Chapter 23

All in all, Naruto had gained very little regarding training in Genjutsu that he could use. He would be more useful in a fight because of his increased speed, something which hadn't come to his team's notice since Kakashi had forestalled any spars in favor of the teamwork exercises they had been doing. Other than that, his strength was pitiful in regards to any person with some taijutsu experience and he knew very little Ninjutsu.

His sensor bloodline, however, was extremely improved. It had continued to grow by leaps and bounds upon his discovery and he could now sense things to within 15 yards of himself if he concentrated. If he didn't, he had a constant area surrounding himself while on guard that allowed him to sense up to 6 yards away from him and even if he was completely relaxed, 1 yard away from him. If he had time, he could sometimes pick out a color within the person's chakra system, like for Kakashi, his chakra color was light blue but Naruto would see a whitish-purple color sometimes flicker inside his sensei. It perplexed him that he couldn't figure out what that meant but Kurenai had asked him to check her own. He had been hesitant to do so because of what had happened the last time he actively searched for her chakra but complied and felt those same feelings being reinforced from before. As he plunged deeper, however, he noticed that she had a light blue color that was almost indistinguishable from her other chakra. He had managed to find it only after 20 minutes of constant observation, something he was sure he could only stand while looking at her's, or possibly Shikamaru's, chakra.

After he had explained it to her, she had nodded and told him to disregard it for now, that she would explain that in one of their future sessions if Kakashi didn't explain it first. It was something that Naruto had been anxious to learn, and when Kurenai had told him that she knew what it was, he almost bounced around in anticipation. Her declaration of telling him she wouldn't explain it yet had dampened his mood but he had only stared at her for a few minutes before nodding and acquiescing to what she felt was best, after all, she was his sensei.

Naruto stopped contemplating on the past few weeks and slightly brooding over how he still couldn't cast a Genjutsu, as he looked up at where his sensei appeared. He didn't say anything nor did Sakura yell out at her sensei that he was late as the three gennin looked at their sensei expectantly, having gotten used to his antics and formed a semi-camaraderie. The team was nothing like what it had been when it was first formed but their work was near flawless, competing with the legendary gennin teams for completion records and approval comments.

Kakashi eye smiled at his team, "Since my cute little gennin didn't yell at me today... how about we see if Hokage-sama has a C-rank mission for us today?" he said as his smile increased further from how Sasuke perked up and even Naruto's frosty eyes seemed to gain a glint of excitement. Naruto's frostiness had faded a little with Sasuke's warming up and Kakashi was happy about that, he hoped they could form a good bond that wouldn't be broken even if Sasuke or Naruto ever got jealous again. He was still trying to get the Hokage to allow him access to the Uzumaki scrolls for Naruto but the Hokage had effectively stonewalled him again. So, he was stuck with what to do about training Naruto as he knew that Naruto just needed basic training that he was going to introduce to the team as a whole.

"Finally! No more of these damn boring chores!" Sakura exclaimed in a relieved voice.

"I agree, it is about time we do something more than chores, our success rate is almost unmatched," Naruto said as he had taken to reading about various things that caught his interest in the History of Konoha book. He had also finished the rules for Shinobi and had begun trying to integrate them into his life.

"Hn," Sasuke added.

Kakashi almost sweatdropped but simply kept his eye smile as he turned to head to the Hokage Tower after whipping out his book. He was a bit surprised when Naruto whipped out a book and began following his sensei from behind. He smiled internally as he giggled perversely after reading a passage, along with seeing the dumbfounded expression on his other two gennin's faces.

"Naruto reads?" Sasuke asked almost incredulously. Sakura just nodded her head dumbly as her mouth did a nice imitation of a fish out of water. Unknown to any of them, Naruto smiled into his book as he sidestepped a pole, observation skills were amazing and this was one of the best ways of training them. He ignored the jab at his intelligence as it was expected, he realized that before he had met Shikamaru and Kurenai he probably wouldn't even look twice at a book. Kurenai had mentioned she did something like this back when she first started and he had decided it wouldn't be too obvious what he was training with Kakashi as his 'legitimate' sensei.

Sasuke and Sakura soon shook themselves of their shock, something which Naruto had been doing constantly for the past month and a half, and followed the rest of their team to the Hokage Tower.

(Scene Break)

Kakashi and Naruto entered the Hokage Tower with Sakura and Sasuke following them close behind. Sakura looked decidedly happy to be standing next to Sasuke but the rest of her team could tell that she was also excited about a new mission, the whole team was ready to stop those damn chores that the Hokage dared to call missions.

Sasuke was not being such a slouch either, to the casual observer, he seemed normal but his team could tell that he was standing straighter and his shoulders seemed to be thrown back in pride at getting their first C-rank.

Kakashi glanced out of the side of his eye at Naruto. As had become normal, Naruto seemed to only have a frosty countenance with icy blue eyes skimming his book as he walked forward with all the confidence one would usually find only in experienced chuunin. Kakashi mentally nodded, his team was ready.

Naruto himself was a little curious if they would be cleared for this mission. Kurenai had mentioned she would have to tell the Hokage about Kakashi's neglect but their mission record stood apart from anyone else's. He was also a little apprehensive about seeing his Jiji for the first time in almost three months. He felt a tightness in his chest as they ascended the stairs into the mission room where the chuunin were usually for their daily missions. Naruto had thought it a bit odd that the Hokage hadn't seen his team once since their formation but he wrote it off as the Hokage being very busy. He was not one to look at a gift and scoff at it, he hadn't wanted to see his Jiji. His feelings of betrayal from the only person he had seen as a family was a huge blow to him and he hadn't wanted to talk to him after having seen him following his registration approval and meeting Konohamaru.

Naruto steeled himself as he allowed Kakashi to open the door and step inside before him. He let Sasuke and Sakura draw next to him as he placed his book away and the three gennin stepped inside together, a show of unity that couldn't be missed with Sakura in the middle, Sasuke flanking her on her left and Naruto on her right.

As they entered, they were treated to the sight of multiple piles of scrolls stacked on top of a U shaped amount of tables, on their right was Umino Iruka, who was acting as the chuunin assistant today, just as he had done a few times before. He was a rather unassuming chuunin who wore the usual flak jacket with a blue shirt and blue pants, a kunai holster on his right leg along with blue shinobi sandals. His Hitai-ate was tied around the top of his head and his brown hair was tied up into a messy ponytail. On his face, was a scar that traced from cheek to cheek across his nose. On their left, stood simply some more stacks of mission scrolls. The room was rather plain itself, only holding a wooden floor and high ceiling with nothing adorning the wall except a large Konoha symbol behind the seat which had been unoccupied each time Team Seven had entered previously.

The Team advanced together to stand in front of the back end of the U shape and Kakashi spoke, "Team Seven reporting in for mission, Hokage-sama."

The team watched as the most powerful man in the village of Konoha finally raised his head to address the young people in front of him. Naruto noticed the hat, first, the hat he wanted to wear one day, it was white with a veil falling around the back of it. The only deviation in color was a wedge of red that had a white circle with a red Kanji for 'Fire' upon the crest of the hat. The rest of the elderly person's body that was shown was covered in white robes befitting and bestowing the office of Hokage, the Fire Shadow, and the leader of Konohagakure.

His face was slowly revealed to the team and Iruka, a short white beard appeared on his chin which morphed into a withered jawline. Wrinkled skin led up to a wooden pipe set within a pair of equally wrinkled lips showcasing the age of this person, two liver spots appeared on his left cheek as it was brightened by the lights in the room. Finally, three lines, each trio underneath their eye, appeared vertical lines going from the bottom of his eye to the top of his cheek, appeared as his black eyes flashed in the light, both of them shining with a wisdom none, now living, could hope to match. A few spikes of greying-dark-brown hair appeared from beneath the Kage hat.

Sasuke and Sakura stare, slightly in awe at the man in front of them. A man they knew had fought through two Shinobi wars and had remained undefeated throughout his time as Hokage, still holding that impressive record to this day. The man is strong enough to face down the Kyuubi no Kitsune in battle and manage to assist the Yondaime in defeating it. A man who held the title of the strongest Ninja of Konohagakure for the longest and most successful reign of any Hokage before him. A man who is called 'Kami no Shinobi' God of Shinobi.

Kakashi chuckles inwardly at Sasuke and Sakura's reaction, something every person finds amusing when knowing Sandaime as well as he did, was seeing the reaction people have to him when they first meet him. He wasn't disappointed. As he watched his other genin; however, he missed the brief flashes of emotion running across Naruto's face.

Naruto's ice-cold facade broke upon seeing Jiji's eyes. He felt the rush of betrayal flash across his face and his hurt appear for a few seconds, something he was sure his Jiji caught if the slight tightening of his mouth was any indication. He schooled his features fast though, he had forgiven his Jiji for his actions but he had not forgotten. It was hard to forgive him but he had managed to do so, however, it would forever be in his memory of his Jiji lying to him repeatedly when he asked why he would be attacked by a mob those few times it had happened or when parents would take their kids away.

Since Naruto couldn't seem to control his emotions enough, he retreated behind his usual mask for his team, his icy blue eyes returning and his face set into an uncaring mask, though if one knew Naruto well enough, you could see the hurt that was reflected in his eyes whenever he would look at his 'Jiji.' If he took notice of how Iruka and the Sandaime seemed to question why Naruto was so quiet and seemingly cold, he didn't show it.

All of this took place in the few seconds it took Sandaime to take a puff of his pipe and reach up to pluck it from his mouth. His sharp gaze bore into the gennin in front of him, "Ah! Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun, and Naruto-kun, what a pleasure to finally see you all as ninja. As Hokage, I welcome you to the shinobi ranks. I must apologize for my lateness but my job has been pretty busy of late." Sandaime said as he smiled benevolently at the team.

Sakura bowed slightly and said, "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Sasuke bowed his head and replied, "Hokage-sama."

Naruto himself just inclined his head, "Heya... Jiji long time no see." he said in an impassive voice, something which caused the Sandaime to flinch slightly.

Sakura turned to her teammate, a righteous flame in her eyes, "Naruto! Show Hokage-sama the proper respect." she almost hissed out at him. Naruto turned his eyes on her and she almost flinched back but held her ground. Never did she miss his adoring look more than right now.

"It's quite alright Sakura-chan. I must say it is rather refreshing to see one person capable of seeing me beyond my position. How have you been Naruto-kun?" the Sandaime asked politely. Sasuke's hands clenched and Sakura looked taken aback before shrugging her shoulders. Kakashi simply eye smiled at the Sandaime.

Naruto turned back to his Jiji and spoke, "Fine Jiji, just hoping to get a mission." he said in his impassive voice. The Sandaime seemed to slump in his chair upon his answer.

"Well, Iruka-san what do we have in the way of D-ranks today?" the Sandaime asked in a weary tone.

"No!" Sasuke declared, "No more chores, Kakashi says we are ready for a C-rank. I am done doing these chores for those too lazy to do it themselves." Sasuke said. Kakashi sighed and Sakura had small hearts in her eyes as she looked at her crush. Naruto just seemed to accept the going-on.

"Now see here! The missions are broken up by experience and difficulty there is a reason you gennin can only take D-rank missions. The table is broken down by..." Iruka started only to be looked at with uncaring eyes by the gennin.

"I don't care, I want something other than those damn D-ranks," Sasuke said again.

Iruka suddenly pulled out a scroll and unrolled it, he tacked it up to the wall and pulled out a pointer as he began to explain, "A-rank missions are for Jounin only, these high-profile and often dangerous missions include many different types of combat and require a Jounin's skill and experience to complete successfully. B-rank missions are assigned to Special Jounin and experienced Chuunin who have the skill set required for this slightly less dangerous mission. C-rank missions are usually assigned to Chuunin, however, an experienced genin team can be assigned a C-rank mission which is usually a non-shinobi combat mission. Finally, D-rank missions are assigned to newly minted and slightly experienced Genin to work on their teamwork and provide money to the village and themselves. These are often a low priority." Iruka explained as he pointed to each spot on the scroll depicting an A, B, C, D, and the ranks of Jounin, Special Jounin, Chuunin, and Genin. He looked up to note that everyone had ignored him except Sandaime and Naruto. He smiled at Naruto but received a cold stare in response causing his smile to falter.

The Sandaime puffed on his pipe for a few moments while the Genin ignored Iruka's finishing lecture and finally spoke, "A very good breakdown of our missions Iruka-san. However, Kakashi, do you think they are ready?" he asked seriously as he eyed the Jounin.

Kakashi nodded and looked at Sandaime over his perverted book while replying, "I believe they are." The Sandaime puffed his pipe a few more times,

"Sandaime-sama you can't be serious that..." Iruka started only to be silenced as Sandaime raised his hand.

"Very well, since your sensei thinks you capable, I have a C-rank which should suit your team rather well. Iruka-san please go fetch their client." The Sandaime said as he handed Iruka a scroll. Iruka looked down and sighed as he nodded and stood to leave.

"Very well Hokage-sama," he said before leaving the room.