Chapter Text
Observant by necessity even as a young child, it was when he was three years old that Naruto noticed his watchers by simple chance. With the curiosity of a child untempered by the guiding hand of a caring guardian, it opened the world to exploration far surpassing that of others his age. His nose had never let him down before, but yet none of his watchers ever carried a scent. It intrigued him, stole his complete attention. So, in turn, the boy watched his watchers for days before he realized that the minute fluttering of their hands must mean something. They never said a word, practically one with the shadows they hid in. Only the boy seemed to realize they were there, but only because he looked for them. They would stay perfectly still, though for the occasional movement of their hands. Nothing flashy like the shinobi hand signs the boy had sometimes seen. Yet, the motions seemed too intentional and some motions were repeated too exactly to be coincidence. So, the boy resolved to watch closer.
Not at all as subtle as he was observant, there was no doubt that his watchers knew that he had seen them. Even so, they never approached and never acknowledged him. It continued in this manner for nearly a year. When Naruto turned four, he decided he couldn’t wait any longer. Like a birthday present to himself. His shadows protected him from the angry villagers, so they couldn’t be bad and might even want to play with him. He assumed that they couldn’t speak though, because they never made a sound and that’s why they used their hands. But even with careful observation, he couldn’t even begin to understand their words. So, with the logic that only a child could muster, he decided to create his own.
The day after his promise to himself, Naruto sat on his lonely swing in a deserted park. He looked around sneakily and then hopped off the swing to look up into the branches of the tree. He could just barely make out the white porcelain of the grinning dog. Feeling bold, the boy pointed at himself and clumsily signed his name. He made small gestures, hoping that the watcher would understand that he wanted him to play with him.
It was a twist of fate that impulsively saw the dog masked ANBU drop down from his post to crouch in front of the tiny boy with eyes too old for his face. In another time, the young man had run in cowardice the moment the tiny ball of sunshine had tentatively reached out. Mission after mission that took him outside the village walls. The little boy before him would have turned to pranks at a final desperate attempt for attention.
"Maa, maa, Naruto-kun," the young man murmured. "Such a clever boy." The compliment earned him a dark blush from a boy unused to such kind words. But he watched avidly as Hound slowly formed a few words with his hands as he spoke aloud their meaning. Naruto, awed by the positive interaction, soaked up the knowledge like a sponge. His hands were clumsy, but he was equal parts determined and enthusiastic.
Hound was the first to approach the young boy, but he was not the last. Each ANBU had been carefully chosen, vetted for indifference or positivity towards the boy. Encouraged by Hound’s bold interaction with the boy, the others too stepped forward. Eager to please his new friends, Naruto learned their language fast. Charmed by the sunny blonde, the animal masked shinobi encouraged him. Where in another time the task to watch the boy was dreaded as glorified babysitting, these ANBU eagerly awaited their chance to see him between harder missions outside the village.
The little boy in question soaked up their attention and, in the way of every child with a hero to look up to, tried to emulate them. With the pride of older siblings, the watchers encouraged him and offered their assistance. Only Naruto ever knew they were there, but they played games with him in the only way they knew how. Games were ones that cleverly disguised knowledge that would serve him well as a shinobi, gifts were of training gear. ANBU knew well the true horrors of the shinobi world and knew they wouldn’t be able to protect the little one forever.
In turn, the sunny blonde flourished beneath their attention. Without teachers who purposefully sabotaged his efforts or willfully ignored mistakes until they became too ingrained to easily correct, Naruto learned quickly. Genius he may not be, but he more than made up for it in determination. He would make his big brothers and sisters proud!
But the ANBU knew they could only do so much and they wanted to preserve their little brother's innocence as long as possible for shinobi. That meant letting someone else train him. So, when Naruto turned five, they gained special permission from the Hokage to allow Naruto to enroll in the Academy at an early age. But they knew their little brother would not get far as himself. Not yet. Extra precautions had to be taken. When they finished persuading him, the Sandaime held a deeper appreciation for how terrifying - and scarily creative - his specialized shinobi could be if they put their minds to it. How lucky he was that they were fully loyal to Konoha.
So it was Naru Uzu that entered the Academy at the tender age of five years. Uninspired as fake names go, but they opted for something that their little brother would remember. (And they couldn't offer their own family names as their identities were supposed to be secret.) Paired with black dyed hair and a lower face mask gifted to him by Hound to hide his whisker marks, Naruto became just another student with aspirations to become a shinobi. Without the sabotage that he would have gotten as himself, little Naru made his adopted family proud when he graduated early at the age of eight. He'd already had a leg up from the games he'd play with his watchers and they had never stopped pushing him onward.
The Sandaime pushed off the graduation as much as he was able, but could only hold it off so long. Naruto may not have been a prodigy, but he was a clever boy and stubborn to a fault. So Naruto graduated the youngest of his class. That night, the ANBU threw Naruto a party to celebrate. They had instilled the importance of a good diet to the new Genin, but treated him to a favourite treat of ramen that night. Hound too gifted him with a summoning scroll. The young boy signed as Naruto Uzamaki beneath a Kakashi Hatake.
The first day with his genin team, Naruto donned his guise as Naru and proudly tied his new hitai-ate loosely around his neck. One of his watchers had gifted him with a new outfit and he wore it with pride, happily running his gloved hands over the dark grey material. He’d been awed when he realized they had given him some real shinobi mesh, a lightweight armour that covered his arms and torso. A close fitting zippered vest went over top. Another of his watchers gave him new shuriken and kunai, which went into the pouch around his thigh.
During the three years he had spent at the Academy, Naruto had decided to grow out his hair. As Naru, he pulled it into a high ponytail and dyed it black. The weight gained from the length of his hair helped to tame the spiky mess. As Naruto, when needed to make an appearance as himself, one of his watchers had shown him how to cleverly pin up his long hair to make it appear shorter than it was. He never liked going out as himself.
The last gift his watchers had given him was a tanto. The young boy had struggled with ninjutsu. His vast stores of chakra made it hard for him to control. The games the ANBU had played with him had gone a long way in giving him a basic understanding of what he needed to do, but it was not something that came easy. However, in contrast to ninjutsu, Naruto had developed a keen interest in both taijutsu and kenjutsu. And, for a boy practically raised by ANBU, he did not quite understand the flashy techniques of many ninjutsu anyhow. He had grown up with the knowledge that the strongest shinobi, the ANBU, were hidden and silent.
Dressed and ready for the day, Naruto was the first to arrive at the assigned training ground. Under advice from Hound, Naruto settled himself under a tree and closed his eyes. He practiced drawing on a small amount of chakra and spreading out his senses. It let him know that their sensi was in the tree above but, as he was only watching, Naruto let him be. He only moved once his two older teammates arrived.
Naruto’s genin team was made up of himself, a boy named Chikao Shio who wanted to specialize in ninjutsu, and a girl named Okimi Shikichi who wanted to specialize in genjutsu. Aoki Tokei was their jounin instructer. With none of them any the wiser to Naruto’s true identity, the team got on well enough. Aoki Tokei was well versed in kenjutsu, so Naruto flourished beneath his tutelage. It was also around then that, under Hound’s watchful eyes, Naruto used the summoning scroll for the first time. The first of his pack was a Kai ken puppy he named Kurumi. In celebration, Hound gifted Naruto with a bandana that he proudly tied around Kurumi’s neck with promises she’d grow into it. She stayed by his side as Naru to train alongside him.
It was then that, only maybe half a year into his time as a genin, that Naruto was called before the Sandaime. Naruto was told that he was being given a very special mission, an S-rank. Nigh unheard of for a genin, but the Sandaime explained that Naruto was the only one who he trusted with the long term mission. It would require Naruto returning to the Academy as himself. Naruto had nearly tried to refuse, but the Sandaime explained that Naruto could continue as Naru with his genin team.
So Naruto returned to the Academy, but as himself. His mission was to keep an eye on the orphan of only a year, Sasuke Uchiha. The Sandaime made an allowance to Naruto, teaching him the Shadow Clone technique. The boy’s chakra reserves allowed him the freedom to use the technique to split his time between being Naru and Naruto without anyone being any the wiser. He had to take extra caution for the clone to not be discovered, but enough chakra made it more resilient than a normal copy.
Through the next year and a half, Naru continued to train and run missions with his genin team. At the Academy, Naruto gained a reputation of being a troublemaker. It kept everyone at a distance and did not cause suspicion if he were to skip school or show up late because Naru had a mission with his team outside the village. Then, when Naruto was nearly ten years old and his teammates fourteen, the chunin exams were held in Konoha. Tokei-sensi entered his team into the exams where all three of them passed, earning their ranks as chunin.
Though they no longer were assigned as watchers, Naruto’s ANBU still visited him occasionally. When he made chunin, they gifted him with his first katana. Naruto also gained the second of his pack with Hound’s help. Koro was a wolf mix that already stood at Naruto’s waist, but still had plenty to grow.
When Naruto was eleven years old, he lost his team.
While they had had their failures, Naruto had worked well with his teammates to great success. Team Tokei had completed quite a number of C-ranks and a handful of B-ranks. On that fateful winter day, Tokei-sensei accepted a B-rank on their behalf. The Academy was on break, so Naruto did not have to worry about leaving the village for too long. The mission was to be one of a message run, though their anticipated course pushed the rank of the mission to a B.
On the road, all it took was one little mistake. Chikao missed the signs for a trap by just a split second and in the next moments they were ambushed as the others were unable to stop him. Tokei-sensei and Naruto were the only ones to make it back to the village alive, and Naruto only just. He spent the rest of the Academy break in the hospital, dull blue eyes staring out at the falling snow. On the last day, Tokei-sensei visited Naruto with apologies and to let him know he had taken a new long term mission per the Sandaime's orders. Beneath his ever present half mask, Naruto smiled sadly and flicked his fingers in farewell. Surprise had blossomed across Tokei's face, but then understanding. He left with the knowledge that Naru would be okay. If not now, then one day.
Over the next year, Naru drifted from team to team for missions. When the Academy graduation approached, Naruto knew that his mission for the Sandaime was approaching its end. He purposefully failed with the intention of continuing on as Naru, wanting to leave behind Naruto because who would miss him? But then Mizuki had approached him with his lies. Already well versed in the strange hatred of the village towards him, Naruto had viewed Mizuki’s approach with suspicion. He reported the encounter to the Hokage, who ordered him to play along.
When all was said and done, Naruto finished the night as a genin along with the knowledge that there was at least one person in the village besides his ANBU that liked him. When Naruto gave the Hokage his full report about Mizuki, the Sandaime decided he would extend his mission to watch over the last remaining Uchiha. It would give him a full team with a new jonin sensei. Naruto had been reluctant, but the Hokage told him that he would not be able to hide as Naru forever. And he would still be able to continue to take on missions outside of the genin D-ranks.
So Naruto decided that Naruto would start to take his training more seriously. On the day that they were given their new teams, the young boy traded in his orange track suit. He wore an outfit similar to one that he had worn as Naru, though decided not to fully give up on the orange. It lined the black vest he wore in thick stitching, though was more of a burnt orange in colour. He tied his hitai-ate around his neck, already missing the half mask he wore as Naru. He kept the goggles, a gift from one of his watchers.
Before he left for the Academy, Naruto debated on what weapons to bring. He already had the standard pouches of kunai and shuriken, but something stopped him. As Naru, he relied more on his katana than his tanto nowadays for direct confrontation. The tanto was still useful though and perhaps he could slowly incorporate his skills as Naru into Naruto’s apparent skills. The Sandaime had shown he would not let him hide behind the mask of Naru forever and one day Naru might fade away, disappear.
So before he left, Naruto secured his tanto in the small of back where he could easily draw it. As he stepped through the door to the Academy classroom, that is where our story truly starts.
Naruto could feel the stares as almost physical things as he lightly dropped down into a seat in the back of the classroom. It made him itch for his mask, to hide behind it. “Yo, Naruto. What are you doing here? I thought you flunked, man.” That was Kiba, his face screwed up in confusion.
Flashing a bright grin, Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back. “Iruka-sensei changed his mind, ya know! I’m a real shinobi now, believe it!” The words tasted hollow on his tongue, but he had long since been used to the act.
“Okay, yeah… but what’s with the get up?” Kiba pressed, leaning forward. He didn’t look entirely convinced, but Naruto only rolled his eyes.
“I’m a real shinobi now,” he scoffed. “Iruka-sensei gave me a second chance, so I figured I have to start acting like a real shinobi.” He picked at his vest, running his fingers along the zipper with a mournful pout. “I’ll miss the track suit, ya know?”
But before anyone could press him further, Iruka-sensei called for their attention and ordered them to their seats. Naruto tuned out most of what the man was saying. He already knew that he would be on the same squad as Sasuke Uchiha, but was curious who their teammate would be. The identity of their jonin instructor was a mystery as well, one he was very curious about as the Sandaime had stated that he would be allowed higher ranking missions alongside the jonin. So, it would be a jonin who knew that Naru and Naruto were one and the same.
“Team Seven: Naruto Uzumaki.” The mention of his name brought Naruto back into focus. He ignored the quiet chatter around him and frowned briefly when their sensei announced that his teammates would be Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. Whispers broke out around him and Sakura seemed equal parts elated to be on Sasuke’s squad and annoyed to be on his squad. Naruto decided that he could agree to the sentiment.
Sakura was from a civilian family, but was knowledgeable enough. He knew that she had potential, but a lot of it was buried beneath her insecurities and her fangirling nature. Putting her on the same squad as her obsession was possibly a recipe for disaster. And a good way to alienate the Uchiha further. From his observations of Sasuke, he did not like what he was seeing.
As soon as they were dismissed for lunch, Naruto hightailed it out to the roof to eat his bento. He always ate by himself anyways and he wasn’t in the mood to listen to the other new squads. From his vantage point, he could see Sakura eating alone on a bench and could see Sasuke eating in a window of a classroom. Picking up a lopsided riceball, Naruto shook his head. He could see a lot of the new teams eating their lunches together, yet Team Seven was split up. It was not a good start.
Lunch was uneventful as Naruto stuck to the rooftop. He made it back to the classroom just before each jonin sensei came to retrieve their teams. But as his team was left alone, he had a dawning suspicion of just who their sensei would be. There was only one shinobi that he knew of that was so ridiculously late.
Echoing his thoughts, Sakura suddenly groaned loudly. “He’s late,” she fumed, fed up with the silence. Sasuke had not moved from his habitual brooding posture and Naruto had propped his feet up on the desk as he focused on balancing a kunai on the tip of his finger.
“If it’s any consolation, he’ll probably be here soon,” he muttered.
The pink haired girl turned on him quickly, her hand on her hips. “And what do you know that we don’t know, Naruto?” She spoke angrily. “It’s been hours! Even Iruka-sensei left!”
Naruto shrugged as he stared at the kunai. “There’s only one jonin that I know that is habitually late. For everything, you know? But I could be wrong.” He wasn’t going to tell her that he was sure their sensei had been sitting outside the window for an hour now. The man’s chakra was masked pretty well, but the nose knows. Once he knew someone was there, he could just pick up on the chakra. But saying anything would give too much away, so he put up with the wait.
Before another word could be spoken, the door suddenly slid open and Naruto blinked. He hadn’t sensed the chakra signature move! He inwardly cursed at letting his attention waver. He let his feet drop down from the desk and watched as an ashen haired man stuck his head through to look at them. The unimpressed looking eye roamed over the three of them before the jonin stepped fully into the classroom.
“Maa… how do I put this? My first impression of you three?” The man made a show of thinking hard before relaxing. “You three are idiots.”
Sakura made an outraged sound while Naruto felt a droplet of sweat roll down his temple. Yeah, he was sure they had made a great first impression, if the jonin had been watching for as long as Naruto had through he had been.
“Meet me up on the roof,” their sensei said before he disappeared.
“What the hell is his problem?” Sakura nearly screeched, visibly fuming before she suddenly gasped and reined in her anger. She clasped her hands together and turned to Sasuke with an overly sweet smile. “He might be right about Naruto, but you are definitely not an idiot, Sasuke!”
Naruto rolled his eyes and climbed out the window to get up to the roof where their sensei was already waiting for them. The jonin gave him an eye smile before he waggled his fingers in greeting. He said nothing though until the two genin joined them. Once they took a seat, he leaned against the railing behind him and crossed his arms over his chest. “Ah, I know. Why don’t you introduce yourselves one at a time,” he suggested with a little eye smile.
The look never wavered as Sakura made a confused sound. “Huh? Introduce ourselves? What are we supposed to say?”
Their sensei gestured nonchalantly. “Things you like. Things you hate. Dreams for the future. Hobbies. Things like that.”
Naruto tried not to smile himself as he propped his head up on the palm of his hand, his elbow on his knee. “Shouldn’t you introduce yourself first, sensei?”
The man blinked his one eye slowly and pointed at himself. “Me? I’m Kakashi Hatake. Things I like… things I don’t like? I don’t feel like telling you. My dreams for the future? Maa, never really thought about it. Hobbies? I have lots of hobbies.” The introduction was delivered in such a deadpan drawl that Naruto felt himself hard pressed not to break out into laughter. The other two were not so impressed.
“That was useless. He only told us his name,” Sakura grumbled, her arms around her knees.
Kakashi-sensei ignored her and instead gestured towards Naruto. “You there on the right. Why don’t you go first?”
As if the jonin didn’t know who he was. But Naruto frowned a bit as he pondered the questions. If he were to follow the script of his previous acts, he knew what he would say. But things had changed. So instead, he hummed and gently touched the hitai-ate at his neck. “I’m Naruto Uzumaki. I like… training with my friends.” He flicked his fingers a bit, his smile widening when Kakashi-sensei flexed his own fingers in an almost absent way. “I dislike… cats.” He pointedly ignored the incredulous look that Sakura was giving him.
Naruto rubbed at his chin then. “My hobbies? Hmm, I suppose I like to garden.” He had a few small plants that had been gifts from one of his watchers. “My dream is to become a strong shinobi and protect my village.” He smiled brightly. A bit of truth, but vague enough. He ignored Sakura’s mutter of, “you have friends?” It did make his chest pang with hurt, though.
When Sakura squealed her way through her introduction, Naruto tried not to roll his eyes. But the instant announcement of his name when asked what she hated, drove the thorn in his chest deeper. Maybe they would fail their sensei’s final test? He’d rather be sent back to another useless year of the Academy than put up with Sakura’s treatment.
It might even knock Sasuke down a few pegs. Though the young shinobi’s introduction put Naruto ill at ease. Maybe he should recommend Sasuke for a physiatric evaluation? He’d consider it if things didn’t improve before his next report to the Hokage.
“Survival training!” The words brought Naruto back to the conversation.
“Survival training? But sensei we did that in the Academy! That’s why we’re here, isn’t it? We’re supposed to get a real mission!” Sakura was whining, looking rather unimpressed. Naruto thought she wasn’t taking this very seriously and that Kakashi-sensei rather enjoyed his dramatics. “Aah, what kind of survival training?” She finally pouted after a beat when no one else chimed in. Kakashi only started chuckling rather ominously. “Sensei!”
“Ah, you know? Of the twenty-seven that graduated, only nine will actually go on to become genin,” their sensei said with just a faint edge of killing intent to make his statement sound even more ominous. “The rest are weeded out and sent back to the Academy.” Naruto gave the man his most unimpressed stare while Sakura went pale, looking like she was unsure if their sensei was joking or not. Naruto thought that Sasuke might have turned to stone for all that he had moved during the whole conversation.
Naruto ignored the rest of the conversation for the most part, only saluting when they were told to be at their designated training ground at five in the morning. As if the man would actually show up in time. When told not to eat breakfast though, Naruto narrowed his eyes. He did not believe the man’s excuse for a second, but an order was an order from a superior. He would just have to eat a larger dinner to help compensate.
So it was the next morning that Naruto showed up at the training ground just before his teammates. He crouched down to the ground to wait before summoning his newest ninken. The small shiba inu was completely white and hadn't yet been seen with Naru, so he could safely summon her without giving away his alter ego. "Good morning," Sakura's sleepy greeting alerted him to his teammates' approach. He gave a cheery greeting in return.
"Why'd you bring a pet, Naruto? Are you stupid?" Sakura said slowly after a moment, though looked like she was gearing up for a rant. Sasuke only grunted, but looked just as curious for the answer. And maybe a little condescending. Hard to tell with the ever stony expression and monosyllabic grunts.
Naruto rolled his eyes and stood up. "Yuki isn't a pet," he said with feigned exasperation. The young shiba barked in agreement and plopped down to sit. "She's my ninken." The puppy looked very proud of herself.
"Huuuh? You have a ninken?" Sakura didn't have to sound so disbelieving.
"Lots of shinobi have summons," Naruto said with an air of petulance. "I got to sign the summoning contract when I graduated as a genin." The best lies used a grain of truth. He gently scratched behind Yuki's ear before he stood up and stretched out. "Sensei probably won't show up for at least an hour, ya know. Yuki's a good sensor, so want to help me train her? As long as we stay on the training ground, we can sneak in some extra training," Naruto suggested. If he was being forced to team up with two genin, then he might as well work on their ability to work together. Maybe he could get their priorities straight. For all he had grumbled yesterday, he would rather not be sent off to the Academy once more. If only for his sanity.
“But sensei said…” Sakura started, glancing over to Sasuke as she trailed off.
Naruto waved his hand. “Sensei said to be at the training ground at five. Here we are and sensei probably won’t be around for at least an hour. He was late yesterday, wasn’t he?” He crossed his arms over his chest and adjusted his stance. “I just need you to hide really well so Yuki can practice tracking someone down.”
Sakura still looked unsure, but Sasuke looked like he was about to outright refuse. “You want us to play hide and seek with a dog, idiot? If we have time to train, then why would it be to play your childish games?”
The blond sorely wanted to knock Sasuke down a few pegs. “You scared you can’t even hide properly from a dog? What kind of ninja does that make you?” Naruto goaded the boy. At the look of dark outrage that was leveled at him, Naruto tried not to snort. The Uchiha was going to need to get that anger under control or else he’d never advance.
But the goading served its purpose as Sasuke dropped his pack. “I’m more of a ninja than you’ll ever be, idiot.” He then jumped away into the trees to hide. Sakura dashed after him, not about to be left out. Naruto really did roll his eyes then as he looked down at Yuki. Her shoulders were shaking a little bit in her version of a laugh.
Crouching down, Naruto smiled at her. “We’ll give them a moment to get settled,” he told her. “Now, you remember the signals, right?” At her quick nod and eager tail wagging, Naruto laughed before he patted her head. “Good.” He gave a short whistle then and she darted off towards the trees with Naruto following close behind.
When Kakashi found his team later, they were sitting in a circle around one proud little puppy. Sasuke was covered in dirt, but his posture had loosened up some. Sakura was cooing over the puppy while Naruto grinned a touch too wide. It was a stark difference from the day before. Kakashi thought that maybe they would surprise him yet. "Yo," he called out to them with a little wave.
"You're late," Sakura grumbled as she picked herself up. Naruto took the chance to dismiss Yuki after giving her a little treat.
Their teacher smiled with feigned innocence. "A black cat crossed my path, you see, so I had to take the long way." When he only got blank stares from two of his potential students, Kakashi cleared his throat and produced an alarm clock from somewhere. "Right. This is set for noon and the mission is simple." The jonin held up a pair of bells. "You each have to take one from me. If you can't get one by noon, then you won't eat. You'll be tied to a post while I eat in front of you."
Naruto groaned. And there was the reason for the no breakfast order. Well, he'd had to complete worse missions with barely a few rations before, but Sakura had gone rather pale.
"Wait, but, Sensei… there are only two bells?" Sakura suddenly asked, absently rubbing her belly.
Kakashi smiled beneath his mask and shook the bells. "Ah, that is to ensure one of you will be tied to the post. Therefore disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one will be sent back to the Academy. Then again, all of you could fail." His expression hardened a little. "If you do not attack with the intent to kill, you will not succeed in getting a bell."
Naruto watched Kakashi critically. If he got lucky, he might be able to get a hand on a bell. Maybe. But the other two had no hope for it. Besides, he doubted that was the point to the test. He was an unusual component to the team, a chunin rather than a genin. A genin had no hope of going up against a jonin who seemed determined to fail them. Really, even as a chunin he would be lucky to go up against a determined jonin and come out the other end with the upperhand. So, they would have to get crafty and they would have to work together to even have a hope of a chance. Now if he could just convince the other two to listen to him.
Naruto almost snorted as he jumped off into the trees at Kakashi's signal. Getting the two genin to work with him was going to be a task all on its own. Sasuke seemed determined to do things on his own. Just a touch of superiority in that one, Naruto thought with sarcasm. Sakura seemed content to go along with whatever Sasuke wanted just so she could please him. Still, Sakura would probably be the easiest to convince as she wasn’t an idiot by any means. He just had to get past her insecurity. With the fledgling base for a plan, Naruto created a clone as he settled down on the branch of a tree. "Keep him busy," he signed before reaching out his senses.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow as Naruto dropped down out of the tree and drew his tanto. With speed supported by a burst of chakra, Naruto dashed at his sensei. The jonin quickly pulled a kunai to block the blade, causing sparks as the two weapons slid against each other. “Your test is about teamwork, sensei,” Naruto said quietly as he spun around with a sweep of his leg that Kakashi had to block with his forearm. “Most of the tests usually are. Though Tokei-sensei told us outright. And a team is the only way that we have a hope against you.”
The grey haired shinobi chuckled as he blocked another kick. “Now that’s just unfair, Naruto-kun. But just because you figured it out, doesn’t mean that the other two will. And doesn’t explain why you are here alone.”
Naruto grinned widely as he switched hands with his tanto and crouched low. “You know as well as I do that Sasuke is in that tree there and Sakura is hiding in the bushes. But neither seem to realize just what it means to fight against a jonin. Sasuke in particular. They underestimate me too. Need to break some of their misconceptions.” Though their underestimation of him was more of his fault. If Sasuke and Sakura were going to take him seriously, he had to let some of his actual skill shine through. “And just because I appear to be alone, doesn’t mean I’m not acting for the good of the group.” He gave an exaggerated wink just before a kick from Kakashi sent him flying. Enough chakra meant his form didn’t explode into smoke on contact, though the man had been kind enough to send him towards the lake to lessen the impact of landing. Still, the clone disappeared in the explosion of water.
While the clone had been fighting Kakashi, the real Naruto crawled into Sakura’s hiding place. When she attempted to scream, he quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. “Shh! Do you want to announce your presence to everyone within a five kilometer distance?” He whispered harshly. When she frantically shook her head, he sighed and pulled his hand away.
“Naruto! But! You’re-!” She looked back over to where the clone was fighting their sensei before she looked back again. “How-?”
Naruto gave a cheeky grin. “Clone. I’ve got a lot of chakra, Sakura. So much so that it makes me terrible at chakra control. It’s hard for me to do the simple jutsus they teach at the Academy. So I was allowed to learn the Shadow Clone jutsu. Takes up a lot of chakra, but it’s just a drop in the bucket for me,” he explained lightly. He sobered up then and looked back out at the fight. “There’s no way we’re getting bells from him.”
Sakura puffed up her cheeks before deflating. “Yeah… I don’t think even Sasuke-kun has a chance against him,” she said as Kakashi sent the clone flying. “I guess we can always try again next year.” She already sounded defeated. Naruto was tempted to let her fail, but he didn’t think he’d be able to survive another boring year at the Academy with nothing to do there but watch over the Uchiha.
In the clearing, Kakashi reached into a pouch at his side before pulling out an orange book. Naruto wrinkled up his nose before he looked at Sakura. “Use that head of yours, Sakura. I know you got top grades for written tests and the like. You’re smart. We might be genin and have little hope against a jonin of Kakashi’s calibre on our own, but why do you think they put us in three men cells? Missions are always done in squads.”
The blonde suddenly cursed and darted around to come practically nose to nose with their sensei. The man’s eye curved up in a smile. “Boo.” Naruto flung himself back on instinct, grabbing hold of the back of Sakura’s dress. She screeched in surprise, fighting the blonde’s hold. He dropped her unceremoniously before frowning as she suddenly swayed, her eyes blank. Genjutsu.
Before he could do anything, Sakura let out an earpiercing scream and then collapsed into a faint. Naruto blinked down at her in exasperation and threw a quick look over his shoulder to where he knew their sensei was standing. “Geez, sensei. Went a little overboard, did you?” He commented dryly before he picked Sakura up.
Scratching the back of his head a little sheepishly, Kakashi huffed. “Maybe. But she’ll have to get used to it eventually if she wants to be a shinobi,” he muttered, though he finished in a serious tone. Naruto had to agree. As he prepared to flee with his unconscious teammate, Kakashi was suddenly attacked by kunai. Naruto didn’t even stay long enough to see if some of them hit or not. Kakashi was distracted enough that he could get Sakura to safety at least.
Setting Sakura next to the monument stone, Naruto’s eyes instinctually sought out two names he knew intimately. Chikao Shio and Okimi Shikichi. He gently brushed his fingers over their names before Sakura finally stirred. Squatting down in front of her, he pressed a finger to his lips. He hoped she didn’t scream again as one had been quite enough to make him half deaf.
“Sasuke! He-!” She started out as soon as she saw Naruto, but stopped when he shook his head.
“Sasuke’s fine. Whatever you saw, Sensei put a genjutsu on you. Sasuke’s keeping sensei occupied for a minute.” He paused to let Sakura gather herself and then he took a deep breath. “Sensei gave us an important mission,” he said seriously. “Pretend for a moment that those bells are what mean the difference between life and death for everyone in Konoha. Failure is not an option in our mission, Sakura.”
The pink haired girl shook her head slowly. “But there are only two bells,” she said quietly. “One of us will still have to go back to the Academy.”
Naruto shrugged. “Then I’ll go back to the Academy,” he said nonchalantly, much to Sakura’s wide eyed surprise. “Remember, Sakura. Failure in the mission is not an option. As shinobi, we have to be prepared to do anything to make sure the mission succeeds.” She continued to watch him with wide eyes for a moment before she finally scowled and crossed her arms over her chest.
“You’re right. Sensei is pitting us against each other,” she grumbled. “Using our stomachs so we don’t think straight.”
“Now you’re getting it,” he said with a sunny grin. “We’ll have to get Sasuke in on the plan, but we are running out of time.”
Sakura nodded quickly before she suddenly grabbed her pack from where it was leaning against the monument. “We need to set a trap,” she decided. “Something that will slow sensei down long enough for us to get the bells.”
Nodding, Naruto grabbed his own bag to dig through. “Got any seals?”
“Just some exploding tags and a storage roll,” she fired back. “We have to get Sasuke’s help.”
Nodding with a small smile, Naruto made two clones. He sent one off in search of Sasuke and ordered one to stay with Sakura to start setting up a plan. He went in search of Kakashi so he could keep their sensei occupied long enough to put some sort of trap in motion.
The clone found Sasuke buried in the ground up to his head. Squatting down, Naruto snickered. “No one ever thinks to look beneath their feet,” he commented. “Can you get out on your own?”
With a dark look, Sasuke wiggled himself free and climbed out of the hole. “What do you want, idiot?”
Crossing his arms across his chest, Naruto frowned. “Sakura and I have a plan to get those bells.”
“I don’t need your help,” Sasuke cut him off harshly and turned away.
“Kakashi Hatake graduated as genin at age five, became a chunin by age six, and was promoted to jonin at age nine,” Naruto spoke grimly. He smiled thinly when Sasuke stumbled to a stop and turned to look at him with wide eyes. “He’s hailed as a prodigy. You might be smart and driven, Uchiha, but don’t let that make you arrogant. Arrogance is what gets you killed, gets your teammates killed.” He might be harsh, but he had to get it through the boy’s head.
Naruto motioned with his head. “Come on. Sakura is waiting by our packs. We’ll need your input if you even want a chance at getting a hand on those bells.”
Sasuke planted his feet with narrowed eyes, but didn’t look so sure anymore. “I touched one of the bells. If I can just go again...”
“And do what?” Naruto cut in, just as stubborn as the Uchiha idiot. “I’ll give you props for managing to touch them, but Kakashi won’t allow it again. It’s going to take all three of us to get our hands on those bells. Or are you really going to let your first mission as a shinobi end in a failure? That’s not a good track record, ya know.” Goading would get Sasuke moving for now, but he was going to have to work on that lone wolf mentality if he didn’t want to lose his sanity.
And it did get him moving. Naruto tried not to roll his eyes as he led Sasuke to where Sakura was waiting. As they approached, the clone with her popped into smoke. She smiled at them, glancing at Sasuke shyly. “We think we have a plan. We’re going to need to lay a few traps,” she told them. “We’re going to need to layer them too.”
Naruto nodded in approval as he squatted down to check over the supplies that they had. “Sasuke and I will need to work together to lure sensei close,” he stated as he rubbed at his chin. “The original me won’t be able to hold off sensei much longer, so let’s get those traps started.” He held out his fist with a grin. Sakura fistbumped it and Sasuke followed a little reluctantly.
In the end, the plan went off without a hitch. Kakashi had been able to avoid the tripwires or dodge the activated traps if forced into tripping them. But between that and the combined assault from Naruto and Sasuke, they were able to distract him just enough. Sasuke threw the last of his kunai at the jonin just before the timer went off, a henged clone among the projectiles.
Sakura joined Sasuke, one hand loosely curled around the handle of a kunai. Naruto straightened from his crouched position as a clone dispersed from beside him and then walked over to his teammates’ sides. “Time’s up,” Kakashi drawled as he stuck one hand in his pocket and went to grab at the bells with the other. When his fingers closed around thin air, he did a quick double take and his head shot up. Naruto laughed lowly and held them both up. He then tossed one to Sakura and one to Sasuke.
“We got you, Sensei,” he crowed the words with enthusiasm. Sakura tossed out a victory sign with one of her hands, giggling. Even Sasuke looked pleased, a small smile curling his lips.
Kakashi’s shoulders relaxed and he watched them from one dark eye. “I think I’m starting to like you. But one of you still has to fail,” he said. “That’s the mission. Only two of you can get a bell.”
Naruto shrugged. “I’m prepared to go back to the Academy,” he said. He was curious to see how the others would respond. Sasuke’s smile had disappeared and he was frowning down at the bell curled up in his fist.
“Naruto and Sasuke are stronger than me,” Sakura said suddenly, a sad smile on her lips. She then tried to push the bell into Naruto’s hand, refusing to let him not take it. “You should go on without me. Sorry I said I hated you, Naruto. I’m not a very good shinobi, am I?”
Naruto looked down at the bell before he tossed it at Kakashi, who caught it without a second thought. “Being a real shinobi is more than just about strength, Sakura,” he told her solemnly, Chiako and Okimi’s faces in his mind’s eye. “Sometimes it’s making sure that no one is left behind.”
Their teammate was silent for seconds that seemed to stretch on towards eternity, every eye on him as they waited to see what he would do. Finally, Sasuke closed his fist tighter around the bell before he seemed to make a snap decision and threw it at Kakashi. “If they can’t advance with me, then how am I supposed to advance without them? We were put into a three shinobi squad for a reason.” It seemed to pain him to admit it, but Sasuke planted his feet stubbornly. Naruto thought there just might be hope for him yet.
Kakashi looked down at the bells in his hand, his expression severe. He looked up at the three genin slowly as he narrowed his eye. “You three…” He dragged it out slowly. “Pass!” He mirrored Sakura’s pose from earlier, flashing a victory sign and smiling with his single eye. Their sensei straightened then and looked down at them almost fondly. “Those who break the rules are scum,” he told them seriously. “But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. Because you three wouldn’t abandon your teammates, that is why I passed you.”
Sakura’s jaw had dropped and Sasuke looked surprised as well. Naruto gave him a little grin, though his fingers flashed through a few words. Kakashi flicked his fingers once before shooing the new genin. “Go on and go celebrate,” he told them. “Tomorrow you’ll have your first real mission as shinobi.” He disappeared then, hiding in a tree nearby so he could watch them.
Sakura picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, inviting the two boys to go get lunch to celebrate. Naruto scratched the back of his head and made his excuses to meet them somewhere after he had dropped his pack off at his apartment. Though as soon as he was out of sight, he appeared through a shunshin on the branch beside Kakashi. He quickly put his hands together to create a clone and it took off after a silent order.
“What do you think of them?” Kakashi asked with his hands.
Naruto pulled up the half mask that was pooled around his neck and replied with his own gestures. “They managed to come together to make a plan. If given a mission, I think we will be able to work together. Though I do not look forward to those D-ranks,” he complained. He removed then his goggles and started to pull the pins out of his hair to let the long locks loose. Once his hair was tied up into his more customary high ponytail, he henged it to make it black. His Naruto persona was going to need to grow out his hair slowly to match the length he had it as Naru, he decided. He liked it long.
“I think the D-ranks will be good for them though. Sakura is still too focused on Sasuke,” Naruto continued as they watched the two genin split up below. Sakura looked a little deflated at not being able to walk alone with Sasuke, but she ran off in the direction of her home after promising to meet up with him and Naruto at a Yakiniku shop. “She has a good head on her shoulders otherwise. She’s the one that came up with most of the traps. They were rudimentary, but she’s fairly knowledgeable. She has much less chakra than both Sasuke and I, but I think that’ll give her better control. If she can break her obsession, I think she’ll be okay.”
Unzipping his vest then, Naruto stuffed it into his pack. From a sealed compartment, he pulled out a dark long sleeved shirt and his chunin vest. He pulled both of them on before he straightened up. They were alone then, so Naruto spoke verbally next. “As for Sasuke…” He paused to finish gathering his thoughts, pulling off the fingerless gloves he had been wearing. “He has potential to be a powerful shinobi.” Pulling on black bracers that were reminiscent to those of an ANBU’s uniform, Naruto then sealed his pack into a seal on the back of one of the bracers. “I want to work with him a bit longer, but I might put in a formal request for psychological evaluation and counseling.” All shinobi were a little crazy, but Sasuke might shape up to be a liability if they weren’t careful. “Honestly, I’m surprised it hasn’t been done earlier.”
Kakashi had both hands in his pockets, his shoulders slouched. “They gave me this team so that I can teach Sasuke how to use his Sharingan,” he said. “And the Sandaime filled me in on your mission. If you want to put in a formal request, I’ll sign my name to the request as well.”
Naruto nodded as he poured a little chakra into the seal on his opposite bracer. WIthin moments, he had his katana in his hand and then secured across his back. He gave a small nod to Kakashi before the two disappeared in simultaneous shunshin. When they reappeared, they stood before the Hokage. The man looked up at them from beneath the brim of his hat, pipe in his mouth.
“Kakashi. Naru,” he greeted the two shinobi. “The other two will be here shortly.” He folded his hands in front of him. “But, I must ask you, Kakashi… how did things go with your genin team?”
Kakashi took too long to ponder the question, putting the chunin seated next to the hokage on the edge of his seat. Naru regarded the other chunin with a bored look before he spared Kakashi a look. Iruka seemed to be entirely too invested in whether or not Team seven had passed the Copy-nin’s test. It made his heart flutter briefly in a way he hadn’t experienced often. He would have to treat the chunin to ramen in the future.
“They passed,” Kakashi drawled finally, much to Iruka’s obvious relief as he nearly collapsed against the desk. Naruto allowed himself a small smile before two more shinobi flickered into the hokage’s office. Both were chunin, one of the Nara clan and the other clanless. Iruka quickly gathered himself and pulled out a mission scroll from the desk before him. He held it out to Kakashi, the highest ranked shinobi of the temporary squad.
The hokage removed his pipe from his lips and set it down on his desk. “Kakashi Hatake, Naru Uzu, Hideaki Nara, and Junpei Katsuro. You have been assembled for this mission. It has been categorized as a B-rank. Hatake, you have been designated captain for this mission and your squad is to sortie once you have familiarized yourself with the mission details. Mission objectives are reconnaissance and elimination of threat,” the man explained gravely. “You have an hour at your disposal to prepare.” The old man dismissed them then, so Kakashi led the way down to one of the conference rooms to go over the scroll and provided map.
As Kakashi read over the scroll briefly, Junpei went up to Naru and grinned at the young man. “Yo, Uzu. Been awhile, hasn’t it?” He asked with a grin. Naruto and Junpei had been on temporary squads before. The older chunin specialized with a bow and longer range attacks, though was handy in close range combat as well. Naruto had gone on one mission with Hideaki as well, so was familiar with the man’s style. Naruto nodded to Junpei, but turned his attention back to Kakashi as the man cleared his throat.
With the map as a guide, Kakashi pointed out the ruins of an old civilian village that had produced recents reports of activity. There had been a handful of reports about bandit attacks on the nearby roads as well that seemed to be in correlation with the activity at the village ruins. With how long the village had been abandoned and how close it was to Konoha, the Hokage wanted the situation assessed. Any immediate threats would be eliminated, the rest reported back to the Hokage.
Kakashi dismissed them then, telling them that they’d meet up at the gates in half an hour. Naruto immediately took off towards his apartment and snuck in through the window. He had already packed a few things from that morning, but added more to his collection and scarfed down some lunch.
He was the second to arrive at the gate, greeting Hideaki and then settling in to wait for Junpei and Kakashi to arrive. They didn’t have to wait long, though Kakashi was the last to appear as usual. Once they were all assembled, the squad left the gate and immediately took to the trees. From there the trip was a silent one as Kakashi set an easy pace for them to get there quickly, but to conserve energy.
As they neared the perimeter of the village, Kakashi slowed down. He snapped off directions with his hands, standard hand signs for shinobi. Junpei immediately took to the canopy and found himself a position with a good vantage point. Hideaki took to the ground and disappeared within the deepening shadows. Naruto followed after Kakashi as he landed soundlessly on the roof of a building. They crept along the roof slowly, on high alert.
The wooden buildings of the village were starting to rot away, uncared for and forgotten. Roofs were missing tiles and there were areas of the forest that had started to reclaim the village. It was quiet, almost eerily so. But as they soundlessly leaped from roof to roof, the sound of laughter drew them towards the old shrine. The group gathered on the once sacred grounds could hardly be called mercenaries, a bedraggled group with barely any weapons between them. The only stand out character among them was their apparent leader, who wore a Suna hitai-ate around his arm. The slash through the symbol, however, let them know that the enemy shinobi was a traitor to their village.
As they observed them, it became increasingly clear that the bandits posed little threat to the security of Konoha. However, the rowdy crew below seemed to be planning the best places to stake out so they could snag merchants traveling the roads. The bandits posed little threat to the village as a whole, but certainly promised to be an annoyance. And there was also the safety of the merchants to take into account. Already there had been a handful of attacks and they didn’t want the violence to escalate.
Kakashi signaled to Naruto to fall back and they regrouped on the opposite end of the village. Naruto pushed out his awareness, keeping watch as Kakashi used their radios to fill in the others on the situation. The Suna missing-nin wasn’t very high ranking, an errant chunin likely. He certainly wasn’t powerful enough to make it into the Konoha bingo book, but they would still proceed with caution.
Kakashi pulled his hand away from the radio band around his throat. He glanced at Naru then. “What do you think?” He asked quietly as he tuned in his own awareness to the area around them so they wouldn’t be surprised. One could never be too cautious.
Naruto crouched down in his spot, cracking his neck. “The missing-nin needs to be eliminated,” he said slowly. “If we cut off the head, the rest of the body will collapse.” He straightened back up, a small stone in hand. He tossed it before catching it again. “Have Hideaki use his family jutsu to freeze the nin in place. Junpei can start to pick off the others from his position.”
“As for the nin?” Kakashi pressed, a small smile gracing his lips. Naruto had come a long way from when he had first reached out to his watchers. Their little brother was strong and could hold his own now. He still had much to learn, but they didn’t have to worry over him like they used to. He made them proud.
“Eliminated,” Naruto said lightly as he threw the stone up before catching it again. He tucked it away into one of his pouches. “I’ll do it.”
Kakashi nodded after giving his student a quick once over. “Ah, if Sasuke-kun or Sakura-chan could see you now,” he said playfully, earning an annoyed look from the younger shinobi. “There might just be hope for them yet, if you’re there to help lead them.”
The chunin’s ears went a bit red and he turned on his heel. “You’re supposed to be our teacher, Kakashi-sensei,” he said with a low growl, an emphasis on the man’s name. Kakashi only smiled at him so Naruto tsked before he leapt up into a low branch of the tree they were beneath. “We’ll wait for twilight,” he said then, his tone clipped. “Let them know so they can get into position and then we’ll wait for your signal, captain.”
Kakashi tried not to laugh as he placed his hand to his throat, touching the radio band. He let Hideaki and Junpei in on the plan before he took to the trees himself. He and Naruto darted from tree to tree before they both settled in the large yorishiro tree on the shrine grounds. The shimenawa rope around the trunk had long since deteriorated and had fallen away. Naruto absently stroked the trunk, his chakra suppressed as he settled in to wait.
“Excited for your first D-rank tomorrow,” Kakashi’s hands spoke just in his line of sight, a too cheerful tone with the languid way he moved his fingers through the motions.
Naruto’s response was done in sharper movements. “If you pick up that damn cat mission, I will be sure to make your life a living hell, captain.”
He saw Kakashi’s shoulders shake briefly, but neither one of them made a sound. Naruto decided to ignore the other shinobi, instead settling in to wait for the shadows to grow long with the setting sun. Patience had been a hard earned skill, one that had taken him years to finally master to an adequate degree. His deep wells of chakra gave him so much energy that it had often left him restless and prone to fidgeting. Meditation had taught him how to better regulate the flow of his chakra, soothing the restlessness. Being aware of his inner tenant had also been helpful.
“On my mark,” Kakashi suddenly signed. Naruto nodded and gave a quick count. There were fifteen of the bandits, including the missing-nin, scattered about. He could spy Hideaki’s shadow jutsu snaking just out of sight towards where the nin was lounging on the dilapidated steps of the shrine, sake cup in hand. Junpei would be able to take out six of the bandits within the first couple of seconds of Hideaki’s binding of the enemy nin. That would leave eight enemies. On his calculated path, he could take out two while Kakashi dealt with the other six. Everything would be over in a matter of seconds.
“Now,” Kakashi breathed into his radio. As soon as he spoke, Hideaki’s shadow jutsu speared the Suna missing-nin and he froze into place. Naruto was moments before Kakashi, downing the two bandits who had been fighting over a betting game. He could hear the thwap of Junpei’s arrows as he ran through the missing-nin with his blade. The man’s eyes bulged as Naruto twisted and pulled his katana free. A flick of his wrist separated the man’s head from his shoulders. Hideaki was there moments later then, having released his jutsu. Sweat had beaded on his brow, but he seemed otherwise fine.
As Naruto turned, Junpei dropped down into the clearing with them. His bow was in hand still, though he slung it across his chest after a moment. Kakashi took quick stock of them before he nodded. “Well done. Nara, secure the nin for transport back to Konoha. T&I will likely want to get their hands on him, see what little they can get from him. Katsuro, disposal. Uzu, with me.”
With their orders, they made quick work of the scene. Hideaki retrieved an empty storage scroll from one of his vest pockets. He sealed the Suna nin’s body inside of it before securing the scroll back on his person. He kept hold of the hitai-ate, however, passing it on to Kakashi. Junpei retrieved his arrows and moved from body to body, removing evidence of them being there. Naruto went with Kakashi to riffle through the things of the bandits. They looked for anything that the bandits might have gotten their hands on that could be sensitive Konoha information. They found a single minor scroll that Kakashi tucked away for safekeeping.
The squad left the scene riffled through and with no sign that it had been touched by shinobi. With night quickly upon them, they set foot towards home. When they stepped through the gate to the village the lights still glowed in the Hokage’s office, so they headed there first to report in and drop off the recovered scroll. Kakashi also handed over the hitai-ate. With the news of a completed mission, the Sandaime dismissed them then with an order to drop off the completed mission scroll within the next twenty-four hours. The temporary squad parted ways from there, the Hokage’s gaze on Naruto’s back, with Kakashi taking the containment scroll from Hideaki to hand over to T&I.
Naruto slipped into his apartment through the window and dismissed the clone that was waiting for him in the bedroom. Memories of celebrating with his genin team and then studying scrolls integrated seamlessly into his memory as he undressed. His gear was carefully cleaned and then stored away, ready for the next mission. After a quick shower, Naruto was then off to bed. After the successful B-rank, tomorrow’s D-rank was going to be dreadfully boring.