Sarutobi Hiruzen's head glanced up at his office door as he heard three sharp knocks upon it, he looked back at his paperwork and said "Come in." In an old feeble voice that concealed the power held rigorously in check by the old man.
His door swung open with naught a sound as his eldest child walked in. "Ah Asuma, I was going to call you in the morning along with the other potential senseis to tell you your teams, as you can see I haven't quite finished them yet." He told his son with a small smile.
"That's... not exactly what I'm here for." His son replied from around a cigarette. "Oh? Well now you have my attention." The old man paused for a minute, his wrinkles creasing in a way that suggested curiosity. "I assume you mean that you have a potential team you wish to request, I must inform you that Kakashi has already requested Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto." Hiruzen's eyebrow rose when his son winced at Naruto's name.
Asuma glanced at his sandals, looking contemplative. He nodded then and when he looked up it was with determination in his eyes. "I would like to make a formal request for Inuzuka Kiba, Yamanaka Ino and Uzumaki Naruto." He said firmly.
Hiruzen's smile grew as he asked "I assume you have a firm explanation as to why I should give you Naruto over Kakashi?"
"We're trying to make Kakashi happier by giving him a genin squad, I doubt that giving him the people he's mourning as a team is gonna improve that pops. Besides Kakashi, have you heard what all of his former senseis have said? Whether or not they liked Naruto they all agreed that putting him on a team with Sasuke was a bad idea, we want to direct them towards teamwork not drive them away from it." Asuma pulled something out of his left pocket. Stepping forward he unfolded a slip of paper and placed it on his father's desk. "I wrote up a page of the factors I think would make them a good team along with a general training outline." Asuma's tone was light but there was an air to it that Hiruzen was quite familiar with.
Guilt.
Hiruzen placed his reading glasses on his nose and read. After some five minutes he looked back up at his son and nodded, then he spoke with an almost pleased voice. "You have given your request and it will be taken into consideration, if you have anything else you wish to talk with me about then speak, if not then I have a lot more of this kami damned paperwork to get back to."
His son chuckled, before bidding his father a good night and exiting through the wooden door. (Unlike his white haired student Jiraiya.)
Sarutobi pondered the team outline and wondered what had prompted his laid back son to put so much effort into it. He turned back to his paperwork with one thought bouncing around in his head.
Kakashi would be disappointed.
~-:-~
"Team seven: Aburame Shino, Akimichi Choji and Haruno Sakura," Iruka's voice was loud and cut through Naruto's daydreaming with his crush's name.
"Led by Yuuhi Kurenai." I'm soon. Naruto thought to himself. I can feel it.
"Team eight: Inuzuka Kiba, Yamanaka Ino and Uzumaki Naruto, led by Sarutobi Asuma." Sarutobi? Wasn't that the old man Hokage's clan? Naruto could've sworn he'd heard the name Asuma as well.
He looked at Ino, she wasn't Sakura but, his eyes trailed to Kiba, at least he wasn't with Sasuke.
"Team nine is still in use, Team ten Hyuuga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru and Uchiha Sasuke, led by Hatake Kakashi." After that Naruto lost interest, he didn't really know anyone else all that well. He glanced at Sasuke, sitting next to him brooding moodily. Yeah. he affirmed. Kiba's not so bad.
Naruto zoned out, daydreaming once more about how awesome a ninja he would be. When he heard "Team seven." "Team eight." His eyes focussed on a beautiful woman with long black hair and red eyes in a dress of bandages and an olive skinned man with short black hair swept to the right and ending in spikes paired with a nice beard. Naruto assessed his new jounin sensei, he was wearing the standard Konoha shinobi outfit but he had a white and red sash with the kanji for 'fire' at his waist along with black bangles on his wrists and a half smoked cigarette, still lit, hanging from his lips. An old memory of playing with a much younger man wearing a fur lined Jacket in the Hokage's office came to the forefront of Naruto's mind.
He's the Hokage's son. The one with a thirty five million bounty. As he thought this Naruto felt a smile begin to take over his face.
He practically jumped out of his seat when he realised he was the only one of the two teams still sitting. He stopped in between Ino and Kiba, his new teammates, directly in front of Asuma. The jounin nodded, sharply turned on his heel and walked off, bidding they follow him with his hand.
After only a couple steps out the door Asuma looked over his shoulder. "We're gonna go introduce ourselves and stuff over something to eat, my treat, any suggestions?" He asked.
As Naruto's grin grew wider Asuma remembered back to when his father last mentioned the kid, specifically how much Ramen he could eat. I'm gonna regret this aren't I?
~-:-~
Naruto had led them to a nice little Ramen stand not too far from the academy. The small brightly coloured graduate had warmly greeted the owner as "Teuchi Ji-Ji." And promptly ordered three bowls of "Naruto size" ramen before finishing off with "and keep 'em comin'!"
Asuma had nearly sweatdropped but settled for blanching at the black hole hidden in an orange jumpsuit.
He and his other two, hopefully much less hungry, genin had plonked themselves down on the stools surrounding Naruto, Asuma had taken the seat to Naruto's right, Kiba had sat down on the one to his left and Ino had sat next to Kiba.
After the pretty, young waitress, whose name "Ayame" they also learned from Naruto, had taken the rest of their orders Asuma turned in his seat to face the new genin... hopefuls.
"Alright so introductions, I wanna know your names, what you like, what you don't, your hobbies and your dreams starting with you blondie." Asuma face palmed when two out of three of his would-be students looked up at him. "Starting with the princess and ending on Mr. Vacuum over here." He said glancing at Naruto who had eagerly begun sucking ramen into his mouth at an unholy rate the moment it had been placed in front of him.
"My name is Yamanaka Ino. I like flowers, the colour purple and..." She trailed off giggling. "I don't like cockroaches, fashion nightmares" her eyes trailed over Naruto with unconcealed disgust at his get up. "And people with billboard sized foreheads tryna' steal my man! My hobbies are gardening and..." she devolved into another fit of giggling.
Stalking a certain broody Uchiha? Asuma wondered.
"My dream is to... marry the man of my dreams!" In the back of Asuma's head he could've sworn he heard a "squeeeee!"
Asuma nodded and his eyes settled on Kiba, along with the puppy that sat on said twelve year old's head. "My name's Inuzuka Kiba and this is Akamaru." The boy's voice was loud and filled with confidence, it helped affirm with Asuma exactly how much bigger this kid's ego was compared to the Hokage monument. "I like dogs, fighting and how awesome I am! I don't like dog poop, losing and Sasuke!" Ino gave Kiba what she thought was a harsh glare for that comment. Asuma could remember the Uchiha glares so it wasn't much.
"My hobbies are training and playing with Akamaru. My dream is to be the very best! Like no one ever was!" Realising that it was now his turn Naruto sadly stopped slurping on his sixth bowl of ramen. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, pranks and learning cool new jutsu! I don't like the five minutes you have to let instant ramen sit for!" Under his breath he mumbled "stupid lying packaging, five minutes isn't an instant!" He took another bite of ramen before continuing with even more enthusiasm. "My hobbies are training, pranking and eating ramen! I'm gonna be Hokage dattebayo!"
Where Kiba had been loud Naruto had practically screamed it into Asuma's ear. Even with his ears ringing he merely smiled and introduced himself. "My name is Sarutobi Asuma, I like smoking and... nevermind, there isn't much I don't like. My hobbies are smoking and training and my dream..." Asuma's laidback smile morphed into an almost predatory grin. "Is to whip you brats into the best ninja I can... if you pass my test."
Naruto's head jerked up and he squawked "WHAT!?" around a mouthful of ramen.
"Didn't your parents tell you... oh." Ino trailed off. "Sorry." "S'okay." Naruto replied through another mouthful of ramen.
"Sooooo... do we get to know what the test is in advance or-" Asuma cut Kiba off with a wave of his hand "Nice try kid, you'll find out tomorrow at nine with your almost teammates. Now eat your ramen, the longer it takes you two to finish the more ramen Naruto eats and I'm the one payin'!"
The two almost genin and their almost sensei glanced at the orange clad prankster who doubled his eating speed in acknowledgment of the statement. He's eaten nine bowls! Asuma thought frantically. How can he go any faster!?
Later that day, after paying for Naruto to eat twenty six bowls of ramen, he would vow to never again buy his possible student ramen.
Asuma would break this vow, many, many times. What could he say, bribery gets the job done.
~-:-~
The next day Ino awoke bright and early (that sentence has a weird pronunciation, the next day Ino trudged out of her room looking like she had just finished running a marathon) and ready for whatever test her possible sensei would throw at her. She quickly ate a hearty breakfast ("No thanks mom, I'm on a diet.") Before she dashed off towards her test.
She had made it a couple of blocks before she realised something. Asuma hadn't told them where the test was, merely when it started.
So she stopped, turned around and ran as fast as she could towards the Inuzuka clan estate.
When she arrived there she found an equally confused Kiba and Akamaru. Stopping in front of the pair she gasped out in between pants "That *Huhh* bastard *Huhh* didn't..." that was as far as she got before she gave up and collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion.
Looking down at his purple clad former classmate Kiba said "Yeah... my mom made fun of me when I asked her if she knew where he might be." Ino tried to snicker but found that she was far too out of breath.
That was when Naruto jumped off the roof of a house across the street from the pair. "HEY GUYS!" He yelled in greeting. As he approached them his volume dropped considerably, still loud enough to hear him from a block away but what can you expect from the kind of guy that thinks orange can be stealthy. "That bastard didn't even tell us where to- is she okay?" Naruto asked in mild concern, pointing at the gasping Ino with his index finger.
The glint of a kunai, somehow embedded in the ground directly next to Ino's head, caught the pair of loud mouthed boys' attention.
Reaching down and picking it up Kiba realised that it had a note attached to it. It read "So you've found each other, now all you've gotta do is find me. You have until nine. - Asuma." Underneath the words was a pencil drawn picture of a chibi Asuma, cigarette firmly in his mouth, blowing a raspberry at them.
With horror dawning on his face Kiba asked "Naruto, what time was it when you left?" "Eight thirty why?"
"..." "Kiba?"
Taking a deep breath in through his nose Kiba gained a determined glint in his eyes. "Pick up Ino we've gotta go!" Naruto's hands flashed into a cross shape Kiba had never seen before and Naruto yelled out "Kage bunshin no jutsu!"
With a puff of smoke there was yet another Naruto standing to the right of the original. "What the hell's that gonna-" Kiba's jaw dropped when the clone picked up Ino, slinging her over its shoulder before saying "Let's go!"
Kiba's mouth hung open for a handful of seconds before he abruptly snapped it shut. "Explain later, right now we've got a sensei to track!"
~-:-~
Asuma really wanted this group of gakis to pass. Why? He had no idea, he just knew that it would be interesting. Sadly the timer only had two minutes left on it, if they managed to make it within those two minutes then they would officially be genin, if not then that'd suck for them.
The timer's ticking became almost frantic when it reached the one minute mark.
Asuma puffed on his cigarette as he looked around the clearing he sat in, his eyes roamed over a green circle of grass surrounded by lush green foliage that had been supposedly grown by the Shodaime Hokage himself.
Taking another drag on his cigarette Asuma began to blow smoke rings, just as he blew his fourth ring his would be genin came bursting out from between the trees. They looked haggard, Kiba was covered from head to toe in mud, Naruto had small cuts all over his exposed skin along with sticks and twigs in his hair and Ino came in half dead on one of Naruto's shadow clones which popped the moment it came to a stop, not so gently depositing its passenger on the ground and covering her in dirt.
Taking the cigarette out from between his lips Asuma smiled brightly at them and said "You pass." Just before the timer went off.
"Whooooo!" Unsurprisingly the first one to say anything was Naruto.
Let's see if I can train all of that enthusiasm out of him. Asuma thought with glee.
Upon seeing the unsettling smile that had taken residence upon their sensei's face, all three genin simultaneously felt their sense for danger go off.
Kiba had one thought run through his mind at the sight. I'm gonna regret this aren't I?
~-:-~
Naruto was on his way home from his first grueling day of training under Asuma. He was about halfway between the Hokage tower and his apartment when out of the corner of his eye he saw two older civilian boys doing something that reminded him of his task master of a sensei.
They were taking turns breathing from little metal boxes in their hands before blowing out smoke rings far more impressive than the ones Naruto had witnessed Asuma blowing while he made them run laps around the clearing he sat in, on their hands.
Naruto had turned and read the name of the little shop behind them, Gods' Vapour, and pulled out Gama-chan, his comically overstuffed frog shaped wallet. After a moment of hesitation he put Gama-chan back in his pocket.
And walked right into the store.
A bell above the door jangled and a teen, probably fifteen or sixteen, with dirty blonde hair and green eyes looked up from behind the counter. When his eyes set upon the orange jumpsuit wearing ninja his face broke out into a smile. "Sup bod, welcome to Mist of the Shinobi, what d'ya want?" The young shop clerk asked, as Naruto's eyes confusedly darted around the shop the older teen pulled out another one of the boxes Naruto had seen the teens outside breathing from and took a long drag on it, after a total of five seconds the young man put the black, yellow and red coloured box back on the glass counter top and blew out a cloud of white fog bigger than Naruto from the waist up.
Pointing at the box thing Naruto said "One of those?" The guy behind the counter, whose name tag said Jamie, asked him "Are you asking me?"
"I don't even know what they're called. I just thought they looked cool. I'll just go... I guess..." As Naruto embarrassedly turned towards the door he heard Jamie reply. "Naw don't worry about it kid. It's called a vape, come a bit closer and I can help you find one." Jamie declared happily.
Naruto did indeed come more than five feet past the door, he walked right up to the counter and looked up at the much taller teen. "You're a ninja right? So you'll probably want something that runs off Chakra and can double as a weapon. Gimme one sec'." Then Jamie quickly walked through a door at the end of the counter. Naruto could hear boxes being moved, then boxes falling and a whole lot of cursing before the teen came back with a little orange rod with red and black flecks on it a bit thicker than a marker and a bit longer than the handle of a kunai.
Jamie placed the little rod down on the counter and disappeared back through the door. Naruto heard more boxes being moved and yet more cursing, some he had never heard before but could tell were curse words, before once again Jamie came back through the door with something in his hand. Picking up the rod he screwed the thing in his hand onto it and placed it down on the counter. "Ta-da."
The whole thing was a cylinder, it was maybe seven inches tall. At the point where it had been screwed together Naruto could see a slot that he could see through to the other side, above that was a piece of glass surrounding a smaller metal cylinder with a snarling Fox's face on it, connected by the glass was another orange piece of metal with two red dots on it and on top of it was a much smaller orange cylinder with wisps of black going from the base of it to the top in the appearance of tails. Counting them proved to Naruto that there were nine wisps of black in total.
"This is the Kyuubi!" Jamie happily declared. "What!?" Naruto asked taking a step back. "Not the actual fox you 'tard. It's the name of the vape. The Kyuubi, my pride and joy. The whole thing runs off Chakra so you never have to charge it, plus if you want bigger clouds all you've gotta do is put more Chakra into it. If you twist the bottom of it hard a blade pops out too so you can use it for both vaping and self defence, or offence, or defacing public property or whatever else you use a knife for! What d'ya think? If you buy it I'll even throw in a scroll about how it works with instructions for some tricks."
Glancing back and forth from the grinning teen to the vape Naruto had only one question. "How much you want for it?"
~-:-~
Asuma had not expected to find Naruto at the training ground they had been using before even he had gotten there, Asuma had also not expected the kid to be blowing better smoke rings than he could with the help of an orange vape.
It wasn't what Asuma had been expecting, but it is what Asuma found.
~-:-~
It was Naruto's fifth day with his new "Ninja Tool" that he showed his teammates what he used it for.
Up until this point he had just been doing tricks with it, he would spend most nights practising said tricks at home after chowing down at Ichirakus everyday this week with Team Asuma, but not this time. Asuma said "Haijime!" and as one Ino and Kiba had jumped back, Naruto had not. He pulled "The Kyuubi" free from the pouch thingy Jamie had convinced him to buy. It's eyes burned red as he pulled from it! He looked up with eyes full of pride at having gained this technique through sheer effort!
And he breathed out, from his mouth came a cloud of white vapour that was so large it blanketed the entire training ground and so thick a hawk couldn't even see its own Talons.
"Dear Kami Naruto!" Came Kiba's astonished voice. "How much free time do you have to come up with this crap!?" Ino yelled just after him.
The moment Ino closed her mouth, Naruto struck. Four pairs of hands came from all around her and stopped her from moving or shouting out. At the same time Kiba had just tried to dodge a punch from Naruto, but he felt someone's hands shove him forward.
Kiba would have spun around, because there was no way Ino had gotten that fast since their last spar, but Naruto's fist rammed into his face.
He was flung off the ground from the force of the punch, Naruto's stance was awful and as Kiba landed on his feet he could see him rubbing his wrist like it hurt but Naruto still packed a punch.
Kiba and Naruto locked eyes and they both got into their respective taijutsu stances, Kiba utilizing his clan's teachings while Naruto settled into a sloppy imitation of the academy taijutsu. They charged at each other, just as they got within punching distance Naruto jumped to the left and past Kiba.
Kiba slid to a stop and spun but it was to late. Somehow even in a bright orange jumpsuit Naruto had vanished into the mist.
Kiba smirked, he may not be able to see Naruto but he could still smell him. Taking a deep breath through his nose the smirk died on his lips.
All he could smell was cotton candy.
He turned to his trusted companion. "Akamaru?" The little white puppy was happily jumping around in the fog yipping loudly.
"AKAMARU!" He yelled, irritation lacing his voice. "Yip!" The puppy replied.
So Akamaru can't smell him either. I can't tell if this is Naruto being really smart, or really lucky. As Kiba finished the thought he heard to his right. "Hey Kiba! Eat this!" Naruto was charging at him, fist cocked back for a punch that was so telegraphed a three year old could dodge it. Definitely the latter. Kiba thought.
Kiba charged forward to meet Naruto's punch, he got three steps before he tripped over something that felt suspiciously like a leg.
As he fell Kiba saw a bright orange knee heading right for his face.
Maybe he's smarter than I thought.
~-:-~
It wasn't until after the three way match that Naruto had somehow dominated that Kiba realised what the hands and legs helping Naruto had been.
"Stupid shadow clone abusing baka." Kiba muttered darkly, he now sported a noticeable black eye and swollen lip combo. Ino was doing her own kinds of muttering, mostly about how she would get "My Sasuke-kun." to beat Naruto up for humiliating her so thoroughly in the fight.
She hadn't even got to do anything other than sit on the side lines after Naruto had immobilized her and gently tapped a kunai to her neck whispering "Dead."
Asuma on the other hand had a massive grin and for once didn't grimace when Naruto dug into his sixteenth bowl of ramen. That beating had been so one sided it could have been a curb stomp. The vapour Naruto had used had been so thick it made the kirigakure no jutsu look tame in comparison, and according to Kiba seeing more than five feet in front of him had been a struggle.
Even with the knowledge that Naruto had come up with that all on his own Asuma couldn't help but feel a bit of pride for the student he had so recently taken on.
~-:-~
"So I hear you like pranks." Asuma's tone was light, belying the amusement he had found in said pranks. I mean really, who could possibly contain their laughter at the sight of the entirety of the Hyuuga clan's robes being dyed bright orange?
Aside from the members of said esteemed clan.
"Didn't I already tell you that Asuma-sensei?" Naruto asked, raising his eyebrow the exact same way that he had seen the old man Hokage raise his. In an amusing coincidence Naruto had last seen the aforementioned raised eyebrow when he was accused of dying the Hyuuga clan's robes orange.
Aside from the fact that he was the only person with big enough balls to do it, there had been no evidence against him and so Naruto had gotten off with a warning that if he was caught doing something like it he would face severe repercussions.
Which was why Naruto endeavored to not get caught.
Asuma chuckled, fishing a cigarette out of a pouch on his right pectoral and placing it in his mouth, he lit it with a minor Katon jutsu that caused the tip of his finger to catch fire.
In reply Naruto pulled his vape free from its pouch slightly behind his right hip and took a three second hit from it.
This had become something of a morning ritual for them over the past week and a half of training and D-ranks. They would sit in the training ground Kiba had originally tracked Asuma to, each smoking/vaping his respective habit, and talk as they waited for the other two members of team eight to arrive.
"I ask because there's something about pranks that is both key to being a good prankster, and being a good Shinobi." Asuma said in a voice that was almost sagely, if said sage was in his mid twenties to early thirties. "What is it?" Naruto asked through a lung full of vapour, due to the vapour being ever so slightly heavier than oxygen his voice came out far deeper than it should have.
Asuma looked from side to side, like he didn't want anyone else to overhear what he was about to say. He motioned for Naruto to come closer and Naruto leaned forward eagerly. His hands went on either side of the boy's ear as if to block the whisper from escaping. "STEALTH YOU BAKA!"
Naruto came away from Asuma with the speed of a bullet, or a lightning jutsu, and glowered at his sensei who merely laughed in response.
Naruto made to angrily retort but was instead cut off as the pair heard the rustling of leaves from across the clearing. Naruto's left hand drifted towards the bottom of his vape but he stopped himself from activating the blade hidden within as Kiba shoved a branch out of his way and walked into the training grounds, Akamaru padding along behind him.
Kiba made his way over to the cluster of stumps that served as the only things that could be considered seats in all of training ground eight. Shrugging off his fur coat and sitting down on Naruto's left Kiba said to Naruto "Lemme hit." as he reached out for Naruto's vape.
Reluctantly Naruto passed it over. Just as Kiba brought it to his lips Naruto poked his finger to it and flooded it with Chakra. Unprepared for the massive amount of vapour that invaded his lungs Kiba dropped it coughing and sputtering.
Naruto deftly caught the orange device. "Get your own Dog breath." He remarked with laughter in his voice.
Chuckling Asuma said "Shush you two. The gang's all here so listen up."
"Ummm. Asuma-sensei… what about Ino?" Naruto asked, confusion evident in his voice.
"What about me?" Ino asked from directly behind Naruto.
Naruto had not been expecting this and Jumped shrieking "AHHH!" In a spot on imitation of a damsel in distress.
Naruto flushed bright red at the laughter his reaction elicited. "See." Asuma said as he placed his cigarette back in his mouth. "Gang's all here so listen up. Today we're gonna be doing a joint training session with team seve-" "So we finally get to meet your girlfriend Asu-" "She's not my girlfriend!" Asuma's face betrayed him as his cheeks gained enough colour to put a lobster to shame at Ino's comment.
Clearing his throat, and uselessly trying to force down his blush (he was a shinobi for crying out loud. A little girls comment shouldn't have been affecting him this much!) Asuma continued what he had been trying to say. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted." At this he shot a light glare at Ino. "We're going to be doing a joint training session with team seven today. They should be arriving any minute now."
They wordlessly sat there for a couple of minutes. The silence only being broken by the sound of Naruto hitting his vape.
With impeccable timing, just as the clock that none of team eight had reached nine thirty, team seven made there way into the clearing.
Kurenai lead them in, she was flanked by the ever stoic Shino and the ever hungry Choji. Taking up the rear was Sakura, who now sported scratches all along her bare arms courtesy of Tora.
Seeing his crush Naruto got up, arms spread wide for a hug, and was immediately shot down by Sakura before he could even utter her name. "Sit down Naruto-baka! The only person I want a hug from is Sasuke-kun!"
In response to this statement Kurenai turned around, a rolled up magazine seeming to appear in her right hand which she started swatting Sakura over the head with. "What *THWACK* Did I *THWACK* Say *THWACK* About *THWACK* Fangirls!? *THWACK THWACK THWACK*"
Seemingly done beating her pink haired student Kurenai turned back to team eight with a beatific smile. "Asuma it's good to see you! And are these the little genin you speak so fondly of?" Wary of the red eyed Kunoichi none of team eight moved, instead they sat there with expressions like deer in a pair of headlights.
Understanding where their fear came from Asuma took pity on his three unmoving students. "Go say hi and let Kurenai and I talk for a little before we start." Asuma beckoned the trio of terror filled twelve year olds.
The three young ninja scrambled to their feet, with the speed of someone who just remembered that they had left the oven on they made their way to their fellow genin.
"So." Asuma said, suggestively waggling his eyebrows at the genjutsu mistress. "I bet you're team won't last ten minutes against Shino alone, five with my whole team." Kurenai stated.
Asuma broke into laughter. "We'll see."
~-:-~
"Shuheee." Naruto grimaced, his coils were burnt, this 'Game' Asuma had them playing against team seven was probably going to ruin them.
The six genin each stood with their teams on opposing sides of the clearing. In the centre of the clearing stood Asuma and Kurenai. "Alright listen up!" Asuma shouted gruffly. "The way this is gonna work is one team will be 'missing-nin', their objective is to escape the other team, who will be our 'hunter-nin'. Team eight, you're the 'missing-nin' first, you get a fifteen second head start. Both teams ready?" Asuma made a show of looking at both teams, when his eyes alighted upon Naruto he could see a massive grin on his face and his vape in his hand.
"Haijime!"