Naruto yawned, sitting in the meeting that happened twice a year, once in the fall, and the other in the spring, both were times that newly trained Genin were graduating and sensei were needed.
In the room with him were a bunch of Jounin that had been in this room with him the last two years he had been chosen to be a potential sensei, but he had yet to take a team, knowing exactly what he needed to wait for.
He had to wait for Sasuke Uchiha to graduate.
It was tiresome, waiting for the boy to graduate. He was not the genius Itachi, Izumi, or even himself were. He was just slightly better than the rest, no, slightly was a bad description, he was above the rest of his classmates, Naruto knew that when he had observed the Uchiha one day at school from far, making sure to alert Iruka and Mizuki that night.
Mizuki. . .
He remembered the cold stare the man had given him when he approached him. They were in the academy together, and Naruto remembered fondly teaching him how to correct throw kunai and shuriken, but that glare unsettled the blonde slightly. Perhaps he had a crush on Anko?
Ah yes, Naruto and Anko have gotten closer with each other over these last few years, with her only being four years his senior. They weren't anything official, and they haven't done anything, but Kakashi had teased him a lot about it, making the blonde flustered and quite loud while Anko just stood there, red in the face.
It was nice.
"NARUTO!" Kakashi shouted in the man's ear, causing him to jump from his seat, the wooden chair skittering across the floor, making the surrounding Jounin and elders chuckle at the Namikaze's reaction.
"What in the shit buckets was that for?!" Naruto said as he palmed Kakashi's face with his hand. "You know I blank out sometimes!"
"Yes but this round you forgot to say hello to Hokage-sama," Asuma said with a chuckle. "You just walked in and were looking into the air like it was a bottle of whiskey. Naruto turned to Asuma, his blue eyes widening as he immediately disappeared and reappeared behind the Sarutobi.
"You're going to come back to the village and not say HI?!" Naruto drew out as he shook the man's shoulder, displaying informality towards Hiruzen, but the old man did not mind, happy that Naruto was happy.
As Naruto talked to Asuma, catching up with Hiruzen's son, the Third Hokage reflected how Naruto had been these last four years.
Naruto used the motivation of pain to continue climbing the ladders of strength, and he believed Naruto was AT LEAST on par with him. But if he were to guess, Naruto had a few secrets under his sleeve.
He pondered on how strong Naruto had gotten compared to the strongest to ever live, Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, himself, and Minato Namikaze. Naruto was definitely on par with Madara now that he thought about it.
Naruto was like him in every aspect of thinking, except he was quicker. He had already mastered every jutsu the Shinobi Library offered. He even asked to know if there were any more! Hiruzen was tempted into letting him look into the forbidden scroll but thought better of it.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely, even Naruto wasn't that much of a saint. To rank Naruto with all the living people in the village, the top five would be quite a shock to some.
5. Asuma Sarutobi
4. Kakashi Hatake
3. Might Guy (with the 8 Gates fully opened, if not, switch 3 and 4)
2. Hiruzen Sarutobi
1. Naruto Namikaze
It was down to his pride, but he realized Naruto deserved it, the boy had been pushing his dream since the death of his parents almost twelve years ago. He deserved his title of the strongest in the village.
Naruto sat back down in his chair.
"I trust you are finished with your antics, Namikaze?" Danzo asked snarkily. Naruto fought the urge to roll his eyes.
"Yep, sure am. Are we gonna wait forever you to talk or can Hokage-sama go now?" Naruto spoke shamelessly as if he didn't just hold an entire conversation.
Hiruzen coughed, gathering everyone's attention. "Okay, I've made my decision on the teams." He listed all the irrelevant teams and finally got the ones the readers truly care about, what are they gonna do, patch up a hole, HA, good luck this is my story.
"Team 7 will consist of Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and . . . ?" Hiruzen trailed off as he rose an eyebrow as he looked at Danzo. "Did you edit my list?" Everyone looked at Danzo who admitted with a nod.
"I did, I believe they will be beneficial for the team's purpose, an assault team right?" Hiruzen narrowed his eyes.
"I do not like the idea of using one of your personal troops on our main teams." Danzo shrugged.
"They are the same age. . ." Hiruzen sighed and nodded.
"Fine, and an unknown will be on Team 7 led by Naruto Namikaze." No one fought the decision, knowing this was going to happen. The Uchiha would get the wielder of the Sharingan.
Asuma got Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka and Kurenai, who got promoted to Jounin a year ago, got Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburama, and Kiba Inuzuka.
"Go greet your team and we shall get to it!" Naruto nodded before looking at Kakashi, who got no team this year, Asuma, and Kurenai and grinned.
"Let's go celebrate after we meet with our new teams, k? I think I'ma keep these guys."
"Cause it's Itachi's little brother?" Asuma wondered as he lit up a cigarette, getting a look of disgust from Kurenai, but she ignored it.
"YEP!" Naruto said, getting louder as he began prancing around the room. "I'm gonna go say hi to my new team, see you guys later!" He then popped out of the area, and Asuma got a glare from Kakashi.
"Why did you say his name? Don't you know Naruto accidentally killed him?" Asuma cringed.
"I didn't know he dealt the blow that killed the kid. Sorry, I'll be more careful." Kurenai nodded before opening the door.
"That'd be best."
Naruto popped into the classroom, landing on the desk, surprising Mizuki and Iruka as well as the students. "Team 7, my name is Naruto Namikaze, you're with me!" Sasuke and Sakura stood up and walked over to Naruto.
"Hello," Sakura got out.
"Hn," Sasuke grunted. Naruto grinned at Sasuke.
"Oh you and I are going to get along real nice if you keep up that attitude, I guarantee it!" Something in his smile unnerved Iruka while Mizuki openly glared at the blonde, something Naruto didn't miss.
"Welp, let's get going." He turned to Iruka. "Where should I go to find my third member?" Iruka was sweating and trembling slightly as he spoke.
"Uh, um, D-Danzo-sama said y-you'd find h-him at Training G-Ground 7." Naruto nodded and thanked the tan man before placing his hands on Sasuke and Sakura's heads before teleporting away and arriving on Training Ground 7.
"Now to find your third teammate, now they may seem a little weird, but they grew up without any parents so that might be why," He whispered to both of them. "But to find them first is the real question, now where is h-" He stopped talking and prancing around as he looked at a boy in front of him, his blue eyes blinking.
He was a pale boy with a sword over his back and his hair was done neatly and he held a pathetically fake smile. He wore a black shirt that went only covered half of his body, leaving his bellybutton exposed while his black pants thankfully covered everything else up.
"Are you my third member?" The boy nodded and bowed.
"I am Sai, Naruto-sensei. Thank for taking me in and teaching me." Naruto physically cringed, his eyes tightening.
"Woah, calm down dude. I'm not that old and it's no problem, it's kinda my job." He flipped over the black-haired boy and sat on the nice warm grass, stretching slightly. "Sit my pupils, we gotta get to know each other."
Sasuke, Sai, and Sakura, the Three Ss in Naruto's mind, sat down.
"Sensei," Sakura began, her green eyes shining in the sun with curiosity as she peered at the man. "You don't seem much older than us, how are you a Jounin?" Naruto grinned brightly and rubbed the back of his head.
"Naruto Namikaze became a Jounin when he was ten-years-old," Sai said, interrupting what Naruto was going to say. "It is rumored that he is the strongest person in the village, even stronger than Hokage-sama."
"OOOOOOF," Naruto got out, laughing slightly. "Why did you take my awesome entrance away? I was gonna show them I was cool!" Sai gave him a fake apologetic smile.
"Ah, sorry Namikaze-sensei, I wasn't aware you wanted to brag about yourself." Naruto got flustered as he turned a bright red due to embarrassment.
"I wasn't going to brag," He said, crossing his arms. "I was just going to explain how fucking awesome I am." He giggled a little before closing his eyes. "But Sai is right, I became a Jounin when I was ten. I'm not sure if I'm stronger than Hokage-sama, but I'm definitely not weak." He clapped his hands.
"So, tell me about yourselves, I will go last because we save the best for the final act!" He pointed at Sai. "How about you go, tell us your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies and or dreams!"
"Well, uh, I'm not sure how to do this," He admitted, displaying the first real emotion he had since they have met: alarm. "I am Sai, I like drawing? I don't dislike anything as far as I know and I wish to become a tool that the village can use." Naruto put that last sentence in the back of his mind.
"Okie, now your turn Sakura, go for it!"
"My name is Sakura Haruno," She began confidently. She then began turning a twinge of red. "My likes are," A squeal. "My hobby is," She turned even more red, like a tomato. "And my dream is," A small red line of blood poured out of her nose, making Naruto tilt his head to the side.
"Hey, are you alright?"
"AND I DISLIKE INO-PIG!" She shouted fiercely, making Naruto nod.
"Yep, uh-huh," He took two scoots away from her direction. "You definitely creep me out." Sakura's head hit the ground in a comedic manner. Naruto grinned as he pointed at Sasuke.
"Your turn, Sasuke!"
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha," He sounded broody. "I dislike a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything. My dream will not be a dream, because I will make it a reality!" Naruto's eyes suddenly found a new interest in a blade of grass, unable to look Sasuke in the eyes.
The eyes of a boy who had lost everything.
"I will kill the masked man who helped kill my clan with my older brother!" He said, clenching his fists until his knuckles were white. "And restore my clan back to its former glory!"
". . ." Naruto was quiet as he stood up, his eyes closed. "I wasn't going to test you at all since I've already decided to take you on as a team, but I think I want to see what you're capable of." He opened his eyes, the bright blue sparkling as he stood up.
"If you make me have to defend myself, you win, but if I can evade you without using any chakra, weapons, or any taijutsu, I win." Naruto then took several steps back, his black cloak waving in the wind. "Now, begin whenever you'd like, and yes, I will try my very best to hold back."
"Hn," Sasuke grunted, glaring at the blonde. Why did his sensei look so familiar? It sparked something in his mind but he was unable to pinpoint it. It frustrated him that he couldn't exactly figure it out.
Sai did not hesitate as he ran towards Naruto, brandishing a small sword as he swiped at the blonde only for Naruto to easily take a step back and duck under it before flipping over Sasuke and Sakura, their headbands suddenly in his hands.
"Go ahead and try and take these back, you won't be getting them back unless I deem it to be so." Naruto grinned brightly. "Now come on you trio of Ss!"
And done. How was it? Good? Bad? tell me!
Til next time my lil demons!