Father Figure

Message: Ok… So here’s where it’s at. I think a lot of people are getting the wrong impression of Minato and Kushina. I don’t think they are bad people at all, sure they aren’t the best parents at all, but you have to view this from their stand point.
Don't be too hasty. Minato and Kushina aren't cruel, at least not in my opinion. Naive and unaware yes. But let's be honest, not all parent's can sense what's going on in their children's minds to know they are suffering. Why do you think so many parents are unaware of what their kids are doing? Take Juno for example... they never even knew she was sexually active.

Unless your child talks to you, you'll never know, and the Naruto in this story is too quiet to do that.

As for their reaction to Yoshi's attack... they were given no evidence that Naruto was telling the truth, and people have been telling them for years he was trouble... when you put the two together they can't help but try and protect their youngest. Have you ever seen a parent react when an older brother seriously injures a younger one? It’s scary trust me. Especially when the younger might have died. Its much more emotional then a stranger hurting them, because it was someone you loved and trusted.
So I leave you with that to think about reader… and hopefully this chapter will help you change your view of Minato a little.

Something Special
Chapter 2

FIVE YEARS LATER

Walking through that classroom door Kakashi had expected something quite different then what he encountered when he first met Uzumaki Naruto. He figured the boy would be arrogant, whiny, and in short an insufferable brat. It may have been the first time Naruto surprised him, but it wasn’t the last.

The boy was quiet, silently appraising his sensei, as Kakashi himself took in the boy. They appeared to be sizing one another up. Eventually the teen turned away, as if satisfied with what he observed, while Kakashi frowned. Sasuke looked towards his sensei with a haughty expression, glaring at the man, while Sakura beside him appeared to be pouting. No doubt they were upset about how late he was, but if anything it should help the brats develop a sense of patience.

“YOU’RE LATE.” Sasuke growled.

Sakura looked as if she was ready to jump up and pummel the man for upsetting Sasuke while Naruto appeared to be bored with the whole situation.

Kakashi blinked before taking in the group. “Hmm... How should I say this? My first impression of you all is... I hate you.”

Sakura looked deeply ashamed turning towards Sasuke as if to assure what emotion she should be feeling at the moment. Sasuke glared back towards the teacher as if trying to convey the exact same impression physically, while Naruto himself only peered up from underneath his unruly blonde locks to make momentary eye contact before hiding beneath his veil of hair again. ‘So I’ve got myself a girl with a crush, a cocky Uchiha, and a shy Uzumaki. Perhaps this year will be a lot more interesting then I had anticipated.’ Kakashi thought to himself.

Leading the team towards the roof he devised the questions he would be asking the teens.

“Alright. Let’s get to know you a little better. What are your names, hobbies future goals, favourite and least favourite things?”

His students stared blankly towards him. Naruto shifted uncomfortably in his seat before breaking eye contact and looking away. Sakura looked towards Sasuke, wondering whether he would appreciate it more if she went first or if she didn’t. While Sasuke rolled his eyes and took to glaring at his sensei for being asked to reveal any information about himself.

Sakura brightened as if hit with a sudden revelation. “How about you go first sensei.”

Kakashi sighed internally before nodding and beginning. “My name is Kakashi Hayate. I have no dream, very few hobbies, and my likes and dislikes are none of your business.”

Sakura murmured that he had told them absolutely nothing but his name. Upon hearing her words he volunteered her to go next.

“Well,” she began with a blush, “My name is Haruno Sakura. My hobbies are well... umm… and my favourite things... are... hehe… well and my least favourite things are Ino and Naruto. My future goal is... well... yeah.”

Kakashi sighed internally, not once in her entire little speech did she mention anything about herself, and throughout she kept glancing over towards Sasuke. A futureless fan girl if he had ever seen one. “Alright. You’re next Uchiha.”

Sasuke gave a small growl at the mention of his last name, giving Sakura shivers up and down her spine while Naruto and Kakashi remained unimpressed. The teen decided to start, glaring at his teacher the entire time.

“My name is Uchiha Sasuke. My hobbies include training with my family and learning new clan techniques. My favourite things are learning new techniques and training with my brother. My least favourite things are the weak, and the useless,” Sasuke pointedly said looking towards Sakura and Naruto. “My future goal is to become stronger then my brother.” He said with finality.

Kakashi nodded, having expected every answer from the boy. He was a prime example of the Uchiha clan pride, confident and collected to a fault. They put high demands on their members, and honoured the strong while discarding the weak. Sasuke would never make a good team player because he can only see the faults in people rather than their strength, something that Kakashi would have to rectify should he take the team on.

“That leaves you blondie.”

Naruto sighed before beginning. “My Name is Uzumaki Naruto.”

“You’re Namikaze Naruto, not Uzumaki.” Sakura huffed.

“No. I’m Uzumaki Naruto. I was a bastard child when I was born, and take on my mother’s name for it.” Naruto said firmly.

Sakura blushed at the circumstance of his birth, while Sasuke gave a small smirk. “A bastard child and a demon holder. Wonder’s cease to amaze dobe.”

“At least I’m not as big a bastard as you Sasuke.”

Sasuke made a movement towards Naruto, as if he was about to attack, while Sakura glared at the blond in anger, choosing that moment to sidle up closer to Sasuke in order to show her support. Naruto simply held a hand out stopping the Uchiha from progressing further.

“ Why don’t we just get this all out into the open. Yes, I’m the son of Minato Namikaze our current Hokage. Yes, I am the carrier of the demon known as Kyuubi. My favourite things are true friends, and honest individuals. My least favourite things are those who judge based on gossip, and first appearances. My hobbies are studying scrolls and practicing my skills. My future goal is to prove my worth to all those who fail to believe in me, and to clear my name. And if you don’t like me I don’t care. We’re a team now so you should let our petty difference slide, but make no mistake, I’ll give back as good as I get.”

Kakashi smiled admiringly at the teen, though no one could tell though his mask. ‘I guess the brat isn’t as shy as I thought he was, he has quite the mouth actually. Perhaps this group won’t be as bad as I originally thought.’

“We’ll be meeting on team seven training grounds at 5.00 am tomorrow morning. And make sure not to eat, let’s just say this training will be a little too intense to handle on a full stomach.” Kakashi said with a grin.

Nodding the group separated. Kakashi appeared to have disappeared in a flash of leaves, but had in fact stayed to watch the interactions of the group from a distance. Naruto stood his ground when Sasuke began to circle the teen, Sakura standing a little bit behind the boy.

“What’s the big deal with mouthing off? Do you know who I am, or what I’m capable of?” Sasuke said with a smirk.

“Sasuke Uchiha. Youngest son of the head of the Uchiha clan, and younger brother to ANBU captain Itachi Uchiha. Known techniques are a giant fireball, as well as the common academy techniques. You have yet to inherit the ability to use Sharingan, when your brother had already made his captaincy at your age. You are not a clan genius, and if anything you’re a normal genin student, despite the help your clan has given you.”

Sasuke grew redder by the moment, his face flushing with anger. “As if having a Hokage for a father didn’t help you out in the ranks, Uzumaki.”

Naruto met his eyes unflinchingly. “It hasn’t.”

“Oh that’s right. There’s nothing like a demon sealed inside you that gives you that extra little boost.” Sasuke sneered.

“And Sharingan isn’t an extra boost?”

“It’s a bloodline limit, a totally different thing altogether.” Sakura argued on behalf of Sasuke.

“It evolved from demon’s, did it not?”

With that both Sasuke and Kakashi’s eyes grew wide. That is a clan secret that no one but a clan member is privileged to. Kakashi himself had to have the 4th intervene on his behalf in order to learn how to use the eye after having it bestowed upon him. The fact that Naruto knew meant that there was either a leak in sources, or that the teen had gotten into some important scrolls that only the Hokage was privileged to. Kakashi would have to speak to Minato about this revelation.

“H-how did you?” Sasuke face grew red.

Sakura grew angered by Naruto’s accusation of Sasuke’s background. “At least he’s no demon. You’re nothing but the vicious fox demon, bent on tricking the villagers of Konoha with your human guise in order to destroy them. Just like in the legends.”

“Although most legends have the fox demon as a vicious bloody thirsty conniving beast, there are some that show it’s more peaceful side. Those are the ones that show its simple desire to seek companionship, and the human experience of love and happiness... only to be condemned and punished when their identity is discovered. But no one read’s those stories anymore; no one wants a demon with a soul.” Naruto said to them sadly, before looking away and turning around to leap off the building.

A silent tension filled the air, Sakura and Sasuke remaining speechless for a few moments before guiltily shaking their heads. Sakura attempted to join Sasuke in the walk before being brushed off, and the pair made their separate ways home.

Kakashi watched Naruto’s form travel off into the night, his blonde hair bouncing with every leap. There was something about that boy that made the strings in his heart pull. Something unexplainably enigmatic about the boy, something that drew him to the teen inexplicably... something he would have to discuss with Minato.

With that in mind the jounin sensei made his way to the Hokage’s office, with some questions he needed answered, and a few things to explain.

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Minato sat at his desk completely perplexed, before getting to his feet, and placing both hands firmly on the solid oak, leaning forward to look Kakashi in the eye.

“You mean to tell me that Naruto has read the Uchiha clan scrolls?”

“Yes.” Kakashi stated firmly.

“Impossible. The only time he was even in that room was perhaps for an hour or so when he was five. There’s no way he could have memorized clan secrets in that amount of time at that age.”

“Why did you even allow him in there in the first place?”

“He was bored and complaining when I was busy working. So I opened up a room where I figured he’d do the least damage. It’s not as if he could actually understand half of what the scrolls were talking about, and it kept him quiet.”

“Itachi graduated the academy at age 7 with top grades and even made chuunin at 10. Is it such a leap to expect that your son could have memorized the entirety of the Uchiha clan scrolls from the clan library at the age of five with a few hours on hand?”

“Naruto is not Itachi.” Minato said almost mockingly.

“Perhaps not quite as talented as the boy was at his age, but I have yet to fully test his abilities. Nevertheless you should know better than the rest Minato that being born a genius doesn’t always make for success. After all you worked your way up through the ranks through practice and determination alone. You earned your position.”

“Yes, but that still wouldn’t explain my son’s ability to learn so quickly. I doubt even Itachi could read all of those scrolls so quickly at the age of five, let alone retain all the information.”

Kakashi sighed heavily. The argument was going nowhere and the matter at hand needed to be dealt with quickly. “Regardless of how he came about the information he knows, and you have to tell him the importance of keeping what he knows secret. Right now the information that he holds could very well mean disaster for the Uchiha clan should it get into the wrong hands. Both you and I know the severe damage it could cause if any of the information should leak out. It would be within the clan’s rights to have both Naruto’s and Sakura’s mind’s wiped of the information by Yamanaka’s clan.”

“No. I can’t allow a Yamanaka into Naruto’s head. Sakura yes, we can have that information removed, but no one can venture into Naruto’s mind.” Minato stated firmly.

“Why not?” Kakashi asked, surprised with Minato’s reaction.

“I can’t chance anyone tampering with the seal placed on Naruto. His mind itself is very fragile, and there’s a good chance that someone working away with his memories might trigger the seal. The way I designed it originally was that when Naruto felt immensely threatened that the seal would trigger a reaction that would not only allow him to converse with Kyuubi, but also allow the release of the demon’s tainted chakra into his system. It was meant to be one part of a failsafe to insure his life, even when I had planned to pass away.”

“So Naruto in a life or death situation, or an emotional one would be able to call upon the endless supply of the demon’s power?” Kakashi asked in awe.

“Essentially that was the plan. There is however a down side, with that power Naruto loses a bit of his control. Should he ever use enough chakra he will begin to gain the tails of the beast, and become more tainted. There is a good chance that if he gets past four tails that he’ll lose control over the beast and his body all together.”

“Making him a mindless killing machine.”

“Yes.”

Minato looked haunted by what he had done to his son, the blessing and burden he had placed on his small shoulders, but it had to be done. His son and the third had made the ultimate sacrifice in order to save Konoha.

“Why would you place such a burden on him? Why your son?” Kakashi asked.

“It was because I knew my Naruto would be strong, that he would be able to pull through no matter what the world put him through... and because I wanted him to be a true hero to the village. He saved it, just as surely as anyone else.” Minato said turning and beginning to walk away.

“Wait! So what do you want me to do about Naruto and Sakura?” Kakashi asked calling out to his former sensei.

“Have Sakura’s memory wiped. I’ll have a small chat with Naruto myself. Anything else?”

“Well... since you asked. Why did you pick me as team seven’s Sensei? You know I haven’t passed a group yet, so why wouldn’t you put Naruto with a different sensei?”

Minato gave a small grin through the side of his lips before turning around. “Because if he wasn’t ready then you would never pass him, and if he was ready... well know he’d have the best Sensei he could ever hope for. I’d trust you with my life Kakashi, and Naruto is a part of that life. I believe that you’ll do everything in your power to keep that boy safe, and I have faith that you’ll do just that.”

With that Minato left the room, leaving Kakashi staring down at the Hokage desk in shock. His heartfelt like it was clenching painfully in his chest. A small smile graced his lips as his chest filled with pride. He’d make damn sure that team seven was ready for what was a head... and if they were then he was going to make sure that they are the best damn squad that Konoha had ever seen.

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THE NEXT MORNING
Sakura was one of the first to arrive at the training site, her eyes looked red and puffy, as if she had either spent the night crying, or had a very restless sleep. Her slow lumber showed her exhaustion, while her constant yawns only solidified the image.

Sasuke arrived next, carefully observing the grounds as if expecting an attack at any minute. He warily made his way over to the sitting Sakura, half expecting her to leap up and begin sprouting her love for him again. He was surprised to find that the girl was fast asleep her eyes closed and her breathing methodical. Sighing he began to go over his katana’s his body weaving through the movement’s in a snake like manner.

The sun had just begun to rise when Naruto finally arrived, his hair looked a little mussed, and he appeared to be carrying some sort of scroll with him. Reading while he wiped the crust from his eyes. Sakura awoke at the sound of his footsteps while Sasuke glared in his direction.

“Your late, dobe.”

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and made his way to a large oak on the side of the training grounds, sitting to lean against the strong base and letting his body relax. Shifting until he found a comfortable position he re-opened the scroll and began to peruse the contents.

Seconds passed, turning into minutes, minutes turning into hours, with still no sign of their sensei. Sakura huffed when her stomach began to growl loudly.

“Where is he?” She asked, patting her stomach comfortingly.

“You don’t know very much about Kakashi do you?” Naruto stated, not even looking up from his scroll.

“What do you mean?” Sasuke asked, stopping his katana to glance over at the blonde.

“He’s late to everything... well everything but what’s really important. People tell him the mission time is usually hours before it actually is just so he’ll show up only a little late.”

“What?! Well then why did he have us come here so early then?”

“So we’d be tired, and he stopped us from eating so we’d be low on strength. He wants to see us in a mission like situation. Chances are you won’t be very well rested on a mission, and you don’t have the best nutrition. He wants to see how well we work under those circumstances.” Naruto replied, finally looking up from his scroll.

Looking at Sakura’s face he knew something was amiss. “Are you alright?” He asked her softly.

Seeming surprised by Naruto’s question she quirked her lips ever so slightly before shaking her head, “It’s nothing, really.”

“Go on.” He prompted.

Looking to her side to see if Sasuke was watching she turned back to Naruto upon realizing he had gone back to his katana’s. “It’s just my parents. My mom is really against me becoming a ninja, and she’s upset that I passed the exam in the first place. She really doesn’t want me to get hurt, and on top of that I went to Ino’s last night and I was pushed into a room with her dad... I’m not sure what happened, but I can’t remember part of the day, from where Kakashi finished questioning us, to when I was home in bed. It’s really strange, and I’m a little scared.”

Naruto froze upon hearing that Sakura’s memory was wiped, although she doesn’t seem to realize that was the case. No doubt higher forces were at work, and someone had heard what he had divulged to the teen in a moment of anger. And if Sakura’s memory was wiped then there was a good chance that his would as well. If they were worried about that small piece of information he gave on the Uchiha history... then they would stop at nothing to stop him from revealing the other Konoha clans secrets he knew.

“Are you questioning whether you want to be a ninja or not? Or are you just worried that you are upsetting your parents?”

“A mixture of both I guess.”

“You could always stop, and give up if that’s what you really desire.”

Sakura stopped at Naruto words. “But we’re a team, if I give up then all of us get sent back to the academy in hopes of making a better team next year. You’d have to take the exam again.”

“It doesn’t really matter. It was a piece of cake really.”Naruto said with a shrug.

“A piece of cake? You came dead last in the class exam.” Sakura said with disbelief.

“Of course I did. Why would the demon container make anything but dead last?” Naruto said with a huff.

Sakura looked appalled at Naruto’s insinuation that the exam marks were rigged to place him in the bottom category, but remained silent.

Naruto began again, “The only reason why they even passed me in the first place is because if I had failed my father would have looked into the matter. Passing with the lowest grade is one thing, but failing out entirely is another.”

Sakura turned her eyes away with that comment, unable to meet Naruto’s gaze. It remained silent between the two for a while, before the blonde Genin finally broke the tension.

“You shouldn’t base your decision on Sasuke and I. We’ll make another team the next year, but if you don’t want to be a ninja and go through with it, then it could very well mean your life. This isn’t a game Sakura, and if you joined simply because you wanted to garner Sasuke’s attention then you should back out now. He’ll never recognize you in that way if you’re weak in your conviction. He admires strength, that’s easy enough to see watching his adoration and obsession with his brother.” Stated with finality, getting to his feet and walking away.

Sakura sat there quietly. Her minds going over Naruto’s words carefully, realizing the wisdom of the teen and coming to decision.
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Naruto had decided to take a nap under one of the oaks. The sun having finally risen into the sky the shade from the tree protected him from the vicious rays. Even Sasuke who had been so determined before to use the time to train was now leaning under a shaded branch. Naruto awoke when he felt a presence to his side, looking over to see Sakura shifting to sit beside him.

He opened one eye, looking towards her while the other remained closed. He didn’t want to attract Sasuke’s attention, lest the girl decide that she indeed wasn’t cut out for the ninja world. He wanted to protect her from Sasuke’s wrath with the best of his ability, it wasn’t in him to allow someone to suffer.

“Have you come to a decision?” He whispered out of the side of his mouth to stop Sasuke from over hearing.

“Yes.”

“And?”

“I’m not giving up. Not yet. I haven’t really, truly giving this a chance, and for all know perhaps I was meant for this. I have good chakra control, I know the ninja handbook, and I want to know how good I could become. This is the first independent thing I’ve done, and I’ll see it through... even if it kills me.” Sakura said firmly, her green eyes sparkling with fervour.

Naruto nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. At that moment Kakashi arrived stepping out into the middle of the clearing by three posts. Sasuke strode out from his position under the branch, while Naruto helped Sakura to her feet and walked over to the teacher. Looking to the sky then back to his teacher Sasuke glared.

“You realize it’s eleven am now, right?”

Kakashi gave the teen’s a grin, his eye curving upwards. “Ma ma. What’s with the looks?”

“You told us to meet you here at five... and it’s now eleven.... You’re six hours late!” Sakura admonished.

“Nothing more than what I expected.” Naruto murmured.

“What took you so long?” Sasuke asked.

“I got lost on the road to life.” Kakashi replied.

“Aren’t we all.” Naruto said under his breath.

Kakashi heard the blonde’s little comment and held off a small smile, before taking in the team’s appearance. Sasuke looked majorly peeved, and roaring to go. Naruto seemed to be calm and well rested, while Sakura seemed to be relieved. The girl had lost some of the tension she was holding yesterday. He half wondering if it was having her memory wiped that caused the change, or something else entirely.

“Well your first task today is to retrieve these bells from me. When you do you’ll get to have lunch before the next part of the exam.” Kakashi said, holding up two bells.

“Why only two sensei? There’s three of us.” Sakura said.

“A keen observation. There are only two bells because there are only two lunches. The student who doesn’t get a bell will be chained to the post and will have to watch as their teammates eat their lunches.”

At that both Sasuke and Sakura stomachs rumbled ominously. The two looking down to scold their over zealous hunger.

“He probably did this because he’s too cheap to buy three lunches.” Naruto whispered to Sakura and Sasuke, causing the pinkette to let out a giggle, and Sasuke to smirk.

Kakashi sniffed his nose at the low belt comment to his wallet, but let it slide, instead deciding he’d take it out on the boy in training. “Well. With that in mind, let’s begin.”

In a flash both Sasuke and Sakura had disappeared into the forest surrounding the clear area. Naruto stood in front of Kakashi with his arms crossed. Kakashi felt ready to smack his head against something solid. The teen hadn’t even bothered to hide himself. Of all the teams he had ever tested, and consequently failed, no one had ever pulled a move like this.

“I have a question for you before we fight. Now that Sakura and Sasuke are out of the way.”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Were you the one who overheard the conversation between the three of us, and the one who ordered that Sakura’s memory be wiped?”

Kakashi felt surprised by the teen’s information gathering skills, no one had known of the mission to wipe Sakura’s memory except from Minato, Kakashi, and Ino’s father. It was to be kept secret that the teen’s had ever even found out the information, let alone that the information was wiped.

“How did you know?” Kakashi asked.

“I didn’t. Only just now did you confirm my suspicions. Sakura said she had a blank in her memory when she went to visit Ino. My only conclusion was that her memory was wiped because she held information of importance. I doubt she would have anything of importance other than what I told them yesterday. I had no clue you were involved until just now. If you didn’t respond I would have asked the Hokage.”

“Your father.”

“The Hokage.” Naruto stated firmly. “His position comes before his family.”

Sakura looked out at the pair through her hiding position in the tree’s, ‘What the hell is Naruto doing? Is he going to talk him into giving him a bell or something?’ She wondered.

Meanwhile Sasuke was considering whether it would be the best time to attack now while he seemed distracted or to wait until Naruto made a move. The man seemed off guard, but you can never tell with Jounin. His brother warned him that they didn’t get the position through messing around. That there was a reason why they were given the challenge of training the new batch of Genin groups... because they are the best.’

Kakashi quirked and eyebrow at the teen’s response. “Your nothing like the others are you.”

“Is that a statement or are you asking me?”

“Just an observation... Are you going to attack me any time soon?”

“Nah. I figure I’ll just wait you or the others out, someone bound to attack sometime, and it’s best not to reveal your hand until you have to.”

“Very true. Well if you don’t mind I think I’ll get some light reading done if you aren’t going to do anything.”

With that Kakashi drew out a small orange book, Naruto could make out the form of a young woman being chased on the front by what seemed to be a man, with the words Icha Icha clear. Naruto made an eye movement to the tree where Sakura was hidden, visually motioning her to attack.

Sakura seemed perplexed by the look that Naruto was giving her, looking back to him and shaking her head, but Sasuke caught the look loud and clear. Quickly throwing a kunei from his position he leaped from the tree, intent on attacking. Sakura realizing that an attack was going on leaped into the fray. All three student’s moved upon the jounin at the same time, Naruto attacking head on, with Sakura and Sasuke flanking either side.

Kakashi dodged a punch thrown by Sakura only to swivel away from a low kick to his thigh by Sasuke, shifting into a back flip to elude an upper cut thrown by Naruto. His book lay on the ground forgotten as he began an intricate dance with his students, dodging every physical movement thrown his way. Naruto finally got a grip on one of his arm’s, Sakura holding onto the other leaving him open to Sasuke.

“When I tell you let go and get yourselves out of the way fast.” Sasuke warned.

Naruto and Sakura nodded, getting into position while Kakashi wondered what the teen had in mind. With a quick series of hand signals the boy took a deep breath, signalling his teammate to let go. With that Sakura and Naruto leaped away, just as Sasuke let loose a large fireball, engulfing the form of their sensei. When the flames finally came down Sakura looked upon the ashes in amazement.

“You killed him.” She gasped, turning away from the pile in disgust.

Sasuke looked perplexed, while Naruto remained silent. Sakura looked away from the mess, before stopping to spot something sparkling near the base of the tree.

“It’s one of the bells. He must have dropped it while we were fighting before he died...” Stepping forward she bent down to pick it up just as Naruto called out ‘no’ and attempted to pull her away. The both were pulled up by their ankles to a large rope, while Kakashi’s hand burst from under the ground to pull Sasuke down into a crevice he had dug, trapping the boy in the dirt.

Sakura managed to twist her body in a way that allowed her to look at the grounds. Upon spotting Sasuke’s head upon the ground with no body in sight she promptly fainted, her body hanging limply from the tree, while both Naruto and Sasuke grumbled.

“You did a good job. You almost had me there.” Kakashi said with a grin, watching Sasuke glare from his position in the ground while Naruto remained silent, swaying slightly while hanging from the tree. “It takes a lot more than three genin to over take me.”

Smiling to himself Kakashi moved to pick up his book, grabbing it lightly in his hand. As soon as the novel was within inches of his waist it transformed into Naruto, who reached forward, and speedily snatched the two bells from his belt, before leaping away. Kakashi stood frozen for a moment before allowing a grin to cross his lips.

“Well done. You’re the first team to ever retrieve the bells from me. Naruto, I believe you earned yourself a lunch.” He said, patting the teen on top of his head.

“No sir. We all do. If it weren’t for Sakura and Sasuke distracting you I would have never been able to transform into the book. They did just as much as me.”

Kakashi nodded, and stared at the ground for a moment, before motioning for Naruto to go free Sakura while he freed Sasuke. Sasuke seemed angry, unhappy that Naruto had retrieved the bells, while he was trapped in the ground, but pleased that Naruto had acknowledged his help. While Sakura seemed relieved that Sasuke was in one piece, instead of decapitated as she had believed, and that Kakashi wasn’t burnt to a crisp.

Offering the two lunches to Naruto Kakashi was pleased to see the teen open them and present the boxes to his two teammates. Sakura shyly took the bento while Sasuke glared at the box for a few moments, before nodding his head and accepting it graciously. Sakura took a piece of sushi and motioned to Naruto to take a bite, which he did with a small smile, while Sasuke repeated the action while Sakura took her own bite of her meal. Within a few moments the boxes were emptied, and the teen’s appeared to be sedated.

They looked to Kakashi expectantly. Kakashi stretched and stood before the three at his full height. “Now I’m sure you were under the impression that if you had retrieved the bells that you would pass my test. But that’s not the case.”

Protests formed on the teen’s lips before quickly being cut off from Kakashi’s hand. “In the world of ninja’s those who break the rules are considered scum, but those who don’t take care of their friends are even worse scum. I think you’ve all showed great promise as a team. You worked well together, and even stood up for one another. Naruto you both took a dive to save Sakura, and gave up the two lunches. You Sakura and Sasuke both selflessly shared the lunches that you had been given, and went to help Naruto when he motioned to you. As it is I think you’ll make a wonderful team... congratulations, you pass.”

Smiles passed the lips of both Sakura and Naruto while Sasuke’s eyebrow furrowed. “So if we didn’t work well together as a team you wouldn’t have passed us? Not even if we had retrieved the bells on our own.”

“That’s right. If I did not see that connection as a team I would not have passed you, even if you did manage to retrieve the bells.”

Sasuke looked horrified at the prospect of failing despite accomplishing the task set out. Kakashi was worried, despite how they had come together there would no doubt be difficulties with this team, but he was determined to make this work. He had the trust of the Hokage, and he wasn’t going to mess this up. He wasn’t going to make a mistake like he did with Obito. This time he would do it right, because this team was something special.

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So has anyone’s opinion of Minato changed? Or do you still think he’s the scum he was before?

Do you hate Sasuke and Sakura? Or are you growing fond?

Give me your opinion on the chapter, what you think may happen or what might change, and are you surprised to find that Itachi didn’t kill off the clan? Don’t worry, I’ll reveal what happened there a little later in the story.

Ta Ta for now!