Chapter 5: Graduation
Two years have passed, and it was now the day of graduation. Needless to say, I was pleased with the way things had turned out. All of my and Hinata's friends were far above the expected levels of strength, speed, and Jutsu for newly minted Genin. Most of the 'Rookie 9' could now call themselves 'Well-trained Shinobi and Kunoichi'.
I made my way to my customary seat in the front middle row of the class, before being joined by the rest of my friends in short order. Hinata was the first to say hi and claim the spot to right. She told me she had something she was going to ask me today after graduation, and I really hope that it's what I think it is, Shino joined my left side with Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and Kiba taking the row directly behind mine. It was pretty much customary for us to sit in a staggered seating arrangement with three in the front and four directly behind so that we always had at least one pair of us together at school. I don't know when or how it had started, but I thought it was bad ass. Sasuke was technically part of our group, along with Sakura, but they sat to the side together for some reason none of us could understand, though we had our suspicions.
A few minutes later, Sakura came in, looking worse for wear, with a terrible case of bedhead. I sighed. I had tried, along with everyone else, Ino and Kiba included, to get her to train more, never mind seriously, and stop that silly diet of hers. But she remained steadfast in her obsession for the Uchiha. If nothing else, I admired her dedication. The Uchiha had lost his ranking amongst the top three of the class after Hinata and I had gotten everyone to train seriously together, Rock Lee and Tenten included - even after their graduation, causing the class rankings to become much more dynamic. The first two spots were always held by me and Hinata, but the rest of the rookies, sans Sasuke and Sakura, took turns going from third to seventh place trying to maintain their highest ranking. There was a lot of healthy competition after I had beat the motivation into Shikamaru to be the best he could, at everything he could. Which had only increased after seeing one of my sparring sessions with the Old Man some months ago.
Sasuke had been reduced from one of the best students in the class, to being, just barely, middle of the pack in terms of scores and skills. I had tried personally to get him to join us in training, along with, again, the rest of my friends. Only for him to say that he didn't need help and could acquire strength on his own. This happened multiple times. Even after being unable to break past the number eight spot in the rankings, he remained stubborn and insisted on doing everything alone. I told this to both Iruka and the Old Man, and they too, tried their best to get him to open up and join his classmates, to no avail. The good thing is that his arrogance, if there ever was any, is gone. The bad, is that I know what the teams are going to be, and it's going to be a pain in my ass. Even if we are, technically, friends. Though he seems to have other feelings besides friendship given the way he looks at me when he thinks I'm not paying attention.
Sakura walked up to my group and said, "Hi everyone." With a small wave and tired smile. Ino was the first to respond, "Sakura, what happened? Are you alright?" Hinata got up and started fixing the poor girl's hair, while Ino started patting her clothes to get the wrinkles out and wiping her face with some moistened tissues. "Thanks guys..." She begins with a tired tone. "I'm fine, it's just that I couldn't sleep last night because of my nerves and ended up missing my alarm this morning. I just woke up about 10 minutes ago." She finished. And at this, everyone paused. Sakura lived 20 minutes away at a jogging pace. No wonder she looked like crap, poor girl ran as fast as her poor malnourished, untrained body could take her. I whistled. "Damn. With speeds like that, you'd be great at Taijutsu. Or maybe at doing hit and run tactics with some other ninja technique." She smiles at me sadly. "...Probably... I guess I should have taken this more seriously..." She says in a near whimper, tearing up.
"Don't worry, Sakura." Hinata and Ino both began before they looked at each other and Ino continued. "It's not too late to make a comeback. You're already better than you were when you started training with us three weeks ago!" she said enthusiastically. "She's right, Sakura. You already have the best chakra control out of all of us, and you're great with book smarts and grasping complex concepts quickly. You have the potential to be a great Kunoichi!" Hinata also gives her two cents, before the guys and I all do our best to reassure her that she'll be okay. Then after a few minutes of this and the girls fishing up with their touch-ups, she sat down next to Ino and placed her head on Ino's shoulder. "Wake me up when it starts, please..."
...
"She just conked out?! Just like that?!" I raged internally in envy. "I'm so gonna get her to show me how to do that!" I declare passionately to myself. "It's called stress and exhaustion, brat." Kurama decides to chime in with some snark, but I choose to ignore his comments. "I'm envious..." I say out loud. Which makes everyone look at me in confusion. "What? Do you have any idea how valuable a skill it is to just fall asleep on command?" I continue, unabashed. Everyone sweatdrops at my reasoning.
It's then that Iruka Sensei makes his appearance and tells us to settle down. He gives us a spiel about finally having the chance to become a Leaf Ninja, and how things will get harder from now on. I ignore most of his ramblings, until he gives us the details of the test. From what I remember, the Old Man said something about measuring chakra quality, capacity, and control before being tested. But I don't know if this would take effect now or in the next class.
"Well class, since this year we have such promising students with incredible potential, the test this year has been changed to establish a more accurate measure of your potential, and viable skillsets for when you become active ninja for the village." I notice the classroom grow silent and everyone looks at me and my group. Even the Uchiha is looking at my group. "Well... damn." I think to myself. He continues with a proud smile. "This device I have with me," He takes a scroll from his back pouch and removes a device very similar to the chakra control measuring device the Hokage had showed me all those years ago. "Is going to measure a person's chakra quantity, quality, and control. Hence the name the 'CQ2C Machine'." Cool. "We will start in order of class ranking up until the tenth spot. Afterwards, you will come and form a line and we will continue from there. Once we're done with that, I will call you up individually to the next room and you will all perform the 'Clone Jutsu'." He finishes. "Yes, Sensei!" We all cheer.
"Ranking at #1 for the Rookie of the Year Spot, we have: Uzumaki Naruto." My friends all cheer and I blush at the praise. "Come on down, 'uuto-kun'." He says with a smile, referencing the way I used to say my name when I was younger. All of the girls in class went 'Aw!' at the affectionate term. I jump down ignoring the redness I know is covering me from head to toe. "You've used a similar machine before, right?" I nod. "Good, then it's exactly the same." He points to the input section of the device. I do the thing and it starts beeping rapidly before a series of numbers and letters occupy the large screen. It reads:
#1 Naruto Uzumaki – Rookie of the Year
CP = 4000
KR = Mid A Rank
QP = 9/10
I look at the machine for a moment to confirm my thoughts, and look at Iruka, "That's pretty good right?" I ask with an innocent tone and face, already knowing the answer. His eyebrow starts to twitch violently to the point I thought it would fall off and hop on the floor. "Naruto..." he starts, "How in the Sages name do you have more chakra than Lord Third? And don't say it's because you're special, because that still would not account for half of these results." He says, causing the entire class and the people observing the exam at the Hokage Tower to balk at the absurdity of the statement.
I bask in their wonder before I turn back to Iruka to answer his previous question. "The reason for this is that I'm always training in some form. Reading books and scrolls is training. Doing physical workouts is training. Meditating is training. Practicing my Jutsu and control is training. Eating a proper diet can be considered training. Most of the things I do can be considered a form of training." I begin and look at everyone. "By increasing my understanding about subjects and training my body, I increase my Yin and Yang respectively. Any increase in either or both of these will result in an overall increase in chakra. However, the rate at which a person's chakra grows is directly dependent on the genes of the individual. If someone from a centuries old civilian family, with no shinobi heritage to speak of, were to train like I do for the same amount of time; they would gain much less chakra and would not be able to raise their quality to such a high level." I take a pause 'cuz I need some air. "If someone from a notable shinobi clan with generally low reserves did the same, they would possibly be able to increase their chakra by a much higher factor, along with their quality. But it would still not be anywhere near as close to the amount I had gained. But it would be significantly more so than the earlier example. I hail from the once great Uzumaki Clan. A clan known for their massive reserves, incredible life force, and mastery over the sealing arts. Taking advantage of my genetic advantages was only logical." I nod at Shino when I say this, to which he acknowledges with his own nod. "That said," I begin once I see the civilian kids lose heart. "Having good genetics does not make you a great shinobi. You can be born in a major clan, and have no 'Bloodline Limit', or have small reserves, or have weak chakra, or have horrible control. Just like you can be born of civilians and be great in any one of these areas, or all of them." I look at everyone in the room. "The only thing that really makes a difference is how hard you train. How dedicated you are to achieving your goals. And how willing you are to receive help when you need it. Greatness is not born. It is made." I finish with no small amount of conviction in my voice.
I could see the fires of determination igniting in all of them. Iruka is the first to start clapping. Followed by my friends. Then everyone else joins in on the applause. I look around, a little bashful, but happy that I could help inspire those around me in a positive manner.
"Well...then...with that said," Iruka begins lamely after the applause. "Let's continue with the next person on our list, shall we?" He decides to just roll with the punches. I like this guy.
The scores for the top ten students were as follows:
#2 Hinata Hyūga - Kunoichi of the year
CP = 800
KR = S Rank
QP = 6/10
#3 Ino Yamanaka
CP = 300
KR = B Rank
QP = 3/10
#4 Shikamaru Nara
CP = 300
KR = B Rank
QP = 4/10
#5 Shino Aburame
CP = 350
KR = C Rank
QP = 5/10
#6 Choji Akimichi
CP = 400
KR = C Rank
QP = 4/10
#7 Kiba Inuzuka
CP = 300
KR = C Rank
QP = 4/10
#8 Sasuke Uchiha
CP = 400
KR = D Rank
QP = 6/10
#9 Sakura Haruno
CP = 150
KR = A Rank
QP = 2/10
Note: The average Stats for all of the other students are CP: 125, KR: D Rank, QP: 3/10. These are 'normal' stats. The rookies are just OP thanks to me.
After the 'Rookie 9' had finished their measurements, I started to stare off into space and think about My Lady and her next visit. Occasionally, I would look around and make eye contact with the students before smiling at them and continuing my reverie. After that was done, we were all asked to show Iruka the 'Clone Jutsu'. I had to make like eight of them to make them passable, but I still passed.
Not so surprising, we were told to wait about a week before coming in to meet our Jonin Sensei, something I hope will bring me a good team along with it.
And so, the story of how I acquired my harem finally begins.