Chapter Text
The graduation was uneventful; all of them passed with flying colors. Which is to be expected, really, after all, Suzuka personally tutored them. It was just a shame that she wasn't at least 2nd Kunoichi, but Sakura deserves it. The girl, despite being from a civilian family, was top in academics, nearly matching Suzuka's!
"We're officially ninjas now!" Ino cheers, hugging her best friend. Sakura hugs back, just as happy.
"Yeah!"
"Let's go to the spa to celebrate!" She giggles, dragging the pink-haired girl with her.
"Huh? Aren't you going to celebrate with your family and..." Sakura asks, eyeing the Nara twins who were with Chouji.
"Nah, that would be much later!" Ino dismissed. "It would be a big celebration between our clans; we still have a couple of hours before that."
"If you say so..."
"I do say so!" She insists. "Let's go!"
"Hmm? Isn't that Naruto?" Sakura suddenly asks, making Ino pause. "Why is he with Mizuki-sensei?"
"That's weird...the exam's not over yet..." The blonde frowns. "Wait here, Sakura, I need to tell Suzu-chan!"
"Huh?"
That night, there was no celebration at all from the Shinobi Trinity.
Iruka has a lot of regrets, but the biggest of them all has to be not being a decent adult to this knuckleheaded ninja in front of him. So small he looked, staring at him in worry and horror as Izuka was pinned down by the traitor, unable to do anything as the biggest secret of the leaf village was revealed.
"Don't you see?" Mizuki cackles. "Iruka hates you for killing his parents, you are the Kyuubi no Yoko!"
"No! Naruto, don't listen to him!" Iruka wheeze. "That's not true-you-"
"That's another crime on your list!" Naruto yelled back; the glare he wore shook Iruka to the core. It wasn't a look he had ever seen on the always-smiling ninja before. His teeth were bared, eyes full of anger. "On top of betraying the village and injuring a loyal shinobi!"
"Hah!" Mizuki snorts. "What could you possibly do? I'm a respected shinobi, and you-you've always been trouble! Why would they believe you over me?"
"Perhaps then, my testimony would hold an even more weight then?" A commanding voice cuts in. Iruka froze at the familiar voice. It was Nara Shikaku, the Jounin commander of Konoha, beside him, the other two leaders of the Shinobi Trinity of Konoha.
Ah. It was a sting operation.
As expected, Ino-Shika-Cho are together, and so are Aburame, Inuzuka, and Hyuuga, which naturally leaves Naruto, Suzuka, and the recently returned Sasuke together. Suzuka didn't even need to pull strings with Hiruzen at all; Sasuke's grades were enough to put him on top of the class, if barely defeating Shino by a couple of points overall.
Suzuka would have preferred not being teamed up with the Uchiha, if only to avoid dealing with the emotional baggage he obviously still carries. Still, it wouldn't be ideal to leave him with other children. The Uchiha didn't even glance at them after the announcement and continued ignoring them, as they were all but left alone in the room to wait for their teacher.
"He's late!" Naruto huffed, irritated. "Where is he? It's been two hours!"
"He was probably caught on a last-minute mission," Suzuka reasons. "I heard he was a workaholic."
Hatake Kakashi was a name she was quite familiar with, not only because of her Father's complaints but also because Suzuka had made it her mission to know as much as she could about the last living Hatake, Tobirama's last living relative by his mother's side.
His lateness was definitely not because of a last-minute mission.
"Still, how could he? It's our first day as a team..." Naruto pouts, then, a grin, a familiar one. "Hehe, why don't we teach him a lesson? So there won't be next time, ya'know?"
There would definitely be next time, the albino thought, but didn't say. She closed her eyes and let herself be lulled into sleep, ignoring the scroll and ink the blond just pulled out of his jacket.
Sasuke looked curious about the scroll, but proved to be too prideful to ask anything. Tsk. How troublesome.
It was another hour or so before their teacher arrived.
Naruto. Well, Suzuka has to admit she had to bite her cheek to stop laughing. Upon stepping on the ink on the floor, the jounin was transformed into a hunchback with a prominent single tooth and a cane.
The same cannot be said of the last Hatake, who looked more than displeased as he dispelled it. He looks ready to throttle Naruto, who was rolling on the floor in laughter.
"My first impression? I hate all of you!" The masked ninja says blithely. "Let's meet on the rooftop." Was all he said, then vanished.
"What a killjoy!"
Kakashi swallowed his amusements as Naruto looked ready to jump at him at his introductions. Sasuke looks like he couldn't care less, and Suzuka, the girl, looks blank, as if she had no expectations at all.
"Your turn, canvas." He points at the albino.
"My name is Nara Suzuka," Suzuka says. "I like my research, kids, animals, my family, and the village. I hate traitors and anyone who hurts kids and animals. My dream is to live a peaceful life and make breakthroughs that could be helpful to the village."
That was...well, loaded. Like, there was a story to be told at each of them. Kakashi tried to think back to what he knew about the little girl.
The daughter of Nara Shikaku, the Jounin Commander and Head of the Nara Clan. She is not the clan heir, being the second-born twin, but it was said she is quite the force. A genius like the rest of her clan, but not lazy at all. Aside from her appearance, her overall personality and genius were often compared to the Nidaime Hokage.
Well, at least he won't have any difficulty with teaching the kid...
"Blondie, you're next."
"I am Uzumaki Naruto!" He declares, jumping to his feet, he has Minato-sensei's face but Kushina-nee's fire. "I love ramen, and my friends, I hate anyone who hurts them...." He side-eyes his other teammate at that. "...and the minutes it takes to make ramen..." He lists out. "As for my dream, my dream is to become the next Hokage..."
Huh, like parents, like son...
"...and become a Fuuinjutsu master that would make my Uzumaki ancestors proud!"
What.
"I will rebuild my clan!"
What. Wait. He was not informed of this at all.
Kakashi was glad he had 3/4 of his face covered, lest his shock make it known. Sasuke looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. There was a spark of life—of hope and understanding— in his gaze. It was the most emotion Kakashi had ever seen in Itachi's sibling since the massacre.
Suzuka looked proud.
"I see." Was all he could say. He needs to talk to the Hokage.
"Emo," he calls. "You're next."
Sasuke glared at him. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything..."
Ah. Maybe they should have just dismissed the meeting after all.
"What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and kill a certain someone."
Kakashi just stares at him. Great, a mentally unstable Uchiha. Wasn't he in therapy for a year? Kakashi would like to have a word with the one in charge. Oh, he can feel a headache coming miles over a mile away now. Maybe it was time to cash in on his health insurance.
The other kids' reaction was quite curious. Naruto looked appropriately disturbed, stepping away from his male teammate to go with the other one. He was oddly protective with the way he was in front of her, but also nervous, given the way he was clutching at those tiny hands.
"The fuck." Naruto says, face full of judgment.
Suzuka, curiously, looked irritated more than anything. As if she were deeply inconvenienced.
"Well," He says to cut the tension between the three. "You kids sound like the most interesting misfits." It wasn't even a lie. "That's it for this meeting then."
"What?!"
"Meet me tomorrow in training ground 7 at 6 am for your survival training." He continues.
"A survival test? Why?!"
"Out of 27 academy students, only 9 will graduate to Genin; the rest go back to the academy for re-education. Academy graduation is just for nomination to Genin; the actual graduation is to pass the test given by your teacher." He answers with a chuckle.
"That's so unfair."
Kakashi shrugs. "That's how it goes."
"Hmph. Never mind that," Naruto shrugs before looking at him, full of arrogance as he points a finger. "You better watch out then, we'll pound you to the ground, believe it!"
Kakashi just sighs. "By the way, a piece of advice, don't eat breakfast or you'll puke." With that, he sunshin out of the rooftop.
He needs to talk to the Hokage.