Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Category: Gen

Fandom: Naruto

Relationships: Tenten - Uzumaki Naruto - Uchiha Sasuke (Friendship/Gen)

Characters: Uzumaki Naruto; Tenten: Uchiha Sasuke; Hatake Kakashi

Additional Tags: Team as Family

Language: English

Chapter I: The Recommendation

Summary: Kakashi trains a different Team 7 consisting of Naruto, Tenten and Sasuke in a world with out Akatsuki/Ōtsutsuki/Reincarnation. It's only natural that they grow quite strong. Not Light hearted fluff, but not very dark/"realistic" either.

"We are going to leave the world a better place than it was when we found it."

- Hashirama Senju to Madara Uchiha

"I want to recommend Naruto Nam…," Kakashi started but was interrupted by a glare from the Hokage, " Naruto Uzu…" This time Sarutobi spoke up a sharp edge in his voice, "Kakashi! Don't!"

The silver haired Jōnin, gritted his teeth, but kept what he thought to himself, "I want to recommend Naruto and Sasuke for early graduation."

The Sandaime calmly looked at the Elite Jōnin standing in front of him, unwavering even at the piercing look of the old Hokage, "Explain!"

A simple order but spoken in a tone that clearly conveyed the message, that, if Kakashi didn't have a damn good argument, he would come to regret this dearly. Truthfully anyone other than the Copy-Nin would have been kicked out of the office and have a mark on their record by now.

"Both of them are going to be incredible Shinobi one day, even though Naruto doesn't show any sign of this yet," Hiruzen didn't even raise his eyebrow, that Naruto would become an outstanding ninja one day had been clear the moment he was born, no, even before. His lineage and later the Bijū that was sealed inside him, didn't leave room for any doubt on that topic. "Besides that, both are already extremely important to the village, Sasuke for his genes as the last Uchiha in Konoha and Naruto because of the Kyūbi. It would be too risky to give them any sensei other than me," the Jōnin said without missing a beat, not even the tiniest amount of arrogance in his voice. The Hokage couldn't disagree with Kakashi either, the silver-haired men were better than anyone still loyal to the village, besides himself and his student Jiraiya of course.

"What you are saying is true Kakashi. But you failed to explain why they should be made Shinobi early, especially Naruto."

"To be blunt, both won't improve much in the academy and none of the females in their year are suited to be on a team with them. If you don't want to break the regular team placement and make them a two-man squad, they will need to graduate early." The option of putting them on a team with another male, while theoretical possible, was highly unorthodox. Some mission simply needed a Kunoichi, not for seduction, as some might think, this could be handled by any Shinobi with a simple transformation after all, but for interaction with some of the more conservative females that existed en masse outside of Konoha.

"Why do you rule their classmates out?" the Hokage asked, after taking a drag from his pipe.

"Out of their entire grade, only three have been marked as potential candidates for a Jōnin-Team. Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyūga and Ino Yamanaka. Considering the reports from the academy and what we know about Shinobi with similar backgrounds, Naruto will most likely be a Ninjutsu powerhouse, with decent Taijutsu and some Fūinjutsu if we are lucky. Sasuke on the other hand shows and enormous potential in Genjutsu, not surprising considering that his parents are Fugaku of the Wicked Eye and Mikoto of the Mirage and the skill Itachi has. Likewise, he already has a pretty decent Taijutsu for an academy student and might even take up Kenjutsu like his mother one day," the Copy-Nin calmly analyzed the current and most likely future skills of both boys.

"So, two close range fighters that can throw in high ranking Genjutsu or Ninjutsu? I take it the girls are unfit to complete this team?" Sarutobi asked with a small frown on his face.

"Yes, Hinata Hyūga, will, most likely, like the rest of her clan, only develop Taijutsu skills. On top of that, adding an unsealed Hyūga to our Jinchūriki and last Uchiha is just asking for trouble. Sakura Haruno has incredible Chakra Control, likely to become a medic or a Genjutsu specialist, otherwise she seems to be, to be blunt, utterly useless. While a medic is a great addition to any team, we can't risk having a person dragging them down in their fights. Ino Yamanaka, would be our best choice, but I suspect that she is already assigned to the Nara and Akamichi?"

"You're right, there will be an Ino-Shika-Chō combo again and you are making great points about their possible teammate. But why should they be put on the same team in the first place?"

"The honest answer is that no one besides me can teach Sasuke about his Sharingan and it will be a cold day in hell before I give sensei's son to some rookie Jōnin, who will dismiss him as an unskilled brat, besides that they are both already rivals and will be able to push each other, something that neither I nor Itachi really had when we were young, but profited from once we found Shisui and Gai respectively."

The Sandaime looked skeptical at Kakashi not convinced by the arguments, the silence would feel suffocating to anyone else. "I have watched them in the last weeks," Kakashi started again, "The instructors don't actively sabotage Naruto, but neither do they try to help him in any way. I find it most likely that he won't learn anything new in the coming year." Hiruzen sighed, he had known that something like that was most likely happening, he couldn't really punish it and even if he did the next instructor would do the same thing again. That was the general problem with Naruto, he wasn't beaten, hunted or brutalized by the village, but ignored. "Fine, you have convinced me, but who do you want to put on their team?"

"Her name is Tenten, wickedly good with weapons for her age," and a orphan like them was left unsaid. But the Hokage had already know that, just like he was familar with just about any promising shinobi and most of the less promising ones.

"If I was to agree what else would you ask of me?"

"An extended training period for all of them."

"A leave of absence for your whole team? Before they even have been officially established?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked curious.

"Yes, sir."

"And how long should this be?"

"As long as they need but not more than 14 months," Kakashi cringed inwardly. He had a good idea what his request would mean for the village. Time was a luxury most ninja couldn't afford, having three Genin of the roster wouldn't hurt Konoha, but Kakashi was one, if not the, Top-Jōnin of the village, the figurehead potential clients saw when they choose who to contract. If Kakashi's request was granted, it would mean that other teams could be given less leeway, anything else might be seen as a sign of weakness, which would lead to the loss of clients in the best, and war in the worst case.

"14 months? That's nearly half the time Konoha grants for Training Trips as an apprentice. What would warrant something like that for fresh out of the academy Genin?" he asked, though he had a good idea why Kakashi wanted to keep them away from the village for a longer period.

"Public attention will be on both Sasuke and Naruto, even more so after they graduated early. Iwa has become more restless and I would prefer that they are ready as fast as possible for anything that could be thrown at them, instead of having to adept to the Shinobi life in the middle of a war."

The Hokage took a long drag on his pipe, what Kakashi said was true, having a Team that might rival his own students, even if something like that would mostly take more than one year, would prevent Iwa or Kumo, or any other hidden village for that matter, from becoming to daring, furthermore Kakashi would make a better successor like that. Because even though he knew that the silver haired Jōnin wasn't particular interested in the job, he was the one of the two reliable option there was and that would be there for quite some time. He was under no illusion that he could stay in office long enough for someone of Naruto's generation to take over.

"You are aware that Konoha hosts the Chūnin exams in one and a half year?"

"Yes, I thought that would be a good point for them to… present themselves to the world."

"Six months, afterwards you start to take missions, if you complete them fast enough, I won't complain if you decide to remain on a training trip with your students for the following eight months. I want reports on their progress, you have my support if you need any further resources. You are placing a heavy burden on yourself and your students."

"I'm confident that they have the ability to fulfill your expectations, Hokage-sama."

"14 months, not a day longer, prepare them to annihilate their competition at that point."

o0o0o

"Naruto, come back here in this instance!" cried out an outraged Iruka, who was currently chasing the blonde Jinchūriki that was skipping class.

"Ha, no way! You will never catch me," said the blonde while dodging another instructor that was trying to grab him, before he could make an escape through an alley, an Anbu flickered in front of him.

"Uzumaki-san! Hokage-sama wants to speak with you. Please come with me," the Fish-Masked Ninja said, before grabbing Naruto's shoulder and flickering towards the Hokage's office.

Arriving in the office, the Sandaime dismissed his Anbu, before leveling his gaze at the boy and asking, "Naruto, what can you tell me about the Kyūbi attack?"

Naruto, being the dead-last student, he was, could only recite parts of the things they learned in the academy, but he was able to remember the most important things, nonetheless.

"Good job Naruto, you are right about the attack costing us many Shinobi. But do you know how exactly the Nine-Tails was defeated?"

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows before answering, "A bad-ass Jutsu?" The Sandaime shook his head, encouraging Naruto to guess again, "Hm, but the Kyūbi was a massive beast that was like a force of nature. What besides a super-cool Jutsu could do this?"

"Fūinjutsu," Hiruzen simply answered just to elaborate after seeing Naruto's expression. "Fūinjutsu is the art of sealing, skilled users can do pretty much anything with it, from storing simple goods to paralyzing persons or even a seal that could summon a Shinigami."

"What? That is awesome," Naruto exclaimed excited.

"Yes, sadly it comes with a great cost. But despite that, I want you to tell me if you feel… different sometimes."

The blonde blushed before murmuring, "Iruka already gave us The Talk, jiji. I'm not an idiot."

Sarutobi palmed his face before starting to chuckle. "No, I don't mean… that sensation. I mean have you felt some strange rage or a different kind of Chakra?" The Jinchūriki just shook his head and the Sandaime kept talking.

"Naruto, even with summoning a Shinigami, there was no way for the Yondaime to kill the fox. It's a being of Chakra and can't be destroyed. The only thing he could do was seal it away. Unfortunately, the only thing that can contain something as mighty as the Kyūbi is a human," seeing that Naruto wasn't catching on, Hiruzen asked Naruto, "When is your birthday?"

"10th October," Naruto said without pausing for a second. "The day of the attack. Why is this importa…," the blonde asked before he trailed of and his eyes widened to the size of saucers. "No way, but why me and why didn't you tell me before?"

"I didn't tell you because I thought it was best to let you live a childhood as normal as possible under your… conditions, furthermore I didn't want you to mistake yourself as the Kyūbi," the Sandaime said with regret in his voice for failing to keep this information a secret.

"So that's why the adults seem to mistrust me before we even met. Tell me how that was better than being told the truth?" Naruto said, with a frown upon his face, before jumping up and yelling in the Hokage's face. "But why me? Did he just grab the first kid he saw and decided to stick the fucking Kyūbi into me?

"My successor believed that you could not only hold back the power of the Kyūbi, but also use it in the future. And he was right you have done a great job until now."

Naruto started to pace around angrily before narrowing his eyes, "Why? Why should I be able to use it? How did he know that? What could possibly make him trust me a random orphan, with the most dangerous Tailed Beast?" he calmed down after a few moments of walking around in the office, not even expecting an answer from the old man, because he didn't think that the Hokage knew it in the first place. He took a few calming breaths, before telling himself that nothing had changed, what happened had happened, he couldn't change it no matter how much he wanted, and their wasn't really someone he could be angry at either. Afterall hadn't the Yondaime used Naruto to seal the Kyūbi, the blond would have most likely died on the day he was born, when the fox leveled the village.

"So why do you tell me now, what does this change for me?" asked Naruto

"Nothing, this changes nothing, you simply know more about yourself now. And I'm telling you now because… someone had brought it to my attention that it would be the best course of action to change you learning environment."

"Huh?, asked the blond perplexed by the statement, "Does that mean I'm kicked out of the academy."

"No, on the contrary. You are being assigned to a Genin Team, alongside the current graduates."

"Huh, so you finally realized how awesome I'm? About time," Naruto exclaimed boldly, being back to his usual self.

The Professor merely chuckled, Kakashi would bring him back to reality soon enough.

o0o

As an Uchiha and the rookie of the year, Sasuke prided himself with being an excellent ninja, nonetheless it was surprising to him that he was chosen to graduate early, even more so because he didn't have to take any kind of test.

When he was told to be at the training ground tomorrow, he hadn't thought about asking for a time, so he simply concluded that he would show up at the regular time the academy started.

Now four hours later, at 11 am, he was staring at the loser of his class, who just had arrived at the training ground, frantically asking if he was too late.

Several meters away from both boys, Tenten was practicing with her Kunai, while wondering what two academy students did here.

All of them were broke out of their individual activities when a tall, silver-haired men appeared in their midst, while greeting them with a simple, "Yo."

"Are you my sensei?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Maa, maybe but first off, I think introductions are in order," he said while pointing at the ground before him, telling the Genin to sit down. After they were seated, he begun, "I'm Kakashi, I like things and I don't like other things. You're up blondie."

o0o

"I'm not impressed," was the Jōnin simple statement after his three Genin had finished introducing themselves. "All of you failed to acknowledge your weakness, and that despite having such similar problems…" he mused for a second before continuing, "Like most Genin you think way to much of yourself, you are so arrogant that it not only endanger your lives but that of your teammates."

The three looked like they were about to protest when they felt a Kunai pressed against their throats, "Don't lie to yourself, right now you wouldn't be able to take on any decent ninja, your only chance to get to one would be to work as a team, though I can't see that happening with a bunch as arrogant as you."

Before they could respond Kakashi already continued, "Luckiy you are still young and your flaws can be correct. We will start your training now," and without further ado Kakashi casted a sleeping Genjutsu, immediately knocking out all three Genin. The silver haired Jōnin smiled behind his mask as he grabbed the three of them, placing two on his biggest summon, Bull, why he carried the last one over his shoulder. He immediately proceeded towards the gate were he signed out himself and his team and started to tree-hop towards the north into parts of the Land of Fire that would proof… interesting for his students.

Finding a suitable clearing, he dumped them on the ground before producing a note from his pocket alongside a few items that would proof useful for their survival. With everything in place, he dismissed Bull and set himself in a tree branch, before casting a cloaking technique over himself and lifting the Genjutsu that had kept his Genin sleeping for the past hours.

#1 Cross posted on Ao3, I strongly recommend reading there, Updates are usually faster on Ao3

#2 I have written this chapter as well as others back in 2021, since then I haven't really done any writing of this and instead focused on other projects in never published. Maybe publishing this will make me want to write more, maybe not.

#3 Canon Changes: No Akatsuki/Ōtsutsuki/Reincarnation: The Akatsuki are awesome villains, because they aren't purely evil. But I have read stories about them way too often, therefore they will make an appearance as an organization to fight for Ame's freedom, at most. Ōtsutsuki kind of destroyed the universe for me, as did the Ashura/Indra thing. Sage of Six Path is dead and will remain that way. No Reincarnation means Madara never developed the Rinnegan, so Hagoromo was the last user, but Hashirama keeps his wood style (though that might not be an Ashura thing in the first place, who knows). No Izanagi and Izanami, they are way to overpowered. Also, some of the Mangekyō and EMS stuff will work differently but I explain it when I cross the bridge. Lastly Hashirama cells won't be the solution to everything (they can't let you use Kotoamatsukami every day, or give everyone the ability to use Wood Release.)

#4 Timeline: The calendar begins with the first Five Kage Summit. The story begins a year before canon, in the year 46 K.E. (Kage Era)

#5 I don't own Naruto, but that should be obvious given that this story posted on a site for FF. There is a ton of inspiration I had for this work, "Shinobi: Team 7" has massively influenced the look of each chapter, the "How to make a team" series, " Team 7's Ascension: Blood Wings" and " A Political Perspective" are the main influence for the content. All of these are great Fics and I can only recommend reading them.

#6 Science and Sizes: The Narutoverse is rather weird technique wise, they have televisions and other system that seem to fit into the 1980's but some other inventions that would be common for this time are completely missing. I will simply go with a society that is a mix between this and the Edo period (1600-1850). Because it destroys this world for me, there won't be some advanced Chakra machinery, like those things in Boruto. Because pre-modern population sizes are always kind of blury, espacially for a time frame as long as the Edo period, I will go with a population size of roughly 37 Inhabits/km, that comes close to the number the US has and brings fire country to nearly 20 Mio. Inhabitants (area of 540.000 km (roughly the size of France).

Look at Ao3 for my map of the elemental Nations, I will do much worldbuilding around this map. Like determining the distance between Wave and Konoha to be around 500km (so around 12 hours of travel at a speed of 40km/h). 40 - 60 km/h will be the (fast) traveling speed for most characters. One the map Suna and Konoha are 1400km away from each other, with a traveling time of 23h at 60 km/h, something that adds up with Canon (Kazekage rescue mission three days travel) if you consider that they might take it slow because they don't want to be too exhausted to fight. Feel free to ask any questions you have considering the map.

Also metric system because imprial system sucks to no end.