《Naruto is Reincarnated》 -1 Legendary Genin First Few chapters go along canon with very few changes. ; Changes start to take place after Chapter 28. ; Please remember that every character interaction at this stage is important, as this is a part of the character development. ; Dropping at certain chapters: ; COMMENT Please note that chapter 15-16 and Chapter 28 might make you drop the novel. But I promise it gets real good after that. ; Please do not expect Harem at any point. This novel is strictly Romance only. ; Reading experience: Few grammar issues and writing problems have been noted down and improved upon later. So please bear with me for the first few chapters. ; Lastly, Flashbacks. ; Don''t complain, flashbacks are really important as they play a huge part in character decisions and emotions on the certain situations they are in. ; Last but not the least, Enjoy reading the novel at your pace. ; Sincerely ; -Author ; 1 Prologue In a planet far away from Earth... In a land surrounded by rubbles, a battle had just ended with the Otsutsuki clan. A man in black robes walks upto a young body who was stabbed with a sword. The man sighs as he collects the sword, raising his head up to look at the destruction of the site surrounding the battle. "SASUKE!" screamed the man nearby in orange clothes, naturally the man in orange clothes was Naruto whose clothes were in tatters from the aftermath of the battle "Was this the only way to end this battle...." Naruto lifts his head up in tears towards this long time comrade of his. Sasuke looks at him as he walks towards him "We have finally dealt with the darkness that was plaguing the world since Kaguya was sent down to our world. Her clan made our entire world go through four different wars which could have been avoided, a war in which billions died, but you are now complaining to me about massacring a clan of only 50 or so people with similar ambitions? Think about all the time you had spent alone as a jinchuuriki, think of all the loved ones that Kakashi sensei or even people from beyond our generations lost. Think about the war between the Senju and the Uchihas. The Otsutsuki clan thought of themselves as gods that governed the world, we merely put them in place thus getting our freedom back. The only troubles you are to be concerned with from now on is a few ninjas showing up across the borders that''s alll" as he says all this, he extends a hand towards Naruto to help him up. Naruto stands up staring at the young man''s cold body a few metres away from him, while Sasuke contacts the people on the plane to retrieve Naruto and himself. in the plane near the sea, a man is seen on the screen talking to a red haired man "Is the mission complete?, Lord Kazekage" "Reporting to the Lord Raikage, The mission is complete" "Well done to the Lord Seventh and Lord Sasuke, I will report to the officers at Konoha, See you at HQ, Lord Kazekage and one again Well Done!" The red haired man was Gaara of the sand who had followed Naruto and Sasuke as backup along with the Mizukage. Sasuke packs up all the equipments he had bought , and removes out a bento box set, then walks to Naruto, he sits beside the crest fallen Naruto and hands him some chopsticks, He smiles as he says "It is strange for a person like me to cheer you up Naruto, since the mission was more suited towards a man like me, But this issue was plaguing the world ever since the ancient times and considering the fact that we could not get the kids involved this was the only way to do it." Naruto looks up at the sky as he murmurs "Was this the only way..." As they finish eating the plane shows up to retrieve them. "I want to bury them before we take-off" Sasuke feeling helpless, relays the message to all the people on the plane. Gaara is the first person to step out followed by the mizukage and the rest. Gaara goes to Naruto and puts his hand on Naruto''s shoulders, He asks "It must have taken a lot out of you, to face this battle". Naruto smiles as he takes the hands off of his shoulders gently and asks Gaara to build a bunch of Sand coffins. Gaara follows by building more than fifty coffins at once by performing some hand seals. After a while all the people join around as they place the hands together to pray for the souls to rest in peace. After praying, all the people then board the plane one by one, with Naruto as the last one to approach the plane, he takes a moment to turn back to see one particular coffin in front of all the other coffins. He murmurs "If there was another choice, I would never have hesitated.....". As he was turning back towards the plane, he notices a green light on the coffin he had looked towards, intrigued by the light, he rushes towards the coffin. Upon reaching he places his hands as he moves around the coffin trying to interact with the light that is being emitted, yet he was unable to do anything. Sasuke also witnessed the coffin glowing, he unable to sense the anomaly thus activated his sharingan to infer the new development. To his dismay he sees a seal that activated on the chest of the target that he had stabbed, as he tries to shout to warn Naruto but wormhole pops up near Naruto and pulls him into it. Naruto unable to process what''s going on turns his head towards the people on the plane and finally towards Sasuke as he is pulled through the wormhole unable to resist to the set of motions that happened within a few milliseconds before he was pulled in. The people on the plane are stunned to see Naruto disappear, whereas Gaara grabs a radio to transmit "Code RED, Naruto just went AWOL." Somewhere in black space Naruto had been travelling for a period of time now, in a sense it was impossible to tell if days had passed or weeks. He did not feel hunger but felt relieved in a way as he thought that this was retribution towards his action for killing of the last few descendants of the Otsutsuki clan. A few moments later he fell unconscious as he still kept travelling through the black space. BOOM! Naruto felt as if he had been thrown down to the floor as he landed on his butt. He forced his eyes open to see the entire class from his younger days staring at him "Thats what you get for mocking the hokage stone mountains!" a voice said with disdain for his actions. Feeling the voice familiar Naruto turned back to see a young version of Iruka sensei from his academy days. Naruto felt overjoyed as he wanted to jump up to give a hug to Iruka, only to find his hands tied behind his back in ropes. Feeling wronged he shouted "IRUKA SENSEI!" "DETENTION!!" Iruka shouted back at Naruto, which was followed by a stream of laughters from the children sitting at the benches. Is this a dream or a real world thought Naruto. He contacted Kurama through the seal to help him release a genjutsu, but nothing happened except he got more pissed off at the fact that everyone was laughing at him especially Kiba who was laughing at the top of his lungs. Seeing Kiba, he eyes started moving to search for other figures one by one Sasuke, Hinata, Sakura, Shikamaru, Chouji, Shino, Ino. Stupefied he sat down staring blankly into space is this real or fake. A few moments later, a bell rang to signify the end of the homeroom session Iruka grabs Naruto in one hand as he faces the class "The Final exam is in two months, one month from now I will tell you the justus for the final exam. That''s it for today". as the children run out, Iruka takes Naruto and goes towards the Moutain faces. He grabs the cleaners equipments to climb the mountain along with a bucket of water and a bunch of sheets. He pulls the dazed Naruto closer and unties him. "" Naruto stares at Iruka as he points towards the faces which are covered in paints. Naruto then understands that this was a masterpiece of a graffiti created by his younger counterpart. Naruto sighs as he grabs the sheets from Iruka''s hands and starts to clean-up his work slowly. Iruka accompanies Naruto as he cleans the faces one by one. Iruka surprised by Naruto''s sense of obedience then suggests out of the blue. "It has been a while Naruto, once you are done lets go get some ramen" The magical words woke up Naruto who was in his world of thoughts, with a bright smile on his face he went to work to clean-up the remaining graffiti off. Iruka brings along Naruto to Ichiraku ramen as Naruto observes the once old village before the battle with pain or the 4th ninja war. The feeling was strange yet nostalgic and peaceful at the same time. As they wait for the ramen Naruto once again analyses his current situation in the world. "This world has not been destroyed one bit, no one died, best of all even 3rd hokage, jiraiya sensei and neji is alive if things are the way they are" Sasuke has yet to go rogue, the war is yet to happen, not to mention my graduation to genin "Which means I can maybe save this world...." It also means that akatsuki are yet to be known, orochimaru is the same old, itachi is alive and most probably Obito too. Even one change in my decision can change the entire outcome or future. The question now is how to go safe about it. if only Sasuke was... wait a minute, Sasuke is the same goofball he was before, thinking he is a genius and whatnot, if I suppress or overpower him now and have him fight beside me as equals. Naruto smirked in a very weird manner that almost scared Iruka off 2 Hot Blooded Youth - Rock Lee Iruka looks at Naruto''s weird grin and asks "What are you doing?" Naruto quickly counters "I am just happy that the three minutes of the waiting time is over¡­." "Itadakimasu!" (together at the same time) A few bites later¡­ "Hey Sensei!" "Yes?" "Can I wear that forehead protector that you have" "This?" Iruka points towards his head band "Only qualified ninjas can wear that¡­., you will get yours in 2 months once you graduate" "Meanie!.... I want another bowl" "Hah!" Iruka was stupefied witnessing Naruto''s appetite Naruto raises his bowl in the air "Old man can I have some Naruto fish cake In here?" Old man Teuchi shouts from inside "Coming Right Up!" Naruto smiles as he thinks, old man does not know how famous this place will become due to me, but I really prefer this small shop over the huge restaurant we have back in my place¡­.. After finishing their meal, Naruto and Iruka head out of the shop, Naruto turns towards Iruka and asks "Hey Sensei, have you ever had the chance of interacting with the 4th Hokage before?" "The 4th Hokage? Why do you ask that?" "Just Curious" Iruka turns towards the mountain faces as he speaks "Hmmm¡­. Well I was pretty much a nobody back then, but the Hokage was already admired as the strongest man in the village of that time, though he died young protecting the village" "Sensei!" "hm" Iruka looks towards Naruto "Will you believe that I will surpass all the previous Hokages" "Your grades do not give me the same impression, Naruto" "hehe" (Naruto displays a poker face) "Don''t keep painting over the faces Naruto, if you really want to surpass them, you must work harder than ever before" "I will sensei." Naruto takes off as he says this, Iruka also departs after Naruto. While heading back Naruto walks into a park And sits on a swing as he goes into concentration A few minutes later he wakes up in sage mode as he scans around Naruto stares down as he goes deep into his psyche "Kurama!, have you been able to analyse anything so far?" "Naruto, this is the real world, gen-jutsu can''t compare to this" "Another interesting thing is the fact that your seal is back to its sealed position, meaning you don''t have access to my chakra for now. However there is one good thing about it" "I can meet both my parents again" "Also this time when you meet your dad, make sure to seal the other half of me back in your body, in this way my power would more than double while also increasing your body''s ability significantly. "Even though your access to me is sealed off for now, you can still use your sage of six paths ability without depending upon the cloak''s power" "Kurama, you are right, however my current form limits my battle prowess to huge extent such that you could call it a liability, hence my top priority right now is to build a strong body that can handle all the burden" Naruto then gets up from the swing and walks to his old apartment. Upon reaching his apartment, he reaches into his pocket to remove a frog like purse, "Ah gamma chan you are too thin, looks like I spent all my money on instant ramen" Upon opening the door Naruto walks into his messy apartment "I haven''t cleaned up...." He walks to the centre of the room and enters sage mode "Looks like he went back¡­." Alright "Kage-bunshin-no-jutsu!" (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) 4 bunshins appear Outside Naruto''s house, strange noises were heard for the next 5 mins until they die down. All cleaned-up! The bunshins high fives each other as they disappeared leaving the original who changed into his pyjamas and went off to bed. The next day After academy, Naruto goes train near the training fields and forests, 4 days later 917 918 919 920 . . . Naruto comes across lee working on his squats near a tree log, He pretends to go into sprinting as he says another 10 rounds, another 10 rounds 998 999 1000 As Lee finishes he summersaults into the air landing beside Naruto as he follows Naruto into a run (Fish took the bait!) Naruto screamed in head as he continued sprinting Lee talks to Naruto as he runs beside him, "Best time to train is in one''s youth" "Couldn''t agree more" Naruto smiled back "Then you wouldn''t mind me joining you for a run?" "Be my guest" Naruto smiled back "How rude to not introduce myself, I am Konoha''s Blue Beast, Rock Lee" "Hehe, I am Konoha''s No.1 Hokage Candidate, Uzumaki Naruto" "Hokage Candidate I see, you want to become a Hokage?" "Not just Hokage" Naruto faces Lee and answers in a Hot Blooded fashion, "I will surpass all kages in existence" "What a dream, your ambition is no less than mine, I respect you as true equal, My dream is to surpass all ninjas by only using tai-jutsu" "I see, then we must face of each other in spars using tai-jutsu" "Naruto-kun, I am very glad to see a person who is very similar to my nature to share a passion for training as much as me, We must run towards the setting sun in company of each other, what do you say?" "Are we talking or running?" Naruto asks as they run off till the end of training At the bottom of the hill, Lee warms up his body starting with his squats once again, while Naruto is breathless, while still maintaining an indifferent front to Rock Lee. (This guy is a freak) Naruto then walks up to Lee and says "Lee, I have been thinking about building up my muscles while maintaining a good amount of speed as well, do you know a good training method?" "Don''t worry Naruto-kun, I have the perfect regiment for you, in-fact that is the type of training I am doing everyday" "Just say the words, we can train everyday, my teacher gai-sensei can also whip up some supplements for you if you want to join the training at no additional cost. Training is our life here" "You don''t say" "Gai-sensei is the best teacher there is¡­.." "You mean the only teacher to be able to fight Kakshi to a draw?" Rock Lee flew to Naruto in an instant "You know my sensei?" "Your sensei is a famous man" I consider him as an idol. "I knew it Gai- sensei is the best" "Lee, I have to go catch up with some work, how about we meet up tomorrow" "Definitely, although I am doing a D-rank mission, I should be free by afternoon" "I have academy, so I am free in the afternoon" "Naruto-kun, You are in academy?" "Yes" "Okay tomorrow 3pm we will go through full course training, might I suggest that training weights will be super effective, though you must start off with lesser weights before you reach my level" "Oh, and what weight do you suggest?" "10kg weights in each leg and 10 kg in each hand...¡­.." "Naruto-kun, your face just twisted now?" "Must be your imagination" (He wants to kill me within 24 hrs of befriending him, definitely not your first choice for friendship) "Bye" "Bye" ¡­.. Later that evening That will be 2000 yen sir, Please visit us once again .... In a street nearby the park a boy is seen struggling to lift a bag on his back. "I Definitely wont be able to reach home in one piece today...." The Following day at the academy "Naruto why are you running so slow, you haven''t even completed the first round yet" Iruka shouts behind Naruto as the rest of the class is sprinting around the track. Naruto struggles to increase his speed only to fall down at the finish line after a round "Another 8 more rounds to go" After the academy in a forest nearby, a heavily panting boy is seen climbing up the mountain as he meets the boy at the top of the hill 3 Foundations Built and Ready to Roll Rock lee rushes upto Naruto and removes all the weights on him "Naruto-kun, you have overworked yourself" Lee pitied Naruto "No pain no gain, aint that right?" Naruto stared at Lee while panting deeply "I will take a rest for 40 mins after which we shall spar, till then you do warm ups" "Alright Naruto-kun, i will do 1000 push-ups to even the fatigue between both of us" "Do as you see fit, bushy brows" "Hey Lee, how much weight do you have on your body right now?" "No weights on my arm, about 25kg each leg is all..." " " Naruto stared blankly as Lee began his push-ups Few minutes later they began to spar one other, ("as expected bushy brows is tough to handle even for spars despite the experience I have gained") Naruto thought to himself "Naruto-kun, you are too good, I am unable to pressurise you despite using all my strength¡­.." "Don''t sell yourself short Lee, you haven''t taken those weights of your legs yet¡­." "Naruto-kun this is a secret but I am telling you since we are friends¡­ My sensei told me never to take these weights of until I am facing a battle I cannot hope to win." "I knew there was a condition like that. But I still cannot help but want to fight you without those leg weights in the near future." ""Lee was silent as he kept dealing kicks after kicks, unable to break through Naruto''s defence "How about this Lee?" Naruto faced Lee grabbing his attention "By the end of this month, once I train through the last week with the 25kg weights, will you please fight me without those weights?" " " Lee kept silent as they sparred throughout the field. Unknowingly a manly voice interfered their spar "Accept it Lee!" "Gai-sensei!" Lee shouted as a cloud of white smoke appeared behind Naruto revealing an Adult and a more intense version of Lee. The new appearance was none other than Might Guy (maito gai) "Go on Lee, it is interesting challenges like this you should accept¡­." Naruto turned towards guy as he saw a youthful and a powerful guy sensei, unlike the one on wheel chair that he had last seen "No.1 Hokage candidate Uzumaki Naruto, Nice to meet you Gai-sensei!" Naruto said as he bowed towards Gai Gai raised Naruto''s head as he introduced himself "The Handsome Green Beast of Konoha, Maito Gai, Nice to meet you Naruto-kun" said guy as he pointed towards his face using his hand and revealing a sparkling smile that would do well for a toothpaste advertisement. "I hear you have been training with Lee for the past two days, He has been very happy to find a friend like you, say how about this, why don''t I give you a matching green training suit that both me and Lee use, They are extremely comfortable for training you know¡­hahaha" "Gai-sensei! I wanted to remove my weights only when battling against Neji-san". "Are you implying Naruto is less than Neji?" Guy raised his super heavy brows at Lee. "NO!" Lee countered immediately. "That means you have hereby accepted the conditions for battle set by Naruto-kun" "Naruto-kun" Gai gestured for Naruto to come over "Follow me to some herb shops, I have to prepare your diet so you can fight against Lee by the end of this month, But remember one thing clearly. No matter what, avoid all junk foods and stick to this diet like it is your life" "Yes Gai-sensei" Naruto stood upright as he gave a military salute. The Following days at the academy, Naruto quietly pulled his weight along through sheer will power despite struggling to keep up with his classmates, he was able to do much better than before. Naruto continued wearing his weights through sleep, academy and training not taking off until his new weights had to be added. The students in the academy felt something weird happened to Naruto, especially Iruka, Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata. Naruto never pestered Sakura, nor got into fights with Sasuke, nor did he create mischiefs like painting over the hokage''s faces. Hinata in particular could feel him struggling but silently praised his efforts. The new weights were a hundred times more burdensome than the ones before nearly threatening to break his bones, luckily gai had prepared supplements targeting both his bones and muscles beforehand with a proper prescription to follow through, to get all the way to the end of the ruthless training. And soon the day of the battle appeared and Naruto was finally ready to face Lee head-on. "Ready Naruto-kun" "Yeah!" Gai raised his hands as he shouted "Let the match begin" (Boom) It was a collision of kicks "Not bad Naruto-kun" Lee said with a smile "You too" Naruto smiled back (boom) (boom) (boom) (boom) (boom) A continuous collision of kicks and punches sounded across the atmosphere with the combatants nowhere to be seen, except for a pair of trained eyes like Gai as he began analysing the duo''s moves (boom) (boom) (boom) ("Naruto does not look like you typical tai-jutsu user, but he seems to have a great sense for battle, whereas Lee makes up for the gap with the skill, But at the same time it seems as though Naruto-kun is still holding back a bit of his battle power") Gai thought as we saw the kicks and punches parry with equal power. ("Naruto''s stamina is pretty high which can be explained with the fact that he is a jinchuuriki but the battle power is still unbelievable for someone who just finished training") "Stop" gai commanded Naruto and Lee landed at the same time, both equally panting for breaths at the same time Lee still looked like he wanted to battle. He looked towards guy''s face with a pleading look With a tacit understanding Gai instantly indicated a ''NO'' Gai knew Lee wanted to unleash the Lotus, but this was not a serious battle and Naruto clearly had no chakra disability which made him question Naruto''s intentions. But he soon dismissed all thoughts clearly classifying this as a bout between junior generations since he could feel that Naruto never possessed any intentions to harm Lee in the first place. Naruto bowed towards Lee and Gai, after he wore back his weights and prepared to leave. He turned back towards Lee with a smile on his face, "You can defeat Neji, Lee, you already possess the ability to do so¡­" "Thanks Naruto-kun" Lee almost cried as he raised his hand to wipe the tears away before it could appear. A certain distance away in a remote part of the forest, Naruto entered sage mode as he scanned the surroundings "No one nearby, good" He then enters into six paths mode, and was able to activate full power "Everything is finally solved and I have almost an entire week before the academy graduation exam begins and enough time to deal with Sasuke also" I probably should enjoy my last few days at the academy, as I would probably not get to go back again. Naruto shuts off his six paths mode as he goes back to his house. Next day at the academy, Naruto goes upto to Shikamaru "Hey, hey shikamaru, how about us boys bunk class today, last few days of academy right¡­" Naruto shows a side eye as he lightly elbows Shikamaru. "Nah I would rather sleep in class" "How about laying down under the shade of a tree near a sunny place, huh we have a great weather today" Naruto suggested with an expectant look. Shikamaru gives a one eyed look to Naruto before calling Chouji and Kiba over "let''s hang out" The three boys and one with a dog sneak out of class. (Obviously Shino was ignored yet again) In a dumpling shop somewhere, trio enjoyed eating and marvelling at the crowd in the streets "Full fledged ninja in a week huh?" Kiba asked lazily Num, num, num (crk) "Yeah" (obviously Chouji here) "The reason I wanted to be a ninja was I thought it would have less studies than school, but now it is definitely troublesome" Shikamaru replied as he stared at the ceiling. "Its not entirely a bad thing you know, but it is a huge responsibility" Naruto replied as a chomped on some dumplings simultaneously. "hah, says the guy who does the grafiti" Kiba laughs out loud. "Thats not a bad idea, in-fact I think its a brilliant plan" Naruto grins as he speaks to the group "Say what" Chouji intercepts having nothing to do "I mean it guys, whats the best way to celebrate graduation?" " " the trio look at Naruto with wide eyes "I''ll take care of the cleanup, what do ya say?" "We are all going to do this together , whether we like it or not" Shikamaru lazily comments cleaning out his ears "Alright then, the graffiti is going to be done on the academy walls, any objections?" "" The group looks at each othe 4 Breaking Records, I am the Elder Brother The group went on big with their graffiti plan, enjoying the activity all together. (They were still called in to clean it up as a part of detention). Naruto was extremely happy becoming a child once again only to enjoy with his peers, unlike before where he would literally divide himself to handle 1000 tasks at the same time each day only to end up exhausted being the Hokage, whereas the other people like Kiba, Chouji and many others would be busy on their own, rarely meeting up outside. Naruto certainly welcomed this change of pace but he still missed his family and all.) The following four days of academy had different tests. Theory exam, Shruriken and Kunai test, Escaping techniques test and so on¡­.. But there was one thing different, and it was not some ordinary difference...¡­ It was LEGENDARY Besides Sasuke acing every test, Naruto demonstrated far superior abilities which were not completely visible from academy students point of view, Iruka was surprised, but the other supervising teachers were even more so¡­.. Naruto''s written theory answers had completely surpassed the chuunin level thinking in the questions given, such that even if a jonin was given these tests, one could still differentiate the level of quality these answers were provided with. The Shuriken and Kunai test was more than just accuracy it also tested the body posture, speed, techniques, reaction time, everything which Naruto did way better than his peers. Cloning jutsu on the other hand was smashed by Naruto as he had summoned 20 clones and had them transform into all of his classmates from the semester. These records clearly surpassed all, even Itachi could not match up with Naruto in the theory department in his previous records, though both were evenly matched in physical abilities and other records. Itachi''s only advantage was his age factor and intelligence as he had cleared his academy much earlier. In the 3rd Hokage''s room¡­. The twin doors burst open as a man shows up kneeling down towards the hokage "Hokage-sama, Naruto, he..." "Hmm....Naruto did something again? Is it the usual mischief?" "No¡­.no¡­its something bigger....." The Hokage gets up in shock "Did he UNSEAL ?¡­.." "No, he just surpassed all the previous academy records in one go..." " " The Hokage just stood there with a blank look "That was really unexpected of him¡­.." He smiled as he looked out through the window towards the direction of the academy. Naruto was done with all his tests, after which he tried to speak to Iruka, but Iruka couldn''t bring himself to talk with his most outstanding student of all. Naruto sat dejected watching the sunset "Hey Naruto" a man with white hair pops by the side of Naruto The man was Mizuki-sensei one of the supervising teachers of the exams "Hello sensei!" Naruto greeted back dejectedly as he thought to how this man had almost got him killed the first time he saw him all those years ago. "I see that you are sad¡­." Mizuki tried sympathising "Iruka sensei did not talk to me at all¡­.." Naruto replied "Well its probably because he has a lot to deal with¡­" Mizuki said as he sat down beside Naruto "Hey Naruto¡­.." "Hmmm" Naruto raised his head up" "I think you could surprise Iruka by learning a new technique¡­.." Mizuki avoided Naruto''s eyes as he spoke "And¡­." Naruto knew that the man would never change, thus he would rather use this opportunity to peruse the 1st Hokage''s hidden scroll. Mizuki as determined by fate told Naruto the direction and Naruto followed. He went to the spot and started reading through the scroll with his shadow clones by his side, trying to memorise the contents as soon as possible. Contained within were unsealing formulas and purple formation barrier formula. Which Naruto memorised as soon as possible. meanwhile the 3rd Hokage heard of the situation and mobilised all chuunins and special jonin ninjas in search of Naruto. "Oy Naruto" Iruka showed up first, with an angry face Naruto started scratching his head with a smile, happy to see Iruka coming out to protect him once again. But this time he would protect this sensei of his right from the beginning. He pushed Iruka towards the ground as 4 kunai s whizz past where Iruka was previously standing, missing him completely. Mizuki comes down the tree as he stares in surprise. "Mizuki!, what are you doing here" Iruka questioned with a disbelief across his face "Looks like the monster did not unseal himself, huh, well playtime is over demon fox, hand over the scroll" Mizuki asked with a menacing look across his face "Mizuki!" Iruka shouted trying to interrupt, but he realised it was too late as the word demon fox had already been spurted out. "Its all right sensei, I already figured out why people started avoiding me¡­. A long time ago..." Naruto said as he made his way forward. "haha, good boy, now give me the scroll..." Mizuki asked shamelessly as he revealed a fitting evil grin. Naruto smiled in return as he stood in from of Mizuki. "hu.." And mizuki was sent flying off with an upper cut directly lying on the ground motionlessly "Iruka sensei, I am sorry that Mizuki fooled me into believing in his words" Naruto said as he stared dejectedly and then raised the scroll in his hand towards Iruka. "I only had time to learn the Shadow clone jutsu..." Naruto smiled as he said to Iruka. "Naruto¡­. Close your eyes for a moment¡­" Iruka said. ¡­.. ¡­. ¡­. ¡­. "You can open your eyes now Naruto" Naruto opened his eyes as he felt something familiar on his head, but he could not help but feel the weight bearing on his forehead, "Congratulations! Naruto, you are one splendid Ninja...." The 3rd Hokage kept smiling as he watched all the scenes from his orb. "Naruto has truly surprised me... Now it all depends if you can surprise the man who lives his past... Kakashi, these new flowers shall now blossom upon springs arrival...." The third hokage smiled as he kept his orb away. The following day was the announcement of academy results, but there was one extremely pissed off boy. Sasuke stared at Naruto''s name at the top of the list while he helplessly watched his name second on the list. He walked up towards Naruto who was away from everyone else, as he looked him in the eye and asked "What are you playing at? Always goofing off, doing senseless things and now suddenly coming first¡­.." "Unconvinced are ya?" Naruto grinned at Sasuke. "Lets have a spar in the training field in the afternoon" Sasuke spoke angrily "I am not interested in a spar" Naruto worded off in an uninterested manner, which pissed of Sasuke even more "What do you want?" Sasuke asked almost ready to burst on the spot. "The loser listens to the winner, and also have to call him the elder brother...." Naruto observed Sasuke with one eye. "Deal" Sasuke responded instantly "See you there" Naruto went his merry way annoying Sasuke even more. Naruto couldn''t help but grin continuously as he walked, "I have always wanted to do this my entire life, its almost as if god has listened to me¡­" Naruto walked through the streets grinning like a total idiot scaring almost all the common folk away as he walked towards the training field. (Bear in mind that Naruto was still wearing the 25kg deadweights around his legs and 10 kg around each arm) After a few minutes Sasuke had showed up. Naruto gestured Sasuke to start with the unison sign, but upon noticing no headband on sasuke, he stopped as he gestured towards his head. "What?" Sasuke angrily inquired "Wear your protector, or I wont fight you¡­" Naruto replied "Why?" "Because it is a testament to the fact that we are fighting on equal grounds as Leaf Shinobi" Naruto replied. "ugh¡­Fine" Sasuke reached into his pocket and tied his new protector around his head. "Are you ready, now?" Sasuke was getting tired of dealing with the little things. "Yes" Naruto replied being extremely happy like he was on cloud 9 making Sasuke follow through all his commands without a question. Naruto grabbed a rock as he tossed it into the air...¡­ The moment the rock landed (Boom) Sasuke followed with a frontal assault easily kicking Naruto away (poof) What Sasuke kicked was a clone Instantly Sasuke was caught from behind "Shinobi rule no.1 : Don''t let your opponents get behind you" Sasuke was extremely pissed, but something caught his eyes ("Is that the Tiger seal? Is it a fire technique, how does he know¡­..") "Konoha secret tai-jutsu technique" Naruto held his hand seal as he launched it towards Sasuke''s rear, "Thousand years of death!" Naruto screamed as he launched Sasuke forth "This bastard!" Sasuke screamed as he angrily turned in mid air performing the seals for his jutsu "Fire style - Grand Fire Ball Jutsu" Hoooooooooo (sasuke blew a huge fireball towards Naruto) At that moment Naruto Snickered, He jumped into the air instantaneously arriving behind Sasuke "I just told you, don''t let your opponents behind you" Naruto said to Sasuke with a straight face " Shit, Is this Shadow dance?" Sasuke asked "Nope!, just a simple DROP KICK!" Naruto laughed as he sent Sasuke down with a kick with such a strong force that Sasuke got embedded to the ground. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I refuse to accept this" Sasuke screamed as Naruto pinned him down. "Weakness is a choice Sasuke. There are somethings that can only be found through authority" Naruto said in a dejected manner. "What do you mean?" Sasuke asked "You knew your parents, and you know their killer, whereas I do not know my parents and neither their killer" Naruto said "What does that have to do with me?" Sasuke asked impatiently "The third Hokage knows, yet he refuses to say, I guess there is a story behind yours too that he is hiding I am afraid¡­." Naruto said trying to calm down Sasuke "Are you saying I have no resolve" Sasuke screamed, showing changes in his pupil "I see, you have awakened your sharingan" Naruto said dejectedly Sasuke tried moving around but was still pinned to the ground "That is nothing in front of true strength Sasuke, But that is what I am here to do" Naruto said as he faced Sasuke while pinning him to the ground "I want us both working together hand in hand while steadily increasing our power and also finding out the truth to our problems, but I need your help" Naruto asked with a friendly look. "But why? Why someone as strong as you asks my help?" Sasuke asked "We have been rivals for a long time, and have almost lived the same lifestyle for the past few years" "No one could possibly understand me better than you¡­." Naruto said as he got up and extended a hand. "I am counting on you Lil bro" Naruto said with a friendly smile "Just bro will do, I am still going to challenge you again" Sasuke said as he quietly left. "Anytime!" Naruto waved back as Sasuke left the field 5 Team 7 Once Again, You are Annoying Naruto''s training went smoothly , as his body got used to the extra weights. ¡­.. That evening in the Hokage''s office Hiruzen was drinking tea with an unexpected guest. Sitting opposite to him was an old man bandaged all over with only one eye visible and one un-paralysed arm holding a walking stick. The man was naturally Shimura Danzou. Hiruzen sipped on his tea, followed by Danzou who did the same, A while passed before Danzou lost his patience¡­. "Surely, you haven''t called me just to drink tea have you?" Danzou asked emotionlessly as he raised his head from the tea cup in his hand. "Are you still watching over the boy?" Hiruzen asked "Which boy?" Danzou asked slowly, as he looked towards his subordinates in the dark. "The Fourth''s of course¡­.." Hiruzen said as he took another sip. "The jinchuuriki boy, what about him?" Danzou inquired as he gestured his subordinate to give his recent report on the spot. "Naruto seems to have become a genius of a ninja, seemingly falling short of Itachi due to his age¡­..but brilliant nonetheless¡­." Hiruzen said looking into the only visible eye of Danzou. "What" Danzou stood up on the spot seemingly shocked of this new development. "Calm down" Hiruzen said, looking even more suspiciously at Danzou. Danzou then sat down as he regained his composure, sharing Naruto''s recent reports with Hiruzen. ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­.. "He seems to have trained intensely over the last 2 months, with maito gai''s disciple which had dramatically improved his physical abilities and stamina, but that still does not explain his theoretical knowledge..." Hiruzen mulled over as he saw the reports. Hiruzen closed the reports as he took out a smoke pipe and lit it. (hooff) He let out a steam of smoke as the expression on his face eased "After saving Iruka that day, I can assuredly say that Naruto still cares about this village despite hearing the word demon fox from Mizuki, in that case there is nothing to be worried about, after all this is a good thing for him. Especially to take up his father''s mantle at this age, he has also clearly surpassed the records Minato set at his time in the academy¡­." Hiruzen thought as he sat down with Danzou again. ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­.. The Next Day Naruto posed for a Photo for his ninja admission card and submitted it to the 3rd Hokage, as fate had it he also met Konohamaru and became his rival. The Following Day Naruto got up from his bed as he looked at the calendar "Today, is the day I become teammates with Sakura-chan and Sasuke again" Naruto grinned as he started getting ready "Wait a minute...didn''t something bad happened that day when the team was formed..." Naruto thought really hard "haha" He rushed and opened the door, to take out the milk packet and scanned the expiry date. "Knew it" Naruto snickered as he threw the milk into the dust-bin. "You are not stopping me today", he shouted as he grabbed his frog purse and his protector to leave the house. He stopped by a store and bought a small packet milk, which he started drinking from as he walked towards the academy. At the academy, as soon as Naruto entered the students were surprised as they gave a blank look to Naruto, soon murmuring about how he had cheated some tests and about taking steroids for the practical exams to get the No.1 spot. Naruto did not pay any attention as he sat down near Sasuke. Sasuke was displeased, but he did not complain as there was a sense of respect from the previous day''s incident. "Have you thought over about the collaboration?" Naruto asked. Before he could reply... (crash) The sound interrupted the duo as they turned backwards to look at two girls, one in red and another in purple dress who started fighting as they tried to enter the class. "I am first they screamed" upon entering. "I am first again Sakura" Ino claimed. "Are you blind, my toe was at least a tenth of an inch ahead of yours" Sakura retorted. Naruto sees Hinata near the fighting duo, unable to respond he turned back contemplating what to do. "Hunh" Sakura''s eyes caught the figure of Sasuke as she she rushed over. Naruto wanting to greet her was almost pushed-off by Sakura''s impulsiveness. But to Sakura''s dismay Naruto''s figure was almost glued to the spot. Naturally she did not know about the dead weights Naruto was carrying. She screamed "Naruto!" "Move over, I want to sit with Sasuke, since I came early" Sakura declared boldly as if asking for her birthright. Naruto being from the world he was, felt that she was almost right as she was already married to him, but her immature comment brought him back to reality as he saw the other girls faces. Naturally the other girls due to their pride could not let such a comment go unnoticed and started reasoning that they came earlier so by the rule of first come and first serve they had even more right to the seat next to Sasuke than Sakura. Naruto being matured was not pissed off, but was still thinking about how crazily the girls were after Sasuke. "Why is he the only one flooded by the girls, back in my days even I was also popular right?" Naruto thought as he failed to realise that he was yet to have achievements in this world. But Naruto could not be blamed as he was usually clueless in this kind of matters. Feeling bored he approached Hinata, and said "You are looking particularly beautiful today¡­" "ah!" Before Hinata could respond, her face became as red as a tomato and fainted. (plop!) "Hinata!" ¡­.. "Hinata!" "Hey, are you alright?" "Hinata!" ¡­ The scene was being witnessed by all the jonins in the room as Hiruzen announced, "Uzumaki Naruto the No.1 Dark Horse and Rookie of the year." "That boy?" Kurenai questioned, "He doesn''t look really that handsome, how could that girl faint?" Kurenai enquired looking at the crystal ball in an intrigued way. "What an ability.., Naruto can make a girl faint with a pickup line. I wish I had that ability¡­." Asuma snickered only to receive an elbow from Kurenai sensei "What about the other kid?" Kakashi inquired HIruzen slowly controlled the view to focus on Sasuke "No.2 Rookie Uchiha Sasuke, lost to Naruto but remained consistent throughout his year in the academy" "The last survivor of the Uchiha clan¡­.." Kurenai spoke, as the other jonin''s tacitly approved her comment. Soon Iruka sensei same into the class and sorted all the commotion. Everyone took their place as Iruka announced the guidelines upon which the teams were made. After explaining the guidelines, he started announcing the names Squad 7 - Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke Squad 8 - Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino (Hinata still day dreaming, probably not aware that Naruto is not in her squad) Squad 10 - Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji (Ino-Shika-Cho) "Alright!, Now that I have assigned you to your squads, you can now leave for a break, please be back by 2pm to meet your instructors" "CLASS DISMISSED!" ... Sasuke walked to Naruto as everyone was leaving, "I am in!" Sasuke confirmed "Good" Naruto replied back as he shook hands with Sasuke. "What''s the plan?" Sasuke asked as the duo walked out of class together. "We wait, Now that we are going to have a teacher, I cannot completely take your training into my hands but we can start sparring everyday to improve each other''s strength" "Hmm¡­So where are you going now?" Sasuke inquired unconsciously allowing Naruto to take the leader role. "Training, I am wearing sets of weights across my body, so I need to train my body for the next 2 months after which I would only need to do a minimal amount to maintain such a body, pre-condition being that I would continue wearing my weights." Naruto said as they strated walking towards the forest. Meanwhile.... "Sasuke¡­.." "Sasuke¡­.where.. are..you?" Sakura was calling out in a sweet voice, not seeming to bother calling Naruto even once. She stopped by a bench as she wondered where Sasuke went. A few moments later a boy appeared on the path near the bench "Sasuke!" Sakura brimmed with happiness upon seeing this boy. "Sakura" he commented as he sat down. "Sasuke lets have lunch together shall we?" Sakura asked as she started unpacking her bento set "Sakura?" "Yes?" "What do you think of Naruto?" "Hmm...He knows about my feelings and purposely gets in my way...He enjoys getting in my way¡­. But You know one thing Sasuke, all I care about is you¡­.." "Back to Naruto, Sakura¡­" Sasuke got a little angry but still inquired. "There you go changing the subject again¡­.forget about Naruto, you know why he is annoying its all because He wasn''t raised right. He doesn''t have parents to teach him right from wrong , think about it , he does whatever comes to his head" "if I did things like Naruto, my parents would get mad, and I would get in trouble so of course I don''t do it" "he is selfish and bratty, he is all alone" Sasuke got too angry at this point as he started speaking "Alone¡­ isolated¡­.., it is not about your parents scolding you¡­.., you have no idea what it means to be alone" "Sasuke, why are you saying that?" Sakura asked realising she made a huge mistake. "Because.."he looks her in the eyes as he says 6 Survival Training, Kakashi of the Sharingan Sakura felt disappointed in herself after Sasuke reprimanded her. She even thought back to how Naruto did not even speak to her for a whole week, and how much of a genius he turned out to be over night, despite which she shrugged him off like a nobody in the morning while rushing to sit near Sasuke. While contemplating her mistakes, she saw Naruto walk over along with Sasuke, "Let''s All eat together as a team!" Naruto said with a smile. "Mm" Sakura nodded back happily and the trio left the pathway to find a shelter to eat. ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­.. Meanwhile at Naruto''s house "Naruto''s room is much neater than I expected, just like Sasuke''s own" Kakashi commented as he looked around. "I am surprised too, believe it or not!" Hiruzen said as he looked around the house. Kakashi walks to a table nearby and examines a paper on top "This writing belongs to Gai" Kakashi commented as he analysed the prescription. "This would also explain his improved physical abilities¡­." ¡­. ¡­. ¡­. The trio finished their lunch and headed back to the academy. The trio watched as all the other squads left with their sensei one by one. (Kakashi sensei never changed) Naruto thought back to times Kakashi always shoed up with a lame excuse for being late. Naruto then got up and walked towards the board, picked a duster up and set it between the door frame and the door. "Naruto that''s not going to work on a jonin" Sakura commented "Hmph" Sasuke snorted as he turned away with no interest. Naruto turned towards Sasuke and Sakura "Hey, Do you know what is important for a three-man cell?" "hmm?" Sakura looked at Naruto weirdly. "Its Teamwork!" Naruto grinned at them. "But what does it have to do with this?" Sakura asked, while Sasuke also watched with a bit of doubt. "You see, whenever there is a team, even the smallest of actions are planned together by the team, now imagine our sensei walking through that door, and the duster falls on him¡­.." "For the last time Naruto, jonin''s are not that stupid"Sakura interrupted. "Hear me¡­..its very important, just think what would his first thought be as he analyses the situation, obviously you both not supporting me in the decision, On the other hand if we all laugh together or mock at him at the same time, that would undoubtedly be a result of team work, you see the first few missions we do before the chuunin exams are all to improve our team work¡­" Naruto lectured while both listened attentively. "So you are saying , if we demonstrate teamwork, that means less D rank missions and more C rank missions?" Sasuke asked. "Yes, technically" "Mmm" Sasuke and Sakura nodded at the same time. Almost an hour later¡­.. The Door opens revealing a white haired face with a half mask and head band in diagonal position covering an eye. The duster falls squarely on to the head of the man and then lands on the floor, "Hahahhahaha" "He fell for it¡­" (the trio laughed at the same time) Kakashi took a second to analyse the scene and then bends down to pick the duster. (Did they do this together?) "Sorry I am late guys, I came across a black cat and had to take a diversion you see..." Kakashi smiled as he explained. He then asks the trio to follow him to a top of a building as they sit down and discuss "Why don''t we all start by introducing yourselves, your dreams, likes, dislikes and what not" "Let me introduce myself, I am Hatake Kakashi, my dislikes I have a lot and for likes I don''t have much. I don''t have any ambitions ,Thats all¡­" "He did not tell us anything apart from his name¡­" Sakura commented to Both Naruto and Sasuke "Lets start with you on the right." Kakashi said as he pointed out to Naruto "Hi, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like to eat ramen at Ichiraku''s, I hate the three minutes waiting time before eating. My future dream is to be the greatest hokage." "You" "Hi, I am Haruno Sakura, My favourite thing is... My dream is..... (kyun) " "What is your least favourite?" Sakura instantly replied "NARUTO" "And you" Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto looked towards Sasuke "My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I am the last survivor in my clan, I hate sweet things, and I don''t particularly like anything, I wouldn''t necessarily say that I have a dream, but I do have an ambitions , that is one day to resurrect my clan and kill a certain man¡­" Kakashi looks at Sasuke for a moment before he gets up and speaks "Now that the introductions are over, you are all to meet up by 5 am at the training fields, and remember to skip your breakfast. We are going to have a survival training. Team 7 Dismissed!" Kakashi mums off to a nearby building as he heads to another place. Naruto then towards Sasuke and Sakura "Sakura, I want you to prepare a lot of ropes, kunais, shurikens and spikes as you will be setting up traps for tomorrow''s battle since we would have a lot of time considering how late sensei can appear. As for you Sasuke, I want you to team up with me for a frontal assault while Sakura covers from the back with weapons. Should be a walk in the part if this plays out perfectly."Naruto grinned as he was itching to battle against Kakashi the next day. ¡­. ¡­. ¡­. "Good Morning" "Good Morning" "Good Morning" The trio greeted "Show me the tools Sakura" Naruto asked as he went towards Sakura. Sakura took out all the tools from her bag, as she laid them neatly on the floor in an orderly manner. "Good, let''s go set up some traps, also do you guys know how to set up staged wire traps?" Naruto asked with a plan in mind. "I can help you with that" Sasuke said as he started placing the wires in a certain pattern on the ground. Time passed until Kakashi finally showed up at 10am. "I hope everyone has skipped their breakfast, yeah" Kakshi reached into his back pocket as he took out two bells. "This is a pair of bells, you are to collect it from me before lunch time i.e before 12pm, failing to do so, a person will be tied up to the log, and that person will not get lunch. A final chance will be given in the afternoon, if you are unable to collect it by then, you will be sent back to the academy." Kakashi said as he looked into the trio''s eyes. "I will now countdown to 1, by which you should have hidden in good places, okay" "3" "2" ¡­ ¡­ "1" ¡­. "Start!" The trio disappeared from the spot as they occupied different bushes to conceal themselves. "Looks like they have hidden themselves well" Kakashi spoke to himself as he kept searching around for them Naruto raised his right hand up, with sakura being alert to respond to Naruto''s trigger. "Now" Naruto says as he jumps off the tree, Simultaneously Sakura unleashes her attack mechanism which launched about 5 kunais that flew towards Kakashi''s body which then hits its mark, Kakashi becomes covered in a puff of smoke, only to reveal a tree log with the stabbed Kunais, "Substitution" Naruto and Sasuke reacted. Naruto along with Sasuke rushed head first to face Kakashi in a direct battle as soon as he reappeared after the substitution. (BOOM) (BOOM) (BOOM) Kakashi fought both Naruto and Sasuke at the same, with punches and kicks flying in from all directions. Naruto and Sasuke haven''t teamed up properly as they had only recognised each other as equals, two days before. So their teamwork was just about basic ones as they made their move one after another whenever they saw an opening. (BOOM!!!!) both punched at the same time, only to be blocked as Kakashi retreated a few metres back, he takes a look at Naruto and Sasuke and says¡­. "You guys are extremely strong, such that I have no choice but to do this" Kakashi lifted his protector as he opened his left eye. "Sharingan?" Sasuke screamed. "Not good, Sasuke let''s retreat" Naruto said as he took some smoke bombs and deployed. (Poof) The duo disappeared reducing the pressure on Kakashi. "Too bad that I don''t have time to read the novel now¡­." He murmured looking in the direction the duo retreated to. Near the bushes, Naruto appears with Sasuke, Sakura rushes to their side as they arrive. "Sasuke, calm down, we need to analyse the current situation" Naruto said as Sasuke regained his composure. "Sharingan in the left-eye, is he an Unchiha survivor?" Sasuke murmured as he looked towards the general direction of Kakashi. "Its a three comma eye, He most likely has a basic mastery over the sharingan compared to a newbie Sasuke¡­." Naruto whispered. "newbie Sasuke? Does it mean you have awakened the sharingan?" Sakura asked in an excited manner. "Now is not the time to be surprised Sakura, focus" Naruto said as he gestured towards Sakura to be silent. "Sasuke, the sharingan eyes cannot differentiate between shadow clones, so I am going ahead, once one of my clones get close to him on the attacks, you perform the fire jutsu from that day¡­.. alright?" Naruto looked towards Sasuke waiting for his answer. "How do you know that Sharingan cannot differentiate between Shadow clones?" Sasuke asked suspiciously. "Its because they distribute chakra equally, not only sharingan, even the byakugan wont be able to differentiate. Thats the best advantage this technique has, however we must fight in an unorthodox manner to prevent his Sharingan from reading our moves, so first we must try to draw him towards on of Sakura''s traps and use that to force an opening whenever we attack." "Also Sasuke, I think this a good training for you to get used to your Sharingan¡­.." ¡­. ¡­. ¡­. Kakashi eventually got tire of waiting and started walking towards the trio. (whoosh!) Naruto and Sasuke appeared. Kakashi was stunned to see Sasuke had awoken the sharingan, with the initial one comma. Naruto smirked as he ran forth "Kage-bunshin-no-jutsu!" (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) About 5 clones appeared at the same time and started fighting against Kakashi in a close combat, Kakashi found it hard to fight as he started moving, Naruto smirked making his clones start cornering Kakashi and forced him to move in a particular direction. (boom) (boom) (boom) The fight went on with Sasuke throwing a kunai or 2 in the middle, Kakashi then used an Earth escape technique to go under ground, Naruto then signalled Sakura, as they were close by while forcing Kakashi slowly towards this location, Naruto raised his hand as he activated sage jutsu for this one attack, He punched the ground sending Kakashi straight up. His clones followed through on the action and went to fight Kakashi. Sasuke then performed the hand seals (Hooofffff!!) Sasuke blew the fireball towards Kakashi, while Naruto signalled Sakura to send in her strike. Sakura sent forth a set of kunais with bomb attachments as they made their way to the site glowing with the fire. 7 End of Survival Training, Respec In a restaurant somewhere Iruka and Hiruzen sat down in their chairs facing each other. "Lord Hokage!" "Yes Iruka?" "I was wondering what kind of jonin teacher did Naruto get?" The third Hokage smiled as he handed over a book "His name his Hatake Kakashi" The fourth said, noticing a change in Iruka''s expression "What happened?" "No, its just that I heard some disturbing rumours¡­.." Iruka said as he opened the book He swiped through the pages before he finally came across Kakshi''s page. He started reading through the information with his expression turning grimmer every 5 seconds. "This is..." Iruka''s hands shivered as he stood up and shouted "Hokage-sama, not a single Genin has passed his test¡­." Iruka complained looking at Hokage as if he had committed a mistake by assigning Naruto to Kakashi. "Iruka, I understand your concerns, Even I don''t know if it is right for those kids to become genins immediately, but I also believe in Kakashi''s judgement, All the genins he sent back did not truly understand what Kakashi wanted" "But Ho¡­.." Iruka was interrupted by the Hokage "Iruka, no matter what the result is¡­. Don''t hold anything against Kakashi" ¡­. ¡­. .¡­ .¡­ After the explosion, something flew up into the air, It was a burnt tree log "Damn it, Substitution" Naruto Cursed ("It is getting really hard to fight them... are they really part of the nine rookies? More like well seasoned team that have faced real ninjas,..... tsk¡­.I can''t believe they forced me to use my Sharingan. I can stop the practice match now, but that would be no different from straight out declaring them as winners, they are certainly lacking something¡­..") "Sakura" Kakashi murmured as he appeared right behind her, He unleashed a gen-jutsu onto her, Sakura felt dazed for a moment before coming back to her senses again, she searched for Kakashi''s figure at the spot where the blast happened, But there was no one there. "Sakura¡­." A boy riddled with kunai appeared below a tree further away, "Sasuke¡­.." "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Sakura screamed and fainted upon seeing Sasuke with injuries all over his body. Meanwhile Naruto and Sasuke searched for Kakashi frantically. They froze at the same time as they realised "Sakura is back over there" Naruto commented weakly. "Let''s go¡­." Sasuke took the lead. The duo stopped upon encountering Kakashi in the way. Sasuke noticed Sakura siting in a daze at the bottom of a tree, and went over to release her from the gen-jutsu. "Sasuke...." Sakura glanced around for a moment. "You are all right!" She shouted merrily as she jumped into his arms. "Not now Sakura, we have to grab the bells¡­.." ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­.. "Tajuuu¡­..Kage-bunshin-no-jutsu" (Poof) (Poof) (Poof) (Poof) 5 clones appeared as they positioned themselves in a formation around Kakashi. "Hmmm¡­.. is this formation just a coincidence?" Kakashi murmured as he saw the clones running towards him. (boom) punches were blocked (boom) kicks were diverted (clang) Kunais were blocked (Boom!) Kakashi retreated one again, sweating profusely, ("This is no mere coincidence, that is one of the ambush formations the ANBU is currently working on but his own is more complete¡­..How is this possible?....") "Naruto, where did you learn this attack formation from?" Kakashi asked curiously as he looked into Naruto''s eyes. "I came up with it" Naruto said with a straight face as he charged once again repeatedly trying to draw Kakashi to a particular location. Naturally Kakashi was aware, and would not be fooled a second time, so he scanned around and saw a wire trap. He turned around and asked Naruto with a smile, "Are you taking me to the wire trap?" "Shit¡­." Naruto blurted out, while Kakashi jumped into mid-air avoiding the wire trap. (a while back Naruto set up a signal word while he was working on the trap with the duo) "That''s the signal¡­" Sasuke and Sakura jumped from the bushes towards Kakashi. "Hmph" Kakashi snorted with a mocking gaze as he turned mid-air to face them. (Tic!) A sound was heard, Kakashi realised at this point that he had messed up. It was a multiple stage trap with the actual wire being hidden out of sight, such that even Kakashi failed to notice with his Sharingan activated. (Whoosh!) A rope was deployed as it pulled Kakashi up by his feet while Sasuke and Sakura cleanly swiped Kakashi off his bells as he went up. The Trio assembled with Sasuke and Naruto holding the bell while Sakura had a finger on the rope holding them. (Trrrriiiiiinnnnnnggggg!!) The lunch alarm went off as the trio jumped together and shouted "Mission Complete!" While Kakashi was hanging upside down, sulking over how he lost to a bunch of juniors. Meanwhile about 500 metres away an ANBU agent was spying on the match. "That formation¡­.. How did the kid do it?" ¡­. ¡­. ¡­. "A development stage ambush formation in a complete form?¡­.. Its no mere coincidence at this point, that kid knows something..." Danzou thought aloud after hearing his subordinate''s report. "We have to call off the watch, now that the jinchuuriki has a teacher, the third has given specific instructions to not monitor him anymore." Danzou told his subordinate as he turned around to leave. (Whoosh!) the subordinate also left quietly¡­.. ¡­. ¡­. ¡­. Back in the training field, Kakashi stood near the memorial tablet as he watched the trio eat their lunch. "Looks like this bunch already honours your words Obito¡­.." Kakashi stared at the blue sky going back the to the memory from the battle of the Kanabi bridge in the second great ninja world war, where he lost Rin to an enemy group, and did not spare a thought to save her, while Obito went against Kakashi who was the temporary leader of the team. "I believe the White Fang was a hero..., Those who break the rules are scums...¡­..But¡­Those who abandon their comrades are worse than SCUM." Kakashi closed his eyes as he relived the memory again, The trio, notice Kakashi''s actions. Naruto knew the reason as the stone was a precious monument, the stone had the names of heroes who were Killed.In.Action. He also thought back to how pained Obito felt as he started the war, How he had changed for the greater good in the final moments, but still died fighting. Naruto stands up and walks over, Sasuke and Sakura follow behind him. Upon arriving near the stone monument, Naruto bowed with respect to the stone, causing Kakashi to be surprised, followed by a sense of respect towards Naruto''s action, while the duo stared at the stone. Kakashi turned towards Sasuke and Sakura and said "The stone contains the name of many of my close friends who were K.I.A". At that moment Sasuke and Sakura understood, Naruto''s gesture and also bowed towards the stone. Kakashi then turns towards Naruto and says "In the beginning , the teachers in the academy were confused and wanted to decide against having you and Sasuke in one team after the academy results as the team would be very powerful and unbalanced, but seeing as the other students were already arranged in a balanced group, they wanted me to test you all through the survival training. As you would have noticed, there were only two bells, meaning that there was only possibility for two of you to succeed, but after seeing your groups teamwork, I had truly been shocked. Never had I ever used the Sharingan for a battle against juniors. The previous teams I had faced had all been sent back to the academy as they all lacked one thing you guys had." "What is it sensei?" Sakura inquired. "TEAMWORK" Sasuke and Sakura immediately turned towards Naruto at the same time. With a sense of reverence rising for Naruto in their heart. "I am glad to announce that you all have more than passed this survival test, you have completely defeated me to my fullest extent before lunch time. In-fact you guys are already powerful enough to apply for chuunin exam as a team" "With this I conclude that the survival test is over and Team 7 can officially start doing missions from tomorrow onwards....." 8 Doubts of being a ninja? After Kakashi and Sakura left, Sasuke approached Naruto and said. "I want to fight you!" With resolve burning in his eyes. "I have to go and train¡­." Naruto brushed the question off, Sasuke''s face twisted with anger, he came even closer to Naruto and said in a bold voice "Without your weights" insistent on making Naruto agree. "Are you sure, you can handle that?...Don''t let yourself carried away, just because we won the survival training earlier¡­.." Naruto said as he pulled his sleeves up to remove the weights around his arms. "This is different from that¡­" Sasuke said as he waited patiently for Naruto to remove all the weights. "How much, do they weigh when added up?" He asked curiously. "10 per arm and 25 per leg, grand total 70kgs¡­.." Naruto calmly answered, as he finished removing. "N(o)¡­." Naruto instantly appeared behind Sasuke, as though he had teleported. "Are you going to refuse to battle me now¡­.." Naruto looked at Sasuke in the eyes. "I will give you three moves advantage, Sasuke¡­.." Naruto closed his eyes as he concentrated. "What are you doing?" Naruto remained silent as an orange colour shade appeared over his eyelids, and disappeared the next moment as if it did not exist in the first place. "What was that?" Sasuke asked. "Just made sure that no one was watching us¡­.." "How?" "By sensing" Getting irritated , Sasuke starts attacking Naruto. He threw a punch at full force that landed squarely on Naruto''s chest. "One" Naruto stuck out a finger, indicating that he was counting. Feeling more humiliated He gave a kick and also followed it with a reverse roundhouse kick. "All three moves have been executed... Now it''s my turn." Sasuke activated his sharingan by the time Naruto finished talking. But before he could taunt with a hand gesture, (SMASH!) Sasuke was imprinted into the ground with nowhere to move. Sasuke had no idea, on what just happened. He was able to see Naruto coming in to punch him, but he could not do anything about it. "How did you do it?" Sasuke asked not willing to accept his defeat. "Through training of course!" Sasuke got angry indicating that he meant something else. "Oh, you see Sasuke, even if your eyes are fast, it doesn''t mean your body can respond to accordingly, you see, your body must possess the ability to react to the speed of what you see, only then you can dodge¡­. That is why from now on, we are going to spar everyday so that you can improve your speed" Sasuke got up, no longer possessing the anger he had previously. "Go on¡­. I am listening¡­." Sasuke replied. "This training comes under the basics of Chakra control." "Now watch me" Naruto said as he walked to a nearby tree. "First Step - Knead your chakra" "Second Step - Concentrate your chakra to the base of your feet" "Third Step - Maintain the level of chakra, without releasing it out" (tck!) Naruto''s leg stuck to the tree, and he started climbing, all the way to the top. "Your turn" Naruto said as he dropped to the ground and went to wear all his weight again. Sasuke walked to the tree and tried imitating what Naruto did. "It would be better to do a running start, and be careful as you might land on your head if you fail, best thing to do is use your kunai to make a mark at the place you fail and try to make more marks above it to keep track of your improvements" Naruto advised and started to warm-up with some light exercises. ("Okay!") Sasuke thought as he ran up to the tree (Bang) Sasuke fell down right on his head after two steps. "Hahahahah!" Naruto literally rolled over the floor as he laughed. "Argh!" Sasuke stood up, not wanting to give up. The duo trained till the end of the day, at which point Sasuke could only climb half-way. ¡­. ¡­. ¡­. ¡­. The next day¡­. Deep in the forest "Naruto at point A" "Sasuke at point B" "Sakura at point C" The trio reported into the radio, on their neck "5 metres ahead, I am going" Naruto reported as he pounced skilfully onto the cat and captured it "No mistake, Red ribbon on the right ear, Missing Cat Tora, Target has been successfully retrieved ¡­" Sasuke reported into the radio. ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­.. Later in the mission office..... Naruto and the team arrive, as a plump woman with the hairdo of a geisha runs over to get her cat "Oh my cute Tora, I was so worried to death" the woman was naturally Lady Shijimi, wife of the Fire country''s Daimyo. Seeing the lady hug her cat to death, Naruto commented "If I were this cat, I would probably do the same¡­" as he pitied the cat''s life. Sasuke and Sakura silently agreed. On the table, the Hokage took a D-Rank scroll as he read, "this duty is about babysitting a boy..." "Hey old man, how about we get a real mission here" Naruto said as he received a smack from Kakashi. "Hmm¡­"The hokage thought, while Iruka took the opportunity to reprimand Naruto "You''ve just started out as a Genin, your good scores are not an excuse Naruto¡­" "Hatake Kakashi" the Third Hokage called Kakashi''s attention. "Yes" "Your team, squad 7 has received a lot of praises from our client about how well the mission was performed, your team has the highest ratings as of now, hence I don''t see a reason to turn Naruto''s request down. So if you need a mission, there is one to escort someone..." (knock) (knock) (knock) "Come in" the Hokage said, upon which an old man in a hat and a bottle showed up. "Whaaattt, aren''t they just a bunch of squirts" the old man asked as his gaze came to rest upon Naruto. ("Ah!, Its old man Tazuna, how Nostalgic.") Naruto turned towards him with a bright smile. "Particularly, you the smallest one with the idiotic face, Do you expect me to believe that you are a ninja?¡­.." the old man continued as he took a sip from his glass bottle. ("The smallest one with the idiotic face?") Naruto found that sentence very familiar for some reason. "Damn you old man" Naruto shouted back as Kakashi instantly held him back from injuring the old man ("I saved your town and don''t see you for decades and you have the nerve to call me an idiot?") Naruto screamed in his head, starting to hate some elements of time travel. "I''m Tazuna, a veteran bridge builder. For the next few months, I''m going to have you protect me as I return to my homeland and build a bridge!" The old man introduced as he headed out. Naturally the trio followed the old man as they left the village. Tazuna kept looking at Naruto and said "I still don''t feel safe with this kid". "You''ve got a problem with the future hokage, old man?" Naruto asked getting a bit irritated. "Hokage, aren''t they the strongest ninja in the village? You sure don''t look like you are gonna be one" Tazuna said cooly. "Hehe, old man, the day I become one I will make you acknowledge me¡­." Naruto commented "The day you become one is the day the pigs fly¡­" Tazuna said as he took another sip. "Damn you old man, you''re asking for it" Naruto raised his fist as he said, while Tazuna did not pay any attention to the comment. "Sensei! We are going to the Land of Waves right? Are there any ninjas in that country?" Sakura asked curiously. "Nope, only hidden villages have ninjas, and they are lorded over by the kages, the strongest ninja in their respective village¡­.." "Sakura¡­.. Did you just doubt the third Hokage?"Kakashi asked. Sakura felt guilt as she nodded sideways continuously. ¡­. ¡­. ¡­. A while later, the group came across a puddle, They kept walking by as they paid no heed, while two ninjas in dark clothing, sitting up a tree snickered as they mounted their weapons. They waited for a while as the group walked, then descended onto the ground and took off quietly in the group''s direction. Naruto quickly noticed the shady movements and smirked as he turned around and blasted off instantly appearing behind the shady duo. (bang) (bang) He knocked out both the ninjas and carried one in each arm as he approached the group. Kakashi was not too surprised, as he had already seen Naruto''s skill and had expectations for it, whereas on the other hand Sasuke and Sakura had the moths drop down with Tazuna''s own wide enough to fit an entire egg into it. Naruto dropped down the two ninjas as he walked towards Tazuna. 9 Demon of the Hidden Mist meets a hidden fis "You win kid! I like your guts" Tazuna laughed in a self-mocking manner. To Sasuke and Sakura, this was the first time, they faced enemies, so powerful. Sasuke bent down as he slammed his fists at the floor regretting not being able to take any actions. ¡­. ¡­. ¡­. Elsewhere , in an enclosed hall a short man wearing tuxedo, in black glasses and a walking stick screamed "Did you say you failed?¡­.I paid a lot of money to hire you guys, because you once said you were hot-shot ninjas!" On the opposite side a tall bare-chested man was seated with a long blade on one hand started speaking "Stop you darned grumbling" he moved the long blade towards the neck of the man who spoke previously and said "Next time, I''ll kill him with this" Naturally the man with the blade was Zabuza, while the man opposite to him was Gato "Is it really all right? It seems to me that the enemy has hired good ninjas. On top of that, a tightened guard on account of demon brother''s failure means that it won''t be (easy)..."Gato was interrupted "Just Who do you think I am? You are talking to Momochi Zabuza who was also called the Demon of the Hidden Mist" ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­. The group board a small boat that was waiting for Tazuna "Let''s go" Tazuna commanded at the boatman. The boatman then took his oar and started to row the boat. While the others were busy checking the surroundings, Naruto kept staring at Tazuna, and so did Kakashi. "Old man you said you like my guts right?" Naruto asked as he looked at Tazuna in the eyes. "Yes¡­.." Tazuna said as he stared back "Then why did you request for a C-Rank mission?" Naruto''s question surprised Kakashi as he had the same thing running on his mind. "Don''t worry old man, we will protect you" Naruto reassured Tazuna. Tazuna finally cracked as he said "The land of waves is a very small country , whose people have very meagre money, even our feudal lord is a poor man" "A small country like the land of waves could never afford a B-Rank mission even if we pitched in all the money we have. But don''t worry, I won''t blame you ninjas after all. If I die probably my grandson will cry a lot whereas my daughter would probably have a grudge against ninjas from Konoha ...." ("Inari huh, I wonder how he is doing¡­") Naruto mused. "Tazuna, you see C-Rank missions deal with basic thieves or armed robbers , whereas B-Rank above deal with ninjas." Kakashi explained to Tazuna patiently. "Can you please tell us the name of the man after you?" Kakashi inquired. "Have ya heard of a shipping magnate by the name of Gato?" "You mean Gato of the Gato company?¡­ He''s one of the world''s richest man" Kakashi tried to confirm with a sense of disbelief. "About a year ago, he set his sight on the land of waves. He used wealth and violence to enter this country and took complete control of the islands maritime, transportation and shipping. In an island nation like ours, having control over these factors means having control over everything, but there is one thing that Gato fears¡­.." The group looked attentively at this moment "The Bridge" "Thus you stand in his way¡­" Naruto added. "Yes" Tazuna said as he looked down in guilt. ("The previous ones were mostly chuunins, so they are most definitely going to send an elite jonin this time around¡­..") Kakashi thought to himself as he felt a headache coming in. ¡­. ¡­. ¡­. A few moments later The group finally reached a land region, and started walking again. ¡­. ¡­. As everyone was walking, Naruto takes out a kunai, and sends it flying in a certain direction. "Naruto stop scaring us" Sakura screams. "I definitely sensed someone there, but not anymore now¡­." Naruto said as he goes to the bush. Behind a bush, was a now rabbit, lying on the ground motionlessly. "A substitution" Naruto''s expression darkened, as he turned around to see a long blade flying towards them "Duck" Naruto shouted as he jumped up and kicked the blade away from the group. In a particular tree behind the group, Zabuza stood surprised as he saw Naruto kick his blade away. "This brat and Kakashi of the Sharingan. I didn''t expect for there to be 2 troublesome opponents in this group" Zabuza mused as he disappeared, instantly arriving next to his blade. At this moment, Sasuke stepped up, as he paid great attention to the man who had just made an appearance. "Hey, it cannot be Momochi Zabuza, the rogue ninja from the hidden mist now can it?" Kakashi greeted him with a smile, as he indicated Sasuke to stay where he was. "Kakashi of the sharingan and¡­." "Oh, How rude of me, they are my students" Kakashi pointed to Naruto and co. ("That yellow haired kid is his student? He seems to be very powerful") Zabuza mused as he turned around with the blade in his hand, while Kakashi lifted his head protector, revealing his sharingan. "Oh, it is quite an honour to see the legendary sharingan up-close. To think that one not of Uchiha blood like you has it, yet to have been able to gain the title, ''The man who copied over a thousand jutsus'' .... ''copy ninja Kakashi'' " Zabuza praised, Kakashi''s achievements. Sakura, appeared to be totally impressed, while Sasuke wondered how Kakashi got the Sharingan in the first place. "Let''s end the talk, I need to kill that old man immediately" Zabuza''s voice changed to an unpleasant tone. "But it looks like, I have to kill you first, Kakashi." Zabuza said as he grabbed his long blade and jumped onto a small pond nearby. Zabuza raised one of his hands while the other was held as a seal as he discharged chakra which roiled up the water vapours nearby, instantly forming a thick cover of mist.