Haruto shifted nervously from one foot to the other, watching the Hokage carefully read the scrolls. He had already given his report about his classmates so what else did the old man want?
"Is that all, old man?" The blond winced as he felt the pressure of a weak burst of killing intent. Right, he forgot about his captain and instructor standing behind him.
"So, given your assessment, what changes would you suggest to the composition of the future genin teams of your class?"
Haruto looked at the Hokage questioningly. "I don't know. Since they haven't graduated yet, I couldn't guess how the teams would be organized," he answered mildly.
The old man chuckled.
"Come now, Haruto. I'd hope we know each other a little better than that. I did trust you and respect you enough to assign Tenzou here as your instructor. The least you can do is to return the favor," Sarutobi chastised softly and with humor, but Haruto understood that he was being serious.
"There are too many possible team formations. Do you want my thoughts on all of them or–"
"The top three teams will do for now, with the most likely jounin sensei for each if you would."
The blond nodded. Three teams meant nine members. Haruto was tempted to simply list the nine most likely to graduate, but something was off. Why just three teams and why ask for their jounin sensei?
"I assume there'll be a post graduation test to weed out stragglers." Haruto swore that the brightness of the Hokage's smile could light the night. That certainly complicated matters. He had not read too much on the possible jounin instructors, but a few names did pop up in his mind.
Kurenai Yuuhi was a talented genjutsu specialist recently elevated to jounin rank. Young and idealistic, she would likely try the hardest to make her team—likely a stealth and reconnaissance group—succeed. Fortuitously, such a team existed in the form of Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka. The first two were perfect for Kurenai. The boisterous Kiba was a bit iffier, but if he was even half as promising as his sister or mother, then he and his dog would be great assets to the team. That was one team down.
Then there were the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi clans, three of the more respected clans in Konoha. It was hard to ignore the obvious Ino-Shika-Cho setup. Despite his own reservations, Haruto was sure this was one team everyone else was expecting. As for their jounin sensei, he had a nasty suspicion that it was not going to be someone nearly as motivated as Kurenai Yuuhi. Two names topped the list of the laziest ninja in Konoha: Hatake Kakashi, the famous copycat ninja and former captain of Haruto's ANBU unit, and Asuma Sarutobi, the son of the Third Hokage. It would have been a tossup had a certain Uchiha not been in the class. But as it was, Asuma would likely inherit the Ino-Shika-Cho formation. That was a second team.
Whatever his personal feelings, Haruto knew Sasuke was definitely tabbed to pass. His jounin sensei was guaranteed to be Kakashi. The blond had procured copies of the historic personnel files, so he knew about the origin of the jounin's Sharingan. And if Haruto had him pegged right, Kakashi had a past to reconcile with and would therefore be obliged to aid the Uchiha. However, there was then the matter of figuring out the other two poor fools who would be dragged into all this. Haruto wracked his brains until he remembered the ridiculous academy rules. By convention, the top male and female students were paired with the dead last, right? A sinking sense of horror engulfed Haruto. How could he have missed this?
"There's no way that I'm going to allow myself to be put on the same team as Sasuke!" Haruto declared furiously after he submitted his guesses for the three teams and their respective jounin sensei.
While he had great respect for the captain who taught and led his own teachers, the blond held great reservations about being placed on Kakashi's team. There must have been a good reason as to why the old man never brought the talented copycat nin into the inner circle that helped train him. No one ever mentioned it, but Haruto had a good idea what the sticking point must have been. Minato Namikaze, the revered Yondaime Hokage, who sacrificed his own life to seal away the monstrous Kyuubi inside an infant, was once Kakashi's sensei.
The Hokage did not respond to his outburst, but handed him a piece of paper. It was a draft list of the possible genin teams ranked by order of preference. Haruto's angry features were momentarily replaced by a visage of satisfaction. His guesses for the top graduates and their jounin mentors were right; every single one of them was right on the dot.
"So, what change or changes would you recommend?"
"You're letting me change the order? I thought that was the academy staff's decision." Haruto's surprise was evident. Sure, he had been making complaints and the old man probably suspected him when that critique against the academy's teachings began circulating, but this was something else.
"Conventionally, they make the team list following their rules and I just sign at the bottom. But given your unique circumstances, I'm willing to accommodate. Both of your instructors agreed that placing you under Kakashi with the young Uchiha might not be a good idea," the Hokage explained.
Haruto nodded in agreement. Still, this was an extraordinary honor. By bringing him into the decision making process, the Sandaime Hokage was placing enormous faith in him.
"I think it would be best if I was placed in Team 10," Haruto stated after a bit of thinking. He smirked at the old man's look of confusion. "While Kurenai's team would be a more logical fit for me, I think being there would compromise my alias in ANBU. With the exception of being underpowered for prolonged and heavy engagements, her team is excellent as it is. I see no reason to change it. That leaves Sarutobi Asuma's Team 10."
The Hokage gave a slight frown. His once errant and still estranged son was not a popular discussion subject for the elderly Sarutobi.
"I see."
Normally, the jounin's lack of motivation would be a detriment to his genin students, but in Haruto's case, this could be beneficial as it would free up his time for other tasks.
"You advised against reforming the Ino-Shika-Cho group but noted that the Nara and Akimichi boys would work well together. That leaves…"
"… Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino," Haruto noted. He swore that the only times those two were not clawing each other's eyes out were when they were ganging up on him. He almost pitied Sasuke.
"My, my, you are growing up, Haruto. Two girls at once?" For a minute, the young blond spluttered, before collecting himself to glare at the laughing Hokage.
Did he really think that he would want those two on his team? Sure, they were his first friends–years ago–and they were quite pretty, and he really would not mind taking them out for ramen after a training session or a mission. Haruto blushed at the thought, sending the elderly ninja leader into another round of laughter.
"Not another word, old man!"
"Haruto!"
The young boy flinched at his teacher's sharp rebuke. But by the slight shuffling sound, even the uptight Captain of ANBU Team Alpha was amused. After letting the two adults have some more fun at his expense, Haruto became serious.
"It's not that I don't like them." Wait, who was he kidding? Of course he did not like them much. They were downright vicious, except to their precious Sasuke-kun. "I know they're at the top of the class and are almost guaranteed to graduate, but I don't think they are cut out to be ninja. It's very dangerous work; kill or be killed, and they aren't ready for that."
"Academy students aren't tested to see if they are ANBU material; they are tested to see if they are suitable to be genin," the Hokage gently reminded him.
The old man's words gave Haruto pause. Could it be true that he was being too tough of a judge?
"Haruto, I notice that you were particularly harsh on those two girls when giving your report. Why is that?"
The blond blinked in surprise. He was not aware that he had done that. Could it be that his subconscious had played some role? Slowly, but surely, his face turned crimson.
"I think in your own way, you were trying to protect them," Sarutobi smiled benignly as Haruto fidgeted, squirmed and then finally scowled at him. "Don't you think you could do that better if you were on their team? Alternatively, do you think putting them in Team 7 with Uchiha Sasuke would be to their benefit?"
"Of course not!" was Haruto's immediate response. He winced when he heard how jealous and defensive he sounded. Like one of Sasuke's admirers. Still, what the old man said made a lot of sense. It was too bad that neither girl wanted to work with him or with each other.
"Look, old… I mean Hokage-sama," Haruto glared at the ANBU, "it's not that they don't have potential. The Yamanaka girl has one of the most tactically useful bloodlines I know and I think Haruno has better chakra control than most chuunin. But those girls are just not motivated enough to train seriously. And given their impression of me, I don't see how I can help them, not without breaking my cover at least. It would be best for everyone if they end up in Team 7 with the Uchiha and I end up in Team 10 with Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji." Haruto always tried to be fair, especially in terms of judging the competence of others. While he did not particularly like it, he knew it was for the best.
"It's not like I want them to be on the Uchiha's team," the young man snorted in mild disgust. "Who knows, maybe the idiot will come around. He's about the only person they'll listen to."
The Hokage gave him a skeptical look. Of course, Haruto did not really believe his own words. It would be a miracle if the Uchiha didn't end up murdering his teammates. The thought left the boy feeling sick, but he squashed it down.
"Besides, they have Kakashi. They'll be fine." Haruto's assertion sounded like he was trying to convince himself. But there was little the Hokage could do.
"Very well, I'll go with your suggestion for now. I do recommend that you show a little more effort in class so the rearrangement would be more acceptable to others. Still, think about what I said. Kakashi will be under pressure to devote most of his time and attention on Sasuke Uchiha. If those girls are as you claimed, it would be a travesty to Konoha if they were kept from developing to their full potential."
"Of course, Hokage-sama," Haruto answered formally.
The young boy frowned. He had not considered the possibility of Kakashi leaving Sakura and Ino to rot on the side. Surely, the great former captain of ANBU would not be so callous. He had much to think about. The blond waved goodbye to his captain and the old man before leaving.
"He appeared rather uneasy at the end," Tenzou noted.
"Haruto has a generous heart. He is agonizing over his friends and he's not the only one. Inoichi recently conveyed his misgivings to me. He fears that he hasn't adequately prepared his daughter for the hard life ahead. Alas, there's not much we can do for now. There's still time before the final exam."
Sarutobi turned his attention to the ANBU captain.
"What about Haruto? He seemed somewhat wary and haggard today. Was it the mission? Did he have trouble with it?"
"Doubtful. His performance during the mission was outstanding. He came up with an audacious nighttime assault plan that we ended up using. His genjutsu made me wonder if he had some Kurama blood, and his kills were all clean and precise. My subordinates have since expressed disbelief when told that it was his first ANBU mission."
The report was delivered in a simple and straightforward manner, but it was easy for Sarutobi to hear the pride in Tenzou's voice.
The Hokage was both extremely pleased and concerned. On the one hand, Haruto had been every bit as able, talented and resourceful as Sarutobi had believed him to be. On the other, his performance had been almost too perfect. Frankly, the Hokage was overjoyed when Haruto blushed and raged like a normal youngster.
"Since Haruto performed so well, put him through a rotation with the other ANBU teams. Arrange them so that he won't have to take the longer missions. If he goes missing too often, people will become suspicious."
"I'll do what I can, though I believe he was working on a way around that. He told me he was researching into how to make a semi-permanent clone that he can leave behind at the academy. I informed him that he would likely require the use of advanced sealing techniques to hold his double for a prolonged period."
The Hokage rubbed his chin in thought. The kid certainly had some interesting ideas. Unfortunately, Haruto would have a difficult time of it as he had received almost no training regarding sealing techniques. If only Jiraiya were here…
"I suppose it's time to grant him access to my library. I believe I still have those notes on my students' techniques." The Sandaime Hokage was not known as the "Professor" for nothing. "Is there anything else?"
"There is one other thing. Haruto brought it to my attention right before our meeting today. He was concerned about internal security at the academy."
"Security? Why?"
"He suspects a spy amongst the staff. This was not my idea, I assure you, Hokage-sama," Tenzou stated, quick to defend himself.
The Hokage looked skeptical as well. "Did he say who?"
"He named Iruka Umino and his assistant, citing 'exemplary behavior above the norm of their colleagues' as warrant for concern."
Sarutobi could not help but chuckle. Only Haruto's paranoia could produce such a theory.
"But he also suggested having the backgrounds of the entire academy staff be reexamined," Tenzou continued.
Sarutobi drummed his fingers on the table. Treason was a very serious charge to make against a ninja. But the young blond had never joked about security matters before. As he had a knack for being right about such things, it wouldn't hurt to double check, would it?
"Tenzou, I'm authorizing you to make a discreet inquiry on the matter. See if you can enlist Haruto's help and try to get him access to the personnel files."
Tenzou nodded. Haruto was certainly coming into his own, adapting to his new duties and roles like a fish to water.
I pray for your success, future Hokage. All too aware of the obstacles along the way, Sarutobi could not help but make a bittersweet smile. You'll need it.