"I'm... joining Team 10?" Sabuko tilted his head, confused, seated across from the Hokage.

  "Temporarily so, yes. Until a more permanent solution comes up. Despite you and Bolo-sensei making up earlier today, we cannot assign you to the same team." Hirzuen replied after a short nod.

  'Ugh. Don't remind me… I mean, I appreciate the guy's apology, but he really went over the top…'

  "And that's why Kakashi-sensei suggested pcing you with Team 10, under my son, Asuma. You'll be a Genin alongside his Genin."

  'A main-cast team, huh? I guess it's fine… They're not the main main cast, but I probably had the most fun with them, really. Besides, Asuma takes them to BBQ a lot, so I'll get to go fat.'

  "Then I should go make my acquaintance with Asuma-sensei?"

  "Yes…" Hiruzen coughed into his hand. "You may leave. They'll be waiting for you in the Ninja Academy."

  "Alright. Thank you, Lord Hokage." He bowed and turned to go.

  "One final thing, actually..." Hiruzen called out, stopping him.

  "...?"

  "Your use of the Kage Bunshin was exceptional. I've... Erhm, been briefed by Kakashi about your fight with Bolo-sensei."

  'Bullshit. I bet you spied on me with your crystal ball, but whatever.'

  The Hokage then sneezed, as if on cue.

  "Bless you, Lord Hokage. And thanks."

  "T-... That aside," Hiruzen cleared his throat.

  "I wonder, just how many Shadow Clones are you able to create in one instance?"

  '... No point in lying to the Hokage about that.'

  "Not much," he shrugged. "Only ten right now."

  "...?" Hiruzen's brow lifted.

  "Ten, you say?" he repeated.

  "Have you always been able to do that?"

  "Uhm…" Sabuko scratched his head. "No. I learned it after graduation, from Naruto. At first, I could barely summon one without colpsing. Took me over fifteen days of repeatedly draining my chakra reserves to push it to ten."

  Hiruzen cleared his throat again, his gaze narrowing at Sabuko.

  '...Is he mad? It's still a forbbiden jutsu after all... Crap. Better steer this somewhere else…' Sabuko thought, clearing his throat.

  "Haha… Naruto's so lucky. He can pop out hundreds at once like it's nothing."

  "..."

  Hiruzen stared at him a moment longer before sighing and looking away.

  "Indeed. You may leave now, Sabuko. Go meet your new supervisor."

  "Y-yes, sir." Sabuko said quickly and stepped out.

  The room fell into silence.

  The Hokage sat still, deep in thought.

  ' "Only ten shadow clones after fifteen days," he says…' Hiruzen exhaled slowly.

  'Not even Kakashi can manage more than four before colpsing… My own limit is around seven before it becomes dangerous.'

  'And yet this boy pushed his chakra reserves to the edge for over two weeks... With no signs of fatigue or permanent damage, and cims he can summon ten Shadow Clones?'

  'He doesn't hail from the Uzumaki, nor any notable bloodline. No heritage to expin this explosive growth...'

  Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, fingers steepled under his chin.

  'Whatever it is, bypassing the typical limits without signs of severe chakra-depletion syndrome… That shouldn't be possible under normal circumstances.'

  'Curious.'

  ------------------------

  "Oh! Takos, what's up," Sabuko called out as he stepped out of the Hokage's building, spotting Takos and Koko waiting with expectant eyes.

  "Uh," Takos looked away, blinking down at the ground. "G-Great, man. How are you?"

  "Doing great?" Sabuko muttered, raising an eyebrow.

  'Why's he so timid? He seems even more awkward than he was with Koko earlier when I saw them together.'

  "U-... UHM!" Koko suddenly blurted out, snapping to attention with a jump, her eyes fluttering as she straightened her posture.

  "I... WE... We..." she fumbled, "Uhm... Thank you, Sabuko-kun." she murmured, bowing her head.

  "It's thanks to you that... we're shinobi now."

  She avoided his calm gaze, flinching away with a shy blush.

  'Ah... they came to thank me?'

  "Y-You're staying on our team, right? Team 9?" she asked, hopeful.

  Even Takos gnced up now and then from his awkward slouch, stretching his lips sideways, not quite meeting Sabuko's gaze.

  "Yeah... We kinda wanted to know what Lord Hokage said," Takos added, voice low.

  Sabuko blinked at them. Once. Twice.

  "Ahhh..." he groaned.

  'No reason to guilt-trip these kids. I'll make something up.'

  "I tried to convince him to let me stay on your team..." He clicked his tongue.

  "But thanks to what I said to Bolo-sensei, y'know about me having weak taijutsu, it's better if I'm not in the same squad and one that has like, more strength to bance my weak ass...? Not sure. He was pretty vague."

  Takos finally raised his head. Koko's shoulders rexed slightly.

  "Haha, I messed it all up, huh?" Sabuko said with a crooked smile.

  A pause.

  "...Y-Yeah," Takos let out. "Thanks to you being weak, we're now a 2-man cell. Why didn't you train harder, dumbass!?"

  He gave him a light shove.

  "Now what the hell am I supposed to tell my parents? You're lucky the Hokage didn't send you back to the Ninja Academy, dumbass."

  "Sorry, sorry… Need you to convince them to let me stay. Wouldn't want to lose my roof, you know?" Sabuko said.

  "Hrn, whatever, fine! But you owe me big time. I'll think of something. Leave it to me."

  "No, I don't owe you," Sabuko smirked. "I passed you, you bastard."

  "What's that supposed to mean?! I passed on my own merit!" Takos growled. "And if anything, it's thanks to me you made it this far!"

  "Listen here…!" Sabuko and Takos's voices overpped as their bickering picked up again, fading slightly into the background.

  'I suppose…' Koko thought as she gnced between them, 'Takos wants to maintain Sabuko-kun's dignity...? So he didn't tell him we already know everything from sensei?'

  'He's not so bad after all.' Her gaze softened as she watched Takos, a small smile forming.

  "So," Takos finally sighed, "What team did you end up on? I doubt you'd be sent to Lord Hokage just to be kicked out."

  "Team 10. They seem pretty chill."

  "Huuuh, lucky," Takos muttered.

  "Ino's kinda... uhm..." He gnced sideways at Koko, who tilted her head in suspicion. Takos leaned in toward Sabuko, whispering,

  "Tell you what. Hook me up with Ino Yamanaka, and we're even."

  Koko deadpanned at Takos. Hearing what he said.

  'I take it back,' She thought.

  "No, dumbass," Sabuko replied ftly. "I told you, I'm not a matchmaker (Especially not for kids.) If you like her, go hit on her yourself."

  "Either way, what about you?" Sabuko asked, brushing him off. "How are you going to run a two-man cell?"

  "Bolo-sensei said we'll do E-rank missions until another graduate joins. So a few months or so."

  "I see."

  "...."

  "Well, thanks for stopping by. I'm heading to the Academy to meet my new team." Sabuko gave them a final wave, hands slipping into his pockets as he turned and walked off down the path.

  Takos and Koko stood in silence before the Hokage's building, watching him go.

  After a brief pause, they both tilted their heads in confusion.

  "Hey, what's with the dramatic exit?!" Takos barked as he and Koko ran towards Sabuko. "At least let me check out Ino—I'm coming with!"

  "Sabuko-kun… there's no reason we can't walk with you, right?" Koko added, more softly.

  Sabuko gnced back, a small smirk tugging at his lips.

  "Guess not, huh."

  'Haaaah... I pnned to fantasize about some mommy domme foxgirl harem while on the way there...'

  'But, I guess I can save that for ter.'