Going The Whitebeard Route In Naruto

We're done with the child arc, now we're in the Genin Arc!

My new update schedule:

I'm The Wizard, Harry: Every Saturday

Callan Stone and the Akashic Records: Every other Saturday, taking turns with WRIN

Whitebeard Route in Naruto: Every other Saturday, taking turns with Records

Hummingbird Cultivator: This is a p*treon/kofi exclusive, about someone reborn as a hummingbird in a cultivation world. This will be updated once a month, on the first Saturday of the month.

(Word Count: 2,264)

Might Dai hugged both me and Guy, balling his eyes out. "I CAN'T BELIEVE MY BOYS ARE ALREADY GRADUATING!" He sobbed, crying rivers of tears. "WHERE DID ALL THE TIME GO?"

"Stop it, Dai! Everyone's staring at us!" I yelled at him, looking around in embarrassment, trying to get out of his grasp. Sadly, his arms were like steel and it was no use.

Guy wasn't struggling as I was, and instead was hugging Dai back and balling rivers of tears just like Dai. I was trapped between them. 

I sighed, and just let them continue for a while longer.

After a few minutes, Dai released them, and wiped away his tears. He looked down at me and Guy proudly, and gave us a thumbs up. "I'm forever proud of you two! Now go on and show them what you're made of! You don't want to be late for your exams, now do you?"

"OSU!" Guy shouted, wiping away his own tears. "I'll do my best, dad!"

I deadpanned both of them, but sighed. I had long since given up trying to curb their over enthusiasm. "I'll be passing with flying colors, no need to worry."

Dai chuckled. "Ah, but I can't help it, Sakai! It's my job to worry! Now go on! We'll go to Yakiniku Q to celebrate when you're done!"

Guy and I went in together.

Guy was graduating at the same time I was, despite being a year younger than me and actually failing his entrance exam the first time and waiting an additional year before he could try again. He had proved himself to be extraordinary in taijutsu, so much so that they let him move ahead. He was graduating two years earlier than normal, just so he could graduate in the same year as me.

As for me, I saw absolutely no reason why I should graduate early. Why should I be in such a rush to get onto the battlefield? Instead, I had taken my time apprenticing under Tsunade while she's at the village and working at the hospital.

In addition to that, because the second shinobi war had ended, the graduation age had moved up from 9 to 12, so all of the students that were currently attending the Academy got shafted and had to take a few more years before they could graduate. Those that were about to enter at 4 years old couldn't anymore, and had to wait until they were 6. 

It was the schedule we see in the anime. Those against the change were in an uproar about it, saying that their kids were losing out on 2 years of development.

I was fine with it though. Again, I was busy with my apprenticeship at the hospital under Lady Tsunade, and I was studying Fuinjutsu. Why should I care?

Entering the classroom, most of the other students were there already because of how long we were held up.

"Sakai! You're here!" Uzumaki Ayame shouted across the room from where she was seated. She is still an overly energetic girl, living up to the Uzumaki name. Next to her were Asuma, and Kurenai.

I went over, and Guy went to sit next to Ibiki and Genma, who were in the row just behind us. I gave them a nod in greeting.

"G-good morning, Sakai," Kurenai said shyly. She was really the Hinata of our generation, with how shy she was.

"Good morning, Kurenai," I smiled back. "Asuma, how you doing? You ready to fail this test?"

"Shut it, Sakai, I'm going to pass the test easily!" Asuma scoffed. "What were you late for? Last minute cramming?"

We grinned, and I was about to snark back, but Ayame interrupted. "Hey! Don't ignore me, Sakai! I greeted you first, you know!"

I looked at her, and she was puffing up her cheeks in an angry pout. I patted her on the head. "Good morning, Ayame."

She slapped my hand away and huffed. "Anyway, who's team do you think we'll be on? I hope I don't get teamed up with someone hopeless."

"It's usually two guys, and one girl. They usually try to make specialized teams, focused mainly on a type of mission but still dynamic enough to cover bases at least a little." Asuma answered.

"Do you think we'll end up on a team, Asuma?" Ayame asked, blushing slightly.

"W-well, that'll be good, yeah." Asuma also blushed, and looked away.

Watching two kids acting all shy with each other wasn't something I was interested in. Luckily, the teacher came in. Kawaguchi Rengorou had been our teacher for all the years we were in the academy.

"Alright class, settle down, settle down! All of you take your seats," he took a moment for all of the students to get seated before continuing on. "Today, we are taking the graduation exam! If you don't pass this, you will be held back a year, so I want you all to take this very, very seriously!

"The exam will have three parts! The written portion will cover ninja theory, history, mathematics, and ethics. Anyone caught cheating will automatically fail this portion of the test. Then there will be the physical test, covering taijutsu and your shuriken and kunai techniques. Lastly, there's the ninjutsu portion, where you will be required to perform the three ninjutsu we covered in class, along with the genjutsu dispelling technique. Any questions before we get started?"

Four more chunins came in, and began passing out the test.

The actual test itself wasn't very hard. Even a kid like Naruto, who wasn't very focused on theory, could pass it easily. It only took about an hour and a half for everyone to finish. A lot of the questions were about Konoha's history, the previous Hokage's. Many were survival questions, like how to set different traps, edible plants, etc. The main focus was ethical questions of what a ninja should do in certain situations.

When everyone finished, the tests were collected and we all went outside.

Ayame was staggering around, soulless. "I'm doomed!"

Asuma patted her hair. "Don't worry, Ayame! You can make up for the written portion by doing well in the next two parts. You can still pass!"

Kurenai nodded. "Yeah, you're great at taijutsu! You'll do great!"

I laughed, "I told you, you shouldn't have spent all of your time studying seals!"

"Shut up! Seals are cool, you know!" She blushed at her clan's verbal tick shining through, but she pushed on. "I couldn't help it, history's just so boring!"

"You won't hear me arguing that," I said.

Guy bounced over excitedly. "Big bro! How did you do?"

I gave him a thumbs up, "It was easy! I'm sure I did great!" Ayame wilted.

The next few hours were spent taking turns throwing kunai and shuriken to test for accuracy, and fighting against one of the four chunins that had come in to help administer the test. The goal in fighting the chunins wasn't to actually defeat them, obviously, but to suitably impress them.

Though Guy absolutely bodied the one he was up against. He had taken off weights for the test and the chunin was knocked out before he knew what was coming. Guy was an absolute monster, even as a little kid. There was a reason he was able to skip a couple of years.

When I saw that from Guy, I knew I had to maintain my reputation as his "Big Brother" and I did the same. I wasn't anywhere near Guy's level in taijutsu anymore, he had long since surpassed me in that, but I did have my own tricks. I took off my own weights, and when the fight started, I kicked the man in the nuts. Just like that, he was down.

Afterwards, we went back to class, where we took turns going to the front of the classroom to do the 3 different jutsu's that we were taught. Guy was excused from this part, having special permission.

When it was my turn, I easily did all three without showing off and received my own headband. I tied it to my forehead like normal. Maybe I'll find a 'trendier' spot for it later.

It was around 1 in the afternoon when we were all finished. Surprisingly, our results were already graded and were posted on the board.

First place, Norihide Sakai.

Second place, Sarutobi Asuma.

Third Place, Hyuuga Renjiro.

Fourth Place, Uchiha Haruki.

Fifth Place, Shiranui Genma.

Sixth place, Yuhi Kurenai.

Seventh place, Morino Ibiki

And so on.

Shizune was at 10th place, and at 12th place, close to the middle of the class was Ayame, who did poorly on the written test, and Guy at 13th, who was exempt from the ninjutsu. There wasn't anyone that failed the exam.

"Congratulations everyone! You all did very well on your tests," The teacher said, a proud look on his face. "I'm very proud of all of you! Tomorrow, you'll be placed in teams and you'll be meeting your new jonin instructor. You're all dismissed."

~ WRIN ~

"CHEERS!" Dai shouted, raising a glass above him. "To our new genins! Well done, my boys, Kurenai, Asuma, Ayame, Genma, Shizune, and Ibiki! Words can't express how proud I am of them. Cheers!" Everyone gathered, raised their own glasses and cheered.

It was my friend group, plus all of their own families and friends. It was a large group that took up the entire restaurant's dining space.

Tsunade came up to me, "Congratulations, Sakai. You're officially a genin now. How do you feel?"

"I feel great. Now I just need to take my medical exam and seal master's exam, and I'm done," I said. I hated taking tests just as much now as when I was a college student in my last life. Luckily, there were only these qualification exams that you need to take in order to receive the actual title. They were common in fields that required a lot of study and skill.

"Don't worry about the medical exam. I've trained you far above the standard for the hospital. You'll find the test easy. I tried to just waive the test for you, but the hospital wouldn't allow it, citing favoritism," Tsunade sighed. "Well, it shouldn't take you too long."

"I'm not worried about it. I'm more worried about who my teammates will be. I'd rather not end up with an Aburame on my team. I hate bugs," I shivered in disgust. If an Aburame was on my team, that would mean I would have to let one of their bugs stay on me for tracking and communication between teammates. It was too convenient to argue against it and as a ninja, I had to do what was best for the team. I had stayed far away from the one Aburame kid in my class. 

Tsunade gave a knowing smile, "I wouldn't worry too much about that, Sakai."

I perked up. "You know my team? Tell me!"

Tsunade laughed. "You'll have to wait for tomorrow like everyone else."

Jiraiya came over, casually putting an arm around her waist. "Sakai! How's my favorite genin?"

Jiraiya and Tsunade had made good progress in their relationship these past few years and had become a couple. Because of this, Jiraiya never left the "Tsunade Simp" phase to descend into his "Super Pervert" phase. I much prefer this Jiraiya to the one I've seen in the show. He has a lot more confidence and was a lot more self-assured than he was in the show. 

As far as I know, there's even talk of them getting married, but there hasn't been an official proposal yet.

Minato heard from the table over, next to Kushina, and was offended. "Oi! What about me?"

Jiraiya glanced back over his shoulder at him and waved him off. "Well, you're a jonin now, aren't you? You don't count anymore." Minato pouted and hugged Kushina like a kicked puppy.

Tsunade nudged Jiraiya with an amused smile. "Don't tease him too much, dear."

"I'm doing great, Jiraiya, but I don't see Nagato, Konan, or Yahiko. Were they not able to make it?" I asked.

"No, they're on a week-long mission on the border."

I frowned. "Why didn't they come say goodbye before they left?"

"Hey, kid, don't look at me! It was an emergency response, they didn't have the time."

Tsunade began pulling him away. "Come on, Jiraiya, let's give everyone else a chance to talk to Sakai."

The party went on through the evening, everyone congratulating the new genins.

That night, as I returned home with Dai and Guy, I was about to go up to my room when Dai called us. "Boys." His tone was a lot more serious than usual, so both Guy and I immediately went to him.

"Yes, father?" Guy asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Guy," Dai gave a soft chuckle. He ruffled our hair. "From now on, you're both Shinobi. Ninja of the Leaf. It's a dangerous world out there. So, I've decided! Tomorrow, when you get back from meeting your teams, I have a very special technique I want to teach you. It's an incredibly advanced taijutsu technique that I developed myself, but I believe you're ready for it!"

We both perked up. Guy's eyes shone light headlights in excitement. 'No way! Is he talking about what I think he's talking about?' It was one of the goals I had set for myself when I first started planning out my future when I was 2 years old.

The pinnacle of Taijutsu, Hachimon! The Eight Inner Gates Technique.