicker.

The other jōnin chuckled in agreement. The young woman had the biggest crush on the lone wolf Uchiha. As opposed to going against the culture and asking him out, for fear of his response, Izumi decided to stalk the young man instead.

"Maybe it's because of her team." Kurenai said. Though she wasn't too certain about this.

"Well, civilian parents do make more of a fuss when you send their kids home looking more banged up than they left." Asuma nodded in agreement. He was relieved he had avoided all the civilian born genin. That was another thing he and Kurenai had in common.

Genma groaned tiredly. "Tell me about it. I had to call Ikema's parents nine frigging times before they let up. They thought I'd kidnapped their daughter and was a sex trafficker or something."

"Can you blame them?. You're almost the epitome of suspicious activity, just behind the Aburame clan." Anko said with a single shoulder shrug.

"Fuck you Mitarashi."

"What about you, Anko. You got two civilian born genin, so how was it?." Asuma asked.

"Not bad. Luckily one of them's an orphan and the other one is the daughter of the civilian council's spokesperson. She already knows how we shinobi roll." Anko said.

Kurenai, Genma and Asuma sweatdropped at Anko's words. Being an orphan wasn't a lucky thing. Were team 7 really in good hands under this kind of jōnin sensei?.

"My team didn't give me a lot of issues, aside the kunoichi having the typical distracting crush." Anko said, giving Kurenai a stare as if to say 'you know what I mean'.

And Kurenai did. "Hinata is a sweet girl, and I've been working with her a long time but her obsession with Naruto is a little worrying. She seems to be structuring her entire life to fit into his." Kurenai said with a sigh.

"That bad huh?." Genma clicked his tongue. Everybody knew about the Hyūga clan heiress and the Uzumaki clan heir being the young Romeo and Juliet of Konohagakure.

"The girl is strong, dutiful and very obedient. She's comfortably ahead of her teammates presently but I'm afraid her feelings for Naruto might hold her back." Kurenai said honestly. She didn't mind discussing her genin with these three. They were trusted friends after all.

"At the rate my baby is growing, you should be more concerned about the Hyūga gaki keeping up." Anko said with a shake of her head. "That boy... his growth is beginning to scare even me."

"Uchiha Itachi-esque?." Asuma raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe even worse." Anko said.

"Kami..." Genma said with a rueful chuckle. What was becoming of the shinobi world. Why did it seem like the younger generation were getting more freaky with every passing day?.

Uchiha Itachi. Uchiha Shisui. Senju Senku. Senju Senki. Hyūga Neji. Namikaze Namito. Uzumaki Naruto. Deidara. The unidentified Kiri nin. The whole Thunder Squad of Kaminari no Kuni. The Beifong clan's heiress. Sabaku no Gaara.

Even the elite jōnin complaining was one of them. Shinobi who were advancing at godly speeds seemed to be popping out every single day. Anko was just twenty-two years old and she was already A-rank like Asuma who was thirty one this year.

Genma was turning twenty nine and was still B-rank. This was impressive just a few years ago, but now he was left feeling a little inadequate.

"I heard Bingo is estimating Itachi and Shisui to break into the S-rank in the next two yea–"

"Will you stop!." Genma said, snapping out Asuma all of a sudden. He huffed in annoyance and rose up to his feet. "Bartender, I'll be back to settle the bill." He said that, then with further adieu he disappeared with cloud-less shunshin.

The bartender would have said something but the look in the jōnin's eyes warned him to keep shut. He liked his body the way it was, thank you very much.

"I think you hurt his feelings, Sarutobi." Anko said with a smirk.

Asuma had a helpless expression on his face. He was just making small talk, and Genma just went from a zero to a hundred. He had no idea the man was that much bothered about his stagnated rank.

"I told him to join me when I left to serve under the Daimyō. If he'd listened he would be an A-rank like me." Asuma said. Serving as a Daimyō's guard was another surefire way to climb the ranks.

Daimyō's were leaders of massive nations with equally massive economies and with a lot of authority home and abroad. Yet, they were often civilians. This made them and their courts or retainers prime targets for nuke-nin and terrorists.

Protecting a Daimyō meant a steady supply of high profile defaulters and criminals along with a lot of high profile missions as well a steady cash income. It was a risky but lucrative path for shinobi.

Asuma was sure Genma wasn't afraid of the risk of death or a little tempering. The main reason Genma amongst many shinobi turned down the Daimyō when he was recruiting was due to the high Konoha was on after the Yondaime had successfully established himself as an SS-rank nin with a flee on sight tag.

The village was at the cusp of electing possibly the strongest man in the world as her hokage. They still had the legendary sannin in their ranks, Uzumaki Kushina had just become the youngest Seal Master in history and the hokage was still near his prime.

Who in their right mind would want to leave the village to guard dog for the Daimyō at that point. Asuma was even spat on when he tried convincing a few chunin at that point. He had never seen a man so disgusted before.

However, fate was not something that could easily be predicted. The Kyuubi attack came and the second golden age of Konoha was forcefully stunted. S-rank shinobi were lost and many of the prodigies lost their lives in the aftermath of mission grinding.

Asuma was sure Genma would be regretting not following him every single day. The same way Ebisu looked just short of breaking into tears when the missing shinobi on Kakashi's team returned three years ago.

The weakest of them, Suiren, who had once called Ebisu senpai now far outranked him. The woman was now the assistant head doctor along with Matsuda while Ebisu was playing butler for the Sandaime's grandson.

How wouldn't the man want to cry?. Gai had literally begged him to tag along but he refused. That day's laziness had robbed him from a possible far brighter future.

"Isn't the Daimyō gonna be recruiting after the next chunin exams?. Maybe Genma can still get in." Kurenai said. She felt bad for the man. He wasn't getting any younger and the windows of advancement were shutting really fast.

"This old ass, ugly ass bartender has as much chance of being selected as Shiranui." Anko said bluntly. The Daimyō wanted fresh chunin with a lot of potential, not jōnin who were already in their prime.

"Who are you calling old and ugly?!." The bartender yelled.

Kurenai sighed. What Anko said was the truth. Genma like the unattractive bartender was far too advanced in the years. The Daimyō wouldn't accept him unless he was A-rank or above.

Kurenai was just twenty four and was a student of Uzumaki Kotohime. If she wanted to be shameless, she would have already gotten an opportunity to climb the ranks through the woman.

After all, the Uzumaki had a reputation to keep. She had never trained a shinobi that ended up lower than A-rank. Anko was considered part her student and was already A-rank. Yūgao, Saya, Ha and Tate had already established themselves in this rank.

At present only Kurenai and Naruto were lacking. For the latter reaching A-rank was almost a given. Bingo had already made its estimations for the blonde. As for Kurenai, Kotohime would first end her life than watch her never break into A-rank list.

Whatever a Seal Master touched turned to gold. Though some standards were higher, like Mina who boasted to only train S-rank shinobi. She had proved this right on three counts already, and her latest disciple was well on his way to making it four in four.

"Well, I should be on my way. Those punks in in the IT won't torture themselves." Anko said with a evil chuckle. She slapped a wad of ryo bills on table. "That should cover it for the drinks." Anko said and left before Asuma could argue.

The Sarutobi grumbled. He said he was going to cover it.

"Don't mind Anko, she's just flexing her newly attained financial muscle. You know, fresh elite jōnin get all the good missions." Kurenai said, taking a sip from the cocktail she had gotten herself.

"Tell me about it." Asuma said with a sigh. The fūton user then noticed that he had been left alone with Kurenai now Genma and Anko were gone. Well, as alone as one could be with a lady in a bar.

"Hey Kurenai–"

"I should start heading out to. I have to see Kotohime-sensei about something." Kurenai said, rising to her feet. She gave Asuma a pretty smile. "Thanks for the drinks, Asuma." She said before turning to leave.

Asuma watched her leave with a somewhat dazed look. Damn, her back view was just as great as her front view.

"I hate to see her go, but I love to watch her leave." The bartender said with a wide grin.

Asuma shook his head in amusement and gestured for the man to get him one last bottle. He didn't see it before, but when the man smiled Asuma saw what Anko meant when she called this ojisan ugly.

He was really hideous.

---

Hokage Manor

"Are you absolutely sure about this, Izumi?." Hiruzen asked with a calm yet serious expression.

Ahead of the Sandaime hokage was the newly appointed jōnin sensei of team 5, and one of the few female jōnin from the Uchiha clan; Uchiha Izumi.

Izumi was a beautiful woman with long very smooth brown hair. Her hair was so smooth it had even become part of urban legend. Izumi's hair reached to her lower back level, and she had two large bangs that spanned from the her head to her bust area. Part of the right bang was tucked between the young woman's ear.

Izumi had black eyes, that were roundish than the trademark sharp raven-like eyes of the standard Uchiha. Her eyebrows were characteristically thin and sharp, however.

She had a pretty and girlish appearance, and could be more disposed to cute than gorgeous on first glance. She had a beauty spot just under the corner of her right eye, adding a little more to her womanly charm.

Izumi was about 5'7 in height, with a petite yet shapely frame. She was shaped like a hourglass, but wasn't in the buxom category by any stretch. She had the body of a princess, shapely, delicate and prim. More elegant than sexy.

Izumi was dressed in a high collared sleeveless purple long dress with a similar style to Sakura's. There was a spilt on the sides and the length was more or less the same.

She wore a fingerless gloved arm warmer on her right hand and a maroon arm band on her left forearm. She wore standard shinobi pants, but the was a rip on the left side, showcasing part of her tapped hip and rear.

The right leg of her pants carried the usual tapped and thigh level strapped pouch. Her secondary pouch was hidden by her dress. Finally, Izumi wore high ANBU style shinobi sandals and her blue hitai-ate was placed in the standard position.

The woman had the usual business-like expression of the Uchiha. She regarded the hokage with a serious gaze as she nodded in affirmation to his question. "Hai hokage-sama." Izumi said.

Hiruzen stroked his beard. This revelation wasn't a bad thing by any stretch, but it was too unexpected and caught him completely off-guard. If he had known such a thing existed, then he would have taken measures.

Now he felt like he had dumped a responsibility on Izumi that she was equipped to carry. This was her first run as a jōnin sensei, much like the rest except for Genma.

No matter how skilled she was, she was still inexperienced. And this development wasn't something that most experienced shinobi Hiruzen knew would be able to handle.

"To be honest Izumi, I don't know what to tell you. If your sharingan saw what you it did, then even I am lost on how to handle this." Hiruzen said honestly. He leaned back into his chair with a sigh. He was already too old for this.

"I enlisted the aid of two trusted comrades of mine to confirm. Both are gifted sensors, they confirmed the same thing." Izumi said, mistaking the Sandaime's words as doubt in her assessment.

"Hyūga Rōha and Inuzuka Hana I presume?." Hiruzen said, earning a nod from the Uchiha.

The three had formed an unlikely trio and went out on several high level missions together. They were one of the most effective three celled teams in the village's recent history.

Rōha was a jōnin, Izumi was a chunin while Hana unfortunately lost her team in a mission and was genin without a team. Rōha took both Izumi and Hana on as her students on paper, but in reality they worked together as equals.

The time together had made the three inseparable friends.

Hiruzen knew very well the prowess of the byakugan. Not to mention it was the byakugan of a woman stated to have the purest set of eyes seen in recent times. Also Hana was a very special smell based sensor type, who could discern chakra nature types by their scent.

If those two confirmed it, then even if Hiruzen wanted to he couldn't contest the fact.

"A colorless and odorless chakra nature type can only mean one thing." Hiruzen said.

Izumi waited in rapt attention and anticipation for what the Sandaime had to say. She had made the discovery with her friends but even they had no idea what they had found.

She had seen the odd molding pattern of the chakra. Rōha confirmed that the chakra was colorless, with a different makeup than anything she had seen before. Finally Hana pointed out that it had no odor. This was not normal.

It turned out that the all-knowing Sandaime yet again had an answer to a question most shinobi were clueless about.

"We all have our individual chakra color, but when we mold it to take form of a nature type the chakra in our Svadhisthana area changes color to fit that nature type." Sarutobi begun to explain.

(AN:I adopted the chakras from Hinduism into this story. Same as Kishimoto did, if you paid any attention *laughs in judgemental*)

"Katon is orange. Suiton is blue. Doton is brown. Raiton is purple. Fūton is cyan. Even for kekkei genkai there are fixed colors, though the shades depend on the ratio of the fusion of the nature types.

"Hyōton is azure. Jinton is yellow, mokuton is green, yoton is red and so on.

"I won't go into kekkei tōta at this point, though I believe it has a strong connection to the topic. I believe the colorless chakra Rōha saw in the genin is a product of a fusion of multiple chakra natures to the point that there is no existing color that can represent them all, thus it settled into a blank state.

"But you should understand that in this case, not being able to represent all the nature types involved with a single means there are at least three of them involved.

"However, Hana also stated that it has no odor, this means that each of the elements at least conflicts another. This leads me to believe that this goes even beyond kekkei tōta." Hiruzen said with a solemn expression. "We've completely entered uncharted territory here, Izumi. This is very possibly a kekkei shui."

(AN: I pulled kekkei shui out my ass. Its not a thing in canon, okay?. Kekkei or Kekkai translates bloodline. Genkai means limit, and tōta means selection. Shui translates to nomination.

So...

kekkei genkai = two nature types. kekkei tōta = three nature types. kekkei shui = four nature types.

There are still three more of the basic elements, so better believe I'll be pulling out more headcanon. In case you've forgotten there's still Yin and yang release.)

"Kekkei shui?." Izumi repeated in a questioning tone.

Hiruzen nodded. "The combination of at least four nature types. This goes beyond what I know about. Kekkei tōta is already rare enough. Only, the Nidaime tsuchikage Ōnoki has one as far as I know.

"This genin of ours likely has something beyond that. I'm not sure exactly how to deal with this." Hiruzen said with a sigh.

He really wanted to light one right now but he knew most kunoichi didn't care for smoking or smokers in general. He was a good hokage and considerate man. He'd light his pipe the moment she stepped out.

"I can handle things until you figure out a solution, hokage-sama." Izumi offered.

She wasn't really content with settling for just that. This genin in question was her responsibility after all, and thus she should be the one providing the answers and solutions.

It was just that this wasn't a simple matter. It was highly complex and she wouldn't have been able to make sense of it if the hokage hadn't given a much needed explanation.

Izumi was helpless to do anything when she could barely grasp what was happening.

"I appreciate the thought, but sadly that won't be enough." Hiruzen shook his head. "Thankfully you brought this to my attention, and you said the boy has no clue about his ability and only uses the molded chakra at the bare minimum?."

"Hai, hokage-sama. The absolute bare minimum, is what I and my friends discerned. If it was a little higher then perhaps we would be able to guess what this kekkei shui does." Izumi said, adapting her vocabulary to accommodate the new term she knew she would be using a lot from now on.

"That's what I'm afraid of. In the event that the boy does use more of it, only Kami knows what it will do to him and possibly others.

"The balance of a kekkei tōta is already delicate enough, and you don't want to know what one could do to a human body if used incorrectly." Hiruzen said, almost shuddering in the memory of the days he had attempted to recreate Ōnoki's famous dust release. Did. Not. End. Well.

For the clone at least.

"For a kekkei shui, everything is uncertain. Though it appears that the boy's kekkei is genetic, so it should be more stable than Ōnoki's, who engineered his own. Though to what extent, we can't tell as of yet.

"Since there is an extra element at least, then it could just make it far more unstable, genetic or not. So for the time being, I think its best if the boy doesn't use any of that chakra type. At least until we can tell what it is." Hiruzen said.

Izumi nodded. According to the Bingo Books, the Nidaime tsuchikage had made a man literally disappear with a jutsu. She wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but had a feeling that it was connected to his kekkei tōta.

If her genin possessed something that was potentially even superior to that then the hokage was absolutely right. Until they could confirm what they were dealing with, they could not afford to have him use that power.

"Keep your team on light physical training and D-rank missions for the next few days. I'll have the Namikaze clan device a chakra seal to seal off this kekkei shui until we find a proper solution." Hiruzen said.

He would have to send for Mina, and he didn't look forward to that. He was already owing the woman quite a few ryo from their last poker game.

How foolish he was to think he could beat a woman who had learnt to make coherent sentences while her tongue and every motion was working in reverse in a game.

"Why not the Uzumaki clan?." Izumi asked.

She would never say it anywhere near the violent Namikaze matriarch but she always preferred Kotohime over he. In her opinion the woman had more of a Seal Master's poise and elegance than her rival who was constantly acting like a common thug.

"Kotohime just left the village for a fūinjutsu seminar. Her disciple, Saya is officially making an advancement to seal expert. It's a big event for the Uzumaki, and I'm sure she won't have the time." Hiruzen explained.

"I see." Izumi nodded her head in understanding. "May I ask, what hokage-sama's plan for my genin is, beyond the seal?." Izumi asked.

Hiruzen smiled. He loved the dedication this young lady put into every single thing she did. It had barely been a day since she took on this genin team, yet she was already fully committed to their futures.

Izumi was already doting on them like a mother hen, checking to see what she could do and if any of them were in any danger. She quickly called the first oddity she couldn't explain to the Hiruzen's attention. This was a testament of how much Izumi valued her genin.

"I plan on inviting Jiraiya. He has more experience than even I on these things. He once trained a young boy from Ame with an affinity for all the elemental nature types." Hiruzen revealed.

Izumi's eyes went wide in shock and a myriad of questions filled her mind, but she knew it wasn't in her place to ask. But still... Five elemental affinities. That was just crazy. If that person had fused all five then what kind of kekkei would that be?.

"If somebody is versed about nature types and how they go together it's Jiraiya. Well, my first bet would be Ōnoki but I don't think he'll be willing to lend us a helping hand." Hiruzen said with a smile. He was blessed with the rare sight of a laughing Uchiha.

Izumi blushed in embarrassment, realizing what she had just done. Not to mention her laugh was anything but ladylike. She had snorted a bit, almost like a pig. Izumi wanted to die.

"It's alright Izumi-chan. I heard Itachi say he doesn't mind the way Shisui laughs, and that boy laughs like a complete maniac. I'm sure he'll love your laugh." Hiruzen said with a wink.

Whoosh

Izumi was gone in a swirl of leaves. Hiruzen chuckled. What a silly little lady.

'She should hurry up and make a move on Itachi, before the local gigolo of the village decides Itachi's close enough to feminine to be free game.' Hiruzen thought in amusement.

He said that but he knew there was a likelier chance that Naruto would try to take Izumi for himself rather than compete for Itachi.

Naruto. The boy was a handful, and somehow he had inherited all of Jiraiya's pervertedness before turning eighteen.

The Gama Sennin couldn't be more proud, and Hiruzen had to kick him out of the village lest he contaminate the poor boy's soul further. He had heard Jiraiya say something about losing virginity and immediately sent him on a long mission.

Uzumaki were already wild enough, the last thing he wanted was for the volcano of pervertedness that was in Naruto to erupt prematurely. No matter what he wouldn't be able to send pregnant kunoichi on missions. He wasn't a beast.

Naruto was a threat to the entire workforce of the village and its military power. He had to be restrained for as long as possible. He had to be.

On a serious note, the boy would be a massive addition to their forces in the near future. After being granted so much power to work with, his obassan had made sure Naruto focused on consolidating his powers.

Hiruzen had been following Naruto's progress and was satisfied. The boy had honed his skills to a level that would leave most shinobi jealous. Now he was a well rounded and capable nin.

All that was left now was adding experience. His only real mission had been self-imposed and though dangerous wasn't enough to squeeze out the hidden potential in Naruto.

He would need far more than that to become the man Hiruzen knew he could be. Far more than that.

The same could be said about this unlikely addition to Hiruzen's growing list of possible successors. Though Hiruzen didn't know much about his personality, the boy had the power requirement down.

Well... he potentially had it down.

The list so far was; Jiraiya of course. His only loyal student was naturally one of his first choices.

Tsunade. She was truthfully the most suitable. She had the leadership values, the strength, the reputation and also the legacy. Unfortunately she despised the village and left to roam the world aimlessly years ago.

Kakashi. In a perfect world where the Daimyō wasn't taking the role as Tom to the Hatake's Jerry, Kakashi would have already been his official successor. He had everything, even the legacy through his connection to the Yondaime and he was fiercely loyal.

Mina. She was perhaps the most loyal shinobi to the village, and Hiruzen felt he could trust her with his life. Though she was a little too advanced for Hiruzen's liking, she would offer a quick fix in the event that something happened to him.

The downside was Mina's personality obviously, and Hiruzen doubted the Uzumaki clan would be able to stay in a village with Mina as its kage.

Kotohime. Hiruzen knew it would be a cold day in hell before he would make Kotohime his successor. Just like Mina she offered a quick fix. The main difference being Kotohime was more suitable for the role.

She had everything just like Tsunade, to couple with experience that far surpassed the sannin. However, Kotohime didn't have an interest in the role.

Not to mention Hiruzen feared for what would become of the Namikaze clan should Kotohime take the reins of the village.

Itachi. A very special and especially loyal shinobi. He had it all down, though he was lacking experience and charisma. Hiruzen was certain that with a little brushing up, he would be a more than suitable candidate.

The only issue was that his clan was already clamouring for the boy to be his replacement. Hiruzen would accept their nomination, but he wouldn't be bullied into any decision.

Hiruzen only briefly considered Shisui. His personality wasn't one suited for leadership.

Namito. Just like his sensei and grandaunt he was fiercely loyal. He was frighteningly talented, much like Itachi. His social skills were better than Mina's and though he didn't have much in ways of the legacy, he was still a very viable candidate.

Asuma. Naturally, he would consider passing the hat to his own blood. Asuma had his traits in many ways, it was just that he was too stuck in his ways.

Hiruzen hoped he would change in the future, though at this point he wasn't sure if there was much hope left. Not to mention Asuma lacked the strength currently and his potential was almost dried up.

Danzo. Another cold day in hell. Hiruzen would only consider this in a post-apocalyptic era, where it was either sink or swim. Only a man as devious as Danzo would be able to preserve the foundation of Konoha throughout such an era.

Senju Senku. Charisma. Charisma. Charisma. A very likable and jovial boy with cream of the crop talent to booth. He had the legacy. He had the potential in strength and as a leader. He had it all.

Yet... There was just something missing. Hiruzen couldn't quite place it. But it was a familiar feeling.

Senju Senki. Not nearly as charismatic as his brother, but he didn't give Hiruzen that feeling Senku did. He was the better politician between the too and more strategic.

However, he lacked the traits of a leader and fell short to his twin brother in terms of potential.

Naruto. Hiruzen's personal favorite candidate. Partly because of the boy's roots but mostly because he saw in Naruto something he hadn't seen since the Shōdai and Uchiha Madara.

The eyes of a potential future Kami no shinobi. Naruto was destined for greatness, and Hiruzen wanted to make sure that Konoha benefit from the boy's eventual rise.

Naruto had the legacy, one that was comparable to even Tsunade's. In Hiruzen's eyes he had the most potential, especially as a leader.

He was loyal to the village, despite his obassan's incessant attempts to keep him exclusively for the Uzumaki clan. And most importantly, he had those eyes.

Hiruzen would rest easy if he could pass the hat down to the boy.

Finally, the latest candidate mostly due to his potential. Eiko Haru. The boy that had developed a kekkei shui out of seemingly nothing.

A shy boy from a civilian family with more special blood than any noble in Konoha. He was Hiruzen's latest candidate, and the hokage looked forward to seeing how he would develop.

---

Outside Teuchi Ramen Shop

The rookie genin had all exited the ramen shop and were now taking a stroll before heading back to their homes or designated training grounds.

Naruto sighed and patted his stomach. He was stuffed. He would have done this earlier, but he was being a little considerate for his former classmates, so he waited until everyone else was done eating before he started pigging out.

Thankfully for the genin, Teuchi was a master chef. Though he used many unconventional and somewhat foul ingredients to prepare Naruto's ramen special, he made a great effort to make sure the food at least looked and smelled appetizing.

Though it wasn't perfect and still left the fresh genin feeling a bit queasy, it was a work in progress and eventually Teuchi would perfect it. This was one of the tasks Teuchi had set out for himself, along with owning businesses in every nation in the Elemental Nations.

"I still can't believe you actually eat that kind of stuff." Ino said, still feeling out of sorts thinking about Naruto wolfing down the weird looking bowl of ramen.

She wasn't particularly a fan of ramen truth be told. The regular ramen aroma already made her stomach turn somewhat, not to mention Naruto's ramen special. She had virtually no tolerance for it.

"What else do you expect me to eat?. I can only eat things that suits my diet, everything else adds zero nutritional value to me. Zero." Naruto said, putting emphasis on the zero.

He smiled lightly when he felt Hinata's napkin clean the corner of his lips again. The girl was just so sweet, he didn't know if he could really survive being away from her for extended periods.

"Why do you have a special diet anyway?." Chōji asked in curiosity.

He knew a bit about diets, though he really despised the word. There was hardly anything he couldn't eat–except for Naruto's food of course–nor did he know of any type of normal food that didn't sit well with his stomach or health.

Chōji was certain he could digest anything and he always got the maximum nutritional value from most things he ate. This was an Akimichi perk. So, he like a majority of his clan really didn't understand the concept of a diet.

"I have a weird physiology." Naruto answered casually. "According to my obassan, it took my mom almost two years of being pregnant before she could give birth to me. I've always been weird since birth. I guess that's why I can't eat normal stuff." Naruto said.

The genin were taken aback by Naruto's revelation. They always knew he was the youngest in their class, but they never expected it was because he had stayed near an extra fifteen months in his mother's womb.

"So technically speaking, you're my age?." Kiba said, gesturing at himself. He like most of the rookie genin was thirteen years old.

"If you're counting the years he spent in his mother's womb, then why not count the months you spent in yours?." Sakura gave Kiba a deadpanned look.

"Nine months is standard. Anything more than that should be counted as far as I'm concerned." Kiba said, crossing his arms across his chest. He was never really comfortable knowing Naruto was younger than him, yet seemed so much more mature than the rest of them.

"Logic doesn't exist in the world of Inuzuka Kiba." Bonnie said with a laugh.

"I can testify to this." Shino added.

Kiba facepalmed. "For crying out loud man, who's side are you on?!." Kiba yelled at his teammate. Akamaru barked at the Aburame as well, showing his own indignation.

"We'll take our leave from here." Senki said, pointing off at a direction. "Genma-sensei didn't dismiss us for the day." He said in reminder to the rest of his teammates, particularly his brother who was already getting caught up in the moment.

"Ugh darn it." Senku cussed. He really didn't want to see that man's face for a second time today. If it was just him and Ikema then they could just call it a day early, but with Senki hovering over him there was nowhere he could escape to.

"If it's any consolation, Kurenai-sensei hasn't dismissed us for the day either." Kiba said, patting the downcast Senju's shoulder. From the looks of it they got the weakest sensei. Kiba could feel his pain. All the way from his high horse of course.

Hinata squeezed Naruto's hand in hers, getting the jinchuriki to turn to her. "I have to go too." She was a little happy but at the same time sad to see the blonde's eyes dim after she said those words. "I'll stop by at your place later?." Hinata whispered into his ears.

Naruto smiled then whispered back that he would be the one to come over. He hadn't seen Rōha in a while. He had to make up for lost time. Also, it helped that he knew showing up pissed the living hell out of Hiashi.

Hinata pecked Naruto on the cheek, not minding that they were in the company of others. She had long gotten accustomed to showing her affection for the blonde publicly. Naruto insisted on this, and it helped Hinata come out of her shell over time.

The Hyūga gave Bonnie and the rest of team 7 a wave before joining the rest of her teammates. Team 6 had already set out. Though Senku had complained, he still took the forefront and led his teammates to their designated training ground.

"So it's just us–" Ino started to say.

"Actually, Anko-sensei didn't dismiss us either. She only said we could take a break after four hours." Sakura said before the Yamanaka could finish.

She smirked at the glare Ino gave her. She was sure the blonde wanted to use this as an opportunity to spend some time with Sasuke. Sakura would rather go back to the Forest of Death than let that happen.

"Nah we're good." Naruto said. He took a step back when Sakura gave him the most unwarranted and intense glare he had ever received before. 'What did I do?.' Naruto asked himself.

"Yeah. It's already past six. I doubt even the periphery of the Forest of Death will be safe once it gets dark. There's no chance your sensei would send you into that." Shikamaru said.

It would be troublesome to return home and have to face his mother and her never-ending questions. If sticking with team 7 would keep him away from his house, perfect.

"You must not know the woman at all." Sakura said. Her skepticism had little to do with keeping Ino away from Sasuke. To Sakura Anko was a heartless devil. There was nothing she was sure the woman would not do.

"Gotta agree with Sakura on that one." Bonnie said.

The vibe she got from their jōnin sensei was one of a person who wouldn't follow normal logic. The things people would normally avoid she would do without hesitation.

Bonnie was sure that out of all the newly appointed jōnin senseis only their own had it in them to send their genin into the Forest of Death on the very first day. She wouldn't put it past Anko to send them there at night.

"Anko-sensei gave us some other tasks to fulfill for the day." Sasuke said simply, expecting his teammates to work out the rest by themselves.

Naruto was the fastest to catch on with what the Uchiha meant. "That's true. I still have to take Sasuke to my clan compound so he can put down the specifics for his weapon. I have to get Bon some funds for her new project too. And you've never been to my clan, have you Sakura?." Naruto asked.

Sakura shook her head. Though she really didn't like where this conversation was going, she wasn't going to spit on Naruto's good intentions. "I guess we're all going, aren't we?." Sakura asked helplessly.

Naruto and Ino grinned in unison. "Most definitely."

Sakura sighed. God, she hated blondes.

---

Uzumaki/Uzuki Clan Compound

"I hate blondes." Sakura said as she watched Naruto, Bonnie and Ino take turns to pester Sasuke while she was left behind with Chōji and Shikamaru.

They had arrived at the Uzumaki/Uzuki clan compound and it was more spectacular than Sakura expected. She had seen what it was like in the Uchiha clan compound, during one of her impromptu visits. So, Sakura already had an idea on how grandiose a clan compound in the Shōdai district should look.

Though the Uchiha clan preferred a standard and what some would call a boring layout, Sakura had caught the night view of the clan from a hill top once. It was one of the most beautiful sights she'd had the fortune of witnessing til date.

The placement of the buildings were precise and intricate, the flowering; though not vibrant added a beautiful touch of color to the uniformly colored buildings.

What Sakura liked the most about the Uchiha compound, aside from how well it was sectioned, was the spaciousness.

It was big enough to accommodate a lake where she'd seen clan members fishing many times. There was a small forest area for practice, mainly bukijutsu. On the hill tops there were ancient looking buildings that were still kept in good condition by the dutiful clansmen.

This area was where the Military Police Department was situated, and also used for the outposts and for combat simulation for young Uchiha.

There was also the bridge that went over the lake and spanned from the residential area to the forest area.

Compared to the Uchiha clan compound, the Uzumaki clan compound was smaller. Sakura hadn't looked at it from a birds eye view, but she was certain it wouldn't have such an intricate layout.

However, in terms of the decor of the buildings the Uzumaki/Uzuki clan had the Uchiha beat hands down. Their buildings looked far more modern and had more personality to them.

The paint job was beautiful, and there was just more life to it than most clan compounds she'd seen. Though the flowering didn't match the Yamanaka's, it was very nicely done. The occasional sculptures they came across added to the regal feeling Sakura was getting as they walked through the street.

"They seem to be having fun." Shikamaru said, staring at the three blondes annoying the heck out of Sasuke. This was his first time coming to the Uzumaki/Uzuki clan compound as well.

"I totally feel like a third wheel." Sakura said with a huff.

Watching Ino with her teammates made her feel weird. For some reason she kept on imagining the Yamanaka taking her place. If she did, then would her teammates even mind?.

Though Ino wasn't much in a fight, her kekkei genkai offered a lot in ways of support. As things were, even Sakura would admit Ino seemed a better fit than her. Seeing Ino easily get along with them didn't help matters at all.

The pinkette was still feeling the effects of the words Anko said to her, and their validation within the Forest of Death.

"Being the third wheel really isn't bad as people make it out to be. It just means you get to be left alone." Shikamaru said with a shrug.

Sakura sighed for the umpteenth time. Why was she even talking to this guy?. Of course the person who's hobby was cloud watching would not have an issue with being the third wheel.

"Sakura has a lot on her mind, Shikamaru." Chōji said between munches.

Watching Naruto feast on the tasty looking food he knew would be bad for him got the Akimichi feeling really famished. He got himself a bag of chips from a small shop within the Uzumaki/Uzuki clan compound to sate his hunger.

"Why do you think I'm talking to her?. I'm trying to be helpful." Shikamaru said.

"You two can stop pretending I'm not here." Sakura's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. She glared at her teammates and Ino. "I'm already having enough of that." She grumbled.

"So that's what it is." Shikamaru said. He ran his hands over his hair with an exasperated sigh. He really didn't want to say anything, but since he was Ino's friend now it was best if he looked out for her interests.

"What?." Sakura turned to the Naruto who was giving her a smirk.

"You're not worried Ino will take Sasuke from you, you're more worried your teammates will like her more than they like you. Isn't that it?." Shikamaru asked.

Sakura froze momentarily and almost tripped over her own feet. Talk about hitting the nail on the head. She knew Shikamaru was a bright guy, but never would she guess he was this perceptive.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sakura lied and turned away. She wasn't about to admit to anything along the lines of being envious of Yamanaka Ino once again.

"You shouldn't live in denial, Sakura." Chōji advised from the side.

"Chōji is right. Even if you're living in denial, it's better if you can at least admit some of the obvious truths to yourself." Shikamaru said.

"You're awfully talkative today." Sakura said, trying to steer the conversation to a different direction.

But was Shikamaru that easy to con?. "You were awfully chatty with Naruto today. You hardly talked to the guy in the academy, now you two are peas in a pod."

"I caught Hinata glaring at you. You should avoid walking past the Hyūga compound when its dark." Chōji said with a snicker.

Shikamaru chuckled. "Again. Chōji is right."

Sakura glared at the two best friends. These two were a lot more annoying than she realized. Spending time alone with her classmates really opened her eyes. None of them but Ino and Sasuke where the people she thought they were.

"Naruto's an easy guy to get along with." Sakura said with a shrug. She didn't know why she was trying to explain herself to these two. "He's making the most effort to bring the team together. Like right now." Sakura said.

"True. Inviting you all over is a pretty big step." Shikamaru agreed. He stared at the laughing whiskered boy. "He is very easy to get along with. But you should know he isn't as simple as he looks."

"Does he even look simple?." Sakura rolled her eyes. "My main concern is Sasuke-kun and not Naruto. The others seem more willing to accept me than him." Sakura admitted sadly.

"Well, Sasuke has always been a goal-oriented guy. He never bothered with things outside of his goal in the academy which was making rookie of the year." Shikamaru said.

Sakura blinked. That was a perfect description of the kind of person Sasuke was. Goal-oriented. He was always so focused on what his purpose and endgame was, he never really got time to enjoy the process.

"Which is why I think the hokage placed him and Naruto in the same team." Shikamaru said.

"Because they're both goal-oriented?." Chōji and Sakura asked.

Shikamaru shook his head. Troublesome. He would have to do some explaining. "Sasuke is goal-oriented while Naruto is more of pre-planner and at the same time more relaxed since he's already sufficiently prepared himself.

"I think hokage-sama wants them in the same team since they compliment each other."

"I still don't get it." Sakura said with the shake of her head.

"Sorry Shikamaru, me neither." Chōji said apologetically.

Shikamaru grunted. He'd admit, that wasn't the best of explanations. "Simply put, Sasuke is like a train set for a destination and will always follow his tracks no matter what.

"Naruto on the other hand is like glider. He seems like he's doing wild stuff, but the fact that what he's doing is even more calculated than most.

"The hokage put them together because they're a perfect fit. Naruto's the man with the plan, who executes it in the wildest of fashions.

"While Sasuke needs a plan but is more sophisticated and controlled. They balance each other out. When those two get accustomed to fighting together..." Shikamaru trailed off.

Sakura stared at the two boys in her team. She could somewhat understand what Shikamaru was saying. They were a good fit, and from what Sakura had seen, Sasuke got along the best with Naruto.

They were surprisingly bonding very quickly.

"I thought hokage-sama wanted to make a really busted team so put all four of them together." Chōji said with a chuckle.

"You mean all three. I hardly contribute anything to the team." Sakura said despondently. Anko's words flashed in her mind once again.

"Don't sell yourself short Sakura. You weren't rookie kunoichi of the year for nothing." Shikamaru lightly encouraged.

Sakura shook her head in disagreement. She couldn't keep using the academy as an excuse. They were no longer in the academy, they were genin now. It was a fresh start. It didn't matter what her former senseis though they saw in her.

Chōji nodded in agreement with Shikamaru's words. "Your chakra control is the best I've ever seen too. You're really amazing, Sakura." Chōji said, recalling the short leaf exercise they'd done in the academy.

Only Sakura, Senki and Hinata passed it on the first try.

Sakura couldn't help herself from smiling a little. Though they were just words, they ended up making her feel a little better. "What's chakra control gonna do for me?." She asked herself.

"A lot actually. There's a lot of ninja arts the require more chakra control than power or even physical training."

A masculine voice joined into the three genin's conversation. Sakura, Shikamaru and Chōji turned to the side and found a large man with blonde short hair and black side hair with a friendly smile on his face.

"Hello. My name is Uzuki Tate, I'm wakate-sama's surrogate second big brother." Tate introduced himself to the genin. He stretched out his hand to shake them.

Sakura stared at the arm that was more than three times larger than her own before taking it. The man looked very strong, but his grip was surprisingly gentle. "I'm Haruno Sakura. Uzumaki Naruto's teammate. These are Shikamaru and Chōji, our former classmates." Sakura introduced all of them. She then raised eyebrow. 'Who's wakate-sama?.'

Tate released the girl's hand and sent a nod at the two boys. "Two exceptional genin from the Nara and Akimichi clan and a girl with an impeccable chakra network. Konoha's future is really bright." Tate said.

"How do you know what clans were from?." Chōji asked. He then realized the shirt he was wearing literally had his clan insignia on it. "R–"

"He sensed it." Shikamaru said before Chōji could say anything else. He looked like a carbon copy of his father, but he was pretty sure this man didn't just make an assumption based on that. "The same way he's able to sense the quality of Sakura's chakra system." Shikamaru pointed out.

Tate smiled. "I am impressed with your astuteness, Nara-san. You are correct. I am a sensor, and I did make my observations by sensing your chakra." Tate admitted.

Shikamaru gave the man a calm stare. 'Ino's a sensor too, but from what I know she can't just identify a person's ancestry just by feeling out her chakra. Not to mention I've never heard of a sensor who could perceive the quality of a person's chakra network.'

"You must be a really good sensor, Tate-san." Sakura complimented the man. She didn't know much about sensors, but she knew what Tate had done was not ordinary.

"I'm just ordinary compared to the real masters." Tate said meekly.

"Oi, Tate why are you sneaking up on my friends!." Naruto's voice resounded.

Tate scratched his cheek and laughed sheepishly. "I've been found out. Wakate-sama is also a great sensor." Tate said, staring at the comically yelling blonde jinchuriki.

"I was just saying hello, wakate-sama." Tate said.

Naruto hurried to his teammate and friends side and glared at Tate. "After what you did to me this morning, I don't think I'll ever trust you around minors." Naruto said.

Tate blushed. "Wakate-sama, those words could easily be misunderstood..."

"I don't care!." Naruto said and quickly dragged Sakura and Chōji away. Shikamaru followed after him, though he spared Tate one last glance. "Stay away from that guy. He's bad news."

Tate scratched the back of his head with a sweatdrop. 'Wakate-sama is holding a grudge...' He thought. At the same time something reached his mind. "Hold on a minute, wakate-sama!." Tate said and hurriedly ran after the genin.

"Stay away!." Naruto yelled.

"I just want to tell Sakura-san something." Tate said sincerely.

Naruto glared at him in skepticism. Tate wasn't a sly person but he always went along with all of Ha's dirty plans. Naruto couldn't bring himself to fully trust him when he knew Ha could be lurking, waiting for an opportunity to pull something.

"Speak from a distance." Naruto said.

Tate sighed. Naruto was more annoyed with them than anticipated. Did he act this way after passing his own rite of passage?. He couldn't recall much about the aftermath.

"I just wanted to tell Sakura-san to try her hand out in iryojutsu." Tate said, staring at the pink haired genin. He gave her a gentle smile. "Trust me, you will be pleasantly surprised. A med-nin is an invaluable asset in any team."

Sakura smiled. A med-nin. She didn't think about the doctor role all that much, and never thought it was her style. She preferred up close confrontation. But now that she had seen how bad she was at that, then why not?.

If this nice man who could sense her chakra network, like Shikamaru said he could, said she should try her hand out in iryojutsu then why not?. At this point all she could do was explore. Though she wouldn't have her hopes up.

"I was already planning on telling her that!." Naruto said, glaring at the 'docile' elite jōnin. "Who do you think I am?. Of course I knew someone with a chakra system as good as Sakura would be a perfect candidate for iryojutsu." Naruto said.

Sakura turned to the blonde Uzumaki in shock, and he returned her gaze with a smile. 'Was Naruto really thinking about helping me out?.' Sakura wondered.

It wasn't too hard to believe. He did offer his aid to Bonnie and was her sponsor, also he was helping Sasuke out right now. It was only natural that he wouldn't stop there and decide to help her out too.

Sakura smiled to herself. It was really nice having someone to look after her like that.

Tate was about to say that there was no way Naruto could have guessed Sakura's chakra system was as exemplary as it was, since the blonde's sensory wasn't as advanced as his own but stopped himself.

There were other ways to find out about things like that aside from chakra sensory. Also, Naruto was friends with Hinata who had the byakugan.

Thankfully Tate decided to leave it, because in truth Naruto was lying his ass off right now. A perfect chakra network?. Naruto didn't even any genin possessed it.

If he did he would have done his absolute best to build Sakura up from an early age. That was one of the main reasons why Senju Tsunade and the Nidaime were so powerful.

Honestly Naruto was still shocked at how much potential Sakura turned out to have. Funny enough, just after him she had the most raw potential just based on that in his opinion. Though, his obassan did tell me to never underestimate the dōjutsu of the Uchiha clan.

'Goddamn team 7 is a gold mine for talent. Hokage-jiji definitely did this on purpose. There's no way this is a coincidence.' Naruto thought.

Naruto shooed Tate away and led his teammates and team 10 away. Ironically they were going to the large man's place. Naruto wouldn't tell him that though. With his obassan and Saya out, Ha would be running rampant. The last thing Naruto wanted was to run into that madman.

Besides the fūinjutsu seminar his obassan and Saya left for, Naruto had been doing a lot of thinking concerning the team placements.

Finding out just how stacked future Sakura could be gave further strength to his hypothesis.

Team 7 was organized to be the heavy hitters. The assault squad of Konoha's next generation. It was likely the hokage planned on making another generation of the legendary sannin through them.

The similarities were just too obvious. Jiraiya, the seal master and ninjutsu specialist. Naruto was a seal master, and though his ninjutsu was not his best quality he still had a lot of potential in this. He and Jiraiya fulfilled the same role. All out attack.

Orochimaru, the technical and well rounded member of the team. More suited for sneak attacks and field assassinations. Sasuke was very technical, and easily the most rounded in their team and was the best suited for the assassin class.

Tsunade. The support and healer. Though she was terrifying in frontal combat, her main role was to keep the team alive. Sakura with her newly realized talent for iryojutsu would be able to accomplish this role.

Bonnie was an extra, but with it made sense. She was all support, unlike Sakura if she copied Tsunade would have an side of a warrior to her. With the addition of Bonnie the team became more evenly balanced.

Team 10 were obviously set up for due to the history of immaculate teamwork their clansmen had shared. They would excel in long-term missions and espionage.

Ino the sensor, the full-time support of the team.

Shikamaru as the brains of the operation as well as the part support and long range combat specialist.

Chōji was the direct attacker for them and would be the one handling most of the fighting, while the others supported him from the side.

Team 8 were for reconnaissance. They were three sensor types nin so this much was obvious.

Hinata took the role of the eyes of the team as well as the role of capturing and incapacitating.

Shino gave them scope, and allowed then to tail opponents without risking exposure. His role in confrontation was to be the diversion.

Kiba handled pursuit. Inuzuka were blessed with high speed and stamina, so this made him the most suitable for pursuit. He was also a team of his own with his ninken, Akamaru. Thus separating from the team in a lone chase wasn't an issue.

Team 5 were the sociopolitical themed operation. They would handle escort missions and help with delegations and negotiations between villages. Not to mention, they could form a information network with the more experience they racked up.

Haru was the son of a linguist and could speak and write in different languages himself. He would handle the documentation and be the translator of the team on missions.

Kazuto was the son of a wealthy business tycoon who understood the economy and society like the back of his hand. Kazuto had elements of his father in him, and he was very adaptable. This would be key.

Chika finally was the spy factor in their setup. She was a master of disguise and would be perfect in undercover missions and sabotage.

Team 6 were the only team Naruto hadn't really figured out. The Senju siblings were more of the direct assault type, though Senki could play support. Ikema was full-time support.

They seemed similar to their setup, so there was a chance they were the B-team to their heavy combat unit. Though they were less balanced without the addition of someone like Bonnie.

'The old man must have something in mind if he needs two assault teams.' Kyuubi said.

'War?.'

'Maybe... I'm not sure. If it's just war then you should be enough.'

'Way to be conceited fox.'

'All you need to do is release me. Nothing can stand in my way, I am the strongest living thing in the world!.'

'Are you now... Why did you lose to the Yondaime then?.'

'Stomach ache. It's a bitch when it catches you off-guard in battle.'

'Like hell I'd believe that.'

'Believe what you want. One day you'll see just how great the Kyuubi no yoko is.'

'Until then put a muzzle on it.'

Naruto cut off the connection to the fox. He and the other genin had arrived at the designated location. Ha, Tate and Saya's house and also the home of the best weaponsmith in all of Hi no Kuni.

The jean clad siblings house was a very simple looking one. It was large enough to contain various rooms, but still had a homey feeling to it. In front of a part of the house was a small stall with a crudely made signboard.

The crooked kanji on the signboard read: Machi the Sword God - Best swords in the land.

Naruto paid no attention to the stand and directly went to the front door and pounded it. "Ossan I've got a customer!." Naruto yelled. He stopped to wait. Normally that was all that it took, and the owner of the establishment would be rushing out to see who the customer was.

After a minute without a response, Naruto knew that there must have been something wrong. The man he knew was a money grubber. He wouldn't pass up on some cash no matter what situation he was in.

"Ossan!. Machi-ossan!." Naruto tried calling him again. Still, no response. "Something must be wrong." Naruto muttered to himself a pulled out a senbon seemingly out of nowhere. He hunched over at the door's lock.

"Naruto, what are you doing?." Ino asked, walking to join the blonde on the porch.

"Machi-ossan never passes up on a customer. Something must be wrong." Naruto said. He had already started working at the locks.

"Naruto that's breaking and entering!." Sakura had already rushed to his side and yelled at the blonde.

"I'm the clan's heir. Technically this house belongs to me." Naruto said offhandedly with a shrug. He frowned. That shrug had completely ruined his work. Now he had to start from the beginning.

"Maybe the guy isn't at home, boss." Bonnie supplied.

"Machi-ossan never leaves this place. Ever. He's either inside the house or around the place somewhere. In which case he should have already opened the door. Who knows, he might be in trouble inside." Naruto said.

"Maybe he just doesn't want to be disturbed." Bonnie said.

Naruto shook his head. "This guy is greedier than a dragon's ghost. The only time he'd pass up on money is if he's dead. He told me so himself."

Click!

Naruto smiled. He finally got it. The Uzumaki returned his trusty senbon back to the seal and straighten himself. "Right. I'm heading in to check up on Machi-ossan. If you scared little bitches wanna stay out here and argue over meaningless crap, then be my guest. As for those with the balls, follow me!." Naruto said pushing the door open.

Ino fumed at Naruto's words and quickly followed after him. "Bitch please, I got more balls than you could ever hope to grow!."

Sakura was already behind her. "What did you call me, Naruto?!."

Bonnie shook her head with a smile and joined in. If it was technically her boss' house then she could come and go as she saw fit, right?. She watched Sasuke follow beside her in silence.

"I guess we're breaking and entering." Shikamaru shrugged and walked into the house as well. Chōji was more engrossed in his bag of chips but still entered the house like the rest.

The genin walked into a room that looked to be the living room of the family. It was decently furnished, however, there wasn't any sign of anybody being around nor anything eye-catching.

"See?. No one's home." Ino said.

That was the rest of the genin were thinking until they took a few more steps forward.

"Take it you fucking slut!."

"I'm yours Machi-sama!."

A pair of delirious sounding voices suddenly permeated, accompanied by loud creaking and slapping noises and heavy panting.

The seven genin turned to face the source of the sounds in unison and to their unified horror they found a sight that would leave them scarred for life.

A muscular man with a chiseled frame and numerous scars on his naked lower back and exposed rear was mercilessly thrusting into a delicate looking woman who was almost completely enveloped by the man's frame.

All they could see from the woman was a pair of dainty hands that were tightly wrapped around the man's neck and smooth legs hanging at the man's waist level.

The pair were completely drenched in sweat and had managed to soak the couch they were on as well. Even without being told the seven preteens knew exactly what the kind of scene they had walked into was.

Sakura was the first to lose it. "EEEEEEEEEEECCCCCKKKKK!." Her face turned so red that even Hinata would have to commend her. She quickly covered her eyes and burning face and looked away from the scene.

"What the actual fuck?!." Sasuke cussed and turned away in disgust, though there was a visible redness on his cheeks.

"MY EYES!." Ino wailed and quickly shielded her vision from the beastly sight.

Shikamaru stared on with a dead fish expression. Chōji had passed out in a pool of his own blood and chips. Bonnie covered her eyes but was still peeking through her fingers with a beet red face.

The woman on the receiving end of the pounding realized that there were others in the room and tried vainly to inform and then push off the man on top of her.

"Machi-ossan you worthless old coot!." Naruto yelled in rage and threw a volley of kunai at the still shamelessly thrusting beast in human form.

The incoming attack was enough to bring the man back to reality. The man swiftly unsealed a katana with a worn out scabbard and easily deflected the incoming kunai.

He did so expertly. However to do this he had to turn around, and to do that he had to... pull out.

Naruto ended up catching a full on glance of something he didn't ever want to behold in his life. A grown man's hard dick and balls. And... were those scars on it?.

The Uzumaki turned away in disgust and reflexively threw a kunai at the man's unprotected genitals.

"Goddammit kid, are you trying to end my lineage!?." Machi managed to avoid the jewel breaking attack and yelled at Naruto angrily.

"You already have children you shameless animal!." Naruto yelled back at the man with shut eyes. Unfortunately that disgusting image had been burned into his memory.

"So wh–" Machi was already beginning to argue, but the woman beside him smacked his shoulder and glared at him. She had covered her naked body with Machi's discarded kimono shirt.

"Machi, they are children in here!." The woman pointed at the seven genin who were doing their best to dig their eyes out of their sockets.

Machi's froze. Realization finally dawned on him. There were goddamned children here!. And not only that, one of the kids was Naruto. 'Shit!.' Machi cussed and quickly changed into a fresh batch of clothes using a seal.

Machi was dressed in a dark green and red kimono shirt and a dark green gi (martial arts) pants with the unsheathed katana still in his hands.

Machi was a tall and muscly man with a firm and powerful build and very manly features. He was about 6'2 in height and each part of his body was covered with powerful looking muscles.

Machi had many thin scars scattered across his entire body. The only place that was spared was his face. He had black long hair that he wore in a messy bun a unkempt looking beards.

His face was was creased from time, and there were slight wrinkles visible on his forehead and under his eyes. However, his eyes themselves were a vibrant blue color.

"Heya kiddo." Machi scratched the back of his head with his katana's guard. He really didn't even know where to start. "We're dressed. You can open your eyes now." Machi said.

The woman glared at Machi angrily. She had barely covered herself and her breasts were all but visible under this soaked kimono shirt. Still, she couldn't bring herself to contradict the man at this point.

All the genin but the passed out Chōji and the dazed Shikamaru slowly opened their eyes. They sighed in relief when they found that the words of the man was true. Still, they glared at him and the woman hatefully.

"Why didn't you just use a barrier seal?." Naruto asked in annoyance. A simple barrier seal no matter how weak meant keep away in fūinjutsu language.

If Naruto had seen one then he wouldn't have disturbed Machi.

"Ah... things um got heated really quickly so... uh I didn't have the time." Machi muttered out in a choked voice. The stares of these kids was really putting him on edge. "I only had time to use a simple masking seal." Machi confessed.

The genin blushed. Dammit it they wanted to be angry at these two, but whenever they thought about what they saw... ugh. It was so revolting.

"Why are you cheating on your wife?." Naruto asked bluntly. That was really what he wanted to know. The woman beside Machi was someone he didn't even recognize, and from the looks of it she was a civilian.

Machi looked away from the gaze Naruto and the kunoichi were now giving him. After hearing Naruto's words, the girls realized that this wasn't even the man's wife. Their opinion on Machi was dropping by the second.

Machi cleared his throat in embarrassment. He was really being put on the spot by children here. "Well... she's been gone away for so long–"

"She only accompanied Saya and obassan for the seminar today." Naruto interrupted with a deadpanned stare.

Machi grinned sheepishly. The whole I was lonely excuse wouldn't work it seemed. Machi was stomped on what victim card he could play here so decided to play the only card he could.

The card or an unapologetic shameless old coot. "I'm a man. Sometimes I can't control the urges." Machi said with a nonchalant shrug. He pointed at Naruto and continued in a self-righteous manner. "You definitely can't judge me. You're a player at such a young age. Your friends might find me disgusting, but I mean it when I say that your kind disgusts me the most."

Naruto's eyebrows twitched in annoyance. The man was trying to turn the the situation on him. "Bastard, there's a huge difference between dating multiple girls with all of their consent and shamelessly cheating on your wife with this trash the minute she's out of the village!." Naruto snapped at the man.

"Trash?–" The woman opened her mouth to say but was forced to silence by three ferocious gazes landing on her. The woman quickly swallowed the words in her mouth. Those little girls didn't look like they would pull punches against a civilian.

"Tomato, tomatoe." Machi shrugged without care.

"Just wait til Saya and Kyoto come back." Naruto said, turning to leave. He wasn't a judgemental person but this man's boldness was just too disgusting. He really wanted to stab him a hundred times in the liver right now.

A cold sensation ran down the Machi's spine at the mention of his wife's and daughter's names. "No-now wakate, don't be hasty!." Machi pleaded.

When he saw that the blonde was still leaving he threw himself on the ground like a beggar and grabbed his leg. There were actually tears in his eyes.

"I love my wife!. I love my family!. D-don't do this to me!." Machi pleaded.

"You should have thought about that before you cheated." Sakura spat out. Ino and Bonnie nodded their heads in agreement. Even Sasuke and Shikamaru were looking down on this man.

Machi didn't mind being the center of their scorn. All that was important to him was convincing Naruto. He stared at Naruto pleadingly. "Please!. I'll do anything, I'll make you anything. I'll even give you my daughter's hand in marriage!."

"Trading your daughter for a favor, you're really the lowest of the low." Ino shook her head in disgust. She had to apologize to all the stuff she had been throwing into garbage cans. This man was true trash.

"Let go of me!." Naruto tried to free his leg but the man's grip on him was like iron. Naruto glared at the weaponsmith. "Okay, I won't tell, so let go of me already." Naruto said, ignoring the words of disapproval from the kunoichi.

Machi asked for reaffirmation of those words five times before finally releasing Naruto with multiple bows, promises and compliments.

Naruto stared at the man with visible disdain as he chased away the woman as though she was the plague.

Machi sighed in relief. That was a close one. Luckily Naruto was a like-minded brother if not he would have really been dead meat. "What brings you to my home, wakate-sama." Machi said in a very respectful and submissive manner.

"My teammate needs a sword made." Naruto said, gesturing at Sasuke who had returned to calmness now a more normal atmosphere had returned.

Shikamaru was tending to the still unconscious Chōji, trying to wake him up by whispering his favorite dishes to him.

"Sasuke, this is Uzuki Machi, the jōnin that you saw earlier is his second son. Despite his appearance and... tendencies, he's for a fact the best weaponsmith in Hi no Kuni." Naruto introduced the man.

Machi grinned and waved but was only met with coldness and furious glares. He scratched his cheek in embarrassment. Seems like only Naruto had forgiven him for his transgressions.

"What kind of sword would you like?." Machi asked. It was better he handled business as fast as possible and have these genin leave before one of them decided to take his life.

"A tsurugi." Sasuke answered.

"Ah. A double edged sword. I'm guessing you're the agile kind that likes jumping around and attacking different patterns. Those are normally the kinds of people who use tsugiri blades." Machi said.

Sasuke nodded, a bit impressed by the man's astuteness. However the image burnt into his memory completely crushed the respect before it had a chance to bloom.

"Do you have the specifics, or do you want me to show you some blades for reference?." Machi asked.

He had a whole collection of tsuguri sealed away. Shinobi hardly used these kind of blades. They preferred the katana, ninjato, tantō and wakizashi. Tsurugi and ōdachi were the more rarely used of the popular blades.

"I need it to be 96 centimeters in overall length. Nagasa (blade) length 70.2 centimeters. Tsuka (handle) length 25.8 centimeters. Motohaba (width near habaki) 2.3 centimeters. Sakihaba (width near yokote) 1.45 centimeters. Kasane (thickness near habaki) 2.5 millimeters. Sakikasane (thickness near yokote) 1 millimeter.

"It shouldn't be any more than 200 grams. The scabbard has to be even lighter than the sword, and I'd prefer one without a tsuba. A tsuba would get in the way." Sasuke said, giving a very precise description of the sword he wanted.

(AN:Habakia = metal plate around base of a sword. Yokote = line that separates the blade. Tsuba = the sword's guard

As for the weight. For some perspective foil swords that are used for fencing are considered the lightest sword types. The average foil sword weighs just under 500 grams. So yeah, Sasuke wants his blade to be light as hell.)

This was the dream weapon he always had in his mind but never got about realizing. Now he was getting an opportunity to make this dream come true he wouldn't be sparing a single detail.

Machi scribbled down the specs for the sword and nodded his head. He liked the customers that knew what they wanted the best. It saved him a lot of trouble. However there was one problem with Sasuke's dream sword.

"The weight and width of the sword are kind of fantastical, customer-san." Machi pointed out. "If I make a sword like that with regular chakra metal it'll be too brittle for combat. If I use Kumo ore instead, then it could work but you wouldn't be able to channel chakra into your weapon. Are you okay with this?." Machi asked.

Sasuke took a moment to think. The weight of the sword was nonnegotiable for him. If it was any more than that then it would throw his whole style off. At the same time he felt chakra channelling was key.

Not only would it make the weapon sharper and sturdier, it would mean he could do more than just cut with it. Kumo metal was sturdy but it didn't offer much in the ways of variety for shinobi in combat.

Chakra metal was obviously Sasuke's first choice despite it being more brittle. However, the weaponsmith had said it wouldn't be good in a fight.

No matter how perfect it felt in his hand, Sasuke couldn't use a sword that could shatter mid-combat. Would he have to compromise and adjust his entire kenjutsu style?.

"I'll handle the metal problem." Naruto said, earning a raised eyebrow from Sasuke and the rest of the genin but Bonnie and the unconscious Chōji.

Machi grinned and rubbed his palms together like a thief. He had been waiting for Naruto to say those words. "You can pay me in that beautiful ore of yours." Machi said.

Naruto shot the man a glare. "I thought this was free?."

"The next request can be free, but for anything with that beautiful ore, then absolutely not. You can go on and report my infidelity to the hokage, but as long as that ore is concerned there will be no freebies." Machi said in complete seriousness.

Naruto could see it in the man's eyes that this wasn't a joke. He was being very serious. As usual he was a money grubber, but when it came to ores he was even more greedy.

"I don't plan on be using the Uto metal for Sasuke's blade." Naruto said. Getting a look of disapproval and disappointment from Machi and... Sasuke?. "I will be using something better." Naruto added.

The looks of disappointment and disapproval disappeared from Sasuke and Machi's faces. "Something better?." They said in unison.

Naruto nodded. "I'll be using true Uzu ore." Naruto said with a grin. This was an experiment he always wanted to try out. Now, he finally had the opportunity to give it a go.

Machi's eyes went wide in realization then he broke into a boisterous laughter. This kid was absolutely crazy and he loved it. This sword he was going to fashion would be one for the ages. "Sounds risky as hell to me, but let's give it a try!." Machi said. He was already feeling really fired up.

Sasuke didn't know what the 'true' Uzu or but from Machi's reaction he could tell that it was something really special. "Can it be a medium for chakra?." Sasuke asked.

Machi gave Sasuke an 'are you kidding me' look. "That's like asking if your lips can suck a tit, customer-san. Can it be a medium for chakra?." Machi chuckled. "It 'is' chakra!."

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before in confusion, but then a memory of what Bonnie had said about to himself and Sakura while Naruto fought Anko replayed in his mind.

Sasuke turned to stare at the casual looking blonde in shock. He was actually going to use something like that. Something like that for him?.

"Seems like you've figured it out, customer-san. I hope you don't have an problem with black." Machi said with an excited grin.

"Naruto I can't accept that." Sasuke said immediately.

"You should. Trust me, you're doing me a huge favor." Naruto said with a smile. "This is something I've always wanted to do. You'll just be a reason to try it out right now."

"How can you even..." Sasuke trailed off. He didn't even know how to phrase the words. How was it even possible?. How could he even consider it?. How could he do something like that for him?.

"With fūinjutsu, anything is possible!." Naruto said with a finger raised to the sky and a passionate look on his face. Machi matched his expression. They were both fired up for this experiment.

"It's as he says, customer-san. Rejoice customer-san, you just triggered the creation of one of the greatest swords in the history of swords.

"Even the legendary swordmaker and Seal Master; Muramasa would have to acknowledge what we are going to create. So you better use it well, because you know they say...

"A sword is only as good as its swordsman."

Outside

The genin had left Machi's residence after sorting out a few more specifics about sheathe color and designs. Naturally, Sasuke wanted to keep it simple.

Since the metal had yet to be provided, Naruto left Machi with a good amount of Uto ore as his payment.

The weaponsmith said he would only keep the leftovers and use the Uto or to craft Sasuke's dream sword in case Naruto's plan to retrieve the ore that they wanted failed.

Sasuke was hoping it would. He didn't want to be indebted to Naruto to such an extent. Not to mention that whatever Naruto was planning might be really dangerous and could severely injure him.

Chōji had finally woken up. Luckily for the Akimichi, his brain had managed to repress the traumatic scene and left him better off than the rest.

Team 10 had no clue what was being discussed once Uto ore was brought into the conversation. All They knew was that Naruto was doing something risky.

Ino couldn't control her curiosity and tried asking Sakura and Bonnie but the kunoichi wouldn't speak. They claimed it was a team secret. Ino huffed in annoyance. They had only been in teams for half a day and they already had secrets?. What a load of bull.

"Really can't believe you're letting that man off the hook like that Naruto." Sakura said.

She couldn't talk about the Sasuke blade issue with team 10 present, so she decided to turn back to Machi's infidelity.

"That man is by far the best weaponsmith this nation has to offer and his services are available within our village and at a discount since he's my fellow clansman. I'd be stupid to put myself in his bad book, infidelity or not." Naruto said.

Was he disgusted by Machi?. Yes. Did he want to tell Saya and her mom what he saw?. Double yes. Was he an idiot who would do things without thinking?. Definitely not.

"That Tate guy said you're his surrogate sibling. Don't you owe it to him and his mom to say the truth?." Sakura asked, unwilling to accept Naruto's logical response.

This wasn't about weighing the options, it was simply a choice of whether or not you could do the right thing. Unfortunately, Naruto never saw things that way.

"I reckon Tate is one of the best sensors in the village. If Machi thinks he can sneak around with women without Tate noticing then he'd be a fool.

"The fact that he did it here proves that he knows that Tate knows and doesn't care." Shikamaru chipped into Naruto and Sakura's conversation.

The Nara ignored Chōji's question of what they were talking about, lest he triggered the boy's memories.

"Couldn't have said it any better myself Shikamaru." Naruto said, giving the lazy genin a thumbs up.

"What about his other siblings?." Ino asked.

"Saya?. I'm not sure she knows, but even if she doesn't I'm not about to be the guy who's gonna blow up their whole family.

"Also she's a major daddy's girl. It's uncertain if she would even take her mom's side over Machi-ossan's.

"As for the eldest, he's just like his father. Shameless and lawless. Telling him would honestly make no difference. Knowing him he'd sleep with the civvie woman to 'see what the big deal is about'." Naruto said.

The genin blushed at Naruto's words. The image of the act replayed in their minds once again. As for Chōji, he was blushing because of what Naruto had said.

"Only Kyoto-san is the one truly suffering. But it's no problem. I have a plan to make it up to her." Naruto said with a reassuring smile.

Ino and Sakura stared at the whiskered blonde in anticipation while Bonnie chuckled to herself. She knew what was coming. "What's your plan Naruto?." They asked.

Naruto's eyes lit up like fiery torches as he clenched a raised fist in exaggerated passion. "In a few years I'll inform Kyoto about her husband's infidelity, then I'll seduce her into recreating the scene we were forced to behold with me.

"Then I'll have Machi-ossan walk in to me furiously plowing his wife. Ahh sweet sweet revenge..."

"More like opportunist!." Sakura said, smacking Naruto upside the head with a comical monster head.

Ino shook her head in disappointment. She really thought he was on to something there, only for him to return to peak degeneracy. How did Hinata cope with this?. "You're as bad as Machi-san, Naruto." Ino said.

"Oh am I?." Naruto grabbed Ino's hands and gave her a sly smile. "Do you like bad boys, Ino-chan?."

Ino blushed and quickly pulled her hands away from Naruto's grasp. "Stop sexually harassing me, you bully."

"I can't because Ino-chan is so attractive." Naruto said with a helpless expression and reached out for Ino's hands but Sakura whacked him again before he could succeed.

"Stop hitting on Ino-buta, Naruto. One of your girlfriends is right there." Sakura said, pointing at Bonnie who was just watching them in amusement.

"She doesn't mind if I get myself another girlfriend. Even if it's you Sakura-chan. Will you be one of my girlfriends?." Naruto grabbed Sakura's hands the same way he did Ino's and asked.

Sakura blushed and immediately pushed the blonde away. "I only want to be with Sasuke-kun!."

"Then we can have a relationship like Machi and the civvie woman, and Sasuke can walk in–"

Sakura punched Naruto in the back of his head before he could finish. A comical swelling appeared on his head but the blonde was still grinning.

"What about you Ino-chan. Wanna ride the Uzumaki express?." Naruto asked.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Keep dreaming Naruto." Ino said but couldn't help but smile. It had been a while since a guy had fawned over her this much. Since committing to Sasuke, she more or less muted every other guy out.

Naruto was making himself heard.

Shikamaru watched her teammate get along with Naruto and even manage to tolerate Sakura at the same time. The same could be said about the pink haired kunoichi.

Sakura's worries that her teammates preferred Ino to her were misplaced. What Shikamaru found the most curious was how caught up with Naruto the girls had gotten that they didn't even realize they had left Sasuke to himself.

Even more surprising was how they were discussing the Uchiha yet they didn't notice this. Shikamaru shook his head. He didn't want to think about troublesome things like that.

He shouldn't have even come here. Now there were various troublesome questions that he couldn't answer yet. Uzumaki Naruto was as usual a very troublesome guy.

Sasuke stared at the laughing blonde boy with an unreadable expression. He acted like a dunce but he was anything but. He was intelligent, skilled and very perceptive.

He wasn't the perverted weirdo he had made himself out to be, no matter how well he sold it and how authentic it seemed. Sasuke wouldn't be fooled like the others for a second time.

End

Didn't expect me to drop two chapters in quick succession, huh?. Take that bitches. I am speed.

Things to note:

Naruto's relationship with Anko has improved over the years.

Naruto can sense chakra now.

Naruto has Kongō Fūsa.

Hinata is now more confident and has no problem taking the leading role.

Saya just made A-rank, via becoming a seal expert.

Kurenai has completed her deviant training. Guess what skills she has now. I bet no one can guess correctly.

Mikoto is back in the village.

Kakashi is no longer in prison.

Kakashi's clan has been established. We'll see more from them next chapter.

Naruto's harem is still waiting for your opinions.

Next chapter will be the wave arc. It's gonna be long asf.