Birth of the Forest

Birth of the Forest 2.

The Sandaime Hokage looked through his all-seeing crystal ball, gazing contemplatively at the most intriguing ninja in the village at the moment, Naruto.

The boy was an enigma wrapped in a mystery, as seen from his effortless incapacitation of the traitor Mizuki. He had displayed the shunshin no jutsu with a rare ease. Iruka was amazed that he could even perform the technique, but Hiruzen knew better. Naruto had performed the seals with too much ease and too less concentration showing on his face. It was as if the technique was second nature to him.

And how did he know to strike vital points? True, the theory was explained in the academy but students were not expected to know it. The mastery that Naruto had displayed was interesting. What Naruto had done could be done only by an experienced Medic nin, a Hyuuga or a ninja with considerable battle experience none of which applied to Naruto.

"The Jounin are here, Hokage-sama" announced his secretary.

"Send them in." said Hiruzen. The Jounin filed in quietly. Asuma, Kurenai, Aoba, Kakashi and other Jounin here for their team assignments stood at attention waiting for him to speak.

Well, Kakashi not so much. The pervert as usual was reading his beloved Icha Icha series. The Sandaime looked at the book closely and his eyes grew round.

A limited series edition of Icha Icha violence! This was pure gold! He had to get this meeting over with as soon as possible and get that book from Kakashi. He grinned his closet pervert grin at the prospect…

Kurenai coughed, noticing Kakashi reading the damned book and the Sandaime trying really hard to get a look at the book without being obvious about it.

"Um, Hokage-sama…Don't we have team assignments to do..?" she asked primly.

Hiruzen cleared his throat, looking disappointed.

"Yes. Yes we do. Now, then. These are the teams assigned. Aoba will get team 1 consisting of…"

He went on until:

"Hatake Kakashi will get team 7 consisting of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto."

Kakashi looked up mildly interested, nodded and went back to his reading. Hiruzen could understand that.

"Team 8 will be Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino under Yuuhi Kurenai"

The beautiful Kurenai nodded.

"Team 9 is still in circulation. Therefore, team 10 will be Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino under Sarutobi Asuma."

Asuma nodded, pleased at the fact that the second generation Ino-Shika-Cho trio was under him.

Hiruzen looked at them all.

"This completes the team assignments for this year's Genin. You will have today to observe your assigned Genin and will have to begin operation from tomorrow. Good luck to you all."

The Jounin nodded solemnly and turned to leave.

"Kakashi, stay back. We have some important matters to discuss", Hiruzen ordered, looking intently at the treasure trove in Kakashi's hands.

Kurenai looked at the two of them disgustedly before exiting.

NEXT DAY AT THE ACADEMY

Naruto waited patiently for his sensei Hatake Kakashi to make his appearance. He was assigned to team 7 along with Sasuke and Sakura.

This would be an excellent opportunity for him to test the strength of the current Jounin of the village. He had to take care not to let loose though. He had a tendency to do that in a good fight.