Chapter 7: Rookie Mistakes and Rookie of the Year

Chapter seven – Rookie Mistakes and Rookie of the Year

"In this world, whenever there is light, there are also shadows. As long as the concept of winners exist, there must also be losers. The selfish desire of wanting to maintain peace causes wars, and hatred is born to protect love." - Uchiha Madara

One year later...

Kakashi ran after his sensei, wondering if they were heading in the right direction. Around them explosions were going off in all possible directions. This had not been part of their plan. It had previously been an easy escort mission but now they were dealing with too many enemies to make sense of the situation.

"Kakashi! Behind you!" Shouted Obito just in time. The silver haired boy looked quickly over his shoulder and dodged just in time as an Iwa ninja slashed down his katana where he'd previously been standing.

Kakashi landed awkwardly, and let gravity pull his body down before rolling sideways and getting back up to his feet. By the time he was back on his feet he had his tanto out and readied himself for what came next.

His team was scattered around the field, Minato holding the corpse of the man they were supposed to have seen safely to his home. The mission had failed completely when he'd been hit by a Shuriken in the back and died from the impact.

"What do we do sensei?!" Shouted Rin who looked very out of place. She was constantly looking at the man she'd been talking to when he'd been shot down, her pupils dilated and her pulse escalated to the point you could actually see it hammering in her neck's vein.

"We're retreating. Take my hand, all of you." Minato shouted that ordered to Kakashi and Obito more than to Rin since they were further away.

Obito ducked behind a boulder as a sea of explosion tags were shot his way. The tips of his hair sticking up over the edge of the boulder were scorched away from the heat of the explosions.

He was in a similar state as Rin. It was the first time they'd ended up in the crossfire of the actual war, and it couldn't be more obvious that they were scared out of their minds. But strangely the others panic calmed Kakashi down. His head was working faster than usual and Kakashi felt more clear headed and in control of himself than ever before. Unlike the other two, the adrenaline rush was working for Kakashi instead of against him.

Kakashi clashed with an Iwa ninja who was trying to separate him from Minato while a horde of ninjas went for his sensei and Rin. Meanwhile Obito was terrified from behind his hiding place.

It was pandemonium, and while the attack had taken team Minato by surprise, it didn't look like the enemy was any better organized then themselves. While they outnumber them, they didn't work together and would approach solo, as if they'd heard the sounds and came to help out.

Kakashi decided it was better to get to Obito than to Minato. It was a good possibility that he himself would get slashed down by his sensei in the confusion of ninjutsu and explosions. Especially when Minato was doing his teleporting technique to flash in and out of substance.

The enemy he ran into on his way towards his teammate was a little older than himself, but was easily taken down once Kakashi noticed that the Iwa ninja wasn't covering his left side properly. One precise jab of his tanto into the kidney and the boy started bleeding so much it splashed over Kakashi.

While the boy was still falling to his knees and crying out in agony, Kakashi was running at full speed towards Obito who was now shakily getting out from his hiding place. "Be more useful, Obito!" Ordered Kakashi as a war cry came from a group of Iwa ninja a little further down the forest trail.

"Ah… Ye.. yeah!" Answered Obito while he tried to ready himself. Kakashi stepped in front of him, cursing that Obito seemed to be petrified by the whole situation.

"Stop hesitating, Obito. Kill or be killed. That's all you have to do. Shut down your emotions and concentrate on surviving. There is no room for pity in this world." Kakashi stated in an unusually deep voice, his eyes narrowing in on the enemy closest to him.

Obito looked lost back to his teammate, wondering how on earth he'd ever be able to do such a thing.

The blonde seven year old jinchūriki, soon to be eight, sat in a mold eaten puffy chair in the small apartment belonging to Anko while the owner lay flat on the couch. The molds had been removed, but it didn't stop the chair from being previously damaged.

But the place had seen a real change, and while the light was still dimly lit and the furniture was all second or third hand stuff Anko had found randomly, it was still hundred times better than it had been originally.

Anko could be quite the nester, and had worked hard to get her new home into a comfortable and livable space. She was currently drinking her fifth cup of tea while giving Naruto a recap of her latest mission and why it had gone to hell.

"They came from nowhere. NO where, I tell you. Orochimaru-sensei just turned around and sliced the guy open without looking. And I stood there just wondering what I should do; it was ten to two after all. So I went for the closest, and I swear, he must have been jōnin, because he was fucking strong you know. But I held him off, so we won and they all died." Anko boasted while looking at the bandages on her wrist.

Her hand was healing slowly but surely and the chūnin didn't really think much about the gash she'd received during the battle.

"Sure, sure. Orochimaru is your prince in shining snake shelled armor. Why you find that freak so fascinating I'll never know. He's creepy, evil and dangerous." Answered Naruto without batting an eyelid when Anko glared at her.

It was hardly the first time the blonde voiced her opinion about Anko's senei, and the older girl was used to it by now. Still, she often didn't let Naruto get away with her brash words.

This exact topic had once been the source to their most damaging fight to date. Unlike their usual banter where they both had a habit of ending up with various levels of cuts and bruises, this one had just been words. A weapon both girls knew all too well that could hurt much more than any fist. They hadn't spoken for two months afterwards, but slowly they were patching things up again.

"He is a sannin, a jōnin, world famous and a damned good sensei. You're just jealous." Answered Anko with a scowl.

"All those things could be applied to ero sennin, yet I never bash Minato-san for liking his sensei." Replied Naruto with a huff, uncrossing and crossing her legs as she tried to get comfortable.

"Jiraiya is the man who saved you, of course you like him. And you wouldn't dare go against Minato-san since he's a jōnin and you worship the ground he walks on." Replied Anko with a snort.

"I think you mixed the two of us up there, Anko." Replied Naruto slyly.

Anko blushed and jolted up in a sitting position. "Naru!" She cried outraged, as if she hadn't been suggesting things first. The blonde smiled mischievously back, not caring anymore that Anko had a crush on her father. It wasn't like she stood a chance, and Anko was no older than nine, soon ten, and who ended up with the person they had a crush on as kids anyway?

At such a young age most were in love of the idea of being in love more than anything else.

Half an hour later Anko finished her now cold cup of tea while they switched subject to Naruto's graduation exam coming up in half a year.

"I'll make it, at least now that Ero-sennin taught me the Kage Bunshin. I can't make a normal Bunshin to save my life, and all they expect out of you is some sort of clone." Said Naruto, secretly thrilled Jiraiya had picked up her complete lack of genjutsu skills.

He had been very helpful the last time he came to visit her, telling her all he was allowed about the war and what she should expect when she became genin. The Kage Bunshin was a result of Naruto telling him exactly why she struggled with the technique.

"I use too much chakra. It's like stopping a river with one hand and expect only a few drops of water to escape. I just don't have that chakra control."

The result had been exactly what she had hoped for, and after Ero-senin returned from his 'research' she could again safely use her Kage Bunshin technique.

"You're lucky he bothers with your sorry ass, Naru. You'd be completely useless if he didn't find these solutions for you." Stated Anko haughtily.

"Without Ero-sennin I'd still be lost somewhere in Kumo, dattebayo. So yes, I do know how lucky I am to have him, Anko." Snapped Naruto and scowled at the dark haired girl.

"Well, you have now skipped both pre-academy and a year of the academy. There's not many who can manage that. Usually it's only clan kids who manages." Replied Anko thoughtfully as she was refilling her tea by her kitchen counter.

"Pre-academy?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"Seriously..." Muttered Anko and walked back to her seat with her sixth cup of the afternoon. "Pre-academy is basically the same as the orphanage school, except they don't skip out on ninja history and chakra practice. Many civilians go there too before regular education; it's just a preparation for the academy. You know, so you're actually accepted when the time comes." Explained Anko as she walked back and leaned into the cushions of her shabby couch.

She'd found it on a yard sale and eagerly bought it with the little money she'd saved up. Naruto and Iruka had been the ones to carry it back while Anko shouted instructions down the narrow staircase of her building.

"Why didn't I go there then?" Naruto asked in confused. She was happy she hadn't, but it was strange she'd ended up straight at the academy. When she thought about it like this though, it made more sense.

In her own time, the academy taught a class for at least six years. You started at six years old and graduated when you were twelve. It was the norm in her old time, but here it was common for everyone to graduate at nine, or if you failed the exam first time, at ten. If you had this pre-academy system you had a few more years of training.

"Because toddlers start the per-academy. It's like pre-school. Mostly you just sit around painting flowers or play outside. They focus more on physical condition and helps children access their chakra, that way the academy has less to work on if you manage to get in. Of course don't forget the reading and writing portion as well." Explained Anko while she sipped at her steaming tea.

"Oh, and I had already found out about chakra, so I got to skip it. That makes sense." Said Naruto thoughtfully.

"It also helped you had managed to survive by yourself for months in the wild. How on earth an idiot like you managed that is beyond me, but maybe it's that ridiculous luck of yours that saw you through it." Added Anko with a sly grin. It was clear where Anko had picked that grin up. She spent way too much time around Orochimaru.

"Hah, as if. I'm just awesome. Deal with it." Replied Naruto and stuck her tongue out at her friend. It resulted in a sarcastic laugh and a long lecture about how Anko was so much better than her.

As Naruto left Anko's apartment that evening she decided to take the long route home this time. She enjoyed the calmness of the veining daylight and used the time to get a few more minutes of silence before she was back with her chatty roommates.

Not that they talked much with Naruto specifically anymore, the fact that she had chosen Anko over them was not forgotten. And probably never would.

The blonde didn't see a problem with that though. While she liked the girls in their own way they had nothing in common except a civil status as an orphan. Akiko was also growing into a social butterfly, and while the brunette was one of the few who tolerated Naruto more than most, she still kept her distance for the sake of her reputation.

Naruto took a short cut through a dark side-valley and her mind drifted to other trivial daily life things. She wondered idly what they would be having for supper, and if there would be any left by the time she returned. Food was definitely scarce, but by now Naruto took very little notice of it.

After a year of warfare with a lot of defeats on Konoha's side, the orphanage was becoming more depressing than ever. Anko wasn't there either, making sure that Naruto used most of her time there by herself in a corner while the rest of the children played with one another.

But she preferred it that way. It was difficult to play a young child all the time, and with Anko or Iruka she felt at easy and let the pretense go. While at the orphanage the solidarity she'd once despised was now used on plotting. Wondering how she could help. What she could change.

The thoughts had been occurring more frequently the closer she got to graduation. Because once she had that headband she could much easier make changes that hadn't happened the first time around. Like hunting down Akatsuki members before they got too powerful. Like that masked man…

Naruto sighed as she crossed an open square next to one of the smaller parks in Konoha, noticing a boy sitting at the side of the road, staring off into nothing particular.

It took Naruto a long moment to realize who it was. Obito.

"Obito!" Shouted Naruto across the square, making him look up as she jogged over to say hello. The blonde had long ago decided to befriend this guy but she rarely ran into him, making it difficult to execute her intentions.

"Oh, Naruto. It's been a long time since I saw you last, what are you doing?" He asked just as Naruto came to a stop in front of him.

"I'm heading back to the orphanage. I have to be back by seven if I don't want to be given wash duty tomorrow." Answered Naruto.

"Seven is your curfew?" Replied Obito

"Yeah, Madam May isn't one to be fooled easily either. But I know a Bunshin technique that sometimes comes in handy if I run low on time." Stated Naruto sheepishly.

"Well that's good. I suck at the Bunshin technique. It's the reason I almost failed my genin exam." Obito said with a weak chuckle. Naruto had the impression Obito wasn't really with her. That his mind was far away, pondering some other aspect while he absentmindedly answered Naruto's questions.

"Huh… I sucked at the normal Bunshin technique too, but I've got an alternative that suits me better. I'm planning on using that during my exams since there's no way in hell I'll manage to do a normal non corporal one." Said Naruto and sat down next to Obito, wondering when he'd snap out of his mood. Not for a while it seemed.

"Good for you." He said and looked down at his hand folded in his lap. Naruto followed his line of sight and noted the bandages sticking out from underneath his sleeve.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Naruto asked out of concern.

"I'm fine, but that's not because of my own power… I..." He stopped and seemed to have gotten a better hold of himself before smiling disarmingly to Naruto.

"Heh, it's just a stupid scratch from my last mission. We got attacked unexpectedly and the battle was really wild. But no worries. I'll be fine in no time." He said and laughed warmly while he straightened his goggles with his uninjured hand.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. He was so similar to herself it was almost uncanny. The way he tried to fool her by putting on the cheery act, how he couldn't do a Bunshin very well for his exam, the jumpsuit and the whole aura he emitted was so similar it could have been her own self she was looking at instead.

"So you messed up on your latest mission. What caused you to get this depressed? I doubt an injured arm would have you this sad. Was the mission unsuccessful?" Naruto asked brutally, cutting away his smile with a few short sentences.

As if on cue Naruto noticed his eyes growing wet, as if he was about to cry and Naruto felt her stomach turn. Had something really happened? Something bad? Had anyone on his team gotten injured… Or killed? Had Naruto's presence in the past screwed up the time-line already?

"Um… It wasn't my fault! The man we were escorting was shot down out of nowhere by a Shuriken. Don't blame me for that!" Shouted Obito in offence, shuffling sideways while keeping in the tears Naruto could see wanted to fall.

"What about your team? Is everyone alright? Minato, Kakashi and Rin? Are they alright?" Naruto asked urgently, closing in the space Obito had created between them.

"Wha- Yeah. They're fine. I'm the one who got hurt. Again." Said Obito hollowly, and before Naruto could do much more than open her mouth, the tears started falling. The blonde realized it wasn't sorrow Obito was feeling, but frustration. Those were angry tears.

"Gah!" Shouted Obito and looked away while he tried to dry away the wetness. Clearly uncomfortable that he'd started crying in front of a girl he barely knew.

"So you're disappointed you couldn't do more." Concluded Naruto and focused on a building in front of them, trying to give Obito some privacy.

"..." He didn't answer, but Naruto heard a short sniffle before he turned back towards her. Naruto continued staring straight forward.

"Sometimes your own strength doesn't measure up does it? I know how you feel. Before I came here to Konoha I experienced some shitty things too. The enemy strikes and you're left paralyzed. Not knowing what to do or how to do it." Said Naruto reminiscing back to her first C-rank mission and how she'd frozen when the demon brothers had attacked team seven. But Tazuna had survived and their mission had been successful. Obito's hadn't sadly.

"Yeah..." Answered Obito, still trying to find the right words.

"You know… I want to become Hokage one day, because if I can achieve that title it means I'm strong enough to protect everyone in Konoha." Said Naruto, changing the subject and looked teasingly back at Obito. The boy was still red in the eyes, but his cheeks puffed up slightly at her words.

"Well, you will be disappointed then, since I'll take that title." Argued Obito seriously, but the laugh in his eyes was impossible to miss.

"Hah! As if, I'm gonna' be Hoakge first, but you can probably take the title sometime later. First you'll have to catch up to my awesomeness, dattebayo!" Cried Naruto and jumped to her feet. Obito followed her example but folded his arms while grinning wickedly.

"I seriously doubt it. You're not even a proper ninja yet, Naruto. I'm already way ahead of you!" Replied the Uchiha with certainty.

The blonde turned properly towards Obito, her mind pondering what might have happened to Obito in the original time-line. Had Itachi killed him too during the Uchiha massacre? Him and Shisui... Or had he died during the war like so many others?

"Fine, bring it on. From now on I'm your rival, and one day we'll fight for the old man's hat." Challenged Naruto and raised her hand. Obito looked curiously down at it for a split second before taking it and shaking her hand firmly.

"Deal."

Some months later, when autumn was yet again hanging over Konoha, all the graduate students at the academy started getting excited.

You could feel the expectations in the air as their finals were coming closer. Shisui particularly was excited for graduation and spent all lectures in deep concentration and training with his father after school hours. With this change of routine madeIruka and Naruto to see less of him than usual, as he and Ensui had taken to join them a few times a week after school.

Jiraiya visited Naruto one evening to notify her of his stay and trained her for a few days to see if she was prepared. He was excited when she showed him everything she knew.

"This is great Naruto! You're more than ready, brat! I have to leave the village again soon unfortunately, but when I return I promise to teach you something cool okay?" He said with a broad grin. The promise of again being taught by Jiraiya was enough to make Naruto skip for two whole days.

Anko had asked if she'd accidentally fallen into her poison appliance bag, but Naruto had no idea what that meant but assumed she was being made fun of.

The exams came and went. Naruto still struggled with the Bunshin technique and did a Kage Bunshin instead. It made the exam proctor clap excitedly and give a warm smile before she exited together with her five clones. Yeah, she overdid it a little, but the satisfaction of doing her genin exam and actually excel at something felt really pleasing.

It still hadn't been enough to get to the top of the class though, instead the Rookie of the Year title had unsurprisingly gone to Shisui. His father Kagami had been waiting outside the building when the students came out, and the last Naruto saw of them before they were swept away in the crowd was of them hugging. Clearly Kagami was proud.

As soon as she could Naruto had proudly strolled back to Anko's apartment with Iruka being tugged along to show off their shiny new headbands. Iruka had been a little embarrassed to have been swept away from his parents before he could tell them he'd passed. Since they might think he was hiding because he had failed, which he hadn't, so he excused himself after only being at the apartment for two minutes.

Instead Anko and Naruto spent the day having a celebration dinner paid by Anko herself inside her apartment before sparring together late into the evening. The simple fact that as legally an adult the orphanage no longer could punish her for being late, making the training session all the more satisfying.

"Okay, remember. No matter which losers you team up with I'm still your number one rival alright? You will always be trying to catch up with me, and even if you end up with some pansy boy like Ensui I will always be the one you have to compete against. Got it?" Threatened Anko in a drawl while Naruto got ready to leave for the academy.

It was team division day and Naruto was feeling surprisingly nervous. The idea that she would be put on a team, a team other than team seven, didn't feel right.

This wouldn't be her real Genin team somehow, and the idea didn't sit well with her. Anko seemed to read off these emotions as nerves and Naruto was fine with letting her believe that. In a way it was true, but it wasn't the whole truth.

Anko also seemed hell bent on making sure Naruto didn't forget about her. It was proven when she'd offered to let Naruto sleep over after graduation. The blonde had eagerly agreed but had second thoughts once she lay down on the uncomfortable couch. The bed back at the orphanage was much more comfortable but Naruto decided not to comment on it. Anko had done very well considering the hardship it was to make due as a poor orphan on a Genin payroll. Truly she was ding admirably when comparing it to the situation she'd been in at first.

But now that Naruto was technically an adult legally, she wasn't restricted to sleep at the orphanage at night and to celebrate her graduation, and the second time around getting her forehead protector, she was happy to stay at Anko's for the night.

"Anko, I've beaten you plenty of times." Answered Naruto with a mischievous grin, already knowing how Anko would react.

The older girl seemed to have fallen into one of her moods where she was making sure Naruto wasn't replacing her with someone else. In a way Anko was oddly possessive of Naruto's friendship, and while she tolerated that Naruto had some other friends and wasn't always this controlling, she was not afraid of letting the blonde know that she was not allowed to switch her out as best friend. Especially not with some clan kid.

Yeah, nothing had made Anko more jealous than the time they'd been invited to dinner at Ensui's house together with Iruka and Shisui. The older girl had looked longingly from the cozy living room to the more intimate kitchen where none of the furniture were showing signs of wear. The fact that Ensui used so much time bickering with his younger sister and telling his parents about his day had turned Anko into a silent shell of her normal self.

It was good Naruto was more used to these types of situations. She'd often been invited to Sakura's house for dinner, more so after she'd returned from her trip with Ero-sennin though. At least she was better prepared for the situation compared to Anko who looked like a deer in the headlights. Afterwards she'd turned very competitive towards Ensui, and it was obvious to Naruto that her friend had an inferior problem when it came to fellow ninjas.

Naruto found it quite funny though, but was also very happy to have someone who seemed to need her as much as Naruto needed them. Without Anko the blonde wondered how she would have dealt with being thrown back in time. The older girl was probably one of her closest friends ever at this point. Even when including all the ones from the future.

"Only at taijutsu! Your chakra control might be better than it was, but you're still shitty at it!" Anko retorted heatedly, her eyes narrowing and being her normal rude self. The older girl often offended Naruto, but it was her form of endearment so the blonde didn't take it as badly as when she'd been insulted in her original childhood. Back when people knew she was a jinchūriki the offending words had genuinely meant to hurt.

"One of these days I'll have it down, and then I'll completely humiliate you with my skills." Naruto replied with a wide smile, resulting in Anko rolling her eyes. "I have more chakra than you, so of course I struggle more. But once my body catches up to my chakra reserves you stand no chance A-n-ko." Naruto singed and jumped as Anko aimed a kick at her.

"Whatever." Huffed Anko as Nartuo started heading for the hallway. She followed after while she folded her hands in front of her. "When you're finished at the academy you have to let me know who your teammates are. I have a week off before my next mission so I'll be at the training grounds until seven." Anko said while leaning against the door frame leading into the small hallway.

Naruto nodded and gave her the thumbs up. "Sure will, Anko. I'll see you later!" She shouted as she started bouncing up the stairs. Taking four at a time which was quite a stretch considering how short her legs were.

Inside the classroom at the Academy, everyone who had passed the exam the day before were eager to know who their teammates would be and what sort of sensei they'd get. The moment Naruto stepped into the classroom she was caught around the wrist by a hyperactive Iruka and dragged further inside.

He had eagerly placed her in the seat next to his own. Usually they sat on opposite ends of the classroom, but today very few sat according to seat assignment. Only those who were by the book kept to the proper arrangements. Like Shisui.

It made Naruto reminisce back to when Sakura had threatened Naruto for sitting in the seat next to Sasuke. The blonde still shuddered at the result of that argument, and fought back a grimace at the memory of her first kiss. If it can even be called a kiss. It was more of a head smack with unfortunate parts coming into contact.

Instead she focused on the present. Iruka was visibly very nervous. His hands fumbled with the hem of his T-shirt and his eyes constantly looked in the direction of the door while he and everyone else waited for their sensei to come in.

Shisui was in a similar state, and since he was sitting right behind them Naruto got a good view of how the pale boy seemed to be a shade paler while he used the time to chat animatedly to Naruto.

The Uchiha was the kind of person who was calm and collected until something excited him. When he got very happy it was hard to shut him up, and he would ramble on until he was out of breath. It wasn't often the blonde had seen this side of him, but today was one of them.

"I'm curious about what we'll learn. It would be awesome if my new sensei took us out to fight in the war. I really want to help out since father is always out there. I also hope he has some cool ninjutsu to teach me. I've mastered my fire affinity but I would really like to experiment with some of the other elements too, you know? I hope I'm not put together with someone I can't cooperate with though, imagine being with Mizuki." He said this last word in a whisper in fear of the person in question overhearing him.

Naruto had been quite influential on her friends, and Shisui was one of the people who had picked up on Naruto's dislike of the white haired boy and been affected by it. It wasn't the best thing Naruto had done, but Mizuki really was dodgy.

He had gotten seriously offended when Naruto didn't want to eat lunch with him and some of his friends and turned rather nasty. Shisui took this as confirmation of Naruto's dislike and started finding faults with him. It was the result of an impressionable child who felt grateful to Naruto after the catastrophic outing, but Naruto couldn't find it in herself to feel bad about the outcome.

"… It would be really bad, and I don't want a bad Genin team. It's really important according to my father. It's just a shame I don't have a say in it. I wish I did. If we could just have been allowed to pick three and then they'd make sure you at least ended up with one of them. And what if the sensei isn't good? And we're sent out to the front lines and get hurt or killed? I don't want to die but I still want to help out too. And then..." It continued like this for a while, Shisui talked so fast it was hard for Naruto to get a word in other than the occasional 'mhm' and 'yeah'. Giving her plenty of time to mull over her own nerves privately while she pretended to listen.

While Shisui might have managed to become Rookie of the year with Mizuki as the close follow up, Naruto herself had come in third. The reason she hadn't scored higher was because she still for the life of her found written exams to be a drag.

Instead she used most of her time drawing doodles rather than answering the stupid questions. What would genjutsu's third stage really help her with anyway? Naruto couldn't cast any sort of stage of genjutsu anyway, and all she had to train on was dispelling since the alternative was impossible for her. The letters just blended and she lost her concentration.

When their sensei finally entered the classroom, making Shisui shut up so quickly you'd think he'd been hit by Ino's mind switch technique. Everyone followed his footsteps as if he was a mouse in the middle of a falcon nest.

After finding some papers and swiftly glancing through them their sensei started his farewell speech and the anticipation rose to record heights. Even Naruto who'd been through this once before was getting rather impatient.

The blonde listened closely as their sensei finally started listing up names, his slow way of speaking making it drag on and heightening the nerves of the students. "Team Shibi will consist of Kavana Hachirou..." The sensei droned on while the students being called up stiffened before finding the eyes of their new teammates. A few smiled brightly when being placed with a friend, some looked surprised or uncertain while some looked downright displeased.

"Team Kushina will consist of Nara Ensui..." Started the sensei saying but had to pause and turn over a page to get to the rest of the team. Naruto tensed like a wire.

Could it be? Naruto had never known her mother had taken a genin team, but then again, she knew very little about what her mother had been up to. Now she was listening intently as none other than Nara Ensui was placed on her mother's team. "...Umino Iruka and Hitomi. Then we have team Sora which will consist of..."

The blonde was green with envy and her eyes shot sideways to stare daggers at Hitomi who as always sat in her assigned seat next to Shisui. The brunette was not paying attention to her though, and was instead looking towards Ensui who appeared like he was still calculating if his team placement was favorable or not. Iruka on the other hand was looking very excited.

Naruto had never talked about Kushina to him or anyone else. Mainly because in this time she had yet to meet the red head properly.

Naruto had no proper bonds with anyone from team Minato, and while her friendship with Jiraiya always made her father wave or greet her when they passed each other on the street, that was all there was. A polite, superficial friendship that bordered more on distant acquaintance than friendship or family. And Kushina was even worse.

While she might have heard of Naruto through Jiraiya, she had never as much as taken notice of Naruto when they were in the same area. Many times Naruto had been a few steps away from Kushina and the red head had barely looked up before continuing on her own agendas.

It was heartbreaking.

But Naruto understood. She was a stranger in this time. Just another orphan that did not have any connections with either Minato or Kushina except through Jiraiya. They were also busy with the war and Naruto had slowly come to accept the situation.

That was until Iruka, Ensui and Hitomi, that spoiled brat, was placed on the team her mother was leading.

That could have been her. Naruto could have been on a team under her own mother, and it would have been the perfect way to build a bond with someone she was so immensely curious about. It could almost counter the guilt she'd been feeling about having another genin team than team seven. Why had it not been her? She had to stop herself from demanding to be placed on team Kushina but knew it would be a fruitless attempt and kept quiet while the list continued.

Mizuki ended up with Chou and a boy named Shiro under a Hyūga Naruto didn't know, and the blonde had yet to be placed. She wondered if she was on the last team and had also noted that Shisui was yet to be placed as well. She crossed her fingers under the table.

"Last up is Uchiha Shisui and Naruto, you two will join with a chūnin as your third member under Orochimaru. And that's everyone! Congratulation you- "

"NO!"

Everyone turned to see the short blonde girl standing thunderstruck on her chair. She had jumped up the moment the realization had hit in, which had taken about five heartbeats, but hadn't really registered that she was currently standing on her chair. Staring intently at her sensei as if she had been convicted and ordered to be executed for treason to Konoha. Which incidentally was something that should have happened to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru? Orochimaru? Could she have worse luck if she'd tried? "I can't be taught by him!" Naruto exclaimed in growing panic. What had happened? What were the chances of her having that snake as a sensei?

To everyone in class the blonde seemed comically upset and a few snickered at her panicked expression.

"O-Orochimaru? I can't be on his team..." She mumbled still in shock.

Iruka sent a surprised look before he turned more sympathetic. "He might be scary, but I heard he's also very strong and a respected shinobi. I'm sure you'll learn a lot under him, Naruto. And Shisui and your friend Anko-san is there too, you're actually really lucky." He said comfortably, but his words of comfort fell on empty ears.

Naruto was nimbly finding her way back into her seat, clutching her head with both hands and staring at the table top without seeing. Imagining how this could possibly be a mistake.

"I don't want to learn his snake shit. Why can't I have Jiraiya instead? Or Kushina-san like you Iruka? Why me? Why now? What did I do to deserve this?!" She moaned and sagged in her seat.

From the other end of the room Shisui had been at first been really pleased, but Naruto's reaction hadn't been all that encouraging. So he silently celebrated the fact that he would have a sannin for sensei and, despite the look of horror on her face, Naruto as teammate.

During war time genin were always the easy pick, but with a sensei like Orochimaru the stacks against them had vastly dropped.

Naruto could only watch as the other kids went out for lunch. Iruka and Ensui met up and headed towards their third team member Hitomi to discuss their new situations as genin teammates before lunch was over. And when it was they would be meeting up with Uzumaki Kushina. Naruto was too jealous of their luck and too horrified at her own situation that she could do little more than wave when they left her.

The blonde knew, but didn't really see as Shisui walked up to her. "Cool huh? We're teammates again! I'm sure Orochimaru isn't as bad as you seem to think." Said Shisui, not exactly sure how to talk to the blonde when she was this visibly upset.

She turned towards him, wide eyed and an ever growing paleness to her skin. "You're an Uchiha." Was all she replied, and Shisui started wondering if maybe Naruto wasn't coming down with something.

"Um… Yeah, we've been in class together for a year and a half now. We went on that outing together last year and I sit on the same row as you do just on the other side of the classroom. I'm pretty sure you do know my family name. Are you sure you're alright?" Asked Shisui while scratching the back of his head uncertainly.

"Shisui! You don't want Orochimaru as a sensei! You're an Uchiha for crying out loud." Exclaimed Naruto, still not clarifying what she meant.

"Wha-" He started saying but didn't get to finish.

"This is bad! You have to ask for a new sensei, if we both asked than maybe they'd listen. Kami, you're an Uchiha." She kept rambling under her breath, her eyes far away while Shisui for real placed his hand on her forehead, wondering if she might be running a fever. She was surprisingly warm.

"I think you have a fever, Naruto. Maybe you should take it easy." He told her with a small smile but Naruto swatted his hand away, meeting his eyes with worry filled blue orbs.

"I'm not sick. Orochimaru is sick. We're doomed, Shisui."

"Why don't we start with an introduction round?" Said Orochimaru as he looked down at his new two students and older apprentice while he leaned against the bark of a tree.

The leaves gave some shade from the blaring sun and Orochimaru preferred the cool draft of the shadows. Maybe it was because of his pale complexion which before his experiments had burned easily that he'd never liked sunshine very much. Now he never got sunburn anymore, but he still gravitated towards shadows and darkness.

His new team might be a challenge in this regard though. Since he was now in charge of a small beam of sunshine incarnated. Or well, usually a beam of sunshine, right now she resembled more of a rainy cloud with her unimpressed expression and slightly twitchy demeanor. As if she as expecting an attack at any moment. That was good, clearly she had good instincts, and no one was more dangerous than him in Konoha at the moment. Maybe his sensei but other than that there was no one who could challenge him. The snake sannin himself.

The thought reminded him of the struggles he'd taken on just to get his way with this. It had been a pain to convince Hiruzen to let him have Naruto on his team.

It had started with Anko; when after many years the Hokage had finally convinced him to take on a student the year his apprentice had graduated. But as usual Orochimaru had been stubborn and demanded to only take the Rookie of the Year, which resulted in an apprentice instead of a team.

There had been a genin test of course, but more of the kind the snake sanin preferred. Which wasn't up to team work and all that crap, but more about who was actually the most capable.

Predictably Anko had won and the other two kids he no longer remembered the name of were sent their merry way back to the school bench. He'd accepted Anko since she showed promise, but the other two interested him as much as gravel stuck to his sandals.

The reasoning Hiruzen had used back then was that he had so much knowledge and; 'A lot to teach the next generation'. He'd been pushed to do as told, but not entirely, which suited Orochimaru a lot better.

It was therefore a huge surprise to the old man when Orochimaru came into his office and declared he wanted to complete his team. Again with the Rookie of the Year and another pupil to fill out the spots. He had presumed Naruto would take the title when he made the demand.

Truthfully; he wasn't really interested in having another student except for the blonde girl, but it had served as the proper excuse to be allowed to train her. Technically no one was allowed to have two apprentices at the same time. Anko was still his apprentice and would be for another year, so instead he used the team excuse.

This meant he either got both of them or none at all.

Orochimaru was fascinated by the girl who had been brought to Konoha by Jiraiya. After their first meeting he had looked into her profile and quickly realized Naruto was a very fascinating subject. As a result from this he had given her a small push in the right direction. Orochimaru had stayed behind the curtains while he had suggested to her academy sensei that she should be pushed up a year, and he had everyone within the civilian council in his pocket so they were not hard to convince in regards of letting Naruto move up a year.

He had been annoyed however when he realized he would be given Uchiha Shisui instead. Determined he had gone up to Hiruzen and demanded that he got to teach Naruto, and after a lot of bickering between sensei and student Hiruzen had agreed.

The Hokage had originally thought of putting Naruto on team Kushina, but now made it so Hitomi and Naruto exchanged places. So in the end he had the Rookie of the Year on his team, plus the one he originally wanted.

But fate had always been kind to him, and the Uchiha was definitely someone he also looked forwards to learn more about. Especially once he gained the Sharingan.

But right now they were going through introductions, and the younger boy was up first.

"Okay, my name is Uchiha Shisui, I like swimming, training and taking bets. My dream is to exceed my father in ninja skills." Said Shisui smiling broadly. Orochimaru didn't give any sign as to what he thought of that introduction, and instead looked to Anko so she would continue. His apprentice was more than familiar with him by now, so she got right to it.

"My name is Mitarashi Anko. I like dango, training and the forest of death. I want to become an ANBU or part of the jōnin guard." She explained quickly and efficiently. Just the way he'd instructed her countless times to do.

They all turned last to the furious girl who was looking stubbornly up at her sensei. "Naruto. I like a lot of things… Have no intention of telling you my hobbies, and I also have a few dreams for the future."

Anko rolled her eyes while Shisui snickered. Orochimaru didn't seem to take any offence to the killer intent Naruto was directing at him, but internally he was relishing in it. "Good, now that we all know something about each other we can start with the real genin test." He said and pointed to the training ground close to where they sat. "I want you to get one of these bells, whoever doesn't will be sent back to the academy, or in Anko's case she will be demoted to genin." He lifted up two silver bells and Naruto felt herself tremble in anger. He was such a hypocrite doing the comrade test when he himself was a backstabbing bastard.

"But there are only two bells." Said Anko looking uncomfortable from Shisui to Naruto.

"Then you should try and get one before there's no one left." The snake said while walking towards the middle of the training ground. "You'll have to come at me with the intention to kill. You stand no chance at all if you don't."

Naruto perked up at this idea and grinned to herself. Shisui noticed and looked nervously back at Orochimaru. "Eh… Isn't that a little dangerous Orochimaru-sensei?" He asked uncertainly. Thinking more of the sadistic smile growing on Naruto's face more than the most lethal jutsu they could hit their sensei with.

Orochimaru gave an unpleasant scowl in return. "You can call me sensei if you pass the test, Uchiha-kun, and I doubt any of you stand a chance."

The three of them rose to their feet and followed after the sannin. Naruto trailing a little behind the others. "Ready? You have one hour, one the count of three. One... two... three."

Anko and Shisui ran for cover while Naruto stayed in her track. "I give up. Send me back to the academy, Orochimaru." She said with her hands crossed in front of her.

Orochimaru smiled widely. "Sorry little girl, but you'll have to do the test first I'm afraid."

She looked hard back at him without flinching at the sinister grin on his face.

"Then there will be no consequences for me if I end up killing you?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

"You won't be able to, Naruto-chan. Believe me, and it would take quite a bit to kill someone like me." He answered her smoothly, dangling the bells in front of her like she was a dog being tempted with snacks. Naruto rolled her eyes and snorted at the same time.

"Yes, I thought so too."

Without any indication at all she sprang at him, faster than what the sannin had ever expected her to move. Orochimaru whirled sideways but was met by a clone he hadn't spotted, and jumping up he felt the slash to his cheek the clone had inflected on him.

Amazing, she actually managed to get a hit in. Naruto was a lot faster than she'd been before, no doubt about it. But now that he knew there wouldn't be a repeat of that incident.

The real Naruto landed after her jump and turned around while forming hand signs in a blur. The wind jutsu flew at him before Naruto was properly facing him, the small but lethal knives of wind soared through the air. But Orochimaru had always been limber and even here in the past he could stretch oddly.

Orochimaru jumped backwards while dodging, slithering between the attacks while Naruto frowned.

All the while he was looking hungrily at what she was doing with a glint to his eyes. Next Orochimaru whirled through hand signs and a Katon jutsu came blasting towards her. Naruto used two clones to propel herself from the ground and away from danger into the air. It seemed Orochimaru wasn't too scared about hurting his Genin as Kakashi had been. It was evident by the scorching craters left in the wake of his jutsu.

When she landed she felt his presence right underneath her and jumped just in time as his hands emerged from the soil underneath her feet.

No way was she going to get buried to the neck like Sasuke.

She took several back flips away as he continued to grasp after her from underneath the soil. She soon found herself in the bushes and swore when she realized she'd been backed straight into a dead end. Naruto ran up the large boulder and Orochimaru climbed out of the ground without taking his eyes of her. Once she was well up on the boulder she ran into Shisui who looked panicked after watching the short scuffle between Naruto and Orochimaru.

"Whoa! How on earth are any of us going to get a bell from him? He's a sannin and he's a war hero! And we're just newly graduates… How are we expected to overthrow him on our own without help? This test is really unfair considering the other Genin teams don't have a sannin as their sensei." He said while looking down at Orochimaru who had not pursued her. He was walking slowly back to the starting point with his hands in his pocket.

"We'll cooperate. We need to find Anko, If we can distract him I could get at clean hit on him." Naruto replied thinking off different possibilities.

"But there's only two bells..." He answered in growing frustration while his mind worked furiously. Something wasn't adding up...

Naruto looked confused back. Oh, right. She'd forgotten that Shisui had no idea that she was actually trying to kill him, not get the bells.

"Oh, you and Anko can have them. I don't care." She said with a shrug. Shisui seemed dumbfounded when he looked back at her.

"Come on. We'll find Anko so she can help."

In the end her plan backfired badly. Not only was he still unharmed but they also didn't get a single bell. Instead by the end Orochimaru complimented them on being able to cooperate even when there was a conflict of interest. It was a sour and frustrated Naruto who listened as Orochimaru passed the two academy students as his new genin.

Naruto was gloriously pissed as she walked away with Shisui trailing after, followed by Anko who was skipping for a change.

Orochimaru was very pleased with how it had turned out. Both of the genin seemed reasonably skilled, especially Naruto, even if the girl seemingly hated him for some reason.

He had a theory to that. It was the same one which had first made him curious about the blonde.

Naruto had taken an instant disliking to him, like he'd insulted her gravely and she could only barely stand being in his presence. Orochimaru's theory was that the girl in some form or another was a sensor. She might have picked up on his chakra, realized on some primal level that his chakra was tainted and therefore disliked him. He was quite sure she wasn't aware of this consciously, at least there hadn't been any reports suggesting it.

After that he'd kept track on the girl from afar. He had to do it from a distance, since the girl had a habit of doing a U-turn every time she noticed him.

During her early days at the academy he had noticed that while she was far from book smart, she was very intuitive. Naruto had a lot of chakra and she barely needed the time to practice something before she got it. At least that was the case for the things they taught in the academy.

She also trained on her own a lot harder then they made her do in the academy. This was very rare for an orphan to do without any guidance. He had often gotten report backs from some of his more trusted subordinates who'd been asked to keep an eye on her. They spoke of long and repetitive meditation and chakra exercises. A smart move, since those were the things she probably needed the most of with her chakra reserves. And also a little staggering, since normally the girl couldn't stand still for more than half a minute.

He was the one to suggest that she skipped a year, and the academy sensei agreed whole heartedly. Which resulted in that soon afterwards the incident in the forest occurred. Strengthening his conviction that the girl would make a perfect subject.

Not only had she been suspiciously good at fighting away his snakes in one of the traps laid out for them on the route, but Orochimaru had seen her after they came back.

The younger boys had been completely destroyed out there while Naruto and Kakashi seemed fine. In fact, except for how smudged in dirt and torn her clothes were her physical exam had come back spotless. The girl didn't have as much as sore skin.

No problems at all, it was like she'd never left her bed the morning of the outing.

Even the Hatake boy, who was already chūnin level back then, had a few cuts and scrapes from walking through bushes and trees. Not to mention the illness he picked up when he returned, but yet Naruto didn't. That suggested some sort of healing ability. Even the boy who hadn't fallen in the river had gotten sick, but Naruto had not.

And was there two things that often went hand in hand; then it was sensors and healers. Many people within one field was adapt at the second. The moment after reading her report was when he decided she would be his student. Orochimaru needed to figure the girl's ability out and maybe then he could then copy it for his research.

Of course, he knew she'd genuinely tried to kill him several times during the last hour, but he didn't see a problem with it for the time being.

He'd been worried the girl would be as soft as Jiraiya from the way the Toad Sannin spoke of her and it was a relief to see she wasn't. He traced the bloody wound that ran from his nose to his chin and licked the blood of his finger.

She really was a fascinating subject.

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.

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To be continued...