Chapter Text
Hiyoku. An orphan brought from the Land Of Water by Chunin on a mission at the age of five with no prior memories except his first name. He was put into the Konoha Orphanage until the age of seven when he got a small apartment funded by the Hokage who had an interest in him.
Iruka sighed. The boy was fine in class, did well in both physical tests and written tests of all kinds and had impeccable handwriting. In fact, he had never needed extra help from teachers. Even Sasuke, who undoubtedly was the top rookie of this batch, needed help as a kid. But Hiyoku seemed to opt for the library if he struggled, never once asking his peers or teachers. To be honest, Iruka had never seen him interact with another person outside of mandatory class discussions. Which brought him to his current problem.
"Honestly Hokage-sama, he seems to not have any friends—not for a lack of trying on others' sides. In teamwork exercises, he seems to work fine with Shikamaru and Shino but they both will excel with other people on their team."
The old Hokage blew smoke from his pipe with a contemplative look on his face.
"Why don't we move Haruno Sakura to this team here and put him with Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto? Kakashi is handling this team and he will make sure they can work together. Besides, I find that Uzumaki Naruto has a way with words. I'm sure he'll make Hiyoku feel comfortable. Besides, everyone on this team has similar circumstances."
"That could work but then this team would be completely made of civilians," Iruka pointed out.
"That will make it all the more easy for the team to grow as a unit."
The day passed like any other for Iruka. Naruto pulling pranks, forcing him to clean up after himself, treating him to ramen, grading papers and teaching, obviously. The graduation exams were coming up and he was busy discussing with other teachers about their classes and who was most likely to fail the exam.
After having his entire class redo the Henge jutsu, and having Naruto clean up the Hokage monument before getting him some ramen at Ichiraku's, Iruka was just walking home. The final exams were a week away and he suspected most students were at home studying and practising. So he was somewhat shocked to see one of his students out at this time.
"Ah, Hiyoku-kun? Why're you out so late?"
Hiyoku turned around and stared at him with dark indigo eyes. Iruka observed that his hair and face seemed to be drenched in sweat or water and that his breath was heavier than normal. He barely opened his mouth before Iruka guessed the answer to his own question.
"Training, huh? Well don't overwork yourself!"
"I won't. I'm not stupid."
"I suppose you're right." Iruka sweatdropped with an awkward laughter. "Well you best be going home and getting some rest. Goodnight!"
Hiyoku nodded and continued walking. Iruka watched him turn the corner before continuing his walk to his own home.
It was the day of the final exams. Iruka stood in front of his students giving them all a smile.
"Today, you guys are going to become Genin and be separated into teams of three under a Jounin sensei. I've watched all of you grow over the years and I'm sure you'll become fine shinobi. I know that you all will make Konoha proud and serve the village you all love so much. Every one of you joined this academy to become Ninja of the Hidden Leaf and this final exam is just the first step. Let me tell you about your test
First of all, I shall distribute the papers for your written exam. You'll have 40 minutes to answer the questions. After that, I'll call you one by one into the next room where you will be tested on the clone jutsu. You are expected to make at least three clones. If you are successful, you shall be presented with a hitai-ate. Now, let us begin."
With that, Iruka started passing out the pages and watched as students began to write answers. Some got stuck from time to time while others effortlessly went through all the questions. He watched as a few students' faces scrunched in confusion while the rest remained the same. Forty minutes passed and the test was over.
"Now we shall start the practical portion of the exam. Please come to the next room when your name is called."
The names were called in alphabetical order according to last names. Which meant that the first student up would be the one without a last name.
"Hiyoku."
Iruka, along with Mizuki, watched the brown haired boy walk into the room, stand at the centre and silently form the Tiger seal. In an instant, 10 copies of Hiyoku appeared in the room. Both teachers shared a look and nodded in agreement.
"Congratulations, Hiyoku. You passed."
The clones dissolved into water and Iruka really should have noticed that the technique wasn't the one taught at the academy when he made the hand sign. Regardless, he gave the boy a hitai-ate and watched him walk away, not noticing Hiyoku glare and scowl at the headband.
In the end, the only student to fail was Naruto and even he passed later in the forest after defeating Mizuki, a traitor to Konoha. It was after this that he once more met up with the Chunin teachers to finalise the Genin teams.
After solving the problem of Hiyoku's team placement, Hiruzen was given one final report on this particular batch of students, along with their new profiles as official Genin.
He went through them and could only sigh at Naruto's. He'd have to call the boy into his office and ask him to change it.
The photo remained unchanged by the time he called all the new Jounin senseis for a meeting regarding their new charges. He handed out all the details regarding their students that they ought to know such as a briefing of their personalities, places of residence and personal skills. He made sure to wait until Kakashi decided to show up to receive information on his new team.
The other Jounin had left by then and so Hiruzen personally went with the masked Jounin to show him the home of his new students. All three of them were orphans living in their own apartments. Sasuke had the best apartment of the three because of his monetary inheritance, kept neat and tidy save for a few blunt kunai and shuriken. Naruto's apartment was a wreck with instant ramen cups and who knows what. In comparison to both, Hiyoku's apartment was the most plain and the most organised. It barely looked lived in, the only personal touch being the scrolls and books on the bed.
After showing Kakashi the homes of his new students, Hiruzen left the Jounin to his own devices and sighed when he realised that the man was going to spy on his students.