The Fox's Third Flash of Hope

Chapter 9

Blue Bird will always be one of my fav songs and Naruto openings ever.

Huuuuuuge thanks to all that have stuck with this story so far ^.^

This chapter is four years after the last one, so the character ages are currently at:

Kansen and her class: 12

Boruto and Sarada: 29-ish

Senai: 37

Shikamaru and his generation: 54

Just to clear up any confusion :)

"All right, you three, here are your genin teams."

The two jonin took the files from the Hokage's adviser, apprehension written on their faces.

The first of the jonin was a man with black hair pulled back in a sharp ponytail with teal green eyes. "I'm in charge of this year's Ino-Shika-Cho? Are you sure, Dad?"

"Shut up, Shikadai. Mine aren't much better," Sarada glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. "A Hyuga, a Kurama, and an Inuzuka. Is it even possible for them to get along?" She was slightly regretting letting the old Nara chooser the teams, although she knew that he had much better judgement.

The third to-be jonin leader was silent. His blue eyes stared disbelievingly at a particular page in his file. Then he pretty much exploded. "WHAT THE HELL, OLD MAN?! You know I hate this girl! Why is she on my team?!" Boruto demanded. The first time the two had met wasn't very pleasant, and in the last four years he'd kept an eye on her, her personality didn't exactly strike him as likable.

Shikamaru didn't flinch. "You know why. You're best suited out of us all to keep an eye on a jinchuriki. Your father was one, after all."

Boruto's anger disappeared slightly. "Don't bring my dad into this. But I still refuse to take this girl as one of my students."

"You don't have a choice, Boruto. You don't want Kansen on your team not because you don't like her personality. You're afraid. Of what could happen if you failed your duty to protect her as her sensei."

The son of the Seventh looked down at his feet, a shadow cast over his eyes. When he looked up, there was frustration and anger in his eyes. He clenched his fists, leaving wrinkles on the papers in his hand. "Fine. But when something does happen, don't say I didn't warn you."

"Good," a hint of satisfaction gleamed in Shikamaru's eyes. "Now hurry along, you don't want to be late meeting your new students."

Shikadai was the last to walk out the door of the office. "Man, this will be so troublesome......."

*****

Kansen ducked to dodge a paper airplane. It continued in its course and hit Inora, who was sitting in the row in front of Kansen. Inora slowly turned her head, multiple veins on her forehead and a twitching mouth. Wow, her eyes literally glowed.

Kansen shook her head and pointed at a distant corner of the classroom at Rasu, who had now paused in her wild laughter, looking at the blonde in horror. Koruro, being the sensible person he was, quickly pulled Hituro with him across the bench filled room, far away from Rasu. Not a moment later did Inora spring up and leap at the Inuzuka, knocking her flat. A fierce tussle ensued.

The other 7 children ignored the battle and went back to whatever they were doing before. After four years of being in the same class, this type of stuff really wasn't any surprise.

"How did you only get 5th place on the final exam in the class? It was only a Clone Jutsu!" Penami continued chattering away at Kansen.

In reality, she probably could have been the best, but she agreed with what Senai had always told her: Never be first or last. The ones in the middle always attract the least attention.

That was why she had purposefully waited half a minute before allowing her clone to appear. That was why she had always made sure to miss a bit during target practice. Why she let her opponent win half the time in sparring sessions.

"What does it matter? It's probably the worst designed final exam ever. Clones are illusions and they can't help us in any way on a mission," she replied nonchalantly. In Kansen's view, the final test for being a shinobi was the first time they faced death. If they passed, they would live. If not, well, too bad for you. You're dead.

Unbeknownst to the 9 children, standing outside the door were their three mentors.

"Alright, Shikadai, you go in first," Sarada ordered.

"Fine," the Nara calmly walked into the room and coughed. All nine graduates in the room stared at him, even Rasu and Inora, who momentarily stopped beating each other up.

"Inora, Shikabe, and Choi. Come with me."

Inora reluctantly got off of Rasu, giving the Inuzuka girl a dark stare that said "I'll kill you next time."

Shikadai looked at the three in front of him and sighed. An Akimichi with close cropped brown hair, black eyes, and a yellow circle on each cheek. A Nara that looked much like him except with black eyes like most others in the clan. A Yamanaka with light blond hair, purple eyes, and a few bruises on her face.

After that team left, Sarada came in. "Hituro, Koruro, and Rasu. I'm your sensei."

Hituro and Koruro lined up without complaint, slightly shocked that they were being picked up by the Hokage herself, and Rasu followed skeptically.

Sarada too looked over her students. The Hyuga had pale eyes and surprising blue-gray hair. Normally Hyuga clan members possessed brown or black hair. The Kurama had light green hair and  lavender purple eyes. Now that was an even weirder color combination. The Inuzuka actually looked quite normal, with brown, curly hair, black eyes, and red fang marks on her cheeks. Turning around, Sarada motioned for them to follow her.

Boruto finally entered the room, quite short tempered. "You three are my students."

Kansen looked at the blond in thought.

Boruto added a sentence to his words, and it was clear who it was directed at. "I don't want you as a student any more than you want me as a teacher."

The redhead looked satisfied at the amendment. Standing up, she slowly walked to him, smirking. "Good. Glad we both know where our relationship stands."

Boruto cast a spare glance at the other two genin. The Sarutobi girl had dark brown hair and eyes. She looked docile enough. The other boy, a Zanto, had spiky black hair and also dark black eyes like his redheaded teammate. He looked more muscle than brain. Boruto looked up as if he was looking for guidance from the gods. "Follow me and make sure you keep up."

*****

The blond jonin stopped on top of the Hokage Mountain. He looked back the way he had come. Kansen wasn't too far behind. When she stopped in front of him, her breathing was only slightly rushed. Although Boruto had cut down his speed drastically, considering the steep mountain path, the genin wasn't doing too bad. Niju appeared over the slope five minutes later, Penami slightly behind him. Both were breathing heavily from exhaustion. Penami almost straightout collapsed at the end of her run.

"Now we can start introductions. I'm Boruto Uzumaki. Maybe you'll find out more about my hobbies if you survive long enough as my student."

Penami went next, her words punctuated by heavy pants. "I'm Penami Sarutobi," *huff* "I like drawing" *huff* "That's it."

Niju only stated his name and 'hmph'ed.

Kansen said, "You already know who I am, Boruto-sensei. As for hobbies, I don't really have any. Except for maybe keeping track of everything that's going on." She smirked, arms crossed and leaning on one leg.

Boruto nodded and got straight to business.

"Tomorrow, meet me here at 9:30 sharp. I don't go easy on late people." Turning around, he jumped straight off the cliff face.

Niju and Penami gawked at the sight of their sensei jumping off a cliff.

Kansen sighed. Maybe she wouldn't survive very long on this team after all.........

I finally included character descriptions :P

Hope you enjoyed~