"What's wrong, Naruto?"
Iruka was startled by the sudden exclamations from the three of them. He looked at them in confusion, not understanding what had caused such a reaction.
"N-Nothing!" Sakura hurriedly shook her head. She couldn't exactly tell their teacher they were terrified of their assigned instructor.
"If it's nothing, then quiet down," Iruka reminded them. "There are still other teams whose instructors haven't been announced yet."
He lowered his head and continued reading through the list.
Team after team was called out. The atmosphere in the classroom remained tense as everyone waited to hear who would be leading them.
When Iruka finally reached the end of the roster, he closed it and looked up at the assembled students.
"Remember your assigned instructor. They will come to the classroom shortly to collect their teams. When they arrive, just follow your jonin and they will take you somewhere to talk." He tucked the roster under his arm and headed toward the door. "I will go notify the jonin instructors now."
The moment Iruka left, Sakura started pacing anxiously.
"What should we do?" she muttered, more to herself than to anyone else. "What if our instructor is really like what Daiki said? What if he sends us all back?"
"What's there to be afraid of!" Naruto straightened up and thumped his chest confidently. "Those people before must have failed because they were too weak! There's no way we will fail the test. Don't worry, Sakura!"
Sasuke said nothing. But internally, he was running through scenarios. If Kakashi really was as strict as the rumors suggested, they would need to approach the test strategically. Failing and being sent back to the Academy wasn't an option. He had to get stronger. Every day wasted was another day Itachi remained free.
The classroom door was opened, interrupting his thoughts.
A woman with long black hair stepped inside. Her crimson eyes swept across the room, studying each student before finally settling on one particular team.
"Team Eight," she said. "With me."
"Yes!" Shino rose quietly, his high collar hiding most of his face. Kiba grinned while Akamaru yipped happily from his perch on the boy's head. Hinata stood more hesitantly, pressing her fingers together with nervous habit.
They quickly followed Kurenai out of the classroom.
The remaining students shifted in their seats.
Several minutes passed in silence before another voice called from the doorway.
"Is Team Six here?"
The three members of Team Six turned toward the source.
A kunoichi stood in the doorway. Her black hair flowed down to her waist, and a distinctive diamond-shaped mark rested on her forehead. Her white outfit was practical but flattering, emphasizing her tall, straight posture and athletic build.
"Aoi-nee!" Daiki's eyes lit up immediately. He grabbed both Karin and Sai by their arms and dragged them toward the door.
"Daiki," Aoi said with an amused smile, reaching out to ruffle his hair affectionately. "From now on I will be your team leader. You should call me 'sensei.'"
"Yes, Aoi-sensei!" Daiki corrected himself immediately.
Karin and Sai quickly bowed respectfully. "Aoi-sensei, please take care of us!"
"Follow me," Aoi said simply, turning and walking out.
The three of them hurried after her, filing out of the classroom in a line. As they walked down the hallway, Karin stared at Aoi's back.
"She really is a beauty," she whispered to Daiki, leaning close so only he could hear. "Especially..." She made a subtle gesture in front of her chest.
"Of course she is," Daiki said, completely missing Karin's frantic attempts to signal him to stop talking. "But don't let her appearance fool you. She's already in her thirties. I think she's only four years younger than my dad. She looks so young now because of some kind of jutsu effect or something."
"Oh? In her thirties, is that so?"
A voice suddenly came from directly behind him.
Daiki's neck stiffened. Before he could react, his ear was seized and twisted painfully.
"Ow, ow, ow! Aoi-sensei, I was wrong! I won't say it again!" He winced, face scrunching up in pain as he hurriedly begged for mercy.
Aoi gave his ear another half-turn before releasing it. "Listen carefully. A woman's age is a taboo subject. Remember that."
Daiki rubbed his sore ear, nodding vigorously while Karin tried very hard not to laugh. Even Sai's expression flickered with what might have been amusement.
They walked to a shaded area beside one of the training grounds. Large trees provided cover from the afternoon sun, and the grass beneath was soft and well-maintained. Aoi pointed at the ground.
"Sit. We will start with self-introductions. Tell me your names, what you like, what you dislike, and your dreams. Just chat freely."
The three students settled onto the grass, forming a loose semicircle facing their new instructor. Aoi looked at them, and for a moment her mind drifted.
She was suddenly back in time, years ago, when she had just graduated early from the Ninja Academy. She could see herself and her teammates sitting in a similar circle during a rest break on their way to the battlefield. Kenji had asked them to introduce themselves in exactly this way.
They had been so young then. And now here she was, a jonin instructor herself, looking at her teacher's son sitting among her students.
The war was long over. The smoke had cleared. But the memories remained vivid. A smile curved her lips.
"Sensei? Sensei!" Karin's voice pulled her back to the present.
"What is it?" Aoi blinked, focusing on Karin.
"You should go first!" Karin said, not sure why her teacher had suddenly spaced out but wanting to move things along.
"Me first? All right." Aoi nodded.
She opened her mouth to begin a straightforward introduction, then paused. A memory flashed through her mind, Kenji's own self-introduction all those years ago. He had been vague, revealing almost nothing, and it had frustrated them all terribly at the time.
A mischievous smile curved her lips.
"Hmm... I'm Hoshino Aoi, a medical-nin. As for what I like and dislike, I don't feel like saying right now. I have many dreams and hobbies. I'll talk about the rest later."
"Eh?" Karin immediately puffed out her cheeks in protest. "Sensei, that's basically the same as not saying anything!"
Aoi couldn't help but laugh. Now she finally understood how her teacher had felt back then. Teasing these kids really was entertaining.
"All right, your turn," she said, gesturing for them to begin.
Karin began talking about her love of reading and her ambition to become a great sensor. Sai followed with his characteristic stiff delivery, revealing a bit more about his time in Root and his still-developing social skills. Daiki went last, speaking confidently about his goals and the techniques he wanted to master.
Aoi listened attentively to all of them.
---
While Team Six's introductions carried on in a lively and animated fashion under the shade of the trees, back in the Ninja Academy classroom, the three members of Team Seven were growing increasingly restless.
One by one, the other teams had been collected by their jonin instructors and led away. The classroom had emptied out gradually, voices and footsteps fading into the distance, until finally only Team Seven remained.
And still, Kakashi had not shown up.
"He's not just... not coming at all, is he?" Sakura's face had gone pale. "Are they going to send us straight back to the Academy without even testing us?"
The silence of the empty classroom pressed down on them. Minutes ticked by, each one feeling longer than the last.
"Probably not..." Naruto tried to reassure her. His fingers drummed unconsciously against the desk.
"Don't worry," Sasuke said calmly. "If something like that really happens, Naruto can ask his dad to handle it."
Naruto blinked, then suddenly slammed his hands on the desk and jumped to his feet.
"That's right! My dad's the Hokage! As Hokage, he has to deal with unfair stuff like this! He wouldn't just let his son get kicked out for no reason!"
Sakura let out a breath. She had almost forgotten that detail. Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son.
He was so low-key about it that it was easy to overlook. The kid regularly skipped class with Shikamaru and the other boys, got caught and punished by Iruka on a near-weekly basis, and generally acted like any other Academy student. He never brought up his father's position or tried to use it for special treatment.
Still, in a situation like this, having the Hokage as your father was definitely an advantage.
"Sorry, sorry. I'm late."
The lazy drawl came from the doorway, accompanied by the sound of the door sliding open.
All three students' heads snapped toward the entrance.
A man leaned against the doorframe. Silver hair stuck up in gravity-defying spikes, and a mask covered the lower half of his face. One eye was visible, while the other was covered by his forehead protectors worn at an angle.
He looked at the three of them.
"I ran into a lost cat on the way," he said by way of explanation. "And got delayed helping it find its owner."
"It-it's fine..." Sakura hurried to stand up.
Naruto stared at him for a few seconds. Then his eyes suddenly widened and he pointed directly at Kakashi.
"Wait! It's you! You're Rin's husband! So your name is Kakashi! I finally remembered!"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow.
"Yo, Naruto. I didn't expect my student to be you. But you should have known my name already. I have been to your house dozens of times over the years."
"Really?" Naruto scratched the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. "I only ever paid attention to Rin. Never really noticed you..."
He caught himself, remembering the rumors about Kakashi's harsh testing standards, and quickly corrected himself.
"Kakashi-sensei! I will definitely remember your name from now on!"
Kakashi was already used to the thick-headedness Naruto had inherited from Kushina. He didn't bother responding to that, instead turning and heading toward the door. "Let's go. We will find somewhere quiet to talk."
He started down the hallway at a leisurely pace with his hands in his pockets. The three students scrambled to gather their things and follow.
After just a few steps, Naruto suddenly jogged up beside him.
"By the way, Kakashi-sensei. I heard that all the genin you taught before were sent back to the Academy. That's not true, right?"