Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 1 : Genin Tests

It was that time of year again, the time that genin were put onto their teams of three for their final test. Naruto that morning took his very polished headband, (polishing is what he had been doing all of the previous night) put it on, and quickly ran to the academy.

Naruto arrived just in time to find all of his classmates talking together about who would be on whose team. A huge group of girls were all arguing that they would be the one on Sasuke's team. Naruto sighed about this, wanting to be recognized as well. Little did he know away from that group, there was a dark haired kunoichi with lavender eyes nervously peering at him from a distance, tapping her fingers together while watching.

"Alright class, settle down." Iruka said as he walked in. Seeing that none of his students were listening, he tried again. "SETTLE DOWN!" He yelled using his famed big-head jutsu. Every kid in that classroom quickly found their way to a seat one way or another.

"Today you will be assigned your teammates and new jonin sensei. Your teammates have been assigned based on your overall test grades and skill at the academy." Everyone laughed at the blonde now repetitively smashing his head on the table in front of him.

"Now," Iruka said, "It's time for the teams to be announced. Team 8: Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuuga."

Kiba Groaned, "I have to be stuck on a team with bug boy?"

"Grow up Kiba!" Iruka shouted, "Your sensei is here anyways."

A dark haired kunoichi with light covered robes and red eyes walked through the door. "Hello team 8, I am your new jonin sensei, Kurenai Yuhi! Follow me to the training grounds in one hour so we can commence our test!"

Kurenai shunshined out of the building, leaving the class to look at the 3 genin part of the new team.

"Woah, your sensei is so cool!" One girl said. "Yeah, we can't wait for ours now!"

Time went by, and more and more jonin came in, introduced themselves to their team and then left. The newly formed team 7, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno were all falling asleep after waiting not only 1 hour, but two hours thus far for their sensei to come.

Not more than 15 minutes later, a silver haired jonin showed up, apologizing to Iruka for making him wait, then wandering over to the table where the last three pre-teens in the room slept. Smacking the table, he found that the blonde one was just a dressed up dummy, while the real blonde came from up above trying to attack the jonin.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Naruto yelled jumping down from the ceiling hoping to catch his sensei off guard. However, as he found out soon enough being grabbed by the back of his shirt after completely missing his target, he did not in fact catch anything off guard.

"The other two sleeping at the table mumbled about the commotion and raised their eyes and heads to see a very hyperactive blonde being restrained by a silver haired cyclops.

"What in the world is happening here?" Asked Sakura, "Who's he?" she said, pointing to the silver haired jonin.

"I am your jonin instructor Kakashi Hatake," the cyclops said. "Come with me outside to the training grounds, we are going to be talking about some stuff."

Sakura and Naruto started following their sensei, Sasuke also tried, however he found that the blonde brat had hidden Sasuke's forehead protector away from him.

Cackling, Naruto passed back Sasuke his forehead protector. "I forgot I did that, it was right after you both fell asleep!"

Sasuke smirked, rolling his eyes and saying "Dobe…"

The three pre-teens followed their sensei to a training ground where he motioned for them to sit. After they were situated in their spots, he spoke. "I would like the three of you to tell me about yourselves, what you like, what you don't like, what you do, so on and so forth."

Naruto eagerly started talking. "I like to train and eat ramen. I love Ichiraku ramen, and I hate the time it takes for the ramen to cook. In my spare time, I eat ramen and train."

Kakashi nodded, "He's a perfect combination of the both of them," he thought. "Sasuke, you next."

Sasuke agreed and started, "I like to train as well, and my ambitions are to take down my brother who massacred the Uchiha clan."

Without skipping a beat, "Sakura," Kakashi said.

Sakura nodded and began to speak. "What I like-wh-who I like is Sasuke Uchiha!" She said with a blush evident on her face. Sasuke sighed and began to smash his head onto the ground while Naruto watched the scene in curiosity. "I also like my friends and family." After she stopped talking, Sasuke stopped smashing his head onto the ground.

"Now then," said Kakashi, "it's time I tell you about the second part of your test."

"The second part?" Said the three.

Kakashi continued, "The test you took in the academy was only the first part of the test to become genin, the second part is decided by a challenge that I choose for the all of you tomorrow."

Naruto grumbled, barely audible to what words were able to be heard. "Bullshit… stupid… phony… exams."

Kakashi cheerfully ended his speech. "You should all get some rest so that you are ready for tomorrow. I expect you to be at this very training ground by 8:00." And just like that, with a churning of leaves, he had shunshined out of there.

Sasuke took no hesitation in following his sensei's orders. "See you tomorrow."

Naruto replied, "See ya Sasuke."

"Hn," was the response he got.

"Alright Sakura, I'll be leaving too. Make sure you are prepared for tomorrow." Naruto ran away from the training grounds, leaving Sakura to herself."

– – –

Naruto ran into his apartment and prepared to make himself a delicious cup of instant ramen when he was rudely interrupted by an ANBU black ops perched on his window sill.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto exclaimed.

The ANBU member reported, "Lord Hokage wishes to see you in his office." The ANBU member then vanished.

This was a very interesting piece of news to Naruto. Naruto was actually invited to the hokage's office. Naruto knew this must be very very important, so he got his boots back on as fast as possible and ran toward the hokage tower as fast as he could.

Naruto soon reached the hokage tower where he was escorted into the main office. It was filled with portraits of all the hokage and in the middle, there was a very large desk with a spinning chair where a tired old man sat.

"Heya jiji," said Naruto, "how's it going? Why am I even here?"

The old man sighed, "Naruto, It's time I told you about your parents."

Naruto was ecstatic. "Really, you found out who they were? Who-WHO!" He had been waiting for this moment his entire life. The third hokage promised Naruto that as soon as he found out about his parents, he would tell him what he knew.

"Well, Naruto," the third stuttered, "I've actually known about who your parents were for a long time," Naruto's eyes widened at this statement, "just it has been a S ranked secret about who they were." Naruto didn't know what to feel, betrayed because such a secret had been kept from him, or happy because he was finally going to be able to know about his parents.

"Get on with it!" Naruto said. He was absolutely dying to know who they were.

"Naruto, your father was the yondaime hokage Minato Namikaze, and your mother was Kushina Uzumaki."

"I… am… the son of… the legendary yondaime hokage?" Naruto asked, unable to believe what he was hearing.

The third sighed, "Yes Naruto, he was your father, and a very good Hokage."

Naruto could not believe what he was hearing. "A-and my mother?" He stammered, "Who was she?"

The sandaime said, "Kushina Uzumaki."

Naruto was shocked. "I can't believe it," he said, "it's unreal."

"Yes, but that's not all," the Hokage said, "your mother and father both left specific items to be given to you in case of their deaths. Your mother left an assortment of weapons and techniques for you to learn, and your father left a heap of information about your family lineages and legacies you will fulfill."

Naruto started to feel overwhelmed with all of this being told to him at once.

The sandaime continued, "I'll start with what your mother wished to tell you about. Firstly, your mother wished to leave you this blade, her Sorukishi, her personal sword." The Hokage then passed the sword over the table to Naruto.

Naruto examined the blade, it was kept in good condition, with a red threaded handle and the blade being 3two inches and completely lacking rust. He soon realized something was missing however. "Is there a case I can put this in?" Naruto asked. The Hokage smiled, nodded, and passed over a black obi sash that Naruto could place on himself.

After Naruto checked out the Sorukishi for a little while longer, the Hokage spoke again. "In these books," He gestured to a stack of books sitting to his left, "there are documents of all the fuinjutsu the Uzumaki Clan ever created. These will guide you through your life, and teach you how to become a truly powerful shinobi and seal master.

Naruto took the book on the top of the pile, and skimmed through it, looking at all the notes and illustrations of the kanji that needed to be written in order to complete the seal. He could already tell, he was going to be in for a long, long ride. There were maybe 10 books in the pile the Hokage gave him, and they all seemed to be packed chock full with information on seals.

"You were also given the necessary materials to conduct the jutsu before you can get them yourself." Said the Hokage as he passed over to Naruto a couple of ink cartridges, several quills, and several stacks of paper.

Naruto was very excited with all of the new things he had just received, which made him even more excited for the information that his dad wished to pass onto him.

"Naruto," the Hokage said, "he wrote you a letter himself." He passed an envelope over the desk towards Naruto who quickly grasped it, opened it, and began to read.

Dear Naruto,

I hope that you will not have to read this note, because if you have to, I am dead. There would have been many things I would have liked to tell you, and answer all of your questions about them, but I can only pass on the information through this note.

I'll start with my lineage. I am the son of the legendary Madara Uchiha, so as a result, I had, and most likely you will receive the sharingan. I do not know who my mother is, because she died while I was still too young to remember her. If you receive the sharingan, just know it is a great dojutsu with lots of power, but it also can be very dangerous to have. Many people will be greedy and try to take your eyes for themself. There are 4 stages for the sharingan, with the final stage being the mangekyou sharingan which can only be obtained by killing your closest friend. However, overuse of the mangekyou can lead to blindness, and the only way to find light again is to get the eyes of another Uchiha in order to achieve the eternal mangekyou sharingan. Going down this path will have its severe consequences.

Your mother's side is also very complex. Her father was Hashirama Senju, married to Mito Uzumaki. She was moved to Konoha at a very young age so she could be protected as the Kyuubi jinchuuriki after her mother was the previous. Due to being the grandson of Hashirama, you have the chance of having the wood style. Due to also being an Uzumaki, you will have much larger than normal chakra reserves.

Naruto, you have the most potential of any shinobi I have ever heard of. Together with the sharingan and the wood style, you would be an unstoppable force, a freak of nature. Just remember, it is the work that you put into your training, and the teamwork and bonds that you build that get you there in the end.

Love,

Your father, Minato Namikaze

Naruto was blown away to hear this information. He was the grandson of both the founders of the hidden leaf, and an Uzumaki.

"Old man, I need some time to process this."

"No problem Naruto, head back to your apartment, and take all of this stuff with you as well."

Naruto nodded, saying thanks. Naruto ran back to his apartment taking all of his new things in his hands. It was only a short distance to his apartment, but due to all the books and the sword he was holding, it felt much longer. Once he reached his apartment, Naruto placed down all of his spoils onto his bed, went to the kitchen, and made ramen. That would help clear his brain.

– – –

A little while had passed after Naruto had eaten his ramen and laid down on his bed to relax. He realized he should check out the books more in depth, so he reached over the bed to one of the books and began to read. The first seal labeled in the book, "Uzumaki Fuinjutsu", was supposedly a basic sealing jutsu used to seal large objects, called the basic "Storage Seal". Naruto grabbed a paper, quill, and ink cartridge from earlier and quickly copied down the kanji in the book onto the paper. It took him about a minute to make it as neat as it was in the book, and he noted that he would definitely have to work on the speed he made the seals. Naruto then did the hand seals shown and finally placed his hand onto the paper. The kanji on the paper disappeared, and in its place a circle shape showed itself. Naruto took another piece of paper and placed it onto the circle shape. The paper dissolved into the seal, while the paper shrunk into a smaller handheld size. Following the instructions of the book, to unseal the paper, Naruto would have to add chakra to his fingertips and once again tap the seal. Naruto tried as the book said, adding chakra to his fingertips, tapping the seal, and boom. The paper once again emerged from the seal.

Amazed with what he had just accomplished, Naruto remembered the theory of shadow clones he had heard about, that all the information obtained by shadow clones would be given back to Naruto as they dispelled, he created several shadow clones so that there was barely enough space in his room, and began to study. Until the sun set over the mountains, Naruto read the books and created many different seals with his clones, becoming more and more sure of himself with every second.

– – –

Naruto's eyes opened in the morning to find that he had fallen asleep during his studying. He raised his head off of the book he had slept on to look around the room at all the clones he had made were also sleeping. He made a hand sign with his hands and dispelled them all, and then was instantaneously hit with a huge wave of knowledge. Naruto had learned so much about seals over the last night, that he almost passed out because of the influx of information. As Naruto was bragging to himself about how much he had learned, he glanced over at his alarm clock on his nightstand. His eyes widened as he saw what time it was. "7:45? Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad Naruto!"

Naruto quickly undressed himself of his light blue and white pajamas and fox cap, and put on his classic black shirt with orange jumpsuit and pants over it. He quickly brushed his teeth and checked his clock again, 7:50. After getting his blue tabi onto his feet, he ran out the door to the training field.

Naruto arrived just in time to see Kakashi meeting up with the other two. Looking amused, he looked toward Naruto and asked, "Did someone wake up late?"

Naruto scowled before walking over and standing next to Sasuke and Sakura. "Alright you three, your goal for the next three hours is to steal these two bells from me." Kakashi said as he held up two bells.

"But Kakashi-Sensei," Naruto started, "there are only two bells, and," gesturing to the others, "there are three of us."

"Exactly, one of you three will be sent back to the academy until the next year comes around."

Naruto thought about this. It didn't add up, genin worked in three man squads, so why would one be sent back to the academy? He also remembered his father's words, telling him about the importance of teamwork and the bonds that you build. Naruto put these thoughts away for the moment.

"Now then, when I say go you are welcome to start." Kakashi said. "Also," he said, "the one of you that doesn't get a bell will, in addition to being sent back to the academy, will be tied to a tree and left there for the rest of the day."

"WHAT!" Naruto's face contorted with a combination of fear and motivation.

"Now then, GO!" And in the blink of an eye, Kakashi was out of sight.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all stood in the same place they were in before, but this time they were looking for their sensei. As they were waiting out their move, Naruto thought it would be a good time to discuss what he thought with his team.

"Sasuke, Sakura, I think I know why Kakashi-Sensei only has two bells. I think he is trying to trick us into splitting apart and not working together as a team, which we all know we should do. If we all stick together, we might just have the slightest of chances of getting the bells."

The other two nodded, what Naruto was saying made sense. They had been taught at the academy to work with your teammates in taking down a difficult enemy. They both knew that the only chance they would have in taking down their sensei would be to work as a team flawlessly with one another.

After they had all thought, Sasuke spoke first. "He can move quickly and dodge us all, so we will have to attack him while hidden, and at the same time."

Naruto agreed then also started to speak. "Most importantly, we will have to find him first."

The three of them ran off together towards the forest where they thought their sensei would be. Unbeknownst to them, Kakashi was actually sitting in a tree not too far from their position, listening to them talk. "They are actually working together, without any advice given to do so. This is impressive, if they keep this up, they will definitely become genin." He waited for a moment, then got up and hopped out of the tree. They would be looking for him at this point.

Not even five seconds later, shuriken started flying toward Kakashi. He looked toward the direction of the attack, and saw a smirking Sakura. As he turned around, Kakashi saw a blonde boy with a kunai a foot away from his face. Kakashi quickly dodged to the side, however, was caught by the kick of the final attacker.

Kakashi laughed, he had never had this much trouble with one of his might-be genin teams, and it was only the start of the time. The three of them decided to charge Kakashi again, but this time he would add a little more resistance to their attempts to defeat them. Kakashi side-stepped as Sasuke threw a punch at him, and then kicked Naruto into the side, sending him into a tree as he had tried to pull his little kunai trick again. More shuriken went towards him, but he easily deflected it with his own kunai.

Sasuke and Naruto both got up after their failed attempt, and started to charge toward their sensei again.

"Fire style: Fireball jutsu!" Sasuke yelled as he made hand signs running toward Kakashi.

Naruto made a single hand sign. "Shadow clone jutsu!" He yelled as fifty clones suddenly appeared running next to Sasuke and him.

Kakashi was surprised by these two. "One already knows elemental ninjutsu and the other has massive chakra reserves, ones bigger than mine!" Kakashi knew he himself could only create at most thirty shadow clones without becoming exhausted, but this boy had created fifty of them without breaking a sweat.

Though he was surprised, the clones, Naruto, and Sasuke were no match for Kakashi. They all were danced around and kicked all over the place, Kakashi not even bothering to take his hands out of his pockets.

Naruto threw the last kunais he had at his sensei, which were promptly dodged as needed. Kakashi also noticed that Naruto was out of kunai, so he decided he would play the offensive a little now that Naruto didn't have his main weapon.

Naruto internally smirked. His plan was going perfectly, Kakashi thought that he didn't have anymore kunai, so he charged Naruto trying to see what he could do without them. Naruto waited for the last moment until he suddenly channeled his chakra to some papers he had placed around his wrists the night before.

Flashback

Naruto had been studying his books in his room for hours. He decided he wanted a break, so he went back to the first storage seal he had read about, and created several of them within a few minutes. He placed several kunai in each of the seals and then placed them onto his arm, using another seal he had read about making them stick to his arm.

"Kakashi-Sensei is going to be in for a surprise when I reveal this!" Naruto laughed.

End Flashback

Suddenly, several more kunai popped into Naruto's hands. Naruto quickly threw them all at once at Kakashi who avoided most of them except for one, which grazed his arm, causing a little spurt of blood. Kakashi had really not expected that, as he had always heard that Naruto was the loud-mouthed, not very strategic kid in the academy. Naruto smiled, as he knew that his sensei was not going to let this slide.

Kakashi kicked Naruto hard in the stomach before throwing a kunai at him. Naruto spit up blood onto the ground before grabbing the kunai sent at him in the middle of the air, and spinning it into his pouch, smirking while doing so.

Kakashi laughed inside, "So the brat wants to get fancy eh? If he wants power, I'll give him power." Kakashi ran towards Naruto picking another kunai off the ground as he ran.

Naruto saw what he was doing and grimaced. He knew he couldn't take on his sensei by himself. "Sasuke, where are you?"

Kakashi and Naruto's kunais clashed together, before Kakashi threw a punch at Naruto's gut with his free hand. It connected, sending Naruto flying into the air while Kakashi jumped into the air as well, preparing to make his final move.

Just then, as Kakashi was about to hit Naruto, a black haired boy jumped in front of Naruto, arms crossed like an "X" in front of his chest, taking the brunt of the blow. "Mmph," Sasuke said as the hit connected, he could only imagine what it would feel like in a real fight. He threw a kick at his sensei, who dodged it, giving Sasuke an opening to grab Naruto and run away.

A few moments later, Naruto and Sasuke had escaped from the fight and while Naruto was gasping to catch his breath, Sasuke was waiting for a potential attack to happen, ready to defend if necessary.

Finally being able to talk again, Naruto said to Sasuke. "We need to meet up with Sakura again. The three of us need to regroup and discuss again." Sasuke nodded, and then with Naruto, ran off towards the last location they saw Sakura.

Sakura was desperately looking for her teammates. Since Sasuke ran in to help Naruto in the fight against their sensei, she hadn't seen either of them. "I hope they haven't been beaten or captured." She thought. She continued running until she froze looking at a specific sight. Sasuke's head was sticking out of the ground. "Hello Sakura." Sasuke said, "Can you get me out of here?" Sakura screamed then promptly fainted.

A little distance away, Kakashi watched as his student fainted. "Maybe that was a little cruel." He chuckled. He proceeded to dispel his transformed shadow clone in the ground.

"Was that Sakura?" Said Sasuke. Naruto nodded, it had to be her. "Quick, we have to find her!" Naruto was surprised that Sasuke was actually going to try and find her, but hey, he wasn't complaining. Naruto and Sasuke started running toward the sound of the voice. As they got into view, they saw her tied to a stump, with a silver haired jonin in front of her.

"Yo!" Kakashi said, jumping right in front of Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto got a serious look onto his face while Sasuke grit his teeth. Nodding at one another, Sasuke and Naruto started running at Kakashi. Naruto made a hand sign and created some more shadow clones.

Sasuke, Naruto and his clones, and Kakashi combatted each other with pure taijutsu. Naruto's clones were dropping like flies, while no hits were made onto Kakashi. Kakashi twisted and turned, dodging and attacking every Naruto. What he failed to realize however, is that Naruto had not forgotten about the bells that Kakashi had thought he would, and went straight for the bells.

Naruto felt the bells roll off his fingers as he nearly grabbed them. But right after, Kakashi kicked Naruto in the stomach, knocking him out along with Sakura. Realizing he was the last one left awake, Sasuke quickly grabbed Naruto, placed him next to Sakura, and got into a fighting stance. Kakashi smiled, no matter the odds, the kid was still going to fight him.

Sasuke attacked first, running toward his sensei with a kunai. Sasuke tried to stab Kakashi in his stomach, but was merely side-stepped and was kicked in the lower back right into a tree. Sasuke got up, bleeding from the mouth, and with very ragged clothes. He charged his sensei one more time, throwing several kunai while still keeping the one in his hand. Under his mask, Kakashi smirked, and in less than a second, Kakashi sped over to Sasuke and put him into a headlock, and choked him until he passed out The session was over.

– – –

Naruto awoke first of the group, finding himself not tied to a tree unlike Sakura, he got up and looked at the silver haired cyclops now reading his book. Naruto noted that one day he would have to figure out what those books were about. Naruto heard muttering from over where he woke up and saw that Sasuke had also just decided to wake up. Looking at Naruto, Sasuke wanted to know all the important details. Seeing the look he had on his face, Naruto shrugged, but he also really wanted to know.

"So, Kakashi-Sensei, how did we do?" The blonde near shouted with a foxish grin spreading across his face. Sasuke actually seemed interested as well for once, nodding his head in anticipation.

Kakashi shook his head and smiled, "I never thought I'd actually pass a genin team, but your teamwork is unrivaled compared to any I've ever seen for someone straight out of the academy. Congratulations, you all deserve the rank of genin."

Whooping about their new success, Naruto suddenly stopped when he remembered the still sleeping Sakura tied to a tree. He decided he would write her a note about everything that happened.

Sasuke actually let out a smile before stating, "Sensei, dobe, I'm going home." then walking off. Kakashi nodded and waved him off before leaving himself.

Naruto finished his note to Sakura, leaving it on a stump right in front of them with a kunai lodged in the stump holding the paper in place. As for Naruto, he could think of nothing better to do than go eat several delicious bowls of ramen at Ichiraku. He sped off, leaving behind the note and the tied up to a tree Sakura.

Naruto arrived at Ichiraku with the familiar smell of deliciousness in the air. He went in and grabbed a stool to sit down on.

"Naruto!" Teuchi greeted, "The usual?"

"Yup!" Naruto nodded.

"Alright! Three pork and four beef ramen coming right up!" Teuchi said.

Eventually, the ramen arrived, and Naruto ate all of it. He enjoyed the rest of his day on break, resting his body, making sure he was ready for any missions that he might be having in the following days.

– – –

Sakura awoke about four hours after the genin tests had ended. She wondered what had happened, had they passed, had they failed? She noticed that there was a note left on a stump up ahead, so she tried to reach it. It was then that she realized she was tied to one of the training posts. She tried to break free, but she couldn't break free without a usable hand, and with them both restricted, she had none. She had also used all of her kunai and shuriken during the tests, so there was no way she could cut herself free. Sighing, she thought, "It's gonna be a long night."