Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

12 years ago, on October 10th, a Tailed Beast known as the Nine Tails appeared out of thin air and attacked the Village Hidden in The Leaves. Its strength was beyond imagination, and its mere presence struck fear into many. 

The immeasurable power it wielded tore down massive mountains with the swing of its tails, its roar caused tsunamis that rearranged entire landscapes. The damage this beast caused to the village was devastating, tearing everything down in its path left and right, killing many Ninjas and a small number of civilians that were unlucky to cross its path of destruction. 

And yet even for this beast, its attacks were arbitrary, its attention span made it easy to distract; as though it had no thought whatsoever. This was a rare chance where a Nation actually had a fighting chance against monstrous demons like these. 

Despite this, the destruction was high, leaving not just physical scars, but emotional as well. Those that got to survive the horrible night were left in turmoil, one way or another. However, one leader of the village known as the Fourth Hokage put a stop to the Tailed Beast. But the price was too high in doing so, as the Hokage sacrificed his very life to stop the Nine Tails for good, using a forbidden technique to seal away half its soul inside an infant. 

This is the story of that infant.

"NARUTO! YOU GET BACK HERE! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU I'M GONNA—"

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!"  

Naruto was being chased by a pair of Chunin level Shinobi. The blonde haired boy looked at them with a smug grin plastered on his face, sprinting as quickly as he could. "Sorry, what was that?!" Naruto mocked them as he put his left hand next to his ear, while holding a bucket of painting on his other hand, pretending that he didn't hear what they just said. "I can't hear you over the sound of my own success!" he exclaimed. 

More yelling, and those two weren't the only Ninjas that were going after him, there were more. He already had a plan forming in his head as to how to lose them. 

He leaped over to a small building, and quickly jumped to another rooftop next to where it stood. The Ninjas followed closely after, but Naruto was already ahead as he kept zip zapping to one place after the other. 

"Lord Hokage!" a pair of Shinobi entered inside the office of the current Hokage that ruled over the village, interrupting him from whatever work he was doing. 

"What is it now?" Hiruzen asked in annoyance. "This better not be trivial. Is this about Naruto again?" 

"It is Naruto again!" The other Chunin answered. "He got to the Hokage monuments and painted graffiti on their faces all over again!" 

Hiruzen sighed as he pinched his nose. "Of course he did…" He wondered to himself just how long will the boy keep repeating pranks like these. "Just do what you can to put a stop to this." 

"Yes, sir!" Both Ninjas answered the same before leaving the office. 

Hiruzen sighed before going back to what he was doing before. But in less than half a minute, somebody else came to his office. "What is it this—" When looking up and seeing who it was, he became silent. 

"He's going at it again?" A charming chuckle escaped the lips of a woman who stood in front of the old man. The woman had long, bright-red hair and large, black pupilless eyes. She wore an elaborate, high-collared kimono with the Uzushiogakure symbol on the back of the obi which was tied around her waist. Her hair was arranged in buns with hair pins in them and three clips in the front. She also wore a dark shade of red lipstick and had a rhombus marking reminiscent of the Strength of a Hundred Seal on her forehead. She also wore tags with kanji written on them in her hair decals. Her figure and face made her look like a woman in her 40s, with noticeably large K cup sized breasts. "The boy is clearly getting impatient." 

"It's only until a few more days until the Academy Graduation and then he can finally be put under a team. He's already waited for 2 years, what's a few more days going to do to him?" Hiruzen asked more so himself with a heavy sigh. 

"Well that sounds like your problem. Send a Jounin next time." Mito rolled her eyes before turning her back and leaving the office. "So you take care of it." She bid him nonchalantly.

Naruto dived whilst in mid air, with the Ninjas still hot on his trail. Knowing how much this would piss them off, Naruto threw the bucket of paint onto the Shinobis, making them raise their arms to have as little painting as possible. Their uniforms got sprayed by it regardless. 

"NARUTOOOO!" One of the Shinobis screamed in outrage. Naruto used this opportunity to hide within the environment. 

He jumps over a wooden fence, using it to hide himself as he pressed his back against the plank walls. Having done these types of pranks for years, it was as natural as breathing to him. It seems to have worked because the Shinobis were starting to sound frustrated. 

"Where did he go?!" 

"He couldn't have gone far! Keep looking!" the other Shinobi exclaimed before they went back to search for him. 

The blonde boy waited for a couple seconds before jumping over the fence. He plastered a grin on his face as the so called “Ninjas" missed their target by a mile. "That's about 3 of them I fooled, not bad." Naruto said as he ran, turning his head to watch out his back. In the next few seconds he fell down on the ground when he bumped into something. "What the—" he rubbed his head and looked up to see what he bumped into. In doing so, he gulped when he saw it was Iruka. "H-Hey, Iruka-Sensei…" Naruto began to laugh in nervousness. "H-How's it going…" 

"Oh you know, nothing much…" Iruka is a man of average height and build. He has brown hair that he keeps in a ponytail, dark eyes and a scar that runs across the bridge of his nose. He wears the standard Leaf Village Shinobi outfit complete with blue forehead protector, sandals, and flak jacket. His sleeves are also rolled up about half on his forearm. "I was just going on about my day, until all of a sudden, I heard that a certain troublemaker was painting the Hokage monuments, and I wondered just who that could be…" he spoke in a sarcastic tone, all the while his eyebrow was twitching. "AND THEN I FOUND YOU! YOU'RE GOING TO CLEAN ALL THAT PAINT!" 

"Ah damn it…!" Naruto complained as he laid down on the ground. 

"Well what did you expect?!" Iruka put his fists on his hips. "You're the one who did this! So clearly you're the one who's going to clean them! You already did that before!" The man grabbed Naruto by his foot and began to drag him.

Naruto stayed quiet as he cleaned away the painting he made. He made a note not to make too many in case he got caught again. The boy hadn't made much of a fuss since he got here, but there was no way he could get out. Not with Iruka watching him like a hawk, who sat on the Second Hokage's forehead. 

"I just don't get it… why do you keep repeating this stuff over and over?" Iruka asked as he watched the boy clean the paintings. The only reason why he was able to catch the boy out of most Chunins was because he had gotten so used to Naruto's habits, and knew him the longest. "I know you can do better than this. If you just kept practicing instead of goofing off, you would have made it to the Chunin Exams by now." 

Naruto at that moment stopped, and gave his former sensei a small sigh. Because of the work, he wore a black t-shirt, and the sleeves of his dirty jacket were tied together on his waist. "Without a team?! Iruka-Sensei, you know it's impossible for me to get there without one… Not to mention, I doubt I'd get a team…"

"What are you even talking about? Of course you're getting a team."

"It's been 2 years by now." He complained as he squished the towel inside the bucket of water, getting it wet enough before he started cleaning it. "And all I've done since then is just train and go on D rank missions. It becomes the same every day, so it gets boring after a while." 

Iruka hasn't said anything. A moment passed by, as though he were contemplating his words. "I guess I can understand why you'd get bored, but you can't just stir up the whole village to go after you." Iruka replied. 

"Hey, it's one way to exercise." Naruto made a cheeky smile as he made a smartass remark. "Helps me stay on my toes. Haven't seen anyone do something like that." 

"And I haven't seen anyone blabbering their mouths while they're in punishment." Iruka grew a tick mark on his forehead at the reply. "And you're getting slower for that matter." Naruto didn't show it, but he became surprised at the realization that their talk was slowing him down. "Though…" He sees Iruka changing his stern look to a thoughtful one. "If you do manage to get this done in time before sundown, how's about you and I go take some Ramen together?" 

Like a lightbulb switch, Naruto gleamed at the older man with child-like wonder. Yep, that hit motivation like no other. "You got it!" Naruto exclaimed as he began to clean the painting faster and faster. "I'll finish all this in no time!" 

It took a while, but he finally managed to clean away all the vandalism he caused. As of now both Naruto and Iruka were at Ichiraku's, both eating their own pair of ramen. The former ate a ridiculous load of bowls that would be too much for most people, even Ninjas to eat. 

"Say, Naruto…" Iruka started a conversation with the boy again. ''I can understand your boredom, but could you please stop messing with the Hokage monuments? You know who the Hokage are, don't you?" 

"Well for the most part, yeah…" Naruto answered after he finished drinking the soup of the Miso ramen. "Leaders of our village, strongest Ninjas to ever live in their time, heck, the 4th Hokage was the one who saved this city from the Nine Tailed Fox, didn't he?" 

"Well, you got most of that right… but why exactly vandalize their faces? Don't you know the amount of time, effort, money, and resources were spent by the people making those?" Iruka was asking him to stop. That much he can tell. "And it can't simply be out of boredom, can it?"

The boy shrugged. "Well, no." Naruto answered, putting his elbow against the table as he pressed the palm of his hand against his cheek. "It's just…" He contemplated whether or not say what had him pull that off. 

From what he understood the faces of each Hokage was a way for the villagers to show their gratitude for their service, or something like that. Even then, he had no malice in giving a small makeup. But if he told Iruka-Sensei what was bothering him… well he'd rather not bother the man. 

Naruto thought of switching the topic. "Actually, come to think of it, you told me something about me getting a team soon?" 

"Oh, that's right!" Iruka made a grin. He simply hoped he hadn't noticed the change. "In 2 days you get to be put under a 3 Man squad and a new Sensei. To think it's already been 2 years since you graduated from the Academy." he looked at the Leaf Village headband on Naruto's forehead. 

"Why did I even have to wait that long…?" Naruto sighed as he circled his index finger onto the table. "I never heard of an Academy student having to wait for this long to put in a team after they graduated. Couldn't I have been placed alone?" 

"I'm afraid that's not how it works. Because the numbers between students and senseis were unbalanced, you and the others who weren't picked by the senseis had to be put on hold. It's not exactly common, but it has happened on some occasions. As for the squad you'll be in, I'm as clueless as you are." Iruka scratched the back of his head. "But I'm sure you'll get along with them." 

"Well... I hope we do." Naruto looked over at his former sensei. "Soooo any chance I can get another bowl of ramen?" 

Iruka gained a sweatdrop at the back of his head. He seemed hesitant before he sighed. "Ok fine, but this will be the last one for tonight." 

"Thank you!" Naruto quickly bowed his head gratefully while pressing his hands together, before turning back to look at the Ramen shop owner. "Another bowl, please!" 

"Oh right, and just one last thing, since I nearly forgot to tell you this…" Naruto looked over to his sensei once more. But the look on Iruka's face got more serious. "I don't know if you heard of this or not, but recently there's been a report of enemy Shinobis having been sighted in the North side Hills. You know where that is, don't you?" 

"Yeah…" Naruto nodded his head while making a small gulp. Hearing of enemy Shinobi entering your homeland wasn't exactly a pretty thought. That was a place he was quite familiar with, it was where he used to play often, and it was one of the training areas for himself. 

"But that was no more than 4 days ago, and they haven't been sighted anywhere else since then. So if in any case you plan on going there, don't explore too deeply." Iruka warned him. "We increased the patrol unit since then, so stay cautious if you go there." 

"Alright, I got that noted, ya know…" Naruto picked up his chopsticks and began to eat the last bowl of ramen for tonight whilst making a somewhat goofy grin, as though he didn't take what Iruka said seriously. But he made sure to keep the info at the back of his head.

Naruto bent down to pick up another trash can that was laid on the grass and put it inside the bag that he carried with him. "Not much left…" he murmured to himself as he went to pick up a tin can. He had been doing this assignment for about a week now, that being to pick up any trash that had been left around the North District of Konoha. Ironically, he had been sent out to clean the mess right on the glade after Iruka-Sensei warned him not to go. Thankfully he wasn't anywhere too deep in the forest. 

In general this was lame, boring even. But he needed the money. That was the thing after graduating the Academy, you became an adult of your own right. 

Kind of.

Nobody could pay for his bills anymore. He needed to do that by himself now. He frequently participated in the D ranks, which wasn't anything dangerous to begin with, and the more he did, the more money he got to pay for the rent at least. 

"Should be just about done…" The type of bag he carried on this was medium sized, nothing too big but nothing small either, and the bag was tied to him by carrying the sash over his shoulder. 

All of a sudden, he felt something off about the area. It was the type of feeling you get on instinct to tell you something wasn't right, as though you were being watched. Every hair stood on his body, that was the best way Naruto could describe this. The blond haired boy turned around to see if there was anybody here, but he saw nothing. "Uhm… hello?! Anybody there?!" He called out, being unsure if this was a good or bad idea. 

He heard nothing, and so the boy turned around, going about what he was doing before. Yet he still couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. If it was a Shinobi then couldn't they have come out already? Or maybe that was just his imagination playing tricks. He hoped it was.

Unbeknownst to the brat, there indeed was somebody who hid in the trees, a Shinobi who wore the same uniform and vest like many others within the village, the difference being he held a couple of enormous shurikens strapped onto his back thanks to a rope. 

His physical appearance distinguished him from others as he had gray hair and appeared to be in his early 20's, his name was Mizuki. He watched as Naruto walked away from the open field of grass. 'So that brat is here as well… isn't that just great.' The man thought to himself as he rolled his eyes. 'He shouldn't cause much of a problem if I just stay away and focus on finding where they hid that bloody kunai.' he thought before he disappeared from sight like a blur. 

It seemed that the bad feeling was gone now. His instincts were what led him further away into the forest, getting closer to where he was warned not to go. Yet he felt as though he needed to. It was darker now than before, but not because the sun was going down, that was because this was a deeper part of the forest. 

He couldn't find any more trash on his way here, and the bag was practically full, so Naruto decided to call it a day. However, before turning around and going back he heard his stomach growl. "Aw man…" he grumbled as he put his hand on his hungry stomach. He's barely got to eat anything this morning to satisfy his appetite, as being a Shinobi required to eat plenty of food to stay in fit physical condition, but not so much to become overweight. This applied to Genin like him as well, but not as demanding as with Chunin and Jounin. "Wait…" he looked above and noticed a bird nest without any birds covering it. 

He could use that for breakfast. Good thing there were branches he could use for leverage. He heard that Shinobis can climb on trees and other surfaces without using their hands thanks to Chakra, but the Academy never taught him nor his classmates how to do that stuff. 

Thankfully there were other methods he could use. Naruto leaped on the first tree branch, gripping it with his hands before pushing his body forward to build momentum before letting go of the branch, flipping higher in the air before grabbing the one where the nest was. "There we go…" Naruto murmured as he used the branch like a rope. When he was next to the nest, he climbed upwards as he proceeded to grab it with his hand. Before he could fully do so, he noticed there was a kunai within the nest. "What the…?" 

Naruto grabbed the kunai with his hand, letting the tree branch go as he grabbed the branch beneath him and swung his body onwards before letting it go and hit the ground with his feet. He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the shape of the kunai. 'This isn't any kunai I've ever seen before.' he thought to himself as the shape of it looked rather odd. 'And what's with this paper?' He noticed there was a small piece of paper wrapped around the handle. He began to unwrap it from the kunai, unfolding it to see what was in it. In doing so, he widened his eyes.

There were several Kunoichi that hid close by where the young boy was, hiding from the Leaf Shinobi that were pursuing them, keeping a low profile while trying to find the kunai that their fallen comrade hid before her defeat. They couldn't find the bloody thing anywhere, despite searching it for days. Never would they have guessed it would have been this far back. 

"Talk about dumb luck…" One of the female Ninjas hissed under her breath. The young woman wore a gray mask to cover her head. "Who would've thought that kid would have found it. And worst of all, he's reading it!" 

"But what do we do?" The second of the group asked. She wore a black mask instead that only showed her grey eyes. "Do we kill him and take the kunai?" 

"I don't recommend that." the last of the Kunoichi answered as she too kept an eye on the blue eyed boy. "We don't know if those Hidden Leaf Shinobi are close by or not. And if they have a tracking unit, they'll for sure smell the blood of his corpse." 

"So what can we do?" The first member asked again as she saw Naruto beginning to run away, putting the kunai at the back of his pouch. "Shit, he's seen what's inside it!" 

All the enemy Kunoichi took a leap forward without making noise. "Our friend is the one who gave tons of information on that paper. It doesn't exactly have all the information on the village, but there's good stuff that can be used. Once we take this back, this will give us a tremendous advantage." 

The third member widened her eyes, now having an idea as to how to take the kunai. "Wait a minute… what if we take him hostage?" she suggested. 

The other two perked at this idea. "That doesn't sound bad. Take a child and that'll make the Leaf Shinobi hesitant." the second member said. 

"Alright, let's move it." 

On his way back, Naruto widened his eyes when he saw several Kunoichis standing in front of him with their swords pointed at him. "What the—" Naruto stopped running altogether, putting the kunai and the paper in his pocket. 

"Let's not make a big ruckus here… kindly give us that paper, and we'll pretend this never happened." The middle of the Kunoichi group stepped forward, making up a lie as she raised her arm. 

"None of you really look all that friendly..." Naruto exclaimed as he took a step back. "And you don't look like Leaf Shinobi either… so my answer is: I found it so I get to keep it!" 

"Very amusing, now hand it over." The Kunoichi spoke in a more demanding tone. "That thing is very important, so if you could give it, we won't bother you anymore." 

"I said no! I have my own mission to do here! And all you're doing is getting in the way!" Naruto pointed a finger at them. 'No way am I giving this away when it has the information on the village… and these have to be the enemies that Iruka-Sensei warned me about.' What rotten luck to find them here. 

"Have it your way." The Kunoichi looked at her two companions, nodding her head as a sign to capture the boy. 

Naruto gulped before he turned around and started to run away as fast as possible. "AHHHHHHH!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, wanting to make as much noise as possible for anybody to hear and rescue him. He can't take on these Ninjas by himself.

Iruka opened the door to the teacher's meeting room, seeing other teachers who taught in the Academy simply doing their work as they usually did whenever he came by to this place. Today was the Graduation exam for the other students to graduate and get their Leaf Headbands and become Genin, the rookie Ninjas. He knew he was supposed to be the proctor, but he's supposed to have someone else by his side as well, just so there would be more than one witness to either pass or fail the students. 

"Iruka?" An auburn haired Chunnin Kunoichi glanced at him with a small look of confusion. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to supervise your students for graduation?" 

"I know, but I'm supposed to have someone else with me. Have any of you seen Mizuki at all? I asked him to help me at the Graduation yesterday, but I haven't seen him at all since then, and he's late on top of that." Iruka replied, showing a hint of concern in his tone. 

"I'm afraid we haven't." One of the other teachers replied to him. "Have you checked up with him?" 

"I have, I went to his house to see if he was there, but nothing came up. I even asked his girlfriend if he was out on some mission, but she told me that wasn't the case either." Iruka shook his head in response. 

"That… is odd. Has he by any chance taken a last minute mission? If it's because of that, maybe he just wasn't able to?" One of the other teachers commented, thinking of a possibility that would make sense for someone like Mizuki not to show up. 

"I already asked Lord Third about this, and he told me he hadn't sent Mizuki on any missions at all lately. And he already knows about the Graduation Exam, so there's no way he would have sent him on a day like this." Iruka shook his head, disapproving the idea. "I can't just leave…" 

"Graduation exams last for about an hour or so, correct?" The Kunoichi of the Academy asked, to which Iruka nodded his head. "There might be a solution… we could postpone our own class and help the graduation while you search for Mizuki." 

Iruka gasped at this. "You would do that?!" He wasn't sure what to say. This wasn't something you would expect when something this out of the blue is happening. "Thank you so much!" he bowed his head in gratitude. With that said, Iruka ran out of the room in search of Mizuki.

Back in The Hills, Naruto ran as fast as he possibly could, leaping from one tree branch after the other with the Kunoichi hot on his trail. "YOU'RE NOT GETTING ME THAT EASILY, YA KNOW?! YA HEAR ME?!" Naruto screamed again, hoping there would be someone to save him. The more noise, the better. Only problem was it made it easy for the enemies to find him. 

"What the hell?! How can a Genin run that fast?!" One of the Kunoichi exclaimed in annoyance, having been chasing Naruto for more than 5 minutes. 

"If he keeps shouting like an idiot, reinforcement will be on their way." The other Kunocihi expressed annoyance. 

"They already might be. So let's shut this brat up!" the last of the Kunoichi picked up several shurikens from her pouch. 

"Hey, let's not get crazy." The first of the Kunoichi gave a stern look to her teammate. "Remember, we're taking him as a hostage." 

"I know! I'll just give a wound or two, nothing serious!" With that said, the Kunoichi threw her shurikens at the inexperienced boy, but instead they missed as the boy leaped out of the way. They gasp in shock. 

Naruto uses his stealth to get away as he turns to a direction they didn't expect him to. Now they couldn't see him anywhere, as they kept turning their heads. "He couldn't have gone far! Split up!" The Kunoichi in the middle ordered before her teammates split up to different sides. 

It turns out that Naruto was running to the Eastern direction where the Kunoichis were. The boy considered ditching his orange jacket, as it was far too bright to blend in with it. In doing so it would take a while for him to find it again, besides, there was a nearby hiding spot he could use until other Shinobis arrived. He turned to his right as he continued to sprint before jumping off a 20 meter cliff, landing on his feet first before running towards a small cave. 

A jump from that size would have caused serious injuries, if not outright death, for normal civilians at least. For him this stuff meant very little to him, though it may cause some injuries to other Genins. The blond haired boy took several breaths as he rested. He didn't hear any of the Kunoichi nearby, but it wasn't exactly safe to come out either, not as long as he had the paper with him. So now he had to play the waiting game.

It's been about 15 minutes since Naruto got inside the cave, but to him it felt like a whole hour had gone by. He sighed as he kept throwing a rock in the air and catching it with his hand. He wondered just how long he would resort to staying in this cave. This wasn't some silly prank, this was serious, and for all he knew his life was on the line. 

He then heard someone coming by. This made Naruto's body tense as he carefully tried to observe who it was. When he saw the outfit of a Leaf Shinobi, he immediately sprinted out of the cave. "Hey!" Naruto yelled out, waving his hand to make himself known to the Shinobi. 

The Shinobi in question turned out to be Mizuki, who widened his eyes as he saw Naruto exit the cave. Naruto himself was surprised to see who it was, as it was one of those teachers who showed up during his graduation exam 2 years ago. "Hey, I remember you!" Naruto exclaimed with a smile as he pointed his finger at the Chunin. 

"Oh, it's you Naruto…" His former teacher said, as Naruto got right in front of him. "What are you doing here?" 

"I was out on a mission, and then these Kunoichi from another village showed up from outta nowhere and started attacking me. They wanted this paper that I picked up, and it seems to hold some information on the Leaf Village." Naruto explained. 

Mizuki grew a smile. What a relief. Now he was safe for sure. "Really? Do you mind if I take that paper with me?" The Shinobi asked as he put his hands on his hips. 

"Sure thing." Naruto answered without hesitation, as he dug through his pocket before picking out the paper and giving it to Mizuki. "But uh, since you're here, do you mind if you could get me out of here? I don't know how close those Ninjas are." he told him. It was better to have an experienced adult watching over you than stupidly take a risk of bumping into those ladies randomly. On his level he wouldn't be able to beat them 3 on 1. 

"Sure thing…" Mizuki unbuttoned one of his vest pouches before he put the paper inside, buttoning it in doing so. "Just follow my lead." the Chunin jumped across a tree branch, and continued to leap further ahead, with Naruto following him immediately. Despite the fact he didn't know how to use his Chakra for stuff like this, which was a better and safer method to use, Naruto's experience with pranks and outrunning Shinobi allowed him to perform his own method of travelling. 

Minutes passed by relatively quickly, with the two companions saying nothing to one another. So far everything seemed to be going smoothly, he could tell that they were going on the right path. If they kept going at this pace then they should be able to exit the Hills in no time at all. 

As minutes passed by, Naruto became increasingly confused when Mizuki was leading him to the West side. 

"Uh, hey…!" Naruto couldn't remember what his name was, having only seen him a couple times during his time in the Academy. He turned to the left as well. "Where are we going?! The exit isn't far from here!" 

"Oh, uh… don't worry! There's a shortcut here that'll get you out of here even faster!" Mizuki replied, not bothering to turn his head to look at the boy. 

Naruto became completely confused by this response. He knew this place like the back of his head, this path wasn't going to lead them anywhere. He'd have thought that maybe they didn't know this place as well as he did, considering he's never seen any Shinobi out in these places. But that made no sense. These were professional Ninjas, they're supposed to know their way around here. 

If anything this was a much longer, and more unnecessary way of getting out of here. "What shortcut exactly…?" Naruto was skeptical about this. Unless there was some secret passage he hadn't been aware of after all this time, he didn't trust what was being said to him. Anxiety crept up. 

"Wait…!" Mizuki put his right hand upfront, making them stop leaping all-together, with Naruto needing to find a bit of balance so that he doesn't fall off. "One of them is here…" 

Naruto's body tensed when he heard those words. "Where is she?" he asked, digging through his pouch as he picked up a kunai before buttoning his pouch in a second. 

"Not very far…" Mizuki gave him a vague answer, as the man slowly dug through his pouch, with the weapons in his disposal clinkering together. "In fact, if I can concentrate just a little harder…" he picked up several shurikens as his weapons. But then something seemed very off, something that Naruto didn't like. There was killer intent radiating from Mizuki. And not the silent kind, it was practically leaking. "I'd say the enemy is… RIGHT BEHIND ME!" Mizuki screamed as he gave Naruto a bloodshot look as he threw his shurikens directly at the boy. 

"What the—?!" Naruto was completely shocked by this. Due to his previous growing tension, he immediately reacted by swinging his kunai, deflecting most of the shuriken aimed at him, with one being able to cut through his right sleeve and cut through a few layers of flesh. "Gagh—!" Naruto yelped as blood spurred out of his arm, right before he saw Mizuki leap straight towards him, kicking him in the stomach which made Naruto fall down and hit the ground. 

Naruto grunted from the pain he felt as he rolled over the ground, looking up to see Mizuki coming at him again, this time throwing a pair of kunai straight for his head. Adrenaline kicked in, and Naruto rolled over to dodge the first kunai while swiping his own kunai to deflect the second one that came at him. The boy then made a backflip with his other arm to split distance and gather his train of thoughts as Mizuki landed on the ground. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Naruto exclaimed as he pushed through the pain, glaring at the Chunin who's facial expression changed to that of a sadistic smirk. This didn't make sense, why would he be attacked like that? "Why would you just do that when those Kunoichi are after us?!" 

"You mean after you?" Naruto then became confused. "Frankly, I don't know where my teammates are at the moment. I haven't seen them in days, nor do I even know what they're up to." So what Mizuki said about finding them was just a lie, nor did he know about their current attempt to take Naruto as a hostage. 

"Teammates…?" Naruto began to widen his eyes when he realized the definition of the word. "Hold on a minute… are you saying that you've allied yourself with those women?" 

"Why wouldn't I, when I finally have a chance to get out of this village?! I'd finally do something that's actually worth it to attain power, rather than spend another second sharing the same space as you!" Mizuki pointed an accusing finger at Naruto, and the boy widened when he saw the man's body shaking with rage while keeping up his smirk. "Even if I had to sell out my village to do so!" 

Naruto was dumbfounded. The fear that grasped him turned into something else as a small growl escaped his throat. His grip on the kunai tightened. He gave him a look of disgust. Anger was seeping through him. "I don't know what your problem is with me, but why would you turn your back on your own homeland? Don't you have anybody in this place you're close to? Aren't you friends with Iruka-Sensei?"

"Bah! And what does that matter?! I'll do what it takes to survive in this world! If getting stronger means deserting my village, then by all means I'm more than willing to do that! It's not like the village is any better by letting you walk around!" Mizuki replied back, and if one noticed closely he only seemed to be getting angrier. 

"What…?" Now Naruto became more confused. "What did I even do to you? What does any of this have to do with me? If this is about the dumb pranks I did back in school then you're really stupid. And petty for that matter." 

"Because you're the one responsible for the destruction of the village 12 years ago!" Mizuki exclaimed in fury. Naruto widened his eyes in surprise. "All those deaths you caused, all the destruction… I don't even care if you do have the beast locked away inside you! To me, YOU ARE THE NINE TAILED FOX!" 

Naruto took those words in, and kept repeating itself in his head. He widened his eyes as far as they possibly could. "What did you say…?" he breathlessly said. 

"It's insanity when you're told that you should be allowed to even walk around, when you're just nothing but a ticking time bomb, waiting to go off!" Mizuki's face twisted into deranged anger. "All these years, everybody, except you, knew about this! You can't even control it! And the Hokage is meaning to tell us that with all that power, no discipline, no control, should be allowed to do as he pleases?! Just look at you, your wound is already healed!" Mizuki then took out one of the large shurikens that was strapped onto his back. "If that's the case, then I'm getting the hell outta here right after killing you!" 

Mizuki threw the enormous shuriken straight at Naruto, who, while still in shock, dodged the attack by throwing himself on the ground, rolling over before picking up multiple shuriken from his pouch and throwing them towards Mizuki. The Chunin moved sideways to avoid all the weapons, right before he charged straight at Naruto, moving like a blur to others. 

'I'm the Nine Tails…?' Naruto thought to himself, feeling his heart racing as he prepared for battle against a higher class Shinobi, one who has superior combat experience and abilities. 'That can't be...!' 

This didn't make sense. Was it just another lie? This one felt far more twisted and demented. 

Mizuki and Naruto clashed with their kunais. Naruto swung his diagonally downwards to cut through Mizuki's leg, but the older man managed to react in time as he blocked it with his own kunai. Mizuki then spun his body as he proceeded to elbow Naruto in the face. The boy grunted from the blow given to him, and went for a counter-attack by spinning his body in mid air and kicked Mizuki in the face. Mizuki then responded by kicking Naruto on his chin, sending him backwards as the boy hit his back on the ground. 

Naruto got up as he sprung back on his feet, charging forward before leaping straight at Mizuki to horizontally slash the right side of his torso in an attempt to destroy the paper. But the Chunin reacted in time by flipping in the air, which left Naruto exposed as the man grabbed his second enormous shuriken and proceeded to stab Naruto's back. "Gaaaah!" Naruto yelled out in pain as he felt the cold, sharp object pierce through his back, with the blood trickling immediately after, as some of it landed on the ground. "Ahhhh!" He couldn't bear the pain as he laid down on the ground, curling his left hand into a fist as he clenched them tightly. 

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Mizuki rhetorically asked as he pulled the large weapon out of Naruto's back, making blood trickle from its edge. 

Naruto struggled to get up, as the blood on his back spread by faster, dirtying his jacket. Naruto tried to give Mizuki a glare. "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you, though to be more precise, I can't kill you. Heard there were grave consequences that fall upon those who harm the ones holding Tailed Beasts within them." Mizuki then raised his weapon, giving a sadistic smirk. "Though that doesn't mean I can't give a little payback for what you've done to this village 12 years ago…!" 

Before Naruto could process what happened next, Mizuki got kicked by the face, and the force of it was strong enough to send him flying back through a tree, making the tree collapse by the raw strength accomplished to perform a feat like that. Naruto began to look up to see his savior, and was taken aback when he saw a gorgeous woman standing next to him. 

The woman in question is a fair-skinned woman of slender build. She has long black untamed hair reaching her upper back, and very unique eyes that are red in colour, with an additional ring in them. She wears make-up consisting of red lipstick and purple eyeshadow. She wore the standard Shinobi vest, the difference being there weren't any sleeves, and underneath the vest she wore crimson red mesh armor. She also wore the standard Leaf Shinobi headband on her forehead. 

"I barely made it in time." The lady told herself as she looked at Naruto. "Don't worry, I'm here to save you. I'll be with you in just a minute…" Naruto didn't say anything, instead he just nodded his head without question. 

"What… in the world…" Mizuki groaned in tremendous pain, struggling to get up. He looked over his head to see just who put such a blow against him. When seeing who it was, the man went pale. "Impossible… how did you—"

"Did you somehow not hear him make all that commotion earlier? With how loud he was screaming, only a deaf person couldn't hear him. And by the looks of it, I must have been the closest." The tall woman replied, giving a cold look to Mizuki. "I didn't think that another member of our enemies would have turned out to be one of our own allies…" 

"Yeah, well, things don't always work out the way you plan them, right?" Mizuki replied as he supported himself by using the fallen tree. But it was clear that he was too injured to fight, as he could barely stand. 

"You're right, some things don't go the way you want them to." She began to weave hand signs. "But for traitors like you, that shouldn't be hard to fix." When she finished her hand signs, Mizuki stopped moving completely, as though he were paralyzed. His pupils dilated before he passed out on the ground. "That should put you down for a half a day…" 

Naruto stayed silent the whole time, as he felt the hostility coming from this woman despite her calm nature. So much so he forgot his back stopped hurting. The dashing heroine crouched down right next to Naruto, and the boy turned his head to look at her. "Don't worry, I only put him in an illusion. He's not dead." Kurenai comforted him, and all the hostility she had before had completely disappeared. 

"You look really pretty…" Naruto blurted out without thinking, causing the grown woman to be taken aback by the unexpected words. ''And scary…" He couldn't help himself. She gave him a quizzical look on the last comment. 

It was then that a pair of Ninjas showed up behind Kurenai. But their outfits consist of black clothing, grey flak jacket, metal arm guards and gloves, ninja shoes with spikes for travelling into mountainous regions, three ninja pouches on their back-waist and a signature spiral tattoo on their shoulder. They each wore a mask to hide their faces, the pattern resembling that of animals. They each carried a sword strapped onto their back. These were the ANBU Black Ops. 

"All clear?" One of the ANBU asked for confirmation, studying the area around. 

"Everything is fine. The boy is injured, but nothing life threatening." Kurenai simply answered. "I caught a traitor as well." she pointed to the unconscious Mizuki. 

"A traitor…?!" The second member of the ANBU division sounded surprised to hear about this. "But why would one of our own decide to team up with those of the Hidden Waterfall Village?" 

"Wait… are you guys by any chance looking for that paper?" Naruto asked as he began to get up, something that nearly surprised all 3 experienced Ninjas. However, they seemed rather confused on what he meant by paper. "It's uh… the thing that was tied with this kunai I found." He pulled out the oddly shaped kunai from his pocket, presenting the weapon to the Ninjas. "But I gave it to Mizuki before he attacked me. It's at the left side of his vest, down the middle." 

One of the ANBU nodded his head as he went to go over Mizuki's body, pulling out the pouch from the middle before attaining the paper. When he checked to see what it was, he widened his eyes in shock. "No way!" he ushered the experienced Ninjas to check this out. Naruto managed to fully get up. When the Ninjas checked to see what it was, they were in utter shock. 

"I don't believe it…" The adult woman put her hand over her mouth, eyes widening to their limit when she saw what it was. 

"I'm giving this to Lord Hokage right away." the first ANBU member told his companions. He looked at the other member. "You—"

"Wait!" The ANBU members turned around in annoyance to see Naruto walking towards them. "I wanna know something… is it true that you guys know as well that I'm the Nine Tails?" 

They all looked at him like a bomb went off. They looked back at each other, and then at Naruto again. They looked even more shocked than what they did with the paper. "How do you know about that…?" one of the ANBU members asked him in a serious tone. 

"Mizuki told me." Naruto pointed his index finger at the unconscious Chunin. "Told me all about how I caused the destruction of the village 12 years ago, and how much he hates my guts." 

"This sleazy piece…" the other ANBU member cursed under his breath, glaring daggers at the unconscious Shinobi. "Of all the callous things he could have done…!" 

"He'll be executed for telling the boy about this, and selling out his own village. The Hokage will not be pleased in the slightest. I'll take this back, and you get this bastard to a cell." The ANBU member told his companion before looking back at the woman. "The Hidden Waterfall members have been captured as well, you take this boy to a hospital." 

"Understood." She nodded her head before seeing the ANBU members flicker away. She then looked back at Naruto, who just stood there and gave a neutral look. "Come on, let's get you healed before that wound gets you any worse." 

"Why didn't I know about this?" Naruto asked right away, stopping the Ninja from walking closer to him. "And how come I have the Nine Tails? How does everyone else know about this?" 

Kurenai sighed as she approached Naruto. "Since you already know about this... I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you more. I'll start by saying that… you're a Jinchuriki." she told him, which made Naruto look confused by what that meant. "To put this in simple terms, you are a host who keeps a Tailed Beast sealed inside them. In your case, you hold the Nine Tails within you, the one that the Fourth Hokage sealed away prior to his death." 

"But… why me?" Naruto put his hands on his chest. "Why me out of literally everybody else?" He subconsciously raised frustration in his tone. The young boy truly didn't understand any of this. All the lies, the acting, the dishonesty thrown at him… 

Kurenai got right in front of Naruto, and put both of her hands on his shoulders. "I am so sorry…" she crouched down on his level. "But I honestly do not know why. I was slightly older than you when the incident of the Nine Tails happened, and many lives were lost that day, including my father's." 

Naruto clenched his fists, as images popped into his head on what that day could have been like, images of Nine Tails causing heavy damage, along with taking lives without any regard. And for him to have that beast inside him… it all made him sick to his stomach. 

"So is that why…" It was starting to make sense. Why so many people had those fake smiles and kindness shown to him over the years, including the orphanage he lived at till he graduated. Naruto held his stomach as though he were in physical pain. 

The pretty lady greatly concerned right away. "What's wrong?!" 

"It's…" Naruto got to his knees, and Kurenai immediately came by his side as she gave a look of worry. "Do… Do you hate me? Do they all hate me because of that?" His voice was shaking, his emotions were displayed clear as day as he felt a small quiver of a tear in his right eye. 

The tall woman widened her eyes from such a question. She gave him a motherly look. "Come here." Kurenai sat down on the ground, and pulled her arm around Naruto, pulling him closer to her. "Don't ever say that… just know that Jounins like me don't hate you at all. Can't say the same for all the Chunins, and civilians alike. Children around your age and younger don't know about you having the Nine Tails, nor are they allowed to." 

Naruto hadn't said anything, instead he let Kurenai give him a… half hug, if that's how he could describe it. "You are not the beast that attacked the village over a decade ago, you're a Shinobi of Hifden Leaf Village, just like everybody else… well, excluding traitors and all that." Kurenai continued to comfort him. "You stood up to someone who was superior to you for your homeland, that alone tells me that you're nothing like the fox." 

Naruto hitched his breath when she told him that. She was right, he was merely trying to stop someone from killing him, not only that but betray this village. He began to get up, as the injury on his back didn't hurt anymore. "You're right... I guess I just need to keep being me." he said as he looked down at the endowed woman. "Thanks, uh…" 

"It's Kurenai Yuhi." She gave him her name, as she got up as well. "Though… are you feeling alright? Do you still need to be taken to a hospital?" 

"I feel fine, really." Naruto turned his back, and Kurenai saw there wasn't any blood left, excluding his jacket being covered by it. "Though, thanks for saving me back there!"

"But I can't just leave you to walk out on your own. I'll escort you." Kurenai then grabbed Naruto in bridal style so that he wouldn't protest, and before he could blink, they were already jumping from one tree branch to another. 

Naruto thought about telling her to let him go, so that he can get back on his own… yet the feeling of her chest pressing against him told him otherwise. 'I wanted to get off… but this doesn't feel so bad.' Naruto thought with a grin on his face, now staying completely still.

"This is…!" Hiruzen couldn't believe his eyes when he held the paper in his hands. This paper detailed a map of the village's patrol network, in other words it was a part of their defense system. ''The map of the village's patrol network!" the old Hokage looked back at the ANBU that bowed in his position. "So this is what they were after!" 

"That's right." The ANBU nodded his head in confirmation. "That boy, Naruto, was the one who found this, preventing the enemy from getting their hands on it. Ironically, it's what allowed us to capture them much more quickly." 

"He did…? Who would have thought that sending him on that mission would have involved him in something as dangerous as this…" The boy's income was definitely getting raised. "Either way, I'll have the patrol unit reexamine the central pattern right away. You did excellent work." 

"Sir…" Hiruzen gave the ANBU a quizzical look. "About Naruto… that decree that you put… he knows about it now." the old Hokage immediately changed his expression to a look of shock. "He knows that he's the Nine Tails Jinchuriki. The traitor, Mizuki, told him all about it. We sent him to be executed by Ibiki, after he gains intel on him." 

"And… how is Naruto handling it?" Hiruzen asked. 

"I… don't know. He wasn't particularly angry, per say, but he wanted answers right away." The ANBU answered. 

"I see… you may leave now." 

The ANBU did as he was told, as his body flickered away into nothingness. At that moment, Mito came by as she swung the door open before closing it. "What happened?" she asked in a serious tone, as though she were concerned about something. "I felt the ANBU here." 

"The patrol was successful in retrieving this map." Hiruzen turned the small map around to show the woman just what the enemy was going after. 

"That's the…!" Mito couldn't believe what she was seeing. "How could they steal this?!"

"That's what's getting me uneasy." Hiruzen clasped his fingers as he put both his elbows on his desk. "This is a part of our defense system, by stealing this, you may as well declare war." 

"But in what way could a small village like the Hidden Waterfall use this piece of information?" Mito put her hands on the desk, bending her back forward to look at the map. "It can't be to declare war, if our villages fought then the Hidden Waterfall would fall apart in no time. This doesn't add up, even if it was a surprise attack it wouldn't have any effect."

"Given their small numbers, it's likely that they're in an alliance with another village…maybe more." Hiruzen hummed as he put his index finger and thumb under his chin. "But in any event, we should be glad that Naruto had indirectly saved this village."

"Naruto…?" Mito changed her expression to that of worry. ''How did he get involved in this? What happened?" 

"Ironically, the assignment he was given a week ago made him be involved with the enemies that tried to take this information. And he fought admirably against one of our traitors who gave them this info." Hiruzen briefly explained the blond boy's involvement. "But along with that… because of Mizuki's big mouth, he told Naruto that he is the Nine Tails Jinchuriki…"

"Oh, he did?" Mito quivered her eyebrows as she crossed her arms, seemingly not worried anymore. ''When is he coming here?" 

Hiruzen became confused by this. "What are you—"

"Don't act like you don't know. If he knows that most adults know what he is, then clearly the person he'll come to for questions is the one who made that law to begin with. Although… are you sure that's all he was told? He wasn't told anything else?" 

"Nothing as far I know." 

"Good for him, at least for now." Mito made a small sigh of relief. "Though… if you say he's been involved with the enemies… then maybe this is a good time to give him something more advanced." 

"What do you mean?" Hiruzen was confused by what Mito was saying. 

"I don't know the full details until Naruto comes here and gives his report, but the only useful Ninjutsu techniques he knows are from the Academy. The Clone Jutsu in itself isn't that useful in combat to begin with, and he can barely make 2 of them while the Transformation Jutsu is almost a parlor trick." Mito answered. “He needs something more advanced to defend himself better." 

"That's why Kakashi will be assigned as his sensei. He'll teach him well." Hiruzen replied. 

"Right... I'm sure he will." Mito nodded her head. "Make sure to summon a meeting to inform all our members about what happened today." 

"But of course. I can't possibly ignore the potential threat of war breaking loose when I see one." 

"So is that all that happened?" Mito asked, and Hiruzen nodded his head. "Well if that's the case, I better get back now. I am a busy woman." she said, right before she walked out of the office and closed the door. 

Chapter Text

"Hmm…" The old man hummed to himself as he looked over the report paper he held in his hand. 

Naruto sat on a chair, wondering what else he'd have to do when Hiruzen was finished. The report in question was about the D rank missions he's been doing as of lately. Despite the injury he suffered 2 days ago from his encounter with Mizuki, Naruto had recovered relatively quickly, probably due to the power of the Nine Tails. The only reason he stayed in the hospital was because the others insisted for him to recover properly, even though Naruto insisted he felt just fine. 

He wanted to ask the old man why there was a decree put on everyone to be shush about the Nine Tails. How did it all happen? Why did he have a Tailed Beast? Why did the Fourth Hokage put it in him specifically? Questions like these are what he asked mere hours ago… but they had been dismissed, the old man said that he wasn't old enough to know the full story of such things until he was older. 

He wasn't particularly happy that more secrets were being kept from him, but he'll get to the bottom of this, sooner or later. So he didn't press anything further, instead he changed the topic by asking if there were missions to be done. 

Now here they were. 

"It seems you've done a fine enough job. The clients seem quite pleased with the work you've done." The old man wearily spoke, his expression ever so serious. 

"Anything else for me to partake in?" Naruto asked. Completing missions like these was something he had gotten used to. When he started these missions around 2 years back, his work had been considered mediocre. But now he can finish them with hardly any complaint. 

"Let's see…" As the old Hokage grabbed another piece of paper to see if he had any more missions, Naruto noticed the door at the side making a small creek. That wasn't there before, as he thought to himself. 

To his surprise, the door slid open completely. "Haaaaaarhg!" A sudden outburst filled the room. A child, notably younger than him, ran carelessly as he held an actual shuriken in his hand. "Old man! I challenge you!" Naruto was left confused and somewhat frightened. "I'll defeat you here and become the 5th Hokage!" The kid exclaimed wildly… right before he slipped on his overly long scarf and fell to the ground head first. 

The kid started crying. The old man was groaning in annoyance. And Naruto was left confused as to what the hell just happened. 

A Leaf Shinobi burst into the room, looking frantic and pale as he surveyed the surroundings. "A-Are you alright, Honorable Grandson?!" The man spoke quickly, and was greatly concerned over the child. 

"Aaaaaaa…" The kid groaned in pain as he held his temple. Naruto watched as the child began to dust himself off. "Something must have tripped me!" Naruto raised his eyebrows at the arbitrary conclusion. 

'Can this brat just leave?' Naruto thought as he grew annoyed. He was just waiting for his next mission and then this had to happen. 

"Honorable Grandson, there's nothing for you here to trip on… in fact the floor is pretty flat." The grown man said, pushing the tip of his glasses. 

The kid looked straight at Naruto. He began to walk over to him, stomping his feet on the floor. Why the old man wasn't doing anything to stop this was beyond him. "You're the one who tripped me, aren't you?!" The brat gave a glare, raising his own fist against him in an accusatory manner. 

Naruto grew a tick mark on his forehead. He put up a glare of his own against the child's. "You fell over your own feet you moron!" The blond boy exclaimed. 

"Don't be so temperamental, Naruto!" The Shinobi from before called out to him. "Don't you know who that is?! He's the Honorable Grandson of the Honorable 3rd Hokage!" 

"Eh…?" Naruto was stumped to hear this. He looked at the kid first, then to the old Hokage, and then the kid again. There's no way this brat was an actual grandchild of the old man… 

The child on the other hand looked smug, and proceeded to boast. "What's the matter, punk?! Afraid of laying your dirty fingers on me after learning I'm the Hokage's grandson?!" 

‘If I have to hear another word out of him…’ Naruto’s annoyance grows. 

"Hah!" The brat continued to press him. "Come on! Where's the bravado you had! Come on!" 

"Ah just shut up already!" Naruto didn't think as he headbutted the child's forehead, making him fall down on the floor. A look of surprise formed on the child's face moments before making the impact. "Pampered brats like you need to learn discipline!"

Konohamaru Sarutobi had regained his consciousness not long after encountering the blond boy. "You mustn't let yourself get into trouble like this! Especially if it involves provoking a fight!" 
Was the scolding he got from the adult Shinobi, known as Ebisu, his so-called Sensei. 

"You must understand, Honorable Grandson, starting a petty fight is something that's far beneath your status, especially with that troublemaker Naruto." So that was his name. "He is far beneath you, in fact you shouldn't even so much as give him a second of your time. After all you are—"

Blablabla. More nonsense to not listen to. 

Konohamaru stopped paying attention entirely and thought of the blond kid from before. He was completely different than anybody he's seen. There was no hesitation when he hit him… which might have been a little excessive, but either way his interest grew. 

So while his Sensei kept babbling and seemingly didn't even pay attention himself, Konohamaru used this chance as a means of escaping without being noticed. His grandfather might have noticed, but why he wasn't saying anything was beyond him. Not that he cared either way.

Naruto was walking around in the middle of the village, hands in his pockets as he went on about his day. There were no more missions as of today, so he had the rest of the day to himself. 

He only had a day left until he went to the Academy. According to the others, it was the place where Genins like him go and wait to be recruited by the senseis they were chosen. He held a grin, glad that someone finally found a spot for him. Whom he was paired with was out of the loop. 

…

Hearing a pair of unfamiliar footsteps in an area all by himself, Naruto turned around to see who was behind him. He quickly became dumbfounded when he saw an obvious looking camouflage that tried to blend to the ground… despite the horrible shade, what made it obvious were a pair of feet with sandals on them. 

The worst part was he knew it was the same kid from earlier. His eyebrows twitched in annoyance. 'Just ignore him…' Naruto thought, pretending as though he had seen nothing. 

Continuing where he left off, Naruto picked up the pace and started to walk faster. Almost immediately he heard the brat's footsteps following him… was it just him or was the brat copying his footsteps as well? 

"Will you quit it already?!" Feeling his annoyance rise up, Naruto turned around and pointed an accusing finger at the child… only to see him hiding behind another poorly disguised camouflage onto a wall. "Oh come on… couldn't you at least try to make it look better?!" 

Silence. 

Naruto was just about ready to rip him into a new one, but then the kid dropped the camouflage and chuckled. "You saw through my disguise!" The child exclaimed. It was then Naruto noticed something was different. Unlike their last encounter, he seemed more vigorous than annoyingly antagonistic. "You're as good as they say!" The kid with the weird helmet walked over to him, putting on a stern face before folding his arms. "I want you to be my trainer! From this day on, I will be your apprentice!" 

Naruto was dumbfounded. He couldn't have heard that right. "Repeat that?" He asked for confirmation, more so for himself if he was losing his hearing… even though he was way too young for that to happen. 

"I want you to make me your apprentice!" The brat's eyes gleamed with wonder. "Teach me all kinds of Jutsus so I can beat my grandfather and become the next Hokage!" 

Naruto scratched his spiky hair. 'I really don't have time for this.' His team placement literally starts tomorrow in the morning. "Look, I'd love to help ya out and all, but I'm kinda busy doing my own stuff." he turned around and was ready to walk away. "Maybe if I get free time—"

"No, please! Just teach me right now! I promise I'll be a great student! At least teach me one Jutsu for today!" 

Naruto turned his head and saw the pleading look the boy was giving him. He was actually being sincere. The blonde boy felt himself wavering. 'Oh come on… don't gimme that look…' Those damn puppy dog eyes. He hated those. They should count as some Ninjutsu, because even hardened men fall prey to this deadly technique. 'Well… it's not like I have anything else to do today. This can't be too bad.' he sighed. "Ok fine." 

"Yes!" The younger boy jumped in ecstasy. "Alright, boss! Tell me what I gotta do first!"

The elite Ninja known as Ebisu cursed under his breath as he stood atop the stone faces of the Hokage. They stood as the village's greatest pride since the dawn of the First Hokage, and now he was using it as a leverage point for his honed senses to kick in and find the Honorable Grandson. 

It would be impossible for an average person to spot someone they were looking for at this height, but elite Shinobis like him were trained to the bone of honing all 5 of their senses as diligently as possible. Yet even for him, he struggled to find the Honorable Grandson. 

Normally he wouldn't have such problems, but he couldn't find the boy at all. Children being a hassle wasn't anything new under Ebisu's tutelage. At the age where the Honorable Grandson was at, it was expected that they'd act immature and sometimes even attempt to bail his lessons. With his experience, that did not bother him. 

But this was different. His current pupil was the grandson of the Hokage himself. It was by far his most important task. Which made it all the more troubling that he was searching for Naruto of all people. For what reason he didn't know. 

But his personal feelings on the matter were the least of his concerns. Hanging with Naruto would just slow down the Honorable Grandson's training, and no doubt he'd be influenced by him. 

That cannot be allowed. So with that said, Ebisu hopped off the Mountain, using his full speed in an attempt to search for the Honorable Grandson, running with speed superior to that of any Chunin.

"Alright, so if you wanna learn Ninjutsu, I'm gonna need to know everything you know. I can't exactly start teaching you if I don't know what you're capable of, ya know!" Naruto exclaimed. They were within the middle of a forest. He figured this would be a decent place to start without anyone bothering them. 

"Right, boss!" The kid exclaimed, his being filled with eagerness as he pumped his fists. Boss. It felt very odd to be called that. Naruto wasn't sure how to feel about it. "Uh, let's see… I know a little bit of Shuriken throwing… a bit of Transformation Jutsu… and uh…" 

…

Yeah this won't cut it. 

"What exactly is it they're teaching you at the Academy at the moment?" Naruto asked. Surely there had to be something more to it than this. 

"The Academy?" The kid looked perplexed by the question. "I never went to the Academy. All I have is that annoying Ebisu as my sensei." 

There was no way for this to work. Naruto pinched his nose, struggling not to sigh in frustration. His free day was being wasted on this? Naruto didn't know where he could begin. 

Ok, the kid's whole thing is that for whatever reason he wanted to beat his old man so he could become the next Hokage. So what exactly could he— 

Wait a minute. Come to think of it, why did he want to beat the old man so badly? From the way he acted this morning, it's not as though it was an elaborate prank, the kid acted as though he'd actually beat him with a lousy sneak attack. It made him wonder why he had such a drive. Where did it come from? 

"Hey… before we get started… do you have some kind of an issue with the old man?" Naruto worded himself in a way that he tried to make it clear that the "old man" was referring to the Hokage. "When I saw you this morning, you sure seemed determined to really beat him." 

The kid's response was to look down on the ground and glare at it. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the sight of the clenched fists that weren't his own. "It's my name... I didn't tell you this, but my name is Konohamaru. It sounds like the name of our village, doesn't it?" 

Naruto nodded his head. It did sound quite similar. "That's what I was named after. Grandfather said it would bring me great luck. It's also an easy name to remember. By being the grandson of the Hokage, everyone knows who you are. Yet despite that, no-one ever calls me by my name! It's always just 'Honorable Grandson'!" 

Naruto raised his eyebrows as he listened to Konohamaru complain. "It was cool for a while, y'know. Being called that because of who your grandfather is. But they just kept going, it's like no-one even bothers seeing who I am! Just someone I'm related to! And I hate it!" 

"You too then…?" Naruto murmured under his breath, realizing that Konohamaru was somewhat similar to him. At least in the aspect of—

"Huh?" Konohamaru heard him, and looked at him with curiosity. "Really? You have a famous relative but no-one calls you by your real name too?" 

"Well it's not really like that." Naruto clarified. "It's just that…" 

"There you are!" 

The booming voice shook both boys to the core. They turned around to see the same Shinobi from earlier this morning standing on top of a tree branch. At that position, the average person would have a very difficult time standing like that even with support. This must be one of those techniques that the more experienced Ninjas use that allow them to walk on trees, quite literally in fact. 

"I found you, Honorable Grandson!" Was this the Ebisu man that Konohamaru mentioned? He didn't see any other teacher with him, so he assumed it was him. And that glare that was directed at Naruto… there was undoubtedly a dislike towards him, but there didn't seem to be malice or fear for that matter. "I'm afraid to say that your playtime with this brat is over now! Come along, we're going back to training!" 

"No way!" Was Konohamaru's response, stomping his foot on the ground and glaring at his Sensei. "I just found a new Sensei, one who's actually going to teach me how to kick the old man's butt and become the Hokage!" 

Naruto stayed quiet, not being sure how to handle this situation. He didn't know Ebisu's whole story, but after hearing things from Konohamaru's side, he'd say this seemed to be more of a misunderstanding. 

Ebisu hopped down on the ground as he walked towards the young boys in a casual manner. "Honorable Grandson, a Hokage is far more than just a fighter…" The Shinobi spoke in an amused manner. "But I can see you're quite determined to become a Hokage yourself. Though I don't guarantee that my teaching will even list you as a candidate, I'll do everything in my power to have you climb in the same rank as I, a Special Jounin!" Ebisu exclaimed in a proud, powerful voice. 

"If you can't have me become a Hokage, then you're no help at all!" Konohamaru responded fiercely in a high pitched tone, clearly angered. 

What happened next was only something that Naruto could describe as ludicrous. Before he realized it, Ebisu was grabbing Konohamaru by his scarf, and the kid was just wildly swinging his fist as the two bickered. 

Normally a matter such as this wouldn't be of any concern to Naruto. But after hearing a little bit of Konohamaru's story, he was interested in hearing more. For the first time, he found someone that he can relate to, even if only a little bit. 

He'd have to beat a Jounin to get Konohamaru to stay a little longer. Under normal circumstances it would be absolutely impossible to accomplish such a feat. There was only way he could beat a Shinobi like this, and he hoped it was low enough to do the job, because it's something nobody could predict doing. 

"Hey!" Naruto yelled to get their attention. "Konohamaru, I'll beat this guy right here and now!" He weaves a hand sign as he is about to pull off a Jutsu. "But I'm gonna need you to cover your ears and close your eyes… cause this might be pretty gross for you to see!" 

Konohamaru seemed confused, but nonetheless nodded his head as he did what he told him to do. Ebisu on the other hand chuckled out of mockery. "You… beat me…?!" He let go of Konohamaru's scarf and began to walk towards him. "I've already seen your profile, Naruto. You're just a mere Genin that still has no real experience. I'll admit, your involvement with Mizuki was quite impressive, but that's nothing if you want to tangle with a Jounin, if you're actually serious—"

"Transform!" Naruto cut him off in order to catch him off guard. A poof of smoke surrounded him as his body transformed into something entirely different, as though he were a shapeshifter… which is what this Jutsu is for. 

When the process was finished and the smoke cleared, what was once a young boy now stood a taller, teenage girl… who was fully naked for that matter, revealing a set of D cup bosoms, widely shaped hips, and though no-one could see it, a firm, round ass. The girl in question had long hair that covered all the way to her waist. "Hi there…" She spoke in a way that seemed to be seductive and inappropriately lewd. "Can I help you with something…?" 

To say Ebisu was baffled was a light understatement. His face was contorted and twisted in ways that it was beyond human comprehension. The blood pressure that must be seeping was clear as day as his face was as crimson as a tomato. "WHAT IS THIS?!" He shrieked at the top of his lungs. "WHAT AN INAPPROPRIATE, UNFORGIVABLE TECHNIQUE!" 

"Awwww, I'm sorry Ebisu-Sensei…" The girl murmured in a meek, innocent tone, switching her body language immediately. "You don't want to hurt a poor, innocent girl like me, do you?" 

"I… I would never!" Ebisu exclaimed, as if to retain what little sanity he had left. It was amusing how this perverse way of abusing the technique always worked. "A gentleman such as myself is not weak minded!" He used his arm to cover his eyes, even though he had sunglasses. "But turn back this instant, Naruto! You wouldn't actually show such a vile thing to the Honorable Grandson!" 

'No duh, that's why I told him not to even look.' Naruto rolled his eyes in his/her head. Continuing with the act, the girl approached the grown man, making a pouty face. "Oh I'm afraid you're mistaken, Ebisu-Sensei. I'm not that pesky Naruto. I'm Naruko." He was making stuff up at the top of his head. "I'm afraid little ol' me needs your help." 

"Put some clothes first! Or end the transformation! Just let it end!" Ebisu exclaimed in agony. 

'Just a little more…' The transformed girl thought. Just one more push. "Now why would I do that?" he/she put the index finger on the cheek, giving a small wink. "Don't you like the sight of a naked girl in front of you?" 

Ebisu's body shifted into terror. "Kkgh?!" Was the incoherent sound the self proclaimed Special Jounin made. As though his mind had shut down entirely, Ebisu fell on his back, landing against the ground unconscious with a small nose bleed. 

The transformed girl sighed before losing focus on maintaining his Chakra, reverting back to Naruto. "Finally!" He exclaimed as he stretched his back. "I thought he'd never go down!" 

As he was about to walk over to Konohamaru and tell him it was over, he saw that Konohamaru had both his eyes and ears uncovered. "Eep!" Naruto yielded back as he realized that Konohamaru saw what he did. 

"Wow… you never told me you could turn into a hot chick like that! And a naked one too!" Konohamaru exclaimed, giddy with excitement as he pumped his fists. "You gotta teach me how to do that!" 

"I'm not…" Naruto felt hesitant. It was good that the kid wasn't freaking out, but this wasn't something he planned for. 

"Pretty please!" Konohamaru clapped his hands together as he began to plead. "If I can't even beat my lame sensei, then I don't have any hope in beating my grandfather!" 

"Well…" Naruto began to think quickly. If it's just to surprise the old man then he supposed there wouldn't be any real harm. Rather, it did sound funny. "I'm not sure if you should learn that one…" 

"Aw, come on! I don't care how weird it is, just teach it to me so I can beat the old man! If I do that, then I'll become Hokage for sure, and then everyone will respect me for who I am!" 

'I don't think he realizes that other children shouldn't really see stuff like that…' Naruto thought to himself as he felt a bead of sweat forming at the back of his head. The last thing he needed is the entire village to hunt him down if children ever saw such a perverted technique that he came up with… 

Well kind of. The Sexy Jutsu, as he named it, was just a simple modification of the Transformation Jutsu where he turned into a naked woman. In theory, every Ninja should be capable of performing this same thing… except most, if not all would never stoop so low to use such a foul way of Ninjutsu. 

Though one particular detail of the technique that Naruto noticed was that the default usage of the technique was the naked blond girl he turned into just now. But if he focuses his mind, he can shapeshift into a different woman of his taste. How he understood and knew all this, was a story for another time. 

"Look, I'm gonna be frank with you…" Naruto sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "Besides this, I honestly can't teach you anything. I'm just a rookie that's going to be placed on a team tomorrow. If you're dead serious about being the next Hokage, then you may as well train your whole life and still not be able to achieve it." 

"So you're saying that I won't be able to do anything…?" Konohamaru's voice was filled with disappointment as he looked down on the ground. 

"Of course not! I never said you shouldn't at least try!" Naruto gently smacked his hand on Konohamaru's helmet. "That's because a Hokage's strength is immense! He has to be stronger than every Ninja in the village! Personally I'm not really interested in that, but I think it would be pretty cool if you got that position! And if I got time, I could learn some new Ninja moves and teach it to you!" 

Konohamaru stood in awe as his eyes went wide. He held a grin that contained boundless joy. "Alright!" Konohamaru jumped in the air. "This is gonna be so cool! I get to learn Ninjutsu from a new friend!" Naruto's face changed into that of shock. Konohamaru then looked at Naruto again. "Uh… we're friends now, right?" 

For a moment Naruto didn't say anything before flashing a warm smile at the lad. "I don't see why not." 

"Ok then!" Konohamaru pointed a finger at him. "So until you learn new Ninjutsu and teach it to me, I'll work hard on my own! See you around, Naruto!" He bowed his head, and turned around to run out of the forest. 

Naruto contemplated what had just occurred. For as long as he could remember, he's mainly been by himself. There were some who he connected with during his time in the orphanage, but those were timid at best. The Academy wasn't much different, though there was one he found mildly amusing. There was Iruka-Sensei, as the man truly did care for him, but it's more so that he never found anyone close to him around his age. 

"Friend…" Naruto murmured as he waved his hand goodbye to Konohamaru. Speaking the word alone was enough to bring a sense of warmness over the young boy. "Heh… a friend that's close to my age, and he's not even in the Academy yet." he smiled before making his way back home.

A bright ray of sunlight hit Naruto like a freight train. Groaning, he instinctively raised his wobbled arm to block out the bright sun. "Not now…" Naruto grumbled under his breath. He hated waking up like this. It always made him want to sleep more instead. 

Remembering what day it was; Naruto opened his eyes and turned his attention to an old clock that stood on top of a drawer next to his bed. Once his vision cleared, he saw it was nearly 8 in the morning. 

Blinking his eyes, Naruto quickly removed the sheets as he got off his bed. "Crap!" he cursed, feeling wobbly as he just woke up. He took off his pajamas. "Can't be late for this!" 

He only had about 30 minutes before the orientation began. He couldn't be late for this. He took a quick, albeit sloppy shower. After that he put his clothes on; the only difference being that he wore a blue t-shirt and a long black shirt over it. His jacket was still all torn up thanks to his fight with Mizuki, so he'd have to use his other shirts. 

After that he quickly ate a pair of fruits from the fruit basket he got after he had gotten back from the hospital. He didn't know who gave it to him exactly, but there was a note that said that the village was grateful for his actions in stopping Mizuki for his crimes. It brought a warm feeling within him when he read it the first time. 

But now there wasn't much food left in said basket. Naruto looked over and saw he only had 10 minutes left before the orientation started. "Crap!" He took a huge bite out of his orange and rushed over to his Headband. It was absolutely needed, if you didn't have it then you may as well not join the orientation, which sets unnecessary complications for your registration.

Naruto slid open the door to a classroom, entering inside before closing it. His eyes darted to all the students that graduated being somewhat rowdy. The teacher wasn't here yet, so that explained it. The atmosphere made Naruto a bit nostalgic, remembering some of the fun times he had with some of his classmates. 

Though the feeling of being in a place with new students he's never known felt strange, despite the fact that was the goal of being in a team, at least in situations like his. 

"I don't remember ever seeing you here before. Why are you here?" Naruto nearly jumped when a voice spoke right next to him, having been distracted by his thoughts. 

The blonde boy looked over and saw it was another boy, who's notable feature was shoulder length black hair tied into a ponytail. "I graduated here 2 years ago…" Naruto said, and hearing his answer made the other boy look confused. "But I couldn't be put in a team back then. So now I'm able to—"

"Oh, you're one of those." The other boy rolled his eyes, seemingly not out of annoyance, but more so out of laziness. "Well you're unlucky this is the year you're set up in." Naruto's face gestured to confusion. "Because out of all the generations, we're the worst of the worst. I dunno about you, but I'd rather not be with anyone besides a friend of mine. It's all so troublesome." The boy cocked his head, taking an exasperated sigh, making a face that otherwise suggested he really didn't wanna be here. "Especially if it was a girl." 

The last comment was odd, but otherwise Naruto didn't question it. "I'd take just about anyone." The spiky haired blond replied, making his way to sit in a chair… if there was any space left, with how so many seemed to have taken it. 

In one particular place, he noticed that a bunch of girls were fawning over someone. Though he couldn't see the person who they were fawning over, the sight alone was enough to make him irritated. 'Ugh, not this crap again!' He already knew where this went. The cool, popular dudes being the best in class had girls be all over you. 

That in itself was bad enough. What made it worse was the popular guy would be too busy focusing on his arrogant, stuck up ass to give anyone a time of day. From what he was seeing, it seemed practically identical to the last guy… 

Choosing to move far away, Naruto went to find the farthest corner he can see, which frankly wasn't very far to his liking. Near the end of the classroom corridor, he found an empty seat, and next to it was a purple haired girl with eyes that seemed remarkably similar to another guy he's met. 'She's a Hyuga...?' Naruto thought. 

Without thinking, Naruto simply sat next to the girl, putting his elbow against the table, his hand pressing against his chin. "You mind if I sit here?" He asked the girl. 

The girl didn't say anything for a moment. Perhaps Naruto didn't make himself clear enough. But as he was about to speak again, the girl made a stammering reply. "S-Sure…" she said in a very quiet, shy tone, nearly making herself unhearable. 

"Alright, settle down!" Iruka-Sensei's voice was heard loud and clear as he stepped into the classroom. He must have gotten better at being a teacher, because everyone else quieted down and got to their seats, when a couple years ago that had been more difficult. 

Whatever thoughts he previously had about the girl faded away, as he listened in to what Iruka had to say. The man cleared his throat before speaking. "I want to congratulate you all that came here today. Officially, all of you have become Ninjas. But bear in mind, you're only Genin, the lowest level in rank. The trials and difficulties you had in getting here are nothing compared to the hardships you'll have in the future, but I'm confident that each and every one of you will make it through." 

The man spoke broadly with confidence. "However, given that you're all inexperienced, each of you will be grouped together in a 3 Man Squad, and each of those groups will be led by a Jounin, a senior elite Ninja. This is something that the Academy has done for many generations, and once you mature enough, you'll all become independent Ninjas on your own." He explained the system behind the assembly of teams. "Each squad will have a balance of strengths and abilities. Now… I'll announce the squads." 

Names were getting dropped. A few minutes passed by, and still no mention of his name. "Team 7: Sakura Haruno... Naruto… and Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka announced. 

Wait. 

An Uchiha? 

Naruto quickly glanced around to find where this Uchiha was. Out of all the people he'd thought of being with, an Uchiha wasn't one of those. Iruka kept pronouncing members of teams that came after him. There were complaints, but he didn't care to listen. 

If he remembered correctly, the Uchiha usually made themselves known due to the emblem they had on their clothes. But in his position and the number of people, he couldn't see well. 

"That's about all for today. You'll meet all your Jonin instructors after lunchtime, so please come during that time. So until further notice, class is dismissed!" Iruka exclaimed. 

The students got up from their seats as they left the classroom. It was only then Naruto got a better view, now noticing the Uchiha emblem… on the same boy that the girls were fawning over… 

'That's my teammate?!' Naruto thought in surprise. He wasn't going to file a complaint, no way was he going to risk getting removed and wait for another year. 'Well I wasn't expecting this…' The boy was considering whether to stay with Iruka and talk with him about the team placement or just let it be. 

Considering that these are the teammates he's gonna be with for who knows how long, it may be worth asking just what they're capable of. "Hey, Iruka-Sensei, do you mind if you can tell me a little bit about the teammates I'm in?" Naruto asked, as most of the students have exited the room by now. 

Iruka raised his eyebrows as he looked at him. "Why ask that?" Iruka seemed curious to know. 

"It's uh… the teammates I'm with…" Naruto was thinking of how to word this without making it sound like he was complaining. "Why exactly is it that I'm paired with someone in the Uchiha clan?" 

"Naruto, this better not be a complaint just because you're with someone who's the most popular in class." Iruka bluntly said.

"Nono!" Naruto denies, putting his hands in front of him, "I know about what happened to them, it's just... I thought someone from the Uchiha clan would be better suited than me." He says. 

"Ah, I see then." Iruka folds his arms. "If that's what you want to know, it's simple, Sasuke has the highest scores in his class out of everybody else. He's quite talented, as I'm sure you'd know, and takes his work seriously. The Hokage and I figured he'd push you to work harder, giving you a rival of sorts." 

"Hey!" Naruto rebuked, as the last comment offended him. "I wasn't that bad!" 

"You mean when you weren't bored, like how you said in your own words when you pulled your mischiefs." Naruto chose to stay silent. Iruka grew an amused grin. "But in seriousness, he's not as cold as he seems. This isn't gonna be like how you had your gripe with Neji. By combining your talents, you'll be unstoppable when you work together." 

Naruto scratched the back of his head as he considered the possibility. He supposed that made sense, but what about the girl? "And what about the other one?" 

"Sakura? In grades she scores moderately. From what I noticed, her weakest aspect is Taijutsu, and her greatest is Genjutsu, but in Ninjutsu it's average." So not much to go off of, though then again, grade scores weren't the most accurate measurement. "Though…" Iruka softly scratched his hair. "Her biggest detriment is her crush on Sasuke, sometimes it causes her to space out when it's unnecessary, and at worst she doesn't even focus on being a Ninja. That needs to be toned down significantly." 

"Really?" Naruto furrows his eyebrows. If that was the case, couldn't there have been anyone else to be on his team? Though surely she had to have something. 

"But one of, if not her greatest strength is her determination. When she puts her mind into something, she can achieve great results. The only problem is, unlike half the class I had this year, she's from a civilian family, so her reserves are quite limited, but it's not impossible to become a great Kunoichi." Iruka explained before making a sigh. "But I just wish that's what she did more often." 

'From the sound of it, she doesn't exactly seem all that much to me and this Sasuke guy.' Naruto thought. He didn't mean to belittle her capabilities, but that's the general impression he got from her. He made a small frown, as thinking about it made him believe there was a hole in this team. "Isn't that gonna cause a problem then? This doesn't seem balanced if me and Sasuke are a better match as a team on our own." 

"That doesn't mean it's an immediate waste. Have you forgotten about Lee? He got put in a team even though his best asset was Taijutsu, and he was only above average. Yet you didn't hear any news of him failing, did you?" Iruka gave a disapproving nod. 

Come to think of it, he hasn't heard anything from Lee nor anybody in his class since the day they graduated. "Though I did consider putting Hinata Hyuga on the same team with you…" Iruka looked back on the paper before sighing. "But from what I was told, another Jounin insisted on taking her under her wing. Not only that but it wouldn't leave a good room with Kiba and Shino. The other girls would have fared worse. So really, this is the best I could give you." 

Naruto sighed, as he didn't wanna bother with any further details. He got what he needed to know. "I don't think I have any more questions. I'll see you around, Iruka-Sensei."

"Alright then, and I wish you great luck on your journey!" 

"Thanks!"

What the hell. 

This had to be a joke. 

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were now the only ones left in the classroom. All the students had arrived on time, waiting for their Jonin instructors to pick up their teams and be on their way. Some took a bit longer than the others to show up, but they arrived nonetheless. 

Yet some-fucking-how… 

3 hours had passed by… and their Sensei still hadn't shown up! 

Even Iruka-Sensei left the building, yet they were told to stay here! As of now Naruto was hurryingly circling around the room, his feet firmly planting against the wooden floor. 

"You mind cutting that out?!" The pink haired girl, Sakura, raised her voice in annoyance at him as she sat on top of a table. "We don't have to keep hearing you prattling around so loudly over and over!" 

"Well what else can I do?! I sat on those chairs for so long that my butt feels sore!" Naruto rubbed his butt, stretching his back in doing so. 

"Your…?!" Sakura made a disgusted look on her face. "You don't just mention that stuff in front of others, especially not in front of a girl! Don't you have decency?!" 

"The only decency I have now is getting revenge on that lousy sensei that's making us wait for so long!" Naruto argued. "Come on, you guys have to be getting annoyed by this as well!" 

"Oh we are!" Sakura exclaimed, nodding her head. "We just aren't being as annoying about it!" She turned her head towards Sasuke, who remained cool as a cucumber, locking his fingers together. Naruto applauded and loathed the level of patience he has. "Isn't that right, Sasuke?" 

The Uchiha in question stayed silent for a moment. He casted a glance at Sakura, answering with a, "I guess" before looking back at his table. 

"You know what…" Naruto flapped his arms before slapping them against the fabric of his pants. "I should have thought of this way earlier." Forming a simple revenge plan, he went over to grab an eraser from the blackboard. Sakura gave him a questioning look as he ran over to pick a chair. 

He put the chair in front of the door. Naruto climbed on the chair, sliding the door open as he put the eraser against the edge before sliding the door closed, shifting the eraser so that it stayed still. 

"What are you doing…?" Sakura asks in a skeptical tone as she sees what he's doing. Sasuke didn't say a word. 

"The Sensei steps through the door and that eraser falls on him." Naruto answered as he got down on the floor and lifted the chair back to where it belonged. 

"Why?!" 

"It's what he gets for torturing us like this!" Naruto exclaimed. 

"... Couldn't you come up with something better?" Sasuke muttered under his breath. "This is an elite Ninja, there's literally no way they're going to fall for such an obvious prank." 

"I don't have any material to work with here, okay?!" Naruto whined. "And I'm too annoyed to think of anything better!" 

"... Weirdo." Sasuke sighed under his breath. 

Much to everyone's surprise, the door slid open. Naruto turned his head around quickly, seeing that the eraser he put there fell down and… actually hit the Shinobi who came through. 

Now to gloat. "It wasn't much, but this is a small taste of payback from me for making us get so late!" Naruto argues, pointing his finger at the man who entered. 

"Erm… sorry about messing up your hair…" Sakura pressed both of her index fingers together to pull an innocent act. "Though I can't say he's not wrong…" 

"Hmph…" The man made a simple grunt, the tone making it difficult to tell what he meant. 

Besides the odd, spiky silver hair that's bent sideways, he dressed just like any other Ninja, the only difference being that instead of blue, he wore black pants and a long black shirt. Only odd thing was he wore his headband that covered his left eye. A rather strange way of using it like that. 

The man picked up the eraser and gave a bland look at all of them. "My first impression of this team is…" He paused for a moment, as if figuring out what to say next. "You're all a bunch of idiots." 

The weight of his words put despair in all of them. 

Chapter Text

"Alright… now why don't you go ahead and tell me a little yourselves?" The silver, spiky haired man spoke, as he and his new, potential Genin team stood on a rooftop that was on top of the Ninja Academy. "Y'know, things like your names, your likes, your dislikes, hobbies, dreams, stuff like that." 

The man observed his team. Right from the get go, the potential of this team showed promise. A talented Uchiha in a single unit was already worth something. He wasn't so sure about the Kunoichi, but he'll have to wait and see. The blonde boy… well, he was sure he reminded him of someone he knew. 

"How about you tell us a little about yourself, sensei?" Naruto raised his hand slightly. "I mean, we don't even know who you are. So it'd be fair if you started first." 

A wisecrack. And the other team members didn't say a word either. Though introducing himself… "Me?" Kakashi rhetorically pointed a finger to himself. "Well let's see… My name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes…" 

He tried to think. "I like…. Completing my missions I suppose." Well that was a start. "My dislikes… I don't really feel like telling you that." This drew confusion among the Genins. There were some dislikes, but those were more… personal, per say. "My hobbies... I like going out on missions… and I like to read books." Alright, this was going better than he thought. "My dreams for the future…" 

There was only one, but he wasn't obliged to tell them that. "Well, that's none of your business." Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "There, this is how you introduce yourself." 

"But all we learned was your name and you like to read…" Naruto murmured with a deadpan expression on his face. Sakura had a similar reaction. Sasuke remained neutral. 

"Well then," He decided to amuse the blond. "Since you found it so boring, how about you give us a livelier introduction. I'm sure with your history, you ought to liven things up." 

"Well let's get started!" Naruto firmly put his hands on the tile floor with an eager smile. "My name is Naruto! I like doing training exercises, and I also take any food I can get! My dislikes, uh…" The boy thought for a moment before continuing. "I… don't like lying. My hobbies, uh… pranking people! It's just funny to get a rise out of them! My dreams for the future…" He thought to himself. It was taking a little bit longer than the last one. His facial expression turned to uncertainty. "Not sure honestly…" 

"Well you certainly revealed more than I have." Though he spoke in a sarcastic manner, he couldn't help but feel a small pang of guilt. If they just hadn't… "Now then… which one of you want to be next." 

For a moment neither the boy nor the girl spoke. The girl was taking a look at the Uchiha, as if to see if he or she would speak first. When neither said a word, she spoke up. "My name is Sakura Haruno. I like to read books since it helps me gain more knowledge, and I just like reading in general. My dislikes… are when my parents are too noisy, and I don't like when people make fun of others for no reason. My hobbies… well… I'm not sure if I have them besides reading, and doing some training here and there." The girl sheepishly smiled. "And my dreams for the future… well…" She took a brief glance at Sasuke before giggling to herself. "Sorry but I'm keeping that one to myself!" 

'Naive and clueless about being a Ninja. Though for a girl who comes from a civilian background with little to no history in being a Ninja, I suppose it's understandable. But I can't help but worry that she won't last in this field. Though if she can see things through then I suppose that's not too bad.' Kakashi thought to himself as he observed the girl's behavior and body language. "Well that was… interesting to hear, Sakura. Now then, the quiet one. How about you tell us a bit about yourself." 

For a moment the boy hadn't said anything. He seemed to be more so looking at his knees. Spacing out, if that was the phrase, was what he seemed to be doing. "Erm…" Kakashi coughed. "The boy in the blue shirt. Do you mind giving your introduction?" 

"Hm?" Sasuke snapped and looked at him, as though he hadn't realized what he was doing. "Right…" He crossed his fingers, resting his elbows on his kneecaps. "My name… is Sasuke Uchiha. My likes… I like training, I suppose. Dislikes… well… I don't like getting bothered, and I don't like when someone annoys me, there's more things I don't like. Hobbies are just doing my Ninja training and… something else I guess." The boy shrugged his shoulders. "My dream… well... I wouldn't say it's a dream, but more of an ambition. What I want is to look for… a particular somebody I have in mind. Somebody I have a lot of questions for. And depending on the answers, well, that'll depend on what I get." His tone became grim when talking about his ambition. 

'I should have figured as much…' Kakashi thought as he took a serious observation on Sasuke. 'But even so… even with the help he's been getting, it's amazing he's able to function as well as he does. But I have to make sure he stays on the right path.' he kept that note on the back of his head. "Alright, each of you have your own unique interests, and that's very good. With that in mind, our first mission is going to start tomorrow morning. However, this will involve all 4 of us." 

"So what's the mission gonna be about?" Naruto asked in interest. 

"Simple. Survival exercises." Kakashi casually replied. 

This drew confusion from all 3 graduates. "Wait, what do you mean survival exercises?" Sakura was the one who responded first. "We did stuff like this back in the Academy a lot. Why would we have another one on our first mission?" 

"This survival exercise is quite different from the ones you took so far. This time, you'll have to survive against me." Kakashi informed them. Now comes the fun part. 

"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head sideways. "Wait a minute, are you saying we're gonna have to fight you?" 

Kakashi made a chuckle, a very obvious one at that. "What's so funny?!" Sakura exclaimed, wanting to know why he was laughing. 

"Oh, it's nothing…" Kakashi waved his hand in a nonchalant manner. He was amused to see just how they'd react as to what he was about to say next. "It's just… if I told you what it was, then you'd back down from the challenge." 

"Well it can't be that bad." Naruto said, folding his arms as he gave a look of skepticism. 

"Well…" They fell for it. They may be great in their own right, but they were still mere children. "Of the 27 graduates in your class, you're all tested to see who has what it takes to be a Ninja. The ones that don't make it get sent back to the Academy. The chances of failing tests like these is at least 66% high." 

Silence. 

Looks of shock came over Naruto and Sakura. Sasuke didn't appear as shocked, but his eyes went wide after hearing this. Good. Now it begins. "See?" He closed his eyes, showing a clear smile behind his mask. "You're backing down already, and we didn't even start yet." 

"Hold on a second!" Naruto anxiously exclaimed. "Just like that?! If chances of failing this are that high and we get sent back, then what was the whole point of the graduation exam to begin with?!" 

"To see who truly fits into becoming a Ninja." Kakashi answered, almost mechanically. ''You see, Konoha has been in need of more Shinobis ever since the incident of the Nine Tails and the Uchihas." 

"But why send us back?" Sakura questioned the method with a grain of confusion in her tone. ''If the village needs more Ninjas, then isn't it better to just have everybody graduate at the same time? Why go through stuff like this?"

"Because not everybody is guaranteed to stand well in this field. Everything you've been taught in the Academy is nothing more than to pick who truly fits in the field and who doesn't. If they don't then they go back to have more training. This isn't as simple as saying 'you pass!' and everything becomes clear to you." Kakashi explained the process. "This has been done for many generations, set by the Second Hokage. Originally only 9 were supposed to graduate, but because we've been short staffed, the Third Hokage increased so everyone can graduate so we have just about enough." His gaze became more intimidating. "But remember, this won't be anything like in the Academy." 

They didn't say anything. Kakashi sighed. "In any event, we'll meet each other tomorrow morning at 7 AM. I decide whether you pass or fail. Bring all your tools and whatever else you deem useful." Kakashi turned his back, just about ready to leave. Oh wait. He almost forgot about this. "One more thing… don't eat any breakfast… if you break the rule, you'll be disqualified." 

That sealed it. The looks on their faces reeked of shock. Sakura had her jaw on the floor, while Naruto was visibly worried, and Sasuke's body language expressed nervousness as he tightly clenched his shorts. "I believe I said just about everything. Until tomorrow… class dismissed!" He gave a smile before vanishing as a blur. 

He always wanted to say that.

Sasuke walked towards the outskirts of his clan, hands in his pockets. The words from his new teacher stuck to his head like a drum. The chances of failures being 66%, and it was possibly higher than that. Combined with needing to skip breakfast and arrive 7 AM sharp… while it wasn't something he couldn't handle, that wasn't exactly going to make things easy either way with this type of condition. 

When arriving at the Uchiha compound, he gazed at the empty surroundings. The large compound itself had worked decently well despite the numbers they suffered with. The clan was kept… clean for the most part, though some homes looked as though they'd seen better nights… 

Overall it gave a peace of tranquility, a calm air, and the citizens gave him warm pleasantries for his return, at least the elders did. The other adults waved at him, and he greeted them back with a smile of his own. Some gave him strange looks… but he paid no heed to them. 

Sasuke arrived at his large home. He slid the doors open before taking his shoes off, closing the door in process. He took a look around, walking to see if anybody was here. "I'm home!" He called. 

He hasn't eaten anything since he got to the Academy. He wasn't that hungry, but having a good breakfast always started things good. Since it was such a large home, it took a bit till he got to the kitchen. 

"Welcome back, Sasuke. How did the selection go?" His mother, Mikoto, asked as she seemed just about finished making another set of food. 

"It was fine." Sasuke answered without skipping a beat. He saw that his breakfast was on the table, and didn't waste time sitting on the chair to have his breakfast. 

"So who's the new sensei? And who are your teammates?" Mikoto asked as she took her gloves off and put them back in one of their drawers. 

"The Sensei is by a guy named Kakashi Hatake. And the teammates are Sakura and some kid named Naruto." Sasuke answered as he split his chopsticks and began to eat the rice. 

"Really…?" She sounded… surprised? Sasuke noticed this and turned his head to look at his mother. "Well… that's quite something." 

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, holding a look of curiosity. 

"Oh, nothing. I wasn't…" Mikoto clocked her head back and forth. "Expecting Kakashi to be on your team, and that Naruto boy." 

"I at least heard of the kid. That's the one who defaced those Hokage monuments, didn't he?" Sasuke turned back to his food and began to eat again. "But who's the other guy? You know him?" 

"Well, somewhat. I wasn't particularly close with him, but… well I shouldn't really say anything, he's your Sensei." She put the apron away. "But in any case, at least you'll get to spend time with your new friends now." 

"I guess…" Sasuke shrugged before he took another bite. Friends. Well that wasn't exactly the top of his priority list, at least not now. 

He heard Mikoto sighing. "Come on Sasuke, we already went over this. You need to start having friends and not just focus on training all the time. Being alone isn't a very good thing." 

"I'll try something I guess…" Sasuke monotonously replied. 

"Did you at least try to find a friend?" Mikoto asked, putting her hand on her hip. "Anybody at all in the Academy? There really isn't anyone who's interesting to you?" 

"I told you already, it's not like they're bad, there just isn't much we have in common. The girls for the most part are just annoying. Trying to do my practice and they just barge in, screaming my name for no reason." Sasuke expressed his annoyance. 

"And the boys?" 

"One is way too lazy, one is way too loud, one eats a little too much." Sasuke couldn't help but be somewhat concerned for the… chubby boy in his class. He did like some sweets, but that guy ate way too much. "There's others but I really don't have any interest in them." 

Mikoto sighed. "Well if you say so… I just hope you'll at least bond with your new teammates and everything turns out well. At least with Naruto if this Sakura is one of those girls you don't like." 

"Well from what I heard about him I don't think we'll get along well." 

"Don't give me that, Sasuke." Mikoto's tone became more stern. "You remember what you were told, don't you? Staying alone as you are isn't gonna be good for you. You don't have to be social a whole lot, but you need something a little more in your circle besides our clan and training." 

Sasuke thought for a moment. He stopped eating and considered it. He himself wasn't fully on board with the idea of gaining new friends… but… if it'd at least make his mother glad, he supposed he could at least try. "Alright…" Sasuke murmured. "I'll see what to do." 

"That's better." Mikoto came by and kissed his head, much to his chagrin. "I'll be leaving tonight." 

"When are you coming back?" 

"Well…" Mikoto seemed to think. It was a mission she was heading into. It was a B-rank mission. "If everything goes well, I should be back in a week, give or take. In the meantime, I prepared all the food you can have in that time, and if you feel hungry, don't be afraid to stop by the elders and stay with them once in a while." 

"Alright, I get it." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You didn't have to make so much. I can cook as well, you know. I'm not that harmless."

"Just making sure my boy doesn't starve from hunger." Mikoto patted his head. "You can't be a good Ninja if you're not in top health." 

"That's easy to say when I'm not supposed to eat tomorrow." Sasuke said, leaning his hand on his cheek. This drew confusion from his mother. "Because my new sensei gave us a strict order not to eat breakfast for tomorrow's exam. If I do then I'm disqualified." 

"Really?" Mikoto seemed to be curious. "He said that?" 

"Yeah." 

"Well… better listen to him." Mikoto closed her eyes as she smiled. 

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Of course he would. Sure, not eating breakfast and waking up so early was a bit harsh, but that's supposed to be the life of a Ninja. He can handle it.

Morning came by. 

Well, technically not yet. The sun itself hadn't even risen yet. Now Sakura finds herself walking towards the training field that her new sensei ordered them to head to. She had never, ever woken up this early in her life. Hell, she was pretty sure even her parents were asleep at this time, and so were most sane people. She wore a backpack, carried by Ninja tools that were supposedly needed for this. What that was she didn't know. 

And it looks like she wasn't the only one. Sasuke and her new teammate, Naruto, if she recalled, had arrived at the same time she did. Naruto looked as though he barely slept with how he yawned. Though Sasuke didn't show it, he too also had the signs of having just woken up. 

They bid each other good morning, and the trio waited for their sensei to show up, who should arrive right about now.

3 hours. 

That should be plenty of time for the starvation to start affecting them. He considered taking a little longer, but he figured they were still children, so better to test and see how they were like now. 

Besides, they'd understand. 

"Good morning everyone." Kakashi said with a neutral expression, making himself appear out of nowhere in front of the Genin team. 

"YOU'RE LATE/FUCKING LATE!" Both Sakura and Naruto screamed in rage as they pointed an accusing finger at him, both ready to pop a vessel on their veins and lunge at him all together. Good. That was needed for this. Sasuke looked irritated as he glared venomously. 

"Where have you been?!" Naruto demanded to know. "What kind of a sensei is late for 3 fucking hours?!" 

"Oh, how polite that you're concerned about what happened to me. You see, there was a black cat that crossed down my path, so I had to take a long way to get here." Kakashi replied, his tone being unclear whether he was sarcastic or not. 

"What kind of an excuse is that?! A black cat of all things?!" Naruto clenched his fists, glarrings daggers at him. 

"What, don't you guys believe in superstition? If you guys cross a black cat, you'll be cursed with bad luck for 7 years. Really bad stuff tends to happen, and I for one do not take such a risk." Kakashi spoke in a fake surprise at how his students reacted. 

Before anything else could be said, Kakashi pulled out a clock and put it on a large wood before he set the timer. Right now it was past 10. "Alright, I set the time to go off at noon. And during that time, you have to take these two bells from me before time runs out." Kakashi said as he pulled out a couple of small, silver bells. The students seemed interested. "If nobody manages to take either of these bells from me by then, depending on your performance, one of you will be tied into one of those posts, and I'll eat lunch in front of you while I'm at it." 

Naruto and Sakura were taken aback, even appalled by such a thing. Sasuke looked annoyed. It was only now that he heard the sound of growls forming on their stomachs. "And by the way… I strongly recommend you get these bells on time. Because if you don't, you'll suffer more than just loss of hunger, you'll even be going back straight to the academy all over again." Kakashi warned them in a serious tone, making his threat as sharp as a razor edge. It made the young Genins tense up. "And if you're determined to get these bells, you must use any means necessary to do so. Attack me with the intent to kill. Use your tools. Anything goes by. I don't care how you do it." 

"Uh… if you don't mind, sensei," Sakura said with a concerned expression on her face. "Isn't that a bit extreme? I know you're a Jounin and all, but what if there's a chance if we, say, accidentally cut your face with a shuriken or something?" 

Kakashi sighed. 'Like I thought, she isn't cut out for this.' he thought to himself. "There's nothing to worry about, Sakura. I've been on battlefields longer than the three of you have lived. You couldn't begin to comprehend the kind of people I fought, so believe me, a minor accident won't happen." He understood why she'd ask that question, but it was naive, if not downright foolish. 

"You say that but you didn't even dodge that eraser yesterday." Naruto spoke with a humorous chuckle. 

"And from what I heard, you've been stuck in doing nothing but D ranks for the past 2 years without a team, yet here you are just now learning the basics. So really, who's talking." Kakashi understood that Naruto was simply making a joke, but he wanted to see just what his reaction would be. Plus, if he was gonna play like that, why not do the same. 

This got Naruto irritated as he glared daggers at Kakashi, but otherwise remained still. Sasuke and Sakura titled their heads at the mention of doing missions for years. "Now, we'll begin on my mark. Good luck to you all. Get ready… set… and go!" 

All three Genins jumped away simultaneously at the same time, making themselves hidden. Kakashi stayed still and observed his surroundings. 'Huh... I thought all three of them were going to attack me and fumble. But they're going with stealth instead. Against a superior opponent, that is a wiser decision on their current level…' He casted his eyes as to where each of the students hid themselves. 'The basis for all Shinobi is stealth, and all three of them understand this well.' It took him no time at all to find where the younglings were, but he had to give them credit. 'Now all that remains is how they'll attack me…'

'How are we supposed to take this guy on?' Naruto thought to himself, remaining hidden within the bushes, and in front of him were a dozen trees that made it a bit difficult for him to see where his sensei was. 'I mean, this guy is a Jounin. I already had a fight with a Chunin, but from what I remember those guys are a joke compared to the elites. So how are we supposed to fight this guy and take his bells?' 

Surely in a one-on-one it would go badly. But someone had to make a move soon. His head felt a bit foggy as he tried to come up with something due to lack of hunger. He needed to come up with some plan to get those bells. But he knew nothing about this man, so he couldn't do that unless it was to engage him in close quarters. He didn't have any good Ninjutsu techniques on him either… 

'Maybe if I attacked him from behind…' Naruto thought, trying to find a good area to sneak around in so he wouldn't be detected. Good thing a blue t-shirt wasn't that noticeable, at least he hoped. Naruto walked as silently as he could, hoping not to bring any attention to himself. 

It took him several minutes to go the other way in the surrounding area, till he leaped towards a tree and landed on it. From his position he stood above, giving him just the amount of leverage he needed to start attacking from behind. Naruto unbuttoned his strapper, picking up a couple of shuriken before throwing them behind Kakashi. 

"So you're over there!" Naruto widened his eyes as he saw Kakashi casually avoiding the shurikens he was throwing. 

Well that blew it. He didn't have any other choice but to reveal himself. With that, Naruto leaped from the tree branch he crouched on and headed straight towards Kakashi. "That's your next move? If I were you, I'd just come up with a better strategy than tackling impossible odds." Kakashi remarked, hands in his pockets. 

"Yeah but I don't really have anything that'll help me! And besides, I can't come up with a better plan unless I get a better idea what my enemy can do!" Naruto exclaimed as he pulled out his kunai. 

"Well if you insist…" Kakashi shrugged his shoulders as he pulled his hands out of his pockets. Naruto swung his short blade towards Kakashi's torso, only for him to jump back. "Shinobi Battle Tactics #1: Taijutsu." Kakashi said as Naruto swung his kunai left and right, his aim was to get those bells. Though even if he did have full intention of killing his sensei, it's not like he could pull that no matter how hard he tried. 

Naruto eyed the bells that kept jiggling on his sensei's hip. He briefly switched his tactic by trying to cut the lasso that tied the bells, aiming to cut them, but missed entirely. Before he could blink, Naruto felt his body moving in a way he didn't want, and felt something heavier pressing against him. 

The young boy gasped as he felt his own kunai pressing against the back of his head. His arm was bent as he felt Kakashi standing directly behind him, holding him in a lock without so much as breaking a sweat. Naruto gulped, as he wasn't sure how to get out of this. If at all. "You left half your body vulnerable when you swung to cut the lasso. Not a bad move, getting for the bells with your kunai, but your intent to kill subsided." Kakashi spoke in a firm tone, his grip held tighter than anything Naruto ever felt. 

'Man, Jounins really are as tough as they say!' Naruto thought, desperate thinking how he can get out of this. In his position, he could be killed any time, even now. Mizuki was a clown compared to this guy. 'Now what do I do…?' 

"Now, let's remove this thing." Kakashi then pushed Naruto and threw the kunai on the river. Naruto stumbled in his steps before he stopped, turning around to look where his kunai had been thrown. "It fits better for our Taijutsu lesson. But now that you're up against somebody superior to you, and you're without a weapon, just what are you going to do now?" 

Naruto began to think. There had to be some way to get those bells. It was clear to him that close combat was a bad idea. He could run… but he wasn't a fan of that, plus there was the possibility his sensei would go after him. So the only option left? Fight. 

Naruto began to run towards Kakashi, engaging him yet again. "Wrong choice." Kakashi told him bluntly. Naruto leaped and threw a right hook, to which Kakashi blocked without flinching. Naruto used his other hand to grab tightly onto Kakashi's wrist and launched a horizontal kick to the head, to which Kakashi responded by bending backwards. 

Naruto then felt Kakashi swinging his arm downwards, and because Naruto still held on to Kakashi's forearm, he hit the ground with a thud on his back. "Agh!" Naruto groaned in pain. 

"Y'know, if this were a real battle, you'd have been long dead by now." Kakashi told him as he reached for his bag, pulling out a book. "I don't understand why you'd bother attacking again when that failed the first time. I thought it'd be interesting to test you, but so far I'm not impressed." 

"Gimme a break…" Naruto clenched the grass tightly, trying to get back up. "If I ran you might have gone after me… so what's the point in doing that when it's better to stand and fight. Besides, I don't really have any good Ninjutsu to use either." 

"Then just retreat and make a better strategy next time." Kakashi flipped a page on the book he was reading… called Make-Out Paradise? Wait, that seemed oddly familiar. "Otherwise you end up making things worse." 

"Nngh…" Naruto got on his butt, turning around to stand on all fours before looking at Kakashi. "And what's with you reading a book all of a sudden?" 

"Don't mind it. Now that I know what level you're at, you're not really a threat. So whatever you throw at me, it won't work. So, just do whatever you like." Kakashi said, not bothering to look at the boy. 

That comment annoyed him. He was so beneath this man that he didn't bother looking at him at all. 'Why you…!' Naruto clenched his fists, gritting his teeth in the process. Suddenly an idea came to him. Make-Out Paradise… and sensei didn't bother to look at him. 'Hang on a second…' Naruto thought of a mischievous idea. A rather indecent idea, considering his teammates were around here, but if it could help take the bells… 

Naruto formed a hand sign, already figuring out what to do. "Transform!" He exclaimed, and a puff of smoke covered his whole, shapeshifting to that of a grown, curvy, naked blonde woman. "Now those bells are mine!" He/She dashed from the smoke, revealing "her" nude form, reaching her hand to take the bells. 

"What the…" Was all what Kakashi spoke with a widened eye before jumping in the air. "Ok… I wasn't expecting that one!" Kakashi exclaimed as "Naruto" hit the ground before transforming back. 

Naruto growled as the plan failed. He tried to think of something else, when a wave of shurikens caught his attention as they headed straight towards Kakashi, who was still in mid air. To his surprise, Kakashi pulled out a kunai knife and used it to easily deflect all the shurikens that came at him. Kakashi landed on the ground, throwing the same kunai knife towards the source it came from. 

"See, this is a better way of attacking someone." Kakashi told Naruto, giving him a lazy stare. "Make sure to keep that in mind, grasshopper." The older man said before hopping towards his next target. 

"Crap!" Naruto cursed as he ran after Kakashi. Whoever threw those shuriken was in big trouble. Naruto believed no matter how good anyone was here, they didn't stand a chance against a Jounin, who embarked the meaning of what it meant to be an elite Ninja.

'That stupid, indecent idiot!' Sakura thought to herself as she felt her body shaking from the intensity of Kakashi-Sensei going after Sasuke now, that and the perverted stunt her blonde teammate just did which made her blush in fury. 'What was he thinking of pulling such a technique like that?! We were there as well!' She was debating within herself if she should go and help Sasuke or not. 'Still… I want to help Sasuke, but I'm not sure if I… oh who am I kidding?!' 

She dashed to get where Sasuke was, who had to be running after having his clover blown. Sasuke was the best in their class, excelling in every aspect of Ninja combat, and if he couldn't catch their sensei by surprise, then even he needed help. But she had to stay quiet or else her sensei would spot her in— 

"Hello Sakura." 

Sakura froze in place as she whirled her head to see Kakashi, who crouched on a tree branch, giving her a smile with a closed eye. 'How did he…?!' Sakura didn't understand. 'I thought he went after Sasuke?!' She swore for a fact that's the direction he was heading for. So how did he find her? Was it a trap? 

"Too late." Kakashi formed a hand sign. Suddenly, leaves magically flew on their, surrounding not just her but the area. Yet somehow she didn't… no, rather, she couldn't pay attention. A wave of dizziness overcame her, her body not putting up a fight, feeling as though she were in a trance. 

Sakura blinked. 

Nothing. 

Kakashi-Sensei wasn't there anymore. "Wha…?!" She whipped her head back and forth, as everything felt clear to her again. "What just happened…?" Try as she might, Sakura couldn't find Kakashi anywhere. He shows up and just… leaves? 

'Wait…!' Sakura thought, having realized something. She felt something off, something didn't feel natural. 'I felt something strange in my body… that and Kakashi-Sensei just showing up and disappearing like that… am I under some Genjutsu? If that's the case, then…' Sakura focused her Chakra on a single point as she put a hand sign, ready to dispel the Genjutsu. 

"Sakura… help me…" 

"Sasuke?" The pink haired gal turned her head to look at what she thought was Sasuke's voice. 

She dearly wished she hadn't. 

Sasuke was kneeling on the ground, his entire body covered in kunais and shurikens alike, as blood gushed forth, bleeding profusely as he made a small puddle. Both his left arm and his right leg were twisted and mangled to the point of it being physically impossible for it to bend. "Please… help me…" She heard Sasuke begging for help in a weak, dying voice, as life was lost in his eyes. 

Sakura remained frozen, her mind processing the traumatic view. Genjutsu or not, a mangled, beaten, broken body for a child not used to warfare is anything but a pretty sight. She dropped the hand signs without realizing, her body beginning to move backwards, a coping mechanism to get away from the horrific sight. Her breaths became heavy. 

She was paralyzed in fear, her mind blazing in countless possibilities about what she should do, but fear held a firm grip on her. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Sakura released the loudest scream she had in her life, her mind shutting down as though to prevent any more stress from latching on. With that, she passed out.

'Did I go overboard?' Kakashi thought as he saw Sakura pass out. That scream definitely attracted attention. 'I swear I was trying to be gentle…' 

No doubt he might get chewed out for this if his other colleagues knew what Genjutsu he put her under. They'd say what he did was too extreme. But she had to know this was a tiny step of what being exposed to this world was like. Frankly, he was being as considerate as possible, and it was clear as day she couldn't handle it. Just as he thought. 

At worst this could be seen as cruel to put someone not even from a battle clan to such a sight, even if it was an illusion, but the sooner they realize just what they were heading into, the easier it'd be for them to figure it out. 'Well if worse comes to worst I could erase her memory of that…' Kakashi thought before leaping away. 'Now for the blondie…' 

He was an odd one. Frankly he expected more from him. Maybe it was because he had no-one to help him with anything nor did he receive training from anybody. That much was clear with his skills. They weren't bad by any means, but it was far from good. It was average. But his strength was different. He packed a serious punch. If he didn't know better, he'd say Naruto's strength was on par with a Chunin's. But that wasn't good enough.

"What the…?!" Sasuke stopped running when he heard Sakura scream. He couldn't help but be concerned as to what caused such a blood curdling scream. "Sakura?" 

The sound of bells jingling rang his ears. Sasuke hummed as he didn't need to look to know Kakashi was behind him. "How did you get to Sakura and to me at the same time?" He asked, turning around to give the older man a hard stare. He knew for a fact the man was coming after him. You don't just change your target on a whim. 

"Oh don't worry about it." Kakashi casually shrugged. "I sent a Clone to go after her to see how she would handle the second rule of Shinobi Battle Tactics: Genjutsu." The man walked up to him, and Sasuke the older man wasn't lowering his guard. It was a trap. "Right now I purposely released half my maximum power, just so the Clone me can deal with the rest so I don't have to dirty my hands with everything." 

"Only half?" Sasuke quivered his eyes. There was an opportunity for him to take the bells easier… yet a part of him didn't like that assessment. "Why give me a handicap? Are you saying I'm less worth fighting than my teammates?" 

Kakashi responded by chuckling. Something about it made Sasuke annoyed, but he made sure to stay calm. "Don't get cocky, kid. You couldn't force me to use a tenth of my strength even on my worst day. And besides, shouldn't you be more concerned about what happened to your comrade?" 

"If you put her in a Genjutsu then whatever happens is fake, so she'll be fine. Besides, it'd be a violation if you caused serious harm to your brethren." Sasuke answered as he prepared a fighting stance. 

To this, Kakashi sighed. "You are correct on that… but I was afraid that was the answer you were going to give." Sasuke didn't understand what he meant, but that didn't matter. His mission was to get the bells. "Alright, now show me what you can do." 

To this Sasuke made a smirk. Since there was no need to hold back, and seeing how his teacher easily dealt with Naruto, it'd be for the best to go all out from the start. He wasn't going to waste the training he and his mother put in. A change was felt in his eyes, small and subtle, but it was there, feeling his senses being enhanced. Outside the color of his eyes changed to that of red, with 2 black tomoes shown on each eye. He was going to show him the power of the Uchiha. The power of the Sharingan. 

His teacher seemed mildly interested when seeing this change. "So you have your own Sharingan… though from the looks of it, it seems… incomplete." Kakashi said. 

"Yeah, I haven't exactly mastered it yet, but even without it I'll show you what I'm made of." Sasuke replied sharply as he took out several shuriken from his bag and threw them towards his sensei. 

Kakashi reacted by dodging the shurikens to his right. "Ah yes, a frontal assault. It's almost as though your friend tried the same thing earlier and—" He got cut off when the wires that were secretly hidden on the shurikens began to surround Kakashi. It worked. Now he saw an opportunity. 

Sasuke jumped towards his opponent, using the brief distraction to his advantage. 'Knew it was the right call to have those wires!' The young boy thought, spinning his body as he launched a horizontal kick at the side of Kakashi's head. 

Yet Sasuke didn't know the amount of raw experience there was between them, as despite being trapped in an uncomfortable position, the veteran Shinobi used his skill to block Sasuke's kick by putting his forearm to protect his head. Sasuke then launched a quick jab towards Kakashi's face, making sure the man had no room to block. Kakashi broke the wires at that moment with brute strength and blocked his punch by putting his other hand at the front. Knowing what to do next, Sasuke twisted his body in an acrobatic fashion, putting himself upside down as he forced his body to launch a deadly vertical kick that would have split a man's skull in two, but Kakashi even blocked that one by putting his entire arm above his head, blocking it perfectly. 

Sasuke expected as much from a seasoned Jounin. But his intentions lied elsewhere. With such an uncomfortable position, Sasuke used this as his opportunity to grab the bells as he reached his hand. The older man must have felt it, as Sasuke narrowly grasped a bell before Kakashi backed away, splitting the distance between them. "Shit!" Sasuke cursed as he landed safely on the ground. 

"Ok, I admit… that was surprisingly good." Kakashi dusted his vest with his hand. "You don't hit as hard as Naruto does, but you're faster than him. Not only that, but you're definitely the most skilled out of all your teammates. I gotta say, even I'm a little impressed." Then the man made a teasing smile behind the mask. "It looks like your mother must have taught you well." 

This confused Sasuke. The way he mentioned her just now… "You know who my mother is?" He asked, as he couldn't help but be curious about how this stranger knew his mother was. 

"I'm not exactly close to her, but I'm aware of who she is. It's not very hard to figure out who you have when looking into your background. After all… somebody needed to hone your abilities." Kakashi said, stretching his glove as he gave a neutral stare. 

"If that's the case, then you haven't begun to see what I can do." Sasuke boasted. He began to make hand signs at a dashing speed, ending it with a 'Tiger' hand sign. He built up his Chakra at full power, ready to use more lethal methods in taking out the adult. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" He let out a strong gust of fire blowing through his lips, making sure they didn't come from them, otherwise he'd scorch his own throat. 

The name was exactly how it sounded. It was a large fireball, its size dwarfing an entire house as it headed directly for Kakashi faster than the speed of sound. To his surprise, Kakashi put his hands against the ground and yelled "Mud Wall!" and seemingly summoned a large wall of earth from the ground, using it as a defense against his Fireball. 

The two Jutsus came in contact and an explosion occurred. Unlike natural fire that would continually spread after hitting its target, fires used by Chakra could be controlled so that it doesn't let the flames go out of control by the help of Chakra Form. If not for that, Sasuke would have accidentally burnt the forest down. 

As the smoke settled, Sasuke was surprised to see the wall of earth still standing, suffering no damage whatsoever. 'Not even a scratch!' Sasuke thought. He then gasped as he lost track of Kakashi. He hasn't come out at all. 

Before he realized it, he felt a firm grip holding his ankle. "Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!" He was shocked to see it was literally through the ground.

'He came from beneath?!' Sasuke couldn't do anything as he instantly sunk against the ground. "Garh!" The force of pulling an entire human body through the ground made Sasuke yelp in pain. "Nngh…!" He grunted and coughed as dust settled in his eyes. "Wha…" When it cleared, Sasuke was shocked to realize he was literally pulled through the ground, only his head could be visibly seen. 'But how?!' The young Uchiha thought, feeling a kunai pressing against his head. 

"Let me take a guess, you're confused as to how you couldn't dodge that last move even though you were sure you must have seen it." Kakashi spoke in a neutral tone. 

The man read him like an open book. It was only now Sasuke realized just how far he was from this man's level. He didn't have any other choice but to listen, as he was literally helpless. "Well the answer is quite simple. Even though your eyes can keep track of people faster than you, if the moves are too complex, or your opponent is too fast, even those eyes can't keep up." He then gave a mock smile. "You're relying too much on your eyes. Make sure to keep that in mind, grasshopper." He patted his head like a child before he leaped away. 

Sasuke couldn't help but be irritated at this treatment. Of course there was such a simple answer. But how did this guy know about the Sharingan as though he's dealt with it his whole life? Worse, how was he going to get out of this? He literally couldn't move his body, which made it impossible for him to get out of this.

The Kakashi Clone hopped from tree branch to tree branch to find where Naruto was. So far this team hadn't met his standards. It wasn't because of the overwhelming gap in power, skill and experience, he didn't care about that. They didn't find the hidden meaning behind this exercise, at least not consciously, but some did use good ways of taking advantage of it. 

'Now where is that odd fellow?' The Kakashi Clone thought as he looked over to find Naruto. Flashes of the boy transforming into a nude woman were in his mind just now. How could anybody even consider using the Transformation Jutsu in such a perverted way? That honestly caught him by surprise. How a child even made it so lewd was beyond him. 

Though who to fail was a question. As a clone he didn't know what Sasuke was doing against the real him, though he wouldn't be surprised if he did better than his teammate. Naruto certainly passed information to his team when he came at him one-on-one, but that was only to think of a plan for himself, though he could somewhat pass this off as not knowing anything about his team unlike Sakura and Sasuke. 

The Kunoichi hadn't exactly done so well, though she did have intentions of going after Sasuke to help him, so that was something. 

As he traversed through the forest, he saw a familiar red and white figure standing in the forest. The man was taken aback, and quickly approached the figure, who turned out to be none other than the Third Hokage. "Lord Hokage?" Kakashi asked as he stood in front of the most respected figure in the village. But he didn't understand. "What are you doing in a place like this?" 

"Oh, I simply wanted to see how these students of yours are doing." The Third Hokage replied, his hands behind his back. "What's with those bells?" 

"Hm? Oh, this." Kakashi grasped the silver tied bells that hung into his hip. "I'm just… borrowing the same method of training that sensei used to do." Kakashi replied, glancing over the bells he held. 

"I'm sure that your sensei is proud of what you're doing." Hiruzen replied with a smile before he took a look at the bells. "Do you… mind if I take a look at those bells?" 

"Hm?" Kakashi was both confused and curious. "What do you want them for?"

For a moment Hiruzen stayed quiet before answering, "Just… curious, that's all. I'd just like to take a closer look at them." He gestured his hand, giving a notion to be given the bells. 

So that's how it is. 

"Of course, my apologies…." Kakashi gave a fake a smile behind his mask as he untied the lasso before he proceeded to hand them over to Hiruzen… right before he backhanded the old Hokage, sending him flying till his back hit against a tree and landed on his butt. "... Naruto." 

"Nngh…" Hiruzen grunted before a poof of smoke wrapped his body, reverting to the original form of Naruto. "You gotta be kidding me." Naruto whined as he gave a look of desperation. 

"You used the Transformation Jutsu so you can disguise yourself as the highest authority in the village, lure me out, and use your authority to fool me into handing you the bells." Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle. "I have to hand it to you, that was clever of you to have thought of that." Had Naruto been more experienced, he dare say that stunt may have actually fooled him. "Unfortunately for you, I know the Third Hokage better than you do, and he wouldn't be so clueless as to mention my former sensei, nor would he participate in an event that happens with every generation. A Ninja must see through deception." 

"Aw come on!" Naruto whined as he gripped on the grass. "I figured if I stayed behind it'd have worked better since it wouldn't have been so awkward to come by in the middle of a fight!" 

"Really now?" Kakashi was intrigued by the response. "So you were considerate of your comrades, because you didn't want to risk putting them in danger with your deception? Is that why you stayed behind?" 

"Well I guess that's one way of putting it." Naruto replied as he picked himself up, dusting his clothes before making a basic fighting stance. 

"Not this again." The Kakashi clone rolled his eyes over this. "Haven't you already learned what happened the last time?" 

"Gimme a break! You'd just catch up to me if I ran!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran towards Kakashi.

"Huhn…" Sakura groaned, feeling as though she woke up from the biggest headache she ever felt in her life. "What happened?" She asked herself as she leaned forward, now sitting on the ground instead of lying. Flashes of Sasuke's mutilated body came to her mind. "Oh no!" Anxiety immediately took over, transitioning to panic as she desperately turned her to find where Sasuke was. "What happened to Sasuke?!" 

The body wasn't anywhere to be seen. Another thing that she noticed, one that put her in relief, was there was no blood. "Wait…" She recalled her encounter with Kakashi-Sensei, feeling as though she were put into a trance. "It must have been Genjutsu…" With that said, she released the biggest sigh of relief she's come to know. 

But then she remembered what she was doing. "Wait, that's right! I have to help Sasuke!" She hoped that the blonde boy had gone to help him by the time she fell prey to the Genjutsu. But still, she ran towards the direction she last remembered going where Sasuke ran. 

How long had she been out? Hopefully there was still enough time till any of them got a bell from Kakashi-Sensei. She questioned if it was even possible to do that, given the man was a Jounin, the elite of the village, the best a Ninja can ask for a soldier. Compared to that, they were nothing but ants. 

She ran as fast as she could, her worry for her crush overcoming the option to use stealth. Her feet kept hitting the ground with a clear, loud distinction. 

She had to have been running for a dozen minutes, with how long it all felt. It wasn't until she got to a wider area that she spotted something peculiar in the corner of her eyes. When she turned her head, she saw Sasuke… As a head… on a hole… 

Flashes of the horrific sight of his body entered her mind again. "S-Sasuke…?" She stammered, not sure of what to say. She prayed she was still in a Genjutsu. 

"Sakura!" Sasuke called out. "About time someone showed up! Help me get out of this, Kakashi-Sensei pulled me through here and I can't get out!" 

"Huh…?" Sakura was confused, and after a moment of consideration she realized what he said, and sighed in relief. Ok, it was a good thing otherwise. "Hang on!" Sakura ran over to Sasuke. "How did you even get stuck in this?" 

"It doesn't matter." Sasuke grunted, as he seemed to struggle in moving his body. "I can barely move my fingers. Try using something to help me get out of this." 

"Oh, uh…" Sakura dug her pouch as she picked up a kunai. "It's not much but it's all I have." She said as she started tearing through the ground with the sharp object in hand. 

"That's fine, just please hurry. I managed to touch one of the bells on my own. So next time I might have a shot at getting those." Sasuke said. "If you can get at least one of my arms free, I might be able to get out of this." he said as Sakura grabbed another kunai from her pouch and started digging faster. 

Suddenly, they both heard the sound of a loud bell ringing in their ears. Knowing how much time must have passed, they realized what this meant. 

The test was over. 

"You have got to be kidding me…" Sasuke grumbled in annoyance.

"You have got to be kidding me!?" Sakura exclaimed as she was tied up against a log, writhing to get out. "Why am I the one who's tied up?!" 

"Well if it makes you feel better... I did have to think for a bit who to tie up." Kakashi said, hands in his pockets as he stood in front of the team. 

"That doesn't make me feel better!" Sakura rebuked. 

"Well I tried." Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. It was then that Sakura's stomach growled, quite loudly as well, making the young girl blush in embarrassment. "Uh oh… stomachs are growling quite loudly it seems." He spoke in a mocking tone. "Well at any rate... I have to say, you did a little better than I expected. This team I mean. You might not go back to the Academy after all." 

"Huh?" Naruto was confused by this. "What do you mean? Wasn't the point if we failed then we'll all get sent back to the Academy." 

"Of course not." Kakashi made a mock smile under his mask. "From where I stand, I figured it'd be better if the three of you got dropped from the program. Permanently in fact." 

"You... You're joking…!" Naruto gulped out of fear of such a revelation. "Is that even allowed?!" 

"The rules say that an instructor can do what he pleases after seeing the performance his students give." Kakashi told all three of them. "So yes, shocking as it may be, this is very much allowed. If you did worse, you would no longer be Ninjas ever again. Permanently." 

"From what you're saying you never had any intentions to let us pass." Sasuke said in a level headed tone. "But now you're giving us a leeway. So what changed your mind?" 

"Don't misunderstand. While you did better than I expected, you haven't met my standards." Kakashi told them in a blunt tone. "Oh, and another thing, when you go back to the Academy, everything will be much more difficult for you to pass again, including the graduation. But let's think of it this way, I'll give you one last chance to take the bells. In the meantime, Naruto and Sasuke get to eat their bentos, while Sakura won't get any. She did the worst out of everyone, so she brought this punishment to herself. I'll be going somewhere, and I'll be back quickly. Do not share your lunches with Sakura. I understand I made myself clear then?" 

With that, Kakashi turned around and left the Genins on their own. Naruto and Sasuke began to eat lunch on their own, filling their stomachs as they had nothing to eat for breakfast, combining that with the long, slow, agonizing hours of waiting, they were very hungry. 

"Nngh…" Sakura groaned as her stomach growled. "The worst part is that I didn't even eat anything since last night." 

This had Naruto give her an odd look. "Why would you skip out dinner?" 

"I'm on a diet." Sakura answered, her enthusiasm practically gone. "Or well, was on a diet. After this I am never doing it again." 

For a moment Naruto hadn't said anything before he went back to eating his lunch, albeit at a slower pace. Truth be told; he couldn't focus well on eating, even though he was halfway done with his box. "What's up?" Naruto looked over to see Sasuke looking at him. "Something's bothering you. So what is it?" 

Did he make it that easy? Either way… "It's just… I kinda wanna give Sakura my launch." he answered. Both seemed surprised by this answer. "I know Kakashi-Sensei told us not to, but how are we supposed to get those bells?" 

"Wait, what are you getting at?" Sasuke asked. 

"Well, I've been thinking… none of us had any luck in getting those bells on our own, right?" Naruto asked for clarification, as he didn't know how his teammates did compared to him. 

"I barely got to touch them when I fought him." Sasuke said. 

"I didn't even do anything... I just got caught under a Genjutsu where I saw Sasuke's body…" Sakura spoke before she stopped herself. Both boys looked at her in confusion. "Erm… never mind! The point is, I didn't really do anything!" 

"Right… so, would it be possible if the three of us did it together?" Naruto suggested. "None of us could do it on our own, so wouldn't it be better if we all teamed up? I don't see any other way to take those bells, and he did say we can use whatever we want." 

"Teamwork…" Sasuke murmured, as he seemed to be thinking to himself. 

"Wait, you guys aren't actually considering going against what Kakashi-Sensei said?! Are you?!" Sakura anxiously asked as worry was written all over her face. 

"When he puts it like that, it does make sense." Sasuke seemed to agree with Naruto's idea. "And when I really think about it, it makes no sense as to why he'd order us to fight when we're not at our best. It'd take too long for us to get the bells on our own, but with three of us combined, we'll get them faster." 

"But what about us?! If two of us get them then one of us gets sent back to the Academy!" Sakura rebuked, as she was against the idea still. 

"Then I'll go back if I have to…" Sasuke said. "As much it hurts to say this, and not wanting to embarrass my clan and my mother, I don't think I was ready to pass this." 

"Well I'm not really a fan of the idea of going back to the Academy when I've been stuck doing D ranks…" Naruto huffed in disappointment. "But I guess I'll just have to bear with if I don't make it." he lowered his head. 'Problem being is that I can't support myself if I were to go back. At that point I might as well have to move in somehow.’

"I…" Sakura still sounded hesitant before she sighed. "No... I'll go back. Compared to you guys I'm the weakest link in the team. I need way more training." 

"Then we're all in agreement." Sasuke said, using his chopsticks to pick up the rice before moving them towards Sakura. "Now let's feed Sakura and come up with a plan before sensei is back." 

"Right!" Naruto exclaimed before picking the rice, giving a piece of it to Sakura. 

"This is embarrassing…" Sakura murmured. Naruto thought she meant eating the way she has to with how she was tied up. Good thing he wasn't stuck in this position. 

They gave her several more bites to feed on with their rice. So far it was going well… until a large, purple cloud of smoke came by from nowhere, making the children lose all their focus. "YOUUUUUUU!" Was the sound of Kakashi as he came through the smoke. The visible part of his face was enraged, and his eye was bloodshot. "What did I just say?!" 

"Uh… I, uh…" Naruto felt overwhelmed by the man's reaction. A part of him would rather fight Mizuki all over again than go through this. 

"You broke the rules when I specifically told you not to." Kakashi spoke in a cold tone. He folded his arms, giving a death glare. "Now you'll have to suffer the consequences of your actions." He eyed them all so carefully, like a predator about to take its prey. "Unless, of course, you have a valid explanation as to why you'd do such a thing." 

"We…" Sasuke began first. "It's true we broke the rules… but we couldn't just leave our teammate behind while she starved. We needed to be at our best to take the bells." 

"Yeah! And besides, what kind of a stupid rule is there to not help someone when they need it?!" Naruto argued. 

"And we were just ready to go back to the Academy!" Sakura added, despite being obviously scared. "We were just about to make a plan!" 

"So let me see if I understood this… you went against orders in completing your mission… by helping someone?" Kakashi asked for clarification, as he didn't seem very convinced by the answer. 

"Look, it's just to make this go better!" Naruto continued to argue despite feeling his heart beating at a maddening pace. "If neither of us could do this on our own then why not go get them together!?" 

"I see… is this your final answer?" Kakashi said coldly. "This may very well depend on everything that's about to happen…" 

Naruto and the others nodded their heads, seeing no other alternative as to get out of this. "I see… then I have one thing to say…" Kakashi began to walk towards them, leaning forward as he gave an intense stare. "You… all pass!" 

…

What the fuck? 

The tension dropped back to zero. Kakashi gave a smile, one that was not filled with mockery. "I'm serious. You all pass. I may not look like it, but I'm actually shocked you found the answer." 

"Wait, wait, wait…" Naruto waved his hands quickly, not understanding this one bit. "I don't understand. How did we pass? We didn't even get the bells." 

"This was never about taking the bells." Kakashi answered. "In all honesty, it was impossible to take the bells from the start. The real meaning behind this exercise was for you to think for yourselves and act as a team. Tell me, have you ever asked why through every generation there's only a 3-Man Squad?" 

They didn't answer anything. Kakashi continued to explain. "It's so all of you can work together. This exercise was designed so all of you would turn against each other, but the true meaning behind it was to drop your individual interests and focus more than just yourselves. Enough numbers so there isn't too little, but not so large as to get in the way of others." 

"So…" Sakura had a question in mind. "Wait—"

"You've only accomplished half of that. Naruto only focused on himself to make a plan when he first charged at me, but he did give valuable information to you give away what the enemy can do, and later he focused to deceive me so that he didn't risk his comrade's lives." Kakashi then focused on Sakura. "You went out to help Sasuke when you saw he was in danger, and this isn't to take offense, but you fared the worst. Individual skills are still important for a Ninja." He then casted a glance at Sasuke. "You, on the other hand, only focused on yourself and saw an opportunity that Naruto gave you, though whether you used him or actually helped to work together, I can't be certain. But each of you realized what needed to be done to complete the mission." Kakashi then looked above. "In our faction, those who break the rules are scum… but those who abandon their allies are worse than scum!" 

The trio listened to what their sensei said. "Untie Sakura. I want to show you all something." Sasuke got up first and went to cut the ropes that binded Sakura with a kunai, freeing her in the process. Kakashi then led them to a monument. "Look at the marker… and all the names listed in here. Those are all the heroes of our village who died in line of duty. They embark on the true meaning of Ninja. If you haven't guessed already, this is a memorial. The names of my… friends… and my sensei are in there as well." 

The trio stayed silent, paying their own respects to the fallen heroes, and the comrades that their sensei lost. For Naruto, he couldn't help but wonder who the names of those people were. "One day, sooner or later, you'll find yourselves on the most difficult missions imaginable. You'll be forced to make tough decisions you don't want to. Your lives will be at stake. You may even have to break rules to complete a mission, just like you did, or abandon it completely to save your friends." Kakashi then turned around to look at them with a smile. "And teamwork is what will help you the most. So for now, Team 7, our first line of missions will commence tomorrow!" he gave them all a thumbs up. 

"Whoooo!" Naruto jumped up, pumping his fists in the air. "Finally! I'm finally on a team!" he exclaimed in great joy. Finally, all those grueling D ranks were worth something. Sakura seemed just as excited as he was. Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Until further notice, the team is dismissed!" Kakashi announced before looking at Naruto. "Except for you, Naruto. There's something I wanna discuss with you." 

"Uh…" Naruto stopped jumping and looked at what the man wanted from him. "Sure…?" 

Sasuke and Sakura were leaving the training field till they were far from the hearing range. "So what did you wanna talk about, sensei?" Naruto asked. 

"You don't really have any combative Ninjutsu, do you?" Kakashi questioned as he looked down at the boy. 

"Uh…" Naruto wasn't sure how to answer this. "Not really. The only Jutsu I really know how to use is the Transformation Jutsu. I can't do Clone Jutsu very well, and then there's—"

"I heard that you fought against Mizuki." Kakashi remarked. Naruto widened his eyes slightly at that. "Frankly, I was surprised when I heard that, and you survived as well. There aren't many Genin who can fight against their superior." 

"That's great and all, but… what does that have to do with this?" Naruto asked, not understanding where this was going. 

"Well we can't really have this team function without relying on Ninjutsu to save our lives. I don't know about Sakura, but for example, did you know Sasuke already knows his clan's Fireball Jutsu?" 

"Not really, no." Naruto shook his head. 

"Well, don't tell this to anybody, but I've been given a request to teach you a few Jutsus in case you were to ever be in such a situation again." Kakashi told him, which surprised Naruto. 

"You're teaching me Ninjutsu already?!" The blue eyed boy grew excited, clenching his fists in anticipation as he smiled. 

"Kind of." Kakashi awkwardly moved his body. "Depends how much you can do." 

"Well what are we waiting for?! Let's get this started!" Naruto exclaimed. 

"Well you're an eager one." Kakashi smiled in amusement. "Alright, the first Jutsu I'll show you is the one I used earlier in the exercise. This one is called... Shadow Clone Jutsu."