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A World Full of Monsters by Fahad09
 Anime » Naruto Rated: M, English, Adventure & Humor, Naruto U., OC, Words: 152k+, Favs: 6k+, Follows: 6k+, Published: Mar 18, 2015 Updated: Sep 202,890Chapter 4
Chapter 4 : The New Team 7
"Honored Ancestor."
Oh, it's you again.
He was sitting on the edge of a stone boulder, arms braced behind him as he smiled down at me in welcome. And once more I felt as if I had returned home after a long trip.
Tiny droplets of water sprayed the air, kicked up by the tiny waterfall not far away. A gentle stream stretched from it, snaking around the boulders scattered around and past us off into the distant horizon. The water was so clear it was almost invisible, and I could see the small pebbles lining the stream's bed with crystal clarity.
I barely paid any notice of it, instead, my eyes were reserved solely for him.
One of his legs dangled off the boulder's edge, his toes just brushing the stream's surface, sending ripples running in the water, while his other leg lay folded up to his chest, arms wrapped around it and a cheek resting on the knee.
You've been showing up a lot more often lately, haven't you?
He quirked an eyebrow at me, his red-eyes dancing with amusement, "Ah, forgive me Honored Ancestor but I fear you are mistaken." A smile bloomed on his face as he spoke, "You see it is not I that has been appearing before you but it is you that have been appearing before me."
He waved a hand, indicating the lush green valley around us, "This is my home, my sanctuary and alas, also my prison. Even were I to wish it, I would be unable to leave. Thus it is only when you appear here that we may ever meet."
Is that so?
"It is so." He nodded, the action carrying a great deal of weight behind it. "Though please do not think I am displeased, your visits have been a source of great pleasure to me. One I have begun to cherish over the years. For as you can see," He raised his head off his knee and looked around, "none live here other than my humble self. While I had always enjoyed my privacy, even I must admit that too much of it can easily turn into a burden. As the old proverb goes: solitude is a gift that many seek, but none can bear it for long."
You have no one else to talk to?
"I would not say that," He shook his head, his long hair rippling with the motion, "but the number who can set foot here are few indeed. Other than my reincarnations, you have been my only visitor in near four hundred years. We are in an existence untouched by both time and space, a plane beyond the reach of most mortal men. Though there exists a special few, other than yourself, who are capable of reaching this paradise and indeed, they have tried several times in the past, but I have denied them entry every time. For I find their presence-" For a heartbeat his crimson eyes darkened, burning with barely restrained hatred, before it was flickered out, dying like a candle's flame in the wind, replaced with his usual serene expression. The entire thing was over and done so quickly that I almost believed I imagined it, "most unwelcome."
I see…
Now that I think about it, who are you anyway?
"Truly?" Lifting his head off his knee, he shot me a bemused look, "Honored Ancestor, I believe I have told you my name several times already." The edge of his lips quirked up and he cocked his head, "Could it be that you have simply forgotten?" Sounding more amused than offended.
"Very well," Moving with all of his usual grace he rose to his feet. Taking a moment to straighten his slightly ruffled clothes before turning to face me.
When he bowed, he did so with all the elegance and formality you'd expect to see from an aristocrat. It was as if we were meeting in a royal palace rather than the middle of a valley. "Allow me the honour of reintroducing myself to you once again Honored Ancestor."
He rose up from his bow and shot me an impish smile, and I felt a wave of nostalgia washing over me. "I am your direct descendant, the firstborn son of Otsutsuki Hagoromo, he who is the Sage of Six Paths, and his former heir. I am the founder of the Uchiha Clan, the first wielder of the Mangekyo Sharingan and-
"-My name," He gave me another slight bow, "is Otsutsuki Indra. And it is truly a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Honored Ancestor."
My eyes snapped open, and I found myself staring up at my bedroom's ceiling.
There were a lot of things that I wanted to say at the moment, in fact, I could have written entire essays on it, but it could all be pretty much summed up in one word.
"Shit..." I blurted.
Indra, I was dreaming about bloody Indra. For nearly four years I had been meeting him in my sleep and I never even realised who he was. He was bloody Indra! The guy who started a four-century war all because he wasn't his daddy's little favourite any more. Why was I dreaming about him out of all people? I thought the only people who dreamt about him were...his...reincarnations.
Oh no. Hell no! No, no way, no how. I refuse to be Indra reborn! I thought all that reincarnated shit that happened near the end was a bunch of nonsense that Kishimoto pulled out of his ass to save the plot because he wrote himself into a corner. How the hell was I supposed to know he was being serious?
Wait, wait a second, didn't Indra mention that I was the only one other than his reincarnations to visit him? Oh thank goodness, that meant I wasn't his reincarnation. Oh dear lord, did I dodge a bullet there. If I had been his reincarnation that would have meant I would get tied up with the entire Indra-Asura nonsense. Something I wanted absolutely nothing to do with.
No, seriously, give it a rest guys. You've been bitching about your little sibling feud for centuries now and it's gotten old. I don't even want to count how many wars you two started because neither of you learned to share. I mean you've both literally killed each other, multiple times already and you still won't let it go. Seriously, no one cares anymore.
Still, if I wasn't his reincarnation then what the hell was Indra showing up in my dreams for? That's not even mentioning the whole 'Honored Ancestor' thing he keeps calling me by. What was up with that?
What I didn't get was why was he being so nice to me? I mean wasn't Sasuke supposed to be his latest reincarnation? Didn't that basically mean I offed the guy? Shouldn't he be, I don't know, just a little pissed off at me for that?
Ahhh~~~~~! You know what? Fuck it. This is far too much crazy for me to deal with so early in the morning. I'll think it over later after I had some food in me and some of my morning coffee. It wasn't like I was under a time limit, the guy had been haunting my dreams for years now. If he was planning on doing something to me he would have tried something by now so I should be safe for a while yet.
Kicking my blanket off me, I sat up on my bed and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Well, at least I could safely say that I've gotten the craziest part of my day over and done with.
"Hikaru, save me!" There was a loud bang as the door slid open, and I found myself staring at a frantic looking Naruto standing at my bedroom's doorway. She was panting, her shoulders rising and falling with her every breath while her long blonde hair was in a tangled mess. Her eyes darted around the room, wide with panic, before landing on me. "Your mother is trying to molest me. Help!"
…Seems I spoke too soon.
I just shot Naruto a deadpanned look, "This is too early in the morning to deal with this much crazy."
Naruto opened her mouth to say something, but before she could utter a word she was attacked, a figure leaping from behind her.
"Ninja-secret assassination technique – Juuken strike!" Hanabi called out as she delivered a deadly blow to the side of Naruto's neck – who promptly burst into a cloud of smoke, revealing her to be a clone.
Hanabi landed softly on her feet before clenching both of her hands and raising them over her head, "Yes! Assassination successful, mission complete!" She cheered.
…Like I said, far too much crazy.
"Hanabi," I began, trying to keep the smile off my face as I spoke, but despite how exasperated my voice sounded I knew I failed. "How many times must I tell you not to call out your attacks when you're trying to ambush someone? You'll give yourself away."
"Eh?" Hanabi blinked owlishly, "But-but Nii-sama, Neji does it all the time and he looks so cool when he does." Swing her arms around in her excitement. "He always says that one's fire of youth would only burn ever brighter when you call out an attack."
Ah yes, Neji.
To think it possible for someone to change so much. Whatever coolness factor Neji still held was completely lost after he ended up in Team Guy. Mentally, I sent a prayer to the alternate Neji and hoped that he would never find out how his current self-turned out. The guy might just die from shame.
Uncle Hizashi, I'm sorry to say this but the world would have been a far better place if you'd only dropped dead years ago.
Giving the puppy-eyed Hanabi one last glance, I sighed and decided to drop the matter. She was still only eight, and as sad as it sounded she only had four more years left of her childhood before she became a Genin, I should let her have her fun while she still can.
Hopefully, this was all just a stage that she'll eventually grow out of.
"So," Tossing my legs off the side of the bed, I pushed myself to my feet and raised my arms over my head, stretching, "What's all this about Mom molesting Naruto?"
Hanabi's eyes widened, gleaming with sudden excitement as she held up a hand to her lips and tried her best to hold back a laugh. "Nii-sama, you have to see this! Come quick!"
She rushed forward, grabbed my hand in both of hers and began leading me out of the room.
"What's going on?" I asked.
Hanabi just flashed me a mischievous smile, "Wait, You'll see."
Shrugging I allowed myself to be pulled out of my room and down the corridor. Hanabi, in her excitement, was able to outpace me despite my longer legs and kept tugging on my hand to make me walk faster.
As we rounded a corner, one of the side doors on the opposite end of the corridor slid open and out walked a pair of female servants, each holding a pile of folded clothes in their arms.
Catching sight of them, Hanabi quickly let go of my hand and slowed her pace down, dropping back until she ended up walking side-by-side with me. She then straightened her back, held her head high and folded her hands before her in demur manner while her face adopted a calm and serene expression.
She presented a completely different image than she did a second ago. All in all she appeared dignified, the very image of a noble daughter to a respected Clan.
As one of the maids shut the door they had just vacated behind her, they turned and began walking in our direction. The next few seconds were silent as the distance between us slowly closed, and just as we were about to pass each other by, the servants gave us a brief bow, which we returned, neither of us breaking our pace.
The silence remained for a while longer, at least until the servants reached the end of the corridor and rounded the corner we had just come from, at which point Hanabi dropped the act and her excited grin came back in full force. She didn't hesitate to snatch my hand up again and start dragging me to our destination, calling out to me to hurry.
And this is why my little sister is the cutest thing in the whole wide world. It's official – I'm only ever going to have daughters from now on. Girls are so much better than boys.
What Hanabi failed to notice, however, and which I was only able to catch from the edge of my vision because I was looking for it, were the servants sticking their heads back around the corner. They glanced at the now energetic Hanabi, turned to look at each other before breaking out in silent snickers and returning back to their work.
Really, I may have been the most respected child in the Clan but Hanabi was, by and large, the most beloved. Unlike me, Hanabi actually takes her image as the daughter to the Clan Head seriously and tries so hard to appear noble and dignified, which everyone found adorable to watch when she tries to act so grown up.
The entire household had wordlessly agreed to support the little tyke in her efforts and all pretended to take her actions seriously, all the while making sure to look the other way whenever she slipped up. Truly, the Hyuugas are wise to acknowledge the cuteness of my little sister.
"We're here!" Hanabi released my hand and rushed the final few steps to stand before the door to my parent's bedroom, before turning around and smirking mischievously at me, "Get ready to be surprised, Nii-sama."
Then she turned around and slid the door open with a flourish, revealing-
"Hikaru! Help Me!" Naruto desperately called for help, her eyes brightening with hope when she caught sight of me, even as she continued her futile effort to struggle free. "She won't let go!"
The sight before me was so surreal that it took me a few seconds to process what was happening.
Then I laughed. I couldn't help it, what I was seeing was so unexpected and ridiculous that couldn't help but double over in laughter.
"Hikaru," Naruto whined, her voice thick with betrayal, "Stop laughing and help me!"
"Ok, ok," I somehow managed to squeeze out between breaths as my laughter died down, though I couldn't keep the smile off my face. "Mom, I think you'd had your share of Naruto for one day. Please let her go now."
"Never my child," My mother instantly denied as she continued to rub her cheeks against Naruto's. "Never."
My mother, Hyuuga Mio, sat on the edge of her bed with Naruto set firmly down between her legs. Mio had one arm wrapped around the blonde's waist while her other hand was placed on the side of Naruto's face, and was using it to push Naruto's face into hers, all so that she could snuggle her cheek against Naruto's.
Unlike her clone, who had been dressed up in her usual orange and black tracksuit, this Naruto was wrapped up in a light yellow Kimono with orange-coloured petals adorning its surface while a matching coloured obi tied around her waist. Her hair was done up in French braids and, while I could barely see it, she was wearing a very light layer of make-up.
Hadn't I known any better I could have easily mistaken Naruto for a noble's daughter. The only thing that ruined the image of the traditional high-class lady was the increasingly frustrated expression Naruto was sporting as she tried and failed to fight her way out of my mother's hold.
After fruitlessly struggling for a few more seconds she gave up, slumping in my mother's arms, resigned to her fate. Naruto tilted her face up to look at me, her upturned blue eyes wet with unshed tears.
"Hikaru~," Naruto hiccuped, her eyes threatening to spill any second, "She-she took off my clothes and undressed me and… and…and I-I think I've been molested." Another hiccup, "Does this mean I can't be a bride anymore?"
The sight would have been heartbreaking for most people. Sadly for Naruto, my mother wasn't most people. Mio always had a thing for sad little animals, and could never resist trying to adopt any tiny injured strays that happened to catch her eye on the way home. So instead of helping her, her big teary eyes and sad face just made her that much adorable to my mother and only helped to seal her fate.
"Kyaa~~ that's it, I can't take it anymore." Mio glomped onto Naruto even tighter before she shot me a beaming smile, "Hikaru, marry this child! I want her as a second daughter right now."
"What!" Naruto looked up to my mother in a flustered panic, "But-But Mio-san I-"
But my mother quickly cut her off, "Now, now, no need to call me Mio-san. Call me Okaa-sama, no, even just Okaa-chan will be fine." She ordered before resuming her nuzzling.
"But-" Naruto turned her pleading eyes on me and mouthed 'help'.
"Ok, that's enough mother." I clapped my hands twice, "You've used up your Naruto time for the day, time to let her go."
Instead of behaving like a reasonable adult that she was supposed to be, my mother pouted like a three-year-old instead.
"No," She pouted, "she's just too adorable. I'm never letting her go." Then shut her eyes and buried her face into Naruto's hair
Rolling my eyes, I walked up to a nearby table, muttering under my breath all the while about who was supposed to be the parent and who the child. Picking up a spray bottle from the table, the one my mum used to water her plants, I turned back to my mother and sprayed her face.
"Hikaru!" She yelped, dropping Naruto as she covered her face. Naruto, knowing a chance when she saw it, scrambled away from my mother as fast as she could move and scurried to hide behind me.
"There," I said, setting the spray bottle back down on the table, "have you finally learnt your lesson? If you keep insisting on acting like a clingy cat, I'll have to treat you like one."
Hanabi, who had been standing off to one side and enjoying the show, just dropped to the floor in a fit of laughter. Well, I'm glad at least one of us is enjoying themselves.
"But Hikaru-" The thirty-five-year-old woman whined, literally whined, and I couldn't help but be reminded of a petulant child who just had her favourite toy taken away.
"No buts." I told her, cutting her off, "Neither Naruto or I have time to play with you today. We need to get to the Academy early. They're going to be announcing our teams today."
"That's right," Hanabi perked up from where she was still lying in a tangled heap down on the floor, "Are you and Naru-Nee going to end up in the same team Nii-sama?"
I smiled at her, "We won't know for sure until we get there but seeing as we were both ranked at the top of our year, we're pretty much guaranteed to be teamed up."
It wasn't easy but we somehow managed to boost up Naruto's grades high enough for her to beat out the other girls. That's not to say Naruto was a bad Ninja or anything, far from it. It's just that she wasn't a well-rounded one and that was the crux of the problem.
To graduate from the Academy all prospective Genin were put through a series of exams, ranging from an assortment of different categories. There were the obvious ones such as taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu. Then there were things like stealth, tracking, general knowledge, trapmaking, clones, first-aid and information gathering.
When it came to taijutsu or stealth, Naruto had it in the bag. She was so far ahead of the rest of the girls in hand-to-hand combat that I couldn't help but pity them during sparring practice. I remembered all too well how it felt like to be on the wrong end of her punches when we first met all those years ago, and she had only grown stronger since then.
I was never quite certain if it was due to her Uzumaki heritage, her status as a jinchuuriki or a combination of both but the sheer amount of raw physical power Naruto held in her body was extraordinary. It was well beyond anyone else in our class.
If I wanted to match her in raw strength then I had to carefully control the timing and flow of the chakra in my muscles to draw out their maximum potential. But Naruto didn't need to do that, she has so much chakra coursing through her veins that all she has to do was swing and her punches would be just as devastating as mine, if not more.
So no, it wasn't the taijutsu exam but the genjutsu and chakra control exams that had us sweating buckets. To say she was terrible at them would be putting it mildly. If Naruto doesn't outright flunk those exams I would consider it a win.
The top male and female Genin of the year was determined by averaging the scores from all the exams. Which meant that if you bombed two or three exams badly enough, you'd be out of the running even if you aced several others. So if Naruto ever wanted to end up in the same team as me, which she really wanted to be, she needed to find a way to boost her grades up and fast.
We gave up on chakra control as a lost cause straight from the start. If Naruto still hasn't gotten it down after all these years, then there was no way she would manage it in time for the exam. Instead, we focused on her other weak points, clones and general knowledge.
And I already knew the perfect solution to both those issues.
Shadow Clones.
Or at least I thought I did. Turned out I was only half right.
Getting my hands on the Shadow Clone technique was easy. Turned out that there was a copy of it in the Hyuuga Clan Library. Dear god did I love that library; it had a scroll on practically every jutsu and fighting style in existence. If it didn't teach you how to learn the jutsu then it taught you how to counter it, detailing all the strengths, limits and possible weaknesses it may have.
The Uchiha were not the only Clan that stole other people's techniques, they were just the only ones who were keen on advertising it. I wouldn't be surprised if every major Clan in Konoha held their own version of the library - filled with research on enemy techniques and weaknesses.
When I was younger, I only had access to a small section of the library but after I reached a certain age and skill level, I was granted access to all but the most dangerous scrolls there. And as luck should have it, the scroll that contained the Shadow Clone jutsu wasn't one of the forbidden few.
Though it wasn't as easy as I hoped it would be.
You know how Naruto happened to learn the Shadow Clone technique in just a few hours? Yeah, I'm officially calling BS on that. Jutsu were hard to learn. They weren't the kind of thing you learnt over the course of an afternoon or during your weekend off. They were stupidly complex things that could easily end up killing you if you made so much as a single mistake.
There was a reason why the Academy refused to teach us elemental jutsu until after we officially became Genin. Could you imagine how easy it would be for children to electrocute themselves if they tried using a lightning technique, or drown by flooding their own lungs with water when casting a water jutsu incorrectly?
The only Clan who regularly taught their children elemental jutsu were the Uchiha, and that's only because every one of their kids was born with an unusually strong fire affinity. Even then they made sure to train their kids near large bodies of water like lakes just in case something went wrong. Yet even with those precautions accidents still happened. It wasn't unusual to hear of some poor Uchiha kid burning themselves to death every decade or so.
And learning how to cast a jutsu was only the first step, you still had a lot more work to do after you learned it if you ever wanted the jutsu to become viable in battle.
After learning how to cast the jutsu you then had to practice it. Not just once or twice but literally thousands of times, over and over again till it became a reflex. You didn't have the time to stop and think in a fight, even a split second wasted could see you killed, so what use was a jutsu in a fight if you needed to stop and think about how to cast it? You had to act without thinking so any jutsu that you cast needed to be called upon instantly, it was only then that you could claim to have 'mastered' it.
One of the reasons why I was considered a genius by my clan was due to the sheer speed I could learn and master new jutsu. With my mastery over the Byakugan, I could see the correct way my chakra had to flow to make a jutsu work. And I also understood why it had to flow that way. I've spent years studying chakra theory so I could grasp all the intricacies involved with casting a jutsu. That knowledge in combination with my precise chakra control allowed me to learn new chakra techniques in a fraction of the time it took anyone else my age.
Yet even with all my advantages, I needed two whole weeks to learn the Shadow Clone Technique. Two weeks. I had done nothing but work on that technique the entire time, even going as far as to skip the academy, and it still took me a fortnight to learn. Then I needed to spend an additional week where I did nothing but create Shadow Clones over and over until I could finally make them without thinking, all so that I could use them in a fight if needed.
By the end of it I could make two or three clones in a blink – any more and my chakra levels would drop too low for me to be of any real use in combat.
Poor Naruto needed almost an entire month of non-stop work until she figured it out, and that was with me helping her. Still, by the end of it, we found ourselves standing in a courtyard filled to the brim with clones of the blonde…then my mum happened to walk in on us.
I swear I have never seen my mother happier than when she stepped into the courtyard and saw an entire sea of Narutos gazing back at her. Faster than I could blink, she snatched up half a dozen clones and dragged them to her room, where she started dressing them up like dolls, muttering all the while about 'all the Narutos she could ever want'.
Anyway, even though it turned out to be far harder than either of us expected it to be, we finally learned a clone technique that would allow us to pass that particular exam with flying colours.
Then we ran into our second hurdle.
My purpose for learning the Shadow Clone technique was twofold; get Naruto to pass the clone test, and use the Shadow Clones to help Naruto study. With their ability to transfer their memories, Shadow Clones would allow Naruto to squeeze in a month's worth of studying in a single day. It would have worked too, if not for just one tiny little problem. You know that whole memory thing that the Shadow Clones are famed for?
Yeah, that was bullshit too.
Have you ever wondered why Naruto was the only person to use Shadow Clones on a regular basis, despite its apparent usefulness? Why didn't everyone else use it to train like she did when she mastered her wind affinity? I mean sure, no one but Naruto could create a hundred clones a pop but surely a Jonin could make a couple of clones to help them train. That alone would triple their training speed.
Or why wouldn't anyone use Shadow Clones to help them at work? Can you imagine how fast you can get all your paperwork done if you had three versions of yourself to help? Dear lord, the sheer possibilities were endless, yet no one seemed to want to use the Shadow Clones at all.
Do you want to know why?
That's because Shadow Clones didn't work that way!
If I could, I would reach out through time and space and strangle Kishimoto for screwing with me. I spent a whole month looking forward to all the wonders I could do with my clones, only to find out that no, shadow clones were not the hax that I thought it to be.
The Shadow Clones worked nothing like they did in the Anime. The original purpose of the Shadow Clone was to help the user spy on enemies. A ninja would send his clone into enemy territory, where the clone would gather as much intel as possible before popping and transferring his knowledge back to the user, all without risking the life of the Ninja.
So while yes, a clone's memory does in fact transfer to the host, his skills did not. You remembered everything they saw and did, but only in the same way you remembered what a character in a movie did. It was like watching television or reading a book rather than re-experiencing the memories yourself.
The issue stemmed from the fact that the human brain was simply not designed to download and store an entirely new set of memories in an instant as if it were some kind of computer. Think about it, how would the brain process potentially hours of news memories in a single second when it could normally only process a single second worth of new memories per second? It couldn't, it would be overloaded and shut down just trying to process half a minute's worth.
Worse, the memories received from the Shadow Clones had the tendency to quickly fade over time, almost like the memories of a dream. Since our brains are already functioning in full capacity, the sudden influx of foreign memories was like adding water to an already full bucket. In the end, our minds could not cope with it.
Really, the entire Shadow Clone thing didn't seem to be worth it in the end when you took into account the amount of time and effort I poured into it. The only real upside was that to Naruto, with her near-endless supply of Chakra, it really was an invaluable tool.
Ah well, live and learn I guess. Still, note to self, when I finally got my hands on the Rinnegan and achieved godhood, I had to find a way back to my original dimension, locate Kishimoto, then kick him in the nuts over this. Twice.
In the end, we had no choice. We both wanted to end up in the same team together and we knew that the best way to make it happen was if Naruto got the top score among the girls so we decided to buckle down, pull up our sleeves and do it the old fashion way. Cramming.
For the last two months, we filled Naruto's brain with so many academic facts that she started to sleep-talk about it. Her screams of 'Why are there letters in my math question?' and 'If they're imaginary numbers then why can't I give an imaginary answer?" got annoying fast but it was all worth it by the end. Naruto didn't get the top score among the girls in academics, no that honour went to Haruno Sakura, but she did manage to squeeze in a high enough score to boost her average enough to make her the Kunoichi of the year.
"I don't want to be the bearer of bad news my child," My mother gave me a concerned look, "but you shouldn't get your hopes up too much. While it is tradition to pair up the top boy and top girl together, it isn't a rule. They were exceptions in the past."
"And that's why I made sure to ask grandfather for help." I answered with a grin. I wasn't stupid enough to put all my eggs in one basket.
"Of course you did." My mother shook her head with exasperation. "I swear you have that man so wrapped around your little finger he'd do anything you'd ask of him." She halted, then snickered as something occurred to her.
Mio looked left and right as if to make sure the coast is clear, despite being in her bedroom, before she leaned towards us and began speaking in a false whisper, "Don't tell your father I said this, but Hiashi always gets a little bit jealous when he sees how well Takehiko treats you."
In his youth my grandfather, Hyuuga Takehiko, was a harsh man, respected and feared in equal measures. During the time he ruled as the Head of the Clan he was known to be a fair leader but also an unforgiving one, expecting only the best from both himself and others. From what I heard Takehiko had been especially strict with both Hiashi and Hizashi during their childhood and refused to show them any leniency even though they were his sons. On the contrary, he expected them to hold themselves up to a higher standard because they were his sons.
But no one would believe that if they looked at him now.
Ever since his retirement my grandfather has turned to an old softy and would use every opportunity he could to try and spoil Hanabi and me. The old geezer was especially fond of me, bragging and showing me off to his old friends and war buddies every chance he could.
When I asked him if he would help make sure that Naruto and me ended up on the same team, he just thumped his chest and told me to leave it to him – then winked before slipping me a handful of candy along with some pocket money.
"Why is father jealous, does he want some of the candy that grandpa keeps giving us?" Hanabi tilted her head in confusion. "If he does then he should just ask me. I'd be happy to share some with him."
My mother burst out laughing, "Yes sweetheart, that's exactly what you should do." She reached out and snatched Hanabi up in her arms and began cuddling her like she had with Naruto. "I'm sure your father would be delighted if you offered to share your sweets with him."
Speaking of Naruto, "And you," I turned around to the girl who was still hiding behind me and flicked her on the forehead. "Instead of calling for help why didn't you just escape on your own?"
Not everyone part of the Hyuuga Clan was a ninja. My mother, despite being married to the head of the clan, was an ordinary civilian. And while she knew how to access her chakra, something all Hyuuga were taught so they could use their eyes, she had no ninja training whatsoever. Compared to Naruto who trained every day and was stronger physically than even I was, there was no way she had the strength to hold Naruto back if she was really trying to escape.
"But-But Hikaru…I…" Naruto whined as she rubbed her forehead before awkwardly looking away drifted off into silence, refusing to meet my eyes.
Seeing her act like this I just sighed and patted her head fondly. "Yeah. Yeah, I know."
Naruto always had a weak spot against my mother. Right from their very first meeting Naruto could do nothing but stand in shock as my mum snatched her up without any warning and began gushing about how adorable she was.
I was never sure if she liked all the attention Mio kept showering her with or if she was simply overwhelmed by it, but Naruto could never go against any of my mother's wishes.
Mio is the reason why Naruto never misbehaves when she comes over.
After the first time Naruto tried to prank someone in the compound she never tried again, not after she saw Mio's reaction. She didn't yell or try to punish her, but when Naruto saw the sad disappointed look Mio gave her she folded like a house of cards.
My mother has Naruto wrapped around her little finger and I don't think she even realizes it.
"Anyway," I looked down at myself and the sleepwear I still haven't changed out of. "I need to hurry and get dressed if I don't want to be late. Don't want to miss meeting our new Sensei and other team member on the first day."
Mio stopped snuggling the giggling Hanabi and looked up, "Do you know who your third team member is going to be? Or your Sensei for that matter?"
"While I'm not a hundred percent certain, I have a feeling that our Sensei is going to be Hatake Kakashi."
"The former Anbu Captain?" My mom looked startled. Kakashi's reputation was so well known that practically everyone in Konoha had heard his name. "What makes you believe so?"
"Oh nothing. Just a gut feeling." I smiled at her, trying very hard not to let my frustration bleed through.
While we had never met face to face yet, that hasn't stopped me from learning firsthand just how much of a bastard Kakashi could be. I didn't know if it was due to his unique childhood and upbringing but despite how young I appeared to be, the guy had no qualms about messing with my head.
His latest efforts in tormenting me started only a few short weeks ago when I began to notice a change in his routine. Normally Kakashi always brought a copy of his beloved Icha Icha series to read during guard duty but this time, when he reached into his side-pouch he pulled out a completely different book. It was a guide book for beginner teachers.
At first I was more than happy to chalk up the entire matter as his subtle way of telling me that he was going to end up as our Sensei, and went back to ignoring him. It wasn't like I didn't see this coming after all. It was only when I began taking a closer look at the books he was reading that I began to worry.
The book titles ranged from 'How to be a Teacher from Hell' to 'Spare the rod, Spoil the child – A Teacher's guide to discipline' to 'Ass Kicking – the best way to earn your student' respect' to 'Pain – the more you hurt them now, the more they'll thank you later' to, and I swear I'm not making this up, 'The many similarities of training dogs and training children'.
Since the prick seemed to somehow know whenever I was watching him, I couldn't tell if he was seriously reading those books or if he was just doing it to mess with me but either way, I had the feeling that the next several months training under him were going to suck.
Giving my head a quick shake, I tried to dispel the thoughts of my insane new Sensei from my mind, "As for our third team member," I shrugged, "I honestly don't know. Most likely it's whoever scores the lowest, they tend to group up the dead last with the top two to balance the team out. But your guess is as good as mine for who that could be. Not that it really matters in the end, it's not like we have any particularly bad students in our class. As long as we don't end up with someone who's completely insane I'll be satisfied."
"Insane?" Mio gave me a perplexed look, "My son, aren't you worrying yourself over nothing? I don't think they would ever let anyone 'completely insane' to enrol into the Academy let alone graduate. Really, what are the chances of you ending up with someone like that?"
Just as I was about to answer, I was interrupted by the sounds of three distinct yells coming from outside the compound wall, which ironically answered her question better than I ever could.
"Oh Praise the Fires of Youth."
"YOOOOUUUUUUTH~~~~~~~~!"
"WHY IS EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY TEAMMATES INSANE?"
…
"You'd be surprised." I deadpanned to my mother and silently sent a quick prayer for poor Tenten's sanity. Then I spun around and left the room, "And now I better get back and change, I'm going to have to skip breakfast as it is if I want to make it on time."
"Ah, wait Hikaru," Naruto glanced back at my mother, who held her arms open for a hug, before rushing out of the room. "Don't leave me alone with her!"
Naruto slammed the door behind her before hurrying after me, only slowing down when she reached closed enough to snatch up my hand.
"Really," I rolled my eyes at the girl, ignoring the way she clung onto my hand, having long gotten used to it. "How are you supposed to call yourself a Genin if my own civilian mother can send you running?"
Naruto had always been a physically affectionate person. Hugs, holding hands, clinging to my back – she loved those kinds of things and couldn't seem to get enough of it. These days she wouldn't hesitate to make use of any opportunity to sneak a hug in.
She wasn't like that in the beginning. I still remember the first she tried to hold my hand. It was almost like watching a cat trying to sneak up on its prey, slow and cautious; as if she were afraid I'd yank my hand away at the last minute. Then more enthusiastically once she became more sure of herself, until she began to disregard any form of the word personal space and just glomped me whenever she felt like it.
Once she even tried to tackle-hug me when she spotted me walking by her apartment. And by that, I meant she was inside her apartment, up on the 7th floor, when she saw me crossing the street through her window. And of course since this was Naruto we were talking about, it did nothing to deter her from trying to glomp me.
I only realized what was happening when I looked up and found Naruto falling from the sky with her arms held wide open, yelling at me to catch her. And being the reasonable person that I was, I naturally ignored her request, side-stepped out of the way and watched her tear through the sidewalk.
What? Did you think I would try to catch her? Do you know how much force people could generate when they fell off a building? She'd have crushed me like a pancake. Besides, she was fine, a fall like that barely even bruised her, I knew better than anyone how ridiculously tough Naruto's body could be. The side-walk, on the other hand, wasn't anywhere near as tough. The poor thing had a Naruto-shaped hole in it for weeks.
Sometimes I wondered if I was a sadist because that memory had me breaking out in laughter for weeks.
Naruto blushed at my comment, her cheeks reddening, "But I can't help it. Your mum is just so different from the rest of your family that I just don't know how to deal with her."
"That's true I suppose." I nodded, there was no denying that. Mom was the black sheep of the Hyuugas alright. Then I smirked at the blonde when I noticed something. "You do realize that you're going to have to go back don't you." I looked pointedly down at the Kimono that Naruto was still wearing, "My mother still has your clothes."
Yup, that confirms it; I definitely was a sadist, because I could not help but find the look of stunned horror that slowly dawned on Naruto's face almost heartwarming.
"Alright, quiet down everyone and get back to your seats."
The classroom door slid open and in walked Iruka, clipboard in hand. Walking up to the podium at the front of the room, he turned to face the class. He said nothing at first, just took a moment to look from face to face, wearing a proud smile. "From this day forth, you are no longer students of the Academy but ninjas of Konoha. Nor are you children any longer. As Genin you are now officially part of Konoha's military and are hereby granted all the rights and responsibility of a fully grown adult, no matter what your age maybe."
Iruka patiently waited for the excited whispers that sprung up at his words to quiet down before he carried on. "While there may be many benefits to becoming a Genin there are also a lot of downsides. As adults in the eyes of the law, you can no longer get away with actions that you may have been able to in the past, not without serious consequences." His eyes pointedly lingered on Naruto, who just let out an awkward chuckle and smiled sheepishly in return.
Iruka sighed before carrying on.
"I will now announce your group assignments." He held up the list, "All of these teams have been handpicked by the Hokage himself and are not negotiable. So if you have any complaints be sure to take it up with him." He looked around the room to make sure everyone understood before he coughed into his fist and began reading out the teams.
"Team 1, Assigned to the Jonin-"
I blocked out the rest of his words in favour of examining the rest of the class, it's not like Iruka had anything important to say until he reached team 7 and beyond. A quick count around the room gave me the number of Genin that would be assigned their own Jonin instructor.
Only twenty-seven, huh? That was less than 7% of the four hundred and forty-two students that enrolled into the Academy with us. It wasn't that the other children dropped out, most of them were actually graduating today, rather the others simply haven't proven themselves worthy of their own Jonin instructors.
Jonin are rare. They are the very best that Konoha had to offer, its elite, and they made up only a small portion of its ninjas. There was simply no way that they could assign one to every group of Genin that made it out of the Academy. Only the top of the crop ever get their own Jonin instructor. Most are either assigned to Chuunin instead while others are sent over to the Medical or Research division for further specialized training.
The Academy began to divide us up within our first year, and they continued to separate us even further each year after. It wasn't just grades that determined which group you got assigned to but your overall potential. Things such as intelligence, bloodlines, skills, chakra and more were taken into account. Which explained how Naruto ended up in this group in the canon.
I glanced over to my left, where the blonde in question was fidgeting in her seat as she anxiously waited for our teams to be announced. Even if Naruto had ended up as the dead last she would have still made it into this group. Her status as a Jinchuuriki along with her insane chakra capacity would have all but guaranteed it. They would have been stupid to waste such potential no matter what her grades had been.
I spared one more look around the room and spotted the rest of the famed 'Konoha 11'.
Behind us, Choji was who, as usual, was enjoying a pack of chips he had somehow managed to sneak into class. While next to him the lazy Nara, Shikamaru, was trying to get in a few extra minutes of sleep. Down to one side of the room sat Shino, entirely on his own, though going by the constant buzzing noise that came from his jacket that statement might not be entirely accurate.
Akamaru let out an eager bark from his seat on top of his partner's head while Kiba lounged on his chair, his crossed legs set on the desk in front of him. Off to the back of the room were Ino and Sakura, the happy pair whispering excitedly to each other about something.
"Team 7," I snapped my attention back to the present as Iruka finally reached to the important part, "are assigned to the Jonin Hatake Kakashi, and will consist of Hyuuga Hikaru, Uzumaki Naruto-"
"HELL YEAH!" Naruto leapt up from her seat and cheered before turning to me. "Did you hear that Hikaru? We did it, we're on the same team!"
I just smiled up in amusement at the ecstatic blonde before pointing towards the front of the class. Naruto turned her head to where I was pointing and found herself staring into the stern visage of an thoroughly unamused Iruka.
"Ah-ahahaha," Naruto rubbed the back of her head and sunk back into her seat. "Sorry Iruka-sensei."
Iruka just stared at her until he was certain he wasn't going to be interrupted again. "Ahem, as I was saying. Team 7 will consist of Hyuuga Hikaru, Uzumaki Naruto and –"
When Iruka announced the last member of our team, the dead last of the class, I blinked in surprise, never expecting it to be him, before a large grin slowly formed on my face. I turned to look at Naruto, only to find her already looking back at me, sporting a perfect reflection of my grin.
Then as one we both turned in our seats to look behind us, where the final member of team 7 sat.
A pair of tired beady eyes stared back at us, first locking onto my face before jumping to Naruto's. Then their owner shut his eyes and let out a long-suffering sigh.
"…Troublesome."
*chapter end*
Author's Notes:
There we have it, the new members of team 7.
First I want to thank everyone so much for all the support you've given me in the last chapter - it made me so high with happiness for the entire day and left burning with inspiration afterwards, so thank you all so much.
This chapter was shorter than I planned it to be partly because this was such a good place to stop, and partly because the next chapter will have out first real fight scene which I want to take my time writing so I posted this part early so can I give my complete attention on the fight.
Not much happen in this chapter, mostly setting the stage for the arc and catching up on the time skip (which meant I had to dump too much info than I was happy but at least I got that out of the way) - but good news is this will be the last time skip for a long while (until way after the Chuunin exam - which I already planned out - there may not be any major time-skips at all).
There is a reason why Mio (Hinata's mom was unnamed in the anime so I called her that) is alive instead of death. I plan to reveal it soon but I'm sure some of you can guess why.
Oh and here is a fun fact.
Hinata in Japanese means 'sunflower' or 'to face the sun' - it suited her because she was the one who was only looking at Naruto, her sun and light.
Hikaru in Japanese means 'to shine' or 'light' or 'radiance' - it suits him because in this story he became Naruto's light instead of the opposite way around.
Really, in every way Hikaru and Hinata are opposites.
That's all for now, thanks for reading and please be sure to leave a review.
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