Chapter 6

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"Nii-san!" Naruto shouted in his brother's ear.

"Huh!?" Ken woke up with a start. "What the hell, Naruto? I was having such a nice dream too…" he said quietly and went on to mumble more, "I had just call in close air support on the enemy's position. The A-10 was almost there and you just had to ruin it…"

"Iruka-sensei is going to be here! The class is about to start and today we have the graduation exam, Nii-san! What if you miss that!? Can't be asleep on such an important day like this. And besides, that's Shikamaru's job. Not yours," Naruto scolded his big brother.

"Yeah, yeah. It's just an exam. Not like it's an S-rank mission or anything," Ken mumbled sleepily. Damn, the mental fatigue of all those shadow clones was nothing to scoff at. "Shit… Feels like I got hit by a fucking truck…"

"A what?" Naruto asked confusedly. The hell was a 'truck'?

"Nn. Never mind," Ken groaned while rubbing his forehead, trying to bring some relief. He had had to stay awake for a week straight without any sleep on many missions in his past life. After the first night of sleep after those missions, this was what the headache felt like.

"A-Are you o-okay, K-K-Ken-kun?" Hinata stuttered out. She really was such a cute little girl. So caring. So sweet. So obsessed with Naruto. So kind.

"Hai, Hinata-chan. I'm fine. Thanks for asking!" Ken said tiredly with a small smile.

"Are you sure, Nii-san?!" Naruto asked loudly, knowing it would annoy Ken.

Naruto had taken to pranks after Ken had shown him once. All Ken had done was a harmless little 'pour a bucket of freezing water on your sleeping little brother' prank. That was probably the biggest mistake of his life yet. Naruto had taken to pranks like fish to water. In fact, just this morning, the little ball sunshine had painted the Hokage monument…without anyone finding out until he was done! Poor ANBU were still trying to find the culprit.

Ken winced at the loud volume, "Shut the hell up, you ass. I know you're doing it on purpose!" Ken said, now holding his head in both hands.

"Weeeellll, I just thought that if you could get used to my loud voice then it'd hurt less. Fight pain with pain!" Naruto said again, but this time in his normal voice. Quickly after that, Naruto slung his arm over Ken's shoulder and screamed into his brother's ear, "RIGHT?"

"Fuck! Goddammit, Naruto! You are so dead!" Ken shouted as he tackled Naruto to the ground and started tickling him. "If you get used to the tickles, it won't be funny anymore, RIGHT?" said Ken as he didn't let up one bit.

"Ah! AHaAHHAHahahahAHHAHA, Nii… NII-SAN! HAHAHHAAHAHA Nii-san… I'm sorry! I won't hahaha do it anymore," Ken thought about stopping, which made his assault slow down a bit. Naruto, grabbing this opportunity, quickly slipped out of Ken's grasp and clung to Hinata. "Hinata-chan! Save me!" he cried out to the now completely red Hinata.

"N-Naruto-kun!" squeaked out Hinata.

Naruto was using her as a barrier between himself and Ken. That would be normal, but this time he had his head resting on her shoulder, with his chest pressed against her back, and his arms tightly wound around her waist.

Was he doing it on purpose? No one knew. Was Hinata enjoying herself? FUCK YEAH!

"Save me Hinata-chan!" he said again, now burrowing his face into the crook of her neck. "Save me from this big bad redheaded monster!"

"Nnhnn…" moaned Hinata involuntarily as she felt Naruto's warm breath on her neck.

A tick mark formed above Ken's eye. "Oh, this big bad redheaded monster gon whoop yo lil blond ass soon as I get my hands on ya. Now, get yo mofo butt back here!"

It was then that Iruka-sensei decided to walk in. His eyes roamed taking in the details as the whole class, Sasuke included, *gasp* was looking at a fuming Ken, who was making his way towards a violently blushing Hinata held very intimately by a fearful Naruto. "I don't want to know what's happening. Let's just get this over with. Get back to your seats!" He said as he took out the exam papers. Damn horny little pre-teens.

Once everyone was settled back down, he started handing out the papers. "You have two hours to finish the exam. If I find anyone cheating, they will get a zero!" He said. "You may start."

At that, all the students flipped the papers over and started writing.

…

The exam was easy enough for Ken to get a 100, but he chose to hide his skills and decided to only get a 60. Naruto on the other hand barely got an 85 while struggling. Now, they were all gathered outside for kunai and shuriken tests.

"Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka called out. Sasuke walked over to the testing area, his mighty-Uchiha aura in full effect, and took five kunai and five shurikens out of the box. Surprisingly only a few girls cheered and squealed, none of which was Sakura or Ino. After Ken and Naruto's little incident, many of the students had tried out the little experiment that Ken had told them to do and it had worked very effectively, making many of the fangirls stop fucking around and actually be serious about the ninja life. Ino had completely broken out of her fangirl phase and started training harder and harder every day. Unexpectedly, her crush had moved on from Sasuke to Ken much to the latter's glee – his seduction plan was coming along very nicely. Sasuke stood behind the line and reared his hand while taking aim. He let the knives go with full force.

Four thuds came from the target, signifying a near-perfect score which brought about lots of squealing from the fangirls, much to everyone else's chagrin. Next, he reared his other hand with the shuriken and let them go. Five thuds this time signified a perfect score. Cueing even louder squeals and making Ken wonder if he could possibly 'accidentally' make one of his grenade experiments fail and kill only the fangirls.

Ken, Naruto, and Hinata all sighed at once showing their disappointment that these people were going to be their comrades in the future. Unexpectedly, Ino also looked shameful that she was once like them. Iruka called on the next person. "Ken Uzumaki."

Ken stepped up to the testing area and picked up three kunai. "Sensei?"

"Yes, Ken?"

"What is the passing mark?"

"You have to get at least 6 out of 10 to pass this test," Iruka said quickly adding, "but you should try to get the most possible."

Ken nodded once. "Thank you, sensei." His hand blurred as the three kunai buried themselves into the bullseye all the way up to the handle. He picked up two more kunai and threw them haphazardly, making them fly way off target. Naruto and Hinata smiled, as they understood what Ken was doing. All three had spent enough time with each other training to know how amazing their skills were. Iruka merely sighed and put down a three for the kunai score. He also knew what Ken was doing but didn't exactly understand why. The rest of class, bar Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Shino, just looked confused. Ken picked up two shurikens and let them fly off target, just like the previous two kunai. He quickly picked up three more and again, all three hit the bullseye.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, feeling patronized while Shino showed no reaction at all and Shikamaru let out a weary "Troublesome…"

Iruka called the next person on. "Naruto Uzumaki." To everyone's surprise, Naruto got the same results as Sasuke but missing a shuriken throw (on purpose) instead of a kunai throw.

"Why did you get nine out of ten?" Ken asked confusedly.

"Huh?" Naruto said, not understanding what exactly his brother was asking.

"I mean if you wanted to downplay your skills, you should've just gotten the bare minimum. If you wanted to show your full skills, you should've just gotten full marks. But getting nine is basically showing amazing skills too, and sort of downplaying them which doesn't play any purpose at all… at least not to me." Ken replied.

"Nii-san… remember what you said to me a long time ago when we were going to go to sleep?" Naruto asked smilingly.

"No," Ken replied simply, "No, I don't. What did I say?" Naruto face-faulted at the simple thoughtless reply.

"Nii-san! You promised to tell me a secret that not even the Hokage knows!" Naruto replied pouting. Unfortunately, Naruto's reply was a bit too loud. While that may not usually be a problem, the contents were. A secret, not even the Hokage knows. Was Ken bullshitting or was he for real? Ken also noticed this but decided that the best course of action was actually just inaction.

"Oh yeah," Ken said as he thought back to that night. "I did, didn't I? Well, alright then. Get ready to get your mind blown tonight!" Ken reached up and ruffled Naruto's hair and the little blond leaned into Ken's hand.

As Ino, being the last person, finished her test, all the students made their way into the classroom for the final ninjutsu test. Again, all the tests – Kawarimi, Bushin, and Henge – proceeded normally with the exception of Ken and Naruto making Kage Bushin (without handsigns) instead of normal Bushin. That was where it started to get interesting. It seemed like Sasuke's pride was hurt. On top of already being shown up in the throwing test, he was also being shown up in the ninjutsu test. He was the rookie of the year, goddammit. He was supposed to be the best. So then why were two no-name orphans so much better than him. Sasuke had stopped caring about his clan name too much but he still cared about how skilled he was. He practiced every fucking day so why were Ken and Naruto, who he saw messing around regularly, better than him? In the end, his curiosity outweighed his pride.

"What was that jutsu?" Sasuke asked demandingly.

"That was the Kage Bushin. For those who have way too much chakra and cannot make normal Bushins this is what they use," Iruka explained as he went into his teacher mode. "Though the charka consumption is so high that normally no one under Jonin can use it safely. Ken and Naruto are exceptions to this fact, of course."

Sasuke bristled at the realization that he wasn't as good as the two brothers in any aspect at all. He quickly turned to Ken and voiced his concern, "Where did you learn it?"

"Woah…" Ken said with a gobsmacked face.

"What happened, Nii-san?" Questioned Naruto immediately as if rehearsed.

"I couldn't hear anything for a second there," Ken said seriously which earned a growl from Sasuke.

"I said, 'Where. Did. You. Learn. That.'," Sasuke ground out, this time a bit louder.

"Holy shit, it happened again!" Ken exclaimed. In the background, snickers could be heard coming from Naruto, Hinata, Ino, Kiba, Choji, and another girl called Hinoko. (A/N: She's an actual Naruto character. Search her up on Google.)

"Are you deaf?" Sasuke shouted at Ken.

"Nah," Ken replied, copying Kakashi's nonchalant aura. "See, I heard that just fine."

"Then where did you learn the Kage Bushin from?!" Sasuke asked again, getting angrier by the second. By now, his Sharingan was active with two Tomoe in each eye.

"Huh…" Ken said quietly, almost as if talking to himself but still loud enough for the whole class to hear. "Maybe I am deaf. I couldn't hear for a second there… again."

Naruto and Kiba couldn't hold it in anymore and both fell on the floor laughing their guts out while Sasuke stood there fuming. Ken also smiled and chuckled at the dirty looks the fangirls were shooting at him. Interestingly enough, Sakura was looking at Ken with a sense of admiration instead.

"Alright, you two," said Iruka, lightly smacking both boys in the head with a book. "Back to your seats. We're going to start handing out your headbands." As the two made their way back, Iruka spoke to Sasuke again, "Sasuke, it's not nice to demand where your friends learnt their skills from. Each person is entitled to privacy."

Sasuke merely scoffed and walked away but before sitting, he turned and faced Ken. "Ken. 8 in the evening. Training ground 20. Fight me."

Ken looked at him as if he grew another head. Which dumbass would want to reveal their skills to someone else over a shitty little thing like pride, Ken thought. "Whatever," Ken shrugged Sasuke off and walked back to his seat.

As Iruka and the assistant teacher Mizuki started handing the headbands out, Ken mentally made a list of everything to do.

Okay so let's go over this. First, I have to accept the Hokage's ANBU offer. Then I'm going to see how much the work on the SCAR is progressing. Hopefully, I can have a full auto working by the end of the month. After that… uh… the jetpack- wait no, that was a failure. I wonder if I can design an Ironman suit. Guess I'll put that down on my 'To fuck around with' list. I'll also have to tell Naruto about my past life. UUUGHHH That's gonna be a mission. What else… OH SHIT! DANZO! I have to meet him tonight and see how the new ROOT agents are progressing. If everything goes to plan, I'll be Commander of ANBU and ROOT by the time Naruto is Hokage, that's when a small voice in the back of Ken's head decided to speak up. If everything is going according to plan, you've walked into an ambush.

"Right… of course. The Murphy's Laws of War. How could I possibly forget?" Ken tiredly mumbled.

"What was that Nii-san?" asked Naruto as he put on his headband. Ken looked on his desk to find a headband of his own.

"No, nothing Naruto," he said absentmindedly as he inspected the metal plate that was on the black cloth.

Never in his life had Ken ever worn something that showed that his loyalties were towards a group other than the JTF2 or a country other than Canada (bar infiltration missions, of course). He didn't know if he wanted to put this on. Was his country really gone? At the moment, his loyalties only lied with Canada (if it were to somehow come back) and Naruto. Was Konoha really worth it? Did he have it in him? Ken folded the cloth up and put it in his pocket, deciding to think on it later. He was going to be in ANBU anyways. He probably wouldn't have to wear it unless he quit ANBU and that was a long way off.

Naruto, seeing how his brother didn't put the headband on, decided to voice his concerns. "Aren't you going to wear it, Nii-san?"

"Nah," Ken said, "I probably won't need it anyway."

That got the attention of every single Genin in the classroom. As excited as the class was… As loud as it was… All activity seized, and every single heard turned to look at him incredulously.

"WHAT!?" screamed Naruto, his eyes wide as an XL ramen bowl. "Nii-san… You're not going to quit being a ninja, are you?" he asked, tears already forming at the edges.

Ah… shit. Definitely not the best thing to say… or… maybe I could use this to my advantage? And that was when another crazy idea popped into the redhead's mind.

Ken sighed and looked as downtrodden as he possibly could, "I… don't really know, Naruto. This job…" Ken continued, leaning back in his seat and looking at the ceiling and putting his hands behind his head. "We're going to have to kill people. Sometimes even innocent people. It's going to be life or death on every single mission… every single day, hour, minute, second… of our lives. And in the end, you either get killed on the battlefield where you die all alone. There is no doubt that it is an amazing job, and very honourable. I respect every single shinobi in this village 100% and your dream of being Hokage is the most wonderful I've ever seen from any kid our age. I totally think you can do it. But I don't know if I can. Can I really kill an innocent child if the Hokage gave that order? If, on a dangerous mission I was lying on the ground minutes away from death, would I be able to say I lived and died without any regrets?" Ken sat up straight again and shook his head. It didn't go unnoticed by him that almost every single eye was on him. "But… that's just me. Don't let my thoughts get to you. You pursue your own dreams. I'm most likely going to quit and pursue a much safer job," he finished.

The class stayed quiet, contemplating their futures, wondering whether their classmate had made the right decision. Whether they should also quit. Finally, after a few long moments of silence, Iruka spoke, "You are all dismissed. Be back here tomorrow to find out what Genin Team you're on," said Iruka and walked out, leaving the class to their own devices.

Slowly Hinoko stood up and walked out the classroom. Following her example, all the others started walking out one by one. Fifteen minutes later, the only ones who were still in the class were Naruto and Ken. "Nii-san… were you really serious when you said all those things?" Naruto asked with a depressed visage.

Ken threw his head back and laughed out loud to the skies. "Hell no! Why would I be second-guessing myself, Naruto? You're my brother. You're going to be the Hokage, and when you're there, you're also going to need someone to protect you and help you. That someone is going to me, lil bro. I'll only follow you. Wherever you go, I'll be with you." Ken ended with a bright toothy grin that could rival even Naruto's.

Naruto's lower lip quivered, and his eyes shimmered with tears as he wrapped his arms around Ken. "Thank you, Nii-san," Naruto whispered, "thank you, thank you, thank you, I love you, Nii-san."

Ken slowly hugged Naruto back tightly. "I love you too, Naruto. And no matter what, if you need me, I'll always be there." They stayed like that for a few minutes and Ken combed his hand through Naruto's hair almost putting the latter to sleep.

After Ken and Naruto had their little bonding moment, both walked with each other on their way to the Hokage's office. "So… Nii-san?"

"Yeah, Naruto?"

"If you weren't going to stop being a shinobi, why did you say all those things in the class?" Naruto asked.

"Well… It's a ling story but I'll tell you all about it when we go to sleep tonight," Ken said as he reached over and ruffled Naruto's hair.

"Mou… Nii-san…" Naruto pouted.

Ken sighed, "I'll take you to Ichiraku's later," he offered.

"Deal!" Naruto shouted without hesitation as Ken just shook his head grumbling about cute little brothers.

The Uzumaki duo made their way up the stairs in the Hokage tower and arrived outside the old man's office. "Wait here, I'll be done as soon as possible," Ken ordered, subconsciously using his Commander tone.

"H-Hai," Naruto answered, caught off guard by the sudden change in demeanour.

Ken nodded once and knocked on the door. "Enter," came a voice from inside.

Ken opened the door and entered, his eyes immediately sweeping the room. Shikaku-san, Kakashi-san, Hokage-sama, ANBU Commander Ryu, and Hinoko… Wait, Hinoko!? Ken closed the door behind him, walked to the middle of the room and bowed. "Hokage-sama."

"Ken-kun," the Hokage nodded, acknowledging the newly promoted Genin. "Do you have an answer ready?" the Hokage prompted, seeing how Ken wasn't going to approach the topic.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," he said, glancing at Hinoko.

The Hokage merely shook his head. "Do not worry about her, Ken-kun," he said with an approving smile.

"My answer is yes, Hokage-sama. It would be an honour to join the ANBU," Ken replied.

"I am very pleased to hear that, Ken. I assume you already know Hinoko-san here?" Hiruzen asked, gesturing to the girl standing off to the side.

"Yes," Ken said, not revealing a lot. The Hokage's smile grew wider. It seems Ken already understood many of the rules that shinobi should follow.

"She is also a fresh new recruit who will be joining ANBU with you and be on your team. Her codename will be Soku," the Hokage said with a nod.

"Understood, Hokage-sama," Ken said, then asked, "What will be my codename, if I may ask?"

"We will let you decide for yourself," the Hokage said with a smile.

That statement thoroughly surprised Ken. He thought the ANBU were given codenames by the Hokage, but here he was being given the chance to choose. Ideally, he'd want one form his past life, but he had had so many that Ken didn't know which one to choose.

"I'd like to be called… Neo," Ken said as he made up his mind.

"Very well. Agent Neo, here is your mask," said the Hokage as he handed him a mask with black and red streaks.

The ANBU Commander stepped up and offered Ken a hand which he grasped into a firm handshake. "Agent Neo. Welcome to ANBU."

"My pleasure, Commander," Ken answered, unable to keep the small smile off his face.