Chapter One: Senseis and Students
(A/N: This fic is a prelude to mi other Naruto fanfic, the Way of A Shinobi…this chap is mostly from Sandaime's POV…Kakashi and Kazuma Arashi, the future Yondaime, meet next chapter, so stay tuned. Please read and review. To my reviewers: thanks very much
for reviewing…especially to daniel-gundam for pointing out the language misuse.)
Raindrops pelted the Hidden Village of Leaf as its inhabitants stirred awake. The shinobi who had been on night shift guarding Konoha headed home for a deserved rest as their compatriots took their places. All in all, it was a normal day in Konoha.
Sandaime looked out the window at the awakening village at sighed. Konoha looked peaceful but it was far from that. They had been at war for more than half a decade now and the strains were beginning to show already. The children being enrolled in the Academy were getting younger in age and greater in number.
Must it come to this? Sending our children to defend us? What would you have done, Nidaime, Shodaime?
For forty years he had worn the mantle of the Fire Shadow of Konoha. Forty years in which he had seen countless villagers grow up, have their own children and summarily leave the world. During that time, he had seen many of his comrades fall, legends and rookies alike. More would fall in the coming years, of that he was sure.
Sarutobi sighed wearily as he was reminded of his age. Soon, he would have to appoint a successor. He glanced at one of the photos on his table.
A (much) younger him stood towering above three young genin. The first was a pale-skinned, dark-haired, very serious-looking boy who was looking at the camera nonchalantly. Ah…Orochimaru…what dreams I had for you.
In the middle was a spunky blonde girl with her tongue stuck out. He grinned at that; Tsunade had never been one to care about others' opinions.
The third and most troublesome of his students was a white-haired boy with black lines running down from his eyes…Jiraiya. Who would have guessed that out that Genin team the clumsy rebel would have made an excellent sensei?
And yes, Jiraiya was a good sensei, despite the fact that only two of his team had lived to make it to Jounin and only one of them was still alive. The latter was his first scheduled visitor for the day.
A knock came on his door. He glanced at the clock-it was 7am.
How like you Arashi-kun to be right on time. You are so different from your sensei.
"Enter." He said, sensing the presence of familiar chakra outside the door. It opened immediately to reveal a grinning blonde teenager.
"Ohayo, Hokage-sama!"
And yet you are so alike him in many ways…
The boy had certainly inherited Jiraiya's outgoing nature and generous heart…if with a larger dose of propriety than his mentor had. Still, it was just the combination he needed the boy for.
"Ah…ohayo, Arashi-kun. Take a seat. I hear you did an excellent job on your last mission. You are turning out to be a fine field commander", he commended the boy, gesturing to him to take a seat.
"Iya, Hokage-sama. It was not hard. Besides, I am still young. I have much to learn", the blonde replied with a slight bow before sitting down.
Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at that.
Truly, Jiraiya…only a student of yours could call an A-rank infiltration mission 'not hard'.
"Humility is a good virtue, Arashi-kun. But learning to accept compliments is another", he reprimanded the boy gently.
The seventeen-year old blushed at that as he lowered his head.
"Mah…mah…but that is not what I called you here to talk about", he said, smiling as he watched the boy straighten his back and narrow his eyes.
"You know that the latest batch of Academy recruits are graduating, yes?"
"Aaa", the boy assented, slight puzzlement coloring his features.
Sandaime smiled again as he inwardly prayed forgiveness from the gods for what he was to do next.
"You also know that the age limit for Academy students has been lowered to five?"
"Hai. But Hokage-sama I feel-"
"I am aware of your feelings on the matter Arashi", he cut the jounin off. Arashi nodded and subsided. He had ardently protested against the lowering of age limits earlier this year. If children joined the Academy at five, they would graduate at nine. Arashi himself had graduated at that age, so it might have seemed hypocritical of him to protest.
Then again, as someone who had graduated at a very young age and who had had teammates similar to him, Arashi had a unique perspective on things. He knew, more than anyone else, the psychological effects of pushing a young child into the war. Some, like him, would come out of it for the better. While others, like his late teammate Reakka, would be driven to emotional and mental instability. To kill another person was like banishing a part of your own soul. Over time, it grew easier until eventually one could do it without thinking or hesitating at all.
Shinobi were required to gain this 'skill', this dulling of their conscience. But no matter how emotionlessly or skillfully one took another's life, the cost was always the same. Many a ninja had been driven to madness by this very essential part of their job.
The younger ones were more prone to it. Children rarely knew what they were fighting for; a child could always be taught the many ways to stop a person's heart or snap his neck but they could never be given a reason to kill. You could not teach a person the why of killing, only the how. Eventually, this question haunted every shinobi, and in the case of those who could not find an answer…the consequences were tragic.
Every life Arashi took had left a mark on his soul. But for all his youth, Arashi had a clear purpose. He killed for the most sacred, perhaps the only justifiable, reason; he killed to protect. He served his village as a ninja out of loyalty, yes. But also because he wanted to protect the village that had sheltered him and given him a home when he had been alone and in need of protection himself.
As such, he was exactly the person Sandaime needed.
"In fact, you might say that your opinion on that matter is precisely why I have chosen you for this."
"But, Hokage-sama…" Arashi trailed off.
"As a jounin, you are well aware of our situation!" he said sharply.
"Hai", he could not deny the truth. Konoha, to put it crudely, was in deep shit. They had been fighting a long drawn out war for six years now with Stone. Their troops were weary and their numbers greatly decreased. His latest mission had been a success only in the most technical of senses. The infiltration of Hidden Cloud had only gained the worrisome news of their prospective alliance with Stone. Konoha was definitely in trouble.
"In special cases, the age limit for Genin has been waived, as you well know."
Arashi simply nodded; he did not like the direction this conversation was taking.
"This year, among all the Academy graduates, there is an outstanding student. Due to his age, I cannot and will not put him with a Genin team. Thus, I have a problem in my hands."
Arashi's eyes widened…he definitely did not like the direction this was heading in.
"That, is where you come in. Kazuma Arashi, I am offering you the position of a Jounin-sensei. As a sensei, your duty is to pass on the skills you have learned to your Genin team and to ensure their survival. Do you accept?"
Arashi blinked. Once. Twice. Repeat. Blink. This was not happening to him. He was too young. He opened his mouth to say exactly that.
Sandaime waved him off.
"Before you can say it, Arashi-kun, you are not too young. My only concern previously was that you would be too close in age to your team to be able to command, and more importantly, teach them effectively. That is no longer valid."
Sandaime watched the boy squirm for a while more, smirking to himself.
Your student is more like you than I thought Jiraiya…he even squirms the same way!
"Well, Arashi. Do you accept? I don't have all day you know!" he injected a little humor into his voice.
"But, Sandaime-sama…" Arashi did something he had not done in a while. He whined.
Sarutobi merely raised an eyebrow again. His eyebrows had not had this much exercise since he was a sensei himself.
Arashi exhaled loudly, composing himself with the action. He was sure he was going to regret his next words.
"Hai. I accept."
"Ah, that is good. The graduates are gathering at the Academy in class 403 two days from today at 7. You are required to be there at 8 to pick him up. For now, as your team only consists of yourself and the boy, you will be doing only C and D-rank missions; additions will be made later on. I wish you good luck!"
(A/N: Due to the war, Genins have been required to do B-rank missions with their senseis…)
Arashi accepted that with a sullen face. A thought occurred to him.
"Hokage-sama, what is the boy's name?"
Sandaime grinned widely. "You already know him, Arashi-kun".
"I do?"
"Hai. He is Sakumo-san's son."
Arashi frowned at that. Sakumo had, if he remembered, correctly only a son by the name of Takashi who happened to be a friend of Arashi's.
"Takashi? But he's already a Chuunin! And he's in the ANBU!"
"Iya. Your pupil is Takashi's otouto-Hatake Kakashi. Takashi was killed earlier this year."
Enlightenment, and grief, dawned on Arashi's face. Oh yes, now he remembered. Takashi had a younger brother. He'd seen the kid at the funeral. How could he have forgotten Takashi's death? It said something about a guy when he forgot a comrade's death. And Takashi had been far more than a comrade. They had gone through the Academy together and graduated at the same time. Takashi had been the same age as him. How many more of his too few friends would he lose in this war? Despair clawed at him and threatened to drag him down and drown him. He resisted.
Not here, not now. Focus. The boy…remember…
Ah yes. The boy. He had been too young. Not more than five if he remembered.
"Hokage-sama, how old is he?"
"The details are all in here", the Hokage handed Arashi a single brown file. "I have to go now. Please remember to turn up for the meeting Arashi."
Arashi accepted the subtle dismissal, took the file and left. He later realized that the Third had deftly avoided the question.
A/N:This is just a one-shot that attacked me while i was writing chapter 3 of way of a shinobi...this evil plot bunny refused to go away so i set it down...it might have a companion if i get writer's block again...i like writing yondaime simply because its impossible to go OOC with him...hee. Oh yes...since you are here...you must be a naruto fan...so go read Way of a Shinobi/end pimping