Class 2-B had emptied. Other teams had long since left with their instructors. Only three remained.
An hour of silence and waiting.
"Where is he?!" Sakura jumped up, starting to pace nervously down the aisle. "Everyone's already left! Why is only our sensei late?"
Sasuke sat motionless, arms crossed. Eyes closed. Energy was not wasted on anger. He immersed himself in thought, walling himself off from the hysteria with a barrier of icy indifference.
Naruto also sat, but he wasn't bored.
The window, his usual spot. Eyelids lowered, breathing even. Not full meditation, but work. Qi, obedient to his will, flowed in a spiral, strengthening his body from the inside, while a chaotic layer of Blue Chakra boiled over it. Not a minute wasted. Six years of training had turned this into a reflex, a necessity, like inhaling and exhaling.
"Maybe they forgot about us?" Sakura groaned, collapsing onto a chair. "Maybe this is some kind of test?"
Sasuke grunted without opening his eyes.
"Don't be an idiot. He's just late."
"But!.."
"Quiet."
At that moment, Sakura noticed Naruto. The "failure" who miraculously slipped into their ranks sat absolutely silent.
"And why are you sitting there like everything's normal?" she threw irritably.
Naruto opened his eyes. A gaze as calm as the surface of water. He looked at her, answered nothing, and closed his eyelids again, returning to the internal cycle.
This infuriated her more than a shouted reply.
Sakura decided to act. Her gaze fell on the blackboard eraser. A giggle, a quick dash—and the trap was wedged between the door and the jamb.
"That's what he gets for being late!"
"Are you serious?" Sasuke's voice dripped with disdain. "Do you think a Jonin will fall for the most childish trick in the book?"
"Yes, he will!" the girl pouted.
The door slowly slid open.
Naruto didn't flinch. Qi Sensory had "seen" the aura a minute ago. Powerful, calm, but incredibly alert and... lazy. He felt the person approach, freeze, wait a pause, and only then reach for the handle.
He's playing with us, Naruto realized.
A hand appeared in the opening, then a head with a grey "nest" of hair and a mask covering half his face. A step inside.
THWACK.
The eraser, full of chalk dust, landed perfectly on the crown of his head.
Dead silence.
"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Sakura pointed a finger, doubling over with laughter. "Gotcha! I told you so!"
Sasuke froze. His brain refused to accept what had happened.
He's... a Jonin? Elite? And fell for that? This is... our commander?
Naruto opened his eyes.
The Jonin slowly raised a hand, removed the eraser, and looked at them with his single visible eye.
"Hmm..." he drawled lazily. "My first impression... I dislike you all."
...
The roof of the Academy. The wind ruffled their hair. They sat on the cold steps, squinting from the midday sun. Kakashi, their new sensei, leaned against the railing.
"So. Since we're here, let's get to know each other. Tell me about yourselves: likes, dislikes, dreams, goals... well, you get it."
Sakura immediately raised her hand.
"Can I go first?"
"Go ahead."
"My name is Sakura Haruno!" her gaze darted to the Uchiha. "What I like... I mean, who I like..." giggling, a blush. "My dream for the future..." a squeal into her palms. "And what I dislike... Ino-Pig!"
Kakashi nodded. I see. Fangirl. Life revolves around guys. Zero thoughts on the path of a shinobi.
"Next."
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha."
A voice even and cold as the winter wind.
"I have few likes, and I dislike almost everything. I have no dream, because I will make it a reality. I will restore my clan... and kill a certain man."
Heavy silence hung over the roof. Sakura watched with adoration and awe.
Avenger, the Jonin's gaze remained inscrutable. Just like in the report. Broken, obsessed. Dangerous combination.
Gaze on the last student.
"And now you."
Naruto didn't fidget or smile. He looked at the stone faces of the Hokage carved into the cliff.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki."
Pause. Gathering thoughts.
"What I like... people who are kind to me. Ramen from Ichiraku. Learning new things. What I dislike... traitors," his voice became harder than steel for a fraction of a second, "and those who oppress the weak."
Kakashi's eyebrow twitched. Interesting.
"My goal..." his gaze lingered on the Fourth's head. "To become Hokage. To become strong enough to protect those I care about."
Kakashi was silent for ten long seconds.
The Third's report: "Loud. Seeks attention. Obsessed with the idea of Hokage. Chakra control is terrible. Unstable."
Before him sat a calm, composed young man. He mentioned Hokage not as a cry for recognition, but as a measured goal. "Protect"... "Traitors"—logical after Mizuki. But "learning new things"? The report was full of holes.
Internal sigh.
Fangirl, Avenger, and... The Strange Jinchuriki. The report is either incomplete or hopelessly outdated. This kid is more complex than he seems.
"Good," he said aloud. "You all have very different and... interesting goals. But like it or not, from tomorrow you are a team. And your first real mission starts tomorrow at five in the morning at Training Ground Seven."
His eye smiled.
"We will undergo a survival test."
"Huh? But sensei, we already took tests in the Academy!" Sakura protested.
"This one is different," amused notes of sadism sounded in his voice. "Of the twenty-seven graduates... only nine will become genin. The other eighteen will be sent back to the desks. It's an all-or-nothing test."
"Wha-at?!" the girl shrieked.
"Yes. So... don't be late. Oh, and I advise you not to eat breakfast."
A glance at the shocked faces.
"Or you'll throw up. See you tomorrow."
Poof. A puff of smoke. Emptiness.