Story Ideas!

Disclaimer: I don’t own the Naruto cast or the basic concept of the story, the concept was created by MaxFic, with the story inspiring this being “Naruto: Shinobi Institute of Performance Analysis”. The only thing that will be the same in this story is the analysis institute, because Naruto and the gang are going to be analyzed to find out the extent of their potential, but everything else is from me and my own mind, and considering that Naruto is completely straight in MaxFic’s version, I think I might have made some big changes already.

The institute itself, and the characters running it, are also going to be completely different, and the analysis process and Naruto’s reaction to it is going to be very different, and I believe I already got permission to use this concept by MaxFic themselves, so no worries. I’ll be crediting anything I’m inspired by MaxFic in the notes at the end of the story, for obvious reasons.

Chapter title: Welp, you missed

The day had started as any other.

Naruto had gotten up and taken care of his early morning needs before he took notice of the calendar on his wall. He had stared at it a moment as a large grin came to his face, before rushing out of his apartment.

It was October 17th and Team 7’s first day as an official Genin Squad!

The blond was so excited he could barely contain it as he ran through the streets of Konoha, ignoring the glares and muttered insults that seemed to follow him wherever he went, his excitement and enthusiasm overwhelming all other senses.

It didn’t take him too long to reach the designated meeting place of Team 7, on a red bridge near their training grounds that they would be learning awesome Jutsu in!

“Good morning Sakura-chan, Sasuke, Dattebayo!” Naruto called to his teammates with a grin as he waved enthusiastically, which dulled slightly as the other two didn’t return his enthusiasm and instead sent him cold looks that were meant to douse his energy. But Naruto held onto it firmly and continued to talk, but nothing he said brought them into the conversation. So, in a last ditch effort to get them to react-and to avoid the threatening fist that Sakura was starting to raise over her head-Naruto asked,

”So, d’you guys think that Kaka-sensei will make us wait hours again, ‘ttebayo?”

That actually got a reaction out of his teammates.

Sakura actually looked up in thought while Sasuke looked off to the side for a moment as a scowl overtook his features,” he better not,” the preteen mumbled threateningly, Sakura nodding her head in agreement, her own scowl clouding over her features.

“Yeah, he better not,” she not-quite mumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest; before turning to Sasuke in hope of approval, something of which she sadly didn’t get as Sasuke simply continued to ignore her. Hanging her head dejectedly Sakura let out a sigh as she ignored the concerned look crossing her blond teammates’ face, but, before he was able to say anything-

“Good morning my adorable little Genin~” 

The three preteens whirled around to come face to-knee?-with their new Jounin sensei who was crouching on the railing of the bright red bridge, his arms loosely hanging between his legs and his single visible eye upturned in what appeared to be a smile.

“YOU’Re not… late?” Naruto had started to yell before it occurred to him that Kakashi was, indeed, not late. He squinted  his eyes at the man in suspicion, looking him up and down for a moment before asking," What are you doing here so early, ‘ttebayo?”

Kakashi let out a chuckle as he hopped down from the railing and lifted his hands in a placating manner,” ma ma, I didn’t know arriving on time was against the law!” he said teasingly which only caused for Naruto’s eyes to narrow in suspicion even more, crossing his arms and jutting out a hip, obviously not falling for Kakashi’s attempt at a diversion.

Again Kakashi let out a chuckle before he shook his head,” alright, alright, I’ll tell you, but first we need to go to the Hokage’s office so follow me little Genin!” and with that he started to leisurely make his way to the Hokage Tower, the three preteens following him like little ducklings.

Nothing much happened on the way, the only thing being the villagers glaring eyes following Naruto’s form as he moved through the throng of people, something of which he only found annoying as he was able to see that when their eyes fell on Sasuke or Sakura they would smile warmly, like most adults do when they see children, but the coldness would seep into them when he was in sight.

Heaving a sigh Naruto tried to ignore the glaring eyes, which he was able to do all the way to the Hokage Tower.

As they were walking to the door, another team came up next to them. It seemed to be another Genin team as there were two boys and a girl who were around Naruto’s age, probably a year or two older, and a man who was dressed up in a green leotard with a Jounin flak jacket on and orange leg warmers, his forehead protector was wrapped around his waist.

Kakashi also seemed to gain some tense lines to his frame as the other man’s eyes lighted upon him, a large grin soon following.

“Ah! Kakashi, my Eternal Rival!” the man shouted with great enthusiasm, his teeth glinting in the fluorescent light.

The Genin of Team 7 startled as the man shouted, while the teens with the man, sans one of the boys with wide eyes and braided black hair, sighed in resignation.

“How are you this Youthful morning? Heading to the Hokage’s office for a mission? Oh, and is this your new Genin team? You finally passed one after all these years? My Eternal Rival, you’ve finally experienced the Springtime of Youth! I am so Proud of you!” The man barely took a breath between each sentence, seeming to be able to just talk for ages without the need for oxygen faltering his words. 

His smile remained largely unchanged as he continued on and on as they all made their way up to the Hokage’s office, Kakashi’s body seeming to become stiffer as time went on, prompting Naruto to feel bad for the man, even if only slightly, and made way to give his Sensei a break from the endless word vomit coming from the green clad man.

“Hey!” he shouted as he patted the man on the shoulder, forcing the string of words to stop suddenly. Turning his head, the man looked down at Naruto in mild surprise and curiosity, before his grin came back full force, but before he could open his mouth to talk again, Naruto piped up.

“I’m Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto Dattebayo! Who’re you, and how d’you know Kaka-sensei?”

The man seemed to be taken aback in surprise once again, almost as if Naruto’s words had struck him dumb. But it wasn’t long before he regained his wits, and with an ever widening grin, answered the blond.

“Ah! I am Might Gai! I went to the academy at the same time as your sensei! It is very nice to meet you Uzumaki-kun!” the man very enthusiastically replied.

Naruto grinned right back at the man, becoming interested in the weirdo.

“Heh, you can just call me Naruto, ‘Ttebayo! So, why’re you going to Jiji’s office?”

Gai's smile didn't falter, though his eyes did look confused as he looked down at Naruto. "Ahem, I am afraid that I do not know who that is! Who is this 'Jiji' you speak of?" He asked politely, head tilting to the side in confusion.

Naruto let out a nervous giggle, scratching his neck as realization came over him. Of course, only a few people would know who he's talking about…

"Ah, Jiji is Hokage-ji, I mean, He's the Hokage! I just call him Jiji, Dattebayo!"

A look of surprise came over Gai’s face,” really? I thought Hokage-sama only had one grandson!”

But Naruto just shook his head, laughing,” ehhh? I’m not related to Jiji! I just call him Jiji, Dattebayo!”

Gai wasn’t able to reply to that, both because of the shock on his face and because they had arrived at the Hokage’s office. Naruto shook away the conversation and immediately walked up to the door, his ears catching the conversation behind him at the same time.

“When did you get called up here? Are you early or were you called here for…” Kakashi trailed off meaningfully. Gai let out a grunt of acknowledgement, but wasn’t able to get a word in edgewise as Naruto was already slamming open the door without a care in the world.

“Helllloooo Jiji!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, laughing as he invited himself in while ignoring the two old people standing in the room with the Hokage.

For his part Hiruzen was only able to let out a chuckle at Naruto’s enthusiasm, dismissing the two in front of him with a flick of his wrist that caused for scowls and weak protests to come from them, but one stern look and a quiet,” as you can see, I have another engagement to attend to,” shut them up and got them to leave the room.

The rest of Team 7 along with Gai’s team entered the room unsurely as Naruto was chatting away without a care, his arms swinging back and forth as he cheerfully continued on and on and,”-then I got Konohamaru to stop being such a stuck up brat by showing him his ‘sensei’ was wrong, then we hung out for a while, then, then I did the last test with Kaka-sensei and he passed us and I’m a shinobi now! But you already know that, obviously, and you called us all here for something right-?”

“Naruto!?” Sakura screamed furiously. She stomped up to the boy while raising her fist in warning,” don’t you know it’s rude to barge into a room without permission?! You should be asking who he wants to see first, not telling him useless stuff about your life!?”

Naruto looked at Sakura in confusion, seemingly not seeing her raised fist as he responded,” eh? But, Jiji wouldn’t have called us at the same time if he didn’t want us to be here together Sakura-chan! Unless we’re late, which I doubt cause Kaka-sensei didn’t tell us to meet up earlier than yesterday, and we arrived at the same time as Gai-sensei, so-”

“Don’t talk back to me you idiot!? You don’t know that! You don’t know anything you stupid, gross, no good idiot!?!” Sakura cut him off, fed up with him and swung her fist, aiming for Naruto’s face. Naruto raised his arms to protect himself, while someone else moved swiftly forward, grabbing hold of Sakura’s wrist and restraining her.

A loud boom filled the room and everyone looked up at the Hokage. He had a closed fist on his desk and narrowed eyes.

“That is enough!” he boomed. His narrowed eyes moved to Sakura.

”Now, Sakura-chan was it? I will not tolerate such behavior in my office. Naruto-kun is correct that I had summoned both Team 7 and Team 9 at the same time, as I wanted to speak with both of you simultaneously. Now, even if Naruto-kun had been in the wrong, your reaction was too much. You did not need to speak to him in such a manner, he did not deserve to be called names by his teammate and you have no right to lay a hand on him unless it is necessary, which in this case it was not. You may be Shinobi, and therefore considered full grown adults, but you are only Genin, it is not up to you to decide if something is appropriate in my presence. That falls to me to decide. So please, keep your hands to yourself and let your superiors handle these types of situations from now on, hmm?”

Feeling properly cowed, Sakura looked down at the floor in shame, but Hiruzen was able to tell it wasn’t shame at her behavior, it was shame at being caught and called out for said behavior. Her anger filled glances at Naruto, along with her twitching fists, told him that much. His narrowed eyes then moved to the two boys standing just behind Sakura, both of whom wore expressions of confusion on their faces, almost as if they couldn’t believe what they had just done.

Nodding to them with a smile, Hiruzen softly spoke,” and to you, Neji-kun, and you Lee-kun, I applaud you for acting so fast, and for helping someone even though you didn’t know them.” Both boys flushed at the praise, both quickly bowing their heads to the Hokage and murmuring quiet thank you’s to the man.

Hiruzen smiled warmly at the two, but that warmth left him as he looked to Kakashi with a raised brow,” and to you Kakashi-kun… I will let this go, for now, but from now on I expect you to keep all of your Genin in check, am I clear?”

Kakashi stiffly nodded his head, regret filling up his lone eye as it flickered over Naruto’s head, though the boy didn’t notice as he was staring in surprised awe at the two who had defended him.

Hiruzen let out a sigh before he straightened his back, looking at all of them and nodding to Gai, who immediately closed the door and stepped forwards.” alright, the rest of you come forwards, I have much to discuss with you!”

Everyone stepped forwards at that, standing before the Hokage with Lee and Neji flanking Naruto, who could only look at them in surprise, keeping him away from Sakura who looked almost disappointed at the action, though it was probably more from the fact that a pretty boy, Neji, was siding with Naruto over her.

“Now,” Hiruzen started, bringing all of the attention back to him. He smiled warmly at all of them as he continued,” I have called you all here today because of an interesting event that took place a little over a week ago. It was discovered that one Oroki Mizuki is a traitor to Konoha and has been selling information concerning the newest graduates to the highest bidder.”

Shocked gasps filled the room, only coming from the children in the room as the adults were already aware of this news. Hiruzen raised a hand and quieted the group,” he has been captured and interrogated and we now have the information regarding who he was selling the information to, and that is why you are here.”

“You want us to track them down, Dattebayo!” Naruto exclaimed excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet with a hundred watt grin on his face.

The Hokage shook his head, chuckling good naturedly as he answered. “No Naruto-kun, I do not want you to track them down,” he raised his eyes, looking at the two men behind the preteens,” no, I’m sending your Sensei after them!”

“Eeeeeeeehhhhhhh?!?!”

All of the children exploded, some exclaiming loudly while others furiously looked back and forth between the two men, confusion maring their features. Gai nodded his head proudly, his teeth glinting brightly while Kakashi inclined his head, his eye skipping away when he noticed the look of hurt and anger on Naruto’s face.

“B-b-but! B-b-b-but what about us? Team 7! We just graduated and are now officially Shinobi, and you’re telling me that after all that hard work I won’t be able to actually be taught by my Jounin Sensei? Sorry, but Jiji! How the FUCK is that fair?!”

Hiruzen felt his stomach contort at the look on Naruto’s face. He looked so angry, yet so resigned, as if he should have expected something like this to happen, why did he let his hopes rise up in the first place? Naruto was after all the deadlast. Even after years of being by himself, he still had a hard time learning on his own.

Sasuke had had his family there to teach him the basics, and even though they were gone at this point the boy was a genius in his own right, not to the extent of his brother but more so than anyone else in his year (sans the Nara boy who had taken after his own father, lazy and laid back to the core), so it was simple for him to learn on his own. And if he needed help? Well he could just ask for it of course!

Sakura was book smart and had an easy time learning academically. She had parents who loved and supported her and would help her if need be, and a Sensei that would help her learn what she needed to know in order to succeed.

Naruto?

He had no one. 

Iruka was unable to give him the individual attention that Naruto desperately needed and the man hadn’t truly grown fond of the boy until after the incident with Mizuki, so it wouldn’t have occurred to him to even try and help in the first place. Mizuki was also another factor. Considering his discovered disdain for the boy, anything Mizuki had taught Naruto was most likely rubbish and needed to be unlearned by Naruto if he wanted to be able to move forwards, and he had never gotten glowing reviews from Naruto’s previous Academy Instructors so they hadn’t been of any help. Naruto had barely skated by, something that the Council loved to point out to Hiruzen, something of which his two old friends had tried to tell him again just before Naruto barged in.

But the boy had potential, obviously since he had been able to learn a Kinjutsu on his own with no help whatsoever, there had to be more to the boy than what others thought of him.

Hiruzen raised his hand, catching the attention of all in the room, before settling it on his desk. He caught Naruto’s gaze and held it,” Naruto-kun, you will refrain from speaking in such a manner in front of me.”

Naruto flinched away, looking down as an embarrassed flush crawled up his neck to his ears. Hiruzen knocked on the desk, forcing Naruto to look back at him. “Naruto, I understand that you are upset by this turn of events, but you need to learn to keep your emotions in check. You are a Shinobi now. You are legally an adult in the eyes of the village, you now represent the village in all official business and when you are on duty, which you currently are. When you wear that headband, you represent Konoha, and you represent me. Do you want others to think ill of me because of your misbehavior?”

Naruto paled at the implication, shaking his head he uttered a soft,” no…” and Hiruzen nodded to that.

“I know that. I know that you don’t want others to think ill of me, I also know that you would rather be seen in that light if it means that others won’t be seen that way,” Naruto’s eyes widened, blushing again though his embarrassment was different this time,” but you need to remain in control of yourself. Being a Shinobi means being able to keep your head in any situation, so you must be able to do that, no matter how upset you are.” Naruto started to nod his head, but stopped when Hiruzen smiled.

“But you didn’t let me finish. If I was merely taking away your Sensei and leaving you to be off duty until their return, I would have instructed them to tell you themselves. I would have left it to them to find replacements or to set up a schedule for you to follow while they were gone. I would not have called you all here to tell you that myself, as that would be a waste of my valuable time. Do you understand what I’m saying?” he asked with a knowing grin, all the while Naruto’s eyes widened more and more at the implications.

“You, you’re going to assign us to something important, ‘Ttebayo…” he whispered.

Hiruzen nodded, full blown grin on his face as he held out a hand to Naruto.

“Yes, that is exactly it! Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee and Higurashi Tenten! You will all be participating in the Foundation of Shinobi Analysis and Field Performance!”

.

.

.

An awkward silence followed Hiruzen’s announcement.

“What?”