Naruto's alarm rang causing him to stir from his sleep. He looked over at his clock and saw that it was 5:30 am. He forced himself out of bed and went to the bathroom to start his morning rituals. He made his way to the kitchen and saw that it was empty. He made a clone to start making breakfast while he started doing his morning exercises. He did 200 push ups, 300 sit ups and 150 crunches. He ate his freshly cooked omelette and proceeded to take a shower.

When he got ready, he saw that the clock showed it was 7 am. He sensed that Kakashi was still in the house. 'He's still asleep. He still plans to come late to training.' Naruto left the house and decided to head to Ichiraku for some more breakfast instead of making his way to the training ground. He ate two bowls and ordered two additional ramen as takeaway before going to the training ground.

When he reached training ground 7, he saw that it was an open field with forest trees surrounding the area. At the edge of the training ground, there were three wooden stumps hammered into the ground in front of a river. At those stumps, he saw Shikamaru lying down on the floor staring up at the sky. Sasuke was sitting against one of the stumps staring into space.

"Good morning guys!" Naruto greeted them. He got a "Hn" from Sasuke and a wave from Shikamaru. "Here, I got you guys some ramen. I think that Kakashi-sensei will only arrive 3 hours from now." Naruto handed the ramen to his team.

Sasuke was still hesitant to accept but Naruto was not taking a no for an answer. Shikamaru accepted but did not eat it yet. Naruto jumped up to a nearby tree and rested on a branch while reading his fuinjutsu book. The three of them stayed in a comfortable silence for an hour before Naruto broke it.

"You know… He's probably going to ask us to do something stupidly hard so we fail," he said. "He might make us fight him and then enjoy kicking our asses before failing us."

"Speak for yourself, dobe. I will beat him and pass, unlike you and lazy ass here." Sasuke replied with a smug look.

Naruto just gave him a deadpan stare. "Seriously…I know you think you're good and all. But a jonin is someone you can't hold a candle to right now." He said, wiping that smug look on Sasuke's face. "You know he is thought to be the strongest shinobi in our village aside from the Hokage and the Legendary Sannin."

'Our sensei is that strong. How did I not know this? He's probably someone as strong as Itachi. I could use him to see how far I've come.' Sasuke thought.

"Who is he, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked, curious to know who his sensei really is.

"He is Kakashi Hatake, The Copy Ninja of the Leaf. His name is known throughout the nations. Have you guys never ever read the bingo book? He is known as an A rank ninja with a flee on sight order from Iwagakure and Kumogakure. He is the famous Copy Ninja or better known as Kakashi of the Sharingan." He said as he threw his teammates a bingo book. He placed extra emphasis on his last line as he knew Sasuke's interest would be piqued.

Sasuke picked up the book and saw that what Naruto said was the truth. 'He has a sharingan? How? He's not an Uchiha.' Many thoughts were running inside Sasuke's mind.

'Interesting… A shinobi with a sharingan that isn't an Uchiha. From the looks of it, Naruto seemed quite proud for some reason. Does he know him personally? What secrets are you keeping, Naruto?' Shikamaru thought as he kept an eye on Naruto.

"So, should we discuss plans on how to defeat him? We clearly have no chance alone." Naruto asked. Shikamaru nodded but Sasuke seemed hesitant. "Come on man. You know that we don't stand a chance alone. We'll get absolutely destroyed." Sasuke could only sigh as he reluctantly agreed.

The three of them spent the next hour and a half discussing and creating plans. Shikamaru took the lead and was the main planner. Sasuke and Naruto chipped in once in a while.

Unknown to the three of them, Kakashi was sitting in the trees with a smile under his mask.


Kakashi decided to come later than the previous day. He came at around 11 am, four hours after the specified time. "Good morning, my fellow genins," he said lazily as he shunshin in front of them.

All he got in return were three deadpan stares. Shikamaru opened his mouth to speak but closed it again before opening it again. "You know what? We're not even gonna bother to ask. It's too troublesome."

Kakashi took out a clock and placed it on one of the wooden stumps. He then took out two bells from his pocket. The three genins looked at him curiously waiting for his explanation. "For your true genin test, you are to fight me and take these bells from before midday. As you can see, I have two bells. Whoever doesn't get a bell, will be sent back to the academy. You will go at me with the intent to kill or you will not get close to me at all. At my go, the test will start." Kakashi explained.

"You had to make this troublesome for us didn't you. It's like a cloud during a tornado, fighting with wind so strong that it just gets pushed away…" Shikamaru said lazily. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Shikamaru's metaphor. 'This kid really likes clouds too much…'

The clock struck 11am and Kakashi announced the start of the test. All three genin dispersed and hid away in the trees. 'Good, looks like they have the right mind to be stealthy. They're even suppressing their chakra.' He was broken from his thoughts when Naruto appeared in front of him.

"Isn't it quite dumb to come at me head on?" Kakashi asked.

"I dont think it's dumb to be testing the waters abit," Naruto replied as he attacked Kakashi at full speed. He tried to give a roundhouse kick to Kakashi's body but was blocked by a forearm. Kakashi tried to retaliate by sweeping Naruto's other leg but Naruto disappeared in a shunshin. 'That was a fast shunshin. How does he know how to do it that fast?'

Naruto appeared behind and tried to punch him in the spine. Kakashi sensed him when he reappeared and quickly spun around. He caught Naruto's fist with one hand but was slightly pushed back by the strength behind it. 'That was a strong punch. He hits like Gai.' Naruto decided to engage Kakashi in a bout of taijutsu. They were trading blows one after the other. For every block or parry that Kakashi made, Naruto would attack from a different angle. From every attack Kakashi made, Naruto would block or parry but made sure they kept close.

'He has never shown me this in training before. This style… I see elements from sensei's and Gai's within it but with a touch of unpredictability and flow. This would be incredible and formidable once he grows up. Looks like he did more in that week break than I thought.'

"You're good, kid, but not enough to beat me yet." Naruto threw a punch but Kakashi caught his wrist and threw him. Naruto brushed off the dirt on his clothes and stood up while Kakashi threw some kunai at him.

Naruto dodged the kunai and stared at Kakashi. "Tired of some hand to hand combat, sensei?" Naruto said, taunting Kakashi. "I thought the great Kakashi would have more stamina." Naruto could see Kakashi's eye twitch when he heard the taunt. Before anything could escalate, Naruto leapt away back into the trees as he sensed Sasuke jump out of his hiding place.

"I'm not going to let the dobe have all the fun," Sasuke said with a smirk. He threw a bunch of shuriken at Kakashi. Kakashi dodged most of them while he caught the rest with his hands. 'Let's test the Uchiha next…'

Kakashi threw back the shuriken he caught and used it as a distraction to hit Sasuke in his blind spot. He aimed his punch to connect with the side of his face but it only hit air. 'He used the Kawarimi to substitute with one of the shuriken.' Sasuke threw more shuriken at Kakashi. These shuriken; however, had ninja wire attached to them. After Kakashi dodged them, he pulled the wire to change the course of the shuriken. The shuriken hit Kakashi in the back before he turned into a log.

'Where did he go? Left? Right? No, underground!' Sasuke's danger senses were tingling but he was too late to dodge. A pair of hands reached up from the ground and grabbed his ankles. Sasuke was pulled into the ground and was buried up to his neck.

"That was close, but it will still be quite a while before you get me." Kakashi said as he looked down on Sasuke's buried body. However, Sasuke dispelled into smoke and a log was seen in the hole.

'That was a well-timed Kawarimi.' Kakashi turned around and saw that Sasuke was doing several hand seals. 'He can use elemental jutsu?'

" Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire style: Great Fireball Jutsu) !" A large fireball shot out of Sasuke's mouth. However, to Kakashi's surprise, the fireball missed him and went over him.

'He did all that…just to miss?' Kakashi's thoughts were proven wrong when he stiffened and felt that he could not move. His motion was further reduced when four. Naruto clones appeared around him and held onto his arms and legs.

" Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possesion Jutsu) complete." He heard from behind him. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Naruto take the bells from his belt.

"So, do we pass, sensei?" Naruto said as he stood in front of Kakashi with a smug Sasuke beside him.

"I would pass you guys but who's going back to the academy?" He asked.

"None of us. Yeah, we figured out the meaning of the test. To test our teamwork while at the same time our skills. We were told that each genin team had three genin and one jonin. So after some thinking, it wasn't really hard to think of the main reason behind the test." Naruto explained. "So do we pass?"

Kakashi nodded his head and he felt the clones and Shikamaru let go of him. Shikamaru was smirking right alongside a smug Sasuke and a grinning Naruto. (Although, that was not seen)


The three were now sitting, leaning against the three wooden stumps while Kakashi sat in front of them. They were having bento sets Kakashi had brought for lunch.

"So, how did you guys do it?" Kakashi asked. "It seemed like a decently well thought of plan." Shikamaru and Sasuke both looked up at Naruto who only rolled his eyes. 'Lazy asses.'

"Remember Shika's weird cloud and tornado metaphor?" He asked. Kakashi nodded. "That metaphor was a signal for one of our plans. I would test and find out your skills while Shika and Teme would observe from the trees. After that, they would deduce certain things about your skills and come up with a modified plan. Sasuke would come in later to see if their primary deductions were true and I would go back to rest and be notified of a plan that Shika had further modified and adopted." Naruto explained.

"You guys managed to come up with this plan only a short period before the fight?"

"Kinda. We had a gist of plans. Teme and I can come up with plans but not as well as Shika. He is more adaptable and can think faster. So we came up with basic plans that could be altered in any way. Besides, we were scared that you would hear our plans. I sensed you when you were in the trees."

'Ingenious… they created blank blueprints together while one of them will completely detail it.' "You sensed me? Of course you did. You can sense Anbu who have their chakra suppressed to the maximum." Naruto gave Kakashi an eye smile at his compliment.

They continued eating in silence for a few moments before Kakashi broke the silence. "Come with me. I want to show you guys something," Kakashi said as he stood up and began walking away. The three genin hastily finished the remainder of their food and followed him. They stopped at a stone monument of some kind.

"This is the Memorial Stone. The names of our fallen shinobi are engraved on this stone. Many of my comrades' names are on this stone and everyday I come here to pay respect to them."

Naruto scanned the names on the stone and saw his parents' names on it.

"I had a friend. His name was Obito Uchiha. He was the friend who gave me the sharingan that I'm known for." Sasuke's interest was piqued when he heard this. 'An Uchiha willingly gave their sharingan away? I never heard of such a thing…' he thought.

"He always used to say, 'Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum.' His saying has stuck with me and I hope that you guys follow it too. Your comrades are there to help you, never abandon them. Don't make the same mistake I had made…" Kakashi said in a saddened tone. The atmosphere around the team was sombre after hearing Kakashi's monologue.

The atmosphere was broken when Kakashi spoke again in his usual lazy tone, "alright my fellow genins. Tomorrow we will start missions. Meet at the Hokage tower at nine in the morning." Before Kakashi could shunshin away, he was frozen in place. He looked down and saw that he was caught in Shikamaru's shadow.

"Sensei, if you are more than 15 minutes late, we will burn your books one by one." Naruto threatened. "Shikamaru may be lazy but even he knows when he is needed. So we agreed to give you 15 minutes extra or else…" Naruto let the threat hang. Kakashi gulped and nodded dumbly. 'Not my precious…'


"Welcome to the life of a genin. The sweet and wonderful D-rank missions."

Those words were running through Naruto's head and he was seriously getting pissed off at it. It had been two weeks since the genin test with Kakashi. As promised, the following day of the bell test, Kakashi had come only a few minutes late and the team started taking missions. Naruto could not believe what they were doing were considered missions. D-rank missions were mostly menial tasks such as walking dogs and chopping wood. They were very boring and clearly was not what he had expected. It also did not help that Shikamaru was lazy and as such Naruto and Sasuke had to work extra.

In addition, for the past two weeks, Kakashi had insisted that the team do teamwork exercises. Although they had proven to him that they could work together, he still wanted it polished. The only other things they were taught were the tree climbing exercise and water-walking. Naruto and his team were currently on the most hated mission of every genin team in the village, catching Tora the cat.

"Naruto here. I've spotted the target."

"Sasuke here, I see the target too."

"Roger Naruto, Sasuke. This is Kakashi, everyone please standby. Shika, count us down."

"Troublesome…in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 NOW!"

Sasuke pounced on the cat, frightening it and causing it to run away. Sasuke tailed it down the road before Naruto jumped down from the top of a building right into the cat's path. In a desperate attempt to escape, the cat made a swift left turn and went into the nearby alley. As soon as the cat entered the alley, four Naruto clones jumped down from the buildings above and closed off all its exits. Before the cat could think of any way to escape, it was caught by Shikamaru's shadow. Naruto moved to the now paralysed cat, and picked it up.

"Mission accomplished. Great plan Shika," Naruto said.

"Eh, it was a standard tactic. This cat is so troublesome…" he said as he got a death stare from the cat in Naruto's arms before the cat fell asleep. Naruto had placed a seal on the cat that puts it to sleep.

"Great job guys. Let's head back to the Hokage tower," Kakashi said as he looked at his team. As the team and him made their way back, Kakashi could not help but think about his team. 'This is their 4th mission today. Shika is still as lazy as ever, but it looks like Naruto and Sasuke are really pushing him. Hopefully their motivation and work ethic brushes up on him.'


At the Hokage tower, Naruto and his team were at the mission hall returning Tora to its owner. "Oh, Tora. Why did you run away? Oh I miss you," the lady said as she hugged Tora tightly and showered it with kisses. 'No wonder it keeps running away. Who wouldn't want to run away from a death grip like that,' Naruto thought.

Kakashi had requested one last mission to the day, ignoring the many protests from his team. "Let's see, I have some missions: painting fences, shopping for groceries and some chopping wood. Which one would you like?" The Hokage asked.

"Oh come on, Jiji. How about a real mission? Maybe a C-rank?" He asked, tired of doing D-rank missions. Sasuke also nodded in agreement with Naruto. He was done with these chores.

"Naruto, please be more respectful to Hokage-sama. Furthermore, you can't request for missions. Genin are meant to complete D-rank missions for their first few months before you are even qualified for C-ranks." Iruka reprimanded Naruto.

Hiruzen only chuckled after Iruka finished his scolding. "It's fine, Iruka. Besides, he has been calling me that since he was a child and I allow him to." Shikamaru and Sasuke were taken aback. 'I didn't know he was so close to Hokage-sama," thought both Shikamaru and Sasuke.

Hiruzen looked at Kakashi and asked him, "Do you think your team is ready to take a C-rank mission, Kakashi?"

Kakashi looked at his team as he contemplated. 'Their teamwork is getting more refined and is great. Naruto and Sasuke have a strong rivalry and are really pushing each other to their limits. Shikamaru is still lazy but his teammates are really helping him to develop. This mission might also be good for them to find out the true meaning of being a shinobi.'

After taking a lot into consideration, Kakashi decided. "Hokage-sama, I believe that my team is ready."

The team had varying reactions. Naruto was jumping for joy, "Yes! A C-rank!" Sasuke tried to keep his emotions under control and only smirked. However, on the inside, he was as excited as Naruto. He could finally test his skill.

Shikamaru was groaning. "Troublesome…More work.," he muttered. Although, he was quite happy to stop doing menial tasks.

"You can't be serious, Hokage-sama." Iruka was dumbfounded. This is the first time Genin had been sent on a C-rank mission in the first two weeks of their graduation. "I am Iruka. I trust Kakashi's judgement and I want you to believe in your students' abilities too."

"The mission is simple, tomorrow, you are to bring this scroll to the General of the Land of Iron. It contains trade agreements between our countries and you are to get a reply from him and bring it back." The Hokage explained.