Management Option? So, that involved managing something?
Humor Option? Naruto considered that, but then discarded it. The prompt had come up saying this was important. So a joke wasn't the best way to start off here.
Spoilers? He didn't like spoiled food. Which reminded him - he needed to throw that milk out.
A hand reached out and touched the option that seemed to most fit him.
Naruto found himself standing, looking his sensei directly in the eye, and some odd feeling sweeping through him.
"I am Naruto Uzumaki. Last of my clan, the Uzumaki clan that was once so feared that three Hidden Villages gathered together to destroy us. My likes are ramen, but also those precious to me. Who look and see ME - not the burden I bear or the mask I wear. I dislike those who fail to see past those. My goal is to become stronger, better, and to protect those precious to me. Eventually to reach the rank and burden of Hokage. My goal before that is for me and my team to become the best team in the village!"
Naruto found himself sitting down at the end of that, curious about that bit regarding the Uzumaki clan. He had had a clan and they were that badass? He was the last one? He glanced to the side. Sakura was staring at him with her mouth slightly open. SASUKE had a faint smile showing and gave him a slight nod.
Kakashi himself looked as if someone had just hit him in the gut. His one-eyed stare was unfocussed as if he was seeing something else for a moment, but that passed after that moment.
"Okay," said Kakashi after that moment. "You next pinky."
"Uhm, I..." Sakura paused for a moment, she knew what she would have said a moment ago but now Naruto (NARUTO of all people) had reminded her that this was a serious professional moment and giggling over Sasuke's coolness just WASN'T the image she wanted to put forward. But she needed to indicate that Sasuke was her goal and that she was NOT getting feelings for Naruto. Nope! That had NOT been cool! "Sakura Haruno. My likes are, ah, Sasuke and, uhm, improving my skills as a kunoichi. I dislike Naruto?"
"You're questioning that?" asked Kakashi.
"I dislike Naruto!" insisted Sakura.
"Fine, brooding one," said Kakashi.
"I have no particular likes or dislikes," said Sasuke, going back to his brooding pose. "I do, however, have a goal. To kill a certain someone and then renew my clan."
"Huh, so you're the last of yours too," noted Naruto.
"Don't compare my suffering to your own," said Sasuke.
"Now now, you haven't even made genin or a team yet, if you pass the test - then I'll make sure both of you suffer." Kakashi seemed to smile under his mask.
Naruto watched the two members of his might-be-team walk off and wondered if it was too late to go back and try the 'Sasuke Haruno' and 'Sakura Uchiha' option. Probably. Maybe if he tried... "Cheat code: better team?"
Nothing happened except a bush rustled. Naruto stared at it for a moment. Frowning as he glanced back in the direction Sakura had vanished. "Maybe 'cheat code: awesome girlfriend'?"
"Eep!"
"Huh?" asked Naruto, heading towards the bush just across the street that had made a decidedly un-bush-like noise.
"EEEK!" said someone leaping out of the bush before he got a good look at her. From the back. As she ran away.
"Did that work?" asked a wide-eyed Naruto. She looked vaguely familiar but she was able to escape before he could catch up. At least he thought it was a 'she' - maybe not. She never DID turn around.
"Damnit! Why can't I get a clue?"
"Quests?" asked Naruto.
[Optional Quest: Chase The Girl]
[Who was that? What was she doing?]
[Try to catch her and find out?]
[Optional Quest: Weapons Training]
[Go to training ground #11 and try]
[to convince the genin to help with]
[your weapons skills.]
[Optional Quest: Ninja Rule #7]
[Information is the most important]
[possession. Ask around and try to]
[get details of tomorrow's test.]
Naruto blinked, checked around him, and then reached out to touch the last one.
"How do I even find half these people?" asked Naruto with some exasperation. It seemed like every answer led to two questions.
No textboxes popped up in answer to his question.
"Wait a sec," said Naruto, an idea coming to him. His clones going around had found him a few of those bonus things. One of which had been.
The goggles came out, which looked mostly like his old goggles - except these had a little box on the side with three buttons, a bar across the top of the goggles, and a couple of little crystals at the corners of the lenses.
Frowning, Naruto put the goggles on and adjusted them. Then he pushed the first button.
"Okay. This is cool," said Naruto.
"What's with the goggles, Naruto?" asked Ayame.
"Part of a new jutsu I'm working out," answered Naruto. "Listen, you know anything about my new sensei? I got some kinda test coming up with him."
"Who is the new sensei?" asked Teuchi, coming out of the kitchen and wiping his hands on a towel.
"Kakashi Hatake," said Naruto.
"Kakashi Hatake? One eye showing, mask covers the lower half of his face?" asked Teuchi.
"That's the one," admitted Naruto.
"Likes egg ramen, though that's one of the cheaper items and it may be a budget thing," said Teuchi. "Broods a lot. Something went on a few years ago. Don't know the details."
"So you graduated and now they're giving you a secret test?" asked Ayame. "Now you're trying to uncover the secrets behind the test so you're ready for it?"
"Yeah," said Naruto, removing his goggles so he could jab a finger at his forehead protector. "Ninja. Sneaking around and uncovering secrets - that's Ninja Rule Seven."
Teuchi beamed at Naruto and nodded. "Good to see you're taking all this seriously!"
"Yeah, believe it," agreed Naruto before turning his attention to the single bowl of miso ramen. When he finished, there was an obvious next question. "You know where I can find someone named 'Jiro the Elder'?"
"Why should I give you information, kid?" asked the old man.
"Aw, c'mon," pleaded Naruto. "I just want to do well on this test thingie."
"Tell you what, beat me at a game of checkers and I'll tell you what I know," said Jiro, gesturing at the board.
Pieces were moved rapidly. The way the game would go was quickly determined. Finally Jiro looked up at Naruto. "You really suck at this."
"First time playing this," said Naruto, frowning at the board. "I seen Shikamaru do it once."
"Don't bother an old man without more practice, kid," said Jiro. "Honestly, I don't care if you win or lose. Just give me a good game next time."
"I can't give you any details," said Hiruzen Sarutobi, the hat marking him as the Third Hokage set upon his desk. "Though I admit I'm surprised to see this initiative from you. Surprised and pleased. Too many young ninja focus entirely on flashy jutsu and not enough on being prepared."
"Well, I'm a genin now," declared Naruto. "Gotta be professional and all! Believe it!"
"You might want to work on that 'believe it' phrase," said the Hokage. "A catch phrase is fine. A theme is fine. Just don't overdo it."
"You know anyone named 'Naru the Gossip'?" asked Naruto.
"Naru? I'm surprised you've even heard of Naru the Gossip," said the Hokage thoughtfully. "You really are taking this seriously."
"Lose the goggles kid. I won't talk to you if I can't see your eyes."
Naruto quickly moved the goggles to the side. "Uhm. What happened to you?"
"Chunin Exams seven years ago," answered the woman. "My team wasn't ready. Thought we were. We were wrong. Team from Rain used a jutsu that sprayed acid. Another one did some trick that sprayed senbon needles from his umbrella. Got caught in the edge of one attack and jumped into the other. So what brings a severely underage kid into my bar?"
"My sensei is giving a secret test, I'm trying to get details," admitted Naruto.
"Well, now," said Naru, her voice losing a bit of the irritation she'd first displayed. "That's good for a wet-behind-the-ears genin like you. Gathering intel before a mission starts? That's promising. Who's your teacher?"
"Kakashi Hatake," said Naruto.
"Well, that's straight screwed up," said Naru. "He's failed two groups before you. Since one mission he screwed up and came back alone, spends a lot of time brooding. Not sure what test he uses though."
"Oh," said Naruto, clearly disappointed.
Naru snorted. "Doesn't mean I don't know WHAT he's testing though."
"Really?" asked Naruto, thinking that would help. If it was math or reading comprehension - he was pretty much doomed. Though for some reason he seemed to be doing better since getting the power-ups his clones had found.
"He's big on 'teamwork' - so is the village for that matter," said Naru. One hand touched the scar tissue dominating the side of her face. "Doesn't always help - especially against a stronger team or an ambush. So, most likely he'll test your team to see if you can work together. Sneaky type so he'll be making it seem to be something else."
"Thanks, Naru-san! I appreciate it!" said Naruto, completely sincere.
"Ha! Come back here sometime, kiddo, and let me know how you've done."
"Gathering intel before a mission?" asked Iruka. "You were paying attention in class after all!"
"Hah, freaking hah," said Naruto. "Come on, Iruka-sensei. I'm just asking what kind of tests there are for teamwork."
"Well, historically?" asked Iruka. He considered that for a moment before coming to a decision. "Well, there's the test that the Third Hokage used for his team..."
Naruto was mostly thinking about the three tests that Iruka had known about, and how the whole thing kinda stunk.
"Huh, I can get money out of these?" asked Naruto, checking his wallet.
"I've got 'lint'?" asked Naruto. "Oh. I'd forgotten about that coupon."
Putting his wallet back, Naruto considered for a moment. Until I know what the test is, I can't prepare for it. Much. Excepting if I rig some traps and supplies and...
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
pa-damf!
"Okay, you four. Trap-making in the woods around the training ground. You four - get some supplies and take it out to the trap-making team. You know what to get."
"Aye sir!" chorused the eight clones.
"Quest log," tried Naruto, bringing up the screen. "Huh. Weapons Training is still there. Okay, let's go with that."
"Just a minute more," said the woman. "I can let you have the training ground as soon as I get this down."
"Okay," said Naruto, wondering how he was supposed to do this. It wasn't like he knew whoever this was.
"Damnit, I know I can do this," grumbled the woman. "Why do I keep missing?"
Naruto watched as she threw a kunai, jumped to the side and threw another kunai, striking the first kunai. Both kunai fell to the ground. "Uhm."
"That wasn't a question I'd expect you to be able to answer," said the woman with a sigh. "I saw an Uchiha pull this off once. I've been trying to do it ever since. I can't figure out HOW they do it though."
"Maybe you should ask Sasuke," said Naruto. "He's an Uchiha, he might know how to do that."
"There's one left?" asked the woman. "That might actually help. Can you introduce me?"
"I don't even know you," said Naruto reasonably.
"Name's Inaho," said the woman, jabbing a thumb at her chest. "If you can introduce me, I'd owe you one. You wouldn't believe how long I've been trying to learn how to do this."
"Why?" asked Naruto. "I mean, honest, it'd be neat if you can manage to hit something like that. But wouldn't just throwing a kunai at the target be simpler?"
"You're just starting out, so you don't know this yet I guess," said Inaho. "We're ninja. Doing something flashy is usually good, particularly if there's a client to impress. Also, if you can do attack from an unexpected direction - the target might not be ready to defend against it. Heck, even if they do defend against it - you might be able to get a follow-up attack to hit."
Naruto sat back against a tree, checked his quest log quickly, then frowned thoughtfully before deciding to just do it. "Hey, Sasuke. You know some trick where you throw one kunai, then deflect that kunai with a second thrown kunai, and hit something from a different direction?"
"Hmph," said Sasuke.
[Sasuke: Yeah. Not teaching you.]
"I'm not asking for me," grumbled Naruto. "I don't honestly see what good it would do. Kunoichi I met last night training is trying to get the move down. Okay if I introduce you? You can always just say no or that it's a family technique or something."
"Hnnn?" hnned Sasuke, actually turning halfway towards Naruto in surprise.
[Sasuke: A kunoichi who is seriously trying to learn that?]
"Yeah," said Naruto, grateful for the subtitles that were popping up.
Sasuke crooked an eyebrow for a moment before giving a slight nod.
"Great," said Naruto. "Now I did some research yesterday."
"You?" broke in Sakura. "Research? Study?"
"Uhm, yeah," said Naruto, slightly miffed. "Anyway, Kakashi Hatake has failed two teams of genin prior to this. Oh, and it's going to be a test - not an exercise like he said yesterday."
"Yeah, right," said Sakura, eager to prove to Sasuke that she knew more about what was going on. "He's a teacher. Lying to your students completely goes against the role of a teacher."
Naruto bit back the comment about certain teachers, and simply decided to bull through. "Anyway, what he usually tests is teamwork. There's three major ones that get used. The Bell Test, the Simulated Mission, and the Hidden Egg."
"Dumb names," said Sakura, who'd noticed that Sasuke was paying more attention to Naruto than her. Not the plan at all. "You're just making this up as part of a prank aren't you?"
"Anyway, don't go too far off the paths," said Naruto. "I put a lot of traps into the woods here. Found quite a few too."
"Traps?" asked Sakura, looking around her. "I don't see any traps."
"Sakura-chan is mean," grumped Naruto.
"Snrk."
Sakura and Naruto stared at Sasuke, who covered by coughing once into a fist and then seemed to just go back to brooding.
"Uhm, right," said Naruto.
"-and so, you have to grab one of these bells. Did I say something wrong?" asked Kakashi.
Sakura was staring at Naruto, her mouth open. Sasuke briefly smirked but wiped the expression almost immediately. Naruto grinned a grin that practically took up his entire face.
"No. Nothing wrong, Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto, emphasizing that title. "What could possibly be wrong?"
THAT particular question being one of those that immediately raised warning flags to an experienced ninja, Kakashi considered the three. While Sasuke and Sakura seemed to fit their profiles, Naruto having been reading a book on fuuinjutsu and doing odd things with said sealwork had NOT been following the script at all.
"Anyway," said the suspicious Kakashi, "there are two bells and three of you. So at least one of you will be going back to the Academy."
"Probably me," said Naruto, badly acting as if he was heartbroken. "I'll help you two pass the test, but you're going to owe me one later!"
"No," said Sasuke, pausing as if it had been a long time since he'd spoken last. "I won't owe a debt to you. I'm the Rookie Of The Year, I have to be the one to step up for this."
"Uhm, I, that is," managed Sakura before swallowing nervously. "No. I'll be the one to fail. I can't hold Sasuke back and, well, Naruto needs all the help he can get."
Kakashi blinked as he looked over the three. "Is there something going on here?"
"No," answered Sakura. "Nothing at all. Just nerves. And hunger. And maybe nerves."
"Right," said Kakashi. "Naruto?"
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto with false innocence.
"You're a shadow clone, aren't you?" asked Kakashi.
"Uhm, is this a trick question?" asked Naruto.
A kunai went through Naruto and hit the tree behind him. Naruto poofed into smoke a moment later.
"WE'RE REAL!" quickly put in Sakura.
"So the real Naruto is watching from a tree, hoping to ambush me when I'm not looking," mused Kakashi.
"Aw crap," said someone from a tree branch.
Kakashi nodded. "And is using a second shadow clone to try to distract me from the real Naruto. Not bad. You're beginning to think like a real ninja. If you somehow manage to pass this test though, never send a shadow clone to a real meeting. It's impolite."
"I told him it wouldn't work," muttered Sakura.
"You know, despite myself, I'm beginning to think you guys might show some promise," said Kakashi. "That being said. Start."
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(Posted Sat, 17 May 2014 16:41)
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