The shuriken struck her on the back and Satsuki felt the blood pour down her shirt. Strangely enough, it didn't hurt. It felt like a gentle tap on the back. She figured it would greatly hurt once her adrenaline wore off.
The bitch is missing us on purpose. Satsuki guessed. If her assailant wanted, they could have easily gone for the back of her head or knees. She is getting sick pleasure from this.
Her lungs ached from the shortness of breath as she pushed her body to the limit. Not even the demon instructor Mizuki had driven her this hard before. They had been driven deep into the building, hoping to lose their assailant in the confusing urban infrastructure. Yet the woman had kept up with them like a farmer's cat chasing a mouse for sport.
"I am not sure how long I can keep this up," Satsuki yelled to the blonde diligently trying to keep up with her. If it was possible, he looked even worse than Satsuki did. The woman had been treating Naruto as the main feast while Satsuki was the side dish. Several senbon struck him at odd spots, all designed to slow his mobility and cause maximum pain. A treacherous loose stone went unspotted by her and Satsuki tripped and fell. She yelled in pain as the blonde stared at her with barely restrained panic. He simply couldn't carry the two of them to safety.
"G-go on without me." She grunted as she tried to lean against a wall and Naruto went about browsing in his duffle bag.
"Run you moron!" Satsuki shouted at him but he ignored her. She could hear the faint footsteps of their assailant growing louder. She sure was taking her sweet time to get here.
"Oh little demon-kun!" She sang, "Where are thou my demon-kun? You don't want me to hurt your Uchiha girlfriend anymore, do you?"
Naruto visibly shuddered at her claim but didn't stop working.
"Come now demon-kun. Big sister has so many new delights to show you." She said.
Naruto pulled out a spool of ninja wire tied to the end of a kunai and threw it on the floor in front of him like a fisherman casting a net in deep waters. But that wasn't it, he pulled out a wire cutter and went to work on the fusebox, attaching one of the ninja wires directly to the fusebox. Satsuki heard the sound of wires being cut before the power went out in the building.
Their assailant only laughed in response to Naruto's attempts. But Naruto was undeterred, he looped his arms around Satsuki's chest and dragged her around the corner and into a fire exit.
"What are you doing?" Satsuki made to ask but Naruto placed a firm hand on her mouth and made a shushing motion with his free hand.
"Come out, come out wherever you are!" The shinobi sang again but received neither the sound of Satsuki's belligerence nor Naruto's footsteps. Only dead silence greeted the shinobi.
"Oh well, I tried playing fair." The shinobi muttered before her hands started forming seals.
Suiton: Mizu Dangan no –
As she converted the chakra to water, the wires below her violently reacted and she shrieked as she was unable to finish it.
"YOU LITTLE SHIT!" The assailant shrieked as several electrical explosions went off in bright flashes. Whatever lights remained burst and now the entire building was out of power. Neither kid moved as they braced themselves for the kunoichi to break down the storage room door where they were hiding. Nothing happened as several agonizing seconds passed. Each felt like a lifetime as they sweated in nervous anticipation.
"Is she dead?" Satsuki whispered. Naruto shrugged in what she assumed to be an "I don't know."
"Opening the door is a big no. I don't want to be face-to-face with her. An open battle with her would be a suicide. We need to play this smart." She said and turned to Naruto, "Is there a way out of this?"
Naruto nodded and pointed to the vents above. They were just large enough to hold the two small children and see them through. Satsuki got up and braced herself. She waited for Naruto to follow but he just stared at her dumbfoundedly.
"Well? Boost me up!" Satsuki demanded and Naruto crossed his arms and stared at her.
"I sure as hell am not going to dirty my hands with your filthy shoes. Besides, I'm stronger, I will be able to lift you better." Satsuki said and Naruto rolled his eyes before getting down on a knee to boost her up. Satsuki climbed and used her knife to loosen the screw boards while Naruto squirmed under her weight.
"Please….hurry…." He moaned and Satsuki snorted.
"Ah, so you do know how to speak." She muttered popped open the vent and gently slid it aside. She reached inside and climbed. It was filthy. Coated with dust and grime but thankfully there were no vermin or spiders. She was braver than most, but the idea of coming face to face with a snarling spider while immobile – made her reconsider her life choices. She turned and motioned for Naruto to jump and catch her hand. She pulled Naruto inside and pushed him towards the other side of the vent. Naruto was still panting from the exertion of all these movements and Satsuki stared at him.
"When we get out of here, you will have a lot of conditioning to undergo, mister," Satsuki said.
"Lets. Leave. First?" Naruto questioned and Satsuki rolled her eyes at him.
"Lead the way," she said and crawled behind Naruto. Occasionally the two would try to glance outside the vents to see what was happening. However, they were unable to gauge much due to the sheer darkness outside the vents. The two crawled on for a little while before Naruto held up a hand.
"Hear that?" Naruto asked and a faint drilling sound reached them.
"What the-" Satsuki began a violent crash happened before them. The vent gave away and the kunoichi climbed up,
"HERE'S AMY!" She screeched and in the faint light of her torch Satsuki shuddred at hideous third-degree burns littering all over her body. She grabbed Naruto by the neck and dragged him below.
"NARUTO!" Satsuki roared and chased after him without a thought. She jumped down and saw Naruto lying just ahead of her. Before she could chase after him, a vicious punch to her jaw rattled her and Satsuki lost her balance. The woman didn't relent she grabbed her by the back of her head and rammed her head into the wall.
"This is what happens when you are an obstacle" She pulled her back and smashed her head into the wall again, "to my lord's wishes."
Satsuki saw stars before her vision began to darken again. She could just about make the kunoichi's silhouette march towards Naruto. The kunoichi sat over Naruto's chest and held his arms down with her knees. Two vicious punches struck squarely in the face and Naruto felt his nose give away. Another two followed and Naruto knew his bones were cracked.
"Please no more!" Naruto howled but she merely laughed at him.
"I gave you a chance to come quietly demon-kun, you chose this." She said, "Now claim your reward."
She pulled a kunai and stabbed Naruto's hand, pinning it to the floor below. Satsuki watched through a bloodied vision as history revised itself. Once again, she had failed. She put her hands beneath her and tried to push herself off the ground. Her body refused but Satsuki's brain was unrelenting through pain flares. She somewhat got up before her head went dizzy again.
In frustration, she punched the ground. Another wave of screams emanated from Naruto as the sadist visited some other horror on him.
Gods damn it! Move! Satsuki roared and it was as if a painkiller had been injected in her. Everything around her moved slowly. The dust floated in easily discernable patterns. The moves of both Naruto and the kunoichi were as if at a snail's pace. For a moment she paused in panic, was she dying? Is this what dying felt like? She glanced around the room and her eyes met the reflection in a broken elevator mirror.
Her eyes were red. The kind of red his were the night of the massacre.
Sharingan stared back at her.
Satsuki grinned wickedly as she grabbed her mother's dagger and with her last remaining chakra reserves, dashed towards the kunoichi. The kunoichi was good, she immediately sensed Satsuki rushing towards her and lazily flicked a kunai in her direction. Her hubris was to be her downfall as Satsuki immediately dodged the kunai. She realized it too late as Satsuki closed the gap and stabbed her in the neck.
"You bitch!" She gurgled but Satsuki got behind her and, in a headlock, yanked her away from Naruto. The kunoichi made desperate attempts to get at Satsuki but her every move felt clumsy and slow. Satsuki easily dodged those. She grabbed her dagger again and started pulling it across her throat from one end to the other. The kunoichi gurgled through blood and a torn throat but Satsuki was unrelenting. When she was done, she pulled the kunoichi over her shoulder and judo slammed her into the ground.
The Kunoichi lay there motionless without so much as a muscle twitch or sign of breathing. Naruto showed similar signs of unlife as her and Satsuki's brains flatlined.
"He's dead?!" Satsuki hysterically said. She roared in pain as anger flared through every aspect of her soul. With a furious yell, she got on top of the kunoichi and repeatedly stabbed whatever body part of the kunoichi she could reach in her frenzy. It was a while before a strong pair of arms wrapped around her and she panicked thinking this was another assailant.
"Calm, Satsuki, calm" The mature voice rationalized, "I am a jounin. We are here now. You are safe."
Satsuki struggled for a moment against the man's unyielding grip before relenting.
"N-naruto" Satsuki gasped, "Sh- she.. killed him."
The man gave a cursory glance towards the blonde before saying, "He is alive but barely."
"How do you know?" She said.
"I am a medic-nin. That's why it's so important for you to cooperate with me right now, Satsuki." The man said, "I can save you all here, but the Hokage will not be pleased to learn about the death of his shinobi."
"It was self-defense!" Satsuki weakly protested.
"Do you really think he will see it that way? The Uchihas? All I need you to do is relax." The medic-nin said and pulled out an injection and tinkered with it. He brought me near Satsuki,
"This is a sedative that will help you relax while I take you people someplace safe." The man said.
"W-who ar- are you?" She gasped.
"Kabuto Yakushi." The man replied, "Chunin. Konoha Medical Corp."
He didn't wait for a reply as he plunged the sedative inside Satsuki and watched her go limp. At that, a few more shinobi emerged from the shadows.
"Clean up this mess." Kabuto ordered them, "If anyone asks, tell them a group of bandits attacked the children."
With that, he gathered Naruto and Satsuki in his arms and ran towards the infirmary.
Hideout
Kabuto forced down his nervousness as he approached the large chair and turned towards him. He straightened up and saluted, "Orochimaru-sama."
Orochimaru bothered to neither acknowledge the man's greeting nor turn around to face him.
"Status?" Orochimaru asked, cutting straight to the chase.
"It was a success. Amy-chan did her job perfectly. Sadly, the potency of the serum we gave her was too much and she got over-excited. She is dead now." Kabuto said and Orochimaru interrupted him.
"Don't waste my time," Orochimaru said.
"Right, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto said placing various photographs on the man's desk, "I can confirm with 100% accuracy that Uchiha Satsuki has now awakened her Sharingan and can maintain it for around 30 minutes before she depletes her chakra."
Kabuto paused and adjusted his glasses, "Right now the boy and Satsuki are held in an infirmary and not the general hospital in the central district. The infirmary's MD is paid for by us so he should keep his mouth shut."
"Good. Good." Orochimaru muttered.
"Where did the mob come from?" Orochimaru asked.
"That's the strangest thing, my lord." Kabuto managed to let out, "This was not Amy's doing. From Satsuki's descriptions, they acted barely sentient. MRI scans show significant damage to their brains. This is usually an effect of intense genjutsus. We don't know who placed them under it."
"It couldn't have been Satsuki, her sharingan isn't mature enough." Orochimaru mused, "Could it be the boy?"
"What else?" Orochimaru asked.
"All in all. A good performance by the duo. They managed to kill a Jounin-level shinobi while not even out of the academy. Satsuki has a bright future ahead of herself should she continue to apply herself with the same vigor." Kabuto said.
"Impressive by your mediocre standards, Kabuto," Orochimaru said and turned around to reveal himself to Naruto. It took every bit of shinobi discipline he had to not visibly recoil at the monstrous form of the human-snake hybrid his master had become.
"People who have been fated for higher designs far transcend the expectations of you mortals." Orochimaru said, enjoying the barb on Kabuto's feeling, "At her age, Uchiha Itachi was going head to with ROOT shinobi and putting them in intensive care. Sarutobi Hiruzen in his hatred of Uchiha has let her talents rot instead of grooming her."
Orochimaru let out his serpent tongue to taste the air at the last bit.
"Who is the boy?" He asked.
"Ah yes, Uzumaki Naruto. For whatever reason, he was in proximity when we decided to conduct the operation. He is a non-factor. Our records show him to be an academy dropout a month ago on account of poor performance. If you wish it, we can easily dispose of him to avoid witnesses." Kabuto said.
"Uzumaki Naruto is neither an Uzumaki, nor ordinary, nor a non-factor as you put it. Another of the old man's schemes that will greatly come to haunt him one day." Orochimaru said.
"I beg your forgiveness, my lord. I am not sure I understand." Kabuto said but Orochimaru ignored him.
"Let the boy live. He will be an important lever to turn on Satsuki-chan when the time comes. We must approach her as a friend to develop a mentor bond." Orochimaru mused.
"I volunteer, Orochimaru-sama." He said, "I have already established a savior role with Satsuki. I am sure I can get her up to speed to elite genin levels in no time."
"Foolish." Orochimaru spat and with lightning speed struck at Kabuto. Kabuto kneeled down in pain as the breath was knocked out from him, "With you over there, you might as well have a giant billboard advertising to the Hiruzen that we are interested in them."
He walked away from Kabuto, still pondering on who to send before a light bulb went off.
"Kabuto be a dear and fetch Anko for me," Orochimaru said.
One Week Later
"You heal fast." Satsuki declared as she saw Naruto crawl through the window of her hospital room.
"Always been like that," Naruto mumbled and walked to her bedside table and placed fresh flowers in the empty pot. Nobody had come to visit her. Nobody remained to visit her. She shuddered as a wave of existential crises went through her.
Would anyone have even noticed if she had died? How long would it have taken them to figure out she was missing? Iruka-sensei might have been concerned after she wouldn't have shown up for a third day. By then, her entire body would have been rotting under the hot Fire Country sun.
She visibly shuddered again before a hand was placed on her leg. She sniffed before realizing that she was crying. She looked up to see that it was Naruto's hand.
"Thank you, Satsuki." He said in a quiet voice, "For saving my life. I don't know what she would have done if you hadn't intervened."
"Whatever" Satsuki snorted, and Naruto nodded in understanding. He too appeared unusually burnt out at the moment.
Damn him and his wise-ass nodding. Satsuki internally raged at him. She waited for him to leave like all others had done.
It's only a matter of time before he realizes I am a Uchiha and chooses to leave. We are all monster number 1 in KonohaSatsuki thought.
"You are good in a fight. Handy even." Satsuki declared and Naruto blinked at her.
"Who taught you?" She demanded, "And why aren't you at the academy anymore? I distinctly recall seeing you in the early years."
"Books." He said, "And mostly tinkering."
"You learned to lay a perfect ninja wire trap and link to electricity." She stared annoyedly at him, "From books?"
Naruto looked a bit abashed at this, most likely realizing how foolish that sounded.
"They weren't just books. They were shinobi training manuals. Unclassified stuff nobody reads anymore." Naruto said.
"Still, who was it that gave them to you? Even unclassified, stuff like that isn't just lying around?" Satsuki pressed once again, and Naruto remained silent.
"You won't even do that much, for your savior?" Satsuki asked and fake pouted.
"It was Anko. A jounin who used to live in the same building." Naruto said.
"Wait... Anko?!" Satsuki exclaimed, "The crazy lady who was taking our statements about the attack?"
Naruto nodded affirmatively and the gears in Satsuki's head turned red hot from spinning so fast. She stared at Naruto. While at the academy, she had prayed to all the gods she knew of, some even of the Senjus, to give her worthwhile classmates. A worthy competitor.
Aburame was too insular and simply not on her level. Shikamaru was smart but couldn't be bothered to do anything beyond the absolutely necessary. Kiba was fast, strong and a beast during taijutsu, but was too stupid and boisterous. Ino was a walking fake. Satsuki could tell from a mile away that she was wearing a mask and everything about her was fake. Most likely an exercise from her clan head father. Sakura was useless and annoying. Hinata? A wet tissue.
Satsuki could concede that the batch had their potential and would one day make fine shinobi. They would just need to be heavily polished, perhaps by a bristle steel brush. But Naruto was different. The kid would be wiped out by Kiba and even Choji during a taijutsu match. Shikamaru and Sakura were both better metal throwers. Sakura was probably a bit more book-smart than him.
But none of them were killers like Naruto was.
The blonde knew the importance of terrain mapping. Much more than she could say about her classmates. Above all, he hadn't hesitated for a moment to lay out a death trap for Kunoichi. Any lesser shinobi would've instantly electrocuted to death. The blonde showed no remorse, nor did he heave-ho or throw tantrums over having nearly killed someone. Behind a veneer of physical helplessness, he was just like him. Cold, calm, calculated, and ruthless.
Satsuki didn't realize but she had begun grinning widely before Naruto called her attention.
"Satsuki? Is everything ok? You are beginning to scare me." Naruto said, "Should I get the nurse?"
Satsuki snorted at that.
"I don't think I ever got your full name." Satsuki said and extended her hand, "I am Uchiha Satsuki."
"Naruto. Just Naruto." Naruto said and shook her hand.
"Something tells me, kid, we are gonna be stuck together for a while," Satsuki said.
"Umm… ok," Naruto said.
Home Sweet Home
"What a miserable shithole," Satsuki remarked as she kicked down the door. The building had really been abandoned. The door opened to reveal a room on the other side of modest proportions.
"At least they could have done was compensate us for their security blunder," Satsuki remarked.
"Anko-san did give us some money," Naruto said as he went about storing his stuff in the new room.
"From her own salary." Satsuki said, "I'm talking about a governmental level."
"Oh," Naruto said, "Where will you be staying?"
"The other door is mine." Satsuki said, "Normally I would say feel free to visit and all, but yeah…."
Naruto blushed slightly at her implication, "Uchiha-san, I would never dare think of something inappropriate. You saved my life."
"Coward." Satsuki said, "When you are done, meet me below. I broke stuff down there to turn it into a living plus dining room. We need to talk."
It took more than an hour before Naruto came down and Satsuki glared at him from across the couch.
"Sorry." Naruto said, "Dirty rooms. Lots of cleaning needed."
"Whatever," Satsuki said and jumped up. Without warning she tossed a pillow at him and Naruto effortlessly leaped aside to dodge it. But Satsuki didn't remain still she crouched down and kicked his legs away. Naruto crashed on the floor and groaned.
Satsuki was about to follow through before an annoyed Naruto got up and jumped at her. He swung wildly at her which Satsuki easily dodged before grabbing his arm and throwing him over her shoulder. She moved forward to finish him off before Naruto held up his arms in surrender.
"Just as I suspected. You are good at engineering stuff. But if anyone catches you off-guard, you are as useless as a fish on land." Satsuki said and grabbed Naruto's arms to hold him up.
"Strange house welcome." He remarked through sourness.
"Stop whining. You are a man. Not a boy." Satsuki said.
"I am seven," Naruto said.
"What did I say?" Satsuki asked and Naruto shook his head. The two leaned against a wall and watched the sun outside through the window. The only part of the entire building that wasn't a dump. They sat in silence for a while when regaining their breath.
"We need to train together." Satsuki said, breaking the silence, "The shinobi stuff I mean. I know you got kicked off the academy, but the village is having manpower shortages. I heard Iruka discuss it with someone else. Kiba was kicked out due to brawling but is now back. These days, they will just about take anyone."
"Why?" Naruto asked.
"Why what?" Satsuki questioned.
"Why me?" Naruto clarified.
"You are good at killing." Satsuki declared and Naruto stared at her.
"What? Did you expect me to say that some shit about serving the will of Fire or something?" Satsuki said and snorted sarcastically, "The purpose of a shinobi is to kill their enemies."
"I don't have enemies," Naruto said.
"Really, boy? I just walked a kilometer from the hospital to here. It felt like walking a mile through the Iwa front. The villagers hated you that much." Satsuki said. She pulled at his hand to show the knife mark. "Those are not the scars of a man without enemies. Face it, Naruto. Whatever shit you are involved in, you need to be a lot stronger to deal with. If you are even fighting the villagers."
At that, Naruto held a finger to his lips and pointed to the walls.
"That merely proves my point, dope." Satsuki angrily whispered to him, "Besides you can relax around me. I have no love for the village either. But right now, we simply aren't strong enough to deal with this."
A brief moment of silence passed between the two.
"Who do you want to kill?" Naruto asked.
"A story for another time," Satsuki said.
"If we are to trust each other…" Naruto said.
"Why do the villagers hate you? What did you do?" Satsuki asked and Naruto winced at that.
"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. There will be a time to show battle scars, but this is not it." Satsuki said and another bout of silence overtook the two.
"How will get into the academy?" Naruto questioned, breaking the silence.
"Easy. You are already friends with Anko. Have her write you a letter of recommendation. Kiba got back in a similar way." Satsuki said and Naruto nodded.
Satsuki failed to mention that Kiba's mom was a clan head but that he didn't need to know that, yet. This was already a gamble of the longest odds.
"Ok, I will do it," Naruto said.
"Great." Satsuki said and pulled out a paper from her bag and handed it to him, "The latest mid-term exam. Worth 10% of the final grade. It tests chakra theory, science, math, and general military curriculum. You read a lot, so this should be easy for you."
Naruto took the exam paper and leafed through it.
"Besides that, we need Anko's help. Can you get her here?" Satsuki asked.
"Why?" Naruto asked.
"Think dope. We need training, that's why. All the clan kids and military families vigorously train their children beyond the regular children. That's why civilian children rarely succeed in the academy."
"Wasn't Orochimaru of the sanin genin of the year for his time?" Naruto asked.
"Neither of us has half the talent that guy did." Satsuki said, "And quit interrupting me?"
Naruto nodded.
"She looked tough. You severely lack in CQC." Satsuki said, "We need her to propel us to the top of the class."
"Why would she train us?" Naruto asked.
"Why won't she?" Satsuki asked, "We will deal with her wants later down the road. Just ask her."
"Fine," Naruto said.
Training day
2 months later.
Satsuki grumbled as she stared at the blonde next to her. He had knocked the test right outside the park. The guy was clearly on par with Nara Shikamaru when it came to the theoretical side of things. Now it remains to see how he would deal with active environments. So far, everything has looked good.
The sound of fists striking the thin pads filled the entire yard. With no one around for lightyears, they had converted the entire backyard into a training camp. They now ran through the motions of Anko's CQC training. A blend of open-hand Karate, kickboxing, and dirty fighting. Strangely enough, Anko had been delighted by the idea of training the duo beyond the academy. Satsuki was initially suspicious of why she had just accepted but chalked it up to her luck awakening every now and then.
As the wise always said, never look a gift horse in the mouth. Satsuki most certainly didn't intend to do that. She merely thanked her lucky stars and moved on. Thankfully, Naruto undertook their training with the same maniacal zeal that she did. While he still had yet to win a spar against her, he was quickly gaining ground. He held his own against Choji and could maybe last a couple of minutes against Kiba. Satsuki could say with sufficient confidence that he was in the top 10 of her class.
While Taijutsu wasn't his prime talent, the boy was lethal in kunai and shuriken throwing. Every day they got up and threw the same kunai and shuriken 500 times before breakfast. To her annoyance, Naruto had superseded her in this department. He was developing into something of a crack shot.
"All right kiddies, gather around." Anko cheerfully said and Satsuki groaned internally at that. Just when pummeling Naruto was getting fun, she called them off. They took off their gloves and sat beside her.
"My dearly beloved noble charges" Anko started, "Today marks the second month you have been under my wise care."
"More like sadistic care," Satsuki muttered and Anko threw a senbon towards her but didn't bother replying much.
"Now as I was saying, the time for training has come to an end. You all will be graduating today and be assigned to your real trainers. Obviously, they will not be half as good as me of course." Anko said, "But long story short – you are on your own now kids. Stop pestering me any longer and go do your own thing."
With that, she left off a few smoke bombs and dramatically vanished.
"Your friends really have some character," Satsuki said and Naruto shrugged at that and headed to his work bench.
That was another quirk of Naruto. The man was a born engineer. Where Satsuki outshone him with superior Ninjutsu, Naruto always succeeded in bringing out a ludicrous invention mid-fight. Whether it was a senbon launcher or a vile concoction gleaming dangerously on his blades. The man was determined to even the odds, come what may.
"I am going to clean up. Then we head to the academy to see who has been assigned our babysitter." Satsuki said and Naruto merely nodded in response.
The Academy
Satsuki spied from the corner of her eyes at the three kids she had never seen in the academy before. Hell, she had never even heard their names before. She looked up the academy rankings to see and their names weren't even on the list. Oddly, Ino seemed to have taken a liking to the duo and had been chatting them up for the past hour as she had known them for a while. Bizarrely enough, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji all seemed to know the duo.
The new girl, a redhead with long flowing hair, noticed Satsuki staring at them and whispered something to Ino. The two giggled uncontrollably at that and the new girl shot Satsuki a wink. Satsuki shot back a mean scowl. The new boy, a similar redhead, laughed at her reaction.
Weirdos…. Satsuki scowled and looked at Naruto who was busy with a screwdriver working on something.
Soon enough, the class returned to their orderly seats as an irate Iruka smashed into the room and hollered at them to be silent.
"MAINTAIN DISCIPLINE AT ALL TIMES!" he roared, "YOU ARE SHINOBI FOR GOD'S SAKE! ACT LIKE IT! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU DISHONOR OUR NAME IN FRONT OF THE JOUNIN STAFF! AM, I UNDERSTOOD!"
"Yes, Iruka-sensei" The class chanted in union and Iruka rubbed at his eyes for a bit.
"I am going to announce teams now. They are unchangeable so don't even dare bother me about them. These are straight from the office of the Hokage and are orders for you. Treat them as such." Iruka said.
Soon teams were announced, and their sensei came to collect them.
Hinata, Kiba, and Shino were assigned to a scarlet-eyed beauty that made all the boys in the class blush including Iruka. Satsuki glanced toward Naruto to see he was in a similar trance. That bothered her for reasons she couldn't put into words.
Weird.
"Nene Uzumaki. Shinji Uzumaki. Haruno Sakura." Iruka announced and Satsuki raised an eyebrow at that, "You will be with Hakate Kakashi. Team Seven."
A grey-haired cyclops walked in to collect the team. Strangely enough, he looked more starstruck by the team than most juniors were of the jounin.
"Weren't all Uzumakis, dead?" Satsuki whispered to Naruto.
"Apparently not." Naruto shot back, "Probably kept them hidden for that reason."
Before Satsuki could further ask, a wall of long blonde hair butted in their conversation.
"Shocking, isn't it?" Ino said, "All the clan heads knew about the Uzumakis. We have been friends with them since birth."
"Fascinating." Naruto drily remarked as he kept working on his device. Ino's face briefly wrinkled in annoyance at his disinterest. She turned to Satsuki with a wicked smile, "I'm surprised you know nothing about this, Satsuki. Oh wait, you wouldn't. Not a clan anymore are you Uchihas?"
Satsuki immediately flexed her wrists, and her dagger was in her hand. Before she could shove it in Ino's throat, Naruto's hand grabbed her, and he shook his head in a negative.
"Do what your boyfriend tells you, Satsuki. You will live longer." Ino said and then left the room as their sensei came to collect them. Iruka glanced about the room to see only three people there. He frowned as he read the names and stared at them.
"Something the matter, Iruka-sensei?" Satsuki acidly spat and Iruka shook his head.
"Uchiha Satsuki. Naruto. Hyuga Hanabi." Iruka announced, "You will be with Mitrashi Anko. Team 9."
Satsuki heard the sound of metal snapping and turned to see Naruto angrily glaring at the broken screwdriver. Satsuki audibly laughed at that.
"Serves you right for ignoring me, dope," Satsuki said and Naruto sighed.
With a poof, Mitrashi Anko suddenly materialized between the two and locked them in a bear hug.
"Why hello kiddies, did you miss me? We have been gone together for an eon!" Anko exclaimed dramatically, "You must tell me everything about everything! We must reacquaint ourselves!"
"We have only been separated for 45 minutes, sensei." Naruto gasped.
"Yeah, didn't you tell us to stop bothering you?" Satsuki said.
"Yeah well, I realized I missed you bunches and wanted back in the action. Besides the Hokage said if I manage this team well, I am going places."
She tightened her grip on the duo and with a deathly serious voice said, "So don't go about fucking this up for me, huh gakis?"
She glanced up to see a nervous-looking girl staring at them and barked, "And you, Hyuga? Are you waiting for an invitation?"
"Ummmm…" She managed out before Iruka interrupted them.
"Anko, they are handing out awards now. Join the rest of the sensei's outside, huh?" Iruka said.
"Spoilsport," Anko said and blew a raspberry at him.
Award Ceremony
The award ceremony was rapid with Iruka literally throwing out prizes to the students. He really wanted to be rid of this batch and go home for the day.
Highest test scores. Naruto! He announced and awarded him 500 Ryu. Shikamaru frowned at that but remained quiet.
Best Taijutsu fighter. Inuzuka Kiba! Kiba was rewarded with a 500 Ryu pouch thrown to his face. Satsuki glared at Kiba and he smiled right back. Despite losing all their spars, he was still awarded with this. He was good, but second-best.
Perfect attendance award. Haruno Sakura. A few laughed at this while Sakura meekly took the pouch.
"Student of the Year." He announced and proclaimed, "Uzumaki Shinji"
A fat pouch of 1,000 Ryu was awarded to him. Satsuki's blood pressure shot up and she made to pounce on Iruka for this slight. A hand on her neck held her back like a python's vice grip. She looked up to see it was Anko. All traces of fun and joviality gone from her. Satsuki felt the hair on her neck snap up as she realized what it was. Anko was deliberately leaking killer intent towards her. She looked dead in the eyes and said, "Neither the time nor the place, girl. One day but not now."
Satsuki squirmed in her grip but Anko was unrelenting.
"Turn those peepers off, right now." She commanded and Satsuki stared at a metal reflection to realize her metal sharingan was blazing. She focused her chakra and calmed down.
"Good," Anko said, "Training ground 1in 10 minutes."
She then vanished from sight. Hanabi and Naruto walked towards her. Naruto looked apologetic while Hanabi was worried.
"Everything ok?" Hanabi asked and Satsuki looked away from her to see Shinji smirking at her. He winked at her as Kakashi teleported all three of them away.
"No, Hanabi." Satsuki said, "But it will be."
"Come, Anko-sensei is waiting for us," Naruto said and led the trio out of the academy.
Author Notes:
In case y'all haven't figured it out, I kinda wanna make Naruto a puppeteer. But initially it was limited to poisons expert like Scarecrow from Batman. He most definitely will be a genjutsu expert. That will be explained later.
While Satsuki will be a close range fighter. Naruto will be a long range. Lemme know if you have other suggestions for it. I look forward to your reviews.