II

The First Day of the Rest of Time

Nara Shikamaru, generally speaking, tended to have a good idea what was going to happen. Surprises were troublesome and rare, and generally only came from his mother (who seemed to have some kind of freakish knack for catching him off guard). So, as he lazily watched the pinkish hues of the morning sky fade into the vivid blue of a Konoha summer on the morning of his Genin team assignment, he was fairly confident of exactly what was going to happen.

Kiba, Shino and Hinata complimented each other well as a tracking squad, and would most likely therefore go on a team together. Sasuke and Sakura, the two highest performers among their respective gender would be placed together along with the lowest performer in the class - in theory to bolster each other and drive the weaker member forward. Before he would have put money on that third member being Naruto, but unfortunately for the orange clad kid, he had failed his exam.

Knowing Naruto, Shikamaru was half tempted to bet on Naruto still getting on that team through sheer dumb luck.

His own team was equally straightforward. Ino, himself and Chouji all had complimentary abilities - as their fathers had proved before them. Ninja villages normally didn't mess around with what worked without good reason, so it was highly unlikely that they would break up a possible revival of the renowned Ina-Shika-Cho trio.

Of course, having had a good idea of exactly what was going to happen for several days - actually going to the damn assignments seemed like the most pointless exercise in existence. Or, to put it another way - troublesome.

Still, there were worse teams to be on. Ino and Chouji had been close friends of his since before he could remember - Chouji in fact, was his best friend. Ino could be a pain - bossy, and worried a touch to much about boys who couldn't care less - but she was dependable. Despite how ditsy she appeared, Ino worked hard and was determined. Chouji was flakey, true. He lacked self-confidence, and had a real self-image issue; but when push came a shove, no one would fight harder for you, or have your back better. Like anybody, they all had flaws - but were great friends.

Predictable though. Shikamaru knew them so well, and how they interacted together that he could just about see the next few years of his life unfold around him. And somehow, for some reason, it all seemed just so... Dull. Free of surprises, of new things to puzzle at and work out.

Troublesome.

Quite frankly, Naruto's place was a shit hole. Barely fit for human habitation. And that was just what Naruto had done to the place - it spoke nothing to how it was when the kid moved in. The building itself was old and dilapidated, the walls a patchwork of deteriorated plaster, and ugly, ineffective patch up jobs. Chunks of wall and plaster dust littered hallways amongst the actual litter, and a fair few of the apartments now were empty. Only the poorest of Konoha's citizen's lived here - the last stop before the streets.

It was an ugly truth of shinobi villages that 'the streets' meant prison or getting your citizenship revoked. For all the safety they provided, ninja villages didn't have room for those that couldn't contribute. The sick and disabled were cared for, but the poorest of the poor were simply turned out into the wider world.

Naruto's dwelling itself was quaint enough. The boy had made an attempt to make it more livable, posters denoting tenets of the shinobi code were hung haphazardly about the place with no real organisation. A small plant sat on the windowsill of the bedroom, just coming in to a vivacious violet bloom. Interesting that the plant was clearly cared for and given great attention.

Largely though, it looked just like what you would expect a thirteen year old boy's room to look like across an entire house. Dishes undone for far too long, rubbish scattered freely. Not a vegetable in sight.

Like the plant however, there were things that stood out - especially to trained eyes. Naruto's spare equipment was neatly organised in a drawer. Sub-standard kunai and shuriken, but obviously regularly oiled and sharpened. Basic taijutsu scrolls were well looked after, and stored with great care, and ninja tools were organised in a system that made sense.

Asuma wasn't even going to entertain looking beneath the floorboard that, despite being well concealed with a rug, had small grooves and indentations that indicated it was regularly lifted open to reveal hidden treasures. For some reason, despite Naruto's storied reputation for mischief, Asuma honestly believed nothing nefarious would be found there.

It was startling just how much it reminded the Elite Jonin of the ANBU barracks, if the place didn't enforce strict guidelines on tidiness. Naruto didn't consider this home. It was just the place that he slept and kept the things he cared about. The blond dreamed of being Hokage, so naturally, all his shinobi equipment was well maintained, if poor quality. It was likely he stored away personal items, and Asuma imagined, the plant had some personal significance.

He wondered, idly, if it were just this place that Naruto no longer identified as home - or the whole village.

What he saw though, did raise some interesting questions. Everything in these walls that were related to being a shinobi, was well looked after. Organised. Naruto clearly cared - clearly took personal pride in these things. So what an earth was happening with the ragged old, bright orange jumpsuit that Naruto wore. Instinct told Asuma that was no simple style choice.

Asuma brought a cigarette to his lips but didn't light it, rolling it across his lips, deep in thought.

He had visited to get an insight into a boy he didn't know personally, to see how best he could help the boy. Now though, how he was going to approach the set up of his entire team was what was worrying at the front of his mind. A girl who needed to sort her priorities out, a slacker with a genius level IQ and a prankster determined to be Hokage.

At least the next few years wouldn't be boring.

Naruto was seething.

Not only had he been pushed into kissing Sasuke (the bastard), but he had been placed on a team that didn't have Sakura-chan on it. Instead he was stuck with the half of the Sasuke fan club that he had no interest in, and Shikamaru. Shikamaru was a decent enough guy, he supposed - he had certainly joined Naruto on a fair amount of his escapades skipping class - but Gods was he ever boring. He divided his time equally it seemed by either sleeping, or saying things that Naruto didn't quite understand. It was incredibly annoying.

Ino was the biggest problem though. Naruto didn't really have a problem with her outside of the fact that she was obsessed with Sasuke, but she hated him. Sakura did too, now that he thought about it, but that was a different matter entirely. In all honesty, the blond had been hoping to be with people that were at least indifferent towards him. He might have a chance of winning them over that way - of gaining just a touch of their respect.

At least their sensei, whoever that was, had asked them to meet for a meal. With any luck, they would pay for it as well - Naruto really was very hungry. Barbecue was no ramen, but it was still good, and this is where he'd been told to go, and the owners couldn't even say anything cause he was a ninja now.

Now all they had to do was late for their late as hell sensei to show up.

Asuma watched his new charges from his own booth across the restaurant with a small smirk. Yamanaka Ino was not Naruto's biggest fan, but away from Sasuke and Sakura her feelings seemed pretty neutral considering her obnoxiously loud reaction he had seen at the Academy. Naruto himself hadn't noticed, but Asuma had a hunch he had written Ino off as someone who disliked him already. As far as potential problems went, this wasn't even on the radar. Naruto would warm to Ino so long as she toned down - he was desperate enough for friends. As soon as Naruto showed signs that he was more than he seemed, as the Hokage believed he would be, he would earn the respect from the others.

Shikamaru's reaction was the reason for the smirk however. The Nara didn't seem to have a problem with either of his team mates personally, but Asuma could see the fact that the team assignments hadn't gone to plan had shaken him up. Good. The Nara was clever - a genius, if his father's word was as unbiased as a father's word could be - but he needed get used to being taken by surprise and things not going to plan. They were ninja after all - their whole job revolved around catching their enemy off guard and unaware.

Their awkward quiet had gone on long enough.

Asuma stood, and squared his shoulders, wanting to make an impression. Normally, he'd take it easy with his team for a while. Ease them in before ramping up the training. This wasn't an option for this group. They needed to shape up, and fast.

He arrived at the table his team stood at, and sat down at the head, the three Genin watching carefully. Laid back as he was in reality, Asuma was well aware he cut an intimidating presence.

"My name is Sarutobi Asuma," he started wasting no time. "The four of us together, are going to make up the newly created Team 10." Naruto and Ino had no reaction, but Asuma noted Shikamaru's narrowed expression searching for answers to the questions he had.

"First thing's first, I need you to understand two things." His gaze swept the three of them, and he was pleased to note that even Naruto was rapt. "Firstly, I handpicked each of you for this team based on your individual skills, and what the Hokage needs this team to become." A flat out lie, but Naruto's wide eyes told Asuma his words had found their desired target. "Secondly, from this point on, everything you accomplished in the Academy - your grades, your performances - mean nothing."

A hand and a hard look stalled any protests. "This is for a reason. Firstly, the academy's purpose is to prime you with the basics, so that a Jonin instructor can take you on and shape you into fully fledged shinobi. Your learning isn't complete - it begins today for real.

"Secondly, because this is a chance for a fresh start. I am going to make my own assessments of each of you as ninja, and use that to guide our teams training. I need you to prove to me that I didn't make a mistake choosing you over your classmates."

"That out of the way, this meal was supposed to be a chance for us to get to know each other. So, Ino - why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself - hopes and dreams, likes and dislikes - that sort of thing. Once we've eaten, we'll head to our training ground and make a start."

Shikamaru was looking him directly in the eyes, trying to puzzle out Asuma's game, but Ino started speaking before any questions could be asked.

"Well, my name is Yamanaka Ino. My hobby is looking after the family flower shop and I hate bullies! My dream is to become a great shinobi like my father is, and lead the Yamanaka Clan one day." Ino finished strongly, having grown in confidence as she went on. Asuma looked at Shikamaru expectantly, who sighed with perhaps a touch more exasperation than was due.

"I'm Shikamaru. I like clouds and sleep, and my dislikes are far to troublesome to talk about. I guess my dream is to become an average shinobi, with an average career, and retire peacefully."

Asuma couldn't quite believe that the Nara tendency to laziness was quite that strong in Shikamaru, and even Ino looked surprised that Shikamaru had been quite that forthright with his lack of ambition in front of their new Jonin sensei.

Naruto wasn't about to let them dwell on it. "Well my name's Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, and..." there was a pause, and it looked like Naruto was having an internal debate over his next words. Blue eyes darted towards Asuma, and Naruto seemed to decide what he wanted to say. "I hate people who look down on others for no good reason. My dream is to be a Hokage better than all the rest!"

"A good dream, Naruto. Hopefully I can help you accomplish it - the same for you, Ino." He pointedly left Shikamaru's dream out of the equation and put some considerable effort into not wincing at Naruto's shell shocked expression in response to his word. It made him think uncomfortable thoughts about the village that despite his complicated past, he loved unreservedly. "Right, let's finish our food shall we? Once we're done, we can get down to the real business of today."

It had taken a little while, but the awkwardness of the barbecue place had worn off as they ate. Naruto couldn't help but notice that Asuma-ssensei had taken time out to talk to each of them individually about things that interested them. He had spoken to Ino about some weird flowers he had seen in a country he had never heard of, and while Naruto didn't get it, he recognised the look in Ino's eyes - it was the same one he got when he talked about becoming the Hokage. Even Shikamaru became relatively animated when Asuma-sense started talking to him about a board game they both apparently liked - it sounded boring, but so was watching clouds, so maybe that was just how Shikamaru got his kicks.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting Asuma to talk about when it came to his turn, but a story about Asuma-sensei and some other ninja in the village called Kushina eating at Ichiraku's when it was first starting, and hitting the place with a dine and dash when they realised they had forgotten to bring money. Apparently they had gotten super guilty after, and brought the money they owed back and apologised, but Naruto appreciated the image of Teuchi - the old man who ran the place - chasing them across the village.

A dine and dash wasn't really his style - stealing something somebody else had worked for always seemed pretty wrong to him - but he could certainly get behind the idea of leading his victims around the village on a merry chase. He's certainly done it enough times.

In all honesty, all Naruto could think about as he made his way to Training Ground 34, was Asuma-sensei's words about him wanting to be Hokage. He didn't laugh, scoff or sneer. There was no doubt, or insults. Asuma-sensei looked him square in the eyes and told him he respected his goal. And then said that he would help. Even if his new sensei never actually did much of anything to help him, he had already done more than anybody else had by saying that he would - hell, just saying he respected it was a damn sight more than he got from anyone else.

He didn't quite know what to feel or how to respond. All he knew was that he had a weird churning feeling in his stomach, like something swelling inside him, and that he was pretty much ready to do whatever the hell Asuma-sensei wanted him to do.

Soon enough, Asuma-sensei stood before him and his team mates. The training ground itself was pretty unremarkable - a small wooded area, a clearing, some larger rocky areas and a small pond littered the place where Team 10 would be meeting from now on. Naruto wasn't particularly sure how this all worked, but Shikamaru had mentioned just before Asuma-sensei arrived that normally, a team kept the training ground for daily use whilst they were together as a team. In other words, while they weren't on missions - this would be where they spent most of their time training.

Their new teacher wasted no time, and Naruto had to say, he enjoyed the fact that Asuma-sensei didn't spend an age talking. He wanted to see what they could do, so they were paired up for sparring practice. The forest was out of bounds, but everything else went, which suited Naruto just fine.

He looked at his opponent. The Nara slouched in front of him lazily, hands tucked in pockets and looking more ready for a nap than a fight. Against an unknown, he might have charged to try and sound out the enemies abilities - Naruto would always back himself in a straight up fight. He had sparred with Shikamaru before though, and knew damn well that annoying shadow possession ninjutsu that his family had would catch him if he ran straight. It had taken him three straight losses to finally learn that lesson.

Naruto though, knew something that Shikamaru didn't. See, substitution had always been Naruto's best jutsu. He could henge well enough when he tried, and his straight up clones were dreadful until he had worked out how to use the Kage Bunshin no jutsu. Kawarimi though only required that he did the right seals and willed his chakra in the right direction. As long as he pictured what he wanted to swap with in his mind, his chakra did the rest. He hadn't been idle in the day's since Mizuki's treachery - Kage Bunshin no jutsu had opened up way too many possibilities for that.

He grinned a confident grin, and performed the only hand sign required for Kage Bunshin, and suddenly, there were twenty odd Naruto's charging at the wide-eye Shikamaru. Naruto had only tried to make ten, but for some reason his chakra had flared and the numbers had doubled. He didn't have time to think mid fight however. The Nara's starting position was way to far for a retreat, and there was no way he could catch all his shadow clones. Shikamaru caught three and dived left, rolling his captured clones into three others and dispelling all six - a sly move. Only now, there were two other clones tight in front of Shikamaru. He dodged a low sweep from one, and threw a calculated punch at the temple of the other counting on the Kage Bunshin blocking and being destroyed from the impact.

Only his hand met a triumphant looking Naruto who threw a soft jab at the off guard Nara. Shikamaru looked irritated by Naruto's use of the substitution jutsu, but Naruto didn't care - he had scored the first point. He jumped back, dispelling his clones to be ready for the next round, when Shikamaru, still irritated, jabbed a finger at a Bunshin that for some reason hadn't dispelled.

Now that was odd.

It wasn't facing any of them. It stood, looking into the forest, head tilted slightly to the side, not reacting to anything Naruto tried to do with his chakra to get rid. "Oi, you supposed to dispel, you ba-" Naruto's words were cut off, as an ugly feeling exploded outwards from the clone - sinister, murderous chakra that Naruto couldn't help but recognise. He had never felt it before in his life, and yet it felt sickeningly familiar. It called to him, urging him to release his anger, his rage - ugly memories of his childhood, ones that he had never even spoke about burned at the front of his mind, provoking him onwards.

Shikamaru had stumbled back - he could feel it too.

The pressure intensified, and a horrible scratching sensation began to occur behind his skin, like oh so many red hot beetles trying to crawl their way out of him however they could. Whispers grew louder, and Naruto couldn't help the anger that began to course through him, robbing him of his normal thought process. He just wanted it to stop. Anything, anything to make it-

Just as suddenly as it had begun, it ended, and Naruto collapsed onto his hands and knees, gasping for the breath he hadn't known he'd be holding.

He looked up shakily, feeling more exhausted than he'd ever been. Shikamaru was wide eyed on the floor, seemingly paralysed in fear. Ino stood some way back and Naruto winced internally. She looked near tears. None of them had been ready for that level of killing intent - that kind of evil. The only one who had, was Asuma-sensei. He stood crouched where the clone had been, with a peculiar looking cross between a kunai and a knuckle duster on his right hand.

"I think, Naruto, that we should avoid using the Kage Bunshin for the time being."

Naruto could only nod, ashen-faced. He had just had his first encounter with the demon inside of him, and more so than he had ever been in his life, Uzumaki Naruto was terrified.