Naruto: Tango with Death

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The next few days in the hospital went by quickly. The only notable thing that really happened was the visit of Sagaki-Sensei, my Kunoichi classes teacher. We were quite close, and she was one of the more worried ones.

I wasn't allowed to start exercising right after getting out of the hospital though, I still needed a few days to recover. Annoyingly for me, I couldn't even train the Academy Three because my fingers had pretty much nearly been cut off, with only the bones attaching them, so my nerves took a hit.

Were I back on my Earth, that would have crippled my fingers for life, but I was in another world, and the doctors did a great job at fixing me.

Thankfully, with my training technique I didn't have to wait for long before learning the Academy Three, which I ended up learning in a single day. It wasn't that hard, those three Jutsus were really basic, among the only E Rank Jutsus.

The Transformation Jutsu allowed me to transform my appearance to deceive others.

The Body Replacement Jutsu was perhaps the most useful as it could save my life by allowing me to replace my body with another object, thus dodging an attack.

The Clone Jutsu wasn't the OP version Naruto would come to abuse in the original show, but a much more inferior one as the clones created weren't actually corporeal, meaning they were nothing but illusions. Of course, it didn't make the Jutsu useless, it maybe could have saved me a week in the hospital if I knew it for that fight. Probably not.

And with those three Jutsus learned, it was time for my graduation. In other words, I had accepted Minato's offer.

I had actually foreseen this as a possibility, and thought long about my answer. In the end, I decided to agree because there were more benefits than disadvantages.

While waiting for the Rookie 9 sounded appealing, to get into one of their squads, maybe even the legendary Team 7, wasting four years of my life in the academy for that wasn't really wise. I wasn't the reincarnation of a mighty being, I couldn't hope to follow Naruto and Sasuke by waiting for them. If I wanted to matter in the end fights, then I would have to start as early as possible.

Of course graduating early would be dangerous, but danger was a necessary component to growth in this world, and so I would rather face it earlier than later.

After all, this was a dangerous world, whether I became a ninja or not. I don't even know whether the original events will still take place, nor do I know if new threats and old threats will ally together to ruin my days, but what I know is that an opportunity was presented to me, and I wasn't going to miss out on it.

So a few days after I returned to the Academy, I was silently tested by the Hokage himself, I still can't believe I spoke to him the way I did by the way, and I passed the test with flying colours.

Usually, the test for someone wishing to graduate ahead of time was more extensive than the actual test, because they wouldn't casually throw someone who wasn't even a teen into the bloody Shinobi world.

I, however, had already proved my skill by defeating the Iwa Spy, whose name I still didn't know and didn't want to learn. So I only showed Minato the Academy Three, which I had mastered, before my early graduation.

Finally, on my last day at the academy, I told my friends about my early graduation, and I was happy to see I had managed to shock even Shikamaru. Of course, I immediately regretted thereafter not to have just silently disappeared as Naruto basically harassed me for the rest of the day, proclaiming he too would graduate. And I could see it in their eyes, the others were thinking of it too, especially Sasuke.

Unfortunately for them, that was doomed to never happen as the academy would never allow them to join the battlefield, especially in such a dangerous time. Even in the original show, where no war was threatening to break out, the world was dangerous, so now promoting several students to the rank of Genin ahead of time would most assuredly result in the death of several of them. I was a nobody, but they were clan heirs.

But not everyone was sad I was leaving, most of the girls were happy I would finally stop 'stealing' the guys from them. Honestly, if there is one thing chakra does wrong, it is the stimulation of hormones so early that it made those girls turn into such fanatics.

Among all the girls, the only one I remotely liked was Hinata, who was the same shy mess as she was in the canonical world, but we never really talked much.

But the mere fact she wasn't sending death glares at me for spending time with 'Naruto-kun' was enough to put her in my good books.

Alas, those silly children squabble were over for me.

On the first week of November 991, I got to meet my team. Before even arriving there, as I walked to Training Ground 5, I was feeling both embarrassed and a little nervous. You see, the problem with graduating early is that you don't graduate with other batches of people, meaning you cannot form a team.

Instead, I now had to join a team, and for that to happen, one of the original had to go away… and no, they weren't sent home with flowers. Flowers did get sent, but not with whomever I was replacing.

I arrived at the meeting place fifteen minutes early, but I was surprised to see my team was already there. Classic move to pressure someone, making it obvious you waited for them. Even if the other arrives on time or a little early, they will feel pressured.

Unfortunately for them, I don't give a fuck.

As I approached, my new Sensei looked at me up and down with no expression on his face, he was rather short for a man, and quite lean. He didn't look very strong, but certainly was fast. Of course, being ninja was being deceptive, so maybe he was the exact opposite. He had long dark hair, longer than mine at least as my hair only reached my shoulders.

Looking down at me, as even though he was short, I was shorter, I'm only 8, he said, "Sukaina, right?"

I nodded measuredly, and he added, "You may introduce yourself to the Team."

I looked at my two new teammates, they were both older than me, about Itachi's age I would say. One was a girl, quite cute I must say, although she wasn't looking very friendly. She was an Uchiha, going by the crest on her back.

Unlike most Uchiha, she had brown hair, instead of the usual black, but she had the traditional onyx eyes. She also had a mole under her right eye, but it only accentuated her cuteness. However, she had some serious fashion problems, this purple long sleeved, high collared shirt really didn't do her any justice.

As for the other teammate, he was a boy. While the Uchiha looked cold, he looked angry. If a glare could kill, I would be standing just fine though. He must have never killed, he was incapable of letting out any kind of killing intent. He was just an angry child.

He had gone through a few hard fights though it would seem, going by the scar on his right cheek. His blond hair was kept very short, and he was taller than both me and the Uchiha, almost reaching their… well, I guess 'our' now, sensei. He also looked a tad older than the Uchiha. He didn't look like he was from any clan, as pretty much everyone displays their crest on their clothes.

Being part of a clan is not only supposed to be a matter of personal pride, it was also among clan rules. Probably to impose their presence on others, I guess. To make sure people never forget they are there.

Anyway, finished with my analysis of the team, I bowed slightly and introduced myself, "My name is Sukaina Sumichi, nice to meet you. If you are wondering, I am 8, I am awesome and I can probably beat your ass so don't come asking for it."

Yes, I am somewhat of a troublemaker, but I never said I was perfect so bite me. I did have to force myself not to smile though when I saw the boy's glare intensify, and even the girl looked a little angry.

I wasn't only doing this for the sake of teasing them of course, I'm not THAT immature, I had a purpose in mind, and boy was I disappointed in what I found.

Not even bothering to soften my words, I looked at my Sensei, who looked as indifferent as before, and asked, "Are you sure they are ready? To me, it looks like they are still shaken by whatever happened on your last mission."

"What the fuck did you just say?!"

Before our sensei could say anything, the guy erupted in anger as he clenched his fists white. The Uchiha's reaction was milder, she only patted her kunai holster once.