Chapter 12

Just under two years later...

"Master! Hey, Master, wait up!"

Naruto stopped walking, turning to look over his shoulder with a small smile on his face. He'd recognize that loud, boisterous voice anywhere.

A young girl who was nearly eight years old came to a skidding halt next to him as he watched, amused. His smile grew as he noticed the gleaming protector on her forehead with the leaf insignia emblazoned upon it. Before he could say anything, the girl pointed at him and yelled, "I did it Master! Now you owe me a jutsu! You promised me that you'd teach me one after I graduated!"

Chuckling, Naruto nodded. "That I did. I always keep my promises." Walking over, he leaned over and gave the girl a brief hug, which she quickly returned before mumbling about being embarrassed.

"Sorry Anko. I didn't mean to embarrass you. Let's go celebrate for a bit. What do you want for lunch?"

"Dango!"

The shout came as no surprise to Naruto, so he simply nodded and gestured for the purple haired girl to follow. He was just wandering around the village aimlessly right now anyway as he was waiting for her class to get out.

Many of the random people they met in the street would nod and greet Naruto as he walked by with his young apprentice, many even offering her their own congratulations to the girl. He'd never seen that big a smile stay on her face for so long. Almost two years ago, the Sandaime had shown him the list of the current Academy students, as well as those who would be enrolling soon. The moment his eyes drifted across the name Mitarashi Anko, he had requested to take her as an apprentice on the spot. Of course Hiruzen seemed a bit put out by that, obviously hoping he would have taken a full team. Once Naruto explained about who Anko was in the future, and how she had been abandoned by Orochimaru, however... he understood completely.

Naruto had no problem taking a full team after his initial training with Anko was finished and she became a genin. But he wanted to give one of his old friends from during the war a better early career where she wouldn't be abandoned like trash and instead be treated with respect for the rest of her tenure as a shinobi.

Anko was an orphan, apparently both of her parents were killed during the second war. She also thought she had an older sibling, but was too young to remember clearly and only heard rumors. She went on a brief search when she was apprenticed to Naruto, but had so far not found anything. Then again, there was only so much a girl her age could do.

Naruto was honestly pleased with both Anko and his own teaching skills which had come a long way since Konohamaru. He was able to teach her well enough so that she was able to burn through the Academy programs and graduate in two years, when the full program ran for six, and up to eight if you included remedial classes. Now that they were in war time though, the Academy was trying to pump all their students out in a maximum of four years. He had managed to make Anko good enough in half that time. Sure, she was no Hatake Kakashi or alternate Itachi, but she was very skilled in her own right for someone so young.

He had also been teaching her things that weren't in the Academy curriculum, such as tree climbing and water walking, and had also figured out that she had an affinity for water chakra. The only thing he wouldn't do was teach her any proper jutsu other than the Academy basics before she graduated. At first she seemed rather put out by that fact, but then when he told her the stronger she was when she graduated, the stronger the techniques he could teach her... she gave it all she had.

He didn't want to spoil the girl too much, if anything Mikoto did that enough for him. In fact, his wife would have already adopted the girl if not for the fact that families were not allowed to apprentice their own children. If they wanted her, Naruto wouldn't be allowed to be her Master any more. He offered Anko the option, of course, but the girl was fine being the only Mitarashi. She wanted to keep Naruto as her sensei.

That didn't stop her from calling him 'dad' on occasion when they were alone. The first time she did it a scant few months ago, she surprised herself if the look on her face was anything to go by. She quickly slapped her hands over her mouth as she stared at him, blushing red, then quickly began stuttering out how she didn't mean to; apologizing while panicked. When he pulled her into a hug and told her he was flattered she began to cry, saying she didn't want to upset him because she turned down his previous offer.

He told her that she could call him that whenever she wanted to, even if it wasn't official on paper. He was also able to fondly remember the first time she had called Mikoto 'mom', just to see her reaction. His wife literally melted right in front of their eyes and he had to pull Anko out of the woman's grasp as she was going to suffocate his apprentice with her own hug. The girl obviously took their reactions to heart, as after a couple months of training she had asked to move out of her lonely village-subsidized apartment and into the Uchiha District near them. They were more than happy to oblige.

As for the Uchiha clan and the District in general... Mikoto had taken up the mantle of clan head nearly a year ago and had plenty of good ideas, though it went without saying that she often came to her husband for his advice and thoughts on nearly every action. Many Uchiha often joked that the clan had two heads, but they worked so well together that no one was complaining about it to the best of their knowledge.

In regards to the District itself, it had also been through quite a few changes. One of the first things Naruto had suggested to Mikoto once she was made clan head was that they remove the wall around the compound, or at least most of it. She was skeptical at first, but upon listening to his explanation, she agreed it made sense and went along with it. It was what he called step one in his plan to get the Uchiha more involved with the village as a whole, and to do it in ways that seemed small at first but would gradually change not only the clan, but the village as well.

The elders and most of the older generations didn't seem to care about the wall one way or another, which they took as a good sign. The rest of the village was surprised but pleased, not to mention that Hiruzen thought it was brilliant. The rumor going around was that the Hyuuga, the only other clan with all wall around their compound, were also thinking of tearing theirs down too.

Uchiha clan members were now encouraged to live anywhere in the village that they wanted, which made for many happy clan members as some felt suffocated being stuck on Uchiha clan grounds. Not only that, but people from outside of the village were allowed to live and do business on clan grounds, if they wished, but they were charged a premium in rent and merchant fees. None of them complained about the premium since they were able to live and do business in what was quickly becoming the most popular and best protected area of the village.

Of course all of Naruto's plans didn't go into effect without some grumbling. Fugaku was more often than not at the forefront, though Naruto was unsure if the man was putting himself out there as Naruto's opposition just because he had a grudge, or if he had legitimate issues. They never really talked to each other unless they absolutely had to, so Naruto tended to avoid the Military Police headquarters unless Mikoto sent him there because she didn't want to deal with him. Fugaku was always too much into the status-quo and didn't appear to handle change very well, if the grimace constantly on his face was any indication.

Minato had joked more than once that Naruto was whipped, and Naruto didn't argue the point. Sure he might have had to do some things he didn't really want to, but on the other hand he was happier than he could ever remember being before, so he didn't mind doing pretty much anything his wife asked.

That wasn't to say he had any major problems with Fugaku, because he didn't. They just didn't really get along at all, and neither of them put any effort into fixing things between them. Fugaku seemed to begrudginly accept the fact that Naruto was doing quite a lot of good for the clan, even for someone who wasn't an Uchiha by blood. He didn't bother Naruto about things, and in return Naruto was completely hands-off with the Military Police. He only asked for quarterly reports, which he always got right on time. So long as there were no issues, it would likely stay that way for the forseeable future.

He heard Anko start to chatter excitedly, and looked to see what she was making a fuss about. From the looks of things, not only had they arrived, but Minato was there as well with his team which he had just gotten a little under a year ago. At the same time he got his team, Hiruzen had surprised Minato by telling him that he would be Hokage when the war was over. The four friends had a small party that night in congratulations, but sadly had to end it early because Minato was whining that the Hokage wanted him up early for his new training to start.

The full announcement was supposedly going to be made to the village later this month, and from the looks of things they were already getting started on adding his face to the mountain. This of course made the village rumor-mill go crazy, many thinking that the next Hokage would be either Hatake Sakumo or Orochimaru.

Naruto's focus shifted from the mountain back over to his apprentice, who had run ahead excitedly, yammering about how she had graduated and showing each member of Minato's team in turn. Chuckling to himself, he grinned at the younger blond and sat down in an empty chair next to his friend.

"I don't think I've ever seen you over here with your team before."

Minato shrugged, idly waving around a dango stick he seemed to be nibbling on. "Obito wanted to try something different today, and for once Kakashi didn't disagree. So... here we are."

"No comments from Rin-chan either?"

"Nope. But she's usually agreeable to anything either of them say anyway."

Naruto nodded. He hadn't gotten to know the members of Minato's team as well as he would have liked, but since they were consistently out on missions he never really got any opportunities. The few chances he did have also forced him to split his attention between them and Anko, though his apprentice obviously always got priority.

He already knew Kakashi through Sakumo, not to mention the one mission they went on a while ago. Kakashi seemed a lot more open and friendly with his father still alive, though he still had that slightly aloof attitude that easily pissed people off. He didn't know if this Kakashi got along better with Obito or not, and he didn't want to be nosy with someone else's team, but he couldn't help but be curious. In general Kakashi was simply much more pleasant than he had been expecting, knowing more about the man's past from his now-alternate future than anyone else.

Some of that may have had to do with the general feeling of hero-worship that Kakashi often hit him with. While it wasn't extreme by any means, it wasn't unusual for Kakashi to come to Naruto for advice instead of Minato or even his father. Sakumo took it all in stride, but Minato appeared to be rather put-out whenever it happened. When Naruto asked Kakashi why he didn't ask others, the only real response he got was that Naruto just so happened to be the strongest person he knew.

When questioned about his father or the Hokage, the only response was, "I've never seen them fight." It made sense, though Minato's grumblings would have a habit of getting to Kushina, and then both Naruto and Kakashi would suffer her wrath. It wasn't bad, per se... and nowhere near as bad as what she would do to someone who she was legitimately angry with. Still, she sometimes put a little extra effort into actually trying to hurt him during their frequent training sessions.

In regards to Obito, the teen regarded him with complete awe the few times they had met. He assumed it was just because of him being married to the clan head, and perhaps even a few tall tales from Kakashi, but apparently that wasn't all. Obito's parents had claimed that bringing Naruto into the clan was a godsend, and they had respect again thanks to him. They were getting along with the rest of the village better than they had since the short reign of the Nidaime Hokage and when he implemented the Military Police. Obito's parents nearly worshiped him, and as a result, that had sort of passed on to the young boy.

Naruto had asked Mikoto if Obito was related to her in any way, but she wasn't aware of him being immediate family. He was only very slightly upset about not having a nephew to spoil. Of course that didn't stop him from teaching the boy a prank or three. Minato never stopped griping about it though, saying he didn't want his team to have a bad reputation, so Naruto had recently refrained from teaching the boy anything new, but instead had him practicing his stealth so that he could prank but not get caught.

Last but not least, there was Rin. She was the quiet one of their team, and also filled in the role similar to what Sakura was on his first team. He'd seen her patching up Obito and Kakashi after training and spars, though she never used the Mystical Palm technique so he guessed that she didn't know it. As far as he knew, Minato didn't know the technique either. However he knew in his time she had done Kakashi's eye transplant, so if she did know it now she just chose not to use it for some reason.

Rin must have noticed him looking at her, because she immediately looked away and blushed, a small smile on her face. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle a little... from the moment they met she seemed to have developed a small crush on him. When he tried talking to the girl she always had a hard time looking him in the eye when she responded, not to mention the blush that always began working over her cheeks.

Of course it may also have been some sort of hero-worship, considering who her other two teammates were. Of course there was also the fact that between looks, skill, and general demeanour it was no secret that women stared at both him and Minato whenever they were together in the village. It was cute listening to Kushina and Mikoto growl about it, while conveniently forgetting that they often were stared at as well by the men.

"Any idea when you're going to start doing missions with her?" he heard Minato's voice ask.

It only took a second for Naruto's mind to catch on. "Not any time really soon. Hokage-sama was saying he doesn't want me going out without a full team. He's probably going to give me two more kids to work with before he gives us anything. "

He saw Minato nod out of the corner of his eye. "Makes sense. You're a good teacher, I don't think he'd want you to only have one student."

"I don't really care one way or the other. I'm happy with the one I have. If I get more, I'll adjust." When Naruto finished talking, one of the waitresses came over and took his order. Anko noticed this and rather loudly offered her opinion on what to get, and with a chuckle he decided to get it for them.

As Anko went back to start chatting with the other team, Naruto took a moment to look around. It was a rather busy afternoon, though he believed part of that had to do with the Academy's graduation. People were bustling about all over the place, even though the little dango shop they were at wasn't really on any of the main roads in the village, it was still rather busy. He always imagined villages to be rather quiet during wartime, but Konoha actually seemed to be busier than before. A lot of that may have had to do with the previous arrivals from two years ago, but even after they settled in the village continued growing.

Konoha's current size and relative power when compared to the other hidden villages was likely the reason that none had officially delcared war on them yet, even though Konoha had been running plenty of interference for their allies, especially in Grass, Waterfall, and Rain.

Without warning, one of the village ANBU dropped down into his field of vision, and moved forward swiftly. All of the shinobi present stopped talking and turn to stare, likely to see if they would be the one called. But the way the ANBU was purposefully striding towards him led Naruto to believe that he was the current target. Everyone else started turning back to their business when they realized this as well.

Sure enough, once the ANBU was close enough, he stopped a few steps away and gave a swift bow. "Uchiha-sama, Hokage-sama requests your presence as soon as possible."

Naruto nodded slowly. "Any idea what it's about?"

"No, he just asked me to deliver the message."

"Thank you. Dismissed."

The ANBU immediately disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Any idea what he wants you for?" Minato's question caused Naruto to look at the other blond as he stood up.

"Since Anko graduated..." Naruto shrugged, "Probably something about a team so he can send me on missions, I'd bet."

"Well, let me know when you find out, if you can."

"Of course," Naruto grinned. Reaching into one of the pockets of his vest, he pulled some money out and handed it to Minato. The other blond nodded, knowing that it was to pay for the food that he had ordered but wouldn't get to eat. Honestly, he wasn't that hungry, so it was more for Anko than him.

His eyes sought out the youngest member among their group, only to see her with a questioning expression on her face. Smiling briefly as he walked over to where she was sitting, he gently poked the side of her arm. "You can stay and eat with Team Minato. Don't cause them any trouble, alright?"

Anko answered by giving him a big smile and a 'Yeah!'.

"Good. If you have anything left over and your friends don't want any, just take what's left over back home and Mikoto will show you where to put it."

Once he got another firm nod, he chuckled before looking at Obito. The other Uchiha looked startled at first to be stared at by one of the clan heads, but quickly tried to cover it with a neutral expression that Naruto was getting used to seeing.

Naruto placed his hand on top of Obito's head and rubbed it for a second, since the kid had goggles around his neck for some reason. Just like he expected, Obito immediately scowled and tried to fix it, even though his hair was usually a mess anyway.

"I'm placing Anko under your care, got it?" Naruto stated in mock seriousness.

Obito simply gaped for a second before nodding slowly. "A-Are you sure?"

"If I wasn't, I wouldn't have asked. Keep her out of trouble, but if she doesn't behave let me know later and I'll straighten her out." He tossed a wink to the boy, and was mildly surprised to see the look of acceptance and determination pass across Obito's face.

He ignored the whined 'Daaaaaad!' that came from Anko, but shared a nod with Minato before waving to everyone else and disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"Ah, Naruto. I've heard Anko passed the exam at the top of the current batch of graduates. Congratulations for a job well done."

Naruto smiled internally at the praise, but on the outside he tried to keep the smile as nothing more than a twitch on his lips. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen shuffled about with some things on his desk, grabbing two folders and holding them out for Naruto to take a look at. Moving forward to take the folders, he examined the covers, to see a name written on the one on top. It was a name that he recognized faintly, but wasn't very familiar with, even during the war.

"Those two may be of interest to you. Considering what you've done with little Anko, I feel you would be the best instructor for these two as well. You told me you wouldn't be opposed to taking on a team after Anko graduated, and well..."

The Hokage leaned back in his chair as his voice trailed off, and Naruto shot him a mock glare. "I didn't mean the same day she graduated, old man."

Hiruzen merely shrugged, offering the blond a shrewd smile, "Semantics."

Snorting as he shook his head, Naruto opened the file on top, only to see the face of a serious looking young girl. Her hair was dark near the top of her head and was kept at about shoulder length, turning into a lighter violet near the ends.

Uzuki Yuugao was not a name he heard often back in his time. About the most that he knew was that she was once in ANBU under Kakashi and had a boyfriend who was killed when Sand and Sound villages invaded them during the Chunin Exams. He didn't know where she was during the war, and could only guess that she was killed as he didn't remember hearing of or about her at any time other than when Kakashi would tell stories about old missions he had been on.

Apparently she had also just graduated this time around, and was ranked sixth in her class. Her focus was almost entirely on offense, and according to teachers notes she seemed to have taken a liking to using a sword. However it seemed that this desire of hers only appeared within the last few months, so she was still a complete novice. Otherwise she was perfectly competent in all other shinobi aspects.

Closing her file, he tossed it into the chair next to him, then opened the other one. This recent graduate was a complete unknown for him, though the last name did ring a few bells. One was because of the name of the bijuu that had been sealed into him for years, and another because it was the clan name of a group of experienced genjutsu users that lived in the village. When he was younger he had to help the current heiress, Kurama Yakumo, overcome her own nightmares.

This boy was Kurama Takuya, and he had already shown promise when using genjutsu. He was a little underwhelming with other, more physical aspects of being a shinobi, but that was understandable considering where his focus lay. Apparently the boy also had near-perfect chakra control, which would make him a good healer, should he be willing to pick up a few things. Other than that, everything else seemed rather average – his graduation ranking was even in the middle of his class, at fourteen.

"So you want me to take these two on, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes. I was checking over Anko's graduation file and noticed that she very nearly excels at every category except chakra control. She would be the perfect balance between the other two selected there. Yuugao has been focusing on more offensive aspects, while Takuya is more of a defensive type."

Naruto let out a sigh before nodding and grabbing the file he had tossed on the chair. Placing them together, he handed them back to the Hokage. "If you think it's a good idea, then I'll do it. When do I need to get them?"

Accepting the files, Hiruzen chuckled. "Later this afternoon, around three. The graduates were told to gather again after being dismissed this morning to get their congratulations from family and peers. I'll be having a brief meeting with the other Jonin-sensei shortly."

"Enough time for me to warn my wife and apprentice I'll be getting a team, then take a nap. I like it."

Hiruzen snorted, then began to chuckle. "Whatever you want. You've got a little over an hour. Don't make your students wait too long."

Naruto grinned as he reviewed his own memories of having to wait nearly two hours for Kakashi to appear on their first day as a team. Mikoto would kill him if he was ever that late to anything. No wonder Kakashi always remained single.

Bidding the Hokage farewell, he quickly made his way home to relay the news to his wife. After that, he'd take his nap, because if his old team was any indication, it could be a very long day.

"Yuugao! Yuugao! Are you excited?"

The purple-haired girl turned her head to look at her good friend, Maki. "Of course I am."

Maki frowned, "You don't really look like you are. Are you daydreaming about your crush again?"

"S-Shut up! I am not!"

"Ahhh ha! I think that just gave it away! You're so cute when you blush!"

Yuugao groaned, trying to hide her face as she turned away. She knew she shouldn't have said anything about her recent interest to any of her friends. She didn't even know his name, and only saw that he was really good with a sword. It was amazing to watch him dance around with his weapon, fighting invisible enemies. It looked so graceful, and she wanted to be able to do the same thing.

As a result she made the decision to pick up the use of the sword over the last three months of her Academy education. There wasn't really anyone at the school willing to teach her yet, so she had been trying to teach herself through books and from observing others using weapons. She only hoped now that she got a teacher who could teach her a few things, or at least point her in the direction of someone who could.

While Maki apparently decided to let go of any comments about Yuugao's latest crush, that didn't stop her from asking anything else. "So, who do you think they're going to team you with? I hope I get put with Ryu. I hear he was second place in the class. Not only that, he's dreamy too."

Yuugao tossed a wry look at her friend, but Maki was too busy staring and sighing at a boy sitting a few rows in front of them who was talking animatedly to two of his friends. While, yes, he was smart and rather good looking too, she came from a family with a long history of shinobi service. If she was going after boys instead of concentrating on her studies, her family would be rather disappointed. Of course that didn't stop her from admiring her newest crush, the fact that he was so good with a sword was a bonus.

Any other thoughts or comments from Maki were cut off as their Chunin Instructor entered the room, quieting them down. As everyone moved back to their seats, he began speaking.

"First, let me offer everyone in this room a heartfelt congratulations. You've all passed the graduation exam as well as the accelerated courses, and made me very proud. You're done here for now, though keep in mind some teachers may have their own tests to make sure you can all cut it on the field and not just in the classroom. The climate out there in the world is currently open warfare, though our village has not gotten completely involved yet. Your various sensei's will want you to be able to operate as complete units.

"With that said, all of the team leaders are currently waiting outside this door. Be ready to work hard, because there is a lot to do in preparation for things to come. With that, I-"

His words were cut off as the door to the classroom slid open, and a young girl with hair nearly the same color as her own entered the room and promptly closed the door again behind her. She gave everyone a big smile before looking at the instructor.

"Sorry to interrupt, but my sensei said I should come and wait in here for when the rest of my team is announced."

Yuugao watched on as her instructor chuckled and pointed at one of the empty seats near the front. "Sure thing, Anko-san. Have a seat right there in the front."

It didn't take long for whispered conversations to start at that, and Yuugao found herself getting a bit excited too. There were rumors in the beginning that she was being trained by a big-shot jonin, but it was all very hush-hush. For two years she'd heard rumors, not to mention that no one really saw much of Anko at all anymore. Then, just the other day, she had entered into the Graduation Exam with Yuugao and the rest of her class. Most were shocked, and nearly everyone expected her to fail right away. Much to everyone's surprise - including the teachers - she had gone ahead and graduated right at the top of the class. Yuugao thought it was amazing that Anko could accomplish that feat, even after having never spent a single day in school, and only being trained by her master.

After the test was concluded, Mitarashi Anko was more than happy to tell everyone she was the apprentice for the one and only Uchiha Naruto. As a result, virtually everyone agreed that it wouldn't have been such a surprise that she passed the test if they had known. If for some reason a person didn't know who Anko was, they definitelyknew who Naruto was. The man wasn't called the right hand of the Hokage for no reason.

"Yuugao!" Maki elbowed her in the side, quickly grabbing her attention. "I still want to be on Ryu's team... but... but... I want to be on Anko-san's team! Could you imagine being taught by Uchiha-sama?"

All Yuugao could do was nod, of course she'd want to have Uchiha-sama as a teacher. But he would probably take one of the most well-rounded teams, and since she only placed highly but not at the top, it was unlikely that she would be put there. Still, she could dream. She was about to respond to her friend, but the instructor began announcing teams so she remained silent.

"Team One is the following: Tamagashi Ryu, Mitokado Juuichi, and Hanataba Maki."

Maki's squeal was sharp, but immediately silenced as the girl slapped her hand over her mouth. Everyone in the class was looking at her, and she slumped down in her chair as her face turned bright red.

Clearing his throat, the Instructor shook his head as he continued, "Your Jonin-sensei is Ugana Mio.

"Team Two is still in rotation from last graduation, so Team Three will be..."

Yuugao kept one ear on what the Instructor was saying in case she heard her name, but otherwise turned to look at Maki, who was slowly sitting back up and trying to ignore anyone still looking at her.

"Well, at least you got one of the things you wanted, right?" Yuugao whispered. Maki looked at her friend and smiled briefly, but then her eyes shifted to looking back down the row to where Ryu was sitting. He must have been looking up at her, because Maki's eyes went wide and she immediately looked back down into her lap.

Yuugao struggled to keep from laughing, but somehow she managed. Shifting her full attention back to the front of the classroom, she tuned back in just as the Instructor was finishing announcing Team Five. Six was apparently still in rotation as well, so next up was Team Seven.

"Team Seven will be Kurama Takuya, Uzuki Yuugao, and Mitarashi Anko. Your Jonin-sensei will be Uchiha Naruto."

Yuugao felt her heart stop. She would be having the Uchiha Naruto as her Jonin-sensei? This was like a dream come true, but she didn't think that she really deserved to be placed on a team under him. Sure, she was one of the top of the class, but she didn't really stand out in any areas. Not only that but she didn't know if he'd want to keep her if she insisted on using a sword, which she really wanted to do-

"Yuugao! Congratulations!" A furious whisper in her ear brought her thoughts back into focus as she turned to look at Maki, who was giving her a huge smile. "Who would have thought you'd be on his team?"

When Yuugao didn't respond and instead stared straight ahead, Maki chuckled and continued listening to the rest of the teams being announced. Meanwhile, Yuugao's eyes had sought out Anko, and was wondering why the girl was looking back at her with a big grin on her face. The only legitimate reason she could think of was that Anko already knew who was on her team and what they looked like.

However, as the Instructor finished announcing the teams and congratulated them all once again, she found herself quickly not caring as the first Jonin-sensei entered the room and Maki waved goodbye. She was going to be on Uchiha Naruto-sama's team. Even if he didn't want to keep her for whatever reason, she'd learn everything she could as fast as he was willing to teach.

Naruto grinned as he walked behind his new team. They were on their way to Training Ground Seven, otherwise still known as his home away from home. Most of the time each team was assigned their own individual ground that matched their team number, but occasionally some teams had to share. For whatever reason, Team Seven was only allocated to what were considered 'special cases', and that included one of the largest training grounds.

Hiruzen's old team was Team Seven, as was Jiraiya's. Strangely, Minato was on Team Five, but Kushina was on Team Seven. After Kushina's team 'graduated' , there had been no further Team Seven until now. It had been a few years. For some reason he could have sworn that Kakashi was on Team Seven in his time, but they were instead Team Six that was still in rotation from the last graduation.

He watched as Anko chattered away at Yuugao, who at least appeared to be giving the slightly younger girl her full attention. Takuya was a step or two behind the girls, apparently listening in as well but not commenting.

Other than telling his new team to head for the training ground, he hadn't said a word. He'd noticed Yuugao sneak him plenty of glances, and even Takuya had glanced at him a few times, but neither of them had said another word or tried to approach him in any way. He had a number of guesses as to why, but for the moment simply chalked it up to them being incredibly nervous around him. Thankfully Anko was as talkative as she was, otherwise the silence may have made things even more awkward than they already were.

Upon arrival at the training area, Anko hopped over and sat down in the middle of a small clearing. It was her usual spot when she was here training with him. She beckoned them over, but both of his other charges glanced back at Naruto to see if they should.

"Go ahead and have a seat," Naruto smiled at them both, "We'll go ahead and get started with introductions, and then move on to what we need to accomplish as a team."

Yuugao and Takuya immediately moved to sit down next to Anko, one on either side.

"I guess since I'm your team leader and trainer, I'll get started. My name is Uchiha Naruto. I like ramen, my wife, my clan, Anko, my friends, and the village. My immediate goal is to make you three the best team to ever come out of Konoha. My dream is to bring peace to the shinobi world, retire, and have lots of grandkids."

Yuugao and Yakuya were just staring at him, wide-eyed, while Anko was simply looking at him with a small smile. Not surprising since Anko already knew all of that, but he'd have to bring Yuugao and Takyuya back down to earth and not place him on some kind of pedestal. Respect was fine, but he didn't need worship.

"Anko, why don't you go next?"

"Okay!" Anko chirped. "My name is Mitarashi Anko. I like dango, my mom and dad, Minato-sensei and his team, and Kushina-oneesan. My goal is to be a Chunin before I'm ten. My dream is to be known all over the world as one of the strongest kunoichi ever!"

She grinned, looking back and forth between her two new teammates. Takuya looked slightly amused, while Yuugao was appraising the other girl with a critical eye. Before anyone else could say a word, Naruto pointed at the Kurama boy.

"Okay, Takuya. You next."

The boy looked at everyone one time before nodding his head. "My name is Kurama Takuya, of the Kurama clan. I like genjutsu, my brother and uncle, and helping and healing people that need it. My immediate goal..." Takuya's voice drifted for a moment and he looked up into the trees for a moment, "... is to master my clan's genjutsu techniques. My dream is to get the clan to focus on more than just genjutsu, so we aren't looked down upon by other clans in the village."

Naruto hummed thoughtfully. Being honest, other than Yakumo, he didn't really know anyone from the clan well... heck, he didn't really ever get to know Yakumo well either. After he had helped her get the Ido under control, the Kurama clan appreciated what he did but they didn't exactly want him hanging around. He didn't understand it then, but now that he was older and thought about it, perhaps he wasn't the kind of permanent influence they wanted around the girl. He knew well just from being married to Mikoto that clan politics dictated a lot about the ways clans operated, and he wasn't exactly someone noteworthy then. They probably didn't want Yakumo gaining any further interest in him.

Nodding at Takuya, he moved his attention to Yuugao, who squirmed a little and wouldn't look him in the eye. "Your turn, Yuugao."

"Y-Yes. My name is Uzuki Yuugao. We're not a clan, but my family has a long decorated history of serving as shinobi even before Konoha existed, and I am of the sixth generation. I like training, spending time with family, and swords. My goal is to become a master in kenjutsu. My dream... is to be a respected member of ANBU so I can protect my home, and to have a family someday."

"Excellent goals and dreams, all of you. For our first order of business, I will tell you all that there will be no further testing. We are officially Team Seven right now. Understood?"

Anko simply grinned while Yuugao looked stunned. Takuya, however, slowly raised a hand.

"You don't need to treat this like a classroom, Takuya-kun. Just ask."

"O-Okay. Uhm, are you sure we don't need to be tested? Our instructor made it sound like all the teams would be tested again."

"They can be, sure," Naruto shrugged. "But it's our prerogative as Jonin-sensei. I've already been training Anko for the past couple years so I know what she's capable of. Neither of you realize it but the Hokage picked both of you specifically to be placed on my team. I have faith that none of you will let me down. Will you?"

All three of them immediately shook their heads negatively.

"Good. Then that's all I need. I will train you all into the ground, but you'll be better off for it. One thing I want to tell you all is that you can relax around me. Yes, I'm the husband of the Uchiha clan leader, and have fought bijuu and jinchuuriki and lived to tell the tale, among other things. But I'm still Naruto. So there will be none of that 'Uchiha-sama' stuff when you're around me. It's either Naruto or Naruto-sensei. Understood?"

The three of them immediately agreed vocally, two of them calling him sensei while the third called him father. Needless to say, the other two couldn't help but stare at Anko, who was grinning cheekily. Naruto simply gave her a deadpan stare.

"What dear Anko means is that I've tried to adopt her in the past but because of clan laws being what they are, I cannot apprentice someone in my own clan. So she kept her name, though we still have something of a strange father-daughter relationship. That does notmean, however, that she will be getting any special treatment from me."

"Awww, you're no fun!" Anko stuck her tongue out at Naruto, only for him to sigh and rub his forehead.

"Anyway, all of you can take the rest of the day off. Get some good rest, because training starts in full force tomorrow. I'll be talking with all three of you to see what you'd like to specialize in, and we'll go from there. Any questions?"

When there were none, he simply nodded and dismissed them. It didn't take long for the three to leave. Smiling as he watched them go, once the last one was out of sight he turned his head towards one of the trees nearby.

"Going to sit up there all day, are you?"

There was a faint laugh followed by the rustling of branches, and then Kushina appeared at the bottom of the tree trunk. She had her long hair done up in some incredible braids... it made him wonder just who had the patience to do that.

"No fair, Aniki. No matter how hard I try to hide myself and Kyuubi, you can always find me."

Naruto grinned at her and let out a chuckle. "Let's just say that I cheat when I find you. Your presence is like a beacon to me."

Kushina stopped walking towards him, and began to look at him curiously. Naruto knew that comment caught her off-guard, if only because it had been a while since he had mentioned anything about it. "Is this about my special chakras again?"

Naruto had been training quite a lot with his 'sister', especially over the course of the last year. While she had been participating in plenty of missions, as a jinchuuriki they didn't want her wandering too far from Konoha proper, and Kushina knew this as well. Therefore her opportunities to take anything above C-Rank were very few and far between. While Minato was busy with training to be Hokage and Mikoto was working with the Uchiha clan, Naruto took Kushina aside to get her up to speed, combat-wise.

She was a brawl fighter, much like he used to be, though she was able to work her chakra chains into her techniques. With some experimentation Naruto found that he was able to use the chains as well, though he needed to use more concentration than he was willing to spare in order to get them to work. It was one of the things that probably made Kushina's chakra special... even if she wasn't the best at controlling it, hers seemed to be incredibly versatile and she didn't really need to concentrate at all. She just thought about them and they did what she wanted.

Needless to say, she believed only someone with Uzumaki chakra could even make the chains and not be completely exhausted, so if she had ever had any doubts about him not being of Uzumaki blood it was immediately eliminated. Naruto wasn't entirely certain how much truth there was to that, but since he didn't have any factual evidence to the contrary, he let it be.

When she had seen how quickly he managed to train Anko, she had requested that he train her a little as well when he had time. Naruto was more than happy to oblige, as he was approaching the time that he was going to tell her about Kurama. In order for her to get along with and use Kurama's chakra without hurting herself, though, she needed to have a certain mindset. He was doing his best through training to prepare her, especially to be open-minded. If she went off on Kurama when they were to be officially introduced, the bijuu might not work with her on principle. They had been partners for years, but he couldn't speak for the oversized fox and it would likely be at least somewhat grumpy from being locked away so long - even thoughthey both agreed it was highly likely that would be the case.

Having worked with Kushina for a little over a year now, he was confident in her abilities as a kunoichi, especially when it came to tai and ninjutsu. Her fuuinjutsu was leagues above his, though she promised to help teach him in exchange for everything he had been helping her with. In the last two months she had followed up on that promise, and began tutoring him in the esoteric ninja art.

She had also mellowed out quite a bit from the rambunctious teen she used to be. That wasn't to say she no longer had wild moments, because she certainly did – but she was much more calm in general, and looked at life a little more seriously. Mikoto and Minato both agreed with him, and after further discussion with his wife and Hiruzen, they agreed it was time for Kushina to know about Naruto's alternate future and be trained as a Jinchuuriki.

Sighing out loud, the blond pushed a hand back through his short, spiky hair. "It's actually good that you came to spy on my new team, because I need to talk to you about a couple things that are going to sound pretty crazy. All I can do is ask that you give me time to explain, and I'll answer all your questions. I can also promise that what I have to say and do will not hurt me, you, or anyone else in Konoha that we care about. Okay?"

Kushina's expression went from curious to wary, and her posture shifted to the defensive, but was otherwise standing her ground. After staring at him seriously for a moment, she slowly nodded her head. "What is it?"

Taking a deep breath, Naruto made sure to look directly into her dark blue eyes.

"I need to talk to the Kyuubi."