(AN: Thank you DevilMusic for pointing out that I accidently replaced chapter 13 with 15, and thank you Kine X for letting me know I screwed up and forgot about Mizuki at the end of the chapter! Anyway, let's get into this chapter! Woooo!)
[Quests Complete!]
Naruto stifled a yawn as he finally left the old man's office, and honestly, he couldn't care much about the System's notifications right now. All he wanted was to sleep.
"You never even looked at the rewards you could get."
"Sounds like a job for mornings me. Heck, I think I'll even give the clones a night off."
"Sounds like wasted time to me."
Naruto ignored the fox, and simply… headed home.
Blearily blinking, Naruto rose as his alarm went off.
[HP and Chakra fully restored!]
[Well Rested Buff activated!]
Naruto always appreciated that 15% EXP boost, even though it only lasted an hour. Glancing outside, he noted the darkness of the night and rolled out of bed.
After getting ready, he popped eight clones into place and told them to split between themselves, two water, three wind, and three lightning. "Nature training only today. After meeting with my team, I'm going to focus on leveling you guys up."
"Right."
"Let's go!"
They ran out the front door, heading for the roof. Naruto had almost turned around, when he noticed one clone remained behind. "Eh?"
"Creator, I had a question, if you don't mind?"
Why did it seem so serious? "Uh, shoot?"
"I've noticed before this, as have yourself, but we mostly rely on Taijutsu and Shuriken Jutsu once our chakra runs out."
"Ah, yeah, you guys do." Naruto frowned in thought. He had noticed it before, just always pushed it back. His jutsu was his ace in the hole, but—
"Most of our fights always end in taijutsu. Ours did with that red-haired attacker, and yours did with Mizuki as well."
"You're right, though I did have some Water Clones as back up. I guess I should focus on that. Maybe starting tomorrow, have a clone or two do it."
"Also, I noticed something. Different titles seem to give us better advantages with certain taijutsu. Beta could use the Gentle Fist easier than I could while fighting."
"Uuuuh… Do clones have their own memories or something?" And who the hell was Beta?
The clone frowned at the floorboard, and simply replied, "I'm not sure… one day I simply knew… I knew that I was different from the other clones. And after we obtained level 25 in the jutsu, Beta came along. He could remember things clearer from what he did. While other clones still have all of yours, and vice versa, we were able to… I'm not sure how to put this."
"Are you your own people?" Naruto did not need this on his plate right now.
"No. We are still you, we just… prefer fighting different ways, or training, and we remember what we did specifically clearer than the others. Perhaps it is something to do with the system?"
Naruto hadn't spoken to the system since the Something Quest line. He had almost been afraid to. Sure, he had gotten over his distrust of it, but… he'd have to ask later.
"Yeah," Naruto scratched the back of his head, "During the fight with Mizuki, I thought something seemed off whenever I got you guy's memories. Wait! Are you the one that gave themselves such a ridiculous name!?"
Alpha turned bright red, and shouted back, "Yeah! What of it!? It was spur of the moment to strike fear into our enemy!"
"Fear my foot! You just wanted to stick out!" All the memories of that fight were finally flooding into the forefront of Naruto's mind. "And stop using the Game knowledge around the enemy! What if they get away or someone else is listening?"
Alpha looked away, ashamed, and whispered, "That's why I silenced her…"
Naruto froze, "Oh, right…" He had forgotten that the woman had… passed. "Listen, just uh, go up with the others. We'll figure this whole special clone thing out some other time."
"It was necessary."
"I know…" Naruto thought about stopping there but the truth was the truth, so he finished with a quick. "You're me, and I would have done the same." For he would be the Hokage one day, and Gamer Mind or not, killing people was the last thing he wanted to do. But if it meant keeping people safe, or his secret safe, then he would do anything… anything.
Alpha left Naruto to ponder his thoughts. The clone situation was interesting, especially one he noticed the cracks in that one's armor. Making fun of the title he had given himself had immediately shattered the serious act of the blond clone. At the end of the day, the clones were just him, albeit a different shell over the top. Now who was that Beta he was talking about?
He glanced at his active skill list and noted that the entirety of the Gamer's Mind skill was still active after last night. Naruto had turned it on to help cope with the night. "I'll turn it back off once I'm done with the quests." After that, he'd do some running to ease his mind, maybe even train with his clones a bit. "I wonder if they'd like that?"
"Who would like training with you?"
"Shut if fox."
Alright, notification and quest time! What all did he have? Dozens of notifications, apparently. He had received three other quests while in the forest as well, on top of putting out the fires. He had to find the person setting them, beat Mizuki, and then a hidden quest to fight off that other one the clones had taken care of.
For the fires.
[Priority Quest Complete!]
[Find the Source of the Smoke Complete!]
[Rewards: +250 EXP, +2500 Ryo, +1 Attribute Point.]
Which wasn't bad for finding the source, which had obviously been Mizuki and whoever those Sound shinobi were.
For putting them all out, thank you clones, he received—
[Priority Quest Complete!]
[Put out 22 fires. Locations have been marked on your map.]
[Sub Mission Complete!]
[Put out all fires in the forest! Additional locations not marked.]
[Rewards: +50 Relationship with all Neutral+ in Konoha, +15 Relationship with all others, +500 EXP, +1 Skill Point]
For kicking Mizuki's butt up and down the forest he received.
[Priority Mission Complete!]
[Defeat the Hidden Traitor!]
[Rewards: +500 EXP, +10 Relationship with Konoha Shinobi, +1 C+ Shuriken Jutsu Scroll, +2 Attribute Points, +1 Skill Point, +10,000 Ryo]
Finally, and he'd have to really thank his clones for this massive one, he came to the hidden quest.
[Hidden Mission Complete!]
[Defeat an Infiltrator.]
[Rewards: +1250 EXP, +25 Relationship with ANBU, +15,000 Ryo, +2 Skill Points, +5 Attribute Points, +1 Achievement.]
From that achievement, he received a Perk.
Mountain Climber (Perk): No Mountain to high, nor valley to low. Any challenge you come across is simply waiting for completion at your hands. Merely reach out, and take it.
+5% Stats when fighting an opponent 5 or more levels higher than yours.
+25% Learning EXP when fighting an opponent 5 or more levels higher than yours.
+25% EXP from defeating an opponent 5 of more levels higher than yours.
Naruto whistled at the perk. That 5% stat boost sung to him like a siren. "I bet it's going to jinx me, though."
"Don't let it get to your head."
The fox wasn't wrong. 5% of a hundred after all was only 5. And he only recently got to 100 in one stat, and that was with his wind jutsu.
He received the rewards for defeating the two enemies as well, 250 EXP from Mizuki, and an additional 500 from the woman, but sadly, he was 116 EXP off from a level.
Naruto sighed and glanced back out the window. It was still dark out, so it would be a few hours before he had to go back to the Academy. If they even held the team meetings today.
He moved back to his notifications and flicked through the stat increases.
[Ding!]
[+5 CON, +2 DEX, +2 STR, +1 WIS, +1 INT]
He had taken a beating during the fight, so the CON was a nice boost, and the others weren't too shabby. Fighting an experienced shinobi was better than training against Sasuke, or even Lee. With Lee, once a week if he was lucky, he usually only got 1 stat increase. Meanwhile Sasuke he was lucky to get one or two from a week of spars, even if they were still nearly evenly matched. Though, recently, Naruto had noticed he had actually won more contests in total. Maybe it was time to try to find another rival, though. "I wonder if any older genin would be interested?"
"Find a Jonin instead."
As if that would work. Sitting in silence, Naruto finally slapped his knees and stood. Maybe a training session with the clones would be ideal.
Alpha was a taskmaster, that was for sure. He stood opposite the rest of the clones, even Beta, and made sure they focused on the task at hand. He made sure they were giving it their all and made sure they weren't goofing off. He had been sure to smack both Beta and himself when they started trying to make a plan to prank a store owner. It was… certainly interesting to actually watch his clones work, especially the two 'main' ones. While Beta was like his elemental preference, fluid and always moving, Alpha was much more stiff. Honestly, Naruto would almost claim the clone's element was Earth instead. Though there were times when the clone more matched his namesake, they were quite rare.
"Genin Uzumaki." Naruto accidentally stabbed a nearby clone while trying out his newest technique from Mizuki's quest, and spun as an ANBU appeared.
"Eh? Boar-san?" A new clone popped into place and quickly slid away from his creator.
"I see you are enjoying yourself even after yesterdays troubles."
Troubles? Is that all it was to an Elite Shinobi? Just trouble. "Training is always important."
"Indeed, it is." The ANBU glanced around the group. "Working on the basics is an important task for a Genin."
"Uuuuh, did the Old Man need me or something?" Having ANBU arrive at his home was always something to be wary of. It usually meant the old man was angry with a prank or something along those lines.
"No. Merely a message. Genin Uzumaki, all team placements are to be differed one day, until the situation in the village has stabilized."
"Only a day?" If it was differed, he was surprised it wasn't longer.
"One day." He ANBU turned to leave, but paused and glanced backwards, "Also… while Cat has not had the time to visit, she has asked that I pass along our team's thanks. You saved our team's newest recruit. She is awake and well now."
Oh right, the one that the redhead had tried to take with her. "Do they know why she was being taken?"
"That is for ANBU knowledge only."
Aka, information gathering most likely. "Well, I'm glad she's doing better."
"Hn." And like that, Boar was gone.
"Should we change our training plans?" Alpha asked.
Naruto had always had them train different things at one time, but honestly, maybe it would be good to focus entirely on one thing for once. "Let's do some Taijutsu training. Uh… Beta, you were the best clone with the Gentle fist, right?"
"You got it in one, boss. I'm the best there is!"
"Let's head over to a training field really quick, Beta, I want you to keep attacking me with the Gentle Fist, and the rest of you, I want you attacking training posts. Alpha, watch us, and keep the other clones in line while focusing on your own style."
"My own style?"
Naruto nodded, striking a thinking pose. "I remember your fight. After getting the Gentle fist, I noticed you would use your palms, kind of. Like a palm heal strike. While the other clones were using their fingertips with a couple of palm strikes thrown in, with a bit of chakra added to target an enemy, you were pumping larger amounts of chakra in."
Alpha frowned and folded his arms. "I suppose I was."
"You attacks were much more explosive."
"I think I was wasting more chakra with it, though."
"And? We're chakra powerhouses! I bet if we practice it enough, we could probably create our own technique! Maybe even some kind of ranged attack. Just think!"
"Since when did we get smart enough to make our own Jutsu?" One of the other clones whispered.
"I think he's lost it."
"Lord Third… please." Kakashi Hatake bowed low, prostrating himself before his leader.
"Kakashi. You know of our traditions. The council as well will—"
"But sir!" The Jonin raised his head.
"Kakashi, there are reasons. I cannot give you Naruto AND Sasuke."
He stormed to his feet, and for the first time in his life, raised his voice to his leader. "I am owed this!"
"Owed?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was cold and deadly. The room became suffocating, and yet Kakashi did not falter.
"After all I have done for this village—"
"As is required of a Shinobi."
"Is it not required of me to receive Psych Evaluations as well? To take breaks between A and S rank missions? Yet how many times did you let me wave those evaluations, the time off… I have enough time built up to take years off, and yet I still complete my missions? Yes. I am owed this."
Horizon Sarutobi stood, not as the old man, or the Hokage, but as the second God of Shinobi. And his eyes burned brightly at the man before him.
He hadn't lost it.
Naruto sat in his seat at the Academy, glancing through his newest upgrades.
Shadow Clone Jutsu (lvl 34 34%)
Beginner's Taijutsu Condition (Lvl 29 27%)
Beginner's Gentle Fist (Lvl 5 94%): The Gentle Fist is a fast hitting Taijutsu style that mainly utilizes the user's Fingers and Palms to immobilize their enemies while injecting their chakra into the targeted points.. By targeting joints and organs, the user can easily stop an enemy in their tracks. The creator of this style is the Hyuga Clan, who can utilize this style to target their opponents' Chakra Network, cutting off the user's ability to mold chakra. Costs 10 CP a strike. Passively increases DEX by 5% and WIS by 10%.
And he had gained two new skills as well.
Beginner's Gentle Palm (Lvl 1 89%): An offshoot of the Gentle Fist style, the Gentle Palm is must more explosive in its style and fighting. Can be used to rupture organs or shatter bones. Costs 25 CP for each strike. Passively increases WIS by 1% and DEX by 2%.
Bursting Palm (Lvl 2 15%): By explosively forcing chakra through the user's palms, a blast of concussive force rips through the air. Costs 35 CP to use. For an additional 25 CP, an elemental nature can be added for a variety of effects.
Deals 57.5 Non-elemental Bludgeoning Damage.
15% chance to stop the opponent's chakra flow in the targeted area.
+50% Armor Penetration.
It was a whopping ability. And one he and Alpha had practiced over and over again. He couldn't wait to test it out during a real fight though.
"Team 7 will be Naruto Uzumaki…"
He glanced up from the system, watching Iruka with narrowed eyes.
"Sasuke Uchiha…"
That wasn't too bad, but who would be the third?
"Sakura Haruno."
Naruto frowned. He could have sworn someone mentioned that the dead last would be placed with the Rookie of the Year and the Kunoichi of the Year. So what was this team?
"Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake."
The old man?
And so the wait began. Almost an hour had passed, and Naruto couldn't help but think it was a good thing he had sent his clones to train beforehand, once more splitting them into working on their nature transformations. But that left Naruto bored. Which wasn't a good thing. Especially as Sakura continued to chatter on in the background. It was almost… annoying? "Since when did I find Sakura annoying?"
"I'm glad you do. Her chattering about your pitiful rival is getting on my last nerve."
Naruto bit his tongue. The fox wasn't wrong, honestly he wasn't even sure how the pinkette had become Kunoichi of the Year. "Probably he smarts beating out Ino, and Hinata's meekness showing during the tests. This blows."
"Oi, dobe." Finally! Something to do!
"What, teme?!" He turned to the other boy and saw him bouncing one knee and tapping his finger quickly. He was antsy. All morning, he had been upset about something, but after Ino and Sakura took the seats beside him, Naruto hadn't had much of an opportunity to ask.
"Let's spar."
"In here?"
The last Uchiha scowled at him. "Outside, obviously. No use in waiting in here if our sensei is late."
"But what if he comes in while we're gone?" Sakura seemed torn.
"We?" Sasuke questioned. He opened his mouth, no doubt a scathing comment on his tongue, when Naruto interjected for the poor girl.
"I'll leave some clones behind on the off chance Hatake doesn't see us outside."
"And what good are clones going to do, Naruto-baka?"
Ah, right, she hadn't really interacted with his clones before, had she?
"Just leave it, Haruno." Oof, such a scathing reply.
"Alright, Sasuke, let's get this over with. Any restrictions."
"As if I'd need any to beat you."
[-1 Relationship with Sasuke Uchiha!]
"Are you kidding me!" Naruto screamed in his head. What made this boy tick? Even now, their relationship still only sat at:
Trusted Rival: 107/500
It was practically impossible to go a week with more than a point or two in the positive.
"Whatever." Naruto rolled his eyes and then said, "Alright, Teme, let's go."
Naruto wasn't surprised when a new quest popped up while stretching. Especially judging from how antsy his rival was.
[Event Quest Unlocked!]
[Dance of the Fans! Part 1]
[Description: Sasuke Uchiha is having a bad day. Take a beating or knock some sense into them!]
[Rewards: +/-25 Relationship with Sasuke Uchiha, +75 EXP, ?, ?]
It was an Event Quest? That… was surprising. Though Naruo did roll his eyes at the +/- portion. It had become a standard. If Naruto won, he'd get half the points, if he lost he'd lose the points, and if they tied, then he'd get the full amount. If the fight was interrupted, however, it was random on the prize.
"Get him, Sasuke-kun!"
"Ha! You don't have any fans!" Kurama laughed from inside.
"Shut it, you bastard!" He mentally roared at the fox. "Alright, teme. Same as usual?"
The Uchiha pulled out a coin, the same exact one he always used, and flicked it into the air.
Naruto fell into his Academy stance, and the second the coin hit the ground, he was off.
Like always, Sasuke started off with taijutsu, meeting him head on with that same pompous smirk he always had. "Ready for a beat down!" Naruto had to toss at the other boy.
"Hn." was half of the reply. The other piece came from a quick left jab that Naruto barely dodged out the way of.
"Should I break out the Gentle Fist or Palm style?" Naruto asked himself. They may be a little too violent for a spar, though. Plus, his Intermediate Academy Style wasn't half bad now. Still not as good as Sasuke's Interceptor.
Naruto ducked a kick and pulled away from the boy, throwing a wild swing as a distraction. He shuffled his feet and grinned as Sasuke started to move through hand signs. One's Naruto recognized. Dumping his chakra into his lungs, he copied the boy.
"Fire Style: Fire Flies!" They shouted in unison. 125 tiny embers flew from each mouth, slamming into each other with a hiss as a shout from Sakura was heard. Naruto rolled to the left as a few got through, mirrored by Sasuke.
"Should you two really be using Jutsu like that!?" Sakura shouted.
"It's a Distraction Jutsu!" they shouted. Sasuke scowled and Naruto grinned.
[+1 Relations—]
Naruto ran through several hand signs and smirked, "Ready for more, Sasuke?"
Four signs came from the black- haired boy in retaliation.
"Fire Style:—"
"Water Style:—"
"Earth Style: Practice Brick Technique!"
A thin red wall of clay slid from the ground, stopping the two techniques from colliding.
"I didn't take you as one to be defensive, dobe!" Sasuke shouted.
"Says you, teme!" Though, Naruto already knew it was someone else.
Name: Kakashi Hatake
Title: The Copy Ninja
Job: Elite Jonin
Level: 56
STR: 71
CON: 42
DEX: 129
INT: 87
WIS: 87
LUK: 52
Relationship: [Well Liked 92/100]
Eight levels. That's all the man had gained, and yet his attribute points had sky rocketed. Especially his Dex. "A man after my own heart." He wondered that his DEX would be with that Raikiri Jutsu this time.
"Now, now, kids, behave." The man's voice came through the steam.
"Hey, sensei! Been a while."
Naruto ran his hands together and used a D- rank wind jutsu to blow away the smoke screen, revealing their new sensei.
"Oh? Already calling me that?" the man chuckled and stood from his crouched position.
Naruto noticed the scowl on Sasuke's face and almost laughed.
"So then, should I ask what caused you two to be going at each other? In the middle of the Academy, no less?"
"Just a spar. It seemed our sensei was late a bit today, so we wanted to burn some energy." Naruto quickly said.
"Is that so?" The one eyed cyclops looked around the area. "That Fireball certainly didn't seem like it would be proper for a spar. Neither did that Descending Sphere."
"Oh, you know that one?" Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"And you." Kakashi turned to Sakura. "Not planning on stopping them?"
"I—"
"Why don't we all take a seat nearby? We can go ahead and introduce ourselves." The man had already turned away, heading for a bench.
Naruto glanced at his notifications and grimaced.
[Quest Failed!]
[Partial Rewards Given.]
[Rewards: +5 Relationship with Sasuke Uchiha, +25 EXP, 1 Reward Deferred.]
At least he got something out of it.
Kakashi guided the group of Genin to one side of a picnic bench and sat across from them. "I had hoped to give you all a little test, racing to the roof in five minutes, but that was with the expectation that you would be in the classroom."
"The roof?" Sasuke scoffed.
"It has a nice, scenic view."
Now it was Naruto's turn to scoff. "Probably not as good as the Hokage Monument."
"Shut up, Naruto." Sakura hissed.
Silence over took the group for a minute until Kakashi clapped his hands and gave them the largest smile he could. "Well, then. Why don't we all introduce ourselves?"
"But, sensei. We already know each other?"
"Thank you for volunteering, Sakura, is it? Now tell us your likes, dislikes, and something about yourselves. Oh. Toss in your dreams, too."
Blushing red in embarrassment, the girl stammer out. "W-w-well. I guess what I like is… reading? I love to read, I mean. And I like…" She glanced at Sasuke and disappeared. "Um. I dislike fatty foods, and overpriced makeups. And something interesting about myself, well I'm from a civilian family, but I became Kunoichi of the year!"
"Yes, I think that was mentioned in your file." The man dead panned.
Looking down at her fingers, the girl then whispered. "Also, my dream is… to become a respectable Kunoichi in Konoha."
"An admirable goal." The man's eyes flicked between the other two, who sat on the end of their bench. "Eney meany, miney, Naruto."
Rolling his eyes with a smile, Naruto practically leaped onto the table. "I'm gonna be Hokage, you hear me!? Hokage!"
"Down boy." A light water jutsu splashed against Naruto's face, and he leaped from the table with a gasp. "Now, what about the rest of my questions?"
Sending a glare at the man, Naruto answered. "I love ramen, first of all! And training! I don't like the three minutes it takes to wait for instant ramen to cook, plus I hate flaming monkeys! Can't stand them!"
"I heard you had ventured into the Forest." The man muttered.
"As for something about myself, well… I want to be a Hero. While being Hokage is my dream, being a Hero is what I strive to be."
"I've met a few in my lifetime." Hatake spoke slowly, watching as Naruto stood tall. "Maybe one day, kid. Mr. McBroody, you're up next."
"Hn." The last Uchiha grunted. "I like training. I hate fangirls. My only goal in life is to kill someone. Someone I hate with every bone in my body."
Sakura shivered in her seat while Naruto rolled his eyes at the edge lord. "Way to kill the move, Sasuke."
"Screw you… dobe."
[+1 Relationship—]
"Well, then… I hope we all know each other a—"
"Aw, come on, sensei! Tell us about yourself too!" Naruto cut in.
"Hmmm. How about… no."
"But how are we supposed to get to know you better, sensei? Won't our bond be important for missions?" Sakura added.
"Our bond?" Kakashi chuckled. "Technically, we don't need a bond just yet."
Naruto felt something travel down his spine, and even Sasuke paused in his brooding to stare at the Jonin. "Why's that, old man?"
"Oh, Naruto. You hurt me so with that title. I'm only in my early twenties you know." Naruto needed to figure out how the man could smile with his eye like that. "But yes. We don't need to go forming bonds just yet. You see, none of you have passed the Genin Exam just yet."
"What!?" Naruto leaped to his feet as Sasuke grunted in annoyance and Sakura shrieked.
"But we did!" she shouted. "I even got—"
"Now, now. There's just one more teeny, tiny test for you all. I'm sure you'll do fine."
"Ugh, why is there a test!" Naruto groaned, holding his head in his hands. He then asked in a muffled voice, "Is it written?"
"No, no. It's real simple. Simply meet me at Training Ground 7. We'll call it a survival exercise."
"Hn. Whatever it is, I'll win."
"Teme."
"Dobe."
"Now, now, children. This isn't a compe—well it will be. But you don't need to worry about that just yet. Meet me at 7 in the morning. Oh and; try not to eat anything. You'll merely get sick." And then he was gone. Simply ceasing to exist. Naruto needed to learn that technique.
"Tch. Just what I need. One more obstacle in my way."
"Why don't we all get something to eat?" Naruto offered.
"No thanks." Sasuke immediately said and stood.
"Yeah, baka. Sasuke-kun, why don't we—"
"Get lost." And off Sasuke went. Walking into the distance.
Naruto stood as well, hands on his head as he stretched. "Ne, Sakura-chan. No offense but Sasuke really, really, doesn't like fangirls."
"Shut up, Naruto!" She turned to him with a glare.
"Hey, I'm just giving you some words of advice."
With a huff, the pinkette spun away, practically sprinting away from the table. "I gotta let off some steam."
"You could always remove my seal. Then we could fight."
"Yeah, like I'm that stupid."
"You almost flunked that simple written test, did you not?"
Ignoring the fox, Naruto breathed out a deep sigh and spun in a circle. Once he stopped, he began to walk in that direction. "Let's see what the Village has to offer tonight." Who knew what would happen, or how it would go?
It was… great. That's what it was. To walk through the village and not be beset by glares at all times. Sure, every once in a while, maybe once a week, he'd get a level in his Detect Bloodlust skill, but really it had been almost three since his last level. And now, now, he was even having people wave at him. He waved enthusiastically at a group of had reciprocated and used the motion of dropping his hand to wipe away the tears that had started to form. It was just… so nice.
"Naruto! Come check out my new sell! Buy two, get one free on pants!" One old man shouted.
"Not today, old man Jichi!" He waved off the kind man.
Was this what it was like to be normal?
"I see you're enjoying yourself, young man! Oh, to be in the springtime of youth once more!"
"Hey, Gai-san. Back from your trip?" Team 9 had gone on a C-rank just the other day.
"We have!" The man struck a pose. "We just got back from the tower to report it! I am glad to hear that the fire situation was handled while gone, of course!"
"It's a good thing the other shinobi were able to protect the village." Naruto agreed.
"Ah, but it was not them who had caught the culprit, was it?" He wiggled his eyebrows and patted the boy on the head. "Taking on a Chunin at your age and coming out on top at that. My, my, the youth must flow strongly in you."
"Thanks, sensei."
"Ah, team placements were done today. Who did you receive?"
Naruto grinned at the man, knowing exactly what he would say. "Well, I was teamed with the Two best in our year, Sakura and Sasuke. But our sensei is Kakashi!"
The man froze in his step, before the largest smile he had ever seen appeared on his face. "My Eternal Rival, eh? It seems you and Lee are certainly following in our footsteps!"
Naruto chuckled. "So far, so good, it seems. I'll definitely need to get a spar in with Lee soon."
"You know, your team mirrors my own."
"Right, you got the top two and the dead last as well, right?"
"Yes. Though from what I hear, you weren't the dead last this time, correct? It was the Inuzuka heir, correct?"
"Yeah. It surprised me for sure. I thought I'd get placed with someone else. Heck, I thought I'd be with Shino and Hinata with Anko Mitarashi."
"Ah yes, she received her first team this year, correct?"
"Yeah! I see her every once in a while in the Forest of Death. She spilled the beans that they were considering giving her a team."
"She kept trying to tell us how bad of an idea it was."
Naruto laughed as he remembered how excited the woman was in the forest. She was practically bouncing off the trees. Maybe it was due to her drunkenness. "I think she'll be fine. Though honestly, I guess I can see why they kept Kiba there. I know Anko's a pretty good tracker. And with Hinata's Byakugan and Shino's bugs, they'll make a great T&I team." Though did Timid little Hinata have the guts for that? Shino certainly did.
"I must say, I didn't expect you to know so much about teams?"
He didn't, at least not until a month ago. While being antsy on the team placements, Naruto had sent a clone into the Library to read as many books as possible on the famous teams of the last few decades. There had been plenty of information there. The Ino-Shika-Cho team especially. But there were other teams, like one led by the current Inuzuka Head, Tsume, one considered as the best tracking team since the Warring Clans period. While it didn't have a Hyuga on it, it did have an Aburame. Surprisingly, being Shino's mother.
"Should have used that time to study for the test, not your teams."
"So, you have a tracking team in your year. What else do you have?"
"I know for a fact, Team 10 is trying to recreate their father's teams. There's a few other civilian teams as well with some minor clans mixed in, but for the most part, none of them stand out."
"And your team?" There was a glint in his eye.
"I'm not sure. But with Kakashi Hatake as our leader, I'm not sure. We're important solely for Sasuke being on the team, however."
"Only him?"
"I'm nothing special." Naruto shrugged. Kurama not counting, at least.
"And your teammate?"
"She's a civilian, like me. But she's also the Kunoichi of the year."
Gai scratched his chin, and Naruto looked away from the man, studying the people around them now. "And what is her speciality? Why was she given that title?"
Because Ino, the better fighter, didn't care and never studied, and Hinata, who studied but didn't like fighting hadn't made the cut. Sakura was above average in most areas while having a superior intellect. "Her brains. She is smart, even if she's a fangirl."
"Ah yes, fangirls. I've dealt with plenty of them in my time."
"Bullshi—"
"Really, sensei?" Naruto tried to keep the disbelief out of his voice, but ultimately failed.
"Of course! Most of the time's I'm challenging Kakashi, he is always surrounded by them! I always have to chase them off to get a proper challenge! Even back in the day, he was far too hip."
Naruto could imagine that well… too well since he always did it for Sasuke… he also always helped the boy escape from his fangirls. "Don't tell me I'm going to be like Gai!"
"Only wearing an orange tracksuit instead." The fox roared with laughter.
"Not helping!" Naruto mentally shouted before turning back to the green beast. "What is your team's specialty?"
The man smiled. "I was wondering when you were going to ask that. My team is mostly a taijutsu or weapons team. However, our true specialty is long distant missions. We are what is known as a speed team. While we do dispatch bandits and the like during some missions, most of our jobs are to deliver important correspondents that do not warrant a Courier Ninja or higher rank. Not only are Genin teams cheaper than a Courier Ninja, it also gives the young one's experience. Other teams can, of course, request these missions, but if there is an abundance, we are given first priority each morning."
"Wow." That was certainly eye opening to Naruto. He hadn't really known about teams having specialties like that.
"Even if a team is fairly well rounded, they can still prefer or specialize in one type of mission." Gai continued. "Asuma Sarutobi's team, for example, at least back during the War, was what was known as an Escort team. They were skilled fighters, but worked like a well-oiled machine to protect their charge. Of course, some teams specialize in doing anything. Jack's of all trades. If you were placed on the team with the Hyuga and Aburame, I'm sure that's what your team would have been, or perhaps a reconnoissance team."
Humming in thought, Naruto asked aloud, "What do you think my team's specialty will be?"
"What do you think?" the man raised an eyebrow expectantly.
Naruto frowned and gave a thoughtful look at the sky. "Well… I'm not really sure. Sasuke and I are great with Ninjutsu, and while the teme is still better than me in pure Taijutsu, my strength and speed are able to keep up with him."
"All those beatings from Lee have shown you as much." Which was true. When Lee kept his weights at their highest level, Naruto usually came out on top, but once the boy dropped the weight, even by a bit, Naruto would get thrown around easily. Currently, Lee was only allowed to drop 20 percent for their spars, and up to 35 if Naruto agreed to it.
"He's amazing." Naruto felt he had to pat the man on his back for turning Lee into the powerhouse he was. "But still, ninjutsu is both of our specialties. Meanwhile Sakura… she's got brains."
"So what do you think will happen?"
Naruto frowned, unable to think of a better answer than: "Maybe Ninjutsu specialists?"
"Quite the broad topic."
The man left a few minutes later, begging off for his team's sake as Naruto continued to ponder the man's question. "What type of team will we be?"
A question for tomorrow, after they passed this team test, when they'd really become a team.
(AN: Alright! End of the chapter! Thanks for all the reviews in the meantime, everybody! Can't wait to catch you all in the next time! In the meantime, please leave a review about what you liked, or what you didn't! See you all in the next chapter!)
Name: Naruto Uzumaki
Title: Genin
Job: Genin
EXP: 4384/4500
Level: 16
Health: 11/167
Chakra: 1800(9000)/1800(9000)
STR: 45
CON: 66
DEX: 74
INT: 40
WIS: 45
LUK: ?
Attribute Points: +10
Skill Points: +13
Perk Points: +4