AN :
Hey guys ... I got a goal for you, if we hit 40 power stones in the next 12 h I will post another chapter.
...
Leaning against the railing of the roof garden, Kakashi looked down in silence at his new genin team; their facial expressions and the way they had positioned themselves was very telling.
The girl, Kamizuki Mayu, was biting her lower lip and looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but there. Kakashi wondered for a moment how she had passed the Academy test: She had gotten one of the lowest scores in ninjutsu, and the de facto lowest in taijutsu. But the forgettable looking girl apparently had a bit of a flair for genjutsu, and had even managed to conceal her presence from the chūnin instructor, which was impressive indeed.
At the moment, however, she clung onto the arm of the boy sprawled on the ground next to her – Hagane Rai. When Kakashi let his gaze linger on the long scar across his face, the boy scowled fiercely. He glanced away; it seemed that Kotetsu's younger brother would be a handful indeed.
Finally, he let his thoughts rest on the third genin: Uzumaki Naruto. He was two years younger than the other two and yet, had passed with the highest total score on the exam. His new hitai-ate gleaming on his forehead, he sat noticeably apart from the other two. Though Naruto's blank face was rather more difficult to read, Kakashi could make out a note of determination ingrained in the boy's eyes.
Oho. He had to wonder what exactly the boy wanted to prove so much.
Despite his best efforts, seeing Naruto's face up close like this, Kakashi couldn't help but think of his own sensei: The boy may have had his mother's hair, but everything else was his father's.
While he had been under strict orders from the Third Hokage to not approach Naruto until now, he had seen from afar just how much the boy had suffered at the hands of the ignorant villagers. The Third had said that the experience would make him strong, just as how Minato had wanted. But Kakashi couldn't help but think that his old sensei would have been furious at him for letting his son grow up without knowing how much he had been loved.
At long last, Kakashi clapped his hands together to get the attention of his newest team. "I am your new jōnin instructor, Hatake Kakashi. So that I can know you better, let's go around in a circle with your names. You can also tell me your likes, dislikes, hobbies, and your dreams." The three genins stared silently back at him, and Kakashi had to suppress a sigh. "How about you go first?" He gestured towards Rai, who scowled again but acquiesced.
"The name's Hagane Rai," the boy grumbled. "I love anything to do with weapons. My goal is to become the best weapons specialist in Konoha. And," he glowered at Kakashi, "I hate being ordered around."
A handful, Kakashi thought to himself.
"Now the girl," he ordered. Mayu stiffened under his gaze and Kakashi noted with concealed interest how, for some reason, her eyes momentarily flickered in Naruto's direction.
"My name is Mayu. I like birds, and...and I dislike... Well... My hobby is looking at the sky, and... my dream is to work with orphans one day and better their lives."
As she said this, Kakashi had followed her body language carefully; nearly the whole time, she had been biting her nails while looking down at her sandals. But as she talked about her dream, she had stopped fidgeting, and her voice hadn't wavered once.
Perhaps Izumo's younger sister had more substance to her than he'd initially given her credit for.
Suddenly, a voice spoke up without Kakashi's prompting: "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I plan on becoming the next Hokage."
Kakashi blinked.
It was the first time he had really heard Naruto's voice: It was even-toned and tempered, which was to be expected considering the isolated lifestyle he knew the boy to have led. But his words – their lack of empty bluster, and even more so, the conviction behind them...now that, was a surprise.
He hid a smile behind his mask. Maybe the Third had been right after all; it looked like the Fourth's son had grown up to be quite interesting.
...
The next day, the newly formed genin team waited at the training field for their new jōnin sensei. Though Kakashi had told them to arrive early, it seemed the man himself was going to be late. Grumbling about being hungry, Rai sprawled across the ground. Her face pinched with hunger, Mayu sat down next to him.
As the minutes ticked by and the sun inched up the sky, Naruto observed his new teammates in silence. Rai Hagane and Mayu Kamizuki... He had never really noticed either of them in his classes. Though that wasn't saying much, when he had barely interacted with any of his classmates over the past few years. The scant little he could recall of either them was superficial at best: Rai was loud, and Mayu was quiet. It seemed the two had known each other for quite a while as well, considering how tightly Mayu stuck to Rai's side.
None of this would have mattered to Naruto, except for the fact that they were now a team. He held back a sigh; he wished they would have just put him on a team by himself. It would've been less cumbersome that way.
Though Naruto had made an effort to stay alert, when his stomach began to make rumbling sounds, he settled down on the ground. Closing his eyes and focusing on the stream of chakra running throughout his body, Naruto began to think upon their present situation.
Why had the three of them been explicitly told to come this early for training? Why hadn't Kakashi come yet, leaving the three of them alone together? What kind of test could it be, that it would determine whether they were to continue training as genins, or return to the Academy as failures? Surely nobody expected them to be able to defeat a jōnin? And most importantly...why had they been told to skip breakfast?
Ironically, it was the sharp hunger wracking his belly that brought clarity to his mind. Naruto's eyes snapped open.
"We need a plan," he said aloud. His teammates seemed surprised at his addressing them.
"What do you mean?" said Rai, regarding him through narrowed eyes.
"Kakashi-sensei's test will probably involve us having to team up to beat him," he explained. "That's why he's late – he knew we didn't discuss anything yesterday, so he's giving us time now to work out a plan. In fact, he's probably watching us from somewhere right now to see how we spend this time."
His eyebrows raised, Rai looked around skeptically. "I don't sense him anywhere."
"He's a jōnin," said Naruto. He turned to look at Mayu, noting how she flinched from under his gaze. "You specialize in genjutsu, right?" He turned toward Rai. "You're a long-range weapons specialist. And of us here, I'm the best at taijutsu. If we team up and combine our abilities, I think we've got a decent chance at beating Kakashi-sensei."
His teammates exchanged looks. Then, Rai looked back at Naruto and to his surprise, gave him a nod. Considering how the other boy had introduced himself – I hate being ordered around –he'd expected him to put up more of a fight.
"Since it was your idea," said Rai, "what do you want us to do?"
...
By the time Kakashi finally arrived, Naruto felt reasonably pleased with the plan they had worked out. Getting the other two to cooperate with him had also been much easier than he had expected. In fact, it made him wonder if he should have put more effort in reaching out to the others in his class.
"Your test is to take these two bells from me before noon," said Kakashi, looking about as disinterested as possible. "Whichever one of you doesn't get the bell will be tied to the rock and forced to watch the others eat."
Well, there it was. It certainly solved the mystery of why they'd been told to skip breakfast – but it now presented another problem. Had he been wrong about the reason why they'd been given so much time together? If one of the three was already automatically slated to fail, how could they possibly work together as a team? Just a single glance at how Rai and Mayu were eyeing Naruto told him that they would undoubtedly betray him if things came to a head.
Fortunately, they had hatched some back-up plans in the possible case of such a event. Just as Kakashi had started the clock, Naruto motioned to the other two: Plan B.
When there wasn't an immediate response, he tensed. Would they move as they'd agreed upon? True, he'd made another back-up plan of his own just in case his teammates betrayed him from the start, but its chances of success were significantly lower.
But to his relief, just as he was about to consider a change in plans after all, they nodded in agreement and then disappeared in a blur of motion.
Directing chakra towards his feet, Naruto silently leaped up a tree to gain some higher ground. Once secured on a branch, he checked for Kakashi's location. To his surprise, he appeared to still be standing where they'd left him; either the man really underestimated them, or it was a clone.
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