After class, Ino treated Naruto to a bowl of ramen, and parted after chatting for a bit with Shikamaru and Choji.
Later that night, Naruto heard a knock on his door. When he opened up, he saw Mizuki, a Chunin, and a friend of Iruka from what he could remember about this man's backstory.
"I have some info I can share with you, Naruto, do you want to become stronger?" He stared at Naruto and asked
Naruto stared at him blankly, surely, he doesn't know that Naruto passed the tests, so he was here to try to tempt him to steal the secret scroll or whatever...
[Mission, yell stranger danger as loud as you can, then beat up Mizuki]
[Reward-]
*Puff*
White smoke emerged, covering them both
"STRANGER DANGER, take this you sh*t!" Naruto didn't hesitate, and was coated in an orange layer of bubble like substance.
His demon fox cloak formed, and his strength surged instantly. Before Mizuki could even react, he was bashed into the ground. He deactivated the cloak as soon as he smacked Mizuki, so it was only out for a split second, all so that no one would notice, and with the coverage of the smoke, it was hidden very well.
In the Hokage office
"Hohoho, what an interesting turn of events, I don't think he was tempted" Hiruzen chuckled as he watched through the crystal ball
Beside him, Iruka also heaved a sigh of relief
"But how is he able to beat Mizuki? It all happened so fast, and Mizuki was on the ground, getting beaten" Iruka muttered
Hiruzen's eyes flickered, it was only for a moment, but he saw a faint orange light within the white smoke. He smiled faintly.
"Perhaps a miracle" He laughed
'If he can control the beast's power, then those from root should quieten down...but I'll keep quiet until I can confirm it' Hiruzen smiled
Mizuki was beaten so badly that he couldn't even utter a single word, Naruto's sneak attack was so sudden that he couldn't even retaliate.
[You're ruthless, you know that? Anyway, you're rewarded with the shadow clone jutsu, this just isn't the same if Naruto doesn't learn this technique]
'You sure know the plot well'
[It's common knowledge, you fool]
Naruto rolled his eyes, he then grabbed Mizuki and tossed down down the apartment railing...
*Bang*
Mizuki landed on his back, and laid there motionlessly...
[You didn't kill him, did you? I only asked you to beat him up]
'Of course not...I think...I'll check tomorrow'
[F**k man, even if he isn't dead now, he'll probably be dead by tomorrow if you leave him there]
'Then it means his fate simply ends here...to trust in fate, that is my ninja way' Naruto said solemnly as he snuggled into his bed
[...I'm starting to wonder if I'm the evil one, or you...]
'Following your example'
With that, he fell soundly asleep...
-Next day-
Having all passed, they all received a Shinobi band with the village symbol on it.
Naruto held it in his hand in silence, just staring at it without moving...
"Naruto? Why don't you wear it?" Ino asked
"I'm thinking where I should wear it so I can use it as a weapon, if I put it on my head, I can headbutt them pretty hard, and the shoulders would let me do a good tackle..." He replied
"..." Those aren't meant to be used as weapons, okay!?
After a long while, he tied it around his neck, stating that the neck is one of the most vital areas to protect...
"How do you think they're going to group us?" Ino asked with an eager look
Naruto stared at them
"Everyone in the village knows about the Ino-Shika-Cho combination, why are you asking something so obvious?" He replied
"Hey, let me have my guessing mood" Ino huffed
"Sorry Ino, but I'm an honest person" Naruto patted his chest and said
Not far from them, a girl was staring at Naruto with a longing gaze.
"Naruto-kun..." She stared at him conversing with Ino, as a sense of urgency rose in her heart.
Before, he never talked to anyone, but Ino suddenly entered the fray, giving her a sense of danger...
This girl is none other than Hinata of the Hyuga clan.
She clenched her hands tightly, but didn't move from her spot
"Naruto, you traitor, I thought we'd be bottom rank buddies" Kiba yelled from his seat
"Hah, sucks to be you, isn't that right, Akamaru" Naruto laughed
*Ruff*
Akamaru, Kiba's dog, wagged his tail and barked
"See, he agrees"
"Nonsense, he was denying your statement" Kiba yelled
"Only you can communicate with him, how do we know you're not lying? You can be changing whatever he says and no one will know" Naruto shrugged
"Th-That's a load of crap, and you know it!" But he couldn't refute much, as it is kind of true that no one else could undestand Akamaru except him...
"Pfft, too easy" Naruto crossed his arms and chuckled
"Enough, I will be reading out the teams now Iruka entered the classroom and called out
"Team 1..."
"Team 7, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke"
"Team 8, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino"
"Team 10, Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji"
"That will be it, details of everything else will be given to you later, and tomorrow will be your first official training as a Genin with your instructor" Iruka said as he closed his notebook
"See, you three are together" Naruto grinned at Ino with an "I called it" expression
His smug expression made Ino pinch his waist out of annoyance
"Ah, ouch! Murder!" Naruto cried for help, but no one bothered to respond
Sakura watched Ino and Naruto mess around, and wondered if there was anything between them. If that was the case, wouldn't she have Sasuke all to herself?
Amidst her thoughts, Naruto appeared next to her and Sasuke
"Hi, let's do a team meeting" He grinned
"No" Sakura replied with a fierce expression
"Boring" Sasuke scoffed
Naruto's lips twitched, fine, if that's how they want to act, then he won't bother either!
'Just you all wait, once I get my hands on different chemicals and herbs, I'll make poison that makes you both itchy all over' He cursed in his head
All this time, he has wanted to make chemicals and poison, but due to his poverty, he can hardly even afford to eat!
Seeing that his team didn't want to have a meeting to get to know each other, Naruto decided to head back and chat with team ten.
"Back already? Let me guess, they both hate you" Ino grinned
"Bingo, they're both so cold"
"I'd say you're to blame Naruto" Choji said
"What'd I do wrong to them? I only kissed the guy and showed off in front of the girl that likes him" He grumbled
"..."
Ino leaned in towards Shikamaru and whispered
"I can't tell if he's serious or not, and that's concerning"
Shikamaru nodded in agreement, but found it to be too much of a hassle to think over it.
"Shiki, why don't I join your team? I don't wanna be with those two" Naruto slumped onto the table and asked
"No" Shikamaru rejected him instantly
"Aw..."
"Hey Ino-"
"I won't buy you any meals" She interjected...
"I...wasn't going to ask that..." Naruto fiddled with his fingers with a guilty expression on his face
"You're an open book Naruto" Ino flicked his forehead and grinned
[Kiss her, the longer it is, the better the reward, I'll reward you with a good weapon]
'Officer, right here'
[*Bang* Sh*t, not again! Officer, it was just a joke!]
[Say that in prison you b*stard!]
[*Bang*]
[The person you are talking to is currently unavailable...would you like to leave a message?]
'...you have problems'
[If I didn't have problems, I wouldn't have sent you here]
-The next day-
Naruto knew what was going to happen today, and that was meeting Kakashi, their new sensei, who will conduct a rather scary training session.
So early in the morning, he ate his fill before going to the meeting spot. Sakura and Sasuke were already there, waiting, so he sat down next to them as they waited for Kakashi. He noticed that the other two looked tired, and knew that they haven't eaten breakfast yet as Kakashi notified them through a note that it was best that they didn't eat before coming.
-An hour later-
"Oh, you three are early" Kakashi smiled underneath his mask as he appeared behind them
"And you're late" Sakura grumbled, the other two were also quite dissatisfied, but didn't say anything in the end
"Let's start off with some introductions" Kakashi clasped his hands together and said with a smile, ignori
"Sensei, don't you already know who we are?" Sakura asked
Kakashi nodded
"Of course, but hearing it from you all will be different to seeing it on paper" He replied
"Um, I'm Sakura Haruno, I'm thirteen" Sakura said
"I'm Sasuke, and I wish for revenge for my clan" Sasuke said in a low tone, his gaze burning with anger and ferocity.
"Naruto Uzumaki, I'm the one who kissed the guy my teammate Sakura likes and gained the hatred of all the girls in class" Naruto said with a wide grin
"I am Kakashi Hatake, your Jonin team leader....and uh, Naruto...too much details" Kakashi said
Naruto chuckled as he glanced at Sasuke and Sakura, who were both shaking in anger as they glared at him.
Kakashi decided to put an end to this as he then clapped his hands together, and two bells appeared in his hand.
"Now that we got introductions out of the way, let's start the training" He held the two bells in front of them as his expression became serious.
"The lesson is to take the bell from me, whoever doesn't have a bell in hand will be revoked of their Shinobi status" He said in a low tone, and paired with his sharp gaze, the three trembled slightly.
"W-Wait, so you're saying one person will be expelled? Didn't we just graduate!" Sakura complained
"Those are the academy rules, these are my rules" Kakashi replied coldly
*Gulp*
"Then...let's start"
The moment he said that, Sakura and Sasuke vanished, whilst Naruto stood there in the open, right in front of Kakashi.
"Oh? Are you going to try to take the bells yourself?" Kakashi asked
"Nah, I'm here to distract you, Sasuke, now!" Naruto pointed behind Kakashi and shouted
"..." Kakashi stared at him blankly
"Any other tricks?"
"Worth a shot, I'll be going now" Naruto said and vanished from the spot as well
'That idiot' Sakura and Sasuke both cursed at him in their heads
As Naruto hid, another mission appeared for him...
[Make the mood weird, so much that even Kakashi is stunned, and pass the test with everyone qualifying using the method that is used to make the mood weird]
'So I need to do something weird that still lets all three of us pass?'
[Yes]
A plan already circulated in his mind, whilst he was conversing with the 'system/assistant', Sasuke already acted. He shot out a fireball the instant Sakura stood up to use genjutsu on Kakashi.
However, the moment her hands started to make the signs, Kakashi already responded with a genjutsu of his own, causing her to fall into an illusion. The fireball Sasuke shot out was easily avoided by him as he took a step to the side.
*Swoosh*
Shurkens flew out from the trees, and when he avoided it, Sasuke emerged with a kunai in his hand, aiming for the bells on his waist.
"Good distracion, but too slow" Kakashi raised a hand and grabbed Sasuke's wrist before throwing him past using his own momentum.
Just as he did this, he saw a kunai fly towards him, so he raised a kunai in one hand, deflecting the incoming kunai into the ground next to him.
'Quite accurate, it seems Naruto has also been training his throwing skills' Kakashi nodded in his heart.
He focused his attention to where the kunai flew from, however, he suddenly saw a blinding yellow flash, and Naruto suddenly appeared at his side.
'Hm? Was that...'
*Swoosh*
Naruto aimed for the bells, but Kakashi slapped his hand aside, but the moment he made contact, Naruto burst into a puff of smoke as a log dropped to the ground.
"Hidden leaf secret jutsu, thousand years of death!" Naruto yelled from behind
!!!
Kakashi's figure blurred, and he suddenly appeared a few metres away from him, avoiding the attack.
'Phew, had he landed that, it'd be the end of my career' Kakashi thought to himself
He thought back on the yellow light from before, and felt that he has seen it before...
*Woosh*
He suddenly felt his movements slow down suddenly, and a familiar kunai appeared next to him.
'Genjutsu!'
Sakura had broken out of the illusions, and immediately tried to use genjutsu once more whilst Kakashi was distracted with Naruto.
Sasuke also took this chance and dashed towards Kakashi, but the Kunai had already reached him, and Naruto appeared in a blinding yellow flash like before. This time, due to the genjutsu, Naruto's hands struck for the bells without getting slapped back.
*Jingle*
"Hehehe, thanks a lot Sakura" Naruto gave Sakura a side eye as he smirked
"Naruto!" Sakura stomped her feet, she wanted Naruto to distract him some more before making a move of her own, but she didn't expect he'd take the bells so easily!
But Naruto knew that Kakashi let him take it on purpose, otherwise, how was a genin's genjutsu supposed to affect a jonin?
Sasuake stopped where he was, as Naruto has taken both bells
"Not bad, but now, how will you handle things? Will you give a bell to someone...or perhaps none to either?" Kakashi asked
This dawned on them, now, Naruto can decide who passes and who doesn't. They also knew that he seems to hold a grudge over what happened yesterday, so their expressions were less than pleased.
Naruto stared at the bells in his hand and he tossed one over to Sakura.
"Huh?" Surprised that he gave her one, she turned to Naruto with her eyes wide
Naruto then turned to Sasuke
"Yo Sasuke, open up your hands" Naruto said
???
Sasuke didn't know why Naruto was willing to give a bell to him, and the mere thought of it made him indignant. It felt like he was being pitied by none other than Naruto!
He turned his head and scoffed
"I don't need your pity" He said coldly
Naruto walked over
"Bud, just open up one hand, I have a plan" Naruto said
Sasuke remained silent. He thought back on Naruto's capability, and the skills he showed during this test. He had to admit, it was very impressive, especially that instanious movement ability he had.
After some time, he sighed and opened up one hand towards Naruto...
*Grab*
!!!!!
Under everyone's shocked eyes, Naruto pressed his hand onto Sasuke, grabbing it tightly, with their fingers interlocked!
Sasuke could feel a hard object between both their hands, which was the bell!
Naruto placed a hand on his own cheek and winked at Sasuke with a slightly blushed face
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A shiver ran down Sasuke's spine, and Sakura suddenly felt her world collapse!
"Can I ask...what are you doing?" Kakashi coughed
"Can't you see? We both have a bell in our hands" Naruto said
'You can even do that!?' Sakura began wondering why Naruto couldn't have had her do that with Sasuke, could it be...that guy swings that way!
Naruto smiled
"Aw, are you shy? Don't worry, I'm very gentle" Naruto said as his fingers tightened around Sasuke's hand
"Get your paws off him!" Sakura ran over and cut her hand between theirs, causing Naruto to release
Now, the bell was solely in Sasuke's hand, and Kakashi was left at a loss for words...
"Technically, you three would have passed, but since Naruto no longer has a bell, he will receive his punishment, and I will go report his expulsion" Kakashi said as he held a rope in his hands, about to tie Naruto to the wooden post nearby...
Sakura was immediately stunned by this, and her heart felt torn. In the end, she spoke up before Kakashi could act.
"Ah! W-Wait...I...don't deserve the bell, I'll give it to Naruto" Sakura said with a guilty expression, after all, what Naruto did, as said by Kakashi himself, would have let all three of them pass!
But her foolish jealousy actually caused him to be eliminated, she felt pathetic.
Sasuke thought for a bit
"I didn't earn this bell, I won't take it" He said
"Oh? So what I'm hearing is, all three of you want to be expelled" Kakashi said with an oppressive gaze.
Naruto sighed
"It's fine, since it's come to it, I'll just give up on being a Shinobi" Naruto said with a saddened gaze
"What are you saying Naruto" Sakura exclaimed as she tried to stuff the bell into his hand
But Naruto shook his head
"Shinobi, not Shinobi...in the end, the village will still deny my existance, it makes no difference" He muttered
His words made Sakura and Sasuke feel a pang of guilt and pity. They had treated him coldly, but thinking of the treatment the village gave him, it seems they only added salt on the wounds with their cold indifference to him yesterday.
Sasuke walked over to Naruto, and pressed the bell into his hand as he stared him straight in the eyes.
"I won't lose next time" Sasuke said
*Grab*
Before he could let go, Naruto grabbed his hand once more as a grin appeared on his face
"Sensei, we both have a bell again" Naruto waved his open hand and said as his fingers intertwined with Sasuke's once more on his other hand!
'Give me back my feelings!' Both of them were stunned, so he was doing that all so he coul grab Sasuke's hands again!?
Damn, why did he grab his? Why not Sakura's when she tried to give him the bell!?
Kakashi stared at this scene, speechless...
He pinched between his brows as he sighed
"You three...all pass" He should be happy that they all passed, right? But why can't he feel happy with how things turned out?
[...you are a bit too good at this, let me ask you, are you actually g*y?]
'Hah...no' A very simple and direct denial