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Morning came early for Naruto. He sighed as he got up. He put his dark orange shinobi attire on. He said to himself, "I'll go and visit Kakashi after I meet the Sandaime Hokage." He did the bird hand sign and disappeared in the wind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX Hokage's Office XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Pops, who are we waiting for? Let's just get on with the meeting so we can train our teams already." said the large bearded man.

The Sandaime said, "Asuma-kun, you should learn patience. Now as I said we will wait until he gets here."

Asuma just pulled out his lighter and started to smoke. Asuma had brown eyes, short black spiked hair and a black beard. His clothing consisted of the standard Konoha ninja uniform, though his flak jacket is seemingly darker than that of other Jōnin and Chūnin. He wears the Twelve Guardian Ninja sash on his waist with the "Fire" kanji marked on it. He also wore a bracelet on both of his wrists.

Asuma is typically a laid-back individual but today he really was irritated. He had a hangover from the night before, a member of ANBU woke him up and told him there was a meeting, and then find out his sister went on a cruise to the Land of Tea with her husband for three weeks. That's not a problem except now he had to take care of their eight year old child, Konohamaru. That child was just as hyper as Naruto.

Speaking of Naruto, the wind started to flutter. The three people covered their eyes. When they opened them they saw Naruto looking at them with the stoicism of Minato. Asuma saw the new Naruto and said, "Pops, who the hell is he?"

Naruto decide to answer for the Hokage, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki but you can call me Naruto." Asuma and Kurenai blinked. What was he doing here? He can't possibly be the infamous Naruto that terrorized the ANBU. No it couldn't be, could it? Naruto took note of the way they were looking at him. He was going to take care of it right now.

He said, "Umm excuse me sir and madam may I have your names?"

The lady that was extremely quite before said, "Kurenai Yuhi." Naruto feigned surprise.

He said in a believable tone, "You're the Kurenai Yuhi. You are the Ice Queen of Konoha, the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha, the Queen of the Red Thorns and the third strongest woman in Konoha right next to Yuugao Uzuki the Purple Blade and Anko Mitarashi, the Snake Mistress. It is an honor and a pleasure to meet you."

Kurenai saw Naruto bow to her. She naturally blushed from the praise. Kurenai said, "Thank you Naruto. It is also a pleasure to meet you." He had a smile on his face as he saw the irritated look on Asuma's face.

He said, "How about you sir? What is your name?"

"Asuma Sarutobi"

Naruto said, "So you're Asuma Sarutobi. I've heard rumors about you. I heard you were a part of the legendary Twelve Guardians for the Hi no Kuni Daimyo. That is very impressive. I also heard some other rumors that weren't too good like for the death of that small kid when you tried to use one of you Fuuton abilities."

Asuma's face was dark. How did he find that out? He didn't want to say if that is true or not especially in front of Kurenai. He took a puff of his cigarette and said, "You know you shouldn't believe all the rumors you hear."

'Hook, line and sinker', Naruto thought was he was inwardly smirking. He said, "You are absolutely right Asuma-san. Rumors can be, well deadly, to a person like believing that someone is a dead last, has blond hair, and shouts being Hokage, is someone you can disregard. Rumors are a two way street. You can believe them or you don't. The best thing to do is keep your eyes and mind open and your beliefs quiet. It was something taught in the Academy that you once taught at."

Naruto and his subtle meanings are seriously catching Sarutobi off guard. Asuma looked at Naruto with an angry look. He did not like that Naruto caught him about rumors.

Naruto continued, "Sandaime-sama, I want to apologize for my tardiness. I didn't know when to be here. Are we ready to start the meeting?"

Sandaime said, "Oh, yes. Kurenai-chan, Asuma-kun, and Naruto-kun as of right now you are the leaders of Teams 7, Team 8, and Team 10.-"

"Wait a minute pops. You mean to tell me that Naruto here is the leader of Team 7. When did that happen? What happened with Kakashi? I mean sure he is out of commission but still. That doesn't explain him being here."

Before Sandaime could explain, Naruto spoke up, "Asuma, as much as I do not like what you said, I would fight you to the dead for the right to say it. However your opinion holds no weight. You see the reason I believe I am the Team leader even if it is temporary is because of the information that the Sandaime was going to tell us. He was obviously going to relay something such as a protocol or a new way to teach things. If he had brought in a substitute to us not only would the information that Kakashi would want to know. It is much easier if I am the correspondent and/or the temporary leader."

Both Asuma and Hiruzen dropped their cigarette and pipes respectively. Kurenai had to replay the scene again to hear what Naruto said and what was going on. Naruto closed his eyes and waited for Hiruzen to respond or even Asuma to. Naruto then took a deep breath and blew out a ferocious wind.

Hiruzen got out of his stupor and said, "Naruto-kun, why did you do that?"

Naruto said, "There was a small fire burning. I might live in the Hi no Kuni but I don't want to die by fire. "Hiruzen saw Kurenai giggle. Asuma started to brood. The boy was really pissing him off upon other stuff.

Hiruzen said, "Thank you, for taking out the fire. Now I have a mission on hand for you three. You see it is tradition for the senseis of the fresh, new, Genin to take a mission with each other. The reason is for you three to work together and learn to trust each other. The belief is if you can trust each other as your fellow leaders then you should be able to teach and influence your students."

Naruto and the other two nodded at this. Sarutobi continued, "It's great you all are on agreement about this. Your mission is an A-ranked mission. You are going to go past Kirigakure no Sato to Aisu no Kuni. Apparently there are some missing ninjas that are around causing problems. As you know Kirigakure is in a civil war. Unfortunately we cannot go around Kiri. You are going to have to go through Kiri.

Be careful and make it back safely. The team leader will have to talk with Aisu Council. I'll choose the leader."

Asuma was smirking since it would be a perfect chance to teach the kid some matters. Naruto looked at Asuma and saw that Asuma might be a problem on this mission. Kurenai was thinking about Kiri and how to get away without death.

Sarutobi said, "Ok Asuma, I would choose you however because of your laid back personality and the fact that you were a member of the Twelve Guardians and extremely close to the Fire Daimyo, it could be a conflict between the Fire and Ice Lands."

Asuma could not believe it. Because of his association with the Fire Daimyo, he couldn't be the leader. So his bargaining chip was taken away. Naruto had a small smirk on his face. He much rather have Kurenai as the team leader.

"With that being said, Kurenai you would be the team leader. However there is one small problem with you being the leader. Aisu no Kuni is very sexiest. I don't remember why but they are notorious for it. They have been fighting for quite some time with the Amazon women. Because you are such a strong woman, it could compromise the agreement with them."

Kurenai was pissed off. It wasn't because she wasn't leader. No, it was because of the sexist bastards. Why was Konoha in trade with such a country? Naruto saw where this was going. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Sarutobi said, "Well this means Naruto will be in charge."

Naruto could only blink. He didn't really know what to say. Asuma sure did, "Pops, what are you talking about? The kid doesn't have any experience. For Kami's sake, this is his first mission. I mean he is the first kid since you know who, to be a thirteen year old to do an A-rank mission. Look how he turned out."

Naruto didn't like being put down even though it was true, he didn't like it. He said, "I might not know who 'You know who' is but I'm not him. I am Naruto Uzumaki and that is always who I want to be. Sure I have flaws but that doesn't mean I can't lead a team. I don't mean any disrespect to you Asuma-san, but you do not know me so for you to relate me to whoever 'You know who' is because I am the same age as him is absolutely ludicrous.

If I want to be able to become to a strong, understandable, and powerful leader, I need to be able to go out and lead. I can't hide from the world and expect to become a powerful ninja out of the blue. I want to be a leader as Asuma-san and Kurenai-san are then it will be a great help to learn from them how to follow and to obey orders."

Both Sarutobis could not fault Naruto's reasoning. Asuma was too stunned to comment. Kurenai had to look at those reports again. The Sandaime said, "Well Naruto it is settled then. You will be the team leader for this mission. On my desk are the reports on the place and other things that can be important. So good luck you will leave tonight."

The said, "Hai" and went on their way.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Meanwhile XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The other members of The Rookie Nine even Sasuke were having a celebration for passing. They were at the new barbeque pit down the street from the ramen shop.

Ino was the first one to speak, "Hey everyone congrats on passing your Genin Test." she raised her and the Rookies' very first glass of sake. The rest raised their glasses and started to drink. Sasuke however didn't drink because his mind on something and it has something to do with a certain blond.

Ino said, "Hey Team Eight, how did you pass your test?"

Kiba started to answer, "That was easy. Kurenai-sensei put a genjutsu on us. For most of the match we were walking around in circles. That was when Akamaru and I figured out that she was using a powerful genjutsu. That was when me and Akamaru kicked her ass. Yeah!"

Hinata and Shino blinked at his vantage point. Shino pushed his glasses up. He gave Kiba his stoic and creepy glare. It was seriously creeping Kiba out as he laughed nervously. Shino on the other hand wasn't laughing and said, "Kiba, you should not tell lies.

What really happened is Kurenai use a genjutsu on us separately. Kiba was so deep into the genjutsu that he believed Akamaru and he was beating her up. However it was Hinata who used her Byakugan to disabled her genjutsu. When we broke it, I used my bugs to suck her chakra to submit. Even then I know she probably could have defeated us easily but still."

The rookies were laughing at Kiba except Sasuke. Sasuke's mind was going towards Naruto with every second that passes. 'How is he this strong? He was the class Dobe. Yet he was able to beat our Jonin-sensei. What's worse is that I found out that Kakashi is one if not the best Jonin in Konoha. How is that even possible that a Dobe could beat a Jonin? Who is the real Naruto?'

Ino said, "We were separated on ours. Asuma-sensei, made me do a test in his mind. We battled there and he was whipping my ass until I kicked him in the nuts. Now that's what I call a mindfuck."

Chouji spoke next "munch He did a test of strength against me. We had to carry boulders back and forth for about thirty minutes. I barely won but I did so I was happy. Damn munch those boulders were heavy as hell. They were about eighty pounds easily."

They were laughing about Chouji's plight. Shika of course snickered. Yet he felt like someone was missing. He looked around and saw that almost everyone else was here but for some reason he felt someone wasn't here. He saw that everyone was looking at him to tell his part.

He said, "Troublesome. Well Asuma-sensei took out a testing kit. He did some puzzles with me. They were easy. We then did some Shogi and Go games. It was about even. He then tested my shadow abilities. I passed easily and that was pretty much it."

Ino then started to gush. She said, "Forehead, it your turn. Now dish!" Sakura didn't know what to say. I mean she did absolutely nothing. Shika then felt an extremely powerful chakra. He looked over to where it was. He looked over and saw a guy with blond hair and blue eyes. He had on this dark orange jacket with black pants with an orange stripe going down the side.

Shika said, "Guys look at him. Who is he?" The Rookie teams looked to see who it was. The man's attitude screamed authority. His eyes were somewhat covered so they couldn't tell who it was.

Ino, Sakura, and Hinata blushed as he walked through. Ino said, "I don't know who he is but I want a piece of that. Shika can you stop him for me. Let's ask him if he wanted to come over with us." Shika for some reason had a bad feeling about this. His mind was telling him it was going to be troublesome but he gave up and obliged.

He got up and did the rat sign. He said, "Troublesome, hey who are you?"

The man sighed as his shadow was connected to Shikamaru. He really didn't want to deal with them. He said, "Shika can you release me from your shadow please." The rookies' eyes went wide. Their thoughts were exactly the same, 'That sounds like Naruto!'

Shika said with shock clear in his voice, "Naruto, is that you?" Naruto rolled his eyes.

He said, "Yes Shika. Now can please let me go. I have business to take care of."

"No can do Naruto. You gotta have at least one drink with us. Why weren't you here with us in the first place?" that was actually on their minds. 'Why was Naruto not here?'

Naruto said, "I didn't get an invite. It doesn't matter though I already had my ramen and my drink which was water. I'm full and I really must get going. So Shika, I'm going to ask one more time please let me go."

Ino exclaimed, "Forehead, I told you to invite your team. How could you forget Naruto, especially if he looked like that?" Sakura became small. She started to see that everyone was a little peeved about Naruto not being there.

Naruto said in a very serious tone, "I asked nicely Shika, but it seems like you don't get the point. So..." With a flicked of the wrist, Naruto sent a powerful wave to the Shadow user. The power was so strong that it sent Shika all the way into a booth with an oof. They looked at Naruto with wide eyes. He was able to not only break Shika's shadow, he sent Shika all the way to the booth with a flick of the wrist.

Naruto said, "Well ladies and gentlemen, I must be on my way. Enjoy the rest of the dinner and have a great evening." With that a large gust of wind caused the rookies to close their eyes. When they opened them, Naruto was gone.

Ino could not believe it. She said, "Forehead, what the hell is going on? How is Naruto like this? When did he become well that? You might as well tell me how you passed?"

Sakura was squirming in her chair. She tried to lie, "We were able because of Sas-" Her sentence was stopped by a slam on the table. To her and the rookies surprise it was Sasuke. He took one more shot before he started to speak.

"Sakura stop the lies. Tell them how we really passed. "

"But Sasuke-kun-" She tried to say but he stopped her again.

"Now Sakura! I want to hear it come out of your mouth. What happened?"

Sakura sighed, "Ok Sasuke-kun. Guys the reason we passed is because of Naruto." They looked at the two with wide eyes. They couldn't believe what they just heard.

Ino being the loud mouth and in little denial said, "Sakura you mean after you and Sasuke-kun wore down your sensei. That has to be it. Right?"

Sakura shook her head. She said, "As much as I want to say that, it isn't the truth. Kakashi-sensei gave us the bell test. Me and Sasuke-kun hid in the bushes. Naruto on the other hand faced Kakashi-sensei head on. In fact, he faced him the whole time. He did some things with his Kage Bushin. He even won the match with his own original jutsu. He had the bells from the get go. Unfortunately, he put our sensei in to the hospital when he stabbed him with a kunai."

Everyone looked at Sakura as if she had to be lying. That was when Sasuke got up and saw his anger in his face did they know that she was telling the truth. Then the most surprising thing to happen was Hinata. She blurted, "Holy Shit!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Kakashi XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi was in his bed watching TV. He was under the influence of morphine so the pain will stop. They saw some other problems from the fight. Even under the influence, he was always alert. He saw the wind blow his curtains. He saw his blond student in his room. Naruto said, "Hello Kakashi-sensei, do you mind if I talk to you for a while?"

Kakashi waved his good hand and said, "Sure, Blondie. Hey you're one the lucky people."

Naruto said, "Why is that Kakashi-sensei?"

The look of Kakashi's face was a too drugged Kakashi as he said, "most people who stab me in the kidney would not be alive right now." Kakashi laughed his heart out as if it was the funniest joke ever. Naruto laughed as well. He went into his jacket and pulled out a few scrolls. He put some chakra into one of his scrolls and a poof of smoke appeared.

In its place was a tray of ramen. He said, "Kakashi-sensei, I know you must be tired of the bland hospital food so I got some of the best ramen around. I especially asked Ayame to make it for you. Here you go." Naruto passed it to Kakashi. Kakashi had this wide smile on his face as he ate the ramen.

Naruto just looked at his future sensei. He leaned back in the chair as this might be one of his most important talks he will ever have. The ironic part of it all is that it is with a guy that is extremely drugged. He saw that Kakashi finished eating and started to speak.

"Kakashi-sensei, I was made a Tokubetsu Genin yesterday."

Kakashi nodded. He said, "Congrats Naruto. You are only the fifth in Konoha's history to hold that title. You are the first to hold that title during peace time. Your predecessors were great people. So do hold the title well."

Naruto replied, "Thank you. The thing is I have become Sasuke and Sakura's sensei for the time being. To be honest I really don't know how to deal with them. I mean I have Sasuke's pride and ego that won't let me teach him without trying to learn all my techniques. Sakura still thinks that I'm the Dobe who is weaker than her when in fact she is the liability to the team."

"Naruto, you are not thinking. Think about my Chidori earlier. You are going to them head on. You have tunnel vision. This is where your problem lies. Use your other talents like word of mouth. I heard about your political abilities from some of the Council. You must be able to tell people emotions and weaknesses and use it to make them better."

Naruto just sighed and closed his eyes. He chuckled and said, "I see you what you are saying. Also I am going to go on an A-Ranked mission starting tonight. Imagine my first mission will be an A-ranked one."

Kakashi smiled as he said, "I'm proud. I know it is peace time so who are your teammates and who is the leader?"

Naruto started to fumble with his words. It is kind of hard to say. He said, "Well my teammates are Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi. The leader is-"

"Ah, so Asuma is leading the squad. He is an okay guy. A little rough around the edges but can be an alright guy. I hate his cigarettes but hey another man's hate is another man's vice."

"Umm Kakashi-sensei, he isn't leading the team. I am."

It took a moment for Kakashi to respond. Kakashi blinked as it came to him. "So you're leading the team. That's great. It is slightly odd that you are leading a team with Jonin and you are a Tokubetsu Genin. However that is the best part of being one. The title is such a prestigious one that only the Hokage could define what you can and cannot do. Don't get me wrong you can be written up for insubordination but the ground rules have to be explained."

Naruto smiled. He never had anyone to think of him more than the Kyuubi brat. Naruto laughed a little bit. He said on a serious note, "Kakashi-sensei, I want to know something. How did you fell when you are the leader of a group? Do you ever feel pressure?"

Kakashi thought about this for a moment. He then smiled and said, "I understand what you are feeling. Do you understand the point of D-rank missions? The point of the missions is for the team is to make mistakes. It is not only supposed to be tedious but it also teaches how teamwork works. You see the tension and the tediousness of D-Ranked missions bring your team together. You are sooner or later going to do the Tora mission.

The Tora mission helps you to develop the teamwork. What you will also see is your teams' flaws and other small things. You might see that one member of your team might go to his left more times than his rights. You might see the team strike better with a direct attack. Better yet you can see how a person reacts under pressure.

As a leader you are going to make mistakes. You are never going to be perfect. You must remember that. Sometimes your choice of actions will have a minor part in the overall world or it could be a major part. Your choice could mean someone getting a small cut or someone dying.

We as leaders will all make choices that will make us not sleep at night but it is also rewarding when you see your Genin grow up and learn different things. When you see your Genin become successful and see them become leaders, it makes your heart swell up with pride. It means you became a successful leader."

Naruto looked at his teach with a deep amount of respect. He said, "Kakashi-sensei, thank you for the talk. I hope you get better soon. Sorry about that."

Kakashi waved it off and said, "If I had a nickel for every time my fresh new genin stabs me in the kidney then well I would have a nickel." Kakashi started to laugh again. Naruto just shook his head at his sensei. "Now Naruto get back here safe because I'm going to test out that move. I'll be out in about two months. So train them well and visit every now and again. Ok?"

Naruto nodded and said, "See you later Kakashi-sensei." with that Naruto disappeared with the wind. Kakashi's last thought process was 'Minato-sensei would be proud.' Kakashi succumbed to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX Later on that Night XXXXXXXXXXX

"Why are we doing at Naruto-kun's house?" A certain platinum blonde asked.

Shikamaru said, "I want to know who this guy is exactly. You can't change like that with a drop of a hat."

"Does that mean we have to bring the whole Rookie Class?" Sure enough the whole rookie teams were outside Naruto's door. They were all curious about Naruto's sudden change. They were about to jimmy Naruto's house when someone opened the door.

It was Naruto Uzumaki. He said, "Hello what can I do for you? My master is not here right now."

Shika had an incredulous look on his face. He said, "Master? What do you mean master?"

Naruto smirked and said, "I am a Kage Bushin"

Author's note: Done. I know you wanted to evident shock on Sasuke and Sakura's faces. It is coming but I thought this would be more important. Before someone asks about the plot hole the Rookies were given a week off to train with their families. There was supposed to be a flash back but I didn't think it would fit in this chapter.