Chapter 6: He Returns
The twelve year-old was walking through a forest towards the village dubbed Konoha.
He looked up into the sky, and thought over the events that took place since his time away from the village. It had been over five years since Son Goku last had a glimpse of the village known as Konohagakure no Sato. And it was refreshing, finally being back to his surrogate "home." There was a lot he had to accomplish in a short amount of time in his temporary stint back.
The Saiyan continued along the snow-clad path. He wore a navy blue sleeveless jacket with orange sleeves underneath, orange cargo pants, and his usual navy boots with orange lining.
He proceeded to walk up to the gate. The two guards looked at the boy, and asked what his business in the village was, having already forgotten about him. Goku handed the guards the sheet he held in his hand that contained a pass written by the Sandaime himself. The guards looked it over, and allowed the boy into the village.
His next destination was the tower of the Hokage.
- Later -
Sarutobi was sifting through another pile of paper work, grumbling to himself. He heard a knock at the door, and being so glad to have an excuse to take a break from the paper mountain, he allowed the party knocking to enter. He was surprised to see the boy whom he had personally directed to Muten Roshi show up on his own, without any guide or escort.
Possibly a trap or genjutsu?
"Could it be... Son Goku?"
"The one and only!"
The Saiyan proceeded to hand the Hokage another slip that he had in his pockets.
"Hmm... a report from Kame-sennin... well, well, it seems you have been through plenty. Training in various disciplines, travelling the world on your own upon departure, learned how to properly use ki, and more... what can you do with this ki?"
"Hehe. Master Roshi told me it was better I show ya instead of tell. I can guarantee you won't be let down from what you'll see," replied Goku. "Let's just say it's quite the handy tool."
"Very well. I told Muten Roshi to make sure you didn't return here until you were ready to become genin. Do you think you can pass the examination without having to go through the academy?"
"I may not be the smartest thing around," stated Goku with clarity, "But I'm sure I can handle whatever you can think of to throw at me!"
"We'll see soon enough," the Sandaime said as he reached into his desk, and pulled out the keys to an apartment. He tossed the key to the boy. "These are the keys to your new apartment. You'll be in the same building as Naruto; but your room is the one two stories above it. If you are able or want to live anywhere else, you are welcome to return the keys to me."
"Hai, Hokage-sama!" Replied the Saiyan.
"Okay, now then, you have arrived just in time to take the Genin Exams coming up. I will inform the instructors to allow you take the exams regardless of not being there in the academy for five years. You best not fail; you wouldn't want to make me look like a fool, now, would you?"
"No sir, I'll definitely pass this thing!"
"Good, that's exactly what I want to hear. You are dismissed," spoke Hiruzen, who received a salute from the future genin.
The boy promptly left the Hokage's tower, and headed to his new apartment building to unload all of his stuff.
-Later On That Same Morning-
A certain Hyuga woke up just before dawn.
She quickly dressed into her current normal attire: a black shinobi Capri, black t-shirt, and her cream colored jacket. She made her way towards the kitchens to make bento boxes for Naruto, herself, and Sasuke. She was very thankful her father allowed her and her sister to not attend breakfast or lunch with him or with members of the Main Family.
As she walked in, there were the Branch Family cooks cooking breakfast. They bowed their heads to Hinata, who smiled in return.
The cooks were used to Hinata's presence in the kitchen. It wasn't unusual for her to be in there making her own breakfast or lunch. Once the meals were in their respective bento boxes, she waved to the cooks and quickly left the kitchens with a bright smile.
She reached the front door and placed on her ninja sandals. She thanked Kami that she didn't run into her father. If she had to explain why she had three bentos and why she was leaving this early, she wasn't too sure what she would tell him.
Over the past five years since Goku's abrupt disappearance, Hinata changed somewhat as a character.
She became more ruthless and confident during combat. She had a firm voice, she didn't stutter, and she was more quiet and reserved than shy and anxious. However, the voice was still soft, the only thing that changed was the assertiveness laced within that voice. And she fought to her fullest, never holding back in fear of hurting someone. One more difference is that her hair was somewhat longer, reaching the top of her shoulders.
Back when she was naive and still very young, she felt like relying on Goku to protect her at all times when he made that ludicrous promise. She also believed that Goku would help her train, and simply be there for her when she needed him. For a little while she believed that, but when he abruptly left announced, it made her rethink those claims and promises.
When she was bullied for her eyes and status, the boy wasn't there to help her.
When she was close to being kidnapped, Goku wasn't there to save her.
When see was getting punished and disgraced by her father, he still wasn't there to save her.
He lied about all three of his promises, and that initially infuriated her to no end. And then he went on to abandon them all without explanation, just up and left and still hadn't returned in over five years!
From then on, she resorted to training with Naruto and Sasuke periodically to gain the strength she needed to fend for herself. Getting stronger and training was the only thing that could assuage her built-up anger, anger that clouded her mind caused by her father, family, and Son Goku's absence.
Currently, she walked through the streets of Konoha, noticing that many shops and restaurants were just opening up. She headed through the forest to the training ground she was supposed to meet her training partners at. As she stepped out of the forest and into the clearing of the training ground, she noticed they weren't there.
She blinked. Looking up towards the sky and realizing it was just after sunrise, she knew she was too early. Oops. She decided to start her own training. Placing the lunches by one of the three training logs, she took her normal fighting stance. Upon taking several deep breaths, she began striking the padded log with her palms.
The more she thought about Goku, the more she resented him going back on his word and the harder her strikes became.
In ten seconds, she started punching holes through the two foot thick padded log with ease, ripping through the bark as if it were paper. Soon, there appeared to be nothing left of the training dummy, and she tossed aside, slowly catching her breath.
Calming herself down, she re-positioned herself to inflict massive damage on a nearby tree. Right when she was about to strike...
"BOO!"
Came a voice from behind her, and this startled the girl, making her turn around quickly and strike the off-guard preteen behind her. Said boy clutched his shoulder, groaning at the female that was in front of him.
"OW! You've gotten a lot stronger since last time huh," the boy stated, complimenting her improvement nonchalantly, "That really really hurt."
"Oh, I apologize," The Hyuga heiress apologized, before remembering what he just said. "You said you've met me before... do I know you?"
"Oh, you don't remember good ol' me?" With the girls nod and confusion written all over her face, he sighed. "Alright fine, but you might be surprised."
The heiress gave a slight nod for him to proceed, she kind of recognized the voice, but she couldn't quite place who it belonged to. And from his stature, it seemed he was around her age, and he had a familiar vibe to him. Something that she hadn't felt from a very long time ago. It felt different, yet eerily similar to a certain boy with sporadic black hair.
Could it be...?
The boy lifted the hood that covered his eyes and everything above save for locks of his hair, and it revealed to be...
Son Goku. That person. That guy.
The one who had left them all behind, disappearing unannounced. "It's me!"
"Goku... why... where have you been? Why did you leave?!" Hinata demanded, her fists clenching with chakra resonating throughout her body. "You abandoned us all, especially me... and all I have wanted to know was why you left in the first place. You just waltzed out of here like it was nothing, breaking all three of the promises you made to me!"
'So, she's mad at me, huh? Just great,' Goku said to himself as he got into a defensive stance.
"Sorry, Hinata, but I'm not supposed to tell you. If ya really wanna know, then defeat me in a spar. If you lose, you'll give me the three bento's, cause I'm starving!"
Hinata's eyebrow twitched. "No deal, I want to hear the truth."
Goku grinned. "Fine, I'll tell you. If you can beat me that is."
Hinata t'ched, her cheeks turning a bit pink. "Fine, if that's how you want it. This shouldn't be long."
Goku chuckled. "You talk like you beat me already, which you haven't. Bring it."
The Hyuga took a small breath in, knowing that it wouldn't do her any good to get riled up in a fight even if it was just a spar. But she was already riled up to a point just by letting her repressed emotions run through...
The Saiyan didn't move as he waited patiently for the girl to make the first move. The boy also wanted to know how much she had improved since the last time. So far, he knew she could hurt him nonchalantly when he was not expecting, but could she do it in a spar?
He was certain he could push her hard enough to find out.
The Saiyan didn't have to wait long as the girl rushed at him. He had to internally whistle at the speed she displayed. It was certainly much faster than last time and pretty good speed if he could say so himself. Humbly nothing close to his level, but still impressive nonetheless.
The boy ducked to the side as a swift jab came flying by him. He quickly grabbed her stretched arm, twisting her around in the air in an instant. Hinata didn't know what had just happened as she stared at the blue sky above her. It wasn't long before Goku's grinning face came into her line of sight, however.
"Is that all you've got, Hinata-san? I hope not. Otherwise, you might as well forfeit now. You'll never get your answers."
She really wanted to pulverize him now more than ever. The heiress frowned as she stood back up. Goku took a few steps back as he observed the Hyuga girl before him, wondering for a moment if she was going to try anything else.
And she did.
Goku grinned as he began to duck and evade all the kicks and punches she threw at him with marginal effort. This made the girl upset on the inside, her attempts not getting her a hit. However, she had yet to unveil her kekkei genkai, the Byakugan.
In the midst of her frustrations, she gave herself quite a few openings, one of which Goku used as he grabbed her wrist with a strong grip and halted any further attacks.
"Hopefully those bento's taste good cause' I'm starvinggg," Goku said in a normal tone. He was really pushing her to reveal her Byakugan.
Hinata huffed for a second time. She didn't like any of this teasing. Lest of all by the boy who abandoned her and broke his promises.
She wasn't his friend anymore.
Losing herself to her frustration, Hinata finally activated her Byakugan.
Goku raised an eyebrow in surprise when he saw this, giving Hinata an easy opening which she capitalized on. The boy staggered back three feet in pain, a throbbing annoyance in his right arm. Goku jumped back as she tried to knee him in the gut with a follow up. Seeing the fight through her Byakugan now, the Hyuga girl was soon on top of him again, this time her combos being that much more precise than before.
'I guess the Byakugan really does bring out the best of her,' Goku thought to himself as he continued to dodge Hinata's attacks with slightly greater difficulty. The Saiyan then tried to block a two-finger strike, but that ended up putting immense throbbing pain on his left hand.
"Ouch!" Goku complained, dodging precise strikes whilst talking, "That one hurt! You're really good."
This only infuriated the girl even further as she jumped back to put some distance between herself and the boy. She was already panting. She had been putting a lot of effort into trying to land a hit on the Saiyan, and she succeeded once, but not in the way she had hoped.
"How... just how strong have you gotten?" She exclaimed, wanting to know how he attained his strength as of now.
Goku hummed, actually contemplating the question before he shrugged. "I dunno, I'm just me."
Hinata looked at Goku with a blank face. What the heck kind of answer was that?
The Saiyan then titled his head. "But I guess I'll be eating your bento's, Hinata-san."
"Then why don't we step it up shall we?" Hinata claimed, smiling as her fingers became endowed with blue chakra. Goku actually tensed himself up and went into a stance, prepared to counterattack.
"Fine by me, come at me with everything you've got!"
With that, Hinata charged at Goku with full-strength, further surprising the Saiyan and forcing him back. Using his ki to enhance his durability, he blocked all of the strikes with his forearms. He then gave a palm-strike to the girl whom he sparred with, sending her back some. As he lunged forward, Hinata used her flexibility to outmaneuver his elbow and barely manage to graze his midsection.
That made the Saiyan lurch back a step, and she hit him again. However, her hand went right through Goku, and she was shocked to find out where he went.
"My, my, Hinata-san. I didn't think that you'd wanna injure me like that. That was pretty ruthless!"
Hinata's eyes widened when she heard the Saiyan's voice behind her. "How did you get behind me that easily?"
To Goku, it had been simple. He had simply moved so fast he created an after-image before she could take notice. It spoke volumes about his gears of speed.
"Zanzoken," Goku explained, smiling all the while. "That could've hurt a lot if I didn't move."
Hinata sighed as she deactivated her Byakugan.
She could almost sense Goku's grin from behind her, and though she could've kept on going, she internally knew the win conditions were not close to being in her favor. "Fine… it's my loss. The bento boxes are yours to have."
There was no point in going forward with this. As much as she hated to admit it, Goku was outright much stronger and faster than her. She simply couldn't beat him like she could anyone else because it was taijutsu, which happened to be both of their specialities.
Goku smiled as the girl had turned around to face him. "It was a great spar, Hinata-san!"
Hinata t'ched as she looked down. "You're not gonna give me the truth are you? And Goku, don't call me Hinata-san, it sounds too formal."
Goku chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "Sure, no problem. And do you really wanna know?"
The Hyuga sighed. "Whatever. I lost. Do as you please."
The boy hummed, making an attempt to calm her down. "Don't be like that, I'll tell you anyway. And cheer up, seeing you all broody and sad is killing the vibe. You'll be even prettier if you do."
If anything, Hinata's blush came full force. "W-what do you mean?"
Humming again, Goku nodded to himself. "That's right. Smile. Laugh. Be happy. And I'm sure that you'll be that much more pretty."
Hinata didn't know how to respond to that. She could only stare at the Saiyan with wide eyes, her blush still going strong. This was the first time anyone had ever told her something like this to her face, no other boy had saw her the way that Goku did.
For better or worse in the short time they'd interacted in life, he was nothing short of enigmatic.
"Anyways, I left because I was ordered to. Ya see, for some reason I don't know, I was causing a lot of ruckus in the village and Hokage-sama told me I would be living with Master Roshi for five years. I guess since people were trying to murder me out of hatred I had to leave. I didn't have time to explain why, and I'm really really sorry about that," Goku stated seriously, his fists clenching.
Silence. And. then
"...It's okay, I apologize for the way I acted. I didn't know, it's just people told me that you abandoned the village and the like. My own father detested you so much and told me that you were a horrible being...but you're not horrible. Just know that I don't hate you," Hinata explained, patting the Saiyan on the shoulder. She noticed how much tougher his skin had become and how "hard" he felt for his age.
It was unreal, definitely more than anyone else their age in the village.
"Thanks Hinata, for being one of my first and closest friends," the Saiyan thanked, handing back the bento boxes. "And you can keep em, you need to eat more than I do," The preteen said, showcasing his generosity towards the girl.
"No, I insist. Take them Goku," Hinata replied, tossing the boxes back to the Saiyan, which was caught.
"If you're sure," The Saiyan said before digging in and finishing them all in little over two minutes. "It was great! I want more!"
Hinata was fascinated and flabbergasted at the same time by how much the boy could consume in so little time. And the fact that he didn't turn obese from the sheer amount of food that he consistently eats is rather asinine.
"How do you eat so much and still be so... conditioned and healthy?"
"Uhhh, I train extremely hard everyday and I guess I have a fast metabolism?" The Saiyan answered, having never thought about his consumption habits in this manner before. He was often very hungry for food and ate to satisfy himself, nothing more.
"Anyways," the Saiyan continued as he brought his hands behind his head to relax, "I'll see you around the academy. And if you want to spar again, just tell me. Oh and before I go, do you happen to know where Naruto is?"
"He's supposed to be coming here really soon, in fact I see him nearby racing with Sasuke," the heiress explained to the twelve year old, making him nod then smirk. Maybe he could give them all a shocker by showcasing some of his new abilities. He decided to gather his ki internally and let it fester, creating a small wind to surround his athletic frame.
When both Naruto and Sasuke appeared, Goku grunted and a small eruption of cerulean-white ki could be seen as a glow on his body. Then his energy gave an unstable outburst before it calmed itself, settling into a bodily sized aura that surprised all of the onlookers. It surrounded Goku like some sort of tamed, crackling fire, and the wind speed increased in the area by a few miles.
"W-what the hell/heck is that?!" Naruto, Sasuke and surprisingly Hinata called out, wanting answers.
"Heheheh, it's my energy brought to life," The Saiyan answered in part, lowering his aura to the minimal amount. "It's something I've learnt to control overtime from the intense training I've gone through for all of these years."
"Whoa, that sounds awesome!" Naruto stated, happy to see his longtime friend return to Konohagakure after over five years. Him and Sasuke then took in his changed appearance. He was quite a bit taller, standing on par with them. He was wearing a navy blue hooded sleeveless shirt, with orange sleeves underneath. His hair hadn't changed at all.
Goku actually laughed. "It really is," he answered. He smiled over his shoulder at them. "I can tell you've both gotten a whole lot stronger since I left."
"And so have I," He smirked again.
"Is there a way to learn ki?" Sasuke inquired, actually intrigued by it. If it was as good as Goku claimed it was, then he, an Uchiha, should be able to pick it up. Besides, he would use anything he could to get the advantage against his brother, and this ki seemed like a viable option.
Goku pondered the question until he remembered what his master had told him about ki's properties and everything else that came with it. "No, cause' your bodies are already adapted to chakra, and having both energies would probably tear you apart."
"So then why do you have it?" Naruto questioned, ingrained as well.
"I dunno, I was just born with it I guess," he replied, not entirely sure. "My master and grandpa also had ki, along with the Crane Hermit. Very few people have ever had ki, like less than zero-point-zero-zero-one percent of the world. And then a long time ago a lot of them were massacred, leaving even fewer. Just know they had incredible powers, and I wanna follow suit."
"What're those incredible powers? Can you give us a demonstration?" The heiress questioned, making the preteen sigh. Another question to add to his three person interview.
"Alright, so I can do this," Goku paused, charging a small orb of energy and shooting it towards a medium-sized boulder, blowing it to smithereens. "We also have enhanced fighting ability from it. Think of it like a kekkei genkai, but even better!" he finished, surprising all of them, even Sasuke.
"You can even shoot blasts? That's insane!" Naruto exclaimed, now unashamedly jealous of his friends capabilities. "Yet it seems basic and simple, Chakra is more versatile from what you're sayin, right?"
"You're right," Goku confirmed, a little unnerved from the gazes that both Sasuke and Hinata had bestowed upon him, with their dojutsu active. He knew they were looking at his energy, but he honestly didn't care. What he noticed though was that the Uchiha had a dark aura around him that he never had before. It was clouded with anger and hate, something he didn't get at all.
He needed to figure out what had made him the way he was.
"Oi Sasuke, how is everything going with the cla-"
He was cut off by a kunai he caught out of thin air at the last second. He turned to see the Uchiha looking at him with his ruby, one tomoe Sharingan eyes gazing towards him.
The Saiyan turned towards the Uchiha with a 'what the hell' look on his face.
"Don't speak of them. They're gone," Sasuke said with a dark, slightly agitated voice, "I'm going to train."
"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss, but did ya have to attack me like that?" Goku asked, putting his hands up. After receiving no response, the Saiyan shook his head and decided to leave him be. It would appear the mention of his clan made him furious.
"Just leave him be, Goku," Naruto said, defusing the situation at hand, "He'll calm down soon, it's just a sore subject for him."
"Oh, I know," the Saiyan replied, "I've experienced the death of an important person before."
"So have I," the Hyuga commented with a soft voice. "Its...its just part of life, I guess. I remember when my mother died when I was five or so, and it was super painful. I had no one who cared for me after that."
"I'm sorry, I can't relate to that, because I've never had any true family," Naruto added, before killing the somber mood with a smirk. "But enough of the sob stories, who wants some Ichiraku Ramen? It's on me this time."
Goku gave the blonde some props with a thumbs up for changing the subject. He wanted to pay for it himself, but he didn't have the money to do it.
"No, let me pay for it," Hinata interjected, thinking about the Saiyan's eating habits, "I can cover both of you easily with my clan inheritance."
"You sure?" Goku and Naruto asked at the same time, making her nod in response.
"Alright, let's go."
Goku was still very hungry. He really needed to check out Ichiraku Ramen and taste it again. He had been so preoccupied with other things that he had completely forgotten about his favorite ramen stand, introduced by his first village friend. Speaking of which, Naruto was having similar thoughts, minus the part where he hadn't eaten it in awhile.
Hinata on the otherhand, couldn't help but stare at the spiky black-haired preteen right next to her.
'Son Goku...what an enigma...'
-The Next Morning In The Hokage's Office-
In a special meeting room, a long table sat in the center that fit all of the clan heads and the elders.
The Hokage sat at the head of the table, of course.
Hiruzen cleared his throat before speaking, loud enough for everyone to hear, "So, as you all must have heard, Goku has made his return yesterday to the village, and I'm here to talk about what that means going forward."
A handful of the council members didn't approve of this.
"Wait! You mean to tell me that you allowed Goku to retake refuge in the village?"
"Have you not learned of the threat he possesses?"
"How do you know he's not a member of an enemy village at this moment from all these years of being gone?"
"Actually," Inoichi spoke up, gaining the council's attention, "That brings up a whole other topic altogether. After scanning the boy's space-pod thoroughly with the aid of Capsule Corp, we found out that it's technology reigned far beyond our own worlds. The pod is fast enough to eclipse light-speed, which we previously thought was impossible. And it also has its own life-support system and planet coordination system, like it was sent here to Earth. There's no chance that he's from this land, or even from our world."
A man with black hair tied in a ponytail, two scars on the right side of his face, decided to jump in, "What are you saying, that he's an extraterrestrial?" The thought sounded ridiculous to the man, Shikaku.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. And it's very advanced, his race must possess technology that's decades, maybe even centuries ahead of our own, even Capsule Corp, who has just invented capsules by somehow imitating fuinjutsu via technology."
Hiruzen nodded, confirming Inoichi's statement, "I myself have gotten to see a sample of the boys technology."
For a moment everyone was silent, pondering on what they just heard.
An old woman with her hair tied in a bun spoke up, "What are we going to do with the boy now?" Koharu asked.
The Hokage grinned, knowing he was going to stir up controversy among the council, "The boy has told me that he is now an adept ki user. For this reason, he will join our ranks as a genin upon passing the graduation exams."
"Impossible!" A man with pale eyes and long brown hair called out, "ki hasn't been used in centuries, it's impossible for one to utilize it in this day and age."
This caused the room to break out in chatter, making the Hokage raise his hand to silence it.
"Yes Hiashi, that is true. A shinobi in this day and age shouldn't be able to use ki, but that only furthers the point that the boy is not from around here."
Danzo voiced his thoughts, "You say that the boy is joining our shinobi forces. How would his ki abilities benefit us? Our shinobi can't use it, and from my understanding, it was abandoned for the concept of chakra quite some time ago."
Hiruzen again nodded, "Although our idea of ki is very limited in nature, the boy has shown that ki can provide him with rather unique abilities, such as the ability to freely manipulate energy for offense or defensive purposes."
Danzo's eye widened slightly. Hiruzen noticed Danzo's eye widen. Damnit. He continued anyway.
"I think I'll tell Iruka to schedule a spar between him and the students, just so we can get a gauge for just where Goku stands among his peers." After a series of nods, Hiruzen called a dismissal, letting the council members return back to their homes.
-Later On The Same Day With Hinata-
"I have requested that you be placed on a team with the Uchiha and the Aburame. Their skills will supplement yours best," Hiashi's icy gaze met the soft features of his eldest daughter. He waited for her acknowledgement, but it didn't come. "Our family has great influence over the village, including the academy." Still nothing. "You should be grateful for my benevolence on your behalf."
"I want to stay with my friends," she stated aloud, so firmly that Hiashi thought he must have imagined it. He must have; Hinata would never dare question him.
"What did you say?" He asked in a falsely calm tone, his rising fury betraying his facade.
"I said I want to stay with my friends, tou-san." Her voice was even solid now, confident. "Especially Goku and Naruto."
It was not often her father displayed any emotion, even if he did seem to come across as perpetually harsh. But his daughter, the heiress to the Hyuga clan, had just openly denied him. The only time she had felt killing intent stronger had been when Kumo attempted to kidnap her years ago.
"Hyuga Hinata," he stated slowly as he stood, stepping purposefully towards his kneeling daughter. "For years I have invested in your training."
Another step seemed to shake the floor.
"For years I have tried to rid you of your pathetic weaknesses."
The entire room felt heavy now, and Hinata's breathing quickened.
"For years I have held out for the day you would be worthy of your birthright. And for what?"
In a single motion she was against the wall, pinned by a hand gripped about her throat. She gasped and grabbed at his hand, feet desperately kicking against the wall, trying to find a foothold.
"You refuse my kindness. You rebuke my advice. You allow your younger sister to surpass you. You are worthless."
As if those words were the last he intended to speak to her, Hiashi tossed his coughing daughter to the ground, disgusted. "Get out."
"Goku and Naruto..." she choked, struggling to her feet. Her father turned back to her, eyes widening in wonder. Not only had she defied him, but she sought to speak out of her place also.
"What about that mongrel and demon?" He spat, eyes burning.
"They aren't anything like you said, tou-san," Even if she was deemed a failure, she wouldn't allow her two friends to be looked down on like that. Hiashi merely stood, stiff, staring down at his daughter.
"I see the duo has gotten to you too," he said coldly, sneering. "That mongrel known as Goku should've been executed on the spot for what he did years ago. And the demon child should have been dealt with twelve years ago when..." Hiashi ground his teeth, growling at nothing before sweeping out of the audience chamber, but not before one last contemptuous note. "Until you prove yourself worthy of the Hyuga name, do not return to this compound. Trash does not belong in my family."
"Hai tou-san," the girl said calmly, standing up and trotting away from her father.
She felt empty at the moment, like all of her being had just been taken from her. All hope of ever proving to not be a failure by her fathers standards lay shattered on the Hyuga Compound. Her father had finally disowned her. Even though Hanabi had been named the new heiress as a result of Hinata's failures, she never had imagined that Hiashi would simply cast her out.
And yet, she didn't even too much sadness from what had just occurred. She's always been cast down as a failure, trash or a disgrace, and now she felt alleviated from all of it. She could finally be herself. Which was Hinata, not the Hyuga heiress, and she could prove to everyone that she wasn't a failure, that she could be a splendid shinobi independent of her clan.
Her mind was blank even as she walked from the Hyuga estate, a chilled wind biting at her pale face. It was a bitter, cold, snowy night.
She wandered the streets of the massive village aimlessly until she came across a decent apartment building. Once she bought herself a room on the top floor using her clan inheritance, she plopped down on the bed in her room. Only then did reality set in; only then did she realize how alone she was. Just like Naruto, Sasuke, and Goku, she had to fend for herself now. Whether or not it was positive contrast compared to the Hyuga compound?
The jury is out, time shall tell.
-Sometime Later-
"Seriously Naruto, for someone who's failed the graduation exam twice, I would think that you would try to get to class on time!"
"Yeah well it's not like-" Naruto was cut off when he noticed Goku standing off to the side, causing Iruka to notice the Saiyan as well.
"Oi," Iruka said awkwardly, dropping Naruto, "You must be the student Hokage-sama told me about." Iruka took out a clipboard and looked for Goku's name. "Ah, Son Goku right?"
Goku nodded firmly, "Hai."
Iruka glanced at the blonde as he walked through the door before turning back to the Saiyan. "So Goku, how do feel? You nervous?"
The Saiyan stretched his arms, an obvious sign that he was aloof. "To be honest? Not really. I'm ready, plain and simple."
"You sure? You may not have the skill-set required," Iruka asked, raising a questionable eyebrow.
"Pretty much," Goku confirmed with a smile. "Throw whatever you want at me, I'll face it head on."
Iruka let out a small chuckle, "You'll do just fine with that mindset. Follow me."
The Saiyan nodded.
He then followed behind Iruka as he opened the door, stepping through to reveal a large classroom full of adolescents who were chatting among themselves. The instructor silenced them with a clearing of the throat, standing at the center of the room with the twelve year old in tow.
"Hello class. Today we have an old student whom hasn't been here in five years, so try to make him feel welcome."
The young adult then stepped to the side, revealing to the class a slightly nervous looking but otherwise confident boy with very spiky and sporadic hair.
"Say hello to Son Goku."
"Hi, it's me. Again," Goku plainly said, earning a few looks of hate and scorn.
"Now Goku, would you happen to be familiar with the concept of chakra?"
The Saiyan nodded, "Yeah, but I use a different energy source, ki."
The class gasped and Iruka looked at him like he touched an electric wire.
"K-Ki? You can't just use your ki! That's your life energy!"
The Saiyan shook his head, "Eh, I'm still alive."
Goku then held up his hand to where the class and Iruka could clearly see. He decided to just rehash what he showed Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke yesterday by allowing a golden ball of energy to form in his hand, much to the sheer astonishment of everyone in the room.
"You see, life force can be controlled just like anything else. The more I push my limits, the better it gets." Goku finished as he let the ball dissipate with the clenching of his fist.
Iruka scratched his chin, "Interesting..."
"Hey Iruka-sensei."
Iruka turned and was surprised to see it was Shikamaru who had called out to him.
"Yes Shikamaru?"
"Would it be possible for any of us to use ki?"
Iruka shook his head, "Actually no. You see class, chakra has been in the body's system for centuries now, it's something that's become a part of our anatomy. There's no logical way for your body to adjust to ki just as there's no way he could use chakra."
"That still doesn't explain why Goku can."
Iruka and the class looked to Goku for an answer.
The preteen shrugged, "I don't have a clue!"
"Right right," Iruka gave Goku a narrowed look. "Well Goku, I do want to see just where you rank among your peers. So everyone, outside. We're gonna have a little sparring session."
As the Saiyan followed behind Iruka out the door with the class in tow, he could hear the students whispering about him behind him. He shrugged his shoulders, not one to truly concern himself with comments, but he listened in regardless.
"Hey dude, my dad told me about that guy, he's a total freak."
"Really? What about him?"
"Remember that spiky haired brat that used to be here five plus years ago, rumor has it that he was banished from the village until he returned recently."
"Damn, he must have been real terrible then."
Other comments were along the lines of...
"There's no way that prissy, cocky boy could ever make it as a shinobi."
"I know right! He thinks he's special because of that little light show and that ki crap."
"I bet he spends more time in front of a mirror perming his hair than training, who else has hair similar to that? In the real world he'd get killed instantly."
The Saiyan could at least hear a few of the girls were a bit more positive about him.
"Oh my kami, he's so cuuuute!"
"He's almost as handsome as Sasuke-kun!"
"I love his adorable eyes!"
The Saiyan in question did not particularly care about any of it. He currently just wanted a good fight.
Goku found himself standing next to Iruka with the rest of the students lined up in front of them.
The teacher studied each of the students for a second before choosing his three. "Jomei, Kiba, Sasuke, step forth."
The three did as told. Goku noticed that Kiba was a boy sporting a grey hooded fur lined parka, with red fang tattoos on his cheek, and gave off an aura of arrogance with a cocky grin to boot. He also noticed the small white dog perched on Kiba's head.
Iruka spoke mainly to the new kid, but loud enough to where the class could hear.
"Alright Goku, I wanna get a gauge on just how strong you are compared to everyone else from weakest to strongest. So I'm gonna have you fight these three one-on-one. Are you fine with that?"
The Saiyan looked towards Sasuke and grinned, knowing that both of them were eager to test themselves against the other. Goku nodded, figuring it was best to just go along and show a snippet of what he could do.
"Good. Jomei, you're up."
The two academy students were standing apart from each other in a large dirt circle made to simulate a fighting ring.
Iruka and the rest of the class were spectating.
Goku looked at the person across from him and saw his fighting stance had many openings to exploit. He didn't even bother to get into a stance, just standing aloofly, making everyone wonder why.
Iruka held up an arm, "Ready… Hajime!"
"What's wrong huh? Too scared to fight me? Or do you not know a stance, prissy boy," Jomei commented, noticing the relaxation of the person across from him.
He figured he'd make the person in front of him get riled up before attacking.
The Saiyan simply yawned in his face, stretching. "Ready when you are."
"Why you little-"
As Jomei attempted to close the distance, he found that his legs were swept from under him, the momentum sending him airborne, before he felt an outright soul-shattering kick collide with his ribs.
He was unconscious before he was even out of the ring, tumbling head over heels onto the ground.
Most of the class groaned. Just because he easily defeated an average bloke like that didn't mean he was special.
Iruka lightly coughed, "Okay, so, Son Goku wins."
Then before he burst into hysterics, he then went right over the other students heads. "Alright Kiba, you're up next."
Kiba placed his dog, Akamaru, on the ground before swaggering into the ring, meeting Goku. The dog boy still held his cocky grin as he spoke, "You think you're big now just because you beat Jomei? Tsk, I think I'll show you who's top dog around her," Kiba then slid into a fighting stance.
"Can't wait!" Goku casually said, going into a standard martial arts stance.
"I would wait if I were you, you're bout to get pummeled," Kiba continued to brag. "This'll only take a few seconds!"
The Chunin sighed and then raised his arm, "hajime!"
Kiba charged at Goku at a speed much greater than the last opponents. Seeing how Kiba was near the top of the class when it came to taijutsu, the students were far more invested in the "fight."
The Inuzuka proceeded to charge at the Saiyan, throwing a right hook at his opponents temple only to find his fist swatted aside, which left Kiba's guard and torso wide open. The palm-treed combatant threw a soft jab to Kiba's gut, knocking every bit of wind from the teens gut and launching clear outside of the ring.
Kiba skidded along the dirt ground, out cold in a matter of a few seconds.
The students stared wide eyed at the outcome.
An overweight boy who was snacking on potato chips paused in awe, turning to Shikamaru. "I can't believe he just one-shot Kiba!"
The Nara had a hand on top of his head, not believing it. "That already puts him above everyone else, except Naruto and Sasuke. Just what is he?"
Iruka grabbed Kiba by his arm and dragged him back to the rest of the class. Akamaru whimpered and nudged his unconscious form.
The instructor then observed the newest member, noticing how he hadn't even broken a sweat.
The Chunin looked to Sasuke who was already making his way to the ring, ready to put his skills to the test.
He recalled that the last time they fought, Goku won with an adrenaline rush. However, that was five years ago, making it a nullified point of emphasis.
Sakura was the one to voice Iruka's thoughts. "Iruka-sensei, do you think it's a good idea for Goku-san to fight Sasuke-kun? I mean, sure he beat Kiba and Jomei, but Sasuke-kun's the best. And even though Goku-san beat him before, Sasuke-kun's been training extremely hard since then."
A girl with blonde hair tied in a ponytail with a bang hanging in front of her right eye, Ino Yamanaka, spoke up. "Yeah Iruka-sensei, there's no way in hell Goku could beat Sasuke-kun now."
The instructor smiled at them, having a funny premonition. "Who knows, there might be an upset here."
He saw the two boys were standing apart from each other, battle stance at the ready. Both boy's were smirking in anticipation, Goku going into his Kame style stance, knowing Sasuke would be his biggest competition here.
Sasuke watched the first two matches, and knew he had to go harder than usual. "You're not beating me a second time. I've trained too hard for this, you will lose."
'Still the same old Sasuke, just more bitter and cold,' Goku grinned, "We'll see about that, I trained too y'know."
He then turned to Iruka, wanting the area to be a good bit larger. "Oi Iruka, can you take away the circle so we can really cut loose?"
With a nod, he grinned becoming focused on the spar at hand. The chunin proceeded to what he had promised to do.
"Without further ado..." Iruka called. "Hajime!"
Sasuke immediately pulled six shuriken from his pouch and flung them at Goku, the metal stars leaving an ethereal blur behind them as they flew to the Saiyan in missile guided accuracy.
The Saiyan weaved and sidestepped through the spaces in between the first five shuriken, the last one he simply caught with his left hand and flung away. Sasuke made a serpentine run into Goku, at a speed that appeared to be a blur to the class. The Saiyan had to admit, he'd certainly gotten much faster.
Too bad he was still far faster than Sasuke. The Uchiha made to throw a right hook to the Saiyan who put up his hand to block, only for the Uchiha to fake him out by phasing into the air for a roundhouse kick aimed for the Saiyan's head. The Saiyan blocked the attack with a minimal amount of effort with his opposite forearm, stopping the kick dead in its tracks.
Sasuke grunted a curse before swinging his opposite leg up to catch him in the chin. He didn't catch him, as Goku back flipped away a considerable amount of feet.
Smiling, Goku charged up his ki internally and blitzed the Uchiha, catching him off guard. The Saiyan careened towards him, untraceable to the audience. The Uchiha struck, launching a kick, but his opposition vanished in a burst of misdirection.
'Where the hell did he go?'
Sasuke was then kicked in the back. He gasped, coughing up spit as he took the force of the attack head on. The power of the strike moving him forward, making him flip backwards, and the Saiyan on him real quick. As soon as the Uchiha regained his bearings, he used Kawarimi to replace himself with a boulder.
In a display of strength plus momentum, Goku shattered it with ease into millions of fragments.
The Uchiha then turned around to see a fist closing in on his face, catching him off guard at the unrelenting pressure. Sasuke attempted to replace himself again, but this time Goku was much too fast, quickly kneeing him in the torso and knocking the wind out of him. He then backed up before sending a kick towards Sasuke's jaw. However, the Uchiha saw this with now blood red eyes and caught it with both hands, grabbing his boot.
And when the Saiyan tried to twist away, his opponent charged Katon chakra into his hands, trying to burn the Saiyan.
Not wanting to damage his boot, Goku's light blue aura appeared, counteracting the Katon chakra and blowing it off of him. The Saiyan then raised his hands and charged golden hued ki into them as a threat to blow Sasuke's head off.
Realizing his mistake, the Uchiha quickly let go of the Saiyan's leg, allowing him drop on his back.
Rising up via a one-hand backhand spring, the Saiyan kept his aura of ki around him surprising many. He then rushed towards the Uchiha at a scary speed, said person hardly able to keep up even with his Sharingan unconsciously activated.
The first punch was dodged but then came a full on assault, making the Uchiha block for his dear life. Despite training with the likes of Naruto and Hinata for the better part of five years, nothing could've prepared him for the power of Son Goku.
Knowing he was being pushed back painfully, the Uchiha with all of his might parried a right handed punch and spun around, roundhouse kicking him in the jaw. It connected and caused slight whiplash, but the Saiyan recovered quickly enough to catch his sandal. Goku glared gleefully at Sasuke and then swung the Uchiha into the ground, hard. The Uchiha barely had a millisecond to twist his body to where he landed on his back, absorbing some of the impact but also losing some of his breath.
Sasuke quickly rolled to the side when Goku's fist slammed into the spot he was lying, feeling the ground vibrate and rumble around him and crack in multiple places as he climbed to his feet, a three foot deep hole being seen in the ground. The Uchiha was visibly surprised, to say the least.
"Wh-What the hell isthat guy?!"
"First he destroys a boulder with his fist, then he does this?!"
Sasuke's fan-girls wanted to cheer for their hero...but they were too shell shocked to speak.
Iruka didn't know what to think either.
"Keep it up Goku," Sasuke claimed, smirking, his one-tomoe crimson colored eyes gaining an additional tomoe as he spoke, "you're only making me stronger."
The Uchiha then did a back-flip to gain distance from the Saiyan, his hands flying through hand-signs before bringing his right hand up to his mouth. "Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" A ball of flame erupted from Sasuke's mouth, coming straight for his opponent.
Iruka and the rest of the class called for Goku to escape, with Iruka cursing himself for not mentioning that jutsu's were against the rules.
However, Goku simply pinpointed his ki to his hands and used one of the numerous techniques he picked up from his master, the Kiai wave. He reeled his hands back, ignoring the screams of protest and caught the raging flame ball with his bare hands. Using his ki, he created an invisible wave of Kiai force that hit the intense flame.
However, the tactic backfired as the flame only increased in stature, and it surrounded the Saiyan. It was as if he was a wind-styled user...
"Damn!" The Saiyan bellowed, spreading out his arms and thinking quickly.
Realizing that the Kiai didn't make the flame more intense and instead made the fire spread, he unleashed another, stronger one directly in the center of the flame itself. Clearing a narrow pathway, Goku jumped right through the lane and dived to escape from the flame, receiving no damage whatsoever.
Sasuke's eyes widened. That took up a decent amount of chakra, and it seemed his ki powers granted him the ability to deflect some of those attacks. Damn, he felt jealous that he didn't have that kind of power.
In the middle of his thoughts, he noticed Goku wasn't there anymore. 'Damnit, his speed is unreal, he can even create Zanzoken! But I can see it now.'
Or so he thought.
"No way, HE SURVIVED THAT!"
The class stood mouth agape, unable to put words together.
Iruka breathed, "I can't believe it..."
And then as if the Saiyan knew how to counter the Sharingan perfectly, multiple afterimages were left in Goku's wake as he danced around the clearing. From the red eyes of the dojutsu wielder, it was as if he was being...toyed with.
Before Sasuke could make his next move-
SMASHHH!
He found himself lying in a human-sized crater, leveled from an aerial strike by his ki-using opponent. Everything hurt, badly.
"Fight me again...once you get stronger..."
"And then one day... you may show your face to me... once you own the same eyes I do."
Sasuke's eyes burned with hatred and emotion, a third tomoe forming in his left eye. Unknown to him, his power was directly correlated to his emotions and the strength of them. Such was the Uchiha curse of hatred, bred from the ultimate love in the shinobi world.
"That's enough, by incapacitation, Sasuke is unable to continue. The winner is Goku!"
However, even with eyes as good as his, he could see that his body was in no condition to keep going. He knew what he had to work on going forward, and it had nothing to do with ninjutsu or genjutsu or even his technique. He had to gain the physical aptitude to maximize his vision and last in a fight with heavy hitters...like Son Goku.
His musing was interrupted as a hand came into his sight. It was the heavy hitter, showing great sportsmanship despite the fact that he had utterly dominated each of his opponents today. It was something so unlike himself, but he took the hand nonetheless. He had no reason to hate or disrespect a superior opponent, he would just train harder to surpass him.
There was a moment of silence from the class, before someone pointed out, "He...He just destroyed Sasuke!"
Iruka rubbed his head before he smiled, turning to his students as Goku walked back towards his class.
"Alright everyone, class is dismissed." Upon creating a single Kage Bunshin, Iruka dragged off Kiba and Jomei to the hospital.
-Two Months Later-
Goku slammed his fist into the log again, creating more splinters while maintaining the discipline not utterly obliterate it. It was part of his one hour early morning workout, which consisted of 10,000 one arm push-ups, 10,000 sit-ups, 10,000 punches on trees with each arm, 10,000 kicks on trees with each leg, and 24 sprints around the whole village at full speed nonstop. It was insanity quite honestly because he wore his weighted practice gi throughout the entirety of it. By the end of each workout, he found himself less and less winded, so he would bump up the numbers significantly every three days.
And he did all of that before the academy everyday, staying in form and being conditioned to the extreme. What's the point of having flashy techniques when you can't sustain it, or you don't have the power to finish? There is none.
Finishing in about ten minutes later, the preteen jumped into the shower to cleanse himself. Afterwards, he put on his infamous navy blue T-shirt that he wears underneath his orange gi without the orange gi itself and grey cargo pants along with the normal navy colored, orange lined boots. Cracking his knuckles and stretching his typically sore body, he departed for his hopefully final day in school.
-With Naruto; Later-
Naruto groaned as he laid his head down on his table. Iruka was giving another lecture, and to the same person. When would he realize that none of the boys in the class ever truly listened to his lectures, only the girls did? After all they had to look good for their precious Sasuke-kun.
The blonde frowned as Iruka started to scan over the class to see if any of them were paying any attention. Once Iruka stopped looking his way he laid his head down on the table once again and began to nod off.
Goku's eyes drooped upon realizing he didn't care about what Iruka said anyways, so he cracked his knuckles to keep himself awake, sitting to the right side of Hinata.
"Naruto, you should actually pay attention," he heard a gentle and soft voice whisper.
Naruto smiled at Hinata. "Sorry Hinata-chan. It's just that this is so boring. We're getting the genin exams tomorrow, and reviewing stuff like this is so dull."
"Heh, he's right," Goku stated, clenching his fists to hear the cracks, "This isn't needed at all."
The Saiyan then took a look at the beautiful girl sitting next to him, noticing her outfit was slightly different than before.
Hinata looked the same as she did two months; except her jacket was of a jet black variant. She also had her midnight colored hair placed into a ponytail. Why this happened to be the case? He didn't know nor particularly care.
Naruto had actually changed quite a bit however. He wore a black t-shirt with orange bandages going up the entirety of his right arm, removing the classic orange coat for the time being. He sported the same orange, baggy pants that reached his blue shinobi sandals. There was a black belt holding up the pants which had a weapon holster attached to it. Lastly, he wore mesh armor underneath his entire outfit.
"But if Naruto-kun wants to be the Hokage, he has to pay attention in class," Hinata replied to Goku with a slight smile.
"I know Hinata-chan, I can't forget. You keep reminding me," Naruto cut in as he pouted to her. Hinata just kept smiling before paying attention to class again.
The blonde then decided to scout out all possible teammates that could be useful. Of course there was Goku, Hinata, Choji, and Shikamaru but he knew he wouldn't get them. Call it a gut instinct, but he doubted they would be on his team, no matter how much he wanted them to be.
There was Shino, who was someone Naruto found rather creepy. He was exceedingly silent, even quieter than Sasuke and Shikamaru combined.
Then there was Ino and Sakura. He had developed a crush on both of them, Ino was first but Sakura had followed suit soon enough. The big difference though was that the blonde girl didn't ignore him and treat him harshly whilst Sakura did. Though both of them developed crushes on Sasuke, Ino could be deemed "loose" with it while Sakura had fallen head over heels in "love."
And Ino never seemed to dislike him, yet not like him in that way at the same time. But every time he asked out Sakura he received a punch to the head. Yet, both of them made it clear that they weren't interested in him. Also, Ino actually had some training in the art of the shinobi, whilst Sakura had none. There was obviously no comparison, he would rather have Ino on his team.
There was Kiba, and then lastly there was, begrudgingly, Sasuke.
While Naruto would not deny that the Uchiha was his greatest direct rival and goal, he also could not deny, nor would he attempt to, that Sasuke was a complete bastard. He didn't listen to what anyone said, and more often than not ridiculed you for appearing weak.
Except for Son Goku, the one person who even surpassed him.
Iruka frowned at the class. None of them were truly paying attention, save a few. They were too excited about tomorrow, when the exams took place. He knew this would happen, and honestly he couldn't get angry at them. He had done the same thing after all with his own instructor.
-The Next Day-
Iruka held up a clipboard. "So, we will now proceed with the final exam. When your name is called you will advance into the testing room. The final test will be on the Bunshin no Jutsu."
Iruka then called the first student up, him and Mizuki leading said person into the room. As time went by and a few students went, Goku's turn came up and he was ushered into the room.
"Good luck," Hinata said from the seat above him in a soft voice.
"Thanks," The Saiyan replied, making one clap before jogging down the stairs and into the room.
When he walked through the door he noticed that it was a mostly empty room aside from the small desk at the front of the room. At the desk sat Iruka and another man with long, silver hair.
The scarred man motioned the Saiyan over. "Goku, I would like to introduce you to Mizuki, he's a very close friend of mine and is also another teacher here."
Mizuki smiled at the Saiyan and held his hand out, "Nice to meet you Goku-san."
The Saiyan hesitated for a moment, something that didn't sit well with that man's smile. Call him crazy, but he knew that the smile on his face was a mask for malice and ill intent. Despite feeling the urge to kick his ass, he still took Mizuki's hand and shook it to avoid being rude.
"Nice to meet you too."
'I need to keep an eye out for this guy, in case I need to kick his ass.'
Iruka continued, leaning back in the chair to make himself comfortable, "Alright Goku, all you have to do is do something similar to the clone jutsu and you become a genin, as simple as that."
The Saiyan, seeing that coming, channeled his ki from the core of his body before blitzing side to side, creating seven different afterimages whilst constantly moving. Mizuki was colored impressed, and he turned to Iruka. "Wow! I guess you weren't lying about him. The fact that he can approximate the Bunshin with speed..."
Iruka smirked smugly, "I told you so."
Mizuki turned to Goku. "So are you able to attack with those clones?"
Goku nodded, "Yeah. They aren't physical but the attack itself could throw some people off guard."
The silver-haired man nodded, "Well Iruka, I say he passes, do you?"
"Of course. Goku, come take your headband, you are now a genin of Konohagakure."
The Saiyan smiled, and took his headband with glee, which was the same cloth that other shinobi wore with a silver plate at the front, a design of the leaf symbol etched in the metal. Now it was time for him to take the world by storm, a tribute to Master Roshi.
"Thanks Iruka-sensei."
The scarred man waved him off, "Don't sweat it Goku, it was a pleasure having you. Although our time together was short I must admit!" Iruka laughed.
Goku went back to the classroom to wait out the rest of the tests. He took the headband and tied it around his head without hesitation, keeping his bangs over it.
-The Next Day-
Iruka began to read off the teams.
"Okay now, the new Team Seven will be led by... Hatake Kakashi, and shall consist of... Uchiha Sasuke..." Sasuke's expression remained blank, "Haruno Sakura..." a loud squeal of delight could be heard throughout the room. "And finally, Uzumaki Naruto." This caused the Uchiha and Uzumaki to have slight smirks and the Haruno to slump in defeat at gaining Naruto.
"Team Eight shall be led by...Yuhi Kurenai, and consist of Inuzuka Kiba... Hyuga Hinata..." Goku hoped against hope that he would be called up next. "...And Aburame Shino." Crap baskets.
Iruka then stated that Team Nine was still in action and nobody cared.
"Team Ten, which will be lead by Sarutobi Asuma consists of... Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino."
"But what about me?" the missing Saiyan questioned abruptly. "Where's my team?"
"Team Four, which will be led by...Uzuki Yugao...shall consist of Son Goku. And Son Goku only?"
"Wha?"
"Hey don't look at me!" Iruka defended himself, being perplexed just like his short-term student. "I don't make the teams."
He then turned his attention back to the class, potentially issuing his last significant statement.
"Well, now that you all know your teams, you are free to take a one hour break for lunch. You will then come back here to meet up with your jonin sensei. You are dismissed for now!"