127Prologue
Chapter 2: Examinations
The Village Hidden in the Leaves was hailed as the strongest ninja village in the world. Three shinobi wars and they have come out on top or at least the better of the other participants. Their military population boasted just under thirteen thousand shinobi all lead by the legendary Kami no Shinobi- Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Out of the Great Five Hidden Villages; Konoha was known to be a jack of all trades village. With clans like the Uchiha and Senju being its' founders, there weren't many jutsu that wasn't archived in the Konoha vault, be it Nin, Tai, Gen or Fūinjutsu. They boasted the largest number of shinobi born with Katon affinities that could use jutsu that turned entire groups of enemies to ash in mere moments. Along with them there were numerous shinobi born with other primary affinities to bolster their already impressive offense even further. With the teachings of the Shodaime Hokage regarding teamwork, most villages were warned against fighting a squad of Konoha shinobi together and did their best to separate them. Teams such as the infamous Sannin and Ino-Shika-Cho only further cemented this belief.
With those factors in place, Konoha's Shinobi Academy didn't focus as heavily on any specific branches of shinobi combat other than the basics to lay the foundation that the Jōnin-sensei's would build upon. It was a much different take than any of the other Great Villages as Kumo was rumored to start Raiton training in their academy and their tests and examinations were far more practical and standardized to produce many effective shinobi every year. The differences were clear as Konoha may have less overall shinobi but they possessed quality over quantity and the past wars have surely explained which was better. Iwa certainly learned that the hard way as a one thousand shinobi campaign was stopped and annihilated by a single man utilizing an S-Rank Time-Space jutsu to brutal efficiency.
All this was affecting a single blond academy student as he was forced to sit through yet another lecture on the application of Suiton chakra in environments without a water source near by. Something that Naruto was familiar with as he understood the first time he heard this lecture, last week. But that was before the most recent exam that almost half the class scored below average. Mind boggling as it was to him, Naruto did in fact understand that such things were confusing to most as Suiton was quite a difficult element to firmly understand, especially in theory instead of with actual experience.
Iruka Umino looked around the class to see who could answer his question and laid eyes on the perpetually bored blond and smirked. "Uzumaki! What is the most detrimental effect dry environments have on Suiton users?"
Naruto closed his eyes and sat straight up to answer.
"There are a few," Started the blond with a lazy drawl. "Mostly though would be the extra chakra required to produce large amounts of water from inside the body. Which, with prolonged use of this method dehydrates the user. Something like that I guess."
The Chūnin let out a sigh of dismay, while the blond answered correctly his enthusiasm left much to be desired. But it was to be expected, Naruto was going to be one of the top graduates next week, he would have been one of the bottom students if his attendance didn't fix two years ago. He wasn't sure what changed in the blond but since that day he hasn't missed a single class unless the Hokage himself excused the blond. While that in itself was strange, Iruka didn't think on it too much since he had far too many students to worry about rather than one that was a little odd.
"Very good," Praised Iruka ignoring some of the other students groans. "It's too be expected after all. KIBA! Stop falling asleep and pay attention, you might have passed if you did last time."
Kiba jolted up and glared at the his laughing classmates. Muttering about unnecessary tests while his faithful companion- Akamaru, yipped in agreement. Naruto shook his head at the everyday occurrence and went back to his thoughts.
The past two years under Enma and the rest of his summons's tutelage made Naruto several times stronger than before his training began. He has gotten extremely proficient in his Taijutsu stances, while he was strong for his age he would need to use weapons such as kunai against larger fully-grown opponents. With his training he was undefeated by everyone save for Sasuke Uchiha in Taijutsu.
Naruto acknowledged the last loyal Uchiha's skill in hand to hand combat as the best in class, Naruto was faster but without the use of weapons or jutsu, which were prohibited in spars, Naruto couldn't do anything about the reactive and redirecting Taijutsu art that the Uchiha clan were masters of.
Naruto was sure that in an all out spar the result would be quite different as Naruto has come far in Ninjutsu. Enma expressed extreme surprise at Naruto's progression in Doton, while it wasn't the blond's affinity Naruto was able to use jutsu to brutal efficiency. Then there were the times that the Sandaime would give him personal sessions. They discovered that Naruto was in fact a Fūton primary and was receiving nature transformation exercises for the element. That were progressing quite quickly in Naruto's opinion. Though during training the Sandaime was quite fond of teasing Naruto about his progress compared to the himself.
"Oh impressive! …Though I had already master fire and earth at your age and was a Jōnin."
"Don't be hard on yourself Naruto! Not everyone is cut out for Ninjutsu, I'm sure the administrative devision could use a delivery boy!"
That was what he had to listen to as he and several Kage Bunshin were furiously trying to cut leaves with wind-natured chakra. Bastard of an old man was getting far too much amusement out of making fun of him. Especially after a spar with the blond- who has yet to land a single hit on the elderly Hokage. Naruto was glad that the graduation exam was next week because if he had to sit through mind numbingly boring lectures then be trained into the ground everyday he was going to start a revolution. He doubted anyone would side with him but an army of clones causing chaos would throw any village into insanity.
The bell to the academy rang signifying the end of the school day and Naruto walked to his training ground on autopilot, he was sure that he was in a literal rut from doing the same thing everyday.
xXx
(Later that Day: Lagoon Training Ground)
Each of the five basic nature transformation had their own strengths and weaknesses. Naruto was currently feeling some of the draw backs of Fūton. It was a highly offensive element capable of slicing, shredding, pushing or crushing with pressure. While those were the strengths, the draw backs were that it had very little to offer in defense, it was hard to control and drained chakra more than any other element. Though the latter wasn't much of a problem for Naruto as his reserves were massive. The volatile nature of wind was causing Naruto to strain his chakra coils for practicing jutsu without both Fūton exercises completed.
Enma wasn't present in Naruto's training today, after Naruto mastered his Taijutsu and was deemed proficient enough in Doton. The Monkey King no longer required him to attend daily sessions, only two per week.
The Sandaime Hokage was a master of all five basic nature transformations. He was taught by the legendary Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages. He was capable of bending and molding chakra into lighting, then stop halfway through and send out a wide stream of fire before expelling the lightning all the while saturating his body and muscles with chakra. That was the unrivaled mastery of shape manipulation and chakra control the legendary Shinobi no Kami possessed. This was the mountain that Naruto needed to climb, the shadow he needed to leave, Naruto's life goal evolved ever since his first training session with the Sandaime. It was no longer about just becoming Hokage, no, he was going to become stronger than Hiruzen Sarutobi, he was going to take his title and the world will know his name as the de-facto strongest shinobi of his time!
But for now he needed to master his newest jutsu, Fūton: Kazebakufu. This jutsu was a compacted ball of wind easily the size of a grown man that stuck with enough force that it destroyed tree trucks and shredded whatever was near. Wind lived up to it's name of being the most offensive element as this was a relatively weak jutsu compared to some that he has seen the Sandaime utilize. Thinking about his self proclaimed rival Naruto gained the energy needed to try his jutsu once more.
The wind element was unusual in that it required less hand signs than the other elements but more chakra to generate. Naruto weaved two handseals and felt his lungs saturate with chakra and exhaled a dense ball of chakra. The jutsu distorted the air around it, a shrieking gale sounded in the area and the targeted tree was struck by the jutsu and held firm for less than half a second before the area it directly hit disintegrated and large chunks of wood flew through the area stabbing into the ground.
Naruto fell onto his back gasping for air, Fūton that originated from internal an source left the user without oxogen in their lungs. Yet another draw back for the unrivaled offense, but Naruto noted that his jutsu was successful. Much to his pleasure.
This jutsu was similar to the first Doton jutsu he learned, with mastery of this he could learn many branching and derived jutsu. Naruto noticed a theme with the techniques that he received from his summons and Ji-chan, perhaps to help him master the respective elements? Naruto was highly proficient in if not a master of basic Doton manipulation. He wasn't capable of hardening the earth to obsidian level densities like he's heard some Iwa Jōnin could, but realistically Naruto could learn most Doton jutsu without much effort at this point. The Doton: Doro Dangan no Jutsu was without a doubt the best jutsu to start with as it taught him how to manipulate mud and harden his jutsu after casting them. After mastering it Naruto made some modifications and created a few new jutsu of his own during training.
From what he already knows about his wind technique, his mastery of it was only at a basic level. A master could fire multiple blasts in rapid succession and even easily shatter stone. He was a ways off but nothing a little hard work, a touch of talent and a few dozen clones couldn't accomplish in a few days.
Well he was done for the day, time for him to enjoy a nice cold shower. It was far too hot this time of year for a warm one. Hi no Kuni indeed.
xXx
(Graduation Day: Konoha Academy)
The Konoha Graduation exam was quite long and tedious, a written exam that covered their entire time in the Academy, a physical test against a Chūnin instructor and a Ninjutsu examination requiring use of one of the basic three jutsu that was randomly assigned.
Naruto, as expected, passed the written exam and kami willing it was to be the last one he ever had to take. Now he was waiting in line for either instructor to call his name for the spar, since it was a final exam the students were allowed to use any skills in their arsenal to pass. Much to Naruto's excitement, not only for a chance to go all out but to see some of the clan heir's skills in action. Like Shikamaru's who was fighting with his instructor.
The Nara clan were inhabitants of Hi no Kuni for generations, the shadow jutsu they were known for were originally created as a way for them to capture deer to harvest their antlers for medicinal uses. When the Warring States era began they started to implement this jutsu for offensive purposes to capture their targets. Mixed with their seemingly genetic high intelligence ratios, the Nara clan has used simple binding techniques to brutal efficiency as they were able to keep foes such as the Inuzuka Clan immobilized during the Warring States Era without trouble. It was kept secret by the Nara clan for generations but as it was just Yin-Release manipulation it has been copied by several Uchiha over the years and the Sandaime Hokage has even shown mastery of the Shadow techniques during the first and second shinobi wars.
Currently, Shikamaru Nara was facing off against Mizuki, the assistant instructor who decided to help Iruka during the final examinations this year. Mizuki was quite tall with white hair that fell down to neck length, he wore the standard blue shinobi attire and green Konoha Chūnin flack jacket. He was apparently quite skilled as a shinobi, Naruto heard him talking to Iruka arrogantly about being selected to be promoted to Jōnin and all that was left was for the Sandaime's approval. Which meant that his skills were a cut above Chūnin making him a seriously difficult opponent for the final exam.
Shikamaru lazily observed his opponent with a scowl, he was clearly outclassed. If he could find a way to corner Mizuki then he knew that he would win. Mizuki grew tired of the inaction and shot forward at Chūnin speeds, with the sloth of a shinobi Shikamaru was it was surprising that he mustered up the speed to avoid the text book punch and jump away from the leg sweep.
Shikamaru pulled out set of four kunai and put two in each hand. The instructor regarded the weapons with narrowed eyes trying to decipher the Nara's plan. Shikamaru heaved both arms and with a grunt of effort and flung them towards Mizuki who blinked lamely as they all missed their mark landing behind him. Some of the others watching the spar snickered at the attempt while Mizuki decided to punish the Nara for the failed tactic like he would be in real combat.
When Mizuki neared Shikamaru, he was surprised that Shikamaru suddenly smirked as he held the rat hand seal. When Mizuki saw this he suddenly lost all ability of movement as Shikamaru grinned fully. Below him was a tendril of shadow that was connected through each of the kunai that Shikamaru threw earlier shadow's.
"Kagemane no Jutsu complete." Muttered Shikamaru. The others watching let out slow claps, some of them had wide eyes that the notoriously lazy boy managed to actually win his spar.
Mizuki suppressed his snarl or annoyance and settled for a pleased smile. "Very good Nara-kun. If you'll let me go now."
Shikamaru released his shadow and walked back towards the group of students and laid down under the nearest tree to take a nap. Those who saw this shook their heads and waited for the next person to be called by Mizuki.
The Chūnin examiner looked over his last few students to test and smirked at the Uchiha, it would be interesting to see how the last of the once legendary clan faired in combat. "Sasuke Uchiha!" The genin hopeful silently walked into the center of the grass field and stood across from Mizuki.
Sasuke was the only member of the Uchiha clan that was still loyal to Konoha after his elder brother- Itachi Uchiha, went crazy and killed everyone in his clan save for Sasuke. Itachi left him with the challenge of attaining power then to come before him to see who was the strongest Uchiha. The last of the once legendary and founding clan of Konoha stood in his family's Interceptor Fist with pure focus on his face as he waited for Mizuki to come to him. The girls that were watching let out dreamy sighs at the subject of their affections acting so cool.
Realizing that Sasuke would patiently stand there for as long as necessary Mizuki decided to start the match by throwing two practice shuriken toward the Uchiha before rushing in at standard Chūnin speeds. Sasuke with impressive speeds himself reached into his thigh holster and pulled out a kunai. With skills practiced over countless hours Sasuke threw his kunai towards the shuriken, the flying knife hit the metal stars at just the right angle to send them flying towards Mizuki, who's eyes widened and he stopped his advance. Sasuke seeing the opening shot forward with speed that was unmatched by everyone in the class save for Naruto.
Mizuki noticed Sasuke coming without any trouble but with the speed and strength he was allowed to use for the examination he couldn't react in time for an attack so settled for defense. Sasuke started off with a left hook that was blocked by Mizuki's right forearm, the Uchiha continued by baiting a right uppercut which Mizuki moved to avoid. When Sasuke saw thing he jumped and spun clockwise with his right leg extended hitting the Chūnin in the head with bone jarring strength.
Mizuki blinked rapidly as he jumped away to gain distance, the Uchiha was unsurprisingly amazing at Taijutsu. He wasn't allowed a second to think as Sasuke was on him as he jumped and spun clockwise yet again while his body was horizontal bringing his leg down on the awaiting Chūnin's raised arm guard causing him to grunt at the powerful attack. Sasuke wasn't done as he used Mizuki's arms as a spring board and jumped into the air while weaving through seals ending in the tiger seal.
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!
Sasuke's chest swelled to unnatural levels before he blew out a strong stream of chakra that ignited in a storm of red flames that formed into a man sized fireball that soared towards the grounded Mizuki. The heat of the impressive Katon jutsu was felt throughout the clearing by all those testing or watching, none more so than Mizuki who used a seal-less replacement with one of the many logs in the area.
The log that was hit turned to ash before the fireball even completely touched the ground. Once the fireball hit the grass the ground vibrated from the force and red flames exploded, hot enough to catch some of the trees close enough on fire. Some of the watching Chūnin weaved seals and expelled large globs of water that lacked any sort of offensive use but did the job that was intended and put out the fires.
Undeterred by his jutsu failing to finish the fight Sasuke landed in a crouch and took his stance looking over towards his Chūnin opponent. Mizuki merely shook his head at the Uchiha's tenacity.
"I believe that's enough." Said MIzuki with a smile as he looked at the remaining students before he realized that only one was left- him.
"Uzumaki!" Shouted Mizuki as he took his stance. Some of the others were thrown off by the change in tone but disregarded it as Mizuki has been quite angry since Choji accidentally punched him in the crotch earlier today during his test.
Naruto took one out of Shikamaru's book and dragged his feet into the clearing and took his specialized stance, one that had no special qualities only both hands raised ready to go. Mizuki mentally snorted at the brats pathetic technique before starting off towards the blond at his regulated speeds, he couldn't go harder since he was being watched by several Chūnin and the surrounding Genin hopefuls.
Naruto kept his pose until the last possible second before leaning at a forty-five degree angle out of the way of Mizuki's haymaker. Naruto jumped up, his body completely horizontal, spun and kicked his left calf into Mizuki's throat and his right shin on the back of Mizuki's neck. With as much abdominal strength as Naruto could muster twisted his body and flipped Mizuki until he landed on his stomach.
The Chūnin grunted in agony at the blond's attack, his throat hurt and he was sure that he would have had his neck snapped if he didn't saturate his body with chakra as a reflex. Now he was pissed, with a grimace of pain Mizuki started pulling himself to his feet. Naruto saw this and weaved through hand-seals before exhaling a torrent of mud that covered Mizuki, the last Uzumaki moved his hands to the rat seal and hardened the mud into rock firmly keeping the Chūnin trapped. Naruto didn't stop there as he tossed a kunai with an explosive note attached to the back at the rock prison.
"Give up or you'll be torn to pieces!" Ordered Naruto in an uncharacteristically serious voice that caught those who knew Naruto off guard. This wasn't the lazy yet smart blond that sleepwalked his way through class, this was an extremely dangerous shinobi that took down a Chūnin within seventeen seconds.
Mizuki bit the inside of his cheek to calm himself before smiling at Naruto. "I give Uzumaki, now if you'll please."
Naruto grabbed the kunai and placed it back in his holster then put both hands on the rock surrounding Mizuki before he channeled Doton chakra and caused it to crumple into dust freeing Mizuki.
Mizuki dusted himself off while silently seething, "That concludes the Combat portion! Please return to class for the ninjutsu portion."
xXx
The Konoha Academy didn't teach many jutsu to their aspiring shinobi, merely giving them the foundations for their Jōnin-sensei's to build upon. The three basic academy jutsu were created by Tobirama Senju for children to learn as a way for them to get used to manipulating their chakra in certain ways.
The Kawarimi no Jutsu was one of the most useful jutsu in existence and gave Genin practice in manipulating their chakra for bursts of speed, since it requires them latch onto a target it was far safer that the Shunshin no Jutsu. The Bunshin no Jutsu was to get those used to projecting their chakra at distances, incredibly useful yet the jutsu itself is ineffective outside of the academy as it has no offensive capabilities and isn't even that good of a distraction. Lastly, the Henge no Jutsu was to get children used to manipulating their bodies with chakra to change a certain aspect of themselves either partially or completely.
With these factors, it was not without grounds that the Ninjutsu portion of the exam was the most heavily weighed part of the finals. Those who fail this fail over all unless they scored perfectly on each of them.
Naruto watched as everyone was called one by one into the next room, with his last name starting with a U he was going to be near the end. From what he could hear there hasn't been a single failure yet, surprising but not completely unbelievable as most of his class were clan shinobi.
Naruto felt someone sit next to him and turned to see the face of Sasuke Uchiha, who was giving him a curious look as if trying to figure something out.
"Yes?" Muttered Naruto.
Sasuke stared for a moment longer before speaking. "Why do you act as though you don't care about being a ninja, yet posses such developed skills? Were you trying to hide your skill?"
Naruto didn't know why he was being interrogated by Sasuke but answered none the less. "I act like this because I'm bored, I have skill because I train everyday and I don't hide my skill I just never had the chance to use them."
Sasuke seemed to accept that as he turned away and sat quietly next to Naruto, while he didn't particularly care for anyone in this class. Sasuke found that Naruto was easy to be around because he didn't constantly try to talk to him.
"So do you know any other jutsu?" Or so Sasuke thought, at least it wasn't a stupid question though.
"I know one other Katon jutsu." Sasuke wasn't exactly happy that was all he had but he didn't have any way to learn anymore jutsu without going to his clan home. A place that Sasuke really didn't want to see again. "What about you?"
Naruto wasn't sure what he should tell Sasuke, flat to giving everything away seemed stupid so he held some back. "I have a few more Doton that I made after mastering the jutsu you saw." He'll need Fūton to himself for now.
"Sasuke Uchiha!" Called Iruka from the other room.
Sasuke gave Naruto a slight nod and got up to take his exam. Naruto was now the only one left in the classroom, wait…What the hell was he even doing here? Naruto put his hands in a unique seal and with a pop and a small puff of smoke an exact copy of Naruto was created. Naruto was about to give his clone orders to stay here before he was hit with a memory.
xXx
(Flashback)
"Now I'm giving you this jutsu because you are taking far too much time to do even the simplest of tasks. The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu will help you train." Instructed the Sandaime while smoking his pipe.
Naruto's eye twitched several times before he was hit with a potent wave of chakra, it saturated the air causing it to become heavy and bare down on Naruto almost as if the very will of the universe wanted Naruto to bow to the Sandaime.
"I want to make something very clear. If you use this jutsu to skip out on important tasks I will personally deal out the punishment. Do not abuse the jutsu I give you for menial tasks!"
xXx
(End Flashback)
With that memory re-lived Naruto dispelled the clone and waited for his name to be called. It shouldn't take long as Sasuke shouldn't take more than a few s-
"Naruto Uzumaki!"
Ah, there we go.
xXx
Naruto stood in front of Iruka and Mizuki who sat behind a large table with numerous Konoha Standard Forehead Protectors on it. The blond didn't look a bit nervous as he waited to hear which jutsu would be his to show.
"Naruto, please show us proficiency in the Bunshin no Jutsu." Ordered Iruka.
Naruto held the same unique seal as earlier and created two Kage Bunshin next to him without a word that stood in the same slouched position as the original. Iruka was floored by the sight of a B-Rank jutsu being used by an academy student before yelling out 'Pass!'.
Naruto walked over and grabbed a headband and secured it to his forehead as he walked out of the classroom without another word.
Since today was only for the examination it ended much earlier than normal. Perhaps he could go talk to the old man about a round of training or something, whoever his Jōnin-sensei was going to be he might not have compatible skills with Naruto which could mean he was out of luck for more jutsu.
As Naruto arrived to the courtyard outside of the Academy he saw that most of the students had their families and parents there to congratulate them for becoming shinobi. Some of them became quiet when he walked outside while others just continued to talk with their families as he walked away.
"So he's a shinobi now."
"I heard he was one of the top in the class."
"I hope Hokage-sama knows what he's doing."
With practiced ease Naruto ignored the not-so-subtle whispers and continued walking away. He long ago gave up on listening to them, for whatever reason they didn't like him and he was starting to share the sentiment.
"Congratulations Uzumaki-kun." Naruto turned to see a smiling Mizuki standing next to him. "If you don't mind I would like to talk to you about a possible mission."
xXx
(Hokage's Office)
The Sandaime bit the mouth piece of his pipe as he thought over what Naruto told him. It was a horrible revelation that one of his rising Chūnin, someone he was about to pass through as Jōnin was in actuality a traitor. The Hokage felt the unrivaled power that lay just beneath his skin roar to be released and he suppressed it with practiced ease, this might be a good test for young Naruto as it were.
"So he wants you to steal the forbidden scroll of seals, told you where it was and how to remove the safe guards and to meet you in the woods." Reaffirmed the Sandaime, it wasn't that good of a plan in the first place and Mizuki should have picked a far dumber person to trick than Naruto. The blond was surprisingly shrewd when he wanted to be.
"Yeah, he said that you would be gone but I know you're never that far away. Not to mention if anything, I've seen these passed few years is right Ji-chan then I don't stand even the smallest chance against you. Which is why I came to tell you instead of trying to steal the scroll." Said Naruto with a bored look before his eyes glinted. "Well I have one jutsu that would work but it's too unfair to use on you."
"Heh." The Sandaime expertly avoided that, that Kami forsaken Oiroke no Jutsu could take literally any man off guard. It was as ingenious as it was stupid- overall it fit Naruto to a tee.
"Moving on. I have a mission for you," Started the Sandaime who smirked at Naruto's 'serious' face. "I want you to confront Mizuki and take him down. I will send back up but they will not interfere unless you fail. Please don't fail, it would be most embarrassing for me if my pupil couldn't take out a measly Chūnin."
Naruto stood up and rolled his eyes. "So it would be out of the question for me to have a look at the scroll for good behavior?"
The Sandaime shot him a bored look as if disappointed the words left Naruto's mouth. "You can read the whole thing once this hat resides on your head." And with that Naruto left the office to the meeting ground where he and Mizuki would face off.
xXx
(Midnight: Konoha Forest)
Konohagakure no Sato held thousands of Jōnin, but only one percent of them held the Elite title. One of them happened to be the infamous Kakashi Hatake, son of the White Fang and prodigy of the highest regard. Kakashi made Chūnin at the unprecedented age of six and after several years of war and serving under Minato Namikaze he became Jōnin by his twelfth birthday. He was hailed as the strongest active duty shinobi in the entire Konoha Shinobi force with his only rival being Maito Gai.
Kakashi Hatake was many things- an Elite Jōnin, prodigy, genius…bored. He was tasked by the Sandaime to watch over one of his new students on his first ever mission. To take out the rogue Chūnin Mizuki, now this would be incredibly interesting as it would give him more information on his blond student. But, they have been waiting for the past three hours for the guy and Naruto has been 'reading' over a large scroll that was a replica of the forbidden one in the Hokage's vault. Stake out missions were common in ANBU but they had the sense of danger to them that this barely B-Rank of a mission clearly didn't have. His only saving grace was his orange book that he was nearing his ninth completion of.
Kakashi's senses flared and he smelt someone approaching. Ah! It was time he supposed, time to see how one of his newest students fared in real combat.
On the forest floor Naruto set down his large scroll and looked up at Mizuki, who was standing on one of the tree branches looking down at Naruto with a sneer. The blond was undeterred as he slowly and carefully threw the large scroll towards Mizuki who's eyes widened for a half second before catching the scroll.
"I must say you are the dumbest Jinchūriki I've ever heard of. I thought the Kyūbi would have told you what my intentions were! No matter, now I can kill you once and for all!" Roared Mizuki.
Naruto's eyes blew open as he understood what Mizuki said, it all came crashing down on him. It would certainly explain his treatment, he'll certainly have a talk with Ji-chan but right now he had something to do.
"Mizuki." Naruto's voice cut the tension in the area as the rogue Chūnin glared at Naruto. "I was considering fighting you, I knew this was a sham but then I thought. Why? It could be much quicker like this."
Naruto held the tiger seal as his chakra let out a minuscule pulse. "Detonate." The scroll in Mizuki's arms had a sizzling sound come from it before the five explosive notes Naruto put inside detonated causing an explosion that destroyed Mizuki, the tree he was standing on and the surrounding trees in a fiery hell storm. Naruto watched with apathetic eyes as the explosive notes obliterated everything in a fifteen foot diameter.
With his anticlimactic mission completed he had much to talk to the Sandaime about. All revolving around his supposed status as a 'Jinchūriki'.
xXx
(Next Day: Konoha Academy)
Naruto sat waiting for Iruka to arrive to announce the teams as he carefully thought over everything he was told last night. The old man left nothing to the imagination and explained everything he needed to know.
Jinchūriki were demon hosts, they held one of the nine Bijū within them by use of highly complex Fūinjutsu. Each of the great five has at least one with both Iwa and Kumo having two. Naruto was the first one Konoha has ever had who's seal allowed for him to actually use the Kyūbi's chakra. Which meant that he was expected to be able to draw upon the power and use it should the time come.
He was told that he was on the lighter side of the spectrum when it came to how he was treated. Other villages would treat them like dogs and train them from the earliest possible age and turn them into weapons for their Kage's bidding. The were even reports that the Kazekage sent assassins after his Jinchūriki son to strengthen him with actual life and death combat. Naruto was both disgusted and relieved. Disgusted at his fellow host's treatment and relieved that his Hokage was the who he was and not someone who would turn him into a weapon. There was a lot of responsibility as a host as well some- Kumo, looked to the hosts as guardians or protectors and were expected to protect home and country from any and all threats. Naruto wanted that and made an oath to achieve guardian status in his village before becoming Hokage.
"Team Seven." Naruto was brought from his thoughts when he heard Iruka announce the next team. He was with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. He was pleased that Sasuke was on his team as he was competent and a potentially good sparring partner but he didn't know that much about Sakura except that she really liked Sasuke.
Time passed and a beautiful young woman came for team eight and a very large burly man that Naruto recognized as the old man's son came for team ten. As minutes turned to hours the three members of team seven sunk into their seats as their sensei most likely forgot about them.
As the three of them lost hope that someone was coming the door slid open to reveal a very tall man with spiky silver hair. He wore the standard Konoha attire with a Konoha-Standard Dark Green Jōnin flack-jacket over it.
"Hello. Why don't you all follow me up to the roof." His lazy voice was in contrast to his right eye that was bent like a smile.
Sitting on the roof top were three Genin and Kakashi who was sitting happily while reading his orange book. Kakashi snapped his book closed and gave them all a look.
"How about we give introductions. I'll start, my name is Kakashi Hatake and I like my book I hate things, hobbies are far too adult for children and I have absolutely no dreams for the future. Now how about you on the right."
Sasuke kept his hands in front of his mouth as his voice came out steady and controlled. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, there aren't many things I like and too many things I hate. I don't have a dream since those don't always come true but I will rebuild my clan and kill a certain man."
Kakashi's eyes glinted with interest before it went back to his usual uninterested look. 'That won't do, I'll see to it that he changes his attitude…ANBU style.' It wouldn't do for Sasuke to not contribute to the team and Kakashi was nothing if not concerned about his team's teamwork. Genin had egos and Kakashi was a master of shattering those from his experience as an ANBU captan.
Sakura wiggled in her seat pushing down her blush at the incredible intro her crush just gave. Kakashi pointed to her and she gave her introduction. "My name is Sakura Haruno, I like, well the person I like…My dream is to… I hate Ino-pig and that rotten Kiba!"
Kakashi just blinked lamely at the introduction. 'That certainly won't do. I will break that immediately, maybe I can make her cry so she'll hate me and train harder to kill me.' Thought Kakashi with an eye smile.
The others turned to Naruto and he looked back at them with a curious gaze and tilted his head. "What?"
They face-faulted and Kakashi rubbed his cheek with an annoyed sigh. "Introductions Naruto."
Naruto perked up at that. "Oh I wasn't even paying attention. Names Naruto Uzumaki, I like training, ramen and ninjutsu I hate some things that are unimportant. Hobbies are, well… My goal is to be Hokage and pass the trial."
Naruto managed to conceal his slight blush when he got to hobbies. It was the old man's fault for leaving out those magazines and books, now Naruto read them whenever he had the chance. They were very well written and the Sandaime's student was a master author in Naruto's opinion. But he was far too embarrassed to read them in front of people like his sensei could apparently.
Kakashi noticed Naruto's actions and smirked beneath his mask, the blond was a little perverted and Kakashi was fine with that. He was curious as to what this trial was but was sure to find out later. And much to Kakashi's surprise, Naruto didn't seem to need much of an attitude adjustment maybe a little motivation but Kakashi was far from the one to push someone to not act lazy. He barely opens his eye all the way after all.
Kakashi clapped to get everyone's attention. "Now that is just fantastic! Everyone shall now follow me to a training area so we can begin your final assessment!" The surprise in the Genin's eyes was noted but Kakashi ignored it and started to lead them to a training ground.
He was originally going to do this tomorrow but he doubted it would make a difference- Naruto and Sasuke needed to be pushed through. Both of them were far passed the necessary skill and he just wanted to make sure they could work together. Hopefully when he starts training his team Sakura will be a quick study and can contribute, because if there is one thing that legendary shinobi that are regarded as the strongest of their generation hate, it's boring D-Rank missions.
xXx
(Training Ground Three)
Training ground three was known to be the home for almost every generation of team seven. All the way back to the Sannin, Naruto noted that the area was quiet standard- large patch of grass, large trees and a lake conveniently out of the way yet close.
Kakashi stood next to one of the three tree stumps and set a timer atop the middle one. "I am going to have two bells," Kakashi gestured to his hip where two silver bells hung. "The student who fails to take one form me fails and is sent back to the academy. If all of you fail then I don't have to worry about being a sensei any more. I suggest you come at me with the intent to kill otherwise I'll disregard you entirely."
The three genin took in the information with nervous eyes. This was a difficult test and was pass or fail with high stakes. Naruto's eyes glinted with determination as he tried to figure out what the meaning of the test really was, it couldn't be that simple. It was practically hammered into his head by Enma and the Sandaime that things were rarely as they seemed in the shinobi world.
"Okay…you guys can start."
With that the three Genin shot off into the forest. Naruto took position atop one of the taller trees, he was kept concealed by the lower branches and had a birds eye view of the entire area. He could see Sakura's pink hair directly below him in a bush and Sasuke was somewhere to his right also in a tree.
Kakashi seemed bored at the turn of events and just took out his book to wait for one of them to attack.
'Okay what's the deal? Is he going to fight us as a test and let us take a bell if we impress him? Seems likely, I'll get down there to see.' Naruto came to this conclusion in a fraction of a moment before springing into action.
The last Uzumaki jumped towards Kakashi while fishing through his shinobi pouch to let loose five shuriken that covered the distance between himself and Kakashi in an instant. Kakashi merely slapped the throwing stars away with his book much to Naruto's annoyance.
"Not even a dodge huh, just used your book. Okay." Muttered Naruto as he stood across from Kakashi. The Jōnin in question chuckled lightly with his eye in a upside down U shape.
Kakashi closed his book and regarded Naruto with an appraising look. "Shinobi battle techniques #1: Taijutsu."
Naruto pulled out a kunai that he held in a reverse grip. Kakashi Hatake was much larger and far more physically developed to fight on even ground with his hands. Naruto with his left hand tossed another volley of shuriken towards Kakashi who this time caught them and flung them back at the blond. Naruto who was sprinting forward used his kunai to deflect the shuriken and slashed out horizontally at the Jōnin who leaned away and grabbed Naruto's extended wrist and threw him over his shoulder into the air.
Midair Naruto weaved through hand-seals, his chest filled with chakra and he expelled a steady stream of mud that became wider and wider at the end as it flew then hardened into stone. Naruto's newest jutsu Doton: Kobushi no Iwahogasha. Naruto hardened the end of a compacted stream of mud mid-flight that formed an enormous fist of solid rock, from practice Naruto was able to shatter boulders with this jutsu easily.
Kakashi's eyes sparkled at the interesting and deadly jutsu before he slammed his hands onto the ground creating a large and extremely dense wall of earth. The two jutsu collided with a thundering bomb that caused stone and dust to explode outward. Naruto landed in a crouch and waited for the dust to clear with another kunai held in his right hand ready to go.
Naruto felt the earth beneath him being affected by Chakra and jumped away from where he was crouched. With expert reflexes and speed Naruto managed to slam an explosive note on the ground and detonate it when he was safely away.
When the note exploded it created a crater in the earth that was wide and deep enough for a grown man to lay in and be completely concealed. When Naruto landed once again he was immediately pulled underground up to his neck and in front of him Kakashi rose from the earth not having a hair out of place.
"Very interesting Naruto, that was quite the powerful jutsu. I've never seen it before, which for me is something by the way." Praised Kakashi while looking down at Naruto.
The buried Genin rolled his eyes. "I would have been surprised if you did," Snorted Naruto. "I made it myself."
Kakashi didn't let his surprise show, shrugging Kakashi walked off to see if any of the others were just as interesting.
Naruto watched him leave with a sigh. 'He wasn't holding back as much as he should if he wanted me to beat him. There's something more, I'm sure of it but what. Maybe one of the others could figure…it…out. THATS IT! The others! We have to work together!' Realized Naruto as he started to free himself from the ground.
Sasuke Uchiha was a talented guy, he trained everyday without stopping for hours. He had the drive and the necessary talent to go far, but after seeing Naruto and Kakashi go at it he was worried that he didn't have enough. Naruto was very skilled- as much as himself if he were honest, but Kakashi came out of the exchange without a spec of dirt on his person or a hair out of place. Which was peculiar as he was underground for some of it. Maybe chakra was used to keep him clean?
Getting back on topic Sasuke palmed two handfuls of shuriken and let them fly towards his Sensei with unrivaled precision. He was momentarily caught off guard when the shuriken hit their mark, Sasuke realized why and jumped away when a log was revealed to have taken the hits.
'I need to get away and try and corner him before using Katon to finish him off.' Sasuke believed that his plan was both simple and effective, he hoped at least.
Sasuke stopped on his branch when he saw Kakashi calmly watching him from a few branches away. Knowing that he had to fight now Sasuke shot forward with as much speed as he could. Kakashi was impressed by the speed and raised his palm to catch the Uchiha's punch and caught the wrist of the next one.
Sasuke twisted his body to kick Kakashi in the head while his hands were occupied, the Jōnin release one of his hands to block the kick allowing Sasuke to reach forward to touch one of the bells. Before he could grab one however he was thrown away by Kakashi who dusted himself off. 'Impressive.'
Sasuke stuffed both hands into his equipment pouches, the Uchiha threw two sets of shuriken that flew towards Kakashi in wide arcs. Kakashi managed to inspect each one as they flew and saw the glimmer of ninja wire attached to each. The Jōnin was impressed at the speed that Sasuke could attach wires to shuriken, it spoke of countless hours of rigorous training. As Kakashi was busy inspecting the shuriken he didn't notice that Sasuke twitched his fingers to command his shuriken to change direction mid-flight.
All ten shuriken curved and flew at Kakashi's throat, the Jōnin crouched below them and chopped his hand at the wires severing them with an application of Fūton chakra. Sasuke was undeterred by the events and molded his chakra into his chest, fingers bending and flying through hand-signs.
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!
A large near meteor sized ball of red flames formed in front of Sasuke's face before covering the distance between Sasuke and Kakashi in mere seconds. Kakashi wasn't surprised by the jutsu and replaced himself with yet another log.
When the fire dissipated Sasuke saw the blackened charcoal of the log he just toasted and grunted in annoyance. Kakashi's hands erupted from the earth below Sasuke and pulled him underground similarly to Naruto at the end of their earlier fight. The white haired Jōnin rose from the ground with an eye smile.
"Very good Sasuke, very good. That was a very powerful Katon jutsu, but I've seen it many times by many Uchiha. You have a lot of talent for Taijutsu, I imagine once you awaken your Sharingan your abilities will sky rocket." Praised Kakashi, truly impressed that Sasuke even managed to touch a bell. Even he wasn't above giving credit when it was necessary. "But- you didn't stand out nearly as much as I expected I would say that you and Naruto are quite even overall. By your face I can see that you already knew that, question is why did you try the same thing if Naruto failed?"
Kakashi left as quick as he entered, with a casual walk towards the bushes.
When the Jōnin was out of sight Sasuke heard someone land next to him. He was unable to see who but he already had an idea of who it was.
"I know how it feels don't worry." Came the familiar voice of his blond teammate. "I watched you two go at it, impressive wire work by the way, I never gave such techniques much thought myself."
As Naruto was talking he had one hand placed on the ground in front of Sasuke and the other in a one handed ram seal. Sasuke felt the earth surrounding him widen until he could free his arms and pull himself free. Standing up Sasuke noticed that his clothes were still clean, chakra maybe?
"So I know what's up with this test," Started Naruto breaking Sasuke from his thoughts. "He wants us to push everything aside and work together. He's was fighting too strong for us to realistically get a bell, he was caught off guard by you and then upped his speed to compensate."
It made sense to Sasuke but he didn't like the thought of having to rely on others for something like this. In the end he might have to accept though as Kakashi's skills were above his, for now. The last Uchiha sent a nod towards Naruto and they set off to find their final teammate, she was last seen-
"KYAA!"
Both boys shared a look and started running in the direction of the scream with worried expressions. Well Naruto was worried, Sasuke just had his eye brows furrowed as he ran.
Sakura was lying still on the ground with grey eyes as she was clearly under the influence of a Genjutsu. Naruto kept guard as Sasuke released her of the illusion.
Sakura woke up and blinked her eyes several times before shooting up head-butting Sasuke in the face.
"Oh Sasuke-kun! I'm so sorry." Sakura frantically check over Sasuke as he rubbed his nose while was slapping away her hands and stood up.
"Ok we need to make a plan, and we need to attack him together." Said Naruto hoping to move this along as they were on a time limit.
Sasuke nodded and Sakura stayed quiet, she was upset with her performance against her sensei after seeing Naruto and Sasuke go against him.
"Sasuke, do you have enough chakra for another Katon jutsu?" Asked Naruto to which Sasuke nodded making the blond smirk.
xXx
Kakashi knew that there was a good hour before the test was up so he and his little Genin still had time. But they didn't seem to be in any sort of a hurry as there hasn't been a sound out of them in the past five minutes.
Then was very surprised when he noticed Sakura coming at him with standard academy form and academy speed with two kunai in her hands ready to kill. Kakashi let a small smile grace his masked face at her determination, maybe there was more to her than fangirl nonsense.
When she was nearing Kakashi, his senses flared from behind and was hit by a wave of mud that hardened the moment it stuck Kakashi. The Jōnin felt the heat of a fireball barring down on him, it seems that the three of them were working together. And were really trying to kill him. Excellent.
Naruto who was standing next to a shadow clone of himself holding the rat seal to keep the mud in place, weaved through seals himself. His lungs filled to the brim with chakra and his throat burned.
Fūton: Kazebakufu!
The condensed ball of wind collided with the Katon jutsu causing it to explode in a storm of white hot flames that destroyed the training area creating a crater at the epicenter. Sakura managed to avoid the explosion with a replacement and watch the events from a tree branch.
The three Genin met in the center of the crater with confused expressions. "So did we just kill him?" Wondered Naruto aloud, he didn't expect that but the plan did go off without a hitch.
"No. But it was a good try, I'll concede that." Came the voice of Kakashi from above them standing at the edge of the crater. Much to the annoyance of Sasuke he seemed to be completely fine and yet again with no dirt on his person, it had to be chakra there was now way mud didn't get on his clothes!
Kakashi dropped in front of them and regarded them each with extremely serious looks, it shook Sakura's nerve and made Naruto and Sasuke nervous.
"Naruto! You did very well, your Taijutsu was strong and Ninjutsu well channeled but you were too stationary after casting them. That will get you killed in the field and I won't let it go unpunished in future spars." Started Kakashi before turning his gaze to the middle.
"Sasuke! Your Taijutsu was the best of the three, that I can confirm and you managed to touch a bell. However, you were far too arrogant and didn't help Naruto during the first part of the test. Konoha is built on teamwork and if you can't follow that then you have no purpose in the shinobi force of our village." Then his eyes cut to Sakura who knew what was coming.
"Sakura! You were the worst overall, you are reported to have talent in chakra control yet you were taken down by a low-level illusion. Like Sasuke you didn't help your teammate and watched as he lost but you went one step further and didn't even help Sasuke! Your skills are bellow the expected level of a Genin but I assure you, if you can take my training that problem will be rectified in the coming months." His words sent a chill down Sakura's spine, she didn't know if she had what it took to succeed but she wouldn't let Sasuke down by giving up after coming so far.
Seeing the three of them stand firm he gave an eye smile. "With that you three pass! We will meet in front of the Academy tomorrow at seven for our first meeting." With that Kakashi left in a puff of smoke.
Naruto let out a breath and smiled. "Well that went well." Sasuke managed a smirk and Sakura smiled at the blond.
After a few seconds both Sasuke and Sakura left to go home. Naruto slowly walked out of the clearing to take a shower, he was far too sweaty to go out to eat to celebrate.
Author's Notes
There we go, I hope this one goes over as well as the last. I'm trying to make the story have more depth to it so sorry if it seems a little long winded but eh detail is important. Now I want to address some of the reviews that are worried about Naruto having different summons. All I can say is chill out yo. I've gots plan and I aint gonna make Naruto some chump. Just keep reading and you'll see.
Yes Sasuke is the better at Taijutsu at the moment. I always thought that the Uchiha clan should be more Taijutsu oriented than Ninjutsu as they can literally predict attacks.
Please give me feedback and reviews so I know what you like or what you don't I do reply to the ones that warrant one! Thanks for reading!
Word Count: 9,300 (longest chapter yet!)
Original Jutsu:
Fūton: Kazebakufu (Wind Release: Wind Blast) C-Rank: The user molds chakra internally and blows out a concentrated ball of wind as large as a person towards the intended target. The blast is strong enough to destroy tree trucks and even the outer edge of the jutsu can shred anything near it. Masters of the jutsu can expel multiple blasts at once for even more devastating effects.
Doton: Kobushi no Iwahogasha (Earth Release: Rock fist of the Guardian) B-Rank: The user expels a stream of mud then shapes and hardens it into a large man sized fist made of stone. The power behind the jutsu is strong enough to destroy boulders and an Earth-Style wall produced by Kakashi Hatake.