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.
Kurenai would rather have been teaching her students than dealing with the current crisis. Well, crisis might have been somewhat overstating it -- but it was a mess in any case. Losing one of the Academy's top instructors would have been bad, but they could probably have worked around Mizuki. With Iruka, the head instructor deceased, the Academy had all but shut down.
The Hokage had little enough free time as it was, and the jounin commander had therefore delegated the issue to the jounin teachers, judging them the most fit to determine who among the chunin was best to replace the fallen chunin. Even though he was occupied, the sandaime had the foresight to at least assign Ebisu to take over in the interim.
Ebisu, unfortunately, resented the position; he was a special jounin, and should be above teaching potential failures. He took no pains to conceal the fact that he would be happier focusing his attention on the Hokage's grandson, and lamented constantly the boy's total lack of supervision, due to Ebisu being trapped at the Academy. For Konohamaru's part, Asuma didn't seem the slightest bit concerned for his nephew's evident 'abandonment'.
Kurenai was somewhat ashamed to realize that not long ago, she would have been one of those chunin, seeing head instructor as an advancement. It bothered her, but she wasn't sure how to address it -- beyond getting Ebisu out of there as quickly as possible. Still, she knew for a fact if the Hokage had told her to stand in for the fallen Iruka, she would have behaved a damn sight better than the snobbish special jounin.
Asuma, Kurenai, Kakashi, and Gai, among all of the teachers, had actually shown up to try and speak to the unsettled chunin. It should have been straightforward and resolved quickly, but then it abruptly became absurdly political.
Fifteen promising chunin with the patience to deal with children and ability to teach were in the main classroom, sitting behind the desks as candidates, while the jounin stood on the instruction stage. Gai was grinning madly, surveying the chunin as though waiting for one to break under his beaming smile. Kurenai was looking sidelong, to where councilors Koharu and Homura, as well as the venerable Danzo stood, arranged in a wedge like the intruders they were.
Sarutobi or not, Asuma wasn't his father. So he had a solid plan of doing absolutely nothing whatsoever, and allowing Danzo and the councilors to betray their hands first. Kurenai didn't like the idea of giving no resistance whatsoever to the elder's demands, but they wouldn't have bothered coming down if they hadn't thought they would accomplish something.
The trio stood in formation, Koharu and Homura at the head, looking ancient and falsely harmless. Behind them was the bandaged Danzo, still hiding almost half of his face from ... whatever it was that had injured a good portion of his body, including his right arm. He held a cane in the hand of his good arm. As always, for reasons that Kurenai couldn't put into words, he put her on edge.
His one visible eye scanned across the room, sweeping across hers before locking-gazes for a heartbeat with the room's other one-eyed man. Kakashi adjusted his stance very slightly, and to Kurenai's surprise -- Danzo looked away first.
She wondered what that meant, but Homura seemed to decide that the silence had gone on long enough, declaring, "Umino Iruka was betrayed by his theoretical inferior. For this reason, it is no longer adequate to accept standard chunin for the position of head instructor."
"The inability both to foresee the betrayal, and the failure to defeat Mizuki -- or even withstand the attack or adequately protect his student demonstrates the vulnerability of the position. Indeed, of the institution itself," Koharu agreed, nodding.
Behind them, Danzo spoke before Ebisu or the stunned chunin could protest, contributing, "In the interest of maintaining the tradition of the Academy instructor being of chunin rank -- it happens that there is an ANBU captain who has not been promoted to jounin."
Kurenai blinked at that. Even saying what Danzo had effectively compromised the identity of whatever ANBU he was mentioning. Now this ANBU -- possibly one of those rare career ANBU, if they entered at chunin and made captain -- was going to be forced out of his role regardless of whatever else happened. Why would the elder do that?
She couldn't hold her silence, so said, "I don't think that someone fresh out of ANBU is the best choice for teaching children, captain or not."
"And we are of the opinion that an experienced ANBU officer is a better choice for the protection of Konoha's future ninja," Koharu countered.
The copy ninja spoke before Kurenai could protest further. "Well, if that's how it's going to be, that's how it's going to be-- So, what mask did this ANBU wear?" he asked, sounding entirely disinterested.
Homura shook his head slightly and said, "Horse. He will assume the duties of head instructor later today."
"Alright, we'll take care of it from here, then," Kakashi said with a shrug.
The elders turned and left, satisfied at that.
"You'll vouch for this person?" Kurenai asked, wondering at how easily Kakashi simply dismissed the chunin -- all of them denied a chance at promotion.
"Oh, sure," he agreed. Turning to the hopefuls, he shrugged, and as if to add further insult to their situation, remarked, "Just remember that he was ordered here. We are ninja -- we follow our orders."
Asuma said nothing, turning to look at the copy ninja thoughtfully.
Turning back to the other two, Kakashi breathed, "Training ground fourteen."
Kurenai and Asuma shrugged at the chunin apologetically, then went their separate ways. After heading back to her apartment, Kurenai used her typical strategies for losing a tail; her rooms were under a constant veil anyway. It was her trade and craft -- and she knew how many ways there were to spy on a person. She wasn't the first, and she doubted she'd be the last. She produced a kage bunshin of herself first. This bunshin almost immediately set out under henge, ready to spend the rest of the day doing trivial errands and subtly watching for any observers.
She didn't have enough chakra to repeat that one often, but the genjutsu let her have the illusion that the apartment was occupied anyway. After that, she simply used shunshin to find her escape route -- a small obfuscated corner of a nearby market building. The illusion had been tested many times, and to the best of her knowledge, not even ANBU had stumbled across it, yet. She used another shunshin to reach a distant alley -- this one not concealed at all, already under henge before she stepped out of the jutsu.
By the time she reached the specified training ground, she was fully in the guise of any of a number of nameless Academy students.
Amusing herself by practicing kunai throws -- with the feigned skill of a child her seeming age -- she finally became aware of Kakashi's presence in some nearby bushes. Asuma's eventual arrival some minutes later from the opposite direction was unstealthy by comparison. Then again, he might have used some wind-sensing jutsu to detect them from a distance -- he could be sneaky like that.
She took a small amount of pride in the fact that Kakashi actually lifted his hitai-ate to study her for a moment. At least he had to use his sharingan to see who she really was.
Then she realized that he might instead be trying to copy her technique -- and immediately released it.
"That was remarkably overt, even for Danzo," Asuma said thoughtfully, frowning.
Kakashi nodded at that. "Something doesn't seem right about this to me," he agreed.
"Well, you're the former ANBU captain among us," Kurenai reminded him. "You know this 'horse' character, right?"
"Quite well. But I can't fathom the motivations -- or what this accomplishes, other than removing one ANBU from the ranks."
"So ... you don't buy into the 'safety of the children' byline?"
"It's a load of crap and everyone in that room knew it," Kakashi sighed. "I served ANBU detail watching Naruto on occasion when he was younger."
Though he didn't mention it, Kurenai suspected that some other aspiring orphans were watched the same way ... otherwise it would be too easy too approach one and offer training to subvert them away from Konoha. More likely than not, Sasuke had received the same covert guardianship.
"The elders show false concern for the boy's wellbeing. Danzo has never concealed the fact that he believes that Naruto represents only danger to the village. To say that they're motivated to place an ANBU member in the Academy as instructor as a result of him being at risk?" He shook his head.
Not for the first time, Kurenai wondered what the connection was that Kakashi seemed to think he had with Naruto. Was it concern? She'd heard the story of their encounter, at least. She could understand the boy's side of things ... but for Kakashi, why did he seem so bothered that the boy didn't like him? She somehow thought it extended far beyond an assignment or two to watch from the shadows behind an ANBU mask in Naruto's Academy days.
As much as it bothered her to admit, that wasn't the main concern at the moment, however -- especially if Kakashi was hinting at greater dangers for any of the students.
"Is there anything this person knows or something they have that could bother Danzo?" Asuma wondered. "Or one of the other elders?"
Kakashi's eye flicked away. "Within ANBU there are no true ranks beyond ANBU, and ANBU captain. At the same time, there is a ... hierarchy. Certain roles go to those with greater seniority and experience. I don't think it would be right to tell you everything I know about a fellow ANBU captain.... And I can tell you nothing further without speaking an A rank secret."
"We are both jounin," Kurenai replied. "I believe we're cleared."
Kakashi made a noise that was difficult to decipher for a moment before shaking his head. "Danzo heads a subdivision of ANBU called Root -- their purpose is the training of all new ANBU. This ANBU captain ... was aspiring to become a member of Root -- to train new recruits. Like myself, he was recruited before Root was formed. I know he has worked very hard to try and attain that position.
"Evidently, this is Danzo's response to an experienced and very capable ANBU's request to become a trainer."
"Kekkai genkai?" Kurenai guessed.
"Yes," Kakashi allowed. "I cannot imagine how it would be applicable to the situation at hand, however."
Asuma nodded knowingly, then leaned slightly towards Kakashi, saying almost in admonishment, "Then perhaps we can."
"I'm positive it has no bearing, and everything aside ... let's leave it at the fact that I consider this person to be one of the two most trustworthy ANBU I know."
"Then the most obvious solution is that Danzo doesn't like this person and wants them removed from ANBU -- and this just provides a convenient opportunity," Asuma sighed, rocking back on his heels to stand upright.
"Perhaps it's just a battle-scarred ninja's superstition, but something feels wrong about this, to me," Kakashi said, shaking his head.
"I'll admit, it doesn't sit right with me either," Kurenai agreed, offering a sympathetic shrug. "But what is there to do?"
Kakashi drummed his fingertips on the training post that Kurenai had been using for target practice. "I don't know ... but for the immediate future, I think we should try and put off getting C rank missions for our genin if they involve much of any travel. Until then ... the genin are our main concern. We have even more cause to try and encourage them to be the best ninja we can make them, now."
"I have to say ... when Anko's not around, you say some insightful things," Kurenai mused.
He masked his discomfort at that with a shrug. "She brings out the worst in me."
She pursed her lips, studying him for a moment, while Asuma nodded knowingly -- probably guessing what she was about to say. "The best, too."
Looking sharply away, Kakashi said, "On that note -- this whole thing cost us a day of working with our students. Since it's a wash anyway, I'm going to try and meet up with an old ANBU contact."
"Your friend with the horse mask?" Kurenai pressed, raising an eyebrow.
"Bear," he answered.
After that, he vanished in a whirl of leaves, and she heaved a quiet sigh.
Asuma shrugged, seeming unconcerned as he lit a cigarette. "Well," he said after a thoughtful puff, "how about that. Kakashi opened up enough to share an A rank secret."
"I see it more as a sign of concern than trust, really," the kunoichi disagreed.
The man grunted, offering a nod. "We ought not look for trouble. And, in the spirit of reciprocation, as water seeks the path of least resistance: we should return this issue to those who last left things to us."
She squinted. "Another clever way to be lazy. So ... tell the jounin commander?"
"Then, too," Asuma noted, pinching his cigarette off and flicking it away, "should we not report our concerns to our superiors?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen leaned back in the chair in his office and frowned at his son, and at his side, the thoughtful looking Shikaku. After a contemplative puff on his pipe he sat forward, tapping it out and setting the thing aside. He had entrusted Shikaku to accomplish his assignment, not pawn it off on the jounin. Really, the Nara clan head was a sharp man -- brilliant, absolutely a kage-level strategist and planner, with levels of insight that Asuma's years of honed meditation couldn't touch.
The Hokage had fully intended that intelligence go towards selecting a worthy successor for Iruka.
On the other hand ... Danzo wouldn't have pulled his stunt so openly in front of Shikaku. He would have waited, pushed with his allies and supporters -- especially Sarutobi's private council. And it wouldn't be the first time Danzo had forcefully pushed for rearranging personnel as he saw fit. For the better military strength of Konoha, but almost never mindful of anything else.
The elder would gladly have just done it behind the Hokage's back, rather than bother with more tired arguments. It irritated Hiruzen to no end that his one-time rival constantly undermined his authority, insisting that the other man's lack of a major position allowed better insight into how to manage aspects of the community that the Hokage simply couldn't find the time to.
And now this?
Naturally, there would be no way to know if Shikaku had somehow cunningly planned to expose it, or if he'd just been lazy and lucked out.
"Alright," he said patiently. "I happen to be very familiar with the shinobi in question -- to be honest ... I cannot understand why Danzo would choose to place him in the Academy."
Shikaku crossed his arms over his chest and nodded.
"Kakashi seemed unconcerned," Asuma noted. "What's this person's name? Or character?"
The Hokage waved a hand, dismissing the question. He wasn't about to throw away everything about the man's ANBU status -- not until it was official, and he could be debriefed. "I'll say that personally, I think he'd be nothing less than ideal for the Academy. He does fulfill the requirements that my advisors suggested, as well...."
"Hmm ... I believe it was councilor Koharu that dispatched Ibiki when Kakashi couldn't be located," Shikaku mused, tilting his head back to study the ceiling. "Some reparation?"
"There was speculation that Danzo wished to deny this person advancement within ANBU," Asuma offered.
The Hokage raised an eyebrow at that and picked his pipe up again, realizing with annoyance his tobacco pouch was empty. Wordlessly, his son stepped forward and offered pinch from his own. Smiling ruefully, the sandaime nodded at Asuma, accepting the offering. "There may be that possibility," he conceded, using the same chakra shaping that Asuma used to light his cigarettes as he took a thoughtful puff. "He might not have been militant enough for Danzo's purposes."
"What's his specialization, if I can know?"
"Non-lethal captures," Shikaku answered.
"He should be a fine teacher for the Academy, if somewhat disgruntled about his unwanted career change," the Hokage determined. "Put it out of your mind, Asuma. I'll talk to him later today and explain the situation. I expect he'll be willing to keep the position after that."
"That's the end of it, then?" Asuma asked, frowning.
"I believe my concern is seeing that the children -- genin or Academy -- are all in good hands," the Hokage returned.
The former Guardian Ninja frowned softly, but accepted the rebuke, bowing before retreating from the room, leaving Hiruzen and Shikaku alone.
A creeping shadow slid the Hokage's pipe out of his easy reach. Like his son, he accepted that subtle admonishment, heaving a weary sigh and pulling his hat from his head, rubbing his scalp tiredly.
"I can only believe you know Asuma better than I do ... but I am of the mind that his rebellious streak was encouraged after that speech, more than anything else," the jounin commander remarked.
Hiruzen allowed an unhappy nod. "Shikaku -- I need something from the ANBU morgue," he said with a frown.
Shikaku blinked. "Alright," he said, not moving from his current position. "Hokage-sama, may I ask why?"
"The man behind the horse ANBU mask -- you recall the specifics of his kekkai genkai?"
The Nara clan head looked thoughtful before replying, "It's a curse condition, right? Something that causes his body to reject all other curses and curse seals?"
Rubbing at his scalp again, letting his eyes drift closed, Hiruzen sighed, admitting, "And we only know that thanks to Orochimaru's 'experiments'. I can only hope that his banishment from the ANBU ranks has nothing to do with that kekkai genkai."
Shikaku moved some pieces around on his mental strategy map, giving a slow, thoughtful nod. "I'll get Ino and Choza. How do you want Mizuki's remains?"
"Cremated," the Hokage said distastefully. "I'll mix the ashes with ink and form a sealing array." Exactly the kind of thing he wouldn't have had time to do, if he couldn't trust the rookie nine's teachers to watch over them. Still ... with their strange arrangement, he felt that this would be the best possible use of his time.
"Within three hours, we should be done, back here, and no one aside from us and yourself will know," the jounin commander promised, bowing.
The Hokage nodded, glad that there were still those he could trust.
Kiba knew that he was frequently considered to be slow -- and that he'd missed more than his fair share of lessons when they were in the Academy. Well, most of that was because Akamaru couldn't just wait all day every day for lessons to end -- he had to run and play. And so did Kiba!
He worked his clan's taijutsu his hardest, because the truth of the matter was, it was one of those things he and Akamaru could do together. So that, Akamaru's sense training (and Kiba's own sense of scent and hearing had been honed remarkably in the same exercises), and everything else was avoided whenever possible so that he and his partner could be together.
And, you know, having fun.
That didn't hurt. Given a choice, and knowing that the situation was fairly dire -- all nine of them had to pass or fail.... Well, he'd been Naruto's friend before. He could agree that Sasuke was just being a prick to say that Naruto had gotten Iruka killed ... Kiba hadn't ever killed anyone, either.
He knew he was better at taijutsu than Naruto -- even full out, most of Naruto's bunshin were a minimal threat, at best -- but then ... the Uzumaki boy could have swarmed over Kiba at any time during the training exercises they were doing. And that had happened a handful of times already.
When Choji was there, Kiba could just leave his back to the larger boy and focus on a cone before him, which meant he only took a few hits. That was pretty good, until Shikamaru pointed out that bandits with swords instead of sticks would be slashing him apart, not just whacking his limbs.
That underscored the need to develop real defensive formations.
Kiba was astounded to discover that Hinata was -- as Shikamaru insisted -- a keystone in many good defensive formations. With Choji establishing point, Hinata could stand a distance behind him. Her taijutsu and Choji's both had somewhat poor mobility -- which was something both he and Naruto excelled at.
But with those two defensive fighters back-to-back, Kiba occupying the narrow band between them, darting back and forth.... With Akamaru beneath him, just resting safely in the center of the formation, the three could even deflect training kunai -- though, most of that was Hinata's alarming speed, despite being effectively stationary when fully defending.
So, Choji would slowly plod forward, relying on the simple -- but effective -- tactic of grabbing the first 'bandit' and using him as a bludgeon against the next. Naruto's bunshin were obliging about it, and the 'held' bunshin would remain, while others would disperse before impact. When Kiba asked, Naruto pointed out that in a real fight, even if the shinobi that Choji were holding were dead, he'd still be a body, so that made it somewhat more realistic.
That had warranted a thoughtful nod from Kiba and Hinata -- the team at the time.
Kiba liked working with Hinata, as far as her effectiveness. He thought, really, it was strange he didn't know her better ... but she was reliable, and surprisingly unhesitant against the bunshin, just going through their escort games as seriously as possible. She didn't get hit often, but when she did, she acknowledged the 'injury' and wouldn't use the affected limb.
More incentive not to get hit, he realized, after that cost them a game -- one of those times that Naruto did just swarm over them with an endless tide. The unintentional side-effect of being too slow for that escort. Naruto didn't hit as hard as Hana could, and his blows were feather-light compared to Tsume in serious training -- but this was even more serious training, and the more Kiba began to realize it, the more he wished that Akamaru was up to fighting strength.
Thinking about that, he resolved to spend more of his free time with his sister. The pup's growth couldn't be forced any more than Kiba's, but it could be optimized. And there was no way he wasn't going to do his best for his partner -- just like Akamaru annoyingly reinforced Tsume's demands that Kiba finish his vegetables at dinner.
Damn soft foods.
But then, he was probably the toughest of all the genin in the rookie nine, and the biggest too -- save Choji. And he could console himself with the fact that he was faster, too.
So, after the latest escort mission, this one a success, Kiba sniffed at the giveaway floral scent of an unexpected fellow genin. Akamaru sensed it, too, turning his head to face the side of the training ground where the 'castle' was. Currently, everyone was sitting inside the square, recovering their breath.
From the side of the clearing, Ino stumbled through a bush, shooting a baleful glance behind her before straightening up and marching forward, stopping a dozen paces away. "What are all of you doing, anyway? Isn't today supposed to be a day off?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and giving a suspicious gaze across the other six genin.
Shikamaru patted the hitai-ate on his armband. "Some of us want to make sure that if we fail ... it's not because of anything we did," he answered.
Kiba frowned.... He had scented Ino, and Sakura, too -- they used very similar soaps. Sasuke had either thought to move down-wind, or had just been more cautious in general, stepping out from behind a tree. He looked at the setup with almost disdainful consideration before grudgingly admitting, "Improving our skills to the point where certain inferior teammates can be accounted for makes it much more likely we'll succeed."
The Inuzuka boy felt his hackles rise. Vague though it was, a snide remark like that.... He knew Naruto would say something before he barked out his own complaint; as a friend of Naruto's, he kept himself poised, waiting for the blond to strike before following. Except that Naruto didn't say anything at all, just glowering at the Uchiha boy.
After a heartbeat of that, before he could really stare, Naruto seemed to force his gaze to Ino, his annoyance vanishing as he asked her -- genuinely curious -- "Is Sakura-chan here, too?"
Ino grimaced, rolling her eyes. "She's behind the huge tree -- the one big enough for her forehead to fit behind."
"Hey!" Sakura screeched, blowing her cover to pop out from behind a very low shrub.
The Uchiha heir rolled his eyes. "They need all the help they can get," he said in a clipped tone.
"Sasuke!" Ino and Sakura complained together, giving him a pleading look -- before breaking off to glare at one-another.
"Alright," Shikamaru sighed. "In that case ... I have a new idea. Naruto and I will provide the opposition."
Kiba frowned. This was probably going to be bad.
"How's it going to work?" Kiba asked, while Sasuke and the two girls who had followed him stepped closer to listen.
"Akamaru, you're the princess again," the shadow-user informed the puppy. Akamaru yapped acceptance of this.
"Another escort mission?" Choji groaned.
"Rescue mission," Shikamaru corrected, shaking his head. "So. Somehow, the rest of you have to figure out how to get into the castle. This time, you can't cross the walls without climbing all the way up a training post and then down the other side -- to simulate breaking in. The castle will be filled with defenders. You need to figure out how to break in, rescue the princess, and kill the evil daimyo of Wind country for orchestrating the plan.
"Here are the rules -- if the daimyo is attacked and the guards watching over the princess find out, then they will try and kill her. If she dies -- mission failed. If the daimyo hears anything about invaders, he will call in his S rank nuke-nin ally. That's all of the information you've been given for this mission."
"Who are the assigned leaders for the offensive force?" Sasuke asked immediately.
"Not my problem," Shikamaru answered, standing up and indicating his chest with one thumb. "I'm a bad guy. Now run back to the start point and plan where we can't hear you, if you're smart. We'll start in five minutes -- and the forest is filled with both bandits and low-level ninja scouts for the daimyo. Be careful!"
Kiba grinned. This might be fun -- though he was almost positive that Akamaru would be 'killed' once or twice before they finally settled on a working plan.
Naruto had decided to follow Shikamaru's lead for arranging the bunshin that would be assigned roles -- and then appropriately under henge -- in the 'castle'. Akamaru even got a bunshin to play with and pet with him, so he wouldn't get bored and wander off before being rescued, in the form of one of the guards.
The most interesting part about the shadow-user's plan was that neither Naruto or Shikamaru had to be on the battlefield for the exercise.
That was a thought that hadn't occurred to the blond boy. He'd just thought it made more sense to be closer to what was happening, so he could respond faster. Shikamaru patiently returned that Naruto was actually pretty fast already -- and once he learned shunshin, his bunshin would be able to cross considerable range. And since he got their experience anyway, why risk exposing himself?
He thought it felt a bit cowardly, but then ... if a bunshin with a henge to look like Iruka had been there, that night....
So, he could see the value in the technique, and a somewhat self-satisfied, cocky Shikamaru-bunshin appropriately lurked behind the daimyo, occasionally buffing his nails and otherwise looking totally confident that everything had gone according to plan. The shadow-user eyed the bunshin and gave a grudging nod of approval, unable to hide his own smirk in response -- which the bunshin immediately adjusted its henge to match.
It also had the side-effect of leaving his bunshin unable to communicate, except by speaking to one-another. Though, that actually made their efforts to model the battlefield more realistic -- if the other genin were sneaky enough, then the bunshin in the castle would never know what happened until it was too late.
And in the meantime, Shikamaru explained, the others would develop tactics that worked against all of the bunshin in small groups. Which would be fine, because the next time, Naruto would be very familiar with that approach, and then appropriately defended. And in the meantime, all they needed to do was sit there and review what happened.
To try and lessen the impact of the potential bursts of memory, the pair retreated once more to Asuma's meditation spot. For lack of a better name, anyway. Naruto would know when the exercise was over, after all -- unless, somehow, the others managed to rescue Akamaru without a single bunshin even noticing. From there, thinking of a book he had read on meditation, and the monk-like jounin's advice, he tried to blank his mind.
He wasn't really getting it -- but he found it substantially boosted his ability to resist the sometimes compacted surges of experiences. Many of those were of simply lurking in wait in the forest -- he found that those tended to fade away, for which he was grateful, even if he didn't understand why.
Kiba and Hinata were a very effective team, able to move around the periphery of the forest. Kiba would charge in first, with a fast but flashy attack, and almost always instantly overwhelm one of the scouts. On the offhand chance that he missed, or the bunshin was able to dodge, Hinata was there. And, well ... she knew enough about how Naruto tended to fight that his bunshin didn't stand much of a chance if she was especially serious about it.
The fort was too well defended for them to charge all the way in without being overwhelmed by the patrols, so they stopped there, needing to plan.
While Naruto knew where they were, his bunshin were unaware.
Shikamaru took his notepad and made summaries of Naruto's observation, already working out routines and policies that Naruto would be able to employ in the future to prevent being caught so unaware. That would increase the value of the training exercise for the others -- and in the meantime, Naruto could also train himself to become a better scout.
The somewhat less effective Sasuke, Shino, and Ino team encountered a bit more resistance. The experience of a bunshin being controlled by Ino's mind-body technique.... That was different. She seemed to suffer some strange backlash when that bunshin dispersed, and that was enough of a deterrent that she only did it once.
Her taijutsu wasn't very solid, and she absolutely had to hide behind Sasuke when they were pressed in heavy combat. She was decent with kunai, but his bunshin were able to deflect her shots as often as not -- and then she lost time scrambling to recover her limited supply of throwing weapons. On the other hand ... the Uchiha heir was actually pretty tough -- he could curve shuriken better than anyone else Naruto had seen, and he had an annoying fire-jutsu that frequently caught several bunshin at once.
Thanks to Sasuke charging ahead constantly, and Shino's more reserved stance, the bug-user ended up doing little but warn of incoming enemies -- and berating the Uchiha heir for carelessly obliterating his kikaichu screens with that fire jutsu.
That same flare also tended to attract large groups of scouts and bandits -- so by the time Kiba and Hinata reached the castle, the defenders were well aware of the commotion, and the S rank nuke-nin (just another bunshin, but one that would go all out), had been summoned.
Moving more slowly, Choji, and Sakura made a pretty effective team. Choji would draw all attackers, and Sakura would hide behind him -- just like with Ino and Sasuke. The pink-haired girl, however, was a much more precise shot and had a pretty clever way of using the larger boy as cover to hide her throws, so his bunshin seldom saw it coming. She also covered his back more effectively than Ino did for the Uchiha heir, which he thought was a somewhat better balance, ultimately.
Shikamaru agreed, but scrawled constant updates in response to Naruto's reports, until the forest was finally cleared of defenders -- thanks almost entirely to Sasuke.
Then again ... Naruto had a pretty solid grasp on the other boy's strategy by then, just like Shikamaru had promised. And he didn't have to worry about actually getting toasted by the jerk -- Sasuke had completely ignored Ino's warning when she'd tried to use her family jutsu the first time, anyway. Not that he had anything against Ino, but she'd shunned Shino as 'a creepy bug user', so neither of them did a thing when she crashed to the forest floor. She needed to be nicer to Shino ... and Sasuke, really, he needed to be nicer to Ino, too.
The shadow user agreed once more, and the two began to very slowly stroll back towards the training ground. Since guards were going down in groups, the backlashes against the blond boy were becoming more severe; Shikamaru's jutsu allowed Naruto to ignore his own surroundings and focus on handling that information. Now that was an awesome teamwork skill!
Of course, he'd have to kill someone else to learn it, and, anyway, that was Shikamaru's family thing -- which was pretty cool, too.
Still.... It occurred to him, Shikamaru helping him walk down the street, if he weren't careful himself, he could end up like Ino, and need someone to watch his body while his bunshin ran around.
Then again ... if it weren't much more subtle for he and Shikamaru to be walking back the same way, he could just use more bunshin for that.
Focusing on sorting out the incoming reports, he determined that Kiba and Hinata had circled around to the rear entrance. Hinata's henge was pretty solid, so she approached the rear gate and made her way in, dragging an evidently comatose Kiba behind her.
He looked pretty beat up, too, from the memories of the guard that had been stabbed in the back when no one else was looking. Sakura and Choji arrived shortly after, trying the exact same gambit -- surprisingly enough, Sakura could drag the larger boy while under a henge as one of the guards that had been lost in the forest. That strength seemed realistic ... but the Shikamaru-bunshin, trying to act like the shadow-user, said that was too simple -- something wasn't right about two opponents being captured so easily.
All of the bunshin began demanding the secret password that Shikamaru suggested they arrange in advance.
Since it had been such a nuisance to have stuck in his head, each and every bunshin in turn quoted one of the lines from the first pages of the Classic of Tea in sequence -- only Sakura managed the password, so that exposed Hinata, and in turn, Kiba.
From there, Sasuke had dismissed subtlety and was attempting to lead a frontal assault. The bunshin tending Akamaru was informed that the perimeter was breached and the daimyo had been attacked; unfortunately, the dog was now a casualty of the exercise -- purely for politically reasons, of course. Akamaru obligingly whined and rolled onto his back, playing dead -- and then the bunshin dispersed to report that the mission had failed while a fierce melee broke out in the fortress, the remaining forces still trying to repel all invaders.
The S rank missing nin and the daimyo put up a solid fight, but by the time Naruto and Shikamaru returned, there were only a handful of bunshin left, quickly dispersed by the now somewhat half-hearted attackers.
Shikamaru's jutsu faded, and Naruto gladly sat on the lawn at the side of the training ground to recover his breath and make his head stop spinning. It had still been a bit difficult to pull off -- but he thought he was getting better at it. "Well, that was a disappointment," Sasuke judged, nodding at Ino.
The blond girl pouted, and Shino raised his head slightly as the Uchiha heir turned his gaze to indicate the bug-user, as well. "I shouldn't have been the one who had to kill them all," the Uchiha heir added.
"And if we had been more cautious, there would have been no reason to fight them at all," Shino countered. "Your display of bravado is a detriment to proper teamwork."
The Uchiha heir bristled, and everything else aside ... it had been a while since Naruto had gotten to win a fight. Sure, he was learning a lot, but Sasuke pissed him off. And it wasn't like he didn't remember an awful lot of losing to the boy recently.
"You know, you're pretty damn predictable," he warned Sasuke.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed furiously. "Big words for someone I defeated innumerable times already," he retorted.
That was true. "Yeah, okay -- want to fight about it?" Naruto challenged, leaping to his feet and leaning towards the other boy, fists already rising. Man, he wanted nothing more than to kick the other boy's ass soundly -- really show him a thing or two!
"Fine," Sasuke spat. "Maybe it'll be less of a waste of time than the rest of this!"
Naruto tried to bite down his initial surge of anger that that. Okay, whatever -- Sasuke was pretty much always an asshole. He wasn't going to be a total idiot, plus he'd watched Sasuke's typical approach a dozen or more times already. He moved to the training ground purposefully, then took up a position before one of the posts there.
The other genin had all stilled, probably expecting this to happen for some time. "Kick his butt, Sasuke!" Ino cheered. "I know you can do it!"
"Yeah!" Sakura cried, trying to out-shout the other girl. "Naruto's nothing -- you can beat him easy!"
God damn it!
"Don't kill him," Hinata encouraged.
He looked at her sharply, surprised at the words.
Flustered, she quickly added, "I...if you kill Sasuke, we'll fail for sure!"
Everyone else turned to stare at Hinata.
"W...well, it's true," she said, looking somewhat irritable.
"She's got a point," Shikamaru allowed. "Alright -- let's set some baselines, if you two really have to do this. No maiming, and nothing that will piss of the sensei squad -- or we all pay for it. Got it?"
Both Naruto and Sasuke gave a stiff nod at that, as all attention returned to them.
"May the best man win," Shino said, somewhat dubiously.
Snorting, Kiba shook his head, Akamaru already perched there once more. "That's you, Naruto," he noted, earning him a fierce elbow in the ribs from Sakura, and a sharp glare from Ino.
"Let's get this stupidity over with," Shikamaru said, giving Naruto a stealthy wink.
Nodding, Naruto squared his jaw. The first part of fighting smarter was playing dumb -- and that meant that he had to use the same approach his bunshin had used in the forest. So, he charged with a loud yell, throwing himself into an arcing jump towards Sasuke, already forming his favorite hand seal.
Completely unsurprisingly, Sasuke responded to Naruto's jump commitment with his fire jutsu, probably expecting a scorched blond to yield instantly at the singeing. Instead, while a smug Uchiha waited for the smoke to clear, the point of a kunai pressed against the small of his back, and two more touched either side of his throat.
"I call this a win," one of the three bunshin behind Sasuke declared, while the majority of the genin were staring with wide-eyed surprise. Shikamaru couldn't help but hide a small smirk, Shino gave an approving nod, and Hinata gave an exuberant grin.
"H...how?" Sasuke protested.
"A bunshin may go away in one hit, but that level of your fire jutsu doesn't actually pack much of a punch," the bunshin directly behind Sasuke said, shrugging.
In response, Sasuke moved with stunning swiftness, slamming his head backwards into the face of the central bunshin, drawing his neck away from the kunai of the others. All three dispersed.
Naruto himself, uncaring about the mild singeing, emerged from the last of the smoke, and once again Sasuke was pinned between three bunshin. He himself held his kunai perfectly steady, poised above Sasuke's throat, and finally the Uchiha heir's face contorted and he snarled, "You tricked me."
"I find myself alarmed at how frequently this needs to be brought up," Shikamaru warned, "but we are ninja. Okay, boys -- wrap it up. Naruto won, and we all saw it."
Naruto signaled his bunshin to disperse and carefully drew away from Sasuke. The shadow user pulled away from the others to clap his shoulder in congratulation, then warned in a very low tone, "You gave away one of your best tricks -- if you fight him without learning some new ones, he will kick your ass next time."
Damn it!
Shikamaru was right, though.... Well, at least he'd gotten to pull a fast one on Sasuke. Thinking back, though he hadn't really planned it that way.... His own clones had the limitation of not being able to learn from the mistakes of others -- unless those others were produced after they had dispersed. In that way, they had instilled Sasuke with a false sense of confidence due to their inability to adapt.
Suddenly, what Shikamaru and Shino had been saying about strategy -- about 'showing his hand'.... Those things clicked into place. He felt chagrined that it had taken such an incident to learn.
"I don't think it counts," Ino protests. "Naruto used a cheap trick!"
"Surviving a fire attack that would disperse a bunshin?" Naruto asked sharply. "What was I supposed to do, burn up and die?"
"Yeah!" Sakura said, though her voice lacked conviction, and she seemed troubled. "You shouldn't have hid in the smoke and then made bunshin to hold him up like that!"
"Oh, shut up -- I don't need your excuses to make me weak like you," Sasuke snapped, glaring at the girls, completely dismissing Naruto. The blond boy shivered at the coldness of his eyes, remembering Shikamaru's warning. "I left an opening through overconfidence and he exploited it."
Unspoken was the implication that it wouldn't happen again.
"Well, pride goes before a fall, and all that," Shikamaru said dismissively. "But, you know what? I'm ready to call it a day after this training exercise. I feel like we learned a lot!"
"How did you get out of there, anyway?" Kiba wondered.
"Kawarimi," he lied effortlessly. "It's a more powerful jutsu than a lot of people give it credit for. Mostly, I'm impressed that Sakura knew the Classic of Tea."
The pink-haired girl blushed slightly. "I didn't know Naruto knew it," she confessed, shrugging. Turning to the blond, she grudgingly asked, "When did you learn it, anyway?"
"I read it few days ago, I think," he answered. "Or ... a few weeks. It's hard to really be sure."
She gave him a sharp look at that. "What?"
He waved a hand, dismissing the question. "I'm going to hang out with Shikamaru and Shino -- we usually get something to eat after training."
"I like the idea of that," Choji agreed swiftly.
"I'm on board," Kiba yelped excitedly.
Ino wondered, "Senzo's?"
Sasuke grunted wordlessly and walked away, back to Konoha.
Well, good riddance, Naruto thought. "Hey, hey! Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, why don't you come with us?" he suggested eagerly.
"Yes! Okay!" Hinata agreed without hesitation, moving to his side with a bright smile. "Um, will we be practicing taijutsu, later?"
"Yeah!"
"I guess I'll go," Sakura sighed reluctantly, her gaze following Sasuke as he slipped between the trees.
Anko couldn't help but grin at the antics of the Chibikage and his training exercises. They were actually fairly inspired -- and that Naruto kid -- he'd been below her radar, before, but now that she'd gotten to see him in action.... Oooh, him and the Chibikage would be all kinds of badass together.
She had no idea what the other teachers were up to, but if the genin were going to get together anyway, she decided her time was best spent watching them.
She especially liked the way that Naruto had handled Sasuke -- that had to take some growing. And since he was so worried for Naruto, Kakashi should be happy, too.
Though, in the other coils....
The Uchiha kid wasn't likely to respond well to that treatment. Well ... with some grooming, the two should become proper rivals, not bitter foes. Kakashi should be able to help with that.
There might be a few broken bones and split lips, but she suspected the pair wouldn't really kill one-another, Hinata's charming little judgments aside. Naruto would always want to prove himself against the sharingan-user, and Sasuke would grudgingly acknowledge that Naruto was an effective, if unconventional ninja that he'd feel a need to surpass.
So that didn't bother her.
There wasn't an initial plan to hide her observations from the other jounin -- at least, some of them. But the way that Kurenai dismissed Shikamaru had somehow irked her. And that was fine by Anko; she was more than willing to let the genjutsu mistress get bitten in the ass.
She coddled her charges too much anyway.
Given a chance to watch the genin in play, she didn't have a lot to add to any of their observations, aside from the fact that Naruto seemed to be keenly aware of his genuine combat ability -- and intensely motivated to improve that. His use of bunshin constantly in training.... Anko had heard of the practice, and once or twice tried to use it on chakra manipulation exercises.
But remembering the experiences of doing a single task twice only made it more boring.
Either Naruto had an unusually resilient mind to absorb the constant experiences he was generating, or he was going to push himself to some horrific madness. Maybe even become one of those bizarrely powerful psychotic ninja with a personal loyal crew of remorseless killers. He just needed an obsessive kunoichi or two willing to give her life for him, and hell -- with Shikamaru backing him, that was the basis for the kind of insane genius that started a shinobi war!
Yeah ... she could see why the Hokage wanted this group watched -- but what fun!
Once he got over whatever trauma there was from the circumstances of his promotion, and his original enthusiasm was rekindled.... He could take his existing sneakiness and drive to prank and multiply it ... yeah, that could have reaching consequences. Ah ... maybe that could be tempered by assigning him a teammate with a bit less spunk; someone he'd have to watch over and protect. Not Sakura, because she needed to develop her own strengths -- and Naruto had a crush on her.
So, Ino was a great candidate for that; her style was going to require someone who could support her.
And the blond boy was likewise an ideal choice for that, given he could leave a bunshin to watch over her -- or play sneakier and watch over her himself while using his bunshin to fight. For him, protecting the blonde would be practically incidental -- no genuine impact on his efficiency. She'd need to see if she could convince the jounin crew to put the pair into a team, and soon.
In fact ... pairing her with someone who made a capable partner for her might give her a chance to shine over Sakura -- something positive to start a more productive rivalry between the two of them. Not for the first time, she wished she hadn't been forbidden from interacting with the children. It would be pretty straightforward to take down Sakura and Ino and slap some sense into them.
Withholding an antidote could provide so much motivation!
Come to think of it ... she'd better nag Kurenai about a very important Talk with the kunoichi trio about the dangers of being kunoichi -- instead of shinobi. Or maybe she could spread it around, make the boys listen in, too -- that would be funny to watch. And Kurenai would be put through the awkward discomfort of having to explain it three times!
And that was when she realized that she was feeling vindictively bitchy because Kakashi had deserted her. Had she somehow gone overboard somewhere she hadn't realized? Actually pissed him off when she thought things were -- weirdly -- starting to kind of sort of actually work out?
Fuck.
How had that asshole gotten into her like that? She'd thought she was better then that.
And here she was starting to feel happiness while playing 'house' with the one-eyed-- Oh, Bastard-sensei was a worthy title indeed....
After reaching Shikamaru's house, Naruto was disappointed -- along with Hinata and Shino -- to be turned away. For whatever reason, an irritable Shikaku immediately ordered his son to the family training ground, insisting that it was time to work on his clan jutsu. The shadow-user shrugged and obediently followed his clan head's order.
Shino remarked that it might be opportune to see if he couldn't approach his own family for training, since he'd spent so much time away from home. Hinata then wanted to train, but even though it was early afternoon ... she was too tired.
She'd earnestly began the first attack, and then just stumbled into Naruto in a faint. When she roused, she insisted she try again.
Naruto wasn't positive, but he was starting to suspect that she was pushing herself too hard, somehow. So, he told her she should rest, because real ninja wouldn't want to keep themselves exhausted.
After both reflexively looked around for another of Bastard-sensei's exploding tags, Hinata had reluctantly agreed to go home and get some sleep -- and Naruto had walked her there, encouraging her that whatever else happened, they had one more day of being on a team together. She seemed cheered by that, and sleepily promised that they would practice even harder the next day before yawning and stumbling through the formidable gates to her family's estate.
Without anything else to do, he'd intended to go to the memorial stone, to remember Iruka -- but alarmingly enough, the hated figure of Bastard-sensei was already there!
Frustrated, Naruto went to the next best place -- the Academy. When he got there, an unfamiliar woman with red hair done up in a braid was sitting behind Iruka's desk. Her hitai-ate wasn't worn on her head, but about her waist -- like Ino's. A pair of subdued blue eyes flicked up to meet him before going back to the paperwork on the desk before her.
"You're a genin," the redheaded woman noted. "You shouldn't need to come to the Academy. Did your jounin-sensei send you here for something?"
"No," Naruto confessed, eying Iruka's replacement mistrustfully. "I.... Uh, did you know Iruka-sensei?"
The woman adjusted her position, setting down her pen and regarding Naruto in a different light. "Ah," she said after a moment, when recognition seemed to set in. "As a matter of fact, I did. He was a genin when we first met. Some time ago.... I'm sorry, were you friends with him?"
Naruto allowed a nod for the strange woman.
After a hesitant moment, she said, "Well ... you know, he left notes behind on you. He seemed to think you were quite a student -- he hoped some day to see you become a respected ninja of Konoha. Your dream was some day to become the Hokage, right?"
"I'm gonna be Hokage," Naruto said with confidence he wished he could feel.
One red eyebrow rose. "Oh, yeah?" she asked, smiling softly.
"Yeah," he said in return, nodding.
"Well, good for you," she returned. "But, you've got a jounin-sensei, don't you?"
"Took the day off," Naruto grudgingly allowed.
The new head chunin instructor shook her head sadly. "Well, I'm just an Academy instructor -- if you're a genin, you should already know everything I'm supposed to teach."
"Yeah," he sighed, shaking his head. Enough of that -- this stranger was no replacement for Iruka.
Without anyone else to hang out with, he resigned himself to returning to his apartment alone. "Oh," she called, hefting a scroll from the desk. "Do me a favor -- take this with you on your way out. You should meet my brother, and he'll give you something to eat for your help, eh?"
"How will I recognize him?" Naruto wondered, even as his stomach compelled him to accept the task.
"He dresses just like me," she answered, handing the scroll over, then turning to focus on her paperwork.
Nodding dubiously, the blond wasn't really surprised to run into a man who did in fact look remarkably like the redhead -- except his hair was dark, his eyes were gray, and he was slightly taller, filling out an identical outfit in different ways -- though he, too, wore his hitai-ate as a belt. "Yo," he called nonchalantly, striding past Naruto.
"Wait!" he called, waving the scroll. "Your sister said to give this to you?"
The man raised an eyebrow after pausing, then accepted it. "Ah," he said, nodding. "Alright, thanks, then ... what's your name?"
"Uzumaki Naruto," he answered proudly.
"Huh.... Alright, Uzumaki, come with me for something to eat to pay you back for that."
For the promise of food, the blond fell in step beside the man, watching him close and lock the Academy building's main door. After the door closed, a snooty looking man with dark glasses rounded the corner of the building from the direction of the Hokage's tower. "I say," he said, giving Naruto a cold eyed glare. Turning his attention to the chunin, he sniffed, handing over a stack of paper. "These are from Hokage-sama -- for you to process."
"Thanks," the man said dryly, accepting the paperwork. "What's with the attitude, Ebi-chan?"
Naruto laughed aloud at the chunin openly mocking the man who looked to be a special jounin. 'Ebi-chan' stiffened visibly, his glare heating up and focused completely on the dark-haired man. "Don't be so proud, Kuonji," he snapped. "I do outrank you!"
"Ask me if I care," Kuonji replied boredly. "The Hokage confirmed my assignment here personally. If you want to fight about it, let's make it quick -- I want to eat."
'Ebi-chan' sneered and whirled away, vanishing in shunshin.
Naruto blinked and eyed the man at his side. "What's that all about?" he wondered, still chuckling.
"Oh, I don't like how he behaves," Kuonji replied lazily. "He's a crappy role-model, and a total idiot about keeping S rank secrets."
The blond jolted at that reminder and fixed the dark haired man with a suspicious gaze.
"Oh, I was there, so I remember," he added softly. No one else was immediately around, and one of the man's hands shaped some subtle seal -- a mild gust of wind bore down around them, leaving them unaffected but masking their words from the nearest bystanders. "So, I know who you really are. You're the one who keeps it safely locked away. You may just now be a genin, but you've defended Konoha almost as long as you've drawn breath." He winked at that, showing a mild smile....
And Naruto couldn't help but feel slightly warmed by that. Recognition, and an utter refusal of Mizuki's words.... The wind jutsu faded and Naruto sniffled, falling into step behind the teacher. And that sentiment, it echoed Iruka's, too.
Well, he and his sister together -- maybe they would be half as cool as Iruka. And maybe Naruto could even forgive the guy for taking him to eat okonomiyaki instead of ramen. He seemed alright, and thanks to that, well ... he didn't have to be alone.
That was alright, he supposed. Better than the alternative, anyway.
Vaguely haunted by Danzo's inexplicable pressure, and the fact that she knew nothing about the circumstances around it, Kurenai had found herself sleeping poorly. Asuma offered almost nothing in the way of assurance beyond a vague supposition that they shouldn't worry about things they couldn't effect.
Which was not at all reassuring. Anko had been there, too, needling Kakashi especially, for whatever reason. The one eyed sharingan user himself was somewhat subdued, wordlessly accepting the special jounin's unsubtle jabs. The genjutsu mistress was beginning to regret suggesting she was a positive influence, and Anko had been strangely demanding with regards to placing the genin in the next rotation.
When Asuma questioned why, Anko had gleefully offered a deluge of information regarding the rookie nine undertaking a joint training exercise without any external prompting.
Even Kakashi didn't bother concealing his surprise at that.
So she arrived at the meeting site for her students and waited for Sasuke and Hinata. Naruto had arrived very early, looking strangely forlorn, then sat tiredly on the ground nearby his teacher, waiting for his fellow students to arrive. Sasuke showed up next, eying Naruto warily.
Running up, looking embarrassed and huffing for breath, Hinata was the last to arrive, nearly five minutes late.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto exclaimed worriedly, jumping to his feet. "What happened? Are you alright?"
"I just ... overslept," she confessed with quiet shame. "U...um, I guess I ... overdid it a bit."
Sasuke snorted, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.
"Well, today shouldn't be too strenuous for you -- but it is important to make sure you sleep properly," Kurenai warned, trying to give her students an encouraging smile, not betraying her concern about the unknowns.
"Today," she continued, surveying her charges, "we will study conduct...." She launched into the lecture she had already become tired of, then brought out the leaf exercise.
When Naruto sighed and accepted the leaf without complaint, she suggested that this was a precursor to learning to walk on trees -- and then walls, and eventually, water. That encouraged him enough to focus -- though to her senses he was hemorrhaging chakra when he did.
Hinata and Sasuke were both solid in their execution of the exercise -- though Hinata showed exceptional refinement.
Except, Naruto couldn't focus himself on the leaf and listen to the lecture. Sasuke snorted at him derisively, and in response, Naruto simply spawned a bunshin, which borrowed his notebook and pen, taking notes while the real Naruto turned his back to Sasuke and focused on nothing else but the leaf.
She didn't want to encourage such behavior, really, but she was supposed to be the nicer teacher, and she had to admit ... it was the best benefit he'd get out of the exercise. It would also prevent him from falling behind the other genin -- to say nothing of the fact that it was a valid technique, and he really could do the same in the field. He was also proud to show off his remarkably improved henge, which she hadn't expected.
How intense was the training they had opted to do without supervision, anyway? For some reason, she thought Anko hadn't said everything that had gone on.
Kurenai encouraged him that he really had gotten better -- and then reminded him to work on his kawarimi as well. He fervently agreed, creating another quartet of bunshin, just to run out and then practice the technique on one another at the edge of the training ground.
Sasuke watched intently, until his focus was brought back to the lesson. She really hoped that through this all, she was at least making some positive impression on the three, and especially in Naruto's case.
But she knew one thing -- her agitation hadn't settled in the slightest.
Being forced to attend Bastard-sensei's training with Ino and Sakura was a decided nightmare. The two were slowly putting effort into at least getting along -- and with him around, their ire was focused more on him then the other.
Which he considered a sort of compromise, if not at all what he'd hoped for.
Kakashi had as much sympathy for him as he had for the girls.
Net result, constant painful collisions against the girls, since there were no Naruto bunshin around to throw him into. The girls were likewise tossed at him, or one-another.
Shikamaru tried to retreat with the girls to strategize--
Explosive tags.
'Real ninja should have better coordination when needing to escape from overwhelming force, my cute little students!'
God damn that ninja's lack of creativity.
Why couldn't they buy explosive tags yet, anyway?
So, they regrouped, attacked, and in a stunning display of Bastard-sensei's favorite and most bullshit jutsu, Shikamaru got to experience Ino kicking him straight out of his own head to watch her fumble around and take a beating from Kakashi, all viewed from the extreme depths of his own subconscious. At least the pain was somewhat muted, until she fled back to her own body, getting up just in time to--
Explosive tags.
What a shock.
"Yeah, your cute little ninja students should have contingencies in place for shit like this," Shikamaru snapped, pulling himself out of the shrub he and Sakura had both been blasted into.
"That's right!"
Aaand ... more explosive tags. This time he got a kawarimi off in time to escape.
Couldn't say that was entirely undeserved.... After that, determined that they were going to be tossed around constantly anyway, Ino and Sakura began their sniping at one-another.
This was where things became interesting to Shikamaru--
Explosi--
Kawarimi--
--and fuck, that was close -- keep moving to avoid the next barrage of explosive tags -- Bastard-sensei could be pretty unrelenting.
"Don't reveal the weaknesses of your allies in a battle, my cute little students!" he warned, sending a significantly greater share of tags towards the girls.
"Now, your weak points have been revealed -- prepare for unrelenting assault!" He folded away his book and produced a permanent marker in one hand, and a pair of eyebrow tweezers in the other.
Shikamaru admitted genuine, grudging admiration for the man, right then, especially since with both hands full, he couldn't--
Explosive tags.
Son of a bitch.
"Real ninja shouldn't watch their teammates suffer without helping!"
Okay, he might be a magnificent bastard, but he was still Bastard-sensei.
No gloating, but he wouldn't talk back, that resulted in more explosions. Ino and Sakura were about to be getting a personal lesson on the cost of inner-team animosity, and at the same time ... Shikamaru wondered if Kakashi knew what he'd done to the girls in Senzo's, and wanted to remind everyone that he, in point of fact, was the biggest asshole on the block.
Somehow, that seemed very likely as the one-eyed ninja proceeded to methodically disassemble them with his normal taijutsu tactics, letting Ino's next attempt at the mind-body transfer technique kawarimi her into Sakura. This time, Bastard-sensei immediately followed it by dropping an explosive tag and using kawarimi again to deposit Shikamaru inside the blast range, now letting him hold Ino's body hostage.
Ino-Sakura howled in protest and then twitched, falling down before Ino began to struggle in Kakashi's grasp.
Recovering from the latest blast, his hearing a bit off in one ear, Shikamaru wheezed, "Time out! This 'real' ninja would have died on the battlefield by now!"
"That's right, my cute little student!" Kakashi agreed, far too cheerfully. "And so did this one here," he added, hefting Ino easily in one hand -- still flailing and protesting ineffectually. "That poor little pink-haired student is now alone without allies! She's not much of a match for any skilled team, on account of numbers alone!"
He then flung Ino, and even though part of him wanted to just watch her tumble, Shikamaru managed to run to half-catch her. It worked out, mostly -- she'd half-righted herself, resulting into her slamming into him in an awkward embrace before they crashed to the ground. Sakura sniffed, looking down at the pair and saying, "Well, that settles that -- since you two are so close, that leaves Sasuke to me!"
Shikamaru reached up and made an angry shushing motion to Ino. She glared at him, as Bastard-sensei noted, "I actually do reward teamwork."
When the blonde looked up, Sakura had just been sent into another explosion courtesy of the most brokenly powerful basic jutsu Shikamaru had ever seen used.
God damn that man was smooth. Hoping to buy some time on the 'teamwork' ideal, Shikamaru popped to his feet, Ino wide-eyed and unresisting as he jogged a few steps before she squirmed out of his grasp and hit the ground running, landing at his side. The pair of them reached the crater where Sakura was staggering with wide, genuinely frightened eyes, and they snagged her between them, bearing the lightweight pink-haired kunoichi away from Kakashi -- and hopefully outside of his kawarimi range, at least briefly.
And, what do you know ... no explosive tags.
Well, the girls seemed to get that much quickly enough.
After a relatively boring day of meditation with Choji and Shino, Kiba was personally eager to get back to more of training with Naruto and Shikamaru -- that had been fun, and felt a hell of a lot more productive than any of the other training they'd gotten. They met up at Senzo's as was the custom, and their teachers came around to assign their new teams.
Kiba had to wince sympathetically for Naruto, being assigned Kakashi in the morning -- and worse, Ino and Sakura with him. Ino actually burst into tears at the thought of two consecutive days beneath Bastard-sensei's guidance, which Kakashi cheerfully ignored.
Sakura released a whimpering moan, shaking her head at the thought -- Naruto himself seemed largely indifferent, surprisingly enough. Then again, Kiba remembered, he liked the gray-haired girl. Maybe that canceled his annoyance with the one-eyed bastard.
After that Kurenai showed up to notify Hinata, Choji, and Sasuke to show up for training with her, and Kiba deduced that left him with Shino and Shikamaru.
What the hell -- those two were a solid asset in any fight. No complaints from Kiba at all on that count. Asuma would be boring as hell, and the eternally solemn bearded man insisted that even Akamaru follow along with the meditation practice -- just like Kurenai put the dog through the concentration exercise.
And complaining about that to Tsume had brought down not only her ire, but Hana's wrath for neglecting that part of Akamaru's development!
So, Akamaru would reluctantly do that while they were meditating, which was okay.... But, hell, he'd rather run and play.
At least Kakashi had the decency to always kidnap Akamaru at the beginning of the fight, and then pet the dog affectionately while beating the crap out of everyone else.
Once or twice, Akamaru had been sent running off, and insisted when he returned that he'd actually trained in his tracking skills with another nin-dog -- named Pakkun. Kiba was pretty sure that Bastard-sensei was just hitting the dog with some genjutsu to get him out of harm's way ... which was probably for the best for the moment. Still, he hoped it suggested that each instance of Akamaru vanishing meant that they'd actually distracted the man. His little gray book seemed to occupy his attention more than the fights, though....
Another puzzle he couldn't figure out. He never got close enough to read any of the title, but Kiba could tell it smelled very faintly of a woman's soap. Possibly just a bizarre affectation of the man -- he smelled slightly of the same himself.
Sasuke quickly stalked away after figuring out where he had to go -- Ino and Sakura followed halfheartedly, but Kiba didn't believe that they'd really manage to trail him very far before he evaded them.
"So," he asked, elbowing Naruto companionably, "who's up for some extra practice, anyway?"
"My father wants to practice with me more," Shikamaru sighed. "I shouldn't really complain ... it prepares me for the more advanced forms of our jutsu, but it is wearying."
"Likewise, my clan wishes to address a lapse in my own training," Shino agreed.
"M...my father wants to talk to me about something this evening," Hinata echoed, lowering her gaze to the table. "I w...was ordered...."
"Aw, that's a bummer, Hinata-chan," Naruto sighed. "Well, I guess your family stuff's important, right?"
The Hyuuga girl looked simultaneously relieved and depressed, if that were possible.
Huh ... that left Choji, Kiba, Akamaru, and Naruto.
"My father wanted to do something with me, too," Choji apologized, shrugging.
Oh, damn it!
Well.... He really would rather have done more of those training games. If that wasn't an option.... "Hey, Naruto," he suggested, "how about coming over to my place? We can mouth off to my mom and get thrown around a bunch -- practice for tomorrow, eh?"
Surprisingly, Naruto perked up at that. "Really?"
Kiba snorted, nodding. "'Course," he huffed. "You got something better to do with your time?"
He paused, then shrugged, grinning. "Not really," he admitted.
Shortly after that, they were at the Inuzuka compound, and Kiba proudly attempted to introduce his friend to his mother. "Hey, Mom!" he said cheerfully, jogging up to the surly woman from where she was surveying a handful of young nin-dogs on the lawn.
She shot him a very sharp look, warning of a backhand if he didn't watch himself.
Okay, so she'd started off in a bad mood already ... more of that famous attitude that drove Kiba's father away. Bless his soul for surviving long enough to spawn a son after Hana was born. "Who's your friend?" she asked, sniffing unashamedly towards Naruto, as some of the nin-dogs whimpered and shied away from the light-gray haired boy for some reason.
"This is Uzumaki Naruto," he said patiently. "We're on the same team." Kind of. They would be at some point, anyway.
Tsume frowned intently. "Boy," she growled in warning to Naruto, "what family do you have?"
"None," Naruto responded tightly, starting to return the woman's glare. Yeah ... not the best possible meeting.
The woman's ire abruptly shifted focus, and the promised backhand arrived, knocking Kiba tumbling into the pile of skittish nin-dogs.
"Your teammate has no other family, and you haven't brought him in to your home yet?" she barked sharply. "Kiba...."
Nursing a sore jaw, and significantly more bruised pride, Kiba rose to his feet, stooping to collect Akamaru from where he had tumbled off, landing on his feet from long practice. "Mom!" he whined.
"And what kind of offensive style do you use?" she snapped at Naruto tersely.
"I ... uh ... don't have a specific one, really," Naruto allowed, startled into wide-eyed compliance. "Just kind of what they taught at the Academy."
Her eyes narrowed. "What a dog-dammed waste," she snarled. "Both of you get your asses into the dojo -- no one who watches my son's back is going to go about without something resembling proper training! And Kiba! You've been lazy!" Turning to the largest building on the Inuzuka compound she howled, "Hana! Beat some sense into these kids!"
From within the other building, Hana's hollered return was, "'Kay, Mom -- be there in a minute or two!"
"So," Kiba said, indicating his mom and the compound in general, "you've met the folks -- let's get to the dojo." That in mind, he gave Tsume what he considered a reasonably cautious berth and circled around towards the training facilities.
Cowed and confused, Naruto followed the other boy. "I...is your mom always like this?" he asked Kiba.
The Inuzuka boy snorted, rolling his eyes. "This is a good day -- Hana's a hell of a lot nicer than my mom!"
Naruto looked as impressed as he should have at that. Kiba knew he was from a tough family, and he was proud of it -- just like Akamaru. Hell, one-on-one, the only people Kiba wasn't confident he could beat among the genin were Choji, and maybe Sasuke, because of that fire trick he used to try and toast Naruto.
That was a bit dirty for a 'friendly' match -- and he knew the Uchiha heir was more likely than not to try and exact some form of revenge for Naruto's easy victory. But, hell, Naruto was not just a friend, he'd been a real asset -- if a strange one -- to everyone's training. He kind of liked the idea of including the Uzumaki boy in his own personal pack ... and if they were going to be teammates, there wasn't any real reason to complain about him knowing how to coordinate better with an Inuzuka.
After all, even Akamaru liked Naruto.
So, Hana tossed the pair of them around, apologizing to both of them that the style depended on partners and coordinating with them. The three of them had to fight her and her three dogs, each of which was large enough to easily knock Naruto or Kiba down. To say nothing of humiliating Akamaru by grabbing the scruff of his neck and just retreating to a corner to dangle him mockingly.
Towards the end of the fray, Kiba and Naruto even managed to work together well enough to keep each-other upright. Hana beamed a smile at them, encouraged that they were coordinating -- and then she and one of her partner-dogs launched right into them with a fierce gatsuga, sending Kiba straight back into the wall, and Naruto bouncing towards the dojo entrance.
Just in time to see Tsume walking away from some disgruntled nin-dogs that would have nothing to do with her failed cooking experiment. "Hana, feed the dogs," she growled. "We've having takeout."
"Oh, that's a real treat," Hana said, managing to hide any trace of irony. "'Kay, Mom," she added, bowing when Tsume gave her a sharp look.
The Inuzuka matriarch nodded and eyed what she considered to be her immediate pack, herding them silently and obediently before her.
"Your mom is kinda cool," Naruto whispered, when Tsume seemed distracted by her own companion's murmur -- in the dog language, so Naruto hadn't understood.
"Yeah, I know," Kiba whispered back. "Don't let her hear that."
The two shared a secretive smile, and Kiba couldn't help but think of past pranks.
Yeah, this whole thing was just stupid and crazy enough to work. Why not?
Author's notes: Kiba's color-blindness isn't really portrayed accurately; it's meant to be a kind of narrative joke. Might not really work. :x