Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Atelier Uzumaki ❯ Chapter 5

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

By: Omega X

“Naruto…” a voice called.

Uzumaki Naruto shifted on his bed, mumbling something inaudible.

“Naruto…” the voice called again, forcing him to slowly come back to the real world.

“No… ramen… come back…” he mumbled, his hands moving as if chasing something, his mouth agape, drool slowly coming out.

“Uzumaki Naruto.”

A slight touch got Naruto to sit up, his eyes still drooping. His mind had been asleep, was now half awake. He had remembered he had been chasing the rare ramen of the Miso Valley, heated by the Fires of the Big Stove, and seasoned with the Black Pepper of Powder, and now, the dream slowly faded, the only thing left was the site of the beautiful Mana, Gwendolyn, who had been coaching him awake.

“Wha… whu…” he mumbled, sleepily. He tried to raise his arms to yawn, only to retract them back, feeling sore. “Ow!”

“Good morning, Naruto-sama…” Gwendolyn greeted, smiling.

“Ugh…” Naruto moaned, going for his tummy. Not only did his body ache, but his stomach felt rather empty. This wasn't exactly a good way to start his day. At least Gwendolyn was there, chipper than the bluebird in the morn…

Gwendolyn!

Naruto faced the Wind Mana, who looked at him curiously. His face suddenly shone, as he grabbed her hands, smiled happily.

“You're okay!” he stated, excited. He frowned somewhat, remembering the events last night. “Kyuubi said you'd be okay, but I'm kinda glad the bastard didn't lie!”

Hmph… like I'd lie to a moron like you. I bet I could make you commit something very… chaotic and evil… if I do it right. You're gullible like that.

Shut it, Kyuubi-jiji!

Gwendolyn smiled back and said, “Of course I'd be fine, Naruto-sama. Going through the Corruption was tiring, but you have cleansed me. I feel happier than I ever had been in my whole existence.”

“What's with the -sama bit?” Naruto frowned. “I won't have that! Just call me Naruto!”

“I owe you my life.”

“What are friends for?” the blonde shrugged.

“You are my alchemist partner… and such-”

“Yes… partner,” Naruto nodded, cutting Gwendolyn off. “That means we're like… equals or something. Though… seriously, you kicked my ass yesterday. If anything, I should be looking up to you.”

The Wind Mana looked at the boy with a strange expression, before a smile cracked in her face. She giggled somewhat, covering her mouth with her hand.

“What?” Naruto asked stupidly.

“You… Naruto,” she replied, smiling. “Your heart… is pure. I have chosen well. The last Uzumaki Alchemist is a decent man… young as he may be.”

Her hand suddenly went towards his forehead, making the boy blush suddenly.

“Don't change that heart…” she whispered, before she walked away.

Naruto swallowed, hard, watching the woman walk away. For the first time, he noticed that Gwendolyn had let her hair down again, though instead of an immaculate dress she wore, she was wearing simple, yet decent house-dress. He scratched the back part of his head, his cheeks somewhat blushing.

Wow… that felt good, he sighed.

Hmph… decent man. More like perverted, staring at her ass like that.

I was not!!

Denial is not just a river in a big sandy country.

Wha…?

Bad joke. Sorry.

Naruto shook his head, and yawned again. He felt his limbs, and groaned. It seemed that last night's battle had taken a toll on his body. He could feel his arms tired, the memory of fighting and then, in the end, hold the mad and corrupted Wind Mana in her place, while he purified her.

He had wondered if a healing potion would help him with the pain, when Kyuubi just snorted.

A healing potion heals wounds, not take out pain because of muscle fatigue.

Damn it… Naruto groaned as he stood up from his bed. Maybe I ought to synthesize one…

Hmph… you could make it your first original synthesis. Your mother couldn't really find one as well, plus by the time she had made her whole alchemic recipe scroll, she had a body of a fully trained ninja. She rarely suffered muscle fatigue.

Yeah… my mom's awesome! Naruto thought happily… before reeling in realizing what Kyuubi had just told him.

Fully trained ninja. Hadn't Kakashi said that they would have survival training today… and they were supposed to meet at…

Naruto looked at his clock. It was going to be eleven o'clock.

Gwendolyn suddenly jumped as her alchemic partner suddenly dashed towards the closet and began to rummage around his clothes, moaning.

“Damn it! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!” the blonde muttered, putting on his black shirt, orange pants, and orange jacket. He also grabbed a few alchemic items he thought he could use, and put on his forehead protector.

“Naruto… what's the hurry?” Gwendolyn called.

“I have to meet my team! I'm seriously late!” Naruto replied, zipping up his jacket.

“Won't it be lunch soon?”

“No time!” Naruto rushed towards the door.

“Then let me accompany you,” the Wind Mana declared. Before the blonde genin could say anything, she glowed in green-ish light, and slowly, shrinking to a smaller size.

When the light faded, Naruto raised an eyebrow as he saw Gwendolyn, about one-eight of her normal size, in full battle gear, sans her spear, and she floated towards him, settling on his shoulder.

“Cool trick…” the blonde declared.

“In this form, I'll be hidden from plain human sight, though some sensitive beings would be able to sense something amiss…” the Wind Mana explained. “As per the terms of our pact, I have pledged my services to you. I shall follow you to the ends of the earth.”

Naruto smiled nodded, thankful for the help. He had just remembered the details of today's training… it was a do or die situation. Naruto didn't want to fail, so any help would be most welcomed.

Fully prepared, he ran as fast as he could towards the Training Grounds.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Uchiha Sasuke sighed. She had arrived at the specified time, five minutes early even, followed by that detestable pink-haired weirdo fangirl… she had thought Naruto would come in any second, and when he hadn't appeared in three hours, she was highly strung. The prospect of failing because the blonde perverted moron ran was not a comforting one.

For the past hour, she had drawn a doodle that somewhat resembled the blonde genin and began to stab it with her kunai, her killing intent washing around her, scaring a few birds from the tree where she sat.

Haruno Sakura looked torn. She had wanted so badly to be beside her crush, but his (she doesn't know Sasuke's a she) threatening aura, and the way he stabbed his kunai on the ground multiple times probably warned her to stay away.

Instead, she concentrated her thoughts on the very late blonde genin. Her temper rose as she began to berate the idiot for pulling such a stunt. They were lucky that the teacher was also nowhere to be seen, but what if Kakashi arrived without Naruto? What would happen?

Worse case scenario… they'd fail.

“Good morning, Sakura-chan!”

Sasuke and Sakura perked up, hearing Naruto's voice. Sure enough, the blonde genin was running towards them. There was a small amount of relief released in the air, and the pink-haired kunoichi genin jogged towards the approaching blonde.

Naruto felt happy. He greeted his crush, and his crush is coming at him, prolly going to greet him back, or maybe have a morning hug… or maybe…

“Naruto… I love you! Let's get married, and I will cook you as much ramen as you want!”

The image of Sakura doting over him, cooking him ramen, with mini-Narutos and mini-Sakuras running around got the blonde to grin happily… until Sakura, who had finally caught up with him, hooked her arm around his neck, and pushed all her strength to it, making the blonde choke and spin mid-air, and land on the grassy grounds in a coughing fit.

“THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR BEING LATE YOU IDIOT!” Sakura shouted, raising her fist.

Huuu… impressive clothesline. Made you spin in the air… haha!

Naruto wasn't in the condition to respond. He was still hacking, trying to regain his breathing.

“YOU KNOW WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED IF KAKASHI-SENSEI ARRIVED EARLIER THAN YOU!?”

The blonde perked up. “Kakashi's not here!? Hell yes! I'm not totally late!”

He was hit over the head by Sakura's fist.

“You are so totally late!” Sakura growled. “What kept you anyway, you idiot?”

“Ow, ow,” Naruto smiled, rubbing the sore spot on his head. “I had a late… night. Yeah! And… I guess I overslept…”

Sakura was about to berate the blonde more when a loud crack sounded clearly in around them. The pink haired genin and Naruto looked at the source of the sound… it was Sasuke, who dove his kunai deeply into a tree, looking quite deadly, her eyes staring towards the blonde intently.

Naruto stepped back, remembering he also had a psycho girl for a teammate, who had threatened to kill him. She also aimed for his tenders… and number one rule for guys who go sparring is to never go there!

Oh… she's a girl. She's got different sets of rules… and he shivered with that thought.

“Yeah… well, see? You got Sasuke-kun mad, you idiot!” Sakura declared, shaking her head. “Don't be late next time! What if we failed!? I'll blame you! Jerk!”

“Sorry, Sakura-chan…” Naruto mumbled, his head going down.

There was a slight stir in Naruto's shoulders. Gwendolyn, who had watched the whole exchanged, shook somewhat with mild disgust.

“What a butch…” she whispered, disgusted. “How un-ladylike.”

Naruto laughed somewhat. Normally, if a guy berated Sakura-chan like that, he'd beat them up, but since a girl was the one that said it, he left it alone. They had different set of rules after all, something Ino and Sakura had mentioned to him when he tried to go between them to stop insulting each other.

It was a pretty memorable lesson. He still remembered how hard Ino punched as well.

“She may be a bit of a brute, but she's really gentle,” Naruto replied, nodding, unaware at the fact that Sakura was at a listening distance, and being described as a brute ticked her off.

“What was that!?” Sakura demanded, cracking her knuckles, readying them for a little game of `Hit the Moron'. Naruto could only fall back, nervously, raising his hands to quell her anger.

“Nothing, Sakura-chan! I swear, I didn't call you a brute!” he declared.

Gwendolyn looked somewhat stupefied, and hit her small hand to her small forehead. Kyuubi had something to say as well.

Ah… Moronic Alchemist strikes again… you make it too easy sometimes, moron.

Luckily for Naruto, before Sakura could reply to his confession with brute force, Kakashi had finally arrived, taking the heat away from Sakura, who was still mad, as she pointed an accusing finger at the jounin and declared her war-cry…

“YOU'RE LATE!”

“Mah, mah… sorry,” Kakashi's eyes smiled. “I got lost in the road of life.”

Everyone present, even the Wind Mana, had a sweat drop at the back of their heads. That was an obvious lie, they all thought at the same time. Before they could call him on that though, he placed an alarm clock in one of the three tree stumps.

“Now… this clock will alarm at noon…” Kakashi stated, his tone and posture going stern, making the three genin look at him seriously. The man took out two silver bells tied to a string, and showed it to them. He smiled, and began to explain the test.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Kakashi looked around, nodding somewhat as he felt satisfied knowing that at least two of his potential students were hiding their presence well… so why was it that this blonde one was shouting challenges at him?

“You're… kinda off, you know,” the jounin sighed, scratching the back part of his head.

“Look in the mirror before you talk about who's off you walking scarecrow!” Naruto declared, smiling proudly at his insult. Without another word, the blonde genin then dashed towards the jounin, his fist ready to clobber him.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed, sighing somewhat. His hands went towards his pouch, and his fingers felt the book he was wanting to read. He had thought that effect would make the blonde back off a bit, knowing how well intimidating he looked… with his stoic form, even a rookie academy student would think he was going towards a concealed weapon.

Unfortunately… Naruto, who had come out of a battle of the Mizuki-weak Punis, he was in no mood for surprises. He hadn't needed Kyuubi telling him that the adult ninja seemed to be taking out a weapon… he just took out his own.

Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke looked at the blonde in surprise as Naruto grabbed his deck out. In one fluid motion, he whipped his deck, the cards flowing outwards in a line, and would have hit the jounin, if he hadn't moved.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. She had for a moment, thought it was nothing more than a regular card deck, but when it came to attack the jounin, she was a bit shocked. What the heck was that weapon? And more importantly… where did Naruto get it?

Alchemic weapon, Kakashi had thought, dodging a few more strikes, courtesy of the blonde genin. Had he known, he wouldn't have even tried to grab for his book… alchemic weapons were more complex and more dangerous than even the best made chakra weapons. Naruto already had been dubbed as unpredictable, a comment that had been passed by a lot of chunnins and patrol ninjas who were trying to catch Naruto every time he did a prank. Now… he had a weapon… a card deck that seemed to act like a whip.

An strange weapon wielded by an unpredictable ninja. Kakashi smiled, somewhat, dodging more and more attacks, though they were coming closer and closer to hitting him.

“It's nice to see you taking this seriously,” Kakashi declared. He dodged another attack, and then, began to pump chakra as he formed a few simple seals.

Naruto's next attack came without fail, and to the blonde's eyes, he finally hit the mark… until Kakashi transformed to a lock, with a puff of smoke.

“… but as a ninja, you shouldn't get caught from behind.”

Sakura, and Sasuke's eyes widened as they watched the fight from the hiding place. Naruto was holding himself up pretty well against a joinin, which for them was a very strange, considering how they viewed him. They almost thought he would get the first hit, but now, the tables have turned. Kakashi was behind the blonde, and the two other genins realized that the jounin had a seal ready.

They both realized the meaning of the seal… Kakashi was going to unleash a ninjitsu, and they knew what was coming was a fire jutsu. Sakura shouted a warning to the blonde, fearing for his life… only to realize she was too late.

“Take this…” Kakashi declared. “Hidden Leaf Supreme Taijutsu Technique! One-Thousand Years of Pain!”

Sasuke's face turned very red, realizing the true nature of the jounin's attack. Naruto flew impressively in the air, holding his buttocks for dear life, screaming and shouting obscenities until he landed in the pond, quite a few distance away.

The youngest Uchiha looked bothered. She realized she had two perverts in her team. Naruto and Kakashi. Moreover, it bothered her more when she realized he could have done the same to her…

Of course… she'd kill him if he tried. Jounin or not.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Naruto… was not having a good day.

Hahahaha! That… that was good! Amazing! Stupendous! I thought I could deliver the biggest insult to you, the most moronic alchemist I ever laid eyes upon… but what he did… he did it better! A powerful ass poke! Enough to stop the great Uzumaki Naruto!

Shut up! Naruto growled, swimming with one hand. The other was trying to find solace for his buttocks. He cursed. Kyuubi… help me! This guy's going down! Stupid scarecrow! I'll kick his ass!

Count me out! I like what the guy did, so I'm gonna leave you alone for this test. Enjoy it… moron!

As Kyuubi laughed one last time, Naruto began to curse and berate the self-proclaimed Mana of Chaos for being an unhelpful bastard… of course, his complaints fell on deaf ears. Deciding to ignore the fox Mana his eyes went for his shoulder, seeing Gwendolyn stifling her laughter with her hand.

Naruto growled, and swam up, pushing himself towards solid ground, breathing deeply. He slid down for a moment, and whispered, “Laugh it up, why dontcha?”

“I'm sorry, Naruto… but…” Gwendolyn giggled a bit. “It was funny.”

Just a few meters away, Kakashi watched the boy pull himself out of the water, his eyes smiling. He had already locked into the location of the other two genin, and put that information away for later use. Right now, he was concentrating on the blonde alchemist, wondering if he was going to be given any more surprises.

“Kuso…!” Naruto cursed. He stood up, and saw Kakashi watching him with a relaxed stance. “I'm going to kill you… scarecrow bastard!”

“Try harder then… dead last,” Kakashi teased.

The blonde growled… and before anyone could blink, a cyclone suddenly emerged, covering Naruto, hiding him from view. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura looked surprise, wondering what was going on… and when the cyclone died, two of the genins gasped somewhat.

Naruto was now wearing body armor, completely covering his legs and his forearms, but fractured around his chest area. Along with that was a weird weapon with a spear tip with his hand, Naruto suddenly dashed towards the jounin, leaving behind colored wind energy that almost seemed to form a wing shape pattern on his back.

Kakashi's eyebrows raised, realizing Naruto had suddenly gained a good amount of speed. He nimbly dodged the obvious attack coming at him, and readied himself. If the boy could do a rather effective form with cards… what could he do with a weapon that looked like it could actually kill him?

To his disappointment, Naruto's form was far from good. His card forms, as imperfect as it was, at least covered his defensive grounds. Kakashi didn't know how one would defend using cards, but the boy's feet was at least steady with each attack. Using his new weapon however, his footwork was gone, and his form had left him open to so many counter attacks…

If Naruto had been any slower, Kakashi would probably had tried to at least exploit those openings, but the boy quickly corrected himself in his strike, and began to slash wildly around. Kakashi just grinned, and began to dodge nimbly.

“No… no… that's not… Naruto… no… wait…” Gwendolyn's sentences never finished as she watched Naruto just attack… in a horrible form. She sighed, figuring out that training him soon with her weapon would be the first thing she'd do. Correcting him here was rather useless as he was attacking in somewhat blind rage. She just sighed. “Oh... just go on...”

“You sure you should wield a dangerous weapon… you might hurt yourself,” the jounin smiled as he dodged another strike easily.

Naruto growled dangerously, and instead of slashing, he began stabbing. Kakashi settled from dodging side to side to moving slightly backwards. The jounin even began to calculate the total length of the weapon Naruto had been using and the range of his stabs, and began to dodge each stab by a hair.

“Oh… that was close,” Kakashi continued to tease, enjoying the reaction he was getting from the blond. “Oh… another one. And another. Wow… you're getting close to stabbing me, dead last…”

Naruto growled, incensed as the jounin just kept pushing it, but he tried to remain emotionless. Uzumaki Naruto, the self claimed future Hokage, also a learning alchemist, with two Mana partners would at times display great insights. Whether Kyuubi knew or not, his advices for battle had eventually been somewhat ingrained to Naruto's own battle instincts, coupled along with the blonde's natural adaptability and quick thinking from years of practicing pranks... he got an idea.

Kakashi grinned as he kept dodging each attack by backing away a few centimeters from the blade. The next attack was, again, obvious, but to his great surprise, the weapon suddenly expanded. If he hadn't forced chakra to his legs and his hips, his head would have been shish kabobed by the forming spear.

“Nice trick, Naruto,” Kakashi declared as he began to move his body. “It seems you're really serious... I'm starting to like you. But...”

Hands of blinding speed suddenly caught Naruto's arm as he was about to unleash another attack. With his arms locked with Kakashi, and the man being bigger and heavier than the blonde, he was slowly being pushed back forcibly. Trying to get the jounin to let go of him, he extended his foot to kick Kakashi, only for a rope to appear, and attach itself around his extended foot, and reeled him up, hanging him upside down a tree.

Naruto cursed as he found himself upside down, looking towards the jounin, who's eyes were smiling.

“Surprised me there,” Kakashi grinned, feeling good about his handiwork. “You were fast... but your form sucked. Nice weapon... fooled me to thinking it had a fixed range, only to extend to a spear... but you should know, a spear's specialty is mid-range to long range attacks... close range, you're just asking for someone to lock you in your place.

“Plus extending your foot like that... you just asked me to tie a rope on it and hang you like a straw doll,” the jounin finished.

“He's right you know...” the Wind Mana's voice came. The blonde growled.

“I know, DAMNIT!” he shouted.

Kakashi, not hearing the Wind Mana, assumed the boy had been talking to him, and just shook his head.

“Uhm... I'm telling you this because you don't,” he stated. “You know... you really should start listen...”

The jounin didn't finish what he was about to say because suddenly, shuriken and kunai had suddenly impaled his side, forcing Naruto's mouth open with shock as blood flew from the wounds. The man then slumped towards the ground, looking as dead as a corpse.

Out of the corner of Naruto's eye, he could see Sasuke standing up, her arms wrapped around her chest. He knew who threw those projectiles...

“Sasuke... you psycho!” Naruto shouted nervously. “That was too much!”

Sasuke ignored the blonde's shout. It was pretty silly, considering the jounin had practically told them to try and kill him to get the bells, so when she saw an opening, she took it. She was about to claim her prize when the man suddenly turned to a log.

“Damnit... another Kawarimi!” Sasuke whispered, and moved. She berated herself for falling for that one... now Kakashi knows where she was hidden!

At the same moment, Sakura began to move, wondering where her crush was. She had opted to help him, but now, she couldn't feel the Uchiha's presence. Darting from branch to branch silently, she suddenly spotted Kakashi nearby, reading an orange book.

She stopped, calming her breathe completely, silencing and trying to mask her presence. She took a small tentative look and see if the man had seen her.

“Sakura...” a voice from behind suddenly called.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Naruto... when this test is over... I am going to give you one long lesson on how to handle my weapon.”

“Yes, Gwendolyn...” Naruto muttered.

“That's Gwendolyn-sensei...”

The Wind Mana was sounding rather hoarse and embarrassed at the same time. Her pride had somehow taken a blow... no matter how kind-hearted Naruto is, as his partner, he should at least show some dignity! Using her weapon like that... if other Mana found out, they'd never live it down.

The blonde sighed. It was one thing to get lectured by Kakashi, but now he had the kind Wind Mana he had helped saved last night also lecturing him. She sounded angry... very angry, but kept herself from exploding. He felt somewhat sorry he had let her down.

It didn't help Kyuubi was just laughing his ass off. One of these days, he was going to find a way to kill the fox Mana.

A scream pierced the air. Naruto recognized the voice... it was Sakura-chan's! With quick motion, he cut himself free from his binding, and landed cleanly on the ground. Panicking as he took a running start, he was about to check where the voice had come from when Gwendolyn suddenly told him to stop.

“What is it?” Naruto replied, sounding a bit annoyed. Sakura-chan is in trouble!

“Something's been bothering me about the test...” the Wind Mana muttered. In his mind, Gwendolyn looked thoughtful.

“We can think about it later!” the blonde cut her off, and continued his run. “We'll get Sakura-chan first, then tell me what's bothering you... okay?”

Gwendolyn just nodded, though wanting Naruto to take some time to hear her. The jounin had shown absolute skill compared to the three. Even with alchemic weapons, Naruto had been utterly shown up... it would make sense if the man wanted to see their skills, but there were other means to gain that information. Plus the whole bell concept bothered her... it was as almost as it was designed for conflict between the children.

Still... she held her thoughts. Naruto decided on a course of action, and she learned he was as hard headed as a mad bull. A mad bull wearing orange.

She giggled at the image.

Naruto, shrugging when he heard her giggle, just continued on his way. He felt a sudden rush of heat emanating from his left. Curious, he took a slight detour, and hid behind the leafy trees, balancing between the branches for a good while, until he got to a clearing. He spotted Sasuke's head poking out of the dirt.

He snorted, covering his mouth with his hand, trying to stifled his laughter. Well, the psycho girl deserved it... and he left, and went on his merry way to find his crush, the beautiful Sakura-chan.

In the clearing, Sasuke's ears perked up when she heard soft laughter emanating from the trees. She spotted orange and yellow streaking away from her, and she gritted her teeth.

“You... DEAD LAST!” she screamed, furious the boy had just left her there. She was so going to kill him!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The alarm clock rang. Nobody had gotten the bell...

Sasuke and Sakura had come towards the stumps together. The pink-haired kunoichi, who had been hit by a genjutsu by Kakashi, had stumbled upon Sasuke's head, and thought the worse. The youngest Uchiha had been quite angry at the blonde for leaving her there, and even have the gall to laugh at her situation, forced herself out of the hole.

She was covered in dust, looked very mangled, and emanating killing intent that Sakura had not dared approach her when she woke up. When they both had come towards the stumps, where the alarm clock rang, they just sat down, a good space between them.

Kakashi smiled. He was carrying a bundle behind him, and the two kunoichis (one disguised as a boy) looked somewhat curious what he was carrying, until the jounin threw it at them. The bundle cried out suddenly in pain as it impacted the ground.

It was Naruto, hog-tied, and if anyone noticed his clothes were back to normal.

“He was wandering around the forest,” Kakashi stated, looking bored. When he saw the Uchiha suddenly taking out a kunai, looking murderously at the blonde, he raised his hand. “Maa, maa... now's not the time for that. I have something to announce... it's about the training.”

Sakura looked up, while Sasuke growled, and hid her kunai back. She was just going to take a non-lethal stab... Naruto just sweated, feeling the killing intent wash at his back for a good moment. He could guess what Kakashi had tried to stop.

“Well... I don't see the need for you three to go back to the Academy,” Kakashi declared. The three genins looked somewhat relieved, until the jounin finished his sentence. “Because all three of you should just quit being ninjas.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Everything was explained... the purpose of the test, why they were divided into three teams. Naruto hung his head, ashamed. It wasn't because he had failed to reach the conclusion of the test (no one did anyway), but because of his actions just earlier.

Hadn't Gwendolyn warned him there was something up with the test and he just totally blocked her out? He had promised to treat his Mana partners as they were supposed to be treated... as partners. Then... he does this.

Hmph... I told you moron... you're just human.

Naruto sighed, not feeling up to it in sparring Kyuubi with insults. His reckless actions were beginning to bite back to him, making him wonder if he just spoke empty words, or if his promises were just dismissible... a prospect he found very discomforting.

The Wind Mana may have read his feelings, because she was over his shoulder again, tapping it, comforting. She hadn't minded him being selfish... he was somewhat obsessed with the pink brute, so she could understand. Yeah... sure she was somewhat put off when he just disregarded her, but the blonde seemed to take it heavier than usual.

“You guys... I'll give you one more chance,” the jounin looked at them with his visible eye, seriously. “Eat lunch... but afterwards, I'll make the test harder. If you want to continue, eat... but don't give Naruto any.”

The blonde boy, now tied to a stump, didn't respond, looking down on the ground, in deep thought. Sakura didn't bat an eyelash, but Sasuke looked somewhat surprised. She looked towards the blonde, feeling somewhat sorry for him.

“Its punishment for laughing at a teammate in trouble,” Kakashi explained. His eyes narrowed, looking at the three genin with dead seriousness. “Anyone who gives him lunch... you all fail. Got it? I. Am. The. Rules. Here.”

The jounin disappeared, leaving the three genin to their own devices. Sakura, already very hungry, dropped her self control for a moment and dove towards one of the lunchboxes and began to eat. Sasuke took the other one, and stealed a look at the blonde, who hadn't raised his head.

The smell of food wafted through the air, and Naruto's stomach rumbled. The Uchiha smirked, wondering if the blonde was going to say something. He did... but not until a few moments of silence.

“I'm sorry...” he had muttered.

Sasuke blinked. Well... that was the first time she ever heard the blonde apologize seriously, not out of his wits because he was being threatened by sharp pointy objects. There was a mix of sorrow and regret to his voice, adding more weight to his apology.

She appreciated it.

Unfortunately... he hadn't actually meant it for her. Naruto's apology was in fact directed towards the Wind Mana, who just nodded, and continued to tap on his shoulder, assuring.

Of course, what the last Uchiha didn't know wouldn't hurt her... or more importantly, the blonde. Ironically enough, it was his words that would finally get their genin lives started, and unknown to them, it was the first reaffirmation of their destinies.

“Hn... its fine,” Sasuke muttered in her brooding voice. She still had an image to keep. Without another word, she slowly extended her arm, offering her lunchbox towards the blonde, who looked at her, surprised.

“Sa... Sasuke-kun!” Sakura jumped up, looking shocked. “Don't! Sensei said...”

“Hn,” Sasuke cut her off quickly. “I don't sense him nearby... besides... without food, he'll just get in the way. After lunch... lets get the bells together.”

The blonde looked at the Uchiha for some time, blushing somewhat. The girl was pretty decent when she was like this... but then again, there was a small part of him thatwondered, silently, if the psycho girl was just acting kind and offering her food because she poisoned it.

Yes, he was silly like that.

However, he wasn't really forced into actually finding out if her food was or was not poisoned as Sakura also offered up her box. The blonde's eyes widened, then smiled.

“Thanks!” he muttered towards the pink-haired kunoichi. The youngest Uchiha just rolled her eyes.

“Hn...” she muttered, continued on eating, while she left Sakura to feed the blonde with her chopsticks.

A terrifying presence suddenly made itself known, exploding to a cloud of smoke. Sakura dropped her lunch box, while Naruto, in panic, dropped the morsel he was about to chew, while Sasuke's hands went towards her kunai pouch, ready to stave off a attack that might be coming.

“You GUYS!!!” Kakashi's voice boomed, freezing the three genins in their place. “... pass.”

The last word came out calmly, and playfully that the genin, still frozen hadn't realized what he had said until a few moments later. Sakura and Naruto both had a confused expression, and while Sasuke was as well, she kept her expression well hidden behind her facade.

“Heh...” Kakashi's visible eye smiled. He had enjoyed that little reaction.

“Wait... pass? But... but how?” Sakura was the first one to speak. She was still confused at the turn of events.

“Heh... well there was bound to be a first time,” Kakashi stated, relaxing a bit. Unconsciously, that had the effect of relaxing the three genins. “The others would just follow what I said... what a bunch of morons.”

He looked at them, his eyes somewhat going serious. Naruto was reminded of Iruka's face as he was about to lecture them.

“A ninja must look underneath of the underneath,” the jounin muttered seriously. “It is said a ninja who does not follow rules are trash... but you know what? Anyone who doesn't take care of their comrades are lower than that.”

Naruto looked slightly abashed. The lecture had hit him closer to home than any of his teammates. Sakura looked more excited that she passed, stealing a few looks at the Uchiha, who took a deep breathe of relief.

The blonde reaffirmed his promise. He swore in silence, promising to treat his Mana partners with more respect. He was definitely going to try and treat Gwendolyn better, as she was the fourth person (or at least the first Mana) who had openly accepted him as he was, acknowledging his existence and worth.

He swore to treat her better.

Hmph... I'll be here, as always, to point out your failures. Moron.

Shut it, bastard! Naruto thought strongly.

He smiled again when the jounin, his new sensei, Kakashi, raised his arm, giving them the thumb's up. “That ends the training! You all PASS!” he declared, his visible eye smiling. “Starting tomorrow, Team Seven will begin its duties!”

Sakura celebrated, while Sasuke had a small smile. Naruto smiled somewhat, feeling an aura of comradeship surrounding him. Maybe he'd extend that promise to his new teammates as well... after all, if what Kakashi said was right, he was stuck with them.

His crush, the passionate Sakura-chan. The psycho girl, Sasuke, who could also be kind when she wants to be... and Kakashi, who seemed pretty cool on his own right... that was until the three left, leaving him still tied up on the stump.

“HEY!” the blonde shouted. “GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!”

He was ignored.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Bye, Sasuke-kun!” Sakura declared, looking back at her crush as she ran back home.

The youngest Uchiha sighed a breathe of relief. She looked towards her new jounin-sensei, who looked blankly at the pink-haired who had left them, and she went on her way.

Kakashi continued to follow.

“What do you want?” Sasuke growled. She didn't like being followed, even if it was her new teacher.

“I'm just wondering how long you think you can just disguise yourself, Uchiha Saki,” the jounin replied.

The young Uchiha glared at him, her eyes roving around to see if there were any listeners.

“Don't call me that!” the Uchiha growled. Who did the jounin think he was, calling her by her real name out in the open? “If you compromise me, I'll tell the Hokage...”

“Yeah, yeah, I know... Sasuke-kun,” Kakashi waved his hand. “No one was listening, and no one heard, so don't worry you're pretty little head off.”

“Hn...” Saki muttered. She looked towards the jounin. “When you brought that blonde pervert back... did you confiscate his weapon?”

“Nope... it disappeared when I knocked him out,” Kakashi replied truthfully. “Why interested?”

“I... wanted to learn where he got his weapons. A card deck that acted like a whip, and a short weapon that transformed to a spear... strange as he never gotten such weapons during the academy.”

“Think they'd help with your ambition?” the jounin asked, shaking his head. “We're ninjas. We keep secrets, Sasuke-kun, and Naruto probably has his. You best well know this since you have your own.”

“Hmph... considering that perverted blonde knows mine... I think I deserve to know a few of his secrets,” Saki replied darkly.

Kakashi stopped on his tracks, his eyes widening. “When?”

“Three days ago,” the Uchiha replied. “At night... in my house.”

“Didn't you blow yourself up practicing a jutsu?” the jounin asked.

“Like I'd actually make a mistake using fire jutsu... or even try practicing inside the house,” she rolled her eyes.

Kakashi nodded. That made sense... why would an Uchiha, whose primary elemental affinity that was fire, who also had enough chakra to unleash a powerful fireball at him earlier, would try and actually pull off a fire jutsu inside their house?

The only explanation was Naruto. Factoring him, along with the way Kakashi's mind worked after reading many Icha Icha books, he imagined a completely accurate reason how the blonde boy knew how the last Uchiha was a girl... and why Saki seemed very pissed off at the blonde yesterday.

Wait a minute... three days ago... other than the supposed accident at the Uchiha's current lodgings, there was another incident that had happened later on.

“Naruto's apartment caught fire... was that your doing?” the jounin asked.

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” Saki declared, not looking at the jounin in the eye.

Rushing away before Kakashi could ask any more, the last Uchiha just leapt towards a nearby rooftop, and bounded away. The jounin had been tempted to follow, but stood his ground, looking at the sky with some wonderment. Grabbing his book out of his pouch, he began to scan the pages where he left off, and the continued to read.

He giggled, making his way back to Hokage tower. The team was volatile at best... Uchiha Saki (or Sasuke as she calls herself), the last surviving Uchiha, who also apparently inherited her mother's temper before she settled down with Saki's father, Haruno Sakura, coming from a civilian family, though does have shinobi blood in her and had a big crush on the last Uchiha, and finally, the blonde alchemist, Uzumaki Naruto who seemed to know how to light fuses of the Uchiha...

Well, at least his team was interesting, he thought, before he giggled at another passage.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Omake!!

Naruto sighed, in defeat, still tied to a stump for almost an hour. No one came back to him, and he was pretty much pissed off and hungry. The happiness of passing as a genin had not comforted him since he had been wanting the sweet (actually salty) delicious taste of the food from the gods... Ramen!

“Hello!?” Naruto called. “Anyone out there!?”

“Um... Naruto, I can free you...” Gwendolyn offered, but the blonde shook his head.

“No, Gwendolyn-chan... you put with my selfishness already...” the blonde replied, looking solemn. “I have to get out on my own.”

Oh... on your own... is that why you're screaming for help? And shouldn't a ninja be capable of escaping a tied rope? Seriously... you're a bad alchemist, and a bad ninja. Where did the talents of your mother go to? The toilet?

Naruto growled, and began to struggle, trying to loosen the rope (by some miracle, he had hoped, maybe), only for the rope to suddenly rob in one of his hidden inner pockets, igniting one of his alchemic items.

Naruto's hair stood up straight as a bright light flashed... it was so bright, his skeleton was could be seen, if anyone was around, as his body jerked left and right. He slumped down when the electricity died down.

Kyuubi was laughing harder. Apparently, he had accidentally tripped one of his electric rods, forcing it to explode into electrical current... but what the fox got going even more was the fact Naruto had completely forgotten he had been carrying bomb items he could have used in the test.

“Gwendolyn... um...” Naruto mumbled, not knowing what to say.

“Help you out?” she asked, smiling.

“Um... yes... please...” he replied... defeated.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Author's Notes:

Not much. Revealed Sasuke's real name (Saki Uchiha, short-tempered, as Kakashi described), more direct-from-the-manga-turned-anime-turned-fuel-for-fanfiction, and hopefully more silliness. I had a few plans for next chapter to be somewhat more original, because... well... our dear Naruto is about to meet Choice B... Hyuuga Hinata.

Later!