"Okay, all of you who have passed can get your forehead protector from me", Mizuki said, pulling out a box of forehead protectors, "how you wear them is up to you. The forehead is only the most traditional location. It can be used as a belt or arm brace too. As long as you proudly display it and bring honor to your village"
Kyo took a protector and fastened it to his forehead. He had worn replicas for cosplay but this was the real deal, it felt… different. Not bad, just different.
"In three days, you will meet here and be assigned your Jonin leaders, elite ninja with true battlefield experience. They will make you into proper genin of the leaf"
Kyo stayed behind a bit longer, stealthily observing Mizuki lying to Naruto. Good, everything was still going according to canon. Too bad he didn't have his ninja license yet. If he did, he would've gone straight to the library, where he would've started learning some new techniques. But no!
He couldn't wait to go on real missions. Farming blood against enemy ninja would be so convenient!
The next day, he went for his picture to be taken. He smiled for the camera. Not too long after, he sat in front of the Hokage, who was reviewing the paperwork.
"You have quite the long way in front of you, Kyo", the elderly man said, puffing his pipe, "I believe you can make it far and if you live up to my expectations, your new clan will make a fine addition to Konoha. How much have you progressed with your kekkei genkai?"
"Not all that much after our last check up", he shook his head. He had debated whether to ask for some shinobi blood but thought better of it. Things could go catastrophically wrong. Once Tsunade was Hokage, then he would consider it. Then again, by that time, he would've gone out on missions already and have a stream of shinobi blood anyways.
"Very well… I wish you good luck Kyo" he dismissed him and Kyo walked away.
Danzo came from the shadows, "I still think you should give him to me. I could make him into a proper shinobi. Kakashi hasn't passed a single team and it is a shame to have a candidate so promising spend another year at the academy"
"Like I said, this is the birth of a new clan. I already gave you three of this year's graduates, be happy with that"
Danzo scowled, knowing that he shouldn't push further. It was true, he had been given three promising civilian shinobi but he wasn't satisfied. The Jinchuriki and the blood release boy were still on his radar. Had he been Hokage… but he wasn't, sadly.
Two days later, they all gathered in their old classroom.
"Hey what are you doing here, Naruto?", Shikamaru Nara asked, "only those who passed the exam are supposed to be here"
"Can't you see the forehead protector?" Naruto grinned, pointing at the metal plaque.
"Hey, will you let me through?" Sakura asked from besides them. When she didn't get an answer, she got aggressive, "Naruto! Move your ass! I want to sit on the other side of you!"
On the same bench as Naruto was Sasuke and Sakura wanted to sit next to her crush. How cute, Kyo thought, sitting on a row behind the trio.
"Sasuke kun, can I sit next to you?" Sakura asked with enthusiasm.
"Whatever", he shrugged, going back to brooding, hands folded.
Naruto jumped up on Sasuke's part of the desk and crouched, his face mere centimeters away from Sasuke's.
"Leave Sasuke kun alone! Kick his ass, Sasuke kun!"
A student sitting in front of Sasuke snatched Naruto by the foot, causing him to fall. And that was both Sasuke and Naruto's first kiss.
"Naruto, you moron, I'm going to kill you!" Sasuke screamed but to Kyo's surprise he was… blushing? Was Sasuke gay in this world? Sakura wouldn't like that.
Sakura was standing over Naruto, cracking her knuckles.
"I swear, it wasn't on purpose!" Naruto tried defending but Sakura still beat the ever loving shit out of him. Naruto laid there, beaten, as Iruka sensei explained, "starting from today, all of you are shinobi. But you are still Genin, the hard journey that lies ahead has just started. You will soon receive missions to help the village. Today, you will create three man teams and each will be assigned a Jonin sensei. You will follow your sensei's instructions in order to successfully complete your missions. We tried to balance each team's strength."
He then went on to assign the teams. When it came to team seven however…, "team seven, Naruto Uzumaki, Kyo Chisuka, Sasuke Uchiha"
"Iruka sensei! Why does an outstanding shinobi like me have to be on the same team as that prick over there?!"
"Sasuke's grades were the best out of the 27 graduating students and you? You are dead last. Do you understand, we have to balance the teams… right?"
"Bah, just don't get in my way", Sasuke said, not even glancing at his teammates, staring stoically into the air, "dead last"
"What did you just call me?!"
"This afternoon, you'll be introduced to your Jonin sensei's, until then, take a break"
The break was short and sweet. Kyo didn't check but he was sure that Sakura's encounter with the two Sasuke's had happened, seeing as she was very conflicted. The Jonin sensei's came one after the other, leading their teams away until only team 7 remained.
"Why is our team seven sensei so damn late?! All of the other teams have already gone with their Jonin sensei's and Iruka sensei has also already left…" Naruto whined, placing a dusty wiper between the door and the frame, "that is what he gets for being late"
"As if a Jonin would fall for such a simple trick", Sasuke scoffed.
"Don't be so sure", Kyo smiled, just as Kakashi walked in and the wiper fell on his head.
"Hahaha! You fell for it! You actually fell for it!"
"Hmmm… how can I say this? My first impression of you guys is… I hate you" Kakashi sensei deadpanned before leading them to a roof, "now, let's begin with introductions"
"What do you want to know?", Naruto asked.
"How about your likes, dislikes, your dreams and so on" Kakashi shrugged.
"Why don't you introduce yourself to us first?" Naruto asked.
"It is only polite", Kyo nodded, playing along with the story.
"Me? Well, I'm Kakashi Hatake. I have no interest in telling you my likes or dislikes and dreams for the future?... and I have a lot of hobbies."
'All he told us was his name' they thought in unison.
"Now for your introductions, let's start from right to left"
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I love instant cup ramen, I love the ramen from old man Teuchi even more. What I dislike is the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook. My dream-? It is to surpass the Hokage and then have the people of this village respect me as their new Hokage" Naruto sprung to his feet, "I will be the greatest Hokage ever, believe it! Hobbies? Pranking I guess?"
"Next"
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are lots of things I dislike, I don't particularly like anything and… i can't really call it a dream but I have an ambition. The resurrection of my Uchiha clan and to kill a certain someone…"
"Okay, and lastly you"
"The name's Kyo Chisuka. I like creating new techniques and becoming stronger. I dislike cowards and my dream is it to become the strongest shinobi alive. Not a kage but a formidable force of nature, like the Lord first or Madara Uchiha", he nodded, adjusting his forehead protector.
"So far for the introductions. Tomorrow, we'll start our shinobi duties", Kakashi sensei explained.
"What kind of duties?"
"First, we are going to do something, just the four of us, survival training. For you see, out of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be allowed to become Genin, all the others will be sent back to the academy. This training is monstrously difficult, with a 66% fail rate"
"What?! No way! We worked so hard! If it's like that, what's the point of graduating?!" Naruto shouted.
"Oh that? That's just to select who gets a chance. Anyways, tomorrow, you'll have to prove your worth in the battle ground. Bring all the shinobi tools you have, oh, and skip breakfast, you might throw up"
Their Jonin sensei vanished using the body flicker technique.
"So… we are a team now?" Kyo broke the uncomfortable silence.
"Seems so"
"Hell yeah we are! What do you think this survival training will be like?"
"No clue, but I think we should eat breakfast tomorrow"
"But Kakashi sensei said-"
"It was an obvious ruse. He wants us to be hungry so we can't operate at full gear. If we want any chance to become Genin, we need to be in top shape", Kyo explained, "we will get through this together"