Hello everyone, it's been a long time.

I think I might have given you all unrealistic expectations, uploading chapter 2 only about 2 days after the first one, but I am going to have to disappoint and say that the time I took to write this chapter is probably a more realistic timeframe. Well, maybe slightly less, but you get the point I hope.

Have fun reading, will see you at the other side!

Chapter 3: Genin and Family.

The week before the team assignments had to have been the most boring week in his life, Naruto mused as he sat down on his usual chair in the back of the classroom. Sure, some stuff happened, but this was his first week where he didn't have his ANBU caretakers with him, so he didn't really have much of a distraction other than hanging out with his friends, reading and getting his shinobi ID sorted. Of course, he loved going out with his friends and reading, but it just wasn't the same without his surrogate family.

Getting his shinobi ID had gone without a hitch, if you didn't count the annoyance that was the grandson of the Hokage. The brat had barged in while he and the old man were talking, and the boy had the gall to falsely accuse him of tripping him up. And then, when Naruto had excused himself to get out of that mess, the twit had followed him out! It wasn't that much of a challenge to lose the little gnome, but it had annoyed him quite a lot anyway.

Shaking his head to get rid of those memories, he focused back in to what was happening around him. When he had arrived there already were some people there, and it seemed that most of the other students had arrived while he was spaced out. He really had to get rid of that daydreaming habit; it could get him killed someday.

Looking around the class, he spotted all of the people he had mentioned to Hikari yesterday, along with a few others that he hadn't. It wouldn't matter though, as they would fail their actual Genin test. He had studied up on all of the rules and regulations as well as trials for the shinobi that he had to complete, and he had found that there was always a second test applied. It hadn't surprised him, as he had found the Academy curriculum too easy, but it would surprise a lot of people.

Looking besides him, he smiled at his friends, who had probably arrived while he was daydreaming, before focusing on the front of the class where Iruka had entered, and was now sitting behind the desk, his feet propped up on it. The dolphin man looked around the room once, checking with his papers for a moment before nodding and standing up, gathering the attention of the Genin gathered.

"Alright kids, listen up!" He shouted, looking everyone in the eye before starting his speech. "Now that I have gathered everyone's attention, good morning to you all, nice to have you here at your last day in the academy for at least a while." He chuckled a bit at the confused faces before continuing. "You have all done well to graduate, and I wish you all luck in the field. There will be countless life or death situations, and you may have to give your life for the village, but-" he added as he saw the fear in some "If you train hard and look underneath the underneath, as one lazy Jonin would say, you will all be just fine. If you carry the Will of Fire in your veins, you will always be protected by the spirit of the tree that is Konoha." Iruka preached passionately, seeing the fire return in most of the Genin. "Now that that is over, let's continue to the team assignments, shall we?"

He could feel the excitement bubble in the young ninja, and he couldn't blame them. He had been the same not so long ago after all. "Alright, as you all know you will be divided into teams of three with a Jonin sensei who is going to guide you and teach you to further your careers. I will call out your team number and names, and I will leave the Jonin to introduce themselves. Is that clear?"

He didn't even wait for the Genin to respond, knowing that they were anticipating their placements. Deciding not to delay it any longer, he started to call out the names. Teams 1 to 6 were called, which Naruto tuned out because none of the interesting people were in them. Team 7 and onwards, though, peeked his interest. "Team 7 consists of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Yuu. Team 8 will be Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba. Team 9 is still in circulation, so Team 10 will be Akimichi Choji, Yamanaka Ino and Shiro. Last but not least is Team 11 which consists of Nara Shikamaru, Mitsue Hikari and Uzumaki Naruto."

The last two teams seriously surprised everyone, especially the ones involved. Shikamaru and Naruto had compiled all of the previous records and data about the Ino-Shika-Cho formation, and every single one of them pointed to Shikamaru being put with Choji and Ino to recreate the incredibly successful team. The only thing that would lead to Naruto, Hikari and Shikamaru to be together was their teamwork scores in the academy, but they had waved those off thinking that the Hokage would follow tradition and logic.

It was definitely a pleasant surprise though, as now the Nara would be with his best friends, not that he disliked Choji or anything, but it just wouldn't have been the same. Especially not if the troublesome Yamanaka would boss him around all the time like she did when they were kids.

Choji and Ino on the other hand were disappointed that their childhood friend wouldn't be in their team. They had been together since they were kids, but when he met Naruto he had seemed to click with the blond boy easily, same with Hikari when she joined them. They just couldn't compete anymore, but they supposed that it would all work out in the end, as he was still their friend.

Seeing that there was no protest at all, which definitely surprised the Chuunin teacher, Iruka clapped his hands and decided to give his last piece of instruction before letting them go for lunch. "Now that that is all over, your Jonin sensei will pick you up after lunch. I will hopefully see you all sometime, and I wish you the best of luck in the field. You can all go now." He dismissed the Genin, watching them all leave the classroom, chatting excitedly.

Naruto grinned at his friends as they left the premise of the Academy, choosing to go to Ichiraku Ramen to have their lunch since they had an hour to spend. "It's a relief to know that you two are in my team. I was worried that Shika would be put with Yamanaka and Choji." He said as he patted his Nara friend on the back.

Hikari was just as excited. "Yeah! Though I suppose our team exercise scores were the highest. We did break a few records with the three of us." She chuckled. "I wonder who our sensei is going to be?" She continued as they arrived at Ichiraku's and sat on the stools at the counter. "I doubt that it is going to be some big shot Jonin…"

Naruto and Shikamaru thought about it for a minute before both shrugging their shoulders simultaneously, saying that they didn't know. The girl could only palm her face at how similar they were, though that was probably why they got along so well. "I can't believe you guys sometimes…"

After eating their food and talking for a bit, they noticed that they were almost late to go back to the Academy. Hikari started to panic, but Naruto told her to calm down before grabbing her shoulder and performing a Shunshin to get to the Academy entrance. "You should totally teach me that Naruto!" Hikari exclaimed excitedly, impressed with the technique.

Naruto chuckled at his friend's enthusiasm, telling her that their Jonin sensei would probably teach her if she asked. The pout she gave in response could almost be called cute, was it not that Naruto knew that she did this to make him feel bad. "You are not convincing me, Hikari. You will have to try harder than that." He chuckled as he saw her defeated expression.

They sat down on their usual chairs and waited for their sensei to show. It didn't take long before the other teams were picked up, Team 8 being taken by a red-eyed woman that they recognized as Yuuhi Kurenai and Team 10 being picked up by who Naruto knew to be Sarutobi Asuma, the son of the Hokage. The other teams didn't interest them all that much, and Team 7 was still there.

Team 11 didn't have to wait any longer though, as the door opened slowly. Hikari, Shikamaru and Naruto were almost holding their breath in anticipation, not even registering that it could just be the sensei for Team 7. When the person stepped through the door though, Naruto gasped audibly. "Bird? What are you doing here?" He said, looking at the smiling face of one of his closest friends and surrogate family.

Bird chuckled at the utterly confused expression of the blond and his friends. "For one, I am not on duty so please call me by my name. And to answer your question, I am to be the Jonin sensei of Team 11 of course, why else?" He said with a smirk on his face. "Now, meet me at Naruto-Kun's house for introductions." He said before disappearing. In his confusion Naruto didn't even bother to protest their meeting place, standing up and leading his teammates to the hallway before grabbing their shoulders and disappearing in a Shunshin.

Break

After entering the apartment Naruto had gotten his friends situated and was currently brewing tea for his unexpected guests. After bringing the steaming cups of hot water to the living room and placing them on the table, he sat next to his friends on the couch, Kaiji having taken a seat on one of the chairs across from them. "So, Nii-San, you better explain what you are doing outside of ANBU." Naruto demanded almost passionately, seemingly trying to bore holes in the poor man's head with how he was looking at the former ANBU.

In his mind, Kaiji was abandoning his ANBU squad mates and his surrogate family while he took some slightly lighter Jonin duties. Kaiji had expected this and sighed a little, being a bit uncomfortable in this situation. "Well… how do I put this…?" He started, carefully choosing his words. "I kind of wanted to break this to you privately, but I suppose I have no choice but to do it now since you won't let it go … The thing is, Manami is pregnant, and I am the father." He dropped the bombshell on the blond.

On the side, Shikamaru and Hikari were looking at the duo confused until Kaiji decided to elaborate on the situation. "You two will probably know me as Bird from what the Hokage told me, as one of Naruto's teachers and guardians before he graduated the academy. Manami-Chan you will know as Cat." He said, clearing it up for them.

Naruto was staring at the man wide-eyed. He had never noticed anything, being that they never were with him at the same time except for his birthdays, but he did remember them speaking fondly of eachother. "So that is why you left ANBU huh?" Naruto said shakily, still a bit shocked at the revelation, his head bowed down. Kaiji smiled at the blond. "Yes, that is why we left ANBU. As I said I wanted to tell you in a more private setting, but as I said that wasn't a possibility anymore." He admitted as he sipped on his tea, kind of nervous.

The Uzumaki Genin sighed a bit in relief, lifting his head to show a happy smile. "I suppose that congratulations are in order then, huh?" He said jokingly as he went up to Kaiji and hugged him for a little before returning to his seat. "And now you are our Jonin sensei, which is also a relief, with who we could have gotten otherwise…" He added.

Kaiji chuckled heartily at the genin. "I will have to ask you a few more questions, but those will be for later. How about you join me and Manami-Chan at dinner tonight? We can ask you some things and we can answer your questions while having some fun."

Naruto nodded at the invitation. Kaiji smiled at the blond before turning to the other two members of the team. "Anyway, we have been ignoring your teammates for a while now." He said a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry that you had to sit through that, but now we can move on to the fun stuff." Shikamaru and Hikari waved him off, saying that it was not a problem, urging Kaiji to move on.

"Thanks. Ok, so I think we should start with introductions." He cleared his throat a little. "My name is Aozora Kaiji, ex-ANBU captain and Jonin. My likes are bird spotting and training. My dislikes are air pollution and spicy food. My hobby is creating and solving puzzles. My dreams are to see you three succeed and to raise my child in a loving environment." He smiled, thinking about the future before looking at Shikamaru. "Now that I have set the example, it shouldn't be hard. Shikamaru, your turn."

As expected, the Nara let out a groan and muttered a "troublesome" before scratching his chin. "Name's Nara Shikamaru. I like peace and quiet as well as sleep. My dislikes are loud and obnoxious people and having to put in effort. My hobbies are cloud watching and playing Shogi with either Naruto or my dad, and my dream for the future is to retire at a nice age and raise a family while relaxing in my retirement." He said in the laziest voice Kaiji had ever heard, and that was saying something since the man knew Sloth. In the end he shook his head and chose to move on to the only girl in their company. "I hope you have a more exciting introduction, Hikari." He said jokingly.

Hikari just sighed looking at her lazy friend, who couldn't look more bored and uninterested, before smiling and starting her introduction. "I sure hope so. Anyhow, name's Mitsue Hikari. Likes are flowers and spending time with my friends. Dislikes are spiders and… nothing else, really. My hobby is dancing and my dream for the future is making a name for myself and having a family."

A brilliant smile was on her lips as she thought about the future. It was going to be fun with her two best friends, although they were her only real friends. Kaiji smiled at her and nodded. "We will work on that dream of yours; I think that you can make it." He turned to his last student. "Well Naruto, while I think that we all know you enough, I still ask you to do the introduction. Maybe Shikamaru and Hikari can learn something new about you."

Naruto agreed to that idea, so he cleared his throat a little and started his "introduction". "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like reading and spending time with Shika and Hikari. My dislikes are failing and untrustworthy people. Hobbies include pulling pranks with Rat, though we won't be able to do that anymore, experimenting with seals and jutsu, hanging out with Shika and Hikari and playing shogi with Shika. My dream is to live up to the name of Boar and to find out who my parents are." Naruto got really passionate about his dream, a fire appearing in his eyes that Shikamaru and Hikari had never seen before.

"I am sure you will Naruto, you are well on your way." Kaiji said, giving the blond a thumbs-up. He sipped his tea again and put it down before continuing. "Now that we have finished the introductions we were supposed to do some kind of test to see your teamwork, but I don't see the point as you three have the highest scores in team assignments since… ever, really." He chuckled when he saw their proud faces. "What I do want to do though, is testing you by fighting you one-on-one to get a feel for your skills and tactical ability. We will do that tomorrow as I don't feel the need to do it now and you three are probably tired and bored."

Hikari could only agree and Shikamaru was almost sleeping upright. Naruto looked at his friends and chuckled before agreeing as well. "Ok then, you are dismissed. I want you three at training ground 34 at 9 AM tomorrow morning." Kaiji ordered, receiving a "Yes sir!" from the three Genin.

Hikari and Shikamaru proceeded to say goodbye before both leaving the apartment, leaving Kaiji and Naruto alone. Content silence reigned for a while before Kaiji noticed that it was quite late already. "So, Naruto, do you want to head out now? Manami is waiting for us at her apartment." He said as he got up. Naruto nodded and prepared to leave as well.

When they were both ready, they left the apartment, Kaiji putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder before they disappeared with a swirl of leaves.

Appearing at an apartment complex, which Naruto noticed was one of the many shinobi-only places. They entered the complex and went up a few flights of stairs before stopping at one of the doors. "Here we are." Kaiji said as he knocked on the door. They waited for several seconds before the door opened and Manami appeared in the entrance way, smiling at seeing Naruto and Kaiji. "Please come in, Kaiji-Kun, Naruto-Kun." She said, stepping aside to let them in and closing the door behind them. "Go settle yourselves in the living room and I will make some tea." She almost ordered. They had no other choice but to obey, sitting down in the small living room which had a couch and a table. After a while Manami came in with the steaming cups of tea and sat down with them.

Now that they were sitting there in relative silence, Naruto took the time to observe Manami. He noticed that she looked a little pale and tired, as well as the fact that she seemed to rub her stomach from time to time. "You look quite tired, Manami-Nee, are you alright?" He asked a bit worriedly, though he knew she could take care of herself.

A beautiful smile appeared on the woman's face at the thoughtful question. "Yes, I am quite alright Naruto-Kun. I have been a little nauseous, but that comes with the pregnancy I suppose. Anyway, dinner should be ready by now, so let's go to the dining room." She gave the blond another smile as she stood up, the guys following her as she went to the dining table. She told them to sit down before going to the kitchen herself and coming back with a steaming pot of what Naruto could smell was her signature stew that she had made him so many times. A little drool escaped from his mouth as he deeply inhaled the delicious scent. The two adults couldn't help but chuckle at the newly minted ninja as he showed his childish side.

After Manami joined them at the table, they all said a quick "itadakimasu" before digging in to the food. They all ate quietly for a while before Kaiji decided to break the silence. "So, Naruto, as you know me and Manami-Chan wanted to ask you a few questions." He started. Naruto could hear a bit of nervousness as well as anticipation in his voice. The blond nodded at the man, urging him to continue, quite curious at what the man was nervous about.

Kaiji for his part took a bite of food before restarting the conversation. "Ok, well… The first thing we wanted to ask you about was your apartment building, or more specifically the two empty apartments in it." It wasn't very hard for the blond to figure out what the man wanted, but Naruto decided that since the man was making the effort to ask, he would listen before giving his judgment.

"The thing is, me and Manami both have apartments, as you know, but they are both only fit for a single person really. Manami and I have thought about getting ourselves a house in one of the shinobi districts, but we figured that we didn't really want a house with a child around so many battle hardened shinobi." He explained. "So, after considering several other options, we had kind of an idea that we thought that you would like. I suppose that you have figured it out already, but I will ask just because I made it all this way. Can Manami and I use the two empty apartments to make our home?" He pushed out the question, a hopeful look appearing on both his and Manami's faces.

Naruto mulled it over for a little bit before smiling a little. "I suppose you can. I was planning to use them as storage for my books, since I am having trouble containing them in my own apartment, but I will just make do with storage seals." He mused as he grinned at the relieved faces that his friends and mentors had on their faces. "What? You guys thought that I would refuse? I am deeply hurt." He said jokingly, making Kaiji and Manami chuckle a little. "Anyway, what were your other questions?"

This time Manami took the wheel, grinning in excitement as opposed to the serious mood earlier. "I think you will like this one. How would you like to be a brother?" Naruto raised one of his eyebrows in a confused manner, not really understanding what she meant. "I don't get it. I have no family left remember? How can I… " Understanding slowly dawned on his face, followed up by a bright smile.

"While we won't be able to adopt you since you are already an adult according to law, we would still like to take you into the family and consider you as our son and older brother to our child." Manami elaborated. For Naruto this was too good to be true. He would have "parents" although they were more like friends and siblings than parents, and he would have a younger sibling that he could protect and cherish. "Of course I want to! I would be stupid not to. Who in their right minds wouldn't want to be a part of your family?" Naruto was practically beaming. Naruto knew that his biological parents were either dead or had abandoned him, but he had silently hoped that they would return one day. He also knew that no-one would adopt him as a kid, seeing as everyone hated him with a passion. He had given up a long time ago, but here he was, having been given the opportunity to be part of a family.

In his excitement, Naruto started asking a load of questions at the speed of light. "Do I just call you Nii-San and Nee-San? It can cause confusion. Can we all live together? When is my little brother or sister due? Can I teach them when they're older?" After that it was little more than gibberish, so Kaiji decided to put a stop to it. "Naruto… Naruto! Can you hold up for a minute? I could barely understand the first few questions, so I will answer those." He chuckled a little. The blond hadn't been this excited and genuinely happy in ages. It worried them a little that he was this accepting of the offer. They thought that he would argue that he was self-sufficient by now and that he didn't need them anymore.

Deciding not to dwell on it though, Kaiji answered the blonde's questions. "Ok so, first off you may call us whatever you like, but that is up to you. Yes we can all live together, but we will have to work a lot on the building to accomplish that, but that will be for later. Your sibling is due in a little under 8 months since Manami-Chan has been pregnant for about 2 weeks now, and lastly yes you can teach them, but only when they are old enough. Don't want to harm them now, do we?"

Naruto shook his head at that. He had come down from his high, and was a bit calmer now. "I'm sorry, but I am so excited about the whole thing!" He said, laughing a little. "You probably think I am a naïve idiot for accepting so fast, but I assure you that I did think about it for a while." Relieved, they all went on with dinner and small talk.

The rest of the evening went pretty smoothly, all of them enjoying their first "real" family moment together. Not too long after that it was getting pretty late, the moon high up in the sky shining its light through the windows of the tiny apartment. This fact was picked up by Kaiji. "Naruto, it's getting late, and I think it is about time that you return to your apartment for the night. We will have to give your teammates a good demonstration after all." He winked at the blond, causing said boy to chuckle.

"I see what you mean Nii-San, it's pretty late." He said as he stood up from his chair and walking up to stand opposite of his new family, who had stood up to say goodbye. "I was just enjoying myself with my new family." He smiled a happy smile before stepping forward and grabbing Manami and Kaiji in a hug. "I hope that this wasn't a dream and that I won't wake up now. Anyway, I will see you tomorrow Nii-San, and I will see you around Manami-Nee."

Both Manami and Kaiji turned a little sad at Naruto being so cynical, but they supposed that he would be happier if it turned out to be true. Having said his final piece, Naruto walked towards the door and gave a small wave back before stepping out in the quiet, chilly night and disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

Break

The next morning couldn't come more quickly for the blond Uzumaki. He was more than excited to see what his friends could do, though it probably wasn't much more than he already knew, as well as show off in front of his friends which was always a bonus. He didn't really get to show off at all in his academy days, having to keep a low profile and all to avoid the general populace from knowing about his skills, and while he was a lot more mature than anyone his age, in the end he is still a kid.

Getting up early, he showered, got a hearty breakfast, strapped on his weapons and made his way to the training ground, starting his morning exercises. His morning exercises were always his time to think and kind of meditate while doing them and it was no surprise when his thoughts turned to what had happened last night.

Now that he had calmed down from the entirely overwhelming experience, he knew that something was up with the whole thing. Nothing bad, but something more than what they had said the day before. They had always told him to socialize more, and that he was too serious and hard on himself all the time. Sure, he had friends now, but they didn't get to see all of him. Maybe this was just an elaborate ruse to get him a family and to get him to display his feelings more? He would have a sibling to take care of; did they think it would mellow him out some? Sometimes he just didn't understand what was going on in the heads of those crazy people.

On the other hand, it would be the perfect opportunity to spy on him… shaking his head to get those darker thoughts out of his head, he mused that the first option would work out well. He was getting too paranoid, although that wasn't all bad for a ninja, but about your own family and friends? Not a chance. Finishing up his last exercises, as he saw his teammates arriving at the grounds, he decided to let the whole thing play out and hope that it would help him out some.

Standing up he walked to his two friends and greeted them. "Hey guys, what's up?" He said as he fist bumped Shikamaru and gave Hikari a friendly hug. "Nothing much Naruto." Hikari answered, Shikamaru giving a lazy shrug. The Nara seemed to be more interested in the clouds than actually having meaningful conversation. This changed though, when Hikari poked him in the ribs, causing him to double over and grumble at her.

Naruto chuckled at the daily display. "You guys ready for the test?" He asked curiously as they walked to a big tree and sat in the shade. As usual, Shikamaru groaned and muttered a signature "troublesome" while Hikari answered, although not as excited as normal. "Not too excited Naruto, I didn't really learn anything out of the academy as I wanted to have fun before moving into the serious ninja lifestyle, you know? So I am afraid that sensei won't be impressed at all…" She mumbled, burying her face in her knees.

Both males sighed a little at this, knowing about her insecurity problems. She had never shown them openly to others, but her eyes had told a different story to them. Being the kind of guy he is, Naruto decided to cheer her up. "I think you will do fine. He won't be impressed with your repertoire, I have to be honest, but what you do know you are good at." He said, turning his head to look at her. "Remember, I have known sensei for a long time. He cares most about having a good foundation, and you were in the top half at the academy. You'll do fine. We can always teach you when you are ready to branch out." He gave her a thumbs-up.

Hikari smiled appreciatively. He always knew what to say. He was honest, but that didn't hurt as he always had a compliment ready to soften the blow. "Thanks Naruto, I will take you up on that offer sometime. I think it is about time I start bettering myself." She admitted. Naruto turned to his other friend. "The same counts for you, Shika. Can't have you fall behind now can we?" The annoyed look the Nara shot him had told him enough, Naruto's amusement clearly seeping through on his face.

The rest of the time waiting was spent in silence, which wasn't long as Kaiji arrived only about 20 minutes later. "Well, look at that. You were early." He grinned excitedly at his new students. He seemed battle ready, wearing the standard Jonin uniform with a simple katana on his back. "Let's not beat around the bush and get straight to the testing shall we?" Receiving a nod from his charges he continued on. "I will fight Hikari first, followed by Shikamaru and in the end Naruto and I will do a demonstration. The fights will last until I deem I have seen enough, so no giving up Shikamaru-Kun." Shikamaru grumbled under his breath. "Now that that's over with, Hikari if you will…" He mentioned for her to follow him to the center of the grounds.

She did so, albeit nervously, and slipped into a near perfect academy stance, legs shoulder width apart and her hands in front of her face, and Kaiji opting for a bit of a loose stance with his legs spread a little and his arms out in front of him. As they were both ready, Kaiji called a quick "Go!" and waited for the girl to attack.

Hikari on the other hand was shaking a little, extremely nervous for what was to come. Sure, Naruto had assured her that there was nothing to worry about, but she had never been that good… She sighed. "Well, let's get it over with then." She muttered under her breath. Having said that, she took off towards Kaiji at a decent Genin speed.

Arriving in front of the man, she went for a punch with her right arm, putting all of her weight and speed behind it to get maximum power into it. Anticipating it, Kaiji lifted his arms into a block but was surprised when he actually felt the punch. Pushing her off, he got a bit of distance before charging into Hikari to test her defense and reflexes.

Moving in at Chuunin speed, he went for a low roundhouse kick, again surprised when she jumped over it, dodging it completely, using the height of her jump to retaliate with a dropkick which Kaiji dodged. Not letting her on the offensive though, he charged at her again, this time with a punch to her abdomen. She managed to get a block in, but it was easily broken through as Kaiji followed through with it and hit her square in the stomach.

Having used a bit too much force, Hikari was sent flying back, skidding for a bit before coming to a stop. As she laid there wheezing, she was having thoughts about how badly she was doing, but Naruto's words kept ringing through her head. In the end she stood up, a defiant look in her eyes as she took off in a sprint towards Kaiji.

Jumping when she was a few feet away from her opponent, Hikari went in for a flying kick, which was blocked by Kaiji, before using his arms as leverage to jump over him and use her other leg to kick at the back of Kaiji's head. She was disappointed though, as her leg was caught by said man, who threw her away. "What? You didn't think that I would get fooled by that did you? I am not a Jonin for nothing you know?" He said as he saw her baffled look. "Now, come at me!" he shouted as he gestured with his hands.

Gladly taking the invitation, Hikari ran at him once more, going in for another punch. Kaiji decided to dodge this time, having felt the punch from before, and grabbed her overextended limb, using her momentum to move her into a headlock. What he didn't expect though, was finding that he had a log in his arms instead of the girl. He threw the log away and looked around for her, but couldn't see her in the slightest.

Figuring that she was probably in the forest, he pulsed out his chakra, finding that she was indeed in the trees. "You can come out, I can sense you." He told her, watching her jump out of the branches of the tree Naruto and Shikamaru were sitting under. "That was pretty good. I didn't notice you use the substitution. I have seen enough of your skills now. You are pretty good at Taijutsu, I even felt your punch a little, and your substitution was seal-less. Good Job!" he grinned at her relieved expression. "We can broaden your repertoire and I can teach you a lot I can tell you. Naruto can help you out as well if you need it. Right, Naruto?" The blond responded with a thumbs-up. "Good. Ok, Shikamaru you are up!"

The Nara in question couldn't help but sigh in defeat. He would have to do effort. "Alright then, let's get this over with so I can watch clouds." He pushed himself off the ground and walked to the center of the training field, where he stood with his hands in his pockets. Kaiji couldn't help but face plant at the nonchalance the teen showed. Anyway, he had to deal with it to see the skills of the young Nara, so he would put up with it.

"Alright then, are you ready?" He asked, but didn't wait for an answer as he bolted at Shikamaru. He knew that the Nara were defensive and tactical fighters, so he would see what the boy could do in that regard before testing his offense. Going for a frontal assault, he planned to go in for a punch, cocking his arm back, but was forced to dodge as Shikamaru's shadow lashed out along the ground, almost connecting with his before he dodged to the side to avoid it.

Not deterred by this in the least though, he continued to advance towards the Nara who was just standing there, his hands in the Rat sign. There was something off about this, Kaiji thought as he kept looking around the Genin, not spotting anything in particular. Still moving on though, he almost came in reaching distance before he heard a faint "poof", signifying substitution.

He arrived at the spot where Shikamaru had just stood, looking around, but was confused when he couldn't move his head. "Shadow Possession Technique: Success." The Nara could be heard saying from behind Kaiji. The ex-ANBU grinned though, as he broke the possession and turned around to face him. "Impressive. You managed to fool me and use the log that Hikari used for the substitution, but alas, I can break out of it. And I assume you know why?" He asked the Nara. Shikamaru decided to humor the man, finding it too troublesome to keep it and have the man egg him on. "It's either because you are more than twice as strong as me, or you have so much chakra that you can pulse it to disrupt the flow of my chakra to disrupt the jutsu. Knowing that you are an ex-ANBU captain it could be both." He explained lazily, picking his ear with his pinky finger. "I wouldn't test me in Taijutsu; I'm not any good at it."

Kaiji just laughed at the terrible attempt to get out of it. "You're a funny guy. Let's see your skills and let me determine that." He said as he took off at the lazy Nara. Shikamaru sighed but slipped into the academy stance anyway, waiting for his sensei to reach him. When Kaiji did reach him and went in for a punch, Shikamaru dodged to the side, completely sidestepping the attack, and tried to land his elbow on the back of Kaiji's head, which ultimately failed as said man kicked off and rolled forwards. Halfway through the roll he pushed off his hands, performing a handstand, and kicked at the Genin's head, which was swiftly avoided by the Nara.

Knowing that he was vulnerable in this position, Kaiji followed through with the kick and pushed off his hands, landing on his feet. He had no time to gain his bearings though, as a few kunai came flying at him which forced him to substitute with a log. Shikamaru smirked as he thought he had the man, but was confused as the log in front of him didn't disappear. He also didn't see the punch that was now buried in his gut.

A few globs of spit exited his mouth as he stumbled back, doubled over in pain. "You expected your plan to work out perfectly. Too overconfident. I know that your plans usually work, but don't expect them to. I know that you have contingencies, but when you expect your initial plan to work you won't be fast enough to actually work them. Now that that part is done, your plan was very well thought out and would fool a Chuunin in the heat of battle, but as I said don't expect it too. Your Taijutsu is decent enough if you dodge. You will need to up your strength but mostly your speed to be able to dodge around attacks as you seem to do mostly. A better reaction time is a must, as you were too slow to dodge my punch. Also, just like with Hikari we will widen your skillset, Naruto and I will help you but I do ask you to have your father teach you the more advanced family techniques as they are really useful."

Getting a nod from Shikamaru he turned to Naruto. "Now, let's have a spar shall we? Show your teammates what high level ninja fight like." He said as he clapped his hands. He hadn't had a spar with Naruto in a little while, so he was quite excited, as was Naruto who jumped up and jogged to the center of the field. "Any restrictions?" He asked casually as he cracked his neck and knuckles. Kaiji seemed to contemplate this for a bit before giving an answer. "Try not to use any of your more destructive techniques, no other restrictions really."

Seeing the blond nod in affirmation, Kaiji didn't see any reason to stall, so he gave the signal to start as he readied himself for what Naruto had to bring to the table. He didn't have to wait long as Naruto whipped out his guns and rapidly fired two earth bullets, which slammed hard into the ground when their target disappeared, having jumped into the air.

Now hanging in the air, Kaiji went through a few hand signs, preparing a jutsu to keep the blond busy. "Fuuton: Pressure Damage." He said as he gathered Wind chakra at his mouth, creating a big ball of pressurized wind that he proceeded to launch at Naruto, which also had the added effect of pushing him back a little. Naruto didn't seem too worried about the jutsu though, holstering his guns and making a few hand signs he stomped the ground with his foot, and an earth wall erected, stopping it in its tracks.

He didn't have much time to appraise his handiwork though as Kaiji jumped on the earth wall and pushed off it, trying to get close to the blond to eliminate the possibility of Naruto pulling out his guns. The blond, not too bothered as he was competent in Taijutsu, moved to meet the man head on, sidestepping Kaiji's fist and trying to land a knee in his stomach, which was caught before it could hit.

Using the momentum of the kick, Kaiji let himself be carried and thrown backwards, creating a little distance before dashing in again. He went for a high kick this time, moving close and aiming for the head, but this kick too was caught, and Kaiji threw him off.

It went on like this for a while, both Kaiji and Naruto trying to hit one another, kicking and punching at eachother only for it to be blocked, redirected or dodged. This ended though, when Kaiji caused Naruto to overextend on a punch and kicked the blond in the ribs, launching him for a short distance after which Naruto was able to flip and land.

Rubbing his chest a little, trying to get rid of the stingy sensation, Naruto thought about a new strategy to use. He looked at his opponent a little before widening his eyes a little and grinning slightly, making Kaiji a little uneasy. What had Naruto realize? Kaiji hadn't accounted for the fact that there was now considerable distance between them, too much for him to close when Naruto, for example, pulled out his guns.

Glad to take advantage of the opportunity granted, Naruto decided to use a Jutsu to occupy Kaiji before pulling out his guns. "Katon: Phoenix Flower Technique." He said as he moved his hand up to his mouth and blew out a group of fireballs the size of a fist at the Jonin, who was forced to dodge to avoid getting burned, giving Naruto the time to pull out his guns and charge up some fire bullets.

Firing them at Kaiji, the bullets taking a slightly curving path, the Uzumaki ninja was surprised to see them hit their intended target. The bullets went on to severely burn the man on impact, the projectiles carried an incredible amount of heat, but Naruto widened his eyes when his badly burned sensei made place for a splintered log.

He was once again surprised when a pair of hands burst from the ground and grabbed at his ankles, trying to pull him into the ground. He smirked though, as he pulsed earth chakra through his feet and forced his way out of the hands, jumping away a safe distance. "The Double Suicide Decapitation, huh? Too bad you forgot that I can use that jutsu, sensei." Naruto added mockingly at the end. Kaiji appeared from the ground a fair distance away, chuckling at his student. "I suppose I did." The man admitted a bit sheepishly.

Naruto could only palm his face at the man. "You never forget stuff, how could you forget what jutsu I know? Anyway, I think it's time we throw some Kenjutsu in the mix." The blond proposed, drawing his ninjato slowly. Kaiji for his part only replicated the action, drawing his own sword and holding it in front of him in a loose grip. Nodding at eachother, the two disappeared in a blur, meeting in the middle in a clash of steel. Slashing at eachother, both parried and blocked strikes while simultaneously attacking to try and break through their opponent's guard.

After a bit of trading blows, Naruto went in for a stab in the lower abdomen, which was then parried by Kaiji who then proceeded to perform an upwards slash which Naruto dodged. Here he saw his opening, ducking low and slamming his shoulder into the older man, catching said man off guard and causing him to stumble, allowing the blond to move in in a blur and kick Kaiji in the stomach, following up with a horizontal slash with his ninjato, trying to end the fight.

It was not to be though, as Kaiji blocked the strike with his sword. "I am not having you beat me yet, Naruto." He said with a grin as he pushed the blond away with his sword and made a hand sign before vanishing and appearing behind him. Naruto was just fast enough to dodge the following stab, retaliating with a kick to make Kaiji take some distance, but this plan was foiled when the man caught it. Firmly gripping the leg, Kaiji lifted the boy into the air and threw him away, sprinting after him and kicking him in the stomach to launch him into the ground. Taking this opportunity to end the fight, Kaiji put his sword on Naruto's neck, finishing the spar.

Sighing in defeat, Naruto looked up to his long time teacher, and couldn't help but smile at the man. "Ok, ok, I give up. Did I at least do well?" He asked, getting a punch in the shoulder, coughing a little from the dirt and dust that kicked up when he was kicked into the ground. "Don't ask stupid questions, you did fine." Kaiji answered, helping the blond up to his feet and wrapping an arm around his shoulder, leading them to the other two genin.

Looking at the two, he found only amazement and admiration, even on the face of the normally apathetic Nara. "Not what you expected, huh?" Naruto asked jokingly. Shikamaru was the first to shake off the shock. "I suspected you to be good, but to go almost toe-to-toe with our Jonin-Sensei?" He said, scratching his chin.

Hikari had also woken up it seemed, as she decided to give her opinion. "That was so cool Naruto! It's amazing that you can fight Kaiji-Sensei head on!" She grinned at the blond. Said boy didn't think it was that impressive though. "I am quite sure that Sensei was holding back though, and I am not that good yet, I need to be better to reach my dream." He clenched his fists, the fire that they had witnessed before returning into his eyes before disappearing completely as soon as it appeared. "Anyway, Sensei, do you have anything to say?"

Kaiji, who was looking at his Genin interact, nodded his head as he stepped closer. "Yes, I do have to say some things." He cleared his throat. "First of all, you all did a splendid job in the test today, and I will set up a training regimen with what I gathered on your speed, strength and overall performance. On top of that we will discuss the direction you want to go in in terms of being a ninja so that we can add specialized training on your subject of choice. Is that acceptable?" They all nodded in agreement, so he continued. "Now, I want you all to be ready for the Chuunin Exams in six months, which will be held in Konoha. I am not supposed to tell you about them yet, but I will make an exception for you three as I think that it will be a good goal for you to work towards."

"Now that that is all over with." He clapped in his hands. "You are all dismissed, as I need to report to the Hokage about the results." The three Genin once again nodded, leaving the training grounds to go eat together, leaving Kaiji to Shunshin to the Hokage office.

Break

Reappearing out of nowhere and startling a few people who were already present, Kaiji greeted the Hokage before standing at the back of the office in the shadows, falling back a bit into his ANBU habits. Observing the door quietly, he watched as the other Jonin as well as the Chuunin teachers slowly started entering the office until everyone had arrived. Only one person was missing, but Kaiji had a feeling that the Hokage would go on regardless.

The Hokage, who had also seen this, cleared his throat to gather the attention of the people present. Now that the focus that on him, he started the meeting. "Now that everyone is here, except Kakashi who will probably arrive later, we can start the reports for the Genin teams." He started. After looking around for a bit he continued. "I will say your team number and then you will step to the front and say if your team has passed or failed. If your team has passed I would like you to give a quick description on how they passed. Am I understood?"

Getting the agreements from the present Jonin, the Hokage started the listings.

"Team 1."
"Failed."

"Team 2."
"Failed."

"Team 3."
"Failed."

"Team 4."
"Failed."

"Team 5."
"Failed."

"Team 6."
"Failed."

"Since Kakashi is still absent, Team 8."
"Passed." Came the answer of the team sensei, Yuuhi Kurenai. All of the Jonin had started sweating at the fact that none of the Genin until now had passed, but what they didn't know is that that was planned. Being as it is, the Hokage was sitting there, no trouble on his face whatsoever when he nodded at the black haired woman to continue. "I conducted a test which was a search and capture, but there was a twist where the one that caught me would be the one passing. They needed time to figure out everything, which I suspect was mostly Aburame Shino's intellect and Hyuuga Hinata's goodwill that ended up bringing them together to try and capture me in the end."

Listening to the report carefully, the Hokage nodded at the good work the Genin showed and wished her luck with training her team before moving on to the next squad.

"Team 9 is still in circulation, so Team 10." He announced, causing Sarutobi Asuma step forward to give his report. "My team passed." He started, taking a puff of his cigarette before continuing on. "It was kind of a surprise, really. I was expecting them to not work together at all, thinking that taking out Nara Shikamaru would hurt the team dynamic, but I was proven wrong. I gave them a mission scenario where they had to retrieve two scrolls guarded by clones, with the obvious stipulation that the ones who got a scroll at the end passed. The new kid, Shiro, seemed to pick up on the purpose pretty quickly and had clever ways to get his teammates to cooperate. It is kind of confusing, as his report in the academy showed unnatural mediocrity. Anyway, as I was saying Shiro managed to get his teammates to work with him, so I had to pass them." The bearded man ended, taking another puff of his cigarette and looking his father in the eye.

Hiruzen only looked back, giving a slight nod in acknowledgement before calling out the, for now, last team. "Team 11, report." In response to the command of the Hokage, Kaiji slipped out of the shadows and positioned himself in front of the village leaded, startling quite a few people. The ex-ANBU captain seemed to notice this, chuckling at their reactions. "I thought that I had made myself noticeable enough, but it seems not." He said before turning to the Hokage who had an amused glint in his eye. "Team 11 passed Hokage-Sama. I didn't give them a teamwork assignment, as they had some of the highest teamwork scores ever, but I did test their individual combat ability, and I have to say that I am impressed even though there is still quite a ways to go." The man said, looking at the village leader.

The Hokage chuckled at his subordinate's weird ways, finding them amusing. He decided to not do anything to change it, seeing as the man was one of his most reliable ninja. "That's fine, Kaiji-Kun. Good luck to you as well. Now-" Before he could end the meeting as everyone had given their reports, the door suddenly opened, seeing a bored looking, silver haired man walking into the room, reading one of his infamous orange books silently while entering.

Looking up from the book, the man blinked with his one visible eye. "Ah, it seems I have arrived." He said nonchalantly, lowering his book slightly and nodding at the Hokage before returning his attention to the book. The old man could only sigh at the tardy man, but didn't say anything about it, deciding to just get his report over with so everyone could leave. "So, Kakashi, nice of you to join us. Can you please report your team test?"

Kakashi nodded once more, flipping to the next page of his book before starting his report. "They are an interesting bunch of kids, but nothing surprising other than the fact that I think that Yuu kid is faking it. He seemed restricted in his movements and his eyes showed me that he understood the test from the start but decided to only act at the last moment. He also managed to entice Uchiha Sasuke into joining him after which it wasn't hard to convince Haruno Sakura to join as well. I don't really care though; it will keep me occupied for the near future." He said, flipping another page. The Hokage looked intrigued at what Kakashi had to say about Yuu, but that would have to wait for another time. Everyone else was just surprised at Kakashi passing a team. "Good, good. Now that everyone has given their reports I would like to wish you all a good day." He said, dismissing all of the ninja in the office.

Break

After Naruto got home he went to his living room, pulled out a book and took his place in the reclining chair. His mind wasn't on the book though, as he was thinking about what was going to happen in the future. "Probably D-rank missions." He mused out loud, grimacing a little at the thought of them. Of course his teachers had briefed him on the horror of gardening, painting fences and chasing cats. Sure, he had thought at the start that it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but then Rat had taken him to watch some Genin do missions one day. It had made him cringe horribly when he saw how some of the Genin looked after chasing the hellcat. Alas, he had resolved to deal with it when the time came, but he wouldn't like it.

Then he thought about training. It would be fun to help his friends get to a higher level, and it'd be a laugh all around. They would have to step their game up though. He didn't want them to die on him, not like Boar had. He hadn't been there, but he still felt responsible somehow. It felt stupid, and he knew that he couldn't have done anything about it, but that was how it felt to him anyway. He would not lose another loved one and feel like that again.

Deciding to not take his thoughts further into that direction, he decided to reflect on how the day went. The test was a surprise for sure. He didn't think that Hikari had so much strength in her, though she had shown some in the Academy, just not so much. Kaiji had said that he felt it, that didn't happen for him until a year into his training. She must, knowingly or unknowingly, be using chakra to enhance her blows somehow. Shika was same old same old, but Hikari was a pleasant surprise.

The future looked bright, but he would still be careful and look around every corner and behind his back religiously to make sure everyone was safe and sound.

Chapter End

There you have it.

On popular vote I have put Shika into the team, pretty excited about that. I hope I depicted him well in the battle, I'm a little worried that I didn't, but I will let you guys decide that for yourselves.

Also I gave Naruto a pseudo-family which is nice.

It might be a bit unrefined, but I am still looking for someone to proofread these.

Please remember to review; I appreciate any constructive criticism that you have to give me.

PM me if you have questions as well, I will try to answer them.

Cheers,

LethalBlades.