Capítulo 59: 58. Naruto-Sensei?
A small frown developed on Naruto's face as he took the scroll from the shinobi.
"How important is it?" He questioned.
"Did you have plans more important than seeing the Hokage?" The man questioned.
Despite the fact that the Anbu was wearing a mask, Naruto had a creeping sensation rush through his body. It felt as if the man's eyes, behind the mask, were somehow piercing his soul and judging him. Naruto quickly shook his head. Immediately, the man chuckled. The 'creeping sensation' left Naruto's body.
"Relax, I am merely joking." The Anbu stated, still laughing. "Hokage-sama wishes to talk to you before the day ends, but you can wait later if you have more urgent plans. Just make sure to talk to him before you forget."
"O-Okay." Naruto mumbled, nodding his head. "I was planning on meeting up with my girlfriend for an early lunch. I'll probably go right after that."
"That's fine." The Anbu replied with a shrug. "You may want to read the scroll, though, before visiting. Regardless, just make sure to visit Hokage-sama soon."
With those words, the Anbu disappeared in a poof of smoke. Naruto remained still for a moment before shrugging. He then opened up the scroll.
"Might as well check what Ero-sennin wants before meeting Hinata-chan." He commented to himself as his eyes began to wander the contents. "Let's see…"
'Your presence is required to discuss team assignments from this year's academy graduates and learn who is going to be on your-' Naruto's eyes widened as realization hit him of what Jiraiya was saying in the scroll. 'Wait, what? Run that by me again?'
'Team assignments…'
'Academy graduates…'
'… Who is going to be on your team…'
"HE'S MAKING ME A JŌNIN-SENSEI!?" Naruto shouted, nearly dropping the scroll in his hands as he rushed towards the Hokage's office, ready to demand for more information about what was going on.
A knock sounded from the door to the Hokage's office. Jiraiya looked up momentarily, away from his paperwork. He opened his mouth to grant permission to enter, but the door opened before he could say a word. Naruto walked in and stepped directly in front of him. The blonde had a confused look on his face as he held out the scroll Jiraiya had sent for him. The Godaime Hokage's eyes wandered to it and a smirk developed on his face.
"You know, if you are going to actually knock and attempt to be respectful, you should probably wait for permission before entering the room." Jiraiya commented with a chuckle.
"And you barely ever knock anyway, so you shouldn't criticize me for that." Naruto said bluntly.
"I'm just kidding." The 'Toad Sage' replied. "So, I see you got the message I sent you."
"Yeah, the Anbu agent gave it to me." Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly on his godfather. "So, what exactly is this?"
"Well, you should know what that is. You read it, right?" Jiraiya questioned.
"I did." The blonde mumbled in reply. "I just… This just feels weird to me. You actually want me to be a jōnin-sensei?"
"Well, technically, there's a chance your genin would fail, but I doubt it. They're probably the most likely group to pass." The Godaime Hokage noted. "But yes, Naruto; I want you to have a genin team. Does that surprise you or something?"
"I mean, no, but it's just weird, y'know?" Naruto mumbled with a shrug. "I mean, I haven't been a jōnin for too long and I'm only sixteen. Shouldn't I have a bit more experience under my belt before I can really effectively train anybody?"
"Feeling self-conscious today or something kid?" Jiraiya asked, tilting his head slightly. "Figured somebody who is certain that he'll be Hokage one day wouldn't be nervous about their experiences?"
"I mean, yeah, I'm confident, but I know I got more work that needs to be done before I can actually take the Hokage's hat from you." Naruto admitted, looking down slightly. "But, I mean… I don't know, I don't know the first thing about training people, especially when they are fresh genin and are really going to need the training. What do I do? I was a horrible student and I really don't-"
"Okay, I understood the self-doubt, but I'm going to stop you there." Jiraiya interrupted, his eyes narrowing on Naruto. "You aren't a bad student, Naruto. Maybe you were at the academy, but not after. Everyone who has ever worked with you, from Anko to Masakado to Sarutobi-sensei to myself, thinks you were an exceptional. Hell, Mitokado Homura liked you as a student and that man hates everything!"
"Hey, Homura's a bit of a grump, but he's actually not as bad as you say he is." Naruto stated.
"Bullshit. That man legitimately sucks the fun out of any room he enters." The Godaime Hokage replied bluntly. He then proceeded to shake his head. "The point is that anyone who has ever worked with you knows you are a great student. Honestly, you're the ideal student. You have great determination and, despite your general snarky behavior, you get along well with all your instructors. You are a good student Naruto, so stop saying otherwise."
Naruto didn't immediately reply. A small smile developed on his face as he processed the words of praise Jiraiya gave him. He was about to respond back, but the Hokage proceeded to continue.
"On the topic of you wondering what you can teach your students… no one knows how to teach. I sure as hell didn't when I got my genin team and I was scared a bit when I got assigned one. And I know for a fact that your sensei, Anko, felt similarly." He informed him. "Being a jōnin-sensei is something you have to learn as you do it. And, honestly, it's one of most rewarding things possible. Seeing your students grow and develop is possibly one of the greatest feelings out there." He then let out a quick, loud laugh. "I mean, you saw Anko yesterday, right? The fact that you, Shikamaru, and Hinata were able to hold your own against the Sandaime and his teammates made her actually cry. She was that proud of you all! And I know that, one day, your genin students will make you feel something just like that."
The Uzumaki remained quiet once again as he processed everything Jiraiya had said.
'Maybe I will be able to do it.' Naruto realized, the small smile on his lips growing wider. 'And maybe they'll get better than me one day! That's what might happen, right?'
"I hope to feel something like that one day." The Uzumaki said aloud to the Godaime Hokage. "Alright, let's do this."
"Good. I mean, it's not like you had a choice in the matter, but I am glad you are more willing to do it instead of me having to force the position on you." Jiraiya said with a chuckle. He then reached over to his desk and pulled a sheet of paper from his desk and handed it to Naruto. "I was going to give this to you when you came by; it's the sheet with the students' names and a picture of them, along with their grades and some very general background information on them."
Naruto reached for the paper and took it. His eyes then started to scan the information. Immediately after looking at, he noticed the words on the top of the paper and looked at the Hokage in confusion.
"Did you give me the team with the rookie of the year and the lowest scoring student?" He questioned.
"Yup. A classic team." Jiraiya chuckled in response. "They'll need work, but I think every person on the team is going to be great. You'll have fun with this trio. Trust me."
The Uzumaki shrugged in response. His eyes then wandered downward as he began to read the names on the paper. His eyes went to the first picture on the page: a girl with olive-colored skin, wavy dark brown hair that reached her lower back, and green eyes. She wore a light-red sleeveless shirt and a brown skirt that reaches her knees. Attached to her back was a wooden sword. She wore the Konoha forehead protector around her forehead. The most striking thing about her, however, was her overall body. There were many bruises on her skin. The girl was smirking in her picture, displaying confidence.
'Inoue Katsumi – the 'dead last' of her graduating class.' Naruto rolled his eyes as he read the title before he continued reading. 'Poor test scores, doesn't appear to train at home much. It's considered a surprise she graduated. Pretty poor disposition and easy to anger. Her parents are merchants.' The blonde's eyes narrowed in suspicion. 'This doesn't make much sense, though. If she doesn't 'train much at home', then why does she have bruises all over her body? Those look like the marks of someone pushing themselves hard. Also, aren't merchants supposed to be well off? If that's the case, why does she have a wooden sword and not a real one? Her parents should be able to afford one for her, especially if she's actually going to be a shinobi! Weird…'
Naruto immediately shook his head as his eyes focused on the next picture. It was a boy with a pale skin tone, curly blonde hair, and brown eyes. He wore a light blue-and-white striped jacket, zipped up over a white t-shirt, and blue pants that matched the color on his jacket. His Konoha forehead protector was tied around his neck. The thing that stood about him, however, was his smile. The boy had a very wide smile that Naruto immediately recognized – the smile of a troublemaker.
'Yamanaka Kanji… hey! A Yamanaka! Wonder how close he is related to Ino?' Naruto wondered. He then shrugged his shoulders, putting that to the side for now. 'Average test scores. Regularly did not turn work in and goofed off in class, but anything he ever actually did, he performed well. Parents are Yamanaka Osamu and Yamanaka Shio, two chūnin. He was a well-known jokester at the academy.' The blonde let a small chuckle escape his lips. 'Sounds fun! Seems on paper very similar to me and Shikamaru. I wonder how funny he is…'
The Uzumaki shrugged as he finally looked downward to see the final picture on the page. His eyes widened at the sight of the person.
"There's no fucking way. Really?" Naruto mumbled.
"What? Confused about something Naruto?" Jiraiya questioned.
He nodded his head and pointed to the picture of his third student. "Am I really allowed to train this person? I mean, I know them already. Is that a bias?"
"Naruto, just because you know somebody doesn't mean you'll be biased. I trust you would not do such a thing and I know you know you wouldn't give anybody unfair training." The Godaime Hokage said. He then smiled at the blonde. "I gave you that team, the way it is, because I know you will do good with all of them and help them all develop into shinobi. I think you will do good with them"
"… Heh. Alright." Naruto grinned.
The Uzumaki bowed in respect to his godfather as he walked out of the room. He then headed towards Panya, the bakery where he was going to meet up with Hinata for their date.
As he began to walk towards the bakery, he pulled out the sheet of paper. His eyes began to focus on the third name once again. A small smile developed on his face as he read over their information.
'Hyūga Hanabi – Rookie of the Year. Graduated two years ahead of schedule. Incredibly polite and respectful to all teachers and other students. Very attentive worker who got all work done in an incredibly quick, precise fashion. Scored the highest on all of her tests. Father is Hyūga Hiashi, head of the Hyūga Clan. Mother is Hyūga Hitomi, who died giving birth to Hanabi.' A small frown developed on Naruto's face as he read the note about Hitomi. He recalled hearing about her death from Hinata once. A few seconds passed by before he let a small develop, once again, on his face. 'I bet Hinata-chan is going to freak when she hears all of this.'
Naruto let out a small chuckle as he continued to walk towards the bakery. He was excited to see exactly what Hinata had to say about the fact that he was going to be the jōnin-sensei for her younger sister.
"You are going to be Hanabi's jōnin-sensei?" Hinata shouted her question.
Naruto nodded his head in affirmation. Hinata's eyes widened in surprise and she sat down the cinnamon roll she was about to take a bite out of back on her plate.
Her boyfriend had been a couple of minutes late to their date, but that was no big deal; he had sent a shadow clone her way to inform her that he had been asked to meet with the Hokage for a moment to discuss something and that he'd be over as soon as he got out. She did not mind waiting, however, she had been curious about what Jiraiya would want to discuss with him.
She had briefly hypothesized about what it was going to be, but she had not guessed that it be to appoint Naruto as a jōnin-sensei and she certainly did not expect that he would be appointed as Hanabi's jōnin-sensei.
"So… what do you think of it?" Naruto asked with a chuckle.
"I think that's amazing!" Hinata exclaimed, smiling brightly in response. "I know Hanabi is going to be incredibly excited to hear this!"
"Don't tell her yet, though." Naruto quickly said, shaking his head. "They're not supposed to know the team placements yet!"
"I won't say anything." Hinata replied. "I still think she's going to be really excited when she finds out! She has always spoken very highly of you whenever you come up."
"Really? Huh…" The Uzumaki rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I was kinda thinking I really needed to do more to get to know her better. She really likes me?"
"Of course she does." The Hyūga replied as she poked Naruto's shoulder, pushing him back slightly. "Why wouldn't she?"
Naruto gave no verbal reply, which caused her to giggle in response. The two shinobi took a second to take a bite of some of the pastries they had bought at the bakery before continuing their conversation.
"So, just out of curiosity, has Hanabi said anything about Inoue Katsumi or Yamanaka Kanji? Like, do you recognize the names at all?" Naruto questioned.
Hinata shook her head: "Hanabi kept to herself mostly at the academy. She and father agreed to have her focus more and graduate early after my 'success', so she ended up moving up two classes. She's younger than the other students, so she didn't really try to get to know anybody. If it wasn't for Hebihiro, I don't think she would have had a single friend at the academy."
A thought then entered the Hyūga's head, causing her to giggle slightly: "Despite that, though, I do know one name. You know Sarutobi Konohamaru, right?" Naruto nodded his head. "I think Hanabi likes him."
"Really?" The Uzumaki looked at her in surprise.
"She thinks he's funny and cute. She's never told me about having a crush, but I think I can read my little sister kinda well." Hinata said with a giggle.
"I'll keep that in mind." Naruto chuckled in response. He then gave his girlfriend a curious look. "So, switching topics, did you tell your dad about how the exhibition went?"
"I did." Hinata nodded her head, smiling brightly. "He was very, very pleased to hear the results." Her expression then turned serious as she brought her right hand to her chin in thought. "He actually thinks it might be time to present me and Neji to the clan elders."
"Huh? Really?" Naruto's eyes widened.
Naruto was no secret to Hiashi's plan; he knew that the Hyūga Clan Head was training both Hinata and Neji and wanting to present them both as the shining beacons of the Main and Branch families and use them to help create unity between the two families within the clan, creating one, unified Hyūga Clan.
"Does he have the seal ready that he was talking about?" The jinchūriki asked. "I know he was working with jī-san on them, but I haven't heard much about them in a while."
"Masakado-san showed him the designs and he's looking over them now." Hinata answered. "He hopes that one of them will be able to work and replace the current seal our clan uses. If that happens, and if Neji and I can show that the Main and Branch families can stand together as equals and prove our strength, then we might be able to get the divisions abolished."
"That'll be amazing!" Naruto grinned at her. "That's what you've been dreaming about for years, Hinata-chan!"
"I know." She let out a small sigh before smiling at her boyfriend. "It's going to be a difficult month or so if father really is going to go ahead with this, but if it works, then yes; this is exactly what I've been dreaming of. To have a part in this…" Her smile turned into a wide grin. "It's amazing!"
"I bet." Naruto replied. His grin then seemed to turn into a playful smirk. "And you know what else that means when you get your clan resolved, huh?"
Hinata gave her boyfriend a confused look. She opened her mouth to say something back to him, but she then quickly recalled what he was talking about. A blush then developed on her face and her grin seemed to grow wider.
"I know." She replied with a giggle.
"Did you ever ask your dad? Or is this just something we're going to have to spring up on him later?" Naruto asked.
"I haven't yet. Father's a bit stressed out about the clan stuff, so I think he wouldn't take the idea of his eldest daughter moving out to live with her boyfriend too well right now." Hinata answered. She then giggled again before speaking. "No, I'll tell him once the clan business it taken care of. And he shouldn't object! We've been dating for over two and a half years now." Her grin then turned into a playful smirk of her own. "Not like it matters if he does object, after all."
"Heh." Naruto chuckled at her response. "We're just going to do it anyway, huh?"
"Of course." Hinata nodded her head as she quickly leaned in and gave her boyfriend a kiss on the lips, one that Naruto quickly returned.
The conversation relaxed between Naruto and Hinata as their topics turned to more normal, less serious conversation. Seconds turned to minutes. Minutes turned to hours. Before they knew it, three hours had passed and they were just leaving the bakery, about to part ways for the day.
"So, what are your plans for the rest of the day?" Hinata questioned as she and Naruto walked out together, holding hands.
"I'm actually going to try and see if I can find Anko-sensei to talk to about this jōnin-sensei crap. See what she has to say." Naruto admitted with a sigh. "Iruka-sensei too. See if I can get some more info on my students." He then gave her a curious look. "You?"
"Go back home and spend time with Hanabi." Hinata smiled in response. "I won't say anything about the team assignments. Promise! We're just going to have some sisterly fun."
"Good." The Uzumaki chuckled in response. He then stepped closer to Hinata and pulled her into a hug. "Have fun tonight."
"Love you, Naruto-kun." Hinata said as she hugged him tight.
The two jōnin looked at each momentarily before they brought their lips together for another brief kiss. They broke apart after a few seconds, both grinning widely.
"Love you too, Hinata-chan." Naruto replied.
With those words, the two walked off in separate directions.
"Bahahahah! Really?" Anko nearly fell out of her chair, laughing.
Naruto grumbled something unintelligible to himself and crossed his arms over his chest. This only seemed to worsen the laughter coming from his jōnin-sensei.
The blonde had arrived at Anko's apartment, hoping that she would be here. She was and, after getting invited in and offered a cup of tea, he informed her of the news of his appointment. He was expecting some form of surprise and excitement for him: something akin to Hinata's reaction.
What he was not expecting, however, was Anko to just start laughing.
"I don't really see what's so funny about this." He mumbled. "This is serious, y'know?"
"I know, I know. It's just, well, funny to me!" Anko stated, still laughing. "Heh… you got a group of brats forced onto you as well!"
"Yeah, yeah." Naruto rolled his eyes in response. "But it's not that funny. I mean, I'm actually cool with it."
"You're taking it better than I did." The Snake Summoner noted. "I was so fucking pissed when the Sandaime told me. I went straight to the bar across the street right after and nearly passed out after all the shit I drank!"
The Uzumaki's eyes narrowed: "You do know you're saying this to one of the 'students' that you got forced on, right?"
"Yeah, I know, but that was before I even met you all. I think my reaction was justified!" Anko declared. Her laughter finally stopped and her demeanor became more serious. "Although, I will say, having genin was not as bad as I thought it'd be. You brats were a lot of fun to work with. It's something I'm very glad I got to do. And, honestly, you'll be thinking the same thing once your three end up establishing themselves."
"Yeah, I know." Naruto nodded his head in agreement. His hands went to the teacup that Anko had prepared for him before speaking: "That's why I'm not upset about it anymore. Ero-sennin convinced me that this would end up being good."
"It will be. Just make sure to keep training yourself as you train them; don't just sit idly by. Make yourself get tougher as they get stronger!" Anko declared, pounding her fists together. "So, you know the kids you got right? You said you have Hinata's bratty sister, but do you have anyone else cool?"
Naruto frowned at Anko calling Hanabi a brat. He took a sip of his team before speaking: "I don't know them really. I'm going to talk to Iruka-sensei after this and see if he can tell me anything about them."
"Not a bad idea. I know I bothered him for the information too about you all once I got assigned my team. He generally has some good things to say." Anko nodded her head. A curious look then developed on her face. "Any ideas for the 'true exam'? I know you got to make one up."
"Um, honestly, I haven't even gotten to the part where I think about that." Naruto admitted sheepishly.
"Well, you got some time for that." The Snake Summoner noted as she took a sip of her tea. "Just remember that the true point of the exam is to test a combination of skills and teamwork. I found out you, Hinata, and Shikamaru were all good friends at the academy, so I opted for just a generic fight practice to test your potential, but you probably got some brats that aren't that close. You're going to need to test their ability to work together, first and foremost."
"I know." The jinchūriki nodded his head. "I know of the 'bell test' that Old Man Hokage, Jiraiya, and Kakashi use, but I don't really want to use that. I'd like to do something original, y'know? I just need to think of what."
"Well, if you want, I'm here if you ever want to just fire off some thoughts. I'll gladly give my opinions on things." She offered.
"Thanks. I might take you up on that a bit later." He replied. He took another, long drink of his tea, finishing it off, before continuing to speak. "First, though, I'm going to meet up with Iruka-sensei and ask him some questions about my team."
"Yeah, yeah. I gotcha." Anko chuckled. "Tell him I said hi for me, will ya?"
Naruto nodded his head in affirmation. He waved goodbye to Anko before leaving the apartment. Anko, now alone, finished drinking what was left of her tea before a small smile.
"One of my students actually got their own team already. Damn, I'm getting old." She chuckled to herself. As soon as the thought entered her mind, a scowl developed on her lips. "Wait, I'm twenty-eight. Why the hell do I feel old? Fuck that!"
Just as Naruto was right about where Anko would be, the blonde correctly assumed that Iruka would still be at the Academy, doing paperwork and making arrangements for next year's upcoming students. Upon greeting the academy instructor, briefly telling him about how the exhibition went, and informing him of his new appointment, the two rushed off quickly to discuss the information at Ichiraku's.
The two shinobi walked in and immediately gave two orders for miso ramen. They then turned their heads to each other. Iruka had a wide smile on his lips as he looked at the blonde.
"Naruto, this might sound odd to you, but you are the first person I have actually taught that is getting a genin team." Iruka told him. "You don't understand how proud I am of you."
"Heh…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Thanks, Iruka-sensei."
"You're so young too. But then again, I guess it makes sense. You have had training from the Sandaime Hokage, the current Godaime Hokage, and the Sandaime Uzukage. And you are a jōnin already." A chuckle escaped the academy instructor's lips. "Heh. You actually outrank me!"
"I… I do. Huh. To be completely honest, I never really thought about that." Naruto mumbled to himself before shaking his head. "It doesn't really matter though; just like Anko-sensei is still Anko-sensei, you're still Iruka-sensei. I'll be the Rokudaime and I'll still be calling you Iruka-sensei!"
"A Hokage calling me 'sensei'. That'll be the day." Iruka said with a wide smile. "So, who was assigned to you?"
"I was actually wanting to talk to you about them and learn more about them." Naruto admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "I got Inoue Katsumi, Yamanaka Kanji, and Hyūga Hanabi."
"… Ah. That team." The academy instructor sighed slightly. "You'll have fun with them."
"Why say it like that?" The Uzumaki frowned, noticing the slight sarcastic tone in the chūnin's voice. "Are they bad or something?"
"No! Far from it! I just think that, as a group, they may need some work before they really mesh well together." Iruka admitted. He then looked at Naruto and a thought entered his head, causing him to smile. "Maybe that's why Godaime-sama gave you them. You probably can get them to work together."
"Hopefully." The jōnin nodded his head in affirmation.
"You wanted to know more about them, right?" Iruka questioned again. A small, playful smile then developed on his lips. "Although, to be honest, you probably know more about Hanabi than I do."
"Yeah, I know her." Naruto chuckled in response. "I'm not worried about Hanabi."
"Yeah, I wouldn't be either. Hanabi's honestly a joy to work with. Such a respectful young lady. It's rare to see a 'Rookie of the Year' as polite as her." The academy instructor noted. The smile on his lips then fell slightly. "The other two, though…"
"Yeah, let's talk more about them." Naruto replied. His eyes then widened, as he recalled a previous thought of his. "Say, quick question; what's Kanji's relation to Ino? They're both Yamanaka, after all!"
Iruka immediately shook his head and a small frown developed on his face: "They're seventh cousins, if I remember correctly. However, do not bring Ino up with him. She's a bad topic to bring up around him."
A frown developed on Naruto's lips.
'What? I mean, I didn't like Ino much at the academy, but she's not a bad person. She's actually a good shinobi and she's a pretty good friend!' He rationalized in his mind. 'Why would she be a 'bad topic' around this guy?'
"Well, since you brought him up first, I'll guess I'll go into him." Iruka spoke, pulling Naruto from his thoughts. "Honestly, and I'll never admit this to him because of how disruptive he was during class, Kanji is very funny. He's very witty and knows how to make people laugh. I think he really does enjoy being the center of attention, so I'm certain you'll get along with him."
"I read the report from Jiraiya and it said he was a 'jokester'. Honestly, I'm looking forward to hearing his jokes." The Uzumaki admitted.
"Most are cheesy puns, but they're usually good. And he also has some good story jokes in his repertoire that I'm sure he'll bust out at some point." Iruka commented. A frown then developed on his face. "My problem with him, though, is that he doesn't seem to know when to turn it off. He has an issue with taking things seriously. I know for a fact that he could have been a potential contender for 'rookie of the year' as well, but I have no way to prove it when he simply sometimes does not do his work or try hard enough."
"How bad do you think he will be in that category?" Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly. "Because I don't want somebody who is going to take things seriously to that degree and maybe get a teammate injured!"
"I will say, he is not an uncaring person. He is a good kid. There's no doubt in my mind he'll take missions seriously and won't endanger his teammates. I wouldn't have passed him if I thought that." The academy instructor said. His frown seemingly deepened. "The thing that interests me about him, though, is that there are brief moments where he displays a whole different side to his personality. They don't last long – maybe for a brief comment or a facial expression – but there are times where he just seems like a deadly serious, calculating person. And, honestly, they are such a strong contrast from the rest of his attitude that it unnerves me." He put his hand to his chin in thought. "It's not horribly often they come out, though. It seems to only be if you happen to approach a topic with him that you shouldn't have."
"… Out of curiosity, is 'Ino' one of those topics that might make him become more serious?" Naruto questioned.
"… Yes, she is." Iruka admitted.
His comment caused Naruto to frown. His mind could not rationalize what apparently would upset someone with Ino so much.
"I'll worry about that later…" Naruto mumbled to himself, shaking his head. He then looked back at his former academy instructor in expectation. "What can you tell me about Katsumi?"
"Aggressive. A lot of the other students did not get along with her. But I don't think she's as bad as she comes across to other people. She has moments where she comes across as a genuinely sweet girl." Iruka stated quickly with a chuckle. "However, she definitely came into the academy with a chip on her shoulder. It definitely bothers her that she's the 'dead last' of her year and I know she's going to do her best to make you not think badly of her."
"The report said that it barely seemed like she trained at home." Naruto recalled. "Is that true?"
"Honestly, I don't know." The academy instructor admitted with a sigh. "She made incredibly slow improvement with taijutsu lessons, weapon proficiency, and the academy basic jutsus. It's the only thing I can assume; she just doesn't try outside of the academy." A confused look then developed on his face. "But then the weird thing is those bruises she develops. Those are definitely self-inflicted from training. I'm familiar with those types of bruises. So she has to be training to some degree!"
"Yeah, I noticed those too." Naruto nodded his head. "They really confused me."
"Honestly, she confuses me in a lot of ways. But, one thing I will say about her; being a shinobi means everything to her. It's very rare to see someone with so much pride for her village, especially from someone who has no shinobi in their family. She's from strictly civilian-lineage, yet she wants to be a shinobi and do everything she possibly can for Konoha." Iruka said with a smile. "In some ways, I see little bits of you in her."
"Really?" The jinchūriki blinked in response.
"Yeah. I definitely see some of you in both her and Kanji." Iruka nodded his head in affirmation. "I don't know what they are thinking, but I do firmly believe that you may be just the right person to help guide those two on the right path to becoming great shinobi." He then chuckled slightly. "And don't forget Hanabi, either. She's also your student and I'm sure there is more to her and her inner thoughts than you or I or even Hinata are aware of. You'll help her grow too. I'm confident, Naruto; you're going to make a phenomenal jōnin-sensei for these three."
A small smile developed on Naruto's face. It proceeded to grow wider with each passing second. He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Teuchi walked by with their bowls of ramen. The two shinobi turned their heads to their food for a brief moment before looking at each other again, chuckling slightly.
"Continue you this conversation after we eat?" Iruka suggested.
"Sure." Naruto nodded his head in agreement.
With that, the two shinobi grabbed their chopsticks, clapped their hands together for a brief moment, and quickly began to devour their food.
One day later…
"What do you think, Masakado-jī-san?" Naruto questioned as the two entered the 'seal training' room in the compound.
"I don't exactly know what you're asking me." Masakado replied, frowning slightly. "Are you asking me my opinion or are you asking me for permission?"
"Well, both technically." The blonde replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I mean, it took me a while to come up with this. I spent all last night thinking about what I wanted my exam to be! So, I wanted to know if you thought this would be a good idea?"
"Honestly, I still don't know why you have to administer some type of test for your genin." The former Uzukage noted, shaking his head. "You'd think that any student who passed your academy would be fit to be a shinobi. This system Konoha has seems pointless to me."
"That doesn't answer my question." Naruto commented, narrowing his eyes on the older Uzumaki.
"Well, to be blunt, you don't need my permission. If you want your exam to be at the compound, then be my guest. Just make sure to inform Masamune. He might get surprised by a bunch of random brats trying to do their shit here." Masakado replied with a shrug. "As for your exam… I think it's unique. It'll do the job and test them on their teamwork and all of that. And I think it's fitting for you."
"Okay, that's all I needed to hear." Naruto grinned in response. "Thanks jī-san!"
"No need to thank me." Masakado shrugged in response. "Anyway, are you ready to get work today?"
Naruto nodded his head in understanding. The two Uzumaki then walked into the center of the room. The blonde proceeded to chuckle as he cracked his knuckles.
"Funny we're about to actually start working on this." He said, still chuckling. "Tayuya-nee is going to be pissed when she hears that I'm starting this without her."
"Well, she can get back to work on it when she finally gets back to Konoha for a period longer than two days." Masakado grumbled. He then looked at Naruto in curiosity. "So, as we've discussed before, you can learn seals by yourself now. And you can even do your own experimentation and make your own seals. However, there are only two things left I think I can actually teach you about the art of fūinjutsu: a specific ability of the Uzumaki Clan and a seal of my own design I'd like you to learn. But first, our clan's ability. You are ready to start?"
"I already said I was." Naruto nodded his head in affirmation.
"Good." Masakado grinned as he snapped his fingers. Immediately, a single chain rushed out of his body. "Now, let's see how quickly you can master our clan's Adamantine Sealing Chains."
Four days later…
In the Hokage's office, all potential jōnin-senseis were present in the room. The group stood around a table placed out in the room. Jiraiya had placed a crystal ball in the center of the room and, using a jutsu, managed to create a projection of the Shinobi Academy in the center of the crystal ball. Iruka was standing in the center, a wide small on his face, holding a stack of papers in his hands.
"From this day forward, you are all genin of Konoha." Iruka said as he looked at all of his academy student.
Each of the jōnin-sensei candidates were watching the scene with attentive eyes, waiting for it to continue. Naruto, however, having recently graduated and recalling Iruka's speech, proceeded to look away for a moment and study the other jōnin in the room.
He did not recognize most of the people in the room. All of the shinobi in the room were at least ten years older than him. They were people Naruto had seen in passing but he had no real relation with. He doubted he could name most of the people in the room. There were only two exceptions in the room.
'Yeah, Kurenai and the closet pervert.' He snorted to himself.
Naruto's eyes focused on Yūhi Kurenai, the proctor of the second exam of the Chūnin Exams, one of his instructors while he trained for the third exam, and best friend to Anko. The 'Genjutsu Mistress' of Konoha had a pleased smile as she watched the crystal ball.
'I know Anko-sensei said that Kurenai was wanting a genin squad for a while. She got passed up my year at the last second, apparently. Guess based on her smile, though, she's about to get her own squad finally.' Naruto realized. The blonde smiled at her. 'Good for her. She'll be a kickass sensei, dattebayo!'
His eyes then moved onto the only other person he recognized in the room: Ebisu. Naruto's smile turned into a frown as he recalled the time where he had met him; he had just met the Sandaime's grandson, Konohamaru, and offered to train him when Ebisu intervened and objected. Naruto actually used a variation of his patented 'Sexy Jutsu', the 'Harem Jutsu', in order to defeat him in a battle. Since then, they had never interacted with each other and Naruto would prefer to keep it that way.
'I know that he apparently stayed as Konohamaru's 'ninja trainer', so I guess he probably is going to be his genin sensei… meaning he'll get a team too. Great.' Naruto rolled his eyes. 'He doesn't deserve one.'
Ebisu briefly looked up and noticed Naruto staring at him. The two exchanged a look for a brief moment. The Uzumaki steeled his eyes, preparing for the same 'hateful' look that he recalled seeing in Ebisu's eyes years ago when they first met each other. However, instead of that look, the man merely nodded his head in acknowledgment and turned back to the crystal ball. Naruto's eyes widened in response before he let a small smile develop on his face.
'I… I guess he could have changed since we met.' Naruto realized. 'Hell, I've changed a lot. I shouldn't really judge him based off that one meeting years ago.'
With that thought, Naruto turned his attention back to the crystal ball. Iruka continued to speak for a few more minutes before he was finished with his speech. He then began to read off team assignments. As each name was read off, the crystal ball closed in on each student that was called out.
"Now, team six: Moegi, Udon, and Sarutobi Konohamaru." Iruka read off the next team.
The crystal ball zoomed in on three different students, ending on Konohamaru. The grandson of the Sandaime Hokage immediately stood up from his seat, cheering loudly.
"Hell yeah! All three of us got picked on the same team!" Konohamaru cheered loudly.
"Konohamaru, sit down!" Iruka shouted.
Naruto chuckled at the boy's reaction. He then briefly turned to Ebisu, who was laughing quietly to himself as well. After hearing the assignment, Ebisu turned away slightly, seeming to pay less attention.
'Yup, looks like I was right. He's their sensei.' He noted as he turned his attention back to the crystal ball.
"Team Eight; Uzuki Kazuo, Aburame Tsunemasa, and Rangaku Yūna." Iruka continued.
After Iruka finished reading the next team, Kurenai's smile seemed to widen. Naruto nodded his head in understanding: 'So, that's her genin team.'
"And now, Team Nine," Iruka coughed slightly before continuing to read: "Inoue Katsumi, Yamanaka Kanji, and Hyūga Hanabi."
The crystal ball flashed briefly on the academy graduates who were just called. Naruto's eyes glued in on as he saw all of his students. Katsumi had a wide grin on her face and her right hand seemed to move to the wooden sword on her back. Kanji, who had been scribbling something on a piece of paper, briefly looked to his two teammates before he shrugged and went back to writing. Hanabi, on the other hand, had a small smile on her face. The snake around her neck, Hebihiro, seemed to lean in close to her ear and whisper something, which caused the smile on her face to develop into a smirk.
'Heh.' Naruto smirked as well. 'I'll do my best for you all!'
Iruka then finished up the team announcements, reading the last two teams, before dismissing the academy graduates to lunch. Immediately after, the crystal ball stopped showing the image of the academy room. All the jōnin in the room turned their attention to the Godaime Hokage.
"Alright, as you all just saw, they have an hour lunch break. Report to the academy in one hour to meet up with them and meet up with your students. Make arrangements with them about the true exam after getting to know them." Jiraiya informed them. "For now, you are all dismissed!"
Each jōnin nodded their heads before leaving the room in near unison in a poof of smoke.
An hour had passed quickly. Naruto stood outside the room where the academy graduates were waiting. He had waited his turn, allowing the previous eight jōnin enter and pick up their students. The blonde then took a deep breath in as he reached for the door.
'Why the hell am I nervous? I thought I was over this already!' He chastised himself. 'They're genin! They can't be intimidating or anything!'
With that thought in mind, Naruto opened the door and looked out amongst the remaining nine students: "Team nine! I am your jōnin-sensei. Come with me!"
Upon entering the room, Katsumi, Kanji, and Hanabi turned their attention to him. Her eyes widened in sight and her mouth opened as she stared at him, processing what she had just heard. In contrast, Katsumi's and Kanji's eyes narrowed on the blonde as if they were sizing him up. Naruto quickly noticed their looks and frowned slightly.
'What? Do I look unimpressive or something? I remember Anko-sensei immediately made a great impression on me-' Naruto's eyes widened as he recalled a memory from the academy. He immediately mentally cursed himself. 'Goddammit! I told myself I was going to do a flashy entrance for my students when I met them like Anko-sensei did for us! How the fuck did I forget that? Ugh, she'd be so disappointed-'
"Naruto? You're my sensei?" Hanabi questioned after finally processing everything.
Her comment pulled Naruto out of his thoughts. The blonde turned his attention to her and smiled, nodding his head: "Hey Hanabi! I am."
"Yes!" Hanabi cheered as she got out of her seat. She then rushed over to his side, grinning. "At least I can guarantee that my sensei knows what he's talking about!"
"Heh, well, it's good you have so much faith in me.' Naruto chuckled as he held out his hand to her. "We're gonna have a great time with this!"
Hanabi nodded in agreement and high fived the blonde. She then gave him a curious look as she wiggled her shoulder, gesturing towards the snake laying his head down on it: "Naruto, you've met Hebihiro, right?"
"Yeah, like once or twice." He replied before smiling to the snake. "Nice to meetcha again!"
"Likewise." Hebihiro bowed his head slightly in response. "Treat us well."
Naruto opened his mouth, but he then noticed the other two students of his getting out of their seats. Both Katsumi and Kanji were walking over to his side, each with confused looks.
"Hanabi, how do you know our sensei?" Katsumi questioned, her eyes narrowed on her younger teammate.
"Oh, he's my sister's boyfriend." Hanabi answered, blushing slightly at the scrutiny of her teammate.
Katsumi frowned in response. She mumbled something to herself before she shrugged and held out her hand to her sensei.
"Well, I'm Inoue Katsumi. I hope you'll remember that you have other students who aren't related to your girlfriend and can train us all equally." She stated sharply.
'… Well, that was cold. You don't even know me yet!' Naruto resisted the urge to frown. Instead, he smiled back at her and extended his hand to hers and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Katsumi. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Don't worry; I'll be a fair teacher. I'm here to teach you all." His eyes then moved to the wooden sword on her back. "And who knows? Maybe I'll see about getting that wooden piece of crap on your back replaced with a real sword."
Katsumi's eyes widened at his statement: "Wait, are you serious?"
"We'll see. If you're really interested in kenjutsu, then I'll see if I can do something for a student." He informed her. A playful smirk then developed on his face as he broke their handshake. "No relation to my girlfriend required."
"W-Well, I'm interested in more than just kenjutsu…" Katsumi mumbled to herself. She said something else incomprehensible before shaking her head and smiling at the Uzumaki. "Alright, you seem cool. Nice to meet you too, Naruto-sensei!"
'Naruto-sensei… I could get used to that.' He chuckled to himself.
The blonde then turned his attention to his third student. Kanji had finally walked to his side and was looking at him with narrow eyes. He then extended out his hand to him.
"And you're Kanji, right? Nice to meetcha!" He greeted him.
"You said your name is Uzumaki Naruto, right?" Kanji questioned, a slight frown developing on his face. "There was someone who stopped by a little bit ago, looking for you. They were from Kirigakure and it looked kinda important."
"Wait, really?" Naruto's eyes widened in response. 'What? Who could need to talk to me? Was it Honokaa-nee? Haku?'
As Naruto began to run-through names in his head, Kanji spoke, drawing attention to himself: "Yeah. Looks like you just mist them, though."
Naruto's eyes somehow widened further again. He then looked at the Yamanaka in front of him in surprise, who was now grinning widely. Another second passed before Naruto quickly returned the grin with one of his own. He then started to chuckle.
"That was pretty good, not gonna lie." He admitted, still chuckling. "You-"
"Dammit Kanji!" Katsumi hissed, shaking her head in annoyance and interrupting her sensei. "Can you go just one day without making some stupid pun or joke?"
"I don't know; let's see if I can, right teammate?" Kanji turned his attention to her, his grin somehow widening. "Remember; we're teammates now. Probably training every day. We'll get to see if I can go one day without one together. Obviously starting tomorrow, since I just made one a bit ago. Think I can do it?"
"Ugh…" Katsumi grumbled, shaking her head more and turning away from her blonde teammate, not bothering to answer his question.
Naruto, after seeing their interaction, immediately busted out into laugher. Hanabi and Hebihiro quickly joined him. Even Iruka was starting to chuckle from the front of the room.
"Naruto, you've hung out with your team here for long enough. Take them away." Iruka requested. His eyes then narrowed on Kanji. "Take that jokester away from here for good!"
"You'll miss me and you know it, Iruka-sensei." The curly blonde-haired boy said with a laugh.
Iruka resisted the urge to snicker and made a gesture, requesting Naruto to leave. The blonde nodded at his academy instructor before turning to his teammates.
"Alright, let's do Iruka-sensei a favor and continue this talk somewhere else. Let's meet up at the Hokage Mountains!" Naruto informed his students. "Try and keep up with me if you can!"
With those words, Naruto made a hand sign and disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving Hanabi, Katsumi, and Kanji by themselves. The three graduates blinked in response.
"How are we supposed to keep up if you're using the shunshin?" Katsumi questioned, frowning in response.
"Well, he told us where we'd meet him. Logic would dictate maybe by walking there?" Kanji offered, shrugging his shoulders. "Or maybe running would work instead if you want to actually 'try to keep up with him'."
Katsumi rolled her eyes in response, but said nothing and rushed out of the door. Hanabi and Kanji followed right behind, heading in the same direction to meet up with their new sensei.
"You all sure took your sweet time." Naruto said, frowning slightly as his genin students arrived at the bench he was sitting at by the Hokage Mountain. "I've been waiting here for maybe ten minutes! What gives?"
"You used the shunshin to get here!" Katsumi accused him, her eyes narrowing on the blonde.
"Actually, I just used my shunshin to get out of the building. I then ran the rest of the way myself." Naruto informed her with a chuckle. "You could have caught up!"
"You had a head-start still!" She replied.
"What Katsumi is whining about is that you seemed to not take into account that we are slow, slow genin." Kanji spoke-up. He then winced as Katsumi elbowed his shoulder. "What was that for? It's not like I said it was just you."
Katsumi mumbled something in response, but it wasn't heard. She then took a seat on the bench next to Naruto. Kanji sat down in the seat at the end. Hanabi stood-up awkwardly, with nowhere to sit. Naruto then proceeded to stand-up and gestured to his old seat.
"Oh, don't get up for me. It's fine." She informed him.
"Nah, you're my genin. You should get the seat." He informed her with a chuckle. "I was just relaxing while waiting for you all."
Hanabi nodded in understanding and a small smile developed on her face. She then took her seat next to Katsumi. All three shinobi, along with the snake around Hanabi's neck, looked at Naruto in curiosity.
"So, I think it's supposed to be tradition that we take this time to get to know each other. I want you all to introduce yourselves." Naruto requested. "Tell me about yourselves. And each other. You're teammates now, so you all need to get to know each other and understand each other."
"What exactly do you want us to say Naruto… er, Naruto-sensei." Hanabi blushed slightly, shaking her head at not addressing the blonde with the appropriate honorific.
"Well, whatever you want." Naruto shrugged in response.
"So I can talk about stories from my childhood? Or even stuff before that?" Kanji questioned as he brought his hands together and a grin began to develop. "Because I have an interesting story about how I was born! So, about nine months before my birthday, Mom and Dad we're assigned to a mission somewhere in Hi no Kuni and they were wanting to experiment in bed and-"
"Okay, nope. Nuh uh. Not happening!" Naruto interrupted, scowling slightly. "Let's be real here; I'm just going to get know you all. I do not need to know stuff like about your parents' sex lives!"
"But you said I could talk about anything I want." Kanji replied, his grin growing wider. "And there's a pay-off to the story down the line. I just need to get to the part after they-"
Naruto immediately pulled out a kunai and tossed it in Kanji's direction. The Yamanaka's eyes widened as the kunai zoomed by, barely passing his head. Both Katsumi and Hanabi gasped at the action. Kanji's eyes focused on the kunai that had nearly hit him before he turned his attention back to his sensei, his eyes opened wide.
"Smart ass." The jinchūriki grumbled, shaking his head. "Alright, so since you started going off about that, guess I'll actually have to place rules on this. So, how about you all tell me things like what you like, what you dislike, what you are interested in, do you have anybody you look up to, and what are you dreams for the future?"
Kanji, along with Katsumi and Hanabi, were quiet for a few moments. A second passed by before the Yamanaka looked at Naruto with narrowed eyes.
"Well, since I clearly didn't know what I was doing, how about you go first and show me what we're supposed to do?" He questioned. "After all, you're our sensei. We should get to know you too, right?"
Naruto blinked in response. He knew that tossing the kunai would maybe intimidate the boy, but he wasn't expecting such a change in demeanor from him.
'This is what Iruka-sensei was talking about, huh…' Naruto realized. His eyes then narrowed on Kanji. 'You definitely don't seem as 'joking' as you make yourself out to be.'
The Yamanaka seemed to notice Naruto's look, for he immediately dropped his. His demeanor changed and a small, cheeky smile developed on his face and he rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish manner.
"I mean, you don't have to if you want. You can be some unknown sensei to all of us. Well, expect to Hanabi I guess." Kanji informed him.
"No, I can say some stuff about myself." Naruto replied with a shrug. He then turned to address all three of his students. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, as I said earlier. I like ramen, sweet foods, spending time with my friends and family, times of peace, and working on and practicing jutsu. I also love my girlfriend, Hinata." Hanabi smiled in response to Naruto's comment. Naruto chuckled at her reaction before continuing. "I dislike the time it takes for ramen to cooldown. I also hate arrogance, judgmental people, and people who are overly violent. My hobbies include gardening, practicing jutsus, training, and pranking my friends. I've also just started picking up cooking and drawing." His eyes then moved upward, focusing on the Yondaime's and the Godaime's faces on the mountain above. "My inspiration was the Yondaime Hokage. My dream for the future is to become the Rokudaime Hokage and do what I can to make sure the world stays peaceful and that all of my friends and family are safe and protected."
The three genin remained quiet after his introduction. Hanabi was smiling brightly as she looked at her sister's boyfriend. Katsumi was staring at Naruto with wide eyes. Her eyes looked up to the Yondaime's and Godaime's faces as well, and a small smile developed on her lips. Kanji was looking at his jōnin-sensei with a curious look on his face. He then let out a small chuckle, drawing attention to himself.
"Well, since I fucked up my introduction-"
"Screwed up." Hanabi interrupted, frowning slightly. "Please don't swear, Kanji-san."
"Heh. Alright." The Yamanaka let another chuckle out before continuing. "Anyway, since I 'screwed up' my intro, I'll go next then. My name's Yamanaka Kanji. I like pretty much all types of seafood. I also like jokes, stories, and anything that can get me thinking. I don't like people who have no sense of humor. I also really don't like things that bore me. My hobbies include telling jokes, walking through the village, reading books, and doing puzzle games like Sudoku and crosswords." The blonde then shrugged. "As for a person I look up to and dreams… honestly, Naruto-sensei, I haven't really thought about either."
"Really?" The jinchūriki questioned.
"Really." Kanji replied. "I have an attitude towards life; why focus on the future when you have today to worry about?"
"But you can't just ignore the future entirely." Katsumi commented, frowning slightly. "I get what you are saying, but then what exactly are you doing in the present if you have nothing to work up to?"
"… Well, I just like to let life surprise me. We'll see what happens to me later." The curly-haired blonde replied.
"Hmm…" Katsumi's frown deepened in response. She then turned her attention to Naruto. "You want me to go next?"
"Well, if you're offering." Naruto urged.
"Well, I'm Inoue Katsumi. I like sweet foods as well, Naruto-sensei. I also like birds, card games, and music. I really don't like stupid people and fake people. And I hate judgmental assholes who think that because I wasn't raised by shinobi, I'm never going to be a good one." She declared, nearly snarling after finishing her 'dislikes'. Her attitude softened as she continued. "My hobbies are playing card games, practicing with different weapons, and people-watching. I also like to go to a tea shop by my house."
"You like tea?" Naruto questioned, chuckling slightly. "I actually have a couple of friends who brew their own teas, if you'd like to try them."
"I'll try them, yeah, but I'm not much of a tea person." Katsumi admitted, running her hand through her hair. "I mostly just go visit the place because there is a girl that works there that I could like-" The kunoichi immediately stopped talking as she realized what she was saying. She immediately shook her head, blushing slightly. "Er, forget I said anything."
"The tea shop you're talking about wouldn't happen to be called Eichū, would it?" Kanji questioned, smirking slightly at the girl. "That would mean the girl you are talking about is-"
"I'M TRYING TO FINISH MY INTRODUCTIONS, KANJI!" Katsumi shouted. "FUCK OFF!"
"Screw off." Hanabi corrected, frowning again.
"Hanabi, please, don't correct my swearing!" The civilian-born shinobi requested, turning her attention the Hyūga.
"I'll try not to if it bothers you, but please try not to swear. It bothers me." Hanabi asked back.
"But why?" Katsumi demanded, frowning back at the Hyūga. "We're shinobi for fuck's sake! There's no reason to be prudish about swearing!"
"I'm sorry, I just don't like it." She replied as he frown deepened. "Also, you could say 'We're shinobi for crying out loud!' instead of what you did say."
'Oh God, these three are going to be so much fun later!' Naruto realized. He resisted the urge to chuckle as his eyes moved from one person to the other amongst his students. 'Once we get them going with some good teamwork, I'll be able to just sit back and watch them talk to each other whenever I get bored. This is quality entertainment!'
Katsumi proceeded to shake her head before continuing: "Anyway, before I got side-tracked… Oh. I was on people I look up to. Well, my inspirations are the Yondaime Hokage and the Godaime Hokage." A smile developed on her face. "They really showed people what civilian-born shinobi could be if they put all of their energy to being a ninja. Especially the Yondaime, who put the village before everything, including his own life. I want to be a shinobi just like him. I want to become the first woman to become Hokage and give everything I can to the village that's been my home for as long as I can remember." She then looked at her sensei and gave him a challenging look. "So if you want to be the Rokudaime Hokage, you're going to have to fight me for it! But if you do get the position over me, you better not hold onto it for too long, cause then I'll be Nanadaime!"
"… Heh." A smile developed on Naruto's face as he held out his fist to her. "Good luck, then. From one person who wants to be the Hokage to the other, I wish you the best."
Katsumi's eyes widened in response. She had been expecting the blonde to rebuke her dream, reminding her about being a poor student at the academy. That had been the response everyone else seemed to give her when she talked about being the Hokage. She stared at her sensei in amazement for a few seconds before she returned his smile with a sincere smile of her own and bumped her fist against his.
"Just watch me, Naruto-sensei. I may not be at a good level yet, but trust me; I'll work my hardest to be the best Hokage the village has ever had." She said confidently.
"I believe you." The blonde said with a chuckle. His eyes then turned to the third teammate on the team. "And last, but not least: Hanabi!"
Hanabi nodded her head, a small smile developing on her face: "I'm Hyūga Hanabi. I like spending time with my family and Hebihiro, dancing, singing, and fruits like bananas. Oh, and I also like parties! I dislike feeling pressured and having a lot of things to do. Oh, and as I made it clear earlier, I also don't like swearing." A small frown developed on her face. "So please… try and come up with other things to say. Things that aren't as crude."
"I'll try, but I'm sorry in advance if I slip." Naruto admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Yeah, I make no promises, but if it bothers you that much…" Katsumi mumbled, before sighing. "I'll try."
"I appreciate it." Hanabi said, smiling. "I'll try not to be too much of a jerk about it, but I really appreciate-"
"If you two need help with that, I've been studying magic and I think I know a curse that can help prevent swearing!" Kanji commented, grinning wide in response as he interrupted the Hyūga.
The blonde was immediately shoved by Katsumi. He grumbled in pain as he rubbed his shoulder in pain. Hanabi blinked for a moment before shaking her head, choosing to ignore it and continue her introduction.
"Anyway, my hobbies are training with my father, dancing, and singing, as I said earlier. And playing games with Hebihiro!" Hanabi's right hand went down Hebihiro's body, as if she was rubbing him. The snake seemed to relax further around her neck, causing her to giggle. "I look up to both my father and mother, even though I never met her. I do also look up to my sister, Hinata, who is a much greater shinobi than I'll probably ever be…" Hanabi proceeded to frown slightly. "And, well, I honestly don't really have a dream for the future. I don't really know exactly what I want in life. I know what's expected of me, to be a great shinobi and representative of the Hyūga Clan, but I really don't know what I personally want."
"That's fine. You're not expected to know exactly what you want." Naruto commented, shaking his head. A small smile developed on his face. "I'm sure you'll find out what you want in no time."
"Yeah, don't stress about the future just yet!" Katsumi added, smiling at her teammate.
"Why does she get to not worry about the future, but when I say something about it, I get a lecture?" Kanji mumbled to himself.
"Did you say something Kanji?" Katsumi asked, turning her attention back to the Yamanaka.
"Oh, good, you can hear. I was starting to wonder if you didn't have that ability." He said, chuckling to himself.
"Okay, moving on!" Naruto spoke-up before Katsumi could respond to Kanji. The Uzumaki's eyes then narrowed on the snake around Hinata's neck. "Hebihiro, did you want to introduce yourself? You are with Hanabi almost all the time, right? That makes you technically with us as well."
"Um…" Hebihiro seemed to shrink around Hanabi's neck.
"Hebihiro is a little shy around people he doesn't know horribly well. He'll introduce himself some other time." The Hyūga commented. "However, you are right, we're together almost all of the time. And we just started fighting together too, so he's as much a part of this team as I am!"
'Really? So, they fight together. Huh. Hinata never told me that. I guess maybe she doesn't know?' Naruto's eyes focused in on Hanabi. 'I'm now very curious about tomorrow. Wonder exactly what you can do too!'
"Well, it's a good thing we actually brought up the 'team' membership, though, because I now have to let you all know something." Naruto commented, chuckling slightly. "You all have to take one more exam."
"Another exam?" Hanabi, Katsumi, and Kanji gave the blonde a confused look.
"Yup. You all passed the academy's test, but there's still one more test left: the 'real' graduation exam to see if you are all ready to be genin. It has a sixty-six percent chance of failure and failing it will send you all back to the academy!" The Uzumaki said cheerfully.
The reaction was instantaneous; Hanabi's eyes were wide in surprise and fear, Katsumi brought her hands to her face, and Kanji shook his head, mumbling something incomprehensible to himself. Their reactions caused their jōnin-sensei to chuckle again.
"The exam is going to be tomorrow afternoon at 12:00 at the Uzumaki Clan Compound. Make sure to get their on time." He informed them. A large smile then developed on his lips. "Oh, by the way; regardless of if you all pass the exam or not, the last person amongst you three to show up is going to get pranked for the rest of the month!"
With those words, Naruto disappeared in a poof of smoke, using the shunshin.
The three genin members of Team Nine looked at the spot where the Uzumaki had previously been with wide eyes. Roughly a minute passed by and none of the trio were moving. They were too focused on their own thoughts. Finally, after another minute, Katsumi finally broke the silence by shaking her head.
"What the fuck just happened?" She questioned.
For the first time all day, Hanabi didn't correct her choice in language. She was too stunned to properly notice.
Quick Notes:
1: I just want to address this before anything else: Hinata and Shikamaru were not given genin teams. This has nothing to do with skill or anything. They'd make great sensei! It's just, well... I have different plans for them. I don't really want to elaborate much more for now. It just felt as if them having a genin team would make the planned stories for them a bit too complicated (in contrast to stuff I have planned for Naruto, where things will blend a lot easier... although, I also won't elaborate on this either... spoilers). I just wanted to address that they weren't getting teams. But again; this has nothing to do with their ability to lead or have a genin team! Promise!
2: I will say one thing briefly about Naruto's team; Hanabi being on his genin team has been planned for a while as well. I don't see anything wrong with this decision, as Hiruzen allowed Kurenai to train Hinata (a girl who she appeared to have an interest in before the assignments), Gai have Lee (who he had an interest in before the assignments as well), and allowed Kakashi to have Naruto (who... yeah... that connection...). I don't think there's an issue with him being her sensei. I also wanted to give Hanabi a chance to grow more in plain sight. I definitely have plans for her for later! Also her teammates. Speaking of them... what did you think of your first looks at Katsumi and Kanji? Just curious :)
Original Plans: I won't do these every chapter, but I had a few more that I thought might be fun to put in here! :)
6: I actually had an aborted arc that was set to occur between the Tenchi Bridge/Han arc and the Chūnin Exams. It was going to be another 'C-Rank mission gone amok'. What was going to happen during the mission was Team Three was going to be called to get rid of some bandits that were terrorizing villages in the northern part of Hi no Kuni, coming in and kidnapping people. The mission was charged as a C-Rank mission because the villagers legitimately believed the bandits were just that; normal bandits. What they actually were, though, was a group of initiates into the Jashin faith. Hidan (before Akatsuki) was going to be there, teaching a group of initiates about the faith and showing them how to do the rituals and sacrifice to Jashin. Team Three was going to get involved and would end up stumbling on the initiates. And while the initiates would be no real big deal, they would eventually have to find the stronghold for the 'bandits' and would come across Hidan. Team Three would engage Hidan in a fight (which would mostly be Anko fighting him). The idea was that Anko would have been able to defeat Hidan. Upon realizing he was immortal, though, she would have cut up his body, tied up each limb, and would have tried to bring it back to Konoha to 'investigate' with Ibiki. Along the way to Konoha, though, the group would be ambushed by a 'mysterious creature' (Zetsu), who would have saved Hidan and taken him away. Zetsu would have given Hidan (and replace Nasumareta on Kakuzu's team) the offer to join Akatsuki and would have easily convinced him to join due to the fact that he just saved him (and would have been viewed as a being sent by Jashin). Hidan would have left the experience humbled and would begin making plans to take his training more seriously, especially in regards to Jashin's will.
The arc was aborted entirely because of a few reasons. The first was that it, in the grand scheme of things, felt pointless. I thought it would be fun to explore Jashinism a little bit more and see Hidan before joining the Akatsuki, but the idea of another C-Rank mission that actually was misranked immediately after the Han mission felt too much for me. I also just couldn't really get a good visual of how the Team Three fight versus Hidan would have gone. If I couldn't visualize the fight, then I wouldn't be able to write it. Also, I knew I had more plot to get to (in regards to the Chūnin Exams and everything after it), so I felt this mission (which would have been another six chapters) would have just been a waste of time. So, with all that in mind, I dropped it. However, I really liked the idea of Hidan getting humbled and having to take his training seriously to be a 'legitimate' threat later in the story. This inspired the battle a couple of chapters ago in Nami no Kuni on the bridge.
7: I just want to briefly address the Shikamaru x Kurotsuchi pairing. :P I have to admit, this was not in my plants at all. It just happened as I got further into the story. I am a big ShikaTema shipper and had just planned to go down that route with the fanfic (just like it is in canon). However, when I wrote the first interaction between Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi… something just clicked in my head. Their scenes are some of the most fun I've ever had writing! I love the contrast between them and their slightly hostile, yet respectful dynamic they have with each other. It felt that, at least my version of Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi, had a lot of natural chemistry that could lead into a relationship. It was a small idea that began to enter my head and by the time I wrote Omake There in chapter seventeen, I convinced myself that it was happening. I hope nobody minds too much; it's a pairing I have never seen before in any fanfic. Probably rightfully so, because they never talked in canon as far as I can recall, but that's the beauty of a fanfic like this and just seeing what types of relationships form when characters actually spend more time with each other due to new circumstances. :)
8: Here's a scary thought for some of you; Anko was incredibly close to dying during her fight with Orochimaru in chapter thirty-two. Before I even posted this story, I knew I wanted Anko to fight and basically cause Orochimaru's death. However, I couldn't decide if I wanted her to die with him or not. I thought it would work thematically if she actually died and became a heroic martyr that took down her former teacher with her last, dying breath. I was seriously conflicted for a long time and, before I posted this story, I asked a friend of my in real life, who has an account here (DuHSPaZZiNGFeL, if you are curious; she has good stuff on here and if people review her work, maybe she'll actually start updating again!) what she thought. She convinced me to keep Anko alive and I started to work my story around that. As you all can tell by how instrumental Anko has been to the story, even after Orochimaru's death, I'm glad I decided to go through with it and keep her alive. Really glad! :)
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