Team Assignments

Today was the day Menma's class at the Ninja Academy officially graduated and took their graduation photo and Genin ID photos.

Early in the morning, Kushina dragged Menma out of bed and pulled out a new outfit for him.

"Get up, wash up, and change into your new clothes.

Today is Menma's first day as a ninja. You have to look your absolute coolest!"

Still groggy, Menma was hauled out of bed. After washing up in nothing but baggy shorts, he began changing clothes.

First, he put on a black long-sleeved T-shirt, then changed into dark blue pants, followed by an orange long-sleeved jacket. Finally, he draped on a short white ceremonial robe embroidered with the Uzumaki Clan crest on the back.

Menma looked himself over in the mirror with satisfaction.

"Mm, as expected of me. I'm seriously handsome! Good thing Mom's the jinchuriki in this world. Growing those Six Paths whiskers would've looked awful!"

After breakfast, Menma arrived at school and first took the graduation photo with the rest of his class.

Afterward, they lined up for their ninja ID photos, then returned to the classroom to wait for their Jonin instructors.

Just like in the original story, although this world had become strangely different, the team assignments had not changed much.

Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka were assigned to Team 8, led by Kurenai Yuhi.

Speaking of which, this was Menma's first time seeing Kurenai in this world. She looked like a formidable older sister.

Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Choji Akimichi were assigned to Team 10, and their instructor was Sarutobi...

Huh?!

Not Asuma Sarutobi, but Yamashiro Aoba?!

Where was Asuma Sarutobi?

Was he still one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja serving the daimyo?

Come to think of it, since being reborn as Menma, he had not only never seen Asuma, but had never seen Hiruzen Sarutobi either.

He had never even heard anyone mention the Sarutobi Clan. What exactly was going on?

Putting aside the Sarutobi Clan for now, Yamashiro Aoba was only a Special Jonin. Was it really all right to have him lead such an important combination as Ino-Shika-Cho?

No, no, he was jumping to conclusions again. He had been a Special Jonin in the original story, sure, but maybe he was stronger in this world!

As he thought, the students in the class were called away one by one by their instructors.

Unlike the children from several established ninja families, Menma's other Genin classmates were mostly assigned Chunin instructors—the kind who had never appeared in the original story.

As the classmates left one after another, only Menma, Sasuke, and Sakura remained in the classroom.

Although everyone had guessed they might be working together as a ninja team from now on, only Menma knew that their team leader was most likely still Kakashi Hatake.

Sure enough, when the classroom door was pulled open by a white-haired ninja, Menma knew he had guessed right.

Unlike in the original story, Menma had not been bored enough to place an eraser over the door, so this world's Kakashi did not have such a terrible first impression of the trio.

"Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, Menma Namikaze. You three, come out."

Kakashi stood at the classroom door without entering. He beckoned to the three of them, signaling for them to follow.

Menma, Sakura, and Sasuke exchanged glances, then got up, left the classroom, and followed Kakashi to the school rooftop.

Once they reached the rooftop, Kakashi motioned for the three to sit down, then sat on the rooftop railing himself.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kakashi Hatake. Now, each of you introduce yourselves.

You can start with your name, what you like, what you dislike, your dreams for the future—things like that.

We'll start with Sakura Haruno, then Sasuke Uchiha, and finally Menma Namikaze."

"Before asking your students to introduce themselves, shouldn't the teacher introduce himself first?

The three of us are classmates and know each other fairly well, but we know absolutely nothing about you, Sensei!" Sakura Haruno said with a smile, raising her hand.

"Honestly, kids these days aren't cute at all!"

Kakashi clicked his tongue, but he went along with it anyway. "I'm Kakashi Hatake, a Konoha Jonin. I like all sorts of things, and there's basically nothing I dislike. As for my dream... well, I don't want to tell you!"

"How sly. That was basically the same as saying nothing at all!" Sasuke complained.

"All right, that's enough about me. I'll tell you more later. Now, Sakura, introduce yourself!"

"My name is Sakura Haruno. I like training, and I dislike cleaning my room and dirty things..."

At that point, Sakura shot Menma a sidelong glance.

"My dream is to become the first female Hokage!"

"Ooh, that's a dream with some real spirit behind it!" Kakashi commented.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I also like training. What I dislike is Menma Namikaze. My dream is to strengthen the Uchiha Clan, find that man, ask him why he defected from Konoha, and then kill him!"

"...Don't let hatred cloud your eyes. Sometimes, what you see may not be the truth."

Kakashi found this problem child rather troublesome as well.

"My name is Menma Namikaze. What I like is great strength, and what I dislike is being unable to grow stronger. As for my dream for the future..."

Menma stood up and smiled faintly. It was time to show off!

"I only wish for Konoha's ninja to cast off their decay and move ever onward, without needing to heed the words of schemers and power-hungry men.

Those who can act should act. Those who can speak should speak. Give off whatever heat you have, shine whatever light you can. Even if you are only a firefly, you may still give off a little light in the darkness. There is no need to wait for the torch.

If, from this day onward, there is truly no torch, then I shall be the only light. If a torch appears, if the sun rises, then I will gladly fade away.

Not only without resentment, but with praise for that torch or that sun! For it has illuminated the Shinobi World, myself included!"

The moment those words were spoken, the entire rooftop fell silent!

Kakashi remained silent for a long while, his thoughts in turmoil.

In Menma, he seemed to see the shadow of his father, Sakumo Hatake—the same high spirits, the same willingness to burn himself to light the way for others.

At that moment, he seemed to understand a little why his father had chosen to stay behind alone and cover the retreat, allowing his three Genin teammates to escape with the intelligence.

"...All right, introductions are over. They were all very good!

Now, as a Konoha Jonin, I, Kakashi Hatake, will announce your first mission after becoming Genin.

Three days from now, at ten in the morning, you will report to Hidden Leaf Training Ground Two and pass my team entry test!

That's all. Dismissed!"

Kakashi did not comment on Menma's dream. He merely told the three of them about the test in three days, then vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.

"Well, I'm looking at you a little differently now, Menma!"

Sakura stood up and said to Menma with sparkling eyes.

"Mm, I respect you a little too. But what you did to offend me before won't be forgiven so easily!"

Sasuke stood as well, though he still refused to back down verbally.

"Hehehe..." Menma scratched his head and laughed.

"I propose that, to celebrate the formation of Team 7, we go get barbecue!"

"No, I need to go back and train. There's a team entry test in three days, and I don't want to hold anyone back." Sasuke refused.

"Me too. How about we save the celebration until after we pass the team entry test?" Sakura said with a smile.

"All right~_~, then we'll celebrate in three days. I need to go back and train too."

Menma agreed. After all, if neither of them went, there was no point in going by himself.

"But I have another suggestion. How about we come a little earlier the morning after tomorrow, exchange information, and work out a strategy?"

"Agreed!"

"Agreed!"

Seeing that both Sasuke and Sakura had agreed, Menma said, "Then it's settled. At eight in the morning the day after tomorrow, we'll meet at Training Ground Two!"

"Mm, okay! I'll be going first, then. See you in three days!" Sakura waved goodbye.

"Mm, I'm heading back too." Sasuke said his farewell, then turned and left.

When Menma returned home, Minato and Kushina had already gotten off work and were preparing dinner. After they ate, Kushina cleared the dishes while Minato leaned back in his chair and asked:

"Menma, you were assigned to a Genin team today, right? How was it? Who are your teammates? Who's your instructor?"

"Mm, my teammates are Sakura and Sasuke, and our teacher is Jonin Kakashi."

"Oh? You're on the same team as Sakura? Menma, are you happy?!" Kushina asked as she washed the dishes.

"It's all right, but there are some things I'm concerned about and want to ask you and Dad."

"Mm, go ahead. We'll answer anything we can. If it involves confidential information, we won't say anything." Seeing Menma's serious expression, Minato became serious as well.

"During our talk today, Sasuke said his dream was to kill a man. Dad, do you know what that's about?"

"Ah, that... hmm... it involves classified information, and Dad doesn't know the full details. But I can tell you the general situation." Minato set down his bowl and chopsticks, motioning for Menma to sit on the sofa.

"Sasuke has an older brother named Itachi Uchiha. Five years ago, he defected from the village for some reason. The man Sasuke mentioned should be him.

At the time, Fugaku, the Uchiha Clan head, publicly declared that Itachi was the shame of the Uchiha Clan, and their clan had expelled him.

As for why Itachi defected, Dad doesn't know."

"That's right! Mikoto came to me crying about Itachi several times!" Kushina's voice called out from the kitchen.

"Oh, I see." Menma silently made a note of it, but he did not intend to interfere. "Then what about Kakashi Hatake? What kind of person is he?"

"Kakashi? He was a genius ninja from a young age.

He graduated from the Ninja Academy at six and became a Jonin at twelve.

During the Shinobi World war more than a decade ago, he broke through Iwagakure's defenses all by himself and inherited his father's title!

But he's a little extreme. It won't be easy under his command." Minato said, stroking his chin.

"That's not quite right. There's a reason Kakashi became that way.

During a mission, Lord White Fang discovered an enemy trap.

So Lord White Fang ordered his teammates to retreat first while he completed the mission alone.

Later, after overcoming countless hardships and completing the mission, he returned to the village but died from his severe injuries.

Kakashi was only five years old then.

So Kakashi has always carried a knot in his heart. He believes his father's death was related to strength.

'If Father had been strong enough, he could have completed the mission perfectly, and he would not have died.

If the ninja on his team had been strong enough, he would not have needed to complete the mission alone, and Father would not have died.

If the village had been strong enough, the enemy ninja would have feared the village's deterrence and would not have dared to strike to kill, and Father would not have died.'

Mm, that's what he said at the time."

Kushina said, "Jonin Kakashi is someone very worthy of trust. Though he is strict and places great importance on his teammates' strength when leading a team,

he also protects his teammates' safety very well! Like his father, he's a dependable man!"

"That's right. During the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, he rescued his teammates Rin and Obito Uchiha from an Iwagakure encirclement by himself, even paying the price of one eye!

Later, to thank him, the Uchiha Clan gave him a Sharingan, making him even stronger," Minato added.