A/N: Can't sleep. Got some PM's asking about this story. Figured I'd crank out an update.

Need sleep. Typos possible.

Naruto's night had passed fitfully. He was worried about the test, about how he'd do, and more importantly, about his own identity. He knew about the Kyuubi in the same disconnected fashion most of his generation did, through books and stories and the Festival of the Nine Tails. But knowing that it was sealed within him was horrifying.

The power the Kyuubi had was enormous – and it was sealed into his body. He'd had no time to ask further questions, and suspected even if he did, Hiashi-sama would have no answers. The story of the defeat of the Kyuubi was so vague and heroically embellished already that he had privately doubted it had gone like the stories had said. Now he had the proof.

Knowing the Fourth was his father was also a mindfuck, one he'd spent a great deal of time thinking over. He'd known, of course, that he was adopted, but the cover was that his parents had died in the Kyuubi attack. His undefined status in the clan – he lived with the Main House but was otherwise treated more like the Branch House – made perfect sense now.

He knew, vaguely, that others would have to be told. He feared how Hinata-chan and Ino-chan would react, although he could probably expect Shino to be the most accepting, given the role the kikai bugs played in the lives of the Aburame clan. How the Uchiha – or worse, some civilian girl – would react if and when they were told was less clear.

Dinner didn't bring any clarity, about the test or his past. Discussion was mostly around Hizashi and Hiashi discussing the low numbers of Hyuuga who'd passed the primary exam – only two Hyuuga had been accepted for training by dedicated jonin, an embarrassingly low number. The fact that a civilian had beaten six more in chakra control was almost unbelievable, although Hizashi was already suggesting examining if the girl was perhaps opening to marrying into the Hyuuga – control that like was more genetics than skill, after all.

The meeting with senseis came up, and Hiashi was pleased to note Naruto was on the team with Sakura, so that he could evaluate her skills. He was less pleased to see him assigned to Kakashi and Obito, but made a throwing away gesture and mentioned that the two were the students of the Fourth and got whatever they wanted it seemed.

A glance from his foster father warned him that he had probably been picked specifically to be trained by two of the most talented remaining Sharingan users in the village for a reason. When conversation turned to Hinata, she's reported that she also met her sensei, or rather, senseis – she'd told her father and the clan Elders that she was to train under both one Kuranai Yuni as well as Anko Mitarashi.

The first name had only produced the patented Hyuuga sneer, but the latter one raised soft whispers and hard looks.

Naruto had asked the Branch Member assigned as his servant, Sho – who never actually got to do much serving except for waking him up, since Naruto refused to let the Branch do chores he wouldn't – and got a confusing sort of answer.

Anko was once the apprentice of the arch-criminal Orochimaru, who had killed the Third Hokage in a titanic combat that also left him dead. While there was no real doubts as to her loyalty per se, her methods were cruel and brutal like her teacher, and she was mostly trained in assassination and seduction missions – hardly the kind of thing for any Hyuuga to participate in.

Much less one as gently, shy, and withdrawn as Hinata was. There was some consolation that at least Kuranai was skilled and more acceptable socially, but she was a very new jonin and her core skills were all genjutsu based, which was of almost no use against the Byakugan, after all.

Dinner had ended quietly, leaving Naruto time to try and find out more. But when he'd asked several of the genin of the Main and Branch House about the 'test', all he'd received were looks of pity or concern. Every time, he was given the same non-answer.

"Is it not a test you can study for, nor prepare for. It is a test of your ability to perform the real duty of any shinobi."

Laying in bed, later that night, he went over the possibilities. What was the real duty of a shinobi? To obey the Hokage, protect the village, and... what?

Testing their skills, jutsu or ability to fight seemed pointless, given the very strict and in-depth testing the Ninja Academy already performed before letting a student go into a genin team in the first place. Likewise, an exam of knowledge like a written test had no real bearing on your ability to perform. Besides, such performance measurements were meaningless unless conducted in a real battle, and he was not stupid enough to think he was ready for facing enemy ninja in a fight.

Something about the expression on the faces of people he'd asked made him worried, and was why he didn't sleep well. It was the same kind of expression he saw when people talked about 'changes in the village since the Third died', an ill defined set of what always seemed to him to be meaningless complaints.

Sho woke him at the usual time, and he bathed and dressed accordingly – the black uniform worn by genin instead of his white Hyuuga attire – and then putting on the haori. The dark gray with blue trim actually went well with the black clothing, and he took a deep breath as he set out for Training Ground Seven.

He arrived a few minutes early, almost at the same time Sakura did, only to find Sasuke already there. The latter was leaning against a tree, his dark clothing set off by the bright white and red pin he wore from his clan. Sakura was also dressed in the black genin uniform, set off by a dark gray jacket and had her hair tied back into a ponytail tucked inside the collar.

Sasuke grunted as they approached. "No sign of the instructors yet, I've been using the chakra pulse technique to check. I'm glad to see you're both here on time."

Sakura shrugged. "My parents had to head out for work anyway...but if they aren't here, is that part of the test, maybe?"

Grimacing, Naruto triggered his Byakugan, glancing around. His range was, compared to most Hyuuga, pitifully short – probably due to the fact the eyes weren't his – but he could see well enough around the training ground. "I don't think...wait. I see them. They're by the Memorial to the Fallen, both of them. Talking to each other."

Sakura's expression tightened. "Well, it is a little before nine still. I don't suppose either of you learned anything about the test? I did as much research as I could last night but no one wanted to talk about it. Some older chunin said things used to be 'different' but no details."

Sasuke's frown deepened, but his voice was mild. "Hn. The same. My mother told me that the only thing to do was remember what we were always told. Shisui just said to remember my training, whatever that means."

Naruto sighed, glancing around the training ground. There were three heavy wooden posts near the small stream, a field of grass, and some light brush and trees surrounding it for cover. Aside from the bridge crossing the stream and leading to the Memorial, he saw nothing else – until he took a closer look at the posts.

"...these posts are fresh cut."

Sakura only glanced over in confusion, but Sasuke frowned and shrugged. "Maybe someone broke them and they were newly replaced."

Sakura shook her head. "No, the genin training grounds are isolated and off limits – Danzo-sama has chunin patrolling to make sure no outside ninja or dangers get to us, and each ground is limited to the team that is supposed to train there."

Sasuke shrugged. "Don't see the problem, new team, new posts."

Naruto shrugged, uneasy for some reason. "I don't know. It... I get these hunches sometimes, when things are wrong. This is one of them."

Before Sasuke could answer, the sound of wheels on stone sounded, and Kakashi arrived, pushing Obito in his wheelchair. The tall ninja was dressed identically to yesterday, complete with gravity defying hair. Obito now wore a ninja uniform as well instead of clan robes, a black hitai-ate that had a cover going over his missing left eye, making him an eerie copy of his friend.

Kakashi's voice was entirely too cheerful. "Good morning, puppies. Did you sleep well?"

Obito rolled his eye, his voice sarcastic. "Sure, I'm betting they all slept like lambs. Ignore the moron – did any of you eat?"

Naruto and Sakura nodded. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "...my mother told me to eat lightly, and no acidic fruits."

Naruto frowned. "Huh. I did notice that all I got was bread and porridge and cold tea this morning, I figured it was a problem in the kitchens."

Obito's half-crooked smile was almost chilling. "Well, good. Very wise of them. Sakura, I hope you didn't eat a big breakfast."

She shook her head, green eyes narrowed. "No, Obito-sensei. Just a light salad and some milk."

Kakashi nodded, stepping around the chair. "Good, good, good. Now, as I said, there is a single task you must complete before you can start calling yourself 'ninja' and training under Obito and I. You have been drilled on survival, on tactics, on jutsu. You have been trained on how to navigate the land by map and stars, studied medical jutsu and first aid, and had at least a hundred hours, if not more, spent on practicing weapons, finding lethal targets and how to use your jutsu for best effect."

His voice lost all mirth. "But playtime is over now, children. The task of a shinobi is both very complex, and very simple. Execution of our tasks is complex – stealth, genjutsu, poison, politics, seduction, economics, even on occasion investigation or research. Being a ninja can involve all of that and more, but only in the abstract."

His head tilted, his tone suddenly grim. "In the real world, however...our job is simple. It is to murder and kill."

Naruto nodded, Sasuke shrugged, and Sakura bit her lip.

Obito spoke, his voice without levity as well. "Unfortunately, killing is the single most traumatic experience you can undergo and inflict on another human being. In the old days, most genin did not handle being forced to kill well. Some froze up, and got themselves or a team mate killed. Others broke down afterwards and went crazy. Still others tried actively not to kill, and were thus killed themselves."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "What kind of ninja doesn't want to kill?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Jiraya of the Sannin hates killing, for one. And the First Hokage was so powerful that he could incapacitate instead of kill most of his enemies. But... I concede the point, and this is why we had to change things."

Kakashi walked over to the training posts, placing a black square of paper with a faintly glowing white seal kanji on each post. "In the past, the genin 'evaluation' would test things like teamwork, checking basic skills, and the kinds of detail examination of skills and talents that are now done before you even leave the first year. Danzo-sama put an end to that, ensuring that before anyone goes into the field they are heavily trained as best as they can be."

He sounded almost apologetic. "Thus, the only thing left to test..."

He paused, making hand-signs so quickly they were just a blur, and then tapped each of the three seals in order.

A second later three puffs of light smoke erupted, and there was a man tied to each post. Each wore black sackcloth pants tied with white rope, a black sackcloth vest, and a hood over their features. Wire-reinforced ropes wound around their torso and hips, while heavy black chains constrained their ankles and wrists.

"...is to see if you can actually do the job of a shinobi."

The figures did not move, except for slow, even breathing. Sakura noted with faint dismay that the men's fingers were all broken, probably to deny them the use of jutsu, and looked up at her teachers.

"...Kakashi-sensei...why are these men here?"

Obito gave a sigh, and lifted his good left hand, his fingers working rapidly. Lines of faintly glowing blue erupted, latching onto points on his other arm, leg, and torso...and then he stood up, drawing a gasp from Sasuke as he walked forward, his crippled right arm moving adroitly to gesture at the posts and their new appellations.

"Bito-nii...you can walk?"

Obito's voice was hard. "Puppeteer jutsu. I will explain later, Sasuke. You asked why these men were here? They are your test, genin."

He turned to Sakura. "The test is simple. Two of these men are enemy ninja. They were caught attempting to breach our security, either to steal information or kidnap vulnerable children with bloodlines. They killed several shinobi and four civilians, one of them a six year old child. Interrogation has already revealed their guilt. The third man is a bandit and a rapist. He was caught and subdued by our ninja outside the village after he tortured and killed two young women. All three have already been sentenced to death."

His left hand opened the flat black kunai pouch strapped to his leg, and carefully withdrew three kunai, which he held out handles first. "The sentence for them all is death. Your first task to become a shinobi is to take a kunai and kill them."

The three children stood there, in silence for several seconds. Kakashi spoke again, his voice low, but carrying a hard edge. "In your shinobi career, you are required to kill. Often, repeatedly, and to strike without pity or remorse. You are a weapon in the hand of Konoha, and you do not decide when to strike or not to, only on how to accomplish the task."

Kakashi walked around Obito to face the three. "I believe the most important factor in being successful is teamwork, but I am not the Hokage. I disagree with the Fifth Hokage's philosophy on many levels... but I must also admit he is correct in some ways. To be a shinobi is not usually a task undertaken in the clear light of day. There are no clearly defined evils, in many cases. You may have to kill those considered 'innocent', or those who are simply obeying their own village... or worse."

He gestured to the three tied against the poles. "This is, by comparison, as close to 'righteous' as you can get. There is nothing to redeem in these three, they are trash. There is no reason to feel remorse over removing them from the wheel of life."

He pulled back, and Obito's fingers on his left hand twitched as his right hand moved again, extending the knives.

Sakura was, to Kakashi's surprise, the first to speak. "...what happens if we cannot... do it?"

Obito's voice was as hard as iron. "You will be remanded to the T&I department, where a Yamanaka will remove your memories of all ninja skills. You will be branded hi junkyo no and you will never be able to apply for ninja service again, or work for any of the workplaces or merchants who are subsidized by the Ninja Council." Obito's smile was almost sad. "You are not a clan member, so your punishment is light. A clan member declared hi junkyo no is seen as a traitor. In Naruto's case, he would have his eyes removed and replaced with normal ones, the same for Sasuke, and they would be thrown out of their clans."

Kakashi spoke, his tone mild. "It may seem harsh...but, I must admit, the alternative is worse. I have seen countless times where someone freezes after a kill, and is killed. Or hesitates to strike home a blow, and as a result gets someone else killed."

Naruto nodded slowly. "And there are no options? This isn't some... examine the foundations, look underneath the underneath mindfuck?"

Both instructors shook their head, and Obito spoke.

"Rather than making you nerve yourself up and pick who goes first... you're up, Naruto-kun."

Naruto grimaced before stepping forward and taking the left most kunai. He took a deep, shaky breath, and triggered his Byakugan, glad he'd taken the time to master doing so silently. The left most man tied to the post was clearly drugged, his heart only beat sluggishly and his chakra was suppressed by several glowing seals he could see in the white-on-black vision of his dojutsu. Wounds and injuries littered his body under the sackcloth, and several looked as if they had not been treated.

Killing this beaten thing would be a literal mercy. He refocused his mind on the lessons of the Academy, of the many strikes on the practice dummies, sighted in on the aorta, and struck with a single careful stab, the kunai cleanly severing the blood vessel. The man jerked and almost immediately slumped further, blood soaking into the cheap sackcloth, running slowly down his chest and pooling below him for a few moments before slowing to a trickle.

Obito nodded, and Kakashi pulled Naruto aside. "Next, Sakura."

Sakura paled, and trembled as she stepped forward, taking the kunai. She nearly dropped it but regained her grip, breathing rapidly and shallowly as she took in the two remaining people, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood.

After three long seconds, when Kakashi was about to speak, she gave a brief wailing cry and thrust her kunai into the middle figure's jugular. A spurt of bright arterial blood splashed out, spattering the girl with visceric, hot blood, and she staggered back, her rapid movement tearing the knife free in a long line across the man's throat. He slumped into death almost instantly, and Obito gently moved forward as Kakashi took her by the shoulders, guiding her to sit down on the grass.

Sasuke looked up at his cousin, and nodded, his mouth set in a grim line. Obito gave him the knife, and then stepped back. The younger Uchiha examined the man, and then being mindful of the messes Sakura and Naruto made, deftly stepped up and pulled the man's head forward and down, driving the spike-like knife into the base of the skull with a single hammered blow and withdrawing quickly.

Naruto had gone utterly pale, with a faint tremor in his hand that had a few drops of blood on it. Sakura was throwing up, while Kakashi gently patted her on the back. Obito placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "You okay, little cousin?"

Sasuke straightened his back. "I'm...fine. I saw worse than this when walking back through the compound that night."

Naruto's pale white eyes flicked up to meet Sasuke's, and then to Sakura, who was wiping her mouth with a wet rag provided by Kakashi. After a long second, he turned to Obito. "Kamui that mess, please, Obito."

The elder Uchiha nodded, his one eye swirling into a red and black pinwheel. "Kamui!"

Sasuke's eyes widened as the three poles and their grisly contents twisted, the air and the ground swirling like water going down a drain before they suddenly vanished. Torn, fresh dirt and three stumps were all that remained, the surface of the stumps glossy and smoking.

Kakashi pushed Naruto down to sit next to Sakura, and Obito gestured for Sasuke to do the same. The smell of vomit was still in the air, as well as blood, and all three of them felt as if they were spinning.

Kakashi's voice was warm and gentle. "You all did very, very well. I did not do what some instructors do – keep them alert and awake, make you stare into their eyes when you kill them. Killing is never easy, except for sociopaths, lunatics, and perhaps archers. To kill as a ninja is to stab and rend, or to break bone. It is to set people on fire and smell burning flesh, to use poison and watch them writhe and gasp for air they can no longer breathe. It is a legacy of darkness, of murder, of the cruel ending of life for nothing more than the pursuit of the village's goals."

He met all three pairs of eyes. "I will not lie to you and say it will be easier when you have to do this. Nor will I talk about 'doing this for real' – this was real. A genjutsu may suffice for some, but it is never as horrible as the reality."

He pulled out three black headbands, each surmounted with a silver place and a leaf glyph. "This was a test. You could have all refused, and you would have failed and been sent back as broken, noncompliant. You have crossed a threshold, one I wish that wasn't necessary for children."

He handed each of them the hitai-ate and waited until they tied them around their foreheads – or in Naruto's case, around his neck, as most Main Branch Hyuuga did – before continuing. "Naruto asked if this was some kind of mindfuck and we said no. That's not entirely true. We used to do this with an easy C-rank mission after about a year of training against live bandits."

He sighed and pulled the wet rag from Sakura's limp fingers, wiping a spot of blood from her cheek. "It usually cost at least one genin his or her life every year, if we were lucky. That being said, we have a branch for ninja that cannot kill, the Mujitsu branch. In the case where someone cannot bring themselves to kill, they go there – and are restricted to the village for life as a result."

Obito nodded jerkily. "A lot of people feel that those who can't kill at eleven years old could, with some hardening and mental preparation, be okay doing so at twelve. But Danzo-sama felt that was coddling them – or as he said, 'rotten wood does not become strong wood with more time left to rot'. Given that we still haven't fully recovered from the Kyuubi Attack and this is the first year in a long time to need to go back to three man teams, we have to manage our resources."

Naruto turned that over in his head. "So...you do this straight off to see who to bother to teach in the first place?"

Kakashi flipped his little orange book open and made a sound. "Yes, basically, but also that trying to make a pacifist or someone who hates to kill into a killer is a fast track to insanity. And believe me, we already have enough crazy ninja already – as you will learn with Guy."

Obito frowned. "More seriously... Sasuke, Itachi was one of those who was flagged as probably best placed in the Mujitsu and was... overruled by your father. We think that maybe being forced to kill and ANBU duty is what drove him insane...which is why there are no exceptions to the rule now."

Sasuke stared at his hands, the hands he'd just killed someone with, and shook his head. "That doesn't change a thing, Bito-nii."

Obito's expression was bitter. "Yeah, I know." He flicked the fingers of his left hand, moving as he did so, and raised his voice. "Alright. Sakura, your parents were alerted as to what was going on in your training today, and so was Hiashi-sama, Naruto. You're off the rest of the day, go home, hug your family...take a shower. Bury yourself in simple easy things. Sasuke, same for you, Shisui and Grandpa are waiting on you to get home."

Kakashi's voice was softly gentle again. "Rest and don't fixate on this. It is a part of what we do...but only a part. And genin are not typically called on to kill. Tomorrow, we will discuss our training schedule, have a group meal, and get our team picture before picking up our first real mission from the Hokage."

Obito rolled his working eye. "At least they don't have to do the old fucking D-ranks, Kashi. But those still aren't missions, they're just more serious chores."

Kakashi made some kind of movement and Obito's glowing chakra strings parted, tumbling him to the ground. "Shut up, Obitdiot."

Sakura made a thin giggle, and even Sasuke smirked, albeit weakly. Kakashi turned to them and then, to their surprise, bowed.

"Konoha had made you sacrifice your childhood innocence for a piece of cloth and metal. I wish it was different, but..."

He turned to glance at the Hokage Monument, at the five stone faces, the last hard and cruel.

"...we no longer live in the light of the Third and Fourth, but the shadows of the Fifth. We may be stronger, but the cost is paid by you. For that, I am sorry."

Obito stood back up, dusting himself off. "Alright, that is all. You are dismissed, genin...and be proud. When I made my first kill as a genin I was so busy throwing up and crying I nearly got killed myself, and Kashi had to save me and Rin."

Sasuke only nodded, but Sakura tilted her head. "...you were both on the same genin team? Who was Rin?"

Naruto watched as agonized sorrow, rage, and then defeat flitted across both faces, in almost perfect synchronization. Kakashi spoke in a dull whisper. "It is often said that genin teams are almost like a living thing – there is a heart, a mind, and a soul. The heart is the emotional genin, the mind is the tactical, brilliant genin – and the soul is the glue that keeps it all going, that heals the broken empty places and keeps you going."

Obito's voice was even quieter. "Rin was our soul, and she's gone now." His voice hardened. "That's why I mutilated myself with puppet parts...and got back into teaching. So no one else has to suffer that."

His good eye lanced into the three of them. "You will suffer and bleed and curse us for how hard we push you...but I am doing it so you don't end up like us – broken, alone, and without a soul."

He turned, walking over to his wheelchair and seating himself, Kakashi smoothly moving behind him. "Meet here tomorrow at nine AM...ish... and go ahead and eat a big breakfast, it will be a long day with a late lunch."

The two turned to go, leaving the three kids standing in the training field. Naruto turned to Sakura. "...you okay?"

She nodded, wiping her mouth and then glancing at the place where blood was still staining the ground. "...I just..." She shook her head. "They said you couldn't prepare for it."

Sasuke's voice was cool. "It is better this way." He clenched his fist. "I'm glad neither of you two are weak or soft."

Sakura looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "I...I just lost it and threw up."

Sasuke shrugged. "And how do you think most civilian girls in this setting would react? The empty-headed idiots hounding me for dates and things like that?"

Sakura gave a wan smile. "Probably worse."

Naruto exhaled. "Yeah. Kami, what a mindfuck. I'm...going to go home. Hinata-chan is going to be a mess after having to kill someone, and we Hyuuga aren't the best at comforting people."

Sasuke nodded slowly. "You aren't like most of the stuck up assholes in your clan, Naruto. Everytime I see Neji I want to hit him in the face."

Naruto patted Sakura on the back and started walking. "Looong line for that, Sasuke. See ya later."

Sakura bit her lip and turned to go, and Sasuke gave a sigh. "Come on, I'll walk you home. You don't look too steady."

She glanced at him sidelong, shrugging weakly. "I don't feel real steady, to be honest. Thank you. I thought you...well, in class you were always going off on your own."

Sasuke gave a shrug in return. "Are you gonna start wearing your hair long and proclaiming your love for me?"

She gave a brittle laugh at that. "Hahaee...what a good joke. No, sorry. I've worked too hard and studied too much to turn myself into a fangirl."

He gestured towards the path leading out of the training grounds. "And thus, I have no problem with you. Speaking of which... you're supposed to be the smartest person in the class. I'm having problems with the size of my fireball...can you help?"

Sakura smiled gently and nodded, thinking how strange it was to be asked for help by a Sharingan genius...and happy she was recognized for being smart.

Neither of them noticed the black-clad figures crouched under a genjutsu a quarter mile away, breaking down their directional microphone. The taller of the two tapped a radio on his shoulder strap. "Observer to Central. Team Seven clear. Minor hesitance, the girl threw up but rallied. Some discontented talk from instructors, but basically supportive of the changes. Team appears to get along well. Primary is concerned about Hiashi's daughter."

The iron tones of Danzo sounded in his earpiece. "Central to Observer. Good. Maintain surveillance using teams two and six in conjunction with ARTIST and his ink creatures. Effective range of detection for the genin is barely a mile, but Obito can detect further than that. Report weekly to CROWN and maintain chakra recordings of the primary."

The signal cut out, and a few seconds later, the trees were empty, blowing in a gentle breeze.