He met the team of veteran genins in one of the more battered training grounds behind the Genin Corps barracks.
The field looked like it had seen years of use: scorched earth from fire techniques, gouges from weapon training, and splintered wooden dummies scattered around.
They were already gathered around a campfire and eating lunch when he arrived. There were five of them, sitting in a loose semicircle.
Compared to the fresh-faced academy brats he'd left behind, these people looked like real soldiers. They carried themselves differently, with the quiet confidence of people who had already survived too many battles.
The first thing he noticed was the difference in age. Most of them looked late teens to early twenties, with the exception of their leader. He looked to be in his late twenties, maybe early thirties, lines etched into his face, his eyes sharp and weary at the same time.
They noticed his arrival and turned to gaze in his direction. Some looked confused while others looked irritated at his intrusion.
One of them stood up with a dark scowl and walked over to him. "Hey, brat. You lost?"
He made an effort to hide his nerves and put on a calm facade as he spoke up. "I was assigned to your team by the Chunin in charge," He explained, keeping his tone level.
His words made the scowl in the genin's face turn even darker. "What… would repeat that again brat? Because I'm sure I heard you wrong."
"You didn't hear me wrong. I've been assigned to your team."
The scowling genin stared at him for a long while before he let out a chuckle and turned to look at the rest of his team. "Hey. Would you look at this Hoshigawa Senpai. That Nara bastard has dumped a fresh brat on us to babysit!"
A kind looking woman, who was also the sole female in the team, frowned at the scowling genin and shook her head. "You're being rude, Haruto."
"Rude?" The scowling genin, whose name he now knew to be Haruto looked baffled. "We especially told that bastard to not send us any fresh meat. Don't you remember, Aya? And what does he do? Exactly that! And I'm the one being rude?"
"That 'bastard' is our superior whether you like it or not, Haruto." The woman, Aya, said in a clipped tone, "If you don't like following his orders, then you should've taken the promotion when you were offered one."
Haruto looked tongue tied at her words before he turned to the oldest man in the group. "Senpai! Say something."
The man in his 30s turned his gaze toward him for a moment, and he felt like he was being looked at by a predator. By someone who could kill him with ease. Cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck before the older man looked away and the feeling was gone.
"Orders or orders. Not following order is treason." The older man said, and that seemed to take all the wind out of Haruto's sail.
Haruto looked at the two other teammates for support but they didn't say anything either, and Haruto simply deflated.
Then, Haruto turned to look at him, the scowl ever-present on his face, and spoke up. "Very well brat. You can join our team. Be sure to not drag us down with you."
With those words, Haruto stomped out of the clearing in anger.
The four remaining genins exchanged a look with one another before one of the more mature looking one got up. "I'll go talk to him."
Aya meanwhile gave him a sad smile. "Don't feel bad about Haruto. He's… complicated. But I promise he means well."
"Yeah. He was just as much of a dick to me when I first joined the team." The youngest of them spoke up with a chuckle. The guy looked to be in his late teens, so still more than a few years his elder. "Come, sit with us rookie. Boss' fried fish are pretty tasty."
He nodded and went to sit with them. The team leader then turned his hardened gaze toward him once again. "Introduce yourself."
He nodded and gaze a shallow bow. "My name is Ken. I'm an orphan. I graduated as the second in Class A. My goal is to become a Jounin."
He didn't let his real goal slip. S-class and beyond. No point in telling them something they'd laugh at.
They didn't say anything to his introduction. He got the feeling that they weren't very impressed, but at least they were listening.
A moment later, the other guy dragged Haruto back over to them, and soon after, introductions followed.
Haruto went first "Name's Haruto. Completed 61 E-class gates." He said it with pride, his chest puffed out like he expected applause.
And truthfully, if the gates were half as dangerous as he suspected, then it was indeed an impressive feat.
The second one looked older than Haruto but carried himself with much less bluster. He had sharp features, short-cropped black hair, and an aura of discipline that reminded me of an ANBU I'd once seen. "Kazuki," he said simply. "83 E-class." A pause. "2 D-class." And that was it for his introduction
Next was Aya. She was striking—not beautiful in a glamorous way, but with a warm smile and bright eyes that softened the edges of the hard world they lived in. Her presence alone seemed to lighten the heavy atmosphere in the clearing.
If Rin Nohara had been anything like her, then he could understand why Obito fell hopelessly in love in world.
She introduced herself cheerfully, a stark contrast to the grimness of the others. "I'm Aya. The medic-in of the team." She gestured to the leader with a grin. "This big grouch here is my husband." Her eyes landed on him kindly. "Don't worry too much. We'll take care of you. Just make sure you listen to orders and come to me if you get hurt, alright?"
Her warmth caught him off guard, but he bowed slightly. "Understood, Aya Senpai."
The fourth, who was the youngest, went next. He had pale skin, sharp features, and water-like hair. "Shin Hozuki," he said, his voice was passionate and fiery in a way that reminded him of Rock Lee. "My goal is to destroy all the gates. Kill every last monster that comes out and avenge my clan." His hands clenched into fists. Then he blinked, realising he might sound too dramatic, and added quickly, "Uh... I've cleared 38 E-class gates so far. Come to me if you want to learn Kenjutsu, rookie."
Finally, the leader spoke. "Hoshigawa." He said simply before turning to the others. "Kazuki. Test his abilities. Rest of you, lunch is over. Continue training."
"What? Hey! I want to see what the rookie can do as well!" Shin complained loudly but only grumbled as Aya pinched his ear and dragged him away, with Haruto giving him one last disdainful scoff as they left the clearing.
Finally, only he and Kazuki were left behind.
Kazuki walked over to him, his calm gaze assessing him before he took out a kunai from his holster and took a stance. "Come rookie. Show me what you can do."
And thus started his life as a Genin in the Genin corp of Konoha.
Later, as he integrated within the team, he would learn more about their team captain.
Hoshigawa was also a refugee from Kiri. In fact, he had been a Genin back when the S-class gate first broke open in the Land of Water, and had been in charge of helping the refugees cross the sea to the Land of Fire. Which is how he ended up surviving.
Since then, Hoshigawa has taken part in countless gates, and had survived things most shinobi couldn't imagine. If Haruto's bragging was to be believed, Hoshigawa had even survived a C-class gate break, something that wiped out entire squads of chunin and genin alike.
Officially, Hoshigawa was still just a genin. Mostly because Konoha didn't trust Kiri refugees enough to give them higher rank or authority within the village, no matter how skilled they truly were. But unofficially, everyone knew he had the strength of a jounin.
In fact, as he would later learn, almost everyone in his team (except for Aya, the medic-nin) had the strength of a Chunin.
If nothing else… that increased his chances of survival within the gates by a few magnitudes.
He might not have gained the Jonin-Sensei he wanted. But he seemed to have gained a pretty reliable team.
—————
A few days later.
His arms trembled as he raised them into a guard, his body swaying from exhaustion. Sweat stung his eyes, blood trickled from a split lip, and his ribs burned every time he breathed. Still, he refused to stay down.
Haruto moved with the calm precision of someone who had done this a thousand times. His strikes were measured, punishing every mistake he made.
A kick swept him legs out from under him, sending him crashing hard against the packed dirt. Before he could even roll aside, Haruto's shadow loomed over him.
"Stay down," Haruto muttered, almost as if offering him mercy.
He spat blood, forcing himself to his knees. "Not yet."
Haruto's jaw tightened. Then his fist came down like a hammer. He barely got his arms up, the impact rattling his bones and forcing him back onto his heels.
A follow-up elbow smashed into his shoulder, numbing the entire arm. He stumbled, vision tunneling, but still swung weakly in return—a pitiful strike that Haruto batted away without effort.
It should have ended there. Anyone else would've given in. But maybe some of Rock Lee had rubbed off on him over the years because he dragged himself up again, swaying on his feet like a battered reed in the wind. His breathing was ragged, but his eyes were steady, stubbornly locked on Haruto.
"Damn idiot," Haruto hissed under his breath, stepping in one last time.
Haruto's knee drove into his gut, folding him over, before a controlled palm strike to the chest sent him sprawling flat onto his back. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and gasped, knowing that he'd cracked a rib or two. The world spun, and for a moment, he couldn't even move.
Silence stretched in the training yard as he eventually dragged himself up once again despite his body screaming in protest.
Haruto let out a slow breath. His voice was quiet, "You don't know when to quit, do you?" A pause, then the faintest hint of respect edged into his tone. "Tch. Annoying as hell… but you've got grit, I'll give you that."
With that Haruto turned and left, and he collapsed back onto the ground, chest heaving, vision swimming in and out.
Aya eventually stepped forward, her hands glowing faintly as she began mending his injuries. And there were many. Bone-deep aches, muscles screaming, skin torn and battered.
She worked silently at first, her expression calm, though her eyes flickered briefly with sympathy before she masked it.
"That bastard… he's actually far stronger than a genin, isn't he?" He asked, coughing lightly as the pain in his chest intensified for a moment.
"No. Completing 25 E-class Gates qualifies you for a promotion." Aya explained. "If Haruto wanted, he would've gotten promoted to a Chunin years ago."
"Why didn't he?" He asked.
"Pride, I suppose. And respect." She said with a shrug. "My husband is still a Genin, and Haruto has never won a single spar against him. Because of that, he believes that he doesn't deserve the promotion, and won't accept it until he defeats my husband. Or my husband gets promoted by the village first." She paused at that. "Well, that's not completely true. My husband could still get promoted to a Chunin rank if he wants. He just doesn't want it."
"Why not?"
"Because it's dangerous." Aya said with a shrug.
"Dangerous?" He asked.
"Yes. Getting promoted is dangerous. For me, you, the rest of the team. And even my husband." She said.
"How?" He asked.
"Well… once the first year of grace has passed, Genins are asked to complete at least one E-rank gate a month. Most genins join together in teams of 10 or more to accomplish this. But even then, even when they're careful, there are casualties. Do you know why?"
"Because monsters are dangerous." He said.
"Yes." Aya said with a smile. "An E-class gate could have anywhere between ten to a hundred monsters inside it. The larger their numbers, the weaker they are in general. But all in all, their strength range to anywhere from a newly minted Genin, to an experienced Genin. A single mistake against foes like these could lead to an unfortunate death. But, they're not even the worst part about gates. Do you know what is?"
"The gate boss?" He offered.
"Indeed. The boss of every gate is a step above the common monsters. The boss of an E-class gate requires multiple Genins working together to take it down."
"I see…" He said. "But what does this have to do with your husband not wanting a promotion?"
"Because once you're promoted to Chunin, you're in charge with clearing D-class gates. And it's mandatory to do so once every three months. If Hoshigawa takes his promotion, then the rest of the team will follow him in becoming Chunins as well. If they do that, then they'll go to D-class gates where a single misstep is all it takes for someone to die." Aya said, giving him a sad smile. "A medic-nin can help save lives. But there are limit to our abilities."
"I see." He said, realising that the team must've taken part in D-class gates in the past and lost someone or a few someone's before they decided to go back to the safety of E-class gates.
He didn't blame them, really. E-class gates might be a tad bit easy for them, but at least they'll live long enough to see their children and grandchildren.
In a world where the lives of shinobi meant little to nothing, that was perhaps its own kind of victory.