The morning after they passed, Kakashi didn't lead them to a training ground. He took them to a quiet clearing dominated by a large, black granite monolith. Polished to a mirror sheen, the stone was covered in countless neatly carved names.
"Sensei, where are we?" Sakura asked, her voice hushed by the reverent atmosphere.
"The Memorial Stone," Kakashi said, his visible eye tracing over the inscriptions. "Every name carved here belongs to a hero of our village." His gaze softened, stopping on a name that seemed to hold more weight than the others. "They were all shinobi who died in the line of duty."
He turned to them, his usual lazy demeanor completely gone, replaced by a profound solemnity. "Yesterday, you passed my test because you chose to prioritize your comrades over the rules. I brought you here today to make sure you understand why that was the correct answer."
He looked at each of them in turn—Sakura, confused; Sasuke, stoic and unreadable; and Naruto, for once, completely silent.
"In the shinobi world, those who break the rules and regulations are regarded as scum," he said, his voice quiet but intense. "That's true." He paused, letting the weight of the stone settle on them. "But... those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum."
He let the lesson sink in. "All the names on this stone were splendid shinobi. They were heroes who understood that. Never forget that. Never forget them." He gave a small nod. "That's all for today. Dismissed." He vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving the three Genin alone with the silent testament of the village's heroes.
Later that day, Hiruzen Sarutobi listened patiently as the new Jonin instructors gave their final assessments in his office.
Asuma went first, taking a long drag from his cigarette. "Team 10 is a headache. The Nara's a genius who'd rather be a cloud, the Akimichi is strong but unmotivated unless there's barbecue involved, and the Yamanaka girl is... loud. It's like herding cats, but the old Ino-Shika-Cho formation has legs. They'll get there. Eventually."
Kurenai was next, her report calm and analytical. "Team 8 has excellent synergy. Kiba's nose, Shino's insects, and Hinata's Byakugan make them a natural reconnaissance and tracking unit. Their personalities need work—Kiba's arrogance and Hinata's shyness are issues—but their skills are a perfect match."
Finally, it was Kakashi's turn. "Team 7 passed," he said simply.
"I read your initial report," Hiruzen said, leaning forward. "Unbalanced. Volatile. Has your assessment changed?"
"No," Kakashi replied. "If anything, it's more complicated. Sasuke is driven by revenge. Sakura has excellent chakra control but is too obsessed with Sasuke to be effective. And then there is Naruto."
"What about him?" Hiruzen asked, his voice grave.
"He no longer speaks of becoming Hokage," Kakashi stated, his tone carefully neutral. "His stated goal is to become 'the strongest man alive' to enforce peace through overwhelming power, citing the First Hokage as his model. He believes absolute strength is the only true deterrent to war."
Hiruzen's brow furrowed, a deep worry settling in his chest. The desire to be Hokage was tied to the village, to its people. This new goal was different. It was an ambition of pure, absolute power, untethered to any specific loyalty. He feared this was the influence of the strange power Naruto possessed—an influence that was shaping the boy into something the village might not be able to control.
The weeks that followed were anything but high-stakes. They were a blur of menial D-rank missions.
During a weed-pulling mission for a wealthy client, Naruto, bored out of his mind, decided to speed things up. He grabbed a massive patch of weeds and, with a Garp-fueled grunt of effort, pulled. He successfully cleared the weeds—along with a ten-foot-wide section of the client's prized herb garden, earning a shriek from Sakura and a hefty bill for damages.
While painting a fence, Naruto used shadow clones to finish the job in minutes. Unfortunately, the clones, all possessing his personality, immediately got into an argument over who painted the straightest line, which devolved into an all-out paint war, leaving the fence, the yard, and a furious Sasuke covered in white paint.
Their most infamous mission was catching Tora, the Fire Daimyo's demon cat.
"Okay, this one is different," Kakashi warned them, a strange glint in his eye. "This target is fast, agile, and vicious."
"Pfft, it's a cat! How hard can it be?" Naruto declared, puffing out his chest. "I'll have it back in five minutes, believe it!"
Two chaotic hours later, a disheveled Naruto finally stood triumphant. The chase had involved him crashing through a market stall, getting outsmarted by the cat on multiple occasions, and being relentlessly mocked by the laughing voice of Garp in his head. He'd finally caught the beast by tripping over his own feet and accidentally trapping it in his jacket. He held the furious, screeching Tora at arm's length while Sakura and Sasuke looked on, utterly mortified.
The D-rank grind came to a crashing halt when Naruto stormed into the Hokage's office, dragging his exasperated team behind him.
"OLD MAN! NO MORE!" Naruto yelled, slamming his hands on the desk. "No more cats! No more weeds! I need a real mission! Something that requires a warrior! How am I supposed to become the strongest man in the world if all I do is yard work?!"
Hiruzen just chuckled. He had been waiting for this. "Very well, Naruto. You want a challenge? You've got one. A C-Rank mission. You'll be bodyguards."
A few minutes later, a grizzled old man walked in, reeking of sake. He looked Team 7 up and down with disdain.
"This is the team protecting me? They're a bunch of snot-nosed kids." He pointed his bottle at the shortest member. "And you, the little one with the idiotic look on your face! Are you even a ninja?"
Naruto's eye twitched. This was their client, the master bridge builder, Tazuna.