Chapter 14
A few hours after being chased Naruto managed to give Anko the slip by entering the one place a genin wouldn't voluntarily venture; the academy.
It had been a full week since she and the others had taken the exam and now it was time for them all to be placed into teams. She wondered who she was going to be placed with from her class and who her teacher would be. She hoped it wasn't one of her darling brother's fangirls. Even the elder generation, whilst a lot more… professional, were not exempt from ogling her brother.
Once she made her way safely inside she took her usual seat beside the window next to Shisui who was already there, talking to a very emotional Iruka.
"I really hope I passed! I don't think I could bare it if I had to go a year without you and Naru!"
She chuckled causing Iruka to whine further, "Iruka. You'll be fine. You revised with Shisui and me a lot and we taught you everything in a fun way for you to remember. Now whilst I don't believe you got a very high result that doesn't mean you didn't get a somewhat good one. I'm sure you revised before the exam as well, right?"
At her question the other boy began to fidget causing Shisui and Naruto to squint their eyes at him till he caved and fessed up. "Okay! I didn't revise before the exam! But I have a reason!" he raised his hands and paused them from asking anything. "My mum was really ill and dad was out of the village on a mission. I was the only one around to look after her. That's why I didn't revise."
He looked scared as he regarded the two of them who simply looked at each other before sighing and nodding their heads. "Since you mother was ill then I guess you have a valid excuse. However, if you don't pass this test Iruka, you'll have to suffer a year with the younger-class-men. And let me tell you, they all have sticks firmly lodged up their-"
"Namikaze-san I'm sure I speak for the whole class when I say we would prefer it if you kept your mouth shut if you intend to use vulgar language." The three of them looked down to see none other than Shizu Yamanaka glaring at her whilst her friend, Hitomi Harumo nodded her head.
Naruto tilted her head, "I wasn't talking to you nor to the rest of the class so I don't see how it is any of your or their business how I talk."
"Whether it is our business or not, we would prefer not to hear such vulgar things."
This caused a loud laugh to escape Naruto's mouth as she looked at the two girls. Shizu looked like you typical Yamanaka, light blonde hair, blue eyes and pale skin. She was pretty, but nowhere near as pretty as Ino had been. Shizu wore the standard medical kunoichi outfit, similar to the one RIn wore however hers was branded with the Yamanak clans crest on the back.
Hitomi on the other hand was her exact opposite. She had dark brown hair and hazel eyes, whilst wearing standard orphanage clothes. She felt for the girl, when she had been her age she had hated wearing them, the brand on the back showing off to everyone that they had no parent. However despite Hitomi's somewhat common features she was very beautiful, and could easily ensnare anyone she met with the right training or thought.
"You don't know vulgar till you've been out in the world. I can be far cruder if I want to be and there's not a damn thing you can do about it. Sure you can tell sensei and she'll give me a warning not to do it again, but what good will that do. When we go on missions we will see horrific things, hear horrific things and do horrific things. If you can't stomach me swearing then, why are you even in this line of work?" she raised a brow at her, genuinely curious of what her reason might be.
"I plan on following the steps of my clan-"
"The Yamanaka clan are known for their work on the human psyche. Psychology and what makes a person tick are what interests you people, therefore you would have to see the world from another person's view in order to understand them. I'm sure you'll hear a lot more than swearing whilst you do that."
"Very well said Namikaze-san." Everyone turned their heads to the door where their sensei and TA stood. "You make a very valid point. Even as a teacher I see horrible things, a medic sees horrible things, and warriors see horrible things. The Yamanaka clan sees a combination of these things and they cannot waver. The same goes for everyone else here.
"We are at war. You will see people die and they may be your comrades, your friends or your family. People will be tortured and people will suffer the consequences of the actions of others. This is the world of shinobi. No matter what happens you must not waver. You must never forget our hokage is here to protect us, to guide us and to help us in our time of need. The will of fire shines through all of you, some more than others however given time I am sure you will all burn very brightly indeed.
"Within the following years you may have to kill friends and foes alike and whether or not you like it is of no consequence. This is the life you have chosen and it is the life you will have to abide by. Everyone has their own nindo, find yours, and stick to it." She paused and looked at everyone who were wide eyed, including Naruto. She had never seen any of her sensei give such a straight to the point speech except for perhaps Kakashi sensei when he was saying Sasuke needed to die.
"Right!" their sensei clapped her hands, giving them all a bright smile as she picked up her clip board. "I will now read out the names of the people who passed their exams as well as who they will be teamed with. Everyone will be placed in a four man cell consisting of three genin and one jonin instructor. In a short while your jonin instructors will take you for your first team meeting."
She gave everyone a once over to see that everyone was there, nodding to herself she began listing everyone, "Kotetsu Hagane, Izumo Kamizuki and Tokara! You three pass and are on team Akihiro. Tadase Nara, Shizu Yamanaka and Mizuki! You three pass and are on team Daichi. Hayate Gekko, Aoi Inuzuka and Doto Akimichi! You three pass and are on team Sugi. Hitomi Harumi, Akihiko Hyuuga and Shiro Aburame! You three pass and are on team Katsuo. Iruka Umino, Shisui Uchiha and Naruto Namikaze! Yo three pass and are on team Kushina."
Naruto payed no mind to the rest of the class, who they were teamed with nor who their sensei's were. She was too busy focusing on the fact her mother was her jonin instructor. And the fact she was paired up with her closest friends. She wasn't sure which one of the two situations she was happier about.
She paid little attention to Iruka as he bubbled about how happy he was having passed and being with the two of them but then Naruto noticed something. In her old timeline Hayate had been on the same team as Tokara however this time the latter was paired with Izumo and Kotetsu.
It was often hard for her to remember that things would change a lot and not all of them would necessarily be for the better, and they still managed to shock her system thoroughly. Again, the shocks weren't necessarily bad things either. They meant her plan to bring peace was coming closer.
Naruto sunk into her mindscape knowing Kushina was currently in a meeting with the hokage and wouldn't be out for at least another hour, leaving her plenty of time to have a conversation with the bijuus.
'Why Gyuuki. Welcome to my humble abode. What brings you here?' she smirked at the eight tails currently being ignored by his elder brother.
'Naruto. I'm here to see who you were set with for your genin team. Kurama here refuses to allow me to see with him.'
'You are not her bijuu so you do not need to see.'
'But she is still the mother of bijuu.'
'Bah. You all gave her that name, not I. To me she is an infernal little brat you pokes her nose into everything.'
'Hey!' she yelled, however neither of them paid her any heed.
'Come on Kurama. Sure she only gave us back our memories a few weeks ago however we all know she would be the perfect person to look after the younger two. You know what trouble Shukaku and Matatabi get into. And don't get me started on Isobu.'
'She is but a child herself and you intend to make her our mother?'
'You do not need to see her as you mother however the way she looked after and consoled us all after the fourth war had us all set.'
'Do I get a say in this?!'
Once again neither of the two bijuu listened, instead Kokuo and Saiken decided to join them. She hadn't even noticed their arrival meaning they must have just arrived, there was no way they could have entered her mind without her feeling it beforehand.
'Saiken. Tell me you do not agree with the octopus!' Kurama and Gyuuki both turned at looked to the slug demon.
'I have to agree. She is the first human to show us such kindness and knows how to handle us, respectfully, like a mother. We all call her the mother of bijuu, since she cannot have children of her own.'
At the reminder of her infertility Naruto yelled, 'Enough!' finally she had the attention from the others in her mindscape and she was glaring at them before closing her eyes and taking deep breaths before reopening her eyes. 'I was paired with iruka, Shisui and Kushina. I am not longer technically infertile since my body did not go through the same things as it did when I was ten before. I am in my seven year old body after all. I may act like you mother but please don't call me that in public or to your jinchuriki. And for the love of god, don't go arguing in my head whenever you disagree over something. It's still me head and gives me a lot of headaches.'
Once again she took deep breaths before continuing, 'Now that I have answered Gyuuki… Saiken and Kokuo, what brings you here?'
'I cannot speak for Kokuo however I get bored. I have no current jinchuki and have no one to keep me company. That damned jar keeps me contained for the time.'
Naruto nodded her head and waited for Kokuo to also reply, 'Han was being difficult so I decided to stay here until he apologises.'
Naruto sighed. Here she was surrounded by four of the most revered creatures in the elemental nations and all she could hear from them was bickering and childish behaviour.
She sighed again as she nodded, allowing them to stay in her mindscape under the condition they kept their bickering to a minimum as she made her way back to the land of the conscious.
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(A FEW MONTHS LATER: APRIL- 22 months)
Obito watched as Naruto bickered with a calm and stoic Kakashi, Shisui sitting across from them not paying them any attention as he taught something to Iruka. Kushina and Jiraiya-sama had been dispatched for a three day mission together so Kakashi had been told to teach them in her stead, as he was too injured to go on the mission Team Minato often went on in the outskirts of the village.
The elder Uchiha was perched high up a tree not far from them in training ground fifteen, trying to hide from them. He wasn't spying on them, he was studying a scroll and testing his limit. Naruto was an amazing sensor and could no doubt sense Obito up in the tree however he was seeing how long it would take for Kakashi to notice his presence. He did think Kakashi could have sensed him and not paid it any heed as he was so used to the loud Uchiha's presence.
Shaking his head he tried to read the earth jutsu scroll in front of him but he couldn't concentrate on it. His mind went back to the discussion he had had with his teammates, minus Kakashi.
(FLASHBACK)
"Kakashi may not notice this, but he is opening up a lot more these days." Spoke Minato sensei as he sat leaning against a tree, looking at Rin and Obito.
"Really? He still seems like a bastard to me." grumbled Obito, wishing the subject to be anything other than Kakashi.
Of course, no one paid any attention to what Obito had said, "Still, even if he is a little more open and sociable, that doesn't mean he can miss a team meeting sensei." Reprimanded Rin however Obito was sure she only said that because she wanted to see him.
He looked down, trying his hardest to block out what they saying and focus on the earth scroll in front of him. He only managed for three seconds, "He has a lot on his plate with my sister here. She doesn't talk to me very much these days and spends most of her time with her team and Kakashi. If I'm correct for the next three days he'll be helping them train."
"But why sensei? Wouldn't it just be easier for team Kushina to train with us?" asked Rin as she completely abandoned the medical scroll she had been reading.
"It would be… however Naruto seems to be on edge whenever I try to train her so I figured it'd be best he taught them…" his sentence faded off and he gave them a smile. Rin brought it however Obito could see how it didn't reach his sensei's eyes.
Obito was the eldest of the younger three members of team Minato, and had faced a lot of crap. Sure, he didn't lose his father like Kakashi had as he had never met his parents, but he was the pariah of the Uchiha clan. People didn't like talking to him so he had a lifetime to watch people. He knew emotions even if some were foreign to him, he still managed to recognise them whenever he saw them.
Minato sensei and Naruto weren't on good terms and she was avoiding him even though they had reconciled a few week prior. "I hate to interrupt but is it just me? I feel like we're being watched?" asked Obito as he began shifting in his seat, pointing to a tree several hundred yards from them.
Not even a moment later a member of the ANBU black ops landed in front of them wearing a panda mask appeared and groaned, "Don't tell me you're teaching you students to sense us as well Minato? As if having your sister know where we are all the time isn't bad enough." Next to the panda operative another wearing a cat mask who nodded earnestly.
"No… I'm not teaching anyone sensory abilities for another few months…" he looked at Obito with furrowed brows before shrugging and continued, "Wait, all the time? She doesn't exactly follow you guys to the ANBU headquarters so you should be happy about that at the very least!" he chuckled as if what he had said was funny however the ANBU weren't laughing.
"No. you are correct she doesn't follow us to headquarters. She just tends to waltz right in and make herself at home, playing with our ninken there." Replied Cat dryly.
This caused Minato sensei and the operatives to argue for a little while before he gave up, stating he would have a word with his sister and they left not long after.
He looked over to Obito a short while after with a smile on his face, "Hey Obito… I have a new teaching method for you. Since you seems good at sensing, I'll give you some scrolls to read up on and I want you to… follow Naruto. And no I don't mean stalk. Just be close enough where she should be able to sense you but I want you to hide yourself completely. It'll be a good activity for the both of you, but mostly you. You have a lot of ninjutsu at your disposal mostly D and C ranks but we can work you put to B rank when your chakra reserves are bigger.
"Then there's taijustu… Jiraiya-sensei teaches Naruto some pretty hard-core techniques so I'll ask him to let you in on their lessons for you to build upper body strength. Then you should be able to, as you say, kick Kakashi's arse sooner rather than later. How does that sound?"
Obito was unable to see his own expression however he was almost certain there were stars coming out of his eyes as he thought about knocking Kakashi off his high horse. He nodded his head vigorously as he went back to his scroll, the smile on his face not fading once during their training session.
(END OF FLASHBACK)
So here he was. Testing the limit to what he could do. He believed he was doing a good job so far and nothing anyone else said would make him think otherwise. He just wished he could do it without constantly glaring at Kakashi.
His teammate wasn't even doing anything however he couldn't stop his glaring. It was as if Kakashi was doing something he didn't want the chunin to do. All he had to do was try and figure it out however he wasn't having any success.
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