Chapter II:
A most unlikely team
"Welcome back, Naruto. It has been around six years since we last met," Hiruzen said with a smile, looking at the blond twelve-year-old who sat in front of his desk.
"Yes, it has been some time. If I recall, our last meeting was during my birthday at Ichiraku's,"
"How was your adventure?"
"Quiet pleasant, nevermind the ANBU team that trailed me for the first year,"
"Ah, yes. Kushina asked me to look out for you as she implanted the Fuin on you the day you were born. She told me that once you turned six you might leave the Village for a while, so I had a team on a long-term mission to ensure you didn't die. I initially planned for them to follow you for at least three years, but one day you vanished without a trace,"
"I grew tired of their presence and decided to go on on my own,"
The old man relaxed in his chair and stared the blond down.
"So, at the age of seven, you thought yourself strong enough to survive in this world on your own?"
"Indeed and I have grown far stronger. I doubt there is anyone in this Village that can match my power,"
"Oh? You deem yourself stronger than your Kage?" Hiruzen asked with narrowed eyes and his Chakra exploded around the room, causing cracks to appear on the floor and walls. Naruto smirked and his Chakra matched the Third's output, making the room tremble with power.
The ANBU in the shadows started to sweat under the pressure, hoping that the situation would escalate any further. They stayed in the stalemate for a few moments before Hiruzen sighed and his Chakra started to disperse and the blond followed suit.
"So much dense Chakra at your age, you really grew strong, my boy,"
"And the tales of your power remain true, old man,"
"Well, I might be old, but I am still the Hokage. Keeping in shape is part of the job. I assume you came back today because you want to join the Shinobi Corps and be placed on a team?"
"While I would prefer not to be stranded on a Genin team if there is no other alternative I won't complain,"
"Sadly, I can't promote you without any records of your Shinobi career, but this year has quite the amazing and talented young Shinobi that surely will not bore you,"
"Hmph, I shall be the judge of that. When is the team placement taking place?"
"In three days, the Shinobi academy, room 4B," The old man said and took out an forehead protector from his desk, giving it to the blond who placed it in his pocket.
"Very well, what is the most luxurious Hotel in Konoha?"
"The Falling Leaf, not too far away from the main street. I am sure you will find it,"
"I will be going, then, don't die from overworking, old man,"
"One more thing, Naruto. Do you perhaps know anything about what happened at our border with land of wind?"
"Yes, I have met someone intersting,"
"And that casued you to create a crater the size of Konoha?"
"That was merely side effect of our small fight, nothing too serious,"
Kakashi wasn't amused, not by one bit. He left the ANBU to become a Jonin hoping for a more leisurely position, without having to make any commitment and go on missions only when he wanted or was really needed.
The first problem came when Sandaime wanted him to take on a Genin team. When he heard it, he almost cried. He was no Sensei material and certainly no role-model material, but the Hokage was adamant, going as far as to allow him to choose his own team and fail them if they didn't meet his requirements.
It was a blessing in disguise because as long as he accepted no team, he could still laze about without worry or guilt at not trying to help the next generation. A perfect excuse.
He failed the first four teams. Either not competent enough for Genin or not even a spec of teamwork to be seen. For some time, Kakashi hoped it would continue at this pace.
And this is where his perfect plan went awry. Today was the day of Genin's graduation and team placements. He was late for the meeting, nothing unusual here, but unlike the previous times, the Third had already a team formed and Kakashi had no say in it.
The Jonin sighed and slumped on a bench on top of the academy, looking over his team's files again. This time around, he had a team consiting of two prodigies, not merely top graduates, but two young potential Shinobi that could reach the top of the ladder in Konoha, but this was not what was the worse. Uzumaki Naruto, his son's Sensei was on his team. He was supposed to be the blond's older borther, but to his shame, he felt too overhelmed after Minato-Sensei passed away to confront the young boy, leaving him to fend for himself, alone, only to vanish one night from Konoha.
"Uchiha Sasuke, top graduate, perfect scores all across the board in every subject and practical exercise. Hailed as a prodigy, has an academy score beaten only by a few people, amongst them Itachi, me, and the Minato-Sensei. He awakened his Sharingan at the age of seven and currently has two tomoes in each eye. Specialization: Ninjutsu and swordsmanship. A close to mid-ranged fighter," Kakashi put the profile away and looked at the second report.
"Haruno Sakura, top Kunoichi of the year, second in the class, only by a few points short. Like Sasuke, she has top grades almost everywhere, lacking slightly in Ninjutsu, but still very impressive for a civilian. Specializations: Medical Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. Hmm, an intern in Konoha general hospital at the age of six? Three years later moved to the Shinobi hospital, where she showed prodigal talents for medical Ninjutsu. Nigh perfect Chakra control, rumored to be at the level of Tsunade-sama's level when she was her age," He pulled out the last report, written personally by the third, and sighed.
This was the part he dreaded the most, after all, it was his Sensei's son, the little brohter he was supposed to take care of. He tried, he really did, but whenever he looked at the boy, his Sensei's face flashed in front of his eyes, making Kakashi feel guilt and shame at being undable to help Minato. Thus, Kakashi wanted to watch over the boy as an ANBU and he did, hoping that in time it would get easier to meet Naruto and see for who he was, but before the time came, the blond vanished form Konoha.
The Sandaime had informed him after a few days about Naruto's departure and how an ANBU team was tailing him. Kakashi begged the Third to let him join the team, but his skills were too valueale to Konoha to sinple go on a three year long mission, when others could do it. The enxt time he heard about the Uzumaki was when the team came back after a year, bearing news how the blond vanished, leaving the Jonin heartbroken.
But here he was, alive and healthy, having survived the elemental Nations alone for five years. Hirzuen didn't say too much about the blond, merely handed him the folder that laid currently on Kakashi's lap. It was the thinnest from the three and no wonder why, since there was no detailed academy report or no personal profile like in the presious two files, merely a small piece of paper personaly written by the Third with a Hokage seal of approval.
"Uzumaki Naruto, promoted by Hokage-sama. Specialization: unknown. Son of Minato and Kushina Namikaze. Has left the Village on a solo training trip at the age of six, and returned in the week of graduation. Slipped away from an ANBU team at the age of seven,"
"Naruto... I wonder if he is anything like Sensei," He muttered and stood up, it has been three hours since he was supposed to pick up his team, so it should be about right time to get them. He couldn't have them wait for too long now, could he?
The doors to the class opened and Kakashi found his future students.
Sasuke was sitting near the windows, his brows furrowed and eyes focused something on the outside. The Uchiha quickly turned in the Jonin's direction when he heard the door open. Wearing a high-collared, dark blue shirt with the Uchiha fan on the back, white short pants and a belt around his waist, propably for the Katana that rested on the desk. His blue forehead protector on his head, while white arm warmers rested under ANBU-styled arm guards. Overall a pretty good choice of clothes for a shinobi.
He nodded to the boy and his eyes drifted to the female in the team, she was sitting in the first row, a bored look on her face that was restting on her right hand, a book on the desk. A red, sleevless top, black gloves, knee high black boots and black shorts underneath a short pale-pink apron skirt. From the angle, Kakashi could see a big and filled to the brim pocuh on her lower back, most likely filled with medical supplies.
When he entered, she lazily looked in his direction only for her face to be filled with confusion at his appearence, before she went back to reading her book, leaving a sweat-dropping Kakashi to look in the direction of a certain blond.
In the back of the room, with his feet resting on the desk and an frown on his face, sat Naruto. He looked... nothing like he imagined. Crimson orbs statred into his eye, sending shiver's through his body, the whisker-marks on his face gone and the blond hair that was once spiky and unruly, was now flowing down in a casual look.
Unlike his teammates, his clothes were as impractical as they could get. A white silk shirt with a v-cut, showing a toned chest, and long, black pants that looked like they would rip under just a little strain. His footwear were a pair of white leather shoes, unfit for fast and dynamic movement while golden bracelents, necklace and earrings hung over his body.
"You are late, mongrel,"
This... was certianly not what he expected to hear from the blond. He blinked once before pointing at himself, as if asking if the blond meant him. Naruto grunted before stading up.
"Yes, I am speaking to you. Now, do you mean to waste more of my time or can we get this over with?"
Although neither Sasuke or Sakura would say it out loud, they agreed with Naruto and followed his suit and stood up.
"So, what are we doing?" Sakura asked as she put the book in her pouch, making the Jonin wonder if she had a seal written on the insdie of it.
"Eh... meet me on the roof," Without another word, the silver-haired Jonin turned into a cloud of smoke, leaving three irritated Genin in the classroom.
"The insolence! Not only being three hours late, he didn't even apologize," Naruto muttered with a twitching eyebrow, heading to the meeting place.
'Great, a lazy Sensei, a rich rude jerk and the bookworm. How could this get worse?' Sasuke thought in despair, heading towards the stairs after his female teammate.
While he had nothing personal against the girl, she was more asocial than he was and that was saying something. Whenever he saw her, wether it was in the academy or the park that was near the Uchiha compoud, she was always reading books or doing homework. Honeslty, he has never seen her interact with anyoine else than Ino and even then it was only a handful of times.
While this put her above any and all of his fangirls, being on a team where he coudln't speak with either of his teammates would be difficult. Maybe at least Kakashi-Sensei was normal, he could only hope.
Kakashi sat on the rooftop of the academy, a look of emberassment under his mask. He held his head between his hands and despaired about his first impression of the team. 'Well, thats not what i expected, plus I totally forgot my speech! Alright, alright, just play it cool and act like it didn't bother you, Kakashi,'
It bothered him a lot, these kids were not normal. From the chilling look from Naruto, to Sakura's complete dismisal of him and the hope in Sasuke's eyes that he was normal, Kakashi didn't know how to react first time in a long time. No Genin team has ever gave him this attitute, hell, even full fledged Shinobi didn't dismiss him so quickly.
Hearing the sound of steps nearing him from the stairs, Kakshi took a few deep breaths, opening his Icha Icha book and slouching in his seat.
'Nice and cool,'
"Wha-!" Kakashi jumped to the side, avoiding a golden spear which crashed into his previous position. He looked the direction the weapon came from and blinked upon seeing a golden ripple in the air above Naruto's shoulder. The blond in question frowned, crossing his hands as the portal vanished and the spear turned into golden particles.
"Ho, I missed,"
Kakashi was stunned for a moment and right as he was about to burst out and admonish the blond, he felt a tap on his shoulder. His eyes widened and out of reflex, the Jonin jumped back only to meet Sakura's curiously reading his Icha Icha with wonder.
'What?! I didn't even sense her and my Icha Icha-'
"Give it back!" The silver-haired Jonin grunted with a frown and took his priced possesion back from the pink-haired girl. Said girl only grinned before sitting down next to Sasuke.
"Can we begin already, Sensei?" The Uchiha asked, looking at him with pitying look.
"I-Ehh, yes yes," The Jonin cleared his throat and look and his three future Genin, sitting in front of him on a stone bench. "Let's starts with introductions, you first," Kakashi pointed at the seemingly only normal Genin on this team.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," A long silence filled the rooftop, Kakashi groaned in his head while the three Genin stared at him.
"Alright, tell us about your likes, dislikes, hobbies and dream for the future?" The last Uchiha sighed and thought for a second what to say.
"My likes are training, my dislikes are breaks between trainings. My hobbies are training and reading my Clan chronicles and my dream? I have two, the first one is to rebuild the Uchiha Clan to it's former glory and the second is to bring Uchiha Itachi to justice,"
Kakashi awaited any sign of burning hate or anger from the raven-hairen teen, only to be suprised to see a calm look in his eyes. It reminded him of the look many older Shinobi had when speaking of duty, of something that had to be done for the greater good. Honestly, it shocked the silver-hiared Jonin, he didn't expect Sasuke to be so mature about this.
"Good, good," he pointed at Sakura. "Ms. bored bookworm next," He said with an eye-smile, getting a glare from the pinkette.
"My name is Haruno Sakura, my likes include reading, cooking and helping others. I dislike loud and arrogant people," she shot a quick look at Naruto, who scoffed. "My hobbies are working at the Shinobi hospital and learning new things. My dream is to become the best medic-nin and to find a certain person,"
"O-key, goldie?" Unlike Sakura's heated glare, Naruto's cold scowl still send cold chills down his spine. It was the eyes, they reminded him too much of the Kyubi and not enough of his Sensei, but maybe that was for the best. God knows how he might have tried to ignore the blond because he looked like his father.
"Hpmh, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, don't forget it mongrels. My likes are power, treasures and collecting anything of worth, my dislikes are worthless people and things and weakness. My hobbies are finding riches to claim as mine and epxanding my fortune. My dream is not unlike the Uchiha mongrel's, but instead of just rebuilding my Clan to it's former glory, I want to make the Uzumaki the most important Clan in the world,"
'So, Sasuke is more emotionally stable than suspected, Sakura is one of the few girls this generation that isn't a fangirl and Naruto... he will be difficult to deal with,'
"What's with calling us all mongrels," Kakashi asked suddenly and the blond gave him a stupid look, as if the answer should have been obvious.
"None of you are worth the honor of me calling you by your names, so unless I deem you worthy, I shall call you mongrels,"
"What?" Sakura muttered under his breath with an irritated look and Sasuke just shook his head with a sigh.
"Well, I am a Jonin, known rather well throughout the world, so I think-"
"Do you think that I care what other mongrels think about you? So long you don't prove your worth to me, you are silver mongrel, she is book mongrel and he is Uchiha mongrel,"
Another bount of silence filled the rooftop before a arguemtn broke out between all four of them, loud enough to be heard in the empy corridoors of the school and on the school grounds.
Kakashi sat down witha groan, looking at the irritated looks on Sakura and Sasuke, both sending deathly glares to the smirking blond. They tried to make him change their nicknames for the last 15 minutes with well formed arguments about teamwork, but also with insults, yet Naruto didn't buldge a bit, only insulting them back, having his small, arrogants smirk on his face the whole time.
"Alright, alright, listen up," Kakashi clapped his hands to get their attention, achiving it partly, because every few seconds the two Genin would send a glower at the blond. "There is still one thing we have to do before you are formally a full-fledged Genin team,"
"What is it, Sensei?" For a moment the silver-haired Jonin thought of telling them about the fail-rate, but he knew from the short interaction today that it wouldn't faze them even a bit, so he decided to skip the theatrics.
"Tomorrow morning, we will have a final test to see if you are ready to join the shinobi corps. Meet me at training ground seven at dawn," Without another word, Kakashi vanished in a cloud so smoke, leaving three Genin canditaes by themselves.
"A test to see if we are ready?" The blond scoffed and turned to leave.
"Wait," Naruto turned to look at Sakura, whos spoke out. To be honest, she didn't want to do this, but they were a team now. "Maybe we should think about some tactic for tomorrow as a team?"
"Please, there is no need,"
"But he is a Jonin, experienced one at that," She tried to argue with the jerk, only to make him smirk.
"Maybe you didn't sense it, but I am sure the Uchiha mongrel did. He is nothing special, his Chakra reserves are nothing compared to mine and the Uchiha,"
"Really?" She turned to her third teammate who nodded. "Still-,"
"No, the silver mongrel, while known in his prime, is currently a shell of his former self. There is nothing to worry about," Without another word, the blond walk away. Sakura groaned and turned to Sasuke to vent.
"He is so arrogant, can you understand it?" She blinked at the empty spot next to her, the Uchiha nowehre to be seen.
"Assholes," She growled under her breath and went her way.
Yo! Here we are, I had planned to finish the Chapter after the final test, but... I don't know when I will be able to write it. So I have decided to cut the Chapter here and give you at least something to read.
Hope you liked it, let me know what you think about the new team seven.
That's all for now, see ya!