Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto; these are his paints. The easel is mine, but that is all. No disrespect is intended with the posting of this story.
Naruto hummed to himself, seeming fairly cheerful, considering the earlier altercations -- and the recent death of his sensei. He took a seat at his favorite stool, calling out, "Hey Teuchi-san."
"Hello!" the old man behind the counter replied cheerfully. "How are you doing today, Naruto-kun?"
"I think ... I'm doing alright," he allowed, nodding. "Say, can I get a beef ramen, and, um, a shrimp one, too?"
"Coming right up!" the proprietor agreed, swiftly setting the noodles to boil and preparing the other ingredients. "So, I hear that graduation was recent -- and I see a hitai-ate on your head, is that right?"
"Y...yeah, kinda," the boy admitted, staring at the counter. "Um ... could I get some tea?"
"Sure thing!" Swiftly, the tea was served by the younger looking girl at the cook's side. "Ayame-chan's voice is lost at the moment," the cook noted apologetically.
She gave an apologetic smile and touched her throat before shrugging.
Naruto sipped at the drink thoughtfully, then said, "I hope you feel better soon, Ayame-nee."
Her smile brightened and she gave a tiny nod.
"Well, how about your graduation, then?" the cook pressed.
"I did something to get, a um.... They call it a merit promotion, I guess. I kinda, uh ... failed the actual test, but they decided I was good enough to be a genin anyway, because I learned a really awesome secret technique! So, yeah, I kinda made it."
"Well, that's still amazing!" the man said. "Tell you what-- Anything you want is on the house tonight in recognition of your success! It must be great being acknowledged as a part of Konoha, eh?"
Naruto nodded, surprised at the conviction in the man's voice. "That's.... That's pretty cool, Teuchi-san -- in that case, double my order!"
"Ah, you're going to make me regret that offer, aren't you?" he teased. "But, alright. That sounds pretty great -- why don't you look a bit more cheerful?"
"Um.... L...last night, Iruka-sensei was killed," Naruto said, quietly, just as the man set a pair of bowls before him.
"No..." the cook groaned. "Iruka-san? That's-- Oh, that's terrible! Well, I can see why you'd be a bit down -- but even in troubled times, keep your appetite up! You're a -- what's it, genin now, right? You're going to need your energy for what's coming!"
"You're right," Naruto agreed, eating his ramen slowly. "Thanks, Teuchi-san -- this is great, as always."
"I'm glad you're enjoying it, then," the vendor agreed, before shaking his head and sighing morosely. "Poor Iruka-san.... There's going to be a memorial, right?"
Naruto nodded.
"If citizens are welcome, I'd like to be there." Tilting his face upwards, the man heaved another sigh, shaking his head again. "What a pity...."
"That's one of the risks of being a ninja, though," Naruto said quietly. "Um.... Hokage-sama and a bunch of other guys ended up talking to me about it a whole lot earlier this morning. I had to report what happened, and everything. They told me that Iruka-sensei's last request was that ... I be the best ninja I could be, because he believed I was...." He trailed off and his voice cracked, only halfway through his first bowl of ramen.
"Hey, hey," the man said comfortingly, reaching across the counter and giving Naruto a consoling pat on the shoulder. "It's alright...."
Naruto spent a few minutes sobbing into a clean washcloth that the ramen cook offered him until he regained his composure. "It's funny ... I don't really even feel hungry...."
"You still have to eat," the cook said resolutely. "You want to do right by your teacher, don't you?"
"Y...yeah," the boy agreed, sniffling, raising a hand to touch his hitai-ate. He offered a smile and resumed eating his soup with a bit more energy -- finishing just in time for the next round.
"So, what do you think about your teammates? Or have they decided that?" the cook prompted, setting out a fresh cup of tea.
"I've met some guys that are actually really awesome," Naruto answered, nodding. "I might get stuck with a loser I really don't want to share a team with, but Shino-kun and Shikamaru-kun -- I think we'd make a great team. I really hope that I get put with them, anyway!"
"There's a ray of sunshine in all of this," the cook agreed, smiling softly. "Now -- tell me about your new friends, huh?"
"Yeah! Alright -- oh, but hey, gimmie two more shrimp ramen -- and then a miso! Also, you got any pork buns?"
The cook chuckled, shaking his head but preparing the orders as Naruto rambled about meeting his new friends, occasionally trailing off into a thoughtful silence when he remembered his teacher. After eating his fill, some nine bowls of ramen in total, he thanked the cook profusely and skipped back to his apartment, humming thoughtfully.
His sad little apartment.... The cook sighed once Naruto was out of sight, stepping back into the restaurant, where a doppleganger watched him pensively.
"You know," Teuchi said, shaking his head, "I don't really see why you can't just talk to the boy on your own."
Dropping the henge, Kakashi reached for his wallet, quickly counting out a short stack of ryo. "This should cover the damages," he noted. "Again -- please don't mention this."
The girl that had stood silent by his side the entire time released her own henge, reverting into the form of Anko. The real Ayame shook her head at her father's side, looking at the ninja doubtfully.
As for Kakashi and Anko, they were well clear of anyone else -- on the rooftops -- before she finally remarked, "It's interesting to see that the sharingan can be used to copy recipes and cooking styles, but really. What was that all about?"
"You wanted to see for yourself," Kakashi answered with a shrug.
At least Anko had behaved while infiltrating ... but then, she was supposed to be an expert. And it wasn't like Ayame wasn't grudgingly agreeable to the idea, once Anko had explained that they were actually trying to look out for Naruto and examine his stability after the encounter with Iruka and Mizuki. She'd given the special jounin some tips on emulating her, at the end.
"I guess that's true," she agreed, somewhat mollified. "Gotta admit, this looks like a pretty crummy situation. It's nice that we got to do a little breaking-and-entering, and it's cute that you replaced his expired milk with something fresher -- but that's not really going to fix this. Do you have a line on some kind of solution?"
He sighed, looking up towards the sky. "How is my book, anyway?" he asked.
"I won't spoil it for you, but chapter sixteen was steamy," she acknowledged, grinning. "Just twelve more chapters to go. Anyway, what's the problem, then? Kid seems to have come across a team he'd like -- why not give them a shot?"
"There's this thing where he wants nothing to do with me," Kakashi remarked irritably. "In my defense, I came across a boy who had stolen a forbidden scroll, the mutilated remains of Mizuki, and the dying form of Iruka -- knocking him out while he was shaking in terror and confusion ... well, it seemed like a good idea. You know -- at the time."
"Nice," Anko said, rolling her eyes. "Alright, what about the other kids? What kind of sensible teams can you put together?"
"Well...."
After a subdued day to assemble and conduct the memorial service commemorating the loss of a loyal Konoha shinobi, Sarutobi Hiruzen returned to his office and allowed himself a few pained moments of solitude to reflect on the service. His focus throughout the speech was on the unity of Konoha, and what a loss Iruka's death represented. Truly, a ninja might be expected to lose their life at any time ... but chunin instructor was considered among the most 'safe' roles a ninja could perform.
Realistically, medical-nin were exposed to more danger than any instructor should have been. Perhaps that was what had allowed a traitor such as Mizuki to be placed where he was....
But the memorial was over, and he had reconvened a small group of jounin to deal with another pressing issue. The aftermath of Iruka's death, more than the service.
Along with Kakashi, the current target of most of his ire, were Kurenai and Asuma. Somewhat less expected was the presence of Anko. While Sarutobi wasn't entirely clear on the circumstances, it seemed that Kakashi held her partially responsible for some difficulties.
After checking his crystal ball for a moment, ensuring that they weren't being spied upon, the Hokage sighed, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. "Before we begin, I am curious at Anko's involvement, here," he said quietly.
"Have you tried to keep her out of something she's decided she's going to be interested in?" Kakashi asked dully.
Anko snorted in amusement.
"Yes," the Hokage agreed, opening his eyes and shooting the woman an unamused stare. "But I expect compliance in this issue. Anko, why are you here?"
She scowled slightly, but then behaved as a kunoichi should, nodding to Sarutobi in deference. "Hokage-sama -- after the search for Naruto was called off, the night that Iruka was killed, circumstances caused my path to cross with Kakashi's. From there, I was curious about his circumstances, and have probably been prying more than I should -- however, I was never at any point told that I was attempting to acquire any secrets I should not have access to. Or even, really, to stop.... I think Kakashi likes being hounded."
The copy ninja's emotions were difficult to read, but Sarutobi picked up on the irritation and mild horror that Kakashi didn't show anyway.
Snorting, Sarutobi allowed a grudging nod. "I see...."
Kurenai pursed her lips silently, looking between the two thoughtfully. Asuma actually snorted, turning his attention to rolling a cigarette and then lighting it with a flick of his fingertips.
"And on that note, while I don't know everything that's going on, I have been watching the major players," Anko added. "As I understand it, this is basically something that fouled up determining who will be this year's rookie nine, right? The most promising group all got into some drama over some childish bullshit?"
"Not being a full jounin, or placed in a teaching role, you won't understand that while childish, these outlooks are still legitimate to our genin," Kurenai warned. "It would be easier if we could simply tell children that it is time to be an adult, but that growth process is rarely complete before graduating the academy."
Anko ignored the jibe at her lesser rank and shrugged. "You three need to figure out which students you get, right? Well, you were watching your potentials throughout the memorial?"
"Yes," Asuma agreed, frowning. "Shikamaru, Naruto, and Shino were all together -- unless I miss my guess, Naruto was actually borrowing Shikamaru's spare formal wear for the service -- looked a bit loose on him."
"Hyuuga Hinata spent her time more concerned about Naruto's wellbeing than the loss of her teacher -- though both obviously shook her," Kurenai noted, frowning. "Ino seemed probably the most stable of anyone, somewhat shaken from her normal pursuit of Sasuke. Sakura is convinced that whatever else happens, she's going to be placed on a team with him -- she also regrets the loss of her teacher, but both of them are more concerned with their romantic futures at the moment."
"At that age, most girls and many boys are more interested in romance than ninjutsu," Kakashi noted with a shrug.
Kurenai and Anko both shot Kakashi skeptical looks, and Sarutobi waved a hand to head off the argument he could see brewing. "Your point being?" he prompted the copy ninja.
"Ah, of course," Kakashi acknowledged the subtle reprimand, sighing. "Kiba seemed alright -- fell back on his family for support. He hasn't much been paying attention to most of the other students, in comparison to his teacher. He, Choji, Shikamaru, and Naruto were the lowest scoring members of the nine, so he's likely to prefer being with one of his old friends. Like Choji, Kiba feels that this situation indicates that he is a weaker ninja. Sasuke's in the same state -- except it rankles him to have his status as one of the better genin challenged.
"Ibiki wasn't polite about it, but his statement was essentially correct. Given some time, I think Sasuke will cool down and be able to work with Naruto ... but I can't really say how soon that is."
"Man, I wish I could have seen their faces when Ibiki was talking to them," Anko lamented, sighing. "That must have been fun!"
"Anko," the Hokage said in warning.
"I'll be good," she apologized.
"So, teams," Kakashi said with a shake of his head. "I've turned Naruto against me, at least for the moment."
"Well," Asuma noted with a shrug, "you'll be training Sasuke regardless."
Everyone else nodded acknowledgement; who else had a sharingan?
"So it seems," Kakashi agreed. "For team seven ... given a new understanding of how much his status means to Sasuke, I would like to chose two clan genin, so that I can focus on curbing that issue."
Asuma grunted, frowning. "Even if Shikamaru has made friends with Naruto and Shino, I'd like to have Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru -- it's practiced, and it works," he opined.
"Hinata has excellent control of her chakra but lacks confidence -- she'll be a bad match with Sasuke, from what I've seen," Kurenai mused.
"So," Kakashi murmured, rubbing his chin through his mask thoughtfully, "you'd have Hinata, Naruto, and Sakura -- leaving me with Sasuke, Kiba, and Shino?"
Sarutobi nodded thoughtfully at the team distribution. It seemed ... workable. Something felt a bit off about it, though. Anko snorted, shaking her head and saying nothing. The Hokage's eyes fixed on her immediately, and he ordered, "Out with it."
She stiffened, then nodded. "Permission to make pointed, yet incredibly rude observations?" she asked.
Fighting back the small smile that statement engendered, the Hokage allowed, "Granted -- temporarily."
Taking a deep breath, Anko stepped forward towards the Hokage's desk, then turned to face her three superiors. "Lazy bums," she announced, scanning across the three of them. "Seriously -- Asuma, you're the worst. You want three clan kids with a known working combination -- thanks to their family history -- so you'll just be able to kick back and coast through your teaching assignment. Since all of their techniques are family only, you don't even need to train them! And for teamwork, you can just point them to their families and say, 'That's how it's done'?"
Asuma's expression tightened slightly, but he showed no real signs of anger. The Hokage found himself reluctantly nodding, agreeing with Anko's assessment so far.
"And you," Anko continued, rounding on Kurenai. The red-eyed kunoichi's eyes hardened. "Have some focus! Don't you need to look underneath the underneath? Hinata needs some work -- but her chakra manipulation and kekkai genkai leave Sakura behind. Boosting the flagging morale of a clan heiress is one thing, but she's got a lot more to work with in the first place. You can't just look at one thing that needs work and ignore the rest; Sakura needs help, too!
"If she's going to be any kind of kunoichi, she needs to first step up to the point where she's even Hinata's equal. I'll give Sakura credit, she's got determination and fairly decent chakra control. But she's also got a temper -- so putting her on a team where you're absorbed with fixing the superior kunoichi's confidence while ignoring your other student's flaws? Sakura already seems to lash out at Naruto -- you'll only be making that situation worse.
"You're basically condemning Sakura to feel inferior until she finishes some effective remedial training because, even given her strengths, Naruto out-powers her, Hinata is more skilled ... and Sakura's book learning won't stack up against the fact that Hinata can figure out what she needs to with the byakugan in any situation they don't legitimately have time to research. By the time she'll overcome any of those issues, she'll have had a chance to build up a genuine resentment for the two teammates you assigned her with. When will you find time to try and make her a proper kunoichi, too?"
"I see," Kurenai said, somewhat coldly. "Anything else?"
"There is the bad example you and Asuma both set by constantly making eyes at one another," Anko remarked with a knowing grin.
Kurenai's iciness was replaced with a furious, embarrassed blush, and Asuma coughed, suddenly finding the palms of his hands fascinating to study.
Some of Kakashi's dour mood seemed dismissed by that. "What -- really?" he asked, sounding as curious as Sarutobi found himself.
Anko snorted, nodding.
Kurenai's cheeks had deepened in color, and she stared fixedly at Anko, her gaze promising death.
"While we might expect genin to miss those ... antics ... Anko makes a very good point about propriety," the Hokage remarked. "But let's finish this analysis."
"Should I make out my last will and testament first?" Kakashi wondered, when Anko's gaze swung to him.
"So, as far as I can tell ... you've got some freakish debt-of-honor thing driving you," she judged. "But you don't really say anything when you talk, so it's a hard call to make. It's clouding your judgment, though -- you think you owe Naruto something, and since you're acting like you can't ever pay that back, you want to try and make it up by doing better for Sasuke."
He grimaced behind his mask, unabashed, and the Hokage raised an eyebrow, seeing the parallel. Just the thing to take Anko down the notches she undoubtedly felt she'd climbed in the exchange. "And my guess is your insight into this only comes from overstepping some of your own bounds," he remarked, causing Kurenai and Asuma to perk with obvious interest.
So much for the stoic ninja demeanor.
Kakashi gave nothing away, and Anko only shrugged, stepping back towards the door, assuming her permission to speak so freely had been rescinded. Well ... what she had said was true enough, in Sarutobi's mind. "The genin situation is quite a problem," he noted. "Well, Anko, given your other observations -- what brilliant suggestion do you have?"
She looked thoughtful. "Everyone seems to expect Shino, Naruto, and Shikamaru as a team," she noted. "And from what I know of their styles, their major weakness would be ranged combat. Shino's utility and Shikamaru's clan techniques make for a well-rounded team -- suitable for almost any direction they chose to focus."
"Alright," Asuma allowed, as though the demolition of the Ino-Choji-Shikamaru plan were a major concession. "And the other teams?"
"They're the reason those three can't be a team," Anko shrugged. "As far as I can tell -- you can't build two really good groups with the others right now."
"Excuse me?" Kurenai started, blinking rapidly. "Explain, please."
"Sasuke, Kiba, and Ino," Kakashi said thoughtfully. "That could be a solid team. Very strong scouting, espionage, and Ino's the only weak link in becoming a strike group; her other abilities should make up for that."
"Leaving Hinata, Choji, and Sakura," Anko completed.
Asuma grimaced at that. "Choji's a specialized fighter," he acknowledged. "He probably wouldn't be a good match with Hinata's style. If Anko's observations about Sakura and Hinata on a team holds true, that could be problematic as well."
"Basically, you can shuffle it around, but as much as those three make a nice team -- in theory -- they leave the other teams hurting in some aspects. I can see Hinata and Choji coordinating in some fairly specific situations, but at this point we still don't really know what Sakura's going to bring to the table."
"I was originally hoping to put her with Sasuke and Naruto, in the hopes that they would motivate her to improve her range of skills," Kakashi admitted. "But it seems I wouldn't be able to lead that team."
"Naruto wants to be a genin," Anko disagreed. "Make him follow orders and be on your team anyway -- prove his loyalty!"
"My undisclosed honor issues make me reluctant to agree to that idea," Kakashi said, somewhat stiffly.
"Then, give it up -- put the nine of them in some stupid super-team, and make them sort it out on point of failure," Anko declared, spreading her hands in a shrug.
Sarutobi sighed, shaking his head. "That won't work," he disagreed. "We have to chose nine of the twenty seven to pass. Can we say absolutely that this particular nine is the best suited to become genin?"
"Actually, yeah," Anko remarked, smirking. "You've got their paperwork and your own observations, right?"
"This could cause rather a lot of problems," Asuma noted, shaking his head.
"Maybe not," Kurenai countered. "We could replace standard teamwork tests and instead do in-depth skill analysis -- unfortunately, the last person to have examined them all is Iruka-san." She paused a moment, and even Anko inclined her head slightly in recognition. "While we have his records, ideally we would like to have genuinely consulted with him. In this case, we may as well undertake that examination again, just as in the academy, with additional combat focus. We already know the teamwork has issues, and we also know we need to address that."
"That ... has a certain amount of merit," Asuma mused thoughtfully. "Say ... stick the whole lot of them with a rotating assignment between us. If what Anko says is true, we can arrange it so that there will always be a jounin attending the main group, and then individual students can be taken aside for whatever training they might need -- say, Sasuke's sharingan training, Kurenai wanting to work with Hinata, and maybe giving Sakura something that almost all of the teams are missing -- a ranged specialization."
That sounded somehow much more workable to Sarutobi, aside from the mild administrative headache that it would probably prove to be.
"Wait, I was just f-- messing with you," Anko protested with a quick, surprised glance at the Hokage.
"That's what you get for poking your nose into things," Kakashi remarked, shrugging. "I trust you've done enough damage?"
"No," Sarutobi countered, nodding thoughtfully. "Anko will continue to monitor the situation and offer her insights."
"Is that wise?" Kakashi asked, glancing at her sidelong.
Anko nodded her agreement with Kakashi's sentiment, looking at the Hokage in confusion. "There's a reason they go through Ibiki before they even get to meet me, usually," she noted.
"You're not to interact with the rookies except to save a life should it be required," Sarutobi warned. "I want you monitoring and passing your observations on to Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi." Turning to the doubtful Asuma and Kurenai, he added, "Anko's insights are brutal and pointed. It's possible that all of us have become somewhat soft, due to the fact that we are working with children. But then, they will be adults legally, since we've all but determined that they will be our rookie nine.
"I find Anko's suggestion of a rotating roster will allow us -- at times -- to make our students deal with both jounin teachers and fellow students that they might prefer to avoid. In this way, we can compromise. We have to balance our desires to protect them against our need to make them grow strong. If we've determined that these are the nine that we will progress, then we will invest everything we can in making them the best ninja possible."
"Understood," Kurenai agreed first, followed shortly by Asuma's grunted assent. After a glance at the other two, the copy ninja nodded his compliance as well.
"Well, crap," Anko sighed, shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest. "Thanks, Kakashi."
"Pleased to repay you in kind!" he said, with something akin to genuine pleasure in his voice.
"Oh, you're paying for that later," she grumbled.
Snorting, Kurenai remarked, "Subtle."
"And to think ... we're concerned that the genin behave childishly," Sarutobi warned. "Enough -- I have other business I need to attend to. I want this well managed -- I expect the three of you, with Anko as a consultant, will make excellent ninja out of those rookies. If I don't see them at least in the first round of the chunin exams, I'll be disappointed with all four of you."
"Understood, Hokage-sama," they said in unison, before vanishing in swirls of leaves.
Hinata felt bad for the loss of Iruka -- one of the nicer teachers she had ever known. Despite the fact that he was nice, she'd never really gotten to know the man well. She knew Naruto was close with him, and was cheered to see that even though he had been crying, he seemed somehow to hold himself together. His determination had not been extinguished in Iruka's death; she could tell by the light in Naruto's eyes that it would instead carry on in his memory.
So she decided the same would be true for her, too. Even though teams had been theoretically decided, she had a strong hope that she would -- somehow -- still be on a team with Naruto. He was really a ninja, now -- and with his merit promotion, that much closer to becoming Hokage! If he could achieve his dreams, then she could try and believe in hers, too.
She got to the classroom early, simultaneously eager and worried about her inevitable assignment. Who would her jounin sensei be? Maybe that curious-looking woman with red eyes? Or that jounin she had only glimpsed, speaking with the grim, scarred man? She hoped it wasn't Kakashi -- Naruto didn't want to be on a team with him. But then ... if the two of them were working under Kakashi together, maybe that would be okay?
She was surprised to see she wasn't the first one in the room -- the moody Uchiha Sasuke was there, too, shooting her a sharp look, then looking away indifferently when he recognized her.
Pursing her lips, she said nothing to him, merely taking the seat immediately adjacent to where Naruto had sat the day before. She distracted herself by activating her byakugan to study the cracks and chakra residue from where Shino's bugs had repaired the surface. As far as she could discern, they'd actually eaten all of the broken bits of wood, and then somehow reformed it as some very wood-like substance. Something that bugs made, anyway.
Her advanced sight probed deep enough to see that it was mostly sterile, and would probably last as long as the rest of the desk -- though after investigation, there were dozens, probably hundreds of other marks where damage had been repaired with some hasty jutsu in the past. She released her kekkai genkai and looked up at the clock -- seeing the spinning gears behind the clock-face always distracted her from checking the time.
The next student to arrive was Naruto, but he moved to a spot ahead of her in the classroom -- and far to one side of Sasuke. After him was Shino, who took a seat near Naruto, and the pair began to talk quietly. Even Sasuke broke from his brooding, watching the two doubtfully until Kiba entered next. After that, the students who had properly been assigned teams began to trickle in.
There were two late arrivals, but both of them made it before their assigned jounin, so no one said anything. The other teams all trooped out to follow their teachers excitedly, leaving the original undecided nine behind.
She'd been distracted and hadn't noticed when Shikamaru arrived, taking the seat between Naruto and Choji, the three of them talking about something while Shino nodded and made rare contributions of his own. To one side, Sasuke looked irritated, steadfastly ignoring Ino and Sakura as they vied for his attention.
Kiba and her were the odd pair out, neither sitting particularly near another group, though Kiba looked like he wanted to join the other four.
Very shortly after that, the chattering cut off when a trio of jounin entered. There was the man she thought was named Asuma, there was the red-eyed woman, and lastly was Kakashi.
"Right," Asuma said without preamble, pulling a scroll from his vest and unrolling it, scanning across the text briefly. "So, due to certain circumstances, we've had a lot of trouble determining how to make good ninja teams from the lot of you. Our solution is that you're going to have to sort this out yourselves."
"What?" Kiba barked, blinking in astonishment. Akamaru cocked his head to one side and whimpered questioningly.
"I will make a team with Kiba and Choji," Sasuke offered immediately, narrowing his eyes.
"Mmm, not quite what we had in mind just yet," Kurenai warned, shaking her head slightly. "The nine of you have been trouble for us teachers, so the nine of you are going to deal with the same tasks -- you must all qualify for genin together."
"Qualify?" Choji questioned.
"Yeah," Naruto piped up, "we're all just genin candidates. We gotta get circulated to become real genin."
Shikamaru snorted, glancing at the orange-clad boy and correcting, "Certified."
"Yeah, that," Naruto said, waving a hand dismissively.
Sakura blinked, looking at Naruto in surprise.
"Of the twenty seven graduates in this classroom this morning, only nine will actually become genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy," Kakashi added.
"Are we that nine?" Ino asked worriedly.
"Well, all nine of you, in combination teams of some sort, must prove that yourselves -- but the only way you can do that, given certain ... attitude problems, is if all nine of you work together. All of you must pass ... or all of you will fail," Asuma noted.
"As ninja of Konoha, you will not be allowed to let your dislike of another ninja interfere with your duty to the village," Kurenai continued. "This, more than trying to form some independent faction, is what will prove your teamwork."
"Crap," Naruto grumbled.
Sasuke gave a wordless, unimpressed grunt in agreement.
"This sucks," Kiba chimed in.
"And likewise, you don't get to choose who your superiors are," Kakashi added cheerfully. "So! Today, divide yourself into groups of three, we'll each pick a team, and then we'll discuss your suitability to remain as genin!"
Sasuke curtly said, "Fine -- Choji, Kiba--"
Choji and Kiba glanced at one another, as Ino and Sakura began to protest Sasuke's choice. Hinata saw Shikamaru, Naruto, and Shino exchange a glance and a shrug, and realized she wouldn't be on a team with the boy she liked after all.
She bit back a sigh, glancing over, and saw she was likely to be stuck on a team with Ino and Sakura, still fighting over Sasuke. Somehow, she was confident she could survive without being on Naruto's team -- but she didn't know if she could handle that yet. Steeling herself, she moved to Kiba's side and prodded his shoulder nervously. "W...we should make a team with Choji-kun, s...since Sasuke's so busy," she managed.
He startled, but instantly grinned at her, leaping from his seat to dart to Choji's side, repeating the suggestion. The three of them had assembled themselves in a group at the front of the classroom before Sasuke could fight his way free of the clinging girls.
"Alright," the red-eyed woman decided, gesturing Naruto's team to follow her. "Let's go."
Kiba's team was next, Asuma shooting Kakashi a particularly amused smirk as he gestured for them wordlessly.
The copy ninja sighed as Hinata, Kiba, and Choji quietly followed Asuma out into the hallway.
"Alright, alright -- come on," Kakashi called, as they vanished past earshot.
The large man led them out of the academy, and a few blocks away to a fairly nice park with a view of the Hokage tower. "Right," Asuma said abruptly, turning to look at the assembled team. "On days when any of you are assigned to me as your jounin sensei, this is where we shall meet."
"We're going to have changing teachers?" Kiba asked in surprise.
"Getting a bit ahead of ourselves," Asuma remarked. "Let's have some introductions. I am Sarutobi Asuma. I like, hmm, a good smoke," he paused to light a cigarette, "shogi, and soba. I'm not a fan of asparagus. My goal in life is to proudly teach the next generation of Konoha to become admirable ninja in service to the Leaf." He nodded at that thought, then took a long drag on his cigarette and inclined his head to Kiba before expelling it in a long plume -- directed upwards, out of the way of the genin.
"Uh," Kiba managed, somewhat impressed. "Well, I'm Inuzuka Kiba. Akamaru is my partner and best friend." The dog perched on his head yapped proudly. "I like spending time with Akamaru, chewy foods, um.... For things I don't like -- soft foods, and shops where I can't take Akamaru." The dog yapped again, and Hinata couldn't help but giggle at it -- it was kind of cute. "My favorite word is Akamaru!"
"I see," Asuma remarked, nodding. Turning to Hinata, he prompted, "And you?"
"Um!" Hinata started, not expecting to be singled out next. But then, she had just giggled. "Um, my name is Hyuuga Hinata, and I'm pleased to meet you. Ah, I like, um, pressing flowers, and Na...ah...um, a certain person. My favorite food is cinnamon rolls. I d...don't like people who are mean, and shellfish. M...my goal is to some day be acknowledged by-- t...that certain person."
"Quite nice," Asuma said gently. "Did you mean to say you don't like mean and selfish people?"
"Those either," Hinata managed, feeling her face heat up at the unintentional pun. "B...but I meant, um, crab and shrimp."
Asuma snorted as he gave her a neutral nod, taking another drag on his cigarette before turning to Choji.
"Akamichi Choji," the largest boy said, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding. "I like food, uh, appreciating nature, and hanging out with my friends. I don't like people who are violent needlessly. My goal, hmm, is to learn all of my family techniques at least as well as my father."
"Good, alright," Asuma decided nodding. "Now, we're all getting along. So, because of the situation here -- we may not always be a team on any given day. And I hope you remember your introductions, because you're going to be doing a lot of them."
"We really are getting crazy mixed-up teams?" Choji wondered.
"To prove teamwork, before we determine which long-term partners -- if any -- you are suitable for," Asuma agreed. "Now -- as to the testing.... Meet me at training ground eight tomorrow at eight in the morning -- sharp. Be sure to eat something reasonable for breakfast, you may be doing some demanding exercises." He raised a hand, and then dropped it sharply, snagging the finished cigarette from his mouth and causing it to somehow vanish in the same moment, leaving an origami flower drifting down to his feet. "You are dismissed for the day."
Hinata blinked in surprise, worried about her first day as an active ninja -- after a day of mourning. This was not what she had expected.
"I think we'll actually be okay," Choji said thoughtfully, watching Asuma stroll away, lighting another cigarette. The boy pulled a bag of chips from his belt pouch and opened it, eating a handful. "See," he said around a mouthfull, his pronunciation somehow completely unaffected, "I'm worried that we might end up with some bad teams on some days, with this plan -- we barely dodged an all kunoichi-team."
"Nothing against you, Hinata," Kiba said quickly, shaking his head. "But I'm just not that confident about Sakura or Ino ... both of them are kinda eager to talk and not much to get things done. You at least came up with a better idea -- get on a team with Choji and me."
"We could be a good team?" Hinata asked in mild surprise, reaching for the origami flower as it settled to the grass of the park's lawn, picking it up between two fingers and looking it over curiously.
"Probably," Choji agreed, rubbing his chin. "Kiba to track, you to spot things, and me, well ... I can kinda punch things."
"There you go," Kiba said, crossing his arms over his chest. "But look at Sasuke's team at the moment. Now I'm really ticked off. If Naruto and Sasuke can't work together, we're all going to be in big trouble."
"M...maybe we can figure some way to help them be a better team?" Hinata asked hopefully.
"Yeah ... Sasuke's not usually that much of a prick," Kiba remarked, shaking his head. "Naruto can be kind of annoying, though -- and now, what with his 'special' rank--"
"Naruto-kun earned that!" Hinata warned, surprised at the heat in her voice.
"Er.... Not saying he didn't," the boy said warily, Akamaru narrowing his eyes and cowering back slightly without shifting his footing. "But we're still going to have to hope that Naruto can put up with Sasuke if we want any of us to pass."
Nodding firmly, Hinata said, "I don't believe Naruto will let us down."
"Well, that's optimism," Choji remarked, fishing the last chip out of the bag before crumpling it up and tossing it over one shoulder, perfectly landing the trash in a nearby rubbish bin. "See you two tomorrow, huh?"
"W...well, actually," Hinata managed, holding up the unfolded origami, showing off a flier for a restaurant in town, "I think Asuma-sensei m...may have wanted us to go here?"
After enduing quiet, but relatively friendly lectures from both Shino and Shikamaru, Naruto was trying to resign himself to the idea of working with Sasuke. If he was going to have to in order to be a real ninja, well.... He supposed the Hokage had to be pretty awesome, because some of his ninja might be real jerks -- like Sasuke, or Kakashi.
And if he wanted to do better than the Hokage, well, he'd have to put up with that, too.
He didn't have to like it much, though. Putting up with it would be the first step -- liking it could come later. At least it seemed it would be some 'rotating' assignment, so he'd only have to deal with it some of the time, instead of constantly.
"She seemed nice," he mused, distracting himself from that train of thought and watching their teacher walk away from the wooded clearing where they had briefly met to discuss the arrangement and review their skills.
"Yeah, she did," Shikamaru agreed, looking at one of the free meal coupons she'd handed the trio. "But this is just too suspicious. It didn't work out too well the last time we went to this place."
Shino looked briefly thoughtful, then acknowledged, "Logically, there is an ulterior motive. I confess curiosity as to finding out what."
"If you guys think it's a good idea," Naruto allowed. After a pause, he glanced at his temporary teammates. "What do you think she's really planning?" He'd like to figure it out himself, but he couldn't puzzle out what was behind the red-eyed woman's cheerfully supportive attitude.
Sure, she'd said there was no way she'd teach Naruto anything good until he polished up his henge and his kawarimi -- but if he managed to perfect those and improved his chakra control, she'd promised to teach him shunshin! She'd made the same promise to Shino, provided he added some flexibility to his taijutsu and kept working on getting his kikaichu to let him perform jutsu without seals.
Naruto hadn't even know the kikaichu could do that. Shino was becoming cooler by the day!
Shikamaru's list of problem areas was much lengthier -- but still just as friendly and cheerful. He was told to work on his taijutsu, his throwing skills, and chakra building exercises.
After that, Naruto didn't particularly want to think she couldn't be trusted.... But then, Mizuki had seemed trustworthy, too. And Naruto had spent a lot more time with Mizuki. A few thousand minutes of stabbing, over and over--
"Alright," Shikamaru allowed, rousing him from those thoughts, "I have a theory on that, but let's let it slide until after we get something to eat."
"Indeed -- I find Kurenai-sensei's analysis worthy of consideration," Shino remarked.
Naruto fell into step beside the taller duo as they began walking down the street. "Huh, did she say I had the best taijutsu of all of us?" he mused. That was a positive, right?
"She kind of implied that, yeah," Shikamaru allowed with a shrug. "But to be honest, I've never planned on being a front-line fighter. Still, in a team of three, it's good to have one heavy combat specialist -- so that could very well be you. Shino-kun and I are both stuck with clan jutsu taking up a lot of our training time -- and you can use your bunshin to practice like crazy anyway."
Allowing himself to puff slightly with pride, Naruto nodded. Sure, there was the obvious fact that even though he was acknowledged as the strong one, he knew he was furthest from being the smart one. That was okay -- he'd just learn to be smart from them. Standing up straighter, he said, "I sent a bunshin to the library to learn something new today, too!"
Unfortunately, the library was closed at night, so Naruto hadn't gotten to visit then. Still, practice was better than sleep, if he could help it. Sleep was where all of the other memories of Mizuki's surprise as the kunai sank in--
"Yeah?" Shikamaru asked, raising an eyebrow, pulling Naruto from the unwanted flashback. "I guess you don't know what it's up to until it disperses -- so what do you think it's reading?"
Naruto frowned. The only reason he even knew about the library was the fact that he'd targeted it for a prank once, a long time ago. He had no idea where to start looking. "I don't know," he admitted. "I guess ... I kinda screwed up-- Well, that's fine! I'll do it better tomorrow!"
Shino allowed a slightly amused snort to escape. "In this way," he remarked, when Naruto shot him a suspicious glare, "you learn the limitations of your new jutsu. Mistakes are indeed made -- that is why we try and get them out of the way during training."
"Watch out," Shikamaru warned, frowning. "I think our sensei planned a 'surprise' meeting of our rookie nine, here."
"What should I do?" Naruto asked quickly, looking between Shikamaru and Shino.
"Just listen -- see what we can figure out from the clues the others give us."
Naruto nodded at that, glancing back down the street to the noodle shop they'd visited the day before. The same old man was humming idly, sweeping the entrance, and looked up with a blink at the trio approaching. "Shika-chan!" he called, waving one hand with a grin.
"Senzo," Shikamaru returned warily.
"Are you bringing new friends by? I don't seem to recall having met the pair of them before," Senzo said cheerfully.
Naruto wanted to yell at the old man, wondering where this sudden change of heart came from-- But he also didn't like feeling like he had to be guided so much. Shino had prevented him from speaking a handful of times the day they'd first met up, and every one seemed warranted. So for the time, he studied the aged visage of Senzo and bit his tongue.
"Yeah," Shikamaru said with a slow drawl. "Last time we came by you turned strangely unfriendly...."
Senzo looked genuinely baffled. "Really?" he asked. "Wow I.... Well, they say your memory is the first thing to go! But that's terrible -- I don't recall a thing! I hope I wasn't too rude!"
"Okay," Shikamaru allowed, shaking his head. "Well, I think we can probably get over it.... We have some coupons, anyway." He waved the free meal certificate in one hand.
"Alright!" Senzo said brightly. "No need, though -- if I was a poor host recently, then I'll give you today on the house!"
"That sounds pretty good," Naruto said, before catching himself. Well ... getting another free meal was a pretty good reason to stick it out. Sure, that made sense.
Shino and Shikamaru exchanged a glance, and he was fairly certain that for a moment the dark mirrors of Shino's glasses tilted towards him in consideration -- and then Naruto felt suddenly buoyed by confidence that this time, he knew what that look meant. Shino gave a slight nod, Shikamaru a slightly more obvious one, and Naruto restrained himself to a single vigorous nod.
Shortly, they were seated at one side of a large rectangular grill table, turned off for the moment. Before their orders arrived, Choji and Hinata trooped in behind Kiba, looking around curiously. Hinata seemed to instantly brighten -- and then look worn out, her cheeks turning pink. Their sensei must have put them through some exercises or hard training, he deduced, even though Choji and Kiba looked relatively fine. Akamaru was cheered when Senzo initially balked -- but then said that nin-dogs were an obvious and welcome exception.
Following Hinata's gaze, Kiba claimed the seat adjacent to Naruto without asking, and said, "So, we have to have a test tomorrow morning -- training ground eight at eight in the morning. Our sensei seemed pretty cool -- maybe kind of lazy, though. What about you guys?"
"Pretty cool," Shikamaru agreed, nodding. "We got a basic skill assessment-- We're going to training ground twelve for a more detailed one. Same time, though. Kurenai-sensei, eh.... I can't help but feel she's kind of coddling -- reminded us to get a big meal tomorrow but not overdo it, since the test might be taxing."
"Good advice," Choji agreed, sitting next to Kiba, while Hinata looked strangely disappointed, taking the furthest seat from Naruto of the trio.
"H...he seemed thoughtful," Hinata noted, when she seemed to notice Naruto's gaze lingering on her curiously. "Um, by his sash -- he was once one of the T...Twelve Guardian Ninja. I t...think I read about that at some point a while ago."
Choji frowned at that as everyone turned to look at her, the menu he had somehow taken from Naruto's place open in his hands. "Really?" Kiba asked, surprised. "Wow -- that's a cooler sensei then I thought!"
Naruto wanted to know what the Twelve Guardian Ninja were, but judging by Shino and Shikamaru's thoughtful nods, he'd just make himself look stupid. He tried to remember the question to ask later instead -- when Kiba's team wasn't around. Before he could ask something else, just as a waitress came around to take their orders, Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino stumbled through the entrance.
Everyone stared at the faint streamers of smoke rising from their clothing, and the singed, sooty marks across Sasuke and Sakura's faces. Ino was by comparison much cleaner -- but completely drenched, dripping onto the bamboo mat at the entrance. The Uchiha heir's scowl darkened, and he bit something back, forcing whatever emotion down to a mild glower. He stalked over to the table, trailed by a slightly wobbling Ino and Sakura duo.
There was a brief, half-hearted struggle over which of the girls was going to have to settle for the seat between Sasuke and Shino, which Sakura won by virtue of shoving Ino out of the seat with a wordless growl. The blonde landed on the floor with the wet sound of soaked cloth slapping the floor and just stayed there until a waitress offered her a towel.
"Tough sensei?" Shikamaru asked, raising an eyebrow when Ino finally collapsed into the last seat, towel around her neck.
"Ugh, Naruto's right -- our sensei's a total bastard," she moaned, as everyone ordered their meals. "He threw explosive tags at us! And threw me off the bridge when my hair got singed!"
"And he was throwing kunai and shuriken, too!" Sakura complained. "He said we'd better come here and eat tonight -- because tomorrow, we shouldn't eat at all. His test's so hard, it's going to make us throw up!"
"Eight in the morning?" Kiba asked, Akamaru wagging his tail and lolling his tongue out atop his head.
Sasuke grunted confirmation, then added, "Training ground three."
"So, Sakura-chan, why was he throwing weapons at you?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious -- and more than a little worried. Was he just that cruel to everyone? Was that what ninja became?
"Don't be so familiar with me!" Sakura grumbled half-heartedly.
"He said real ninja should be prepared to escape death at a moment's notice in real life, and if we weren't ready for that, we would fail -- and so, all nine of us would fail," Ino said sourly. "I mean, no pressure, right?" She hung her head. "Tomorrow's going to suck."
"Indeed," Sasuke grumbled, shaking his head. Shikamaru's team's orders arrived first, and Naruto happily slurped his ramen down. Not as good as Ichiraku's, but still pretty decent.
After a few thoughtful minutes of relatively quiet eating, Kiba said, "So, alright -- this has to be thrown out there. Any one of us fails, we're all screwed, right?"
"Yes," Sasuke said, frowning. "I have revised my opinions on some matters, given that we truly have no choice."
"Oh, you think?" Shikamaru muttered, rolling his eyes as he finished his udon. "What's your point?"
"In the interests of advancing my ninja career, I have no real choice except to be concerned with the progress of my teammates -- if they fail, so do I," Sasuke said sourly. "And Naruto -- everything else aside -- is capable. But I have real worries that Ino and Sakura will jeopardize our success if we don't improve their skills."
Naruto looked at Sasuke warily. Okay, like Shino and Shikamaru had said ... they were going to just have to tough it out. Sometimes he'd have to work with Sasuke. Sometimes, he'd have to endure Kakashi. If he were really unlucky, both might happen simultaneously.
Well, whatever -- he'd survive. Somehow, he'd prove Iruka right -- he'd get through whatever it took and become a really great ninja, and some day, Hokage.
"S...Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squeaked in protest.
"Come on!" Ino whined. "Don't be like that-- Think how much better I could be if you were to help me train!" She leaned against him and batted her eyelashes, while Sasuke stared fixedly forward, Sakura grabbing his other arm and incessantly trying to reclaim his attention.
"Yeah, okay," Kiba allowed. "But, I think the main thing is that we need to really actually work together. We do all need to pass, right?"
"Obviously," Shino replied.
After everyone else nodded their reluctant agreement, Shikamaru prodded, "And you're willing to take charge, Kiba?"
Kiba straightened slightly, then gave a nod, grinning. "I can do it-- Sure-- Inuzuka are leaders by nature!"
Shikamaru grunted at that. Naruto didn't think too much of Kiba as a leader, either. He was -- much like Akamaru -- more bark than bite. He'd followed Naruto's ideas for pranks, on occasion, but there was no real spark of leadership there.
"I think I should take charge," Sasuke muttered with another of his dark looks. "I don't like risking my future in your hands."
Kiba bristled, and Naruto bit his tongue, wanting to jump to Kiba's defense. He settled for scowling into the remains of his ramen. Anything would be better than Sasuke in charge.
"From a democratic standpoint, let us propose the initiative that no one may vote for themselves," Shino suggested. "By show of hands -- those in favor of Sasuke?"
Ino and Sakura immediately raised their hands.
"And those for me?" Kiba countered. Choji raised a hand. "Oh, come on! Naruto-- You're on my side, right?"
"I vote for Shikamaru-kun," Naruto answered.
"All for Shikamaru-kun," Shino continued. Naruto, Shino, and surprisingly -- Hinata -- raised their hands.
The shadow-user sighed and hung his head. "Naruto, I thought we were friends," he grumbled.
"I'll agree to that," Sasuke said dubiously, giving Shikamaru a grudging nod as he raised a hand.
"Shikamaru's very smart," Choji chipped in.
"Eh, whatever," Kiba muttered, grimacing. "He's the closest thing we're gonna get to a happy medium." Akamaru whimpered sympathetically as Kiba reluctantly raised a hand as well.
"Alright, fine -- I see how this has played out," Shikamaru grumbled. "And let's be honest -- if all three sensei sent us here, this is probably what they were aiming for."
"Since you're so smart -- what next?" Ino asked, sniffing slightly.
"Tomorrow, our sensei group decides to really fuck with us," Shikamaru deduced. "I'm willing to bet that we'll keep today's teams the whole day, and spend an hour or two with each of them, learning their unique teaching style."
Sasuke and Choji made simultaneous thoughtful noises at that.
"Well, other than that, I've just gotten a bunch of extra responsibilities lumped on me -- hooray for circumstance. Naruto-kun, Shino-kun, as two of the people who initiated the vote for me, come with me for a bit while I complain at length about the situation."
"W...what about me?" Hinata asked, halfway rising from her seat already.
"You'll get a pass for today," Shikamaru said, raising a hand and waving as he strode out the door, Shino and Naruto already in tow. "On account of a first offense, and all."
After the students had all left, Senzo hummed to himself and cleaned his restaurant, cheerful greeting the quartet of ninja that entered afterwards. "Corner table, please," Anko said in response.
The four were shortly seated, Anko gnawing on an empty dango skewer idly. Kakashi ordered tea and a dinner set for all four of them as Asuma and Kurenai pondered what they had seen. "Well, thoughts?" Kakashi asked, raising his visible eyebrow and scanning across the other teachers. No reason to include Anko. She wouldn't hesitate to offer what she thought.
"I'm not sure what's more impressive -- that Sasuke cooled his animosity towards Naruto, or that Naruto bit his tongue when they met up," Asuma mused. "They played smart with the Senzo test, too."
"I was half expecting to need to break up a fight," Kurenai admitted.
"Carrot and stick," Anko said, shaking her head. "With the all-or-nothing approach, it's do-or-die. And Sasuke and Naruto, everything else aside, want to be ninja. Like I said."
"So, you think that solved the problem?" Kakashi asked.
"Doubt it," the woman said as a waitress brought a teapot and four cups over before retreating. "Sasuke's still got a chip on his shoulder. Right now there's a perception among the genin that Naruto's strong because he killed a chunin."
"I'd worry about it going to his head, but he also lost a teacher," Asuma ruminated. "Should we do something about that?"
"I say let it slide for the moment, as long as he doesn't become too prideful or arrogant about it," Kurenai suggested. "That incident -- how many bunshin, attacking Mizuki? I think he's coping really well, all things considered. Everything else aside, Shino and Shikamaru seem to be very good influences on him, and they've certainly bonded."
"Now to get those bonds between everyone else," Anko noted. "So, what's your plan for tomorrow's test, Kakashi? I know you're putting them through hell, but what are the specifics?"
"I can't really go with the bell test, since we're using the all-or-nothing approach," Kakashi said with a shrug. "I could try it against the first group, but everyone else would know it wasn't legitimate."
"That is the dumbest-- Kakashi, did it ever occur to you that a test that one hundred percent of all people fail might be a bad test?"
He pointedly did not look at her, instead setting down his cup. "The tea here is nice," he remarked. "But you know, that test -- and those bells -- are passed down from the Hokage himself. The team that first passed his test went on to become the sannin."
"Really?" Anko seemed mollified, mulling the idea over for a long while. She broke her silence just when Kurenai and Asuma began to relax, saying with surprising venom, "That means you're even lazier than I thought. Plus, on a personal note? That last passing team had one hell of a problem student."
Kakashi blinked, realizing he had unexpectedly wandered into that vary narrow -- but very real -- zone of information that Anko did not like to review. Seeing that it had very little to do with teaching the current genin, he quickly decided to let the matter drop.
"You've made that point -- instead I'll give them generic hell. Attack all their weak points, toss them around a little bit. Tell them their strengths need work and their flaws are crippling," Kakashi explained. "The general task of breaking them down."
"I'll build them back up," Kurenai agreed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hmm.... If Kakashi is going to be handling most of the practicals -- taijutsu, offensive strategy, and defensive skills, then I'll bring a focus on coordination, conduct, and chakra manipulation. Asuma?"
"To be honest, I'm thinking meditation for the whole lot," he said with a shrug, prompting a number of suspiciously raised eyebrows. "Name one student that wouldn't benefit immensely from more mental calm, internal focus, and indeed, chakra control -- aside from maybe the Aburame boy," the man challenged.
Silence met that statement.
Clearing his throat, Asuma continued, "We can go over philosophy, technique, and defensive strategy. I know what was said in our last meeting, so on account of the fact that it may seem I'm trying to reach for a lighter workload -- tell them to meditate and then kick back -- I'll also volunteer to handle any supplementary training for overflow if one of you two decides a student needs some one-on-one."
"That sounds fine to me," Kurenai allowed.
Kakashi nodded, wondering, "How long do you suppose before they start to figure out what we're up to?"
"I think Shikamaru suspects already," Anko remarked, grinning when the waitress came by with a tray of appetizers. "Their little 'Chibikage' is kinda cute, huh?"
The copy ninja pondered that, while the other jounin snorted, Asuma passing the platter closer to the center of the table.
"How the hell do you eat around or through that mask, anyway?" the special jounin wondered, looking at Kakashi's empty teacup in mild surprise.
"Do what?" he asked with feigned absence, tasting one of the dumplings. Hmm, this place wasn't actually too terrible.
Shikamaru had been willing to take at least temporary leadership of the genin team he thought he would be in charge of. The upper administration basically looking at the outbursts the day of Iruka's death and insisting that all nine do something to overcome their petty childishness.... Okay, even he wasn't immune to that; he'd tried to cuss Kiba out, effectively.
And then Kiba had been the bigger dog and not mentioned it today -- or he just hadn't caught the insult the first time through.
Still, having de facto responsibility for all nine students resting on his shoulders....
The only thing worse than having to bear that burden was the fact that he wouldn't be comfortable letting it rest anywhere else -- especially after Shino had voted with Naruto.
How lame was that?
He led his cohorts to his house, walking around to the training area and hanging his head. "Shino-kun, you have some sort of way to tell if people are coming close by to listen in, right?" he asked.
The bug-user nodded, a stream of kikaichu pooling around his feet and then dispersing in all directions -- occasional small clouds of them drifting out from his sleeves and flying in all directions. After about a minute, they seemed to vanish into the shadows, hiding in the knot-work of the training posts, beneath the lawn, and in the leaves of the overhanging trees.
"The area appears clear to my senses," Shino reported.
Naruto watched the pair with growing impatience.
"Alright," Shikamaru determined, moving to a clear spot and spreading his stance, then bending low to grab his ankles. Yoga and various stretching routines were a good way to unwind. It didn't hurt that many of his family techniques benefited from improved flexibility. Going through a routine would be better for clearing his mind than playing a strategy game just then. "I'm putting two and two together, here.
"From what I can figure, the sensei squad is playing a game with us -- kind of. It's meant to train us to be better ninja," he added, before Naruto could protest. But then, the orange-clad boy had taken to biting his tongue and being more watchful lately. An all-around positive trait. "So, we lucked out -- for today. Kurenai is 'good-sensei'. Judging by Kiba's observation and what I know about him, Asuma is going to be 'indifferent-sensei'. And naturally, from what you know and Sasuke's seen, Kakashi is going to be 'bad-sensei'."
"'Bastard-sensei'," Naruto interjected.
"Perhaps," Shino allowed, crossing his arms. "Strange training. We can guess then that we will not be allowed to choose our own teammates regularly."
"Not if the point is that we either all fail or all pass," Shikamaru agreed, rolling to lie on his back, then slowly working towards a shoulder-stand. "So, we need to basically be the top team -- the three of us. To make this really work, we need to take charge of the situation, prove we're able to see through the plan -- and then are willing to work with it and do it even better. This means we actually need to figure out what everyone's weak points are, and then fix them as best we can -- all of them."
Naruto shook his head. "That sounds really complicated," he moaned.
"In principle, it will require only a willingness to become better ninja -- unlike Sasuke, who views his teammates as obstacles, we must see them as assets that we can improve until we find them reliable," Shino proposed. "To this end, you must learn how to determine the flaws of your allies."
"Huh?"
"This is actually going to be fairly easy," Shikamaru said, shaking his head. "We'll take small steps, right? First of all, we need to become better ninja ourselves. It's all well and good to say, 'We're perfect, we just have to bring everyone up to our level'. But if there's one thing I know, it's that overconfidence is prelude to an unwanted beat down."
Naruto scowled, crossing his arms over his chest as he nodded slowly, before he blinked in distraction. "My bunshin just dispersed," he said in bemusement. "Huh."
Shino turned to regard Naruto, showing mild curiosity. "Was the library infiltration successful?" he asked.
Naruto looked embarrassed. "I started reading a book about go, because of what you said a few days back -- but I got really bored and switched to a storybook. Uh ... but it had too much kanji and was really hard to read, so I went back home and took the formal uniform you loaned me to the cleaners, since I was worried about messing it up in the machine."
Shikamaru blinked. "It didn't do what you wanted?" he asked, fighting down a smile. That was actually kind of funny.
"Yeah!" Naruto said plaintively. "That sucks! I want my bunshin to learn useful stuff, not get bored and decide to do something else!"
"I get the feeling they're just like you. Really focused for a little while -- so great in fights, but the books.... Hmm, yeah, you may need to work at that."
"More bunshin tomorrow," Naruto decided. "At least one of them should be able to stick it out."
"Are you concerned about the librarian wondering why several of you are entering the building?" Shino questioned.
"Huh," the smaller boy mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Okay -- better idea -- I'll have them practice henge to get in as different normal people."
"Well, you seem to have a pretty good lead on improving your knowledge-base," Shikamaru acknowledged. "Let's start figuring out a plan to improve all of our other abilities. This is where more of your bunshin are going to figure in."
Naruto brightened immediately, grinning. "Okay!" he said, nodding. "Just say what we need!"
"First things first -- we need to start figuring out how to make the most effective usage of your bunshin -- you can make a lot of them, so the more mileage we can get out of them, the more effective you'll be. Shino, you up for some sparring against Naruto's bunshin while I try and plan?"
"Indeed," Shino agreed, nodding at Naruto. "I do not know the strength of your bunshin. Should I attempt not to damage them?"
"Nah," Naruto decided after a moment. "If I get what you're saying -- you managing to hit one hard enough to send it back to me should help me figure out where I'm screwing up on my defense, right?"
Shino nodded again, then took up a basic defensive stance. "Against your bunshin, I will not hold back," he warned.
Naruto grinned and moved to a sideline. "In a way, that's gonna make this kinda fun," he noted, making a hand-seal and popping another dozen of himself into existence. He moved past them and jumped up atop one of the nearby training poles, surveying the battleground from above. "You," he declared, pointing at an arbitrary bunshin. "Go to it!"
The indicated bunshin cried, "Alright! Let's make this count!" and charged wildly at Shino.
Shikamaru sprang back to his feet and nodded before swiveling his hips, rotating his arms and twisting his body as far as he could. His head was turned away to the sounds of a bunshin being dispersed into puffs of chakra, and Naruto's muted, "Aw, man.... Okay, you!"
Anyway, now that putting together working teams within the rookie nine were going to become more than just a thought exercise -- more than anything he needed an adequate overview of everyone else's skills. He swiveled the other way, briefly glancing the remaining bunshin, beginning to look mildly reproachful of their impending fate.
"Hey," Naruto warned, "only one way to get better, right? I've got dozens of this to look forward to!"
"Here's another of the thousand steps!" one of the bunshin declared suddenly, clenching his fist with stoic resolve and joining the fray.
"Thousand miles," Shino corrected, after dispatching another bunshin. "It appears that your taijutsu relies more on the strength of your numbers than your individual skills."
The remaining three bunshin grunted sourly, and Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. "My strong suit is I can take a hit and keep on going!" he protested.
"That may be true for you," one of the bunshin noted. "There is a thing about us only being able to take one light hit."
"But even with that, my taijutsu times a thousand is enough to take down Mizuki, right?"
"And," Shikamaru noted, standing up straight before arching over backwards, placing his palms flat on the ground and flipping into a handstand, "if you could work to improve that taijutsu to ten times that strength, maybe you'd only need one hundred bunshin -- and then how powerful would your thousand be?"
"All for one," one of the remaining bunshin sighed, as Shikamaru rotated himself around so he could watch the pair again, his legs now pointing straight up as he viewed the pair upside down. The next two bunshin quickly were dispersed.
"Okay," Naruto decided, thinking for a minute. "I think it's better to not make too many bunshin for training against you. I can't share any of the stuff I figure out with the bunshin I just have waiting around. Though, one of them did point out something I should have thought of. And even though Kurenai-sensei didn't say anything, you've hit me more than I've hit you so far." He spent a moment seriously considering it, then gave a decisive nod. "I'll go with three bunshin this time."
Shikamaru's wrists began to tremble with strain, so he lowered himself into an inverted lotus, balancing his weight on his upper-arms and shoulders.
"That sounds sensible," Shino agreed.
Holding himself still, just breathing and watching the inverted battleground, Shikamaru tried to study the next combat.
The first new bunshin led in with a roar almost identical to the last dozen -- only to drop beneath Shino's practiced straight-punch and then land a spinning kick to the Aburame boy's shin. "Ha, haha--" the bunshin gloated, before Shino quickly recovered, dispersing it with a counter-kick to the instep.
The next bunshin led in, using the same approach as always -- but this time attempting a leaping spin-kick. Shino blocked with one arm, and the bunshin rolled away from the countering leg-sweep, then attempted another leaping attack. This time, Shino countered with a grab, managing to redirect Naruto's momentum and fling him off into the yard.
The bunshin screamed in terror as it flew headfirst towards the lawn -- dispersing just before impact. "Good call," Naruto judged, shaking his head and rubbing at the back of his neck with a mild shudder. "Wow, throws are scary!"
"I know very few," Shino said modestly. "Again?"
"Yeah!" The last bunshin gleefully charged in as well.
Shikamaru felt that he was pretty sharp, generally. Shino made good observations, and who knew what he could figure out with his kikaichu. Then again, Shikamaru reminded himself, Shino was fairly open, if quiet. He could just ask. Naruto would be the weakest link in learning through observation, which was a real tragedy. As far as Shikamaru could tell, Naruto had the most potential of any of them -- information was power, and Naruto was only barely realizing he could arm himself in such a way.
Still ... with enough time, and Naruto's help -- there should be a way to get all nine of them qualified before settling onto the team he preferred.
"Say, what are the 'Twelve Guardian Ninja'?" Naruto wondered, creating another trio of bunshin.
Shikamaru snickered, straightening himself out to stand upright. "A project for your library bunshin tomorrow -- see if you can find out," he suggested. Probably more constructive then telling him he'd know if he'd paid even as much attention in class as Shikamaru.
"Oh! Good idea!"
A bigger issue ... if all of them had somewhat weak taijutsu, who were they supposed to go to in order to fix that? And why hadn't Kurenai mentioned taijutsu as an area that Naruto could improve in, as well?
"This was a challenging analysis," the medical ANBU remarked quietly, drawing back from his work. He shook his head, his porcelain mask reflecting red scales where a fish-shaped mark swam down towards his mouth. Before him were the rather difficult to identify remains of the former Konoha ninja -- Mizuki.
The Hokage could try and tell himself that the man was a traitor, but he'd grown up in Konoha. His family had been part of Konoha. He'd trained in the academy, and Sarutobi himself had been there to witness his chunin promotion. And then ... trying to kill Naruto?
"And?" Ibiki asked, sounding somewhat bored.
"I am relatively certain there were no physical seals on his body -- unless they were hidden in some fashion," the medical ANBU judged, picking his tools up and setting them carefully on the tray, preparing to pack everything up. "No concealed explosives or chemicals. No significant traces of kekkai genkai. Some mild traces of combat drugs -- nothing to account for radical behavior change."
Ibiki nodded, stepping out of the small room and leaving the masked surgeon alone with the remains -- there was nothing left except disposal, at this point. The Hokage followed, not needing any more time. The two walked quietly all the way back to the Hokage's office where Inoichi and Shikaku were already waiting.
"No physical signs of coercion," he notified them, taking a seat as Ibiki waited patiently in one corner, and Shikaku grunted, hands on his hips.
Inoichi gave a terse nod. "He had few close friends -- Iruka was supposed to be among them," he supplied. "Even among people who happened to know him, we've yet find anything to indicate why he would have done this."
"And no signs he received a bribe or was even planning on leaving town," Shikaku agreed. "Currently, all evidence suggests he spontaneously chose to do this, and expected to stay here."
"But ... why?" the Hokage wondered. "So many chances to sabotage Naruto or do him harm in the academy, and then ... this?"
"We could have the boy's watch increased," Shikaku said doubtfully. "It may be an isolated event, but I can't yet discern a deeper meaning behind such an attack.... It could really be as simple as Mizuki thinking he would somehow get acclaim -- or maybe he wanted the scroll, and was planning on turning nuke-nin afterwards."
"I'm not really even sure how much the vast majority of that scroll is worth," Inoichi countered. "But then ... Mizuki wouldn't have had a way to know, either."
"I don't want to consider the matter resolved, but let's set it aside as inconclusive," the Hokage determined, nodding to Ibiki to dismiss the man. Once the interrogation specialist had left and the door was shut behind him, he noted, "You two both seem particularly unperturbed by this."
Shikaku allowed, "It's just a gut feeling, but I think this may be an isolated incident. Aside from that, my son has lately been spending more time with the Uzumaki boy -- as I suspect you are aware."
"And this grants Naruto additional safety?" Sarutobi mused, frowning as Inoichi rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Not that, as much as I feel that Naruto will behave more with my son's influence," he clarified. "And somehow, Naruto seems to have gotten Shikamaru to show more interest in becoming a capable ninja, so that's a positive, as well."
"And your feelings on this?" he wondered, looking to Inoichi.
The fair-haired ninja sighed. "If this is about my daughter not ending up on the team we'd expected ... well, Shika made a valid point," he explained. "The 'known good combination' is fairly well 'known'."
"Even among our enemies," Shikaku added, shrugging. "I don't intend to demean the team -- I was on one myself, and ... well, there were some close calls where we barely had the tools we needed to survive. I'm much more confident for my son when he's going to be forced to be cautious about this."
"It's different, and harder watching my delicate little Ino become a toughened kunoichi," Inoichi lamented. "But Shika is probably right, as always." He gave a forlorn smile. "Maybe another generation down the line, eh?"
"Perhaps," the Hokage allowed, climbing to his feet, trying to ignore the way his joints creaked. Embarrassingly, he hadn't previously thought to take the advice of some of his most senior jounin into account concerning their own children. He reached over the desk for his pipe and tapped it out, repacking it before thinking better and setting it aside. "I think I'll go for a bit of a walk," he decided, shaking his head. "Inoichi, Shikaku, thank you for your work today."
Both jounin looked mildly surprised, but shrugged it off, bowing as they left him alone in the office. He sighed, glancing outside at the dimming sky, then began the trek to street level. If his guess was right, Naruto would be headed to Ichiraku's for dinner -- as he almost always did.
More than interest in seeing Naruto, he wanted to settle his own nerves over the upset of Mizuki's actions. Konoha prevailed -- as long as it held the Will of Fire, he prayed that it would always prevail. A glance up at the Hokage monument forced him to pause, looking at his successor's image with undisguised dismay. He loved Konoha dearly, but he'd tried so hard to find good hands to leave it in....
Not for the first time, Sarutobi wished that the yondaime had survived, somehow. Even if he couldn't have led the village, if for nothing else than his son....
By the time he reached the shop, the sky had gone completely dark, the stars twinkling overhead. As he expected, Naruto was sitting at the counter, happily talking about his adventures -- learning better usage of his bunshin, it sounded like. That was a good sign.
"Hello there, Naruto," he greeted the boy. "You don't mind if I drop in for a bowl of ramen, do you?"
Even the civilian cook behind the counter recognized the Hokage, his eyes widening slightly. "No!" Naruto said, slightly startled, before he grinned. "Of course not! But what are you doing here, old man?"
"I'm here for some ramen," he said with feigned reproach. "A vegetable ramen, if you please -- extra noodles and daikon."
"You got it!" the man behind the counter said enthusiastically, setting to work on his order.
Naruto bit his tongue until Sarutobi settled onto a stool of his own. "So," he pressed, "you gonna buy me some ramen, too?"
"Why would I need to do that?" he asked mildly, giving a soft smile. "Haven't you just finished three bowls?"
"Aw.... Come on, give me something good!" Naruto protested, grinning. "I'm a genin -- on teams and everything now, right?"
"For now," the Hokage agreed, nodding thanks as the cook's evident daughter offered him a cup of tea unasked. "Do you think you're adequately armed?"
"They still won't sell me explosive tags, ever since that bakery thing," the boy sighed, leaning one elbow on the counter and moodily stabbing the soup dregs with a chopstick. "And I think I have enough kunai for now. Plus, I can probably just have my bunshin throw kunai instead of doing it myself -- never wear the real ones out, right?"
Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "Don't be afraid to use the tools you have," he noted. "After all -- I was going to give you a new weapon, too...."
"A new weapon!" Naruto cried in excitement, his eyes widening. "Like, like -- an awesome sword?"
Sarutobi couldn't help but chuckle as a steaming bowl of soup was set before him, and he took a moment to savor the aroma. Naruto's taste was surprisingly good -- the cook here absolutely knew what he was doing. He made the boy sit in agitated, fidgeting silence until he'd had a few mouthfuls of noodles and daikon. Then he turned and solemnly said, "Something even more powerful."
"What? Aw! I can really use that!" he insisted. "Come on, come on -- what do I gotta do for it?"
After a few more bites of his soup -- and a few spoonfuls of broth, it really was surprisingly good -- he turned to give the boy a very long, judging look. "Okay," he agreed. "I'll trust you with this weapon ... but you must promise me that you will always use it for good -- in service for Konoha."
"I promise!" Naruto swore eagerly, practically bouncing in place on his stool.
"Very well," the Hokage said, as with great ceremony he reached into the sleeve of his robe -- and produced a slightly worn but very sturdy pen.
He was rewarded with Naruto suddenly sitting stock still, his mouth dropping open in surprise.
"What, not enough for you?" the Hokage chided, when the man behind the counter chuckled nervously. "Alright -- just this once, I'll throw in something extra." From his other sleeve, he produced a blank pocket notebook.
Closing his mouth, Naruto instantly shot the old man an angry scowl-- And then bit back whatever he was going to say, suddenly looking thoughtful. After a long minute he began to nod, his smile coming back, if slightly less enthusiastic. "You got me good," he allowed, taking the pen and the book. "But these really will be useful -- I can write down page numbers and all of the really important stuff when my bunshin report back!"
"That's right!" Sarutobi agreed, privately surprised that Naruto hadn't thrown even a mild fit at being teased. That was a big step forward ... but then, losing his teacher.... "Well, tomorrow sounds like it might be a big day for you -- be sure to get plenty of sleep. I hope to hear that you're confirmed for genin later!"
"Yeah!" Naruto cried enthusiastically, giving the brightest smile the Hokage had seen on him since Iruka's death. "I will! Thanks, old man! Hey-- Are you gonna finish that?"