NaruHina: Duty

Chapter 5: The Hokage's Son

At twelve, after graduating from the Ninja Academy, Naruto became a full-fledged genin with Sasuke. Their paths, however, differed when they were placed into separate teams. Naruto became part of the three-man cell captained by Asuma Sarutobi. His other teammates were Shikamaru Nara and Sakura Haruno.

He watched with jealousy as Kakashi became captain to Sasuke's team with Kiba Inuzuka and Ino Yamanaka. Itachi had adored Kakashi, and hearing all those stories about the copy ninja made Naruto want to be on the same team as Sasuke. Plus, he also knew of the connection Kakashi had with his parents, his relationship with Minato and Kushina.

But Asuma Sarutobi had looked at him with understanding and had done his best to prepare the boy mentally for the future. Even though Asuma knew it was a well-kept secret, he couldn't help but feel for the boy who was also the son of a Hokage.

Asuma smiled to himself as he pondered the choices that the current Hokage had made in forming the teams. Tsunade had a wicked sense of humor. Either that, or she knew exactly what she was doing.

Most likely, it was the latter.

On first meeting him, Naruto took to Asuma and found kindness in the big, burly man with the ever-burning cigarette on his lips. His easy manner made him somebody he could be comfortable with. Asuma reminded him so much of Jiraiya—the way the two were so cheerful and so carefree. He was just so different from the serious Uchihas and the sometimes lackadaisical Kakashi who always had his face plastered to his novels.

The fact that Asuma was also the son of the Third Hokage made Naruto admire him more. Naruto recognized a kindred spirit, so he pestered his captain every chance he got to tell him stories about the shinobi known as The Professor.

Asuma had been willing to talk about his father, despite not really wanting to do it in the beginning. Naruto had not heard many stories about Hiruzen Sarutobi, even though his godfather had been an apprentice of the third Hokage.

Jiraiya, still filled with guilt for not being able to find Hiruzen's body and for failing in his mission to destroy Orochimaru, couldn't talk so freely about him. He was glad that Asuma could.

"Oh, he loved smoking that pipe of his," Asuma laughingly said as he sat with the team. They were sitting around a campfire on one of their first missions as a genin.

"When I was ten, I tried to steal it once to try to smoke it. I thought that he was so old he wouldn't be able to keep up with me because I was younger and smarter. But he quickly caught me and imprisoned me in one of his mud release walls he'd built. He left me out in the rain for a whole day with no food and water. Hahaha!"

Naruto smiled weakly at the joke then shared a look with his teammates, each one hoping Asuma wouldn't do that to them one day.

Naruto loved working with Shikamaru and Sakura. He was really glad that they were both easy to get along with, especially since he was going to be stuck with them for a long time.

For the next two years, shinobi rules indicated that after graduating from the Academy, they would be required to work in a set team. However, they were to be disbanded once the initial probationary period ended. Their captain could then recommend them to promotion for chuunin rank after completion of a practical and written test.

He became close with Shikamaru, who taught him the game of shogi, and Naruto clearly saw how clever his teammate was at strategizing. Shikamaru could look at the board and clearly come up with ways to capture the important pieces to win and also be able to protect what needed to be defended. While he knew the mechanics of the game, Naruto found it hard to protect when he was focusing on winning, or vice versa. Doing both at the same time was more complicated than he'd thought.