"Please?!"
Mud-colored eyes looked at him expectantly and the blond sighed. "I told you I am not allowed to teach you. Jiji says that it's too dangerous."
The girl groaned but her eyes lit up again, this time closer to a yellow shade and it made the blond nervous. "How about you show me? I can't promise that I won't attempt to learn it but I want to at least see it."
Naruto rolled his eyes and gestured with his hand "Sure, but somewhere where others can't see us."
Chi bounded up and down on her feet as she followed him to the Hokage Monument. Villagers stared at them and whispered amongst each other, but the two paid them no heed. Once they were seated on top of the Yondaime's head, she looked around.
"Such a shame that the paint is gone already."
"Yeah, Iruka-sensei made me scrub it all off on my own'ttebayo." Naruto sighed again.
Chi made a face "Sounds tough."
"Yeah well, he treated me to ramen afterwards so I don't mind."
"You're too easy Naruto-kun..." She shook her head before looking up with grin "Will you show me now?"
"Yeah, yeah, impatient woman..."
Half and hour and one hundred clones later found Chi nodding and reviewing her notes and her blond friend frantically waving his arms.
"Oi Chi! I told you that it's dangerous!"
"I'll be fine, unlike you I am not a brash, knucklehead idiot." Chi retorted without taking her eyes off the paper.
Naruto squinted "You're the most Bipolar ninja-girl in our class. Heck, the entire school knows you for being bipolar! Believe it!"
Chi's eyebrow twitched but she remained silent. The two remained on the monument, Chi reviewing her notes and occasionally asking Naruto questions while Naruto stared at the sunset. That is until his stomach started rumbling and he dragged his friend off to treat him to ramen. Hey, she spend all day making his head hurt with difficult questions, he deserved it.
"So we got a tracking/scouting team, an interrogation/infiltration team, some regular assault teams, spying teams, a new generation of Eternal Chuunins..." His eyes scanned the list again "One heavy assault team, specially designed to destroy." He pushed away any protesting feeling of guilt and looked at the second to last team. "And one team with the sole purpose to get killed..."
Of course that wasn't the real reason but it felt like that to Iruka. This team, Team 11, consisted of three girls with only one from a shinobi background. Not that there was much left of it but it was way more than her civilian teammates. They all graduated with barely average grades and to make matters worse, they had yet to exchange a friendly word with each other. Not that Team 7 was any better in that department.
To the teacher it felt like he was sending them to their dooms.
The teacher rubbed his eyes and pushed his chair back. All the troubles with Naruto combined with his task to make teams were taking a toll on him. He liked the boy, he really did but he exhausting to deal with at times. The recent issue with Mizuki made him change in a tiny way but it was not nearly enough for Iruka to lead a peaceful life. With a tired grunt he forced himself to stand up and get to bed to catch some sleep. He would need it if he wanted to survive the next day.
"Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura-" He paused to let the horde of fangirls scream and flail for a bit before sending a kunai towards the wall at the other end, effectively silencing them. His colleague glanced at him in surprise but Iruka ignored it. He overslept and had yet to have his daily fix of caffeine so he could not be bothered with... anything, really.
"Your sensei will be Hatake Kakashi. Team 8: Inazuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata and your sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai-" Iruka continued on automatic pilot until his fellow teacher nudged him. Some kids were snickering and pointing but stopped when another kunai embedded himself in a desk in front of them. Iruka send a well practiced glare their way and looked down at his list. He was finished. Thank Goodness.
He scanned the list again, mainly the teachers. It would be quite the blunder if he had assigned them to the wrong person. Hmm let's see... Kakashi, Kurenai, Tobio, Anko, Asuma, E-His posture went rigid and suddenly the class was choking on his killer intent. It was easy to forget but Iruka was by no means a weak ninja. His daily interactions with various shinobi of all kind and especially Anko shaped him into a cunning shinobi. It should have been no surprise that his killer intent felt like a thick blanket of darkness.
"Oi Iruka!" His fellow teacher hissed at him. Iruka growled and crumpled the paper in his hand.
"Team 11!" He barked and was only a bit guilty when all three Genin went ramrod straight in their seats. In a calmer tone (not that many noticed) he continued "Your sensei will NOT be Mitarashi Anko, it will be Morino Ibiki."
His colleague let out a near unnoticeable sigh of relief. He had contemplated to keep the three students here under the guise of a failed test just so that they could escape the maniac that was Anko.
The Killer Intent faded and the Genin were able to breathe again. Iruke send them an apologetic smile.
"You will have one hour for lunch, afterwards you will gather here again and wait for your sensei to come and pick you up. Dismissed." He send them off and collapsed as dignified as possible in his chair. The students barged out of the door.
"Jeez Iruka, what's gotten into you?" The other teacher couldn't help but be amused albeit slightly worried as well.
"A rough night." After he had finished the teams, he had gone to bed only to realize that he had about two hours left. Still, he decided that two hours was better than none at all and drifted off, only to be rudely awakened by a bunch of crows near his window. He took one look at his still ringing alarm bell and everything just went downhill from there on.
The smell of fresh, extra bitter coffee woke him from his musings and he shot a grateful look at the teacher.
"Say, how long do you think Team 7 is going to wait?" The other man sat on a table in front of him with his own cup of dark goodness, looking devious.
Iruka cracked a smile "Three hours, at least."
"You did it, didn't you?" Naruto stated as he stood in front of the tree. The girl looked worn and rather sleepy, her yellow haori wasn't ironed and she had neglected to brush and tie her wild, brown hair. There were bags under her eyes and she sat slumped against the trunk with her eyes closed but with a content smile on her lips.
"I told you not to do it, dattebayo!"
"Relax, I am still alive. Besides, I managed to create around fifty clones so I'd say that this jutsu won't kill me."
Though he looked impressed Naruto still frowned.
"Don't look like that. This will only help me train better and faster. Besides it's a good exercise to improve my stamina and to change my status as The Legendary Bipolar." She opened one eye to look at the orange ninja after it became too silent for too long, only to find him looking confused.
"What?"
Naruto looked at her "How will this help you train better?"
"You're kidding me."
"Eh?"
"You moron. You told me that you made about three hundred clones to fight Mizuki-sens- Ahem, Mizuki. Did you not feel anything afterwards?"
Naruto thought for a while and then broke out in a grin "I remember feeling awesome-ttebayo!"
"And I remember how stupid you can be."
Chi reached in her pocket and whacked his forehead with her yo-yo. Ignoring his whining she got up and pushed him to a bench near the targets for practice. She could remember throwing a couple of shurikens towards this bench, almost killing a couple of girls who couldn't stop fawning over Sasuke. It wasn't on purpose, of course it wasn't. But they never slacked of again and she could swear that she saw the Uchiha glance at her with something other that the famed glare. It was not near emotional enough to be called a smile but it was an improvement to her eyes.
"Right. Since theory won't work on you, make a clone."
Ten Naruto's appeared.
"Or ten, whatever makes you feel right..." He needs to learn to control his chakra.
"Okay so I made them. Now what?" And he needs to train his patience.
"Right, hang on sec." Ten Chi's poofed in existence. She sighed, she was still tired.
"Form pairs and spread out. You already know your instructions." The replica's nodded and each grabbed one Naruto and raced of in a random direction. The original Chi went to sit on the bench and Naruto followed her looking confused. Chi kept herself busy by carving doodles in the bench and Naruto fidgeted in his seat. He didn't know what to do and became more and more restless as time went by. He was about to explode and demand an answer or something from her when a thought suddenly popped in his brain.
"Oi why did you do that?!" He grabbed her head and lifted her off the bench. Then another image appeared and he let her go. Amazed and thoroughly confused he sat through ten different ways in which he got killed or hit by Chi.
"Get it? Whatever your clone does, you will know. The memories of the clone get transferred to you when the clone gets taken out."
"That's... pretty awesome-ttebayo!" Naruto's face went from blank to a wide smile. Chi smiled and held out her fist.
"But how will this help me train faster?"
The fist hit his head.
"OW! Hey!"
Chi glared daggers at the boy who lived after being punched through a target. She stalked over and pulled him out again, further demolishing the target. She dragged him over to the bench and threw him down, planting a foot on his shoulder to prevent him from slumping.
"Listen up dumbass, whatever your clones learn, you learn. So if you were to make one clone and you both train, you would learn twice as fast. If you made a hundred clones and you would all train then you would learn a hundred times as fast... Or something."
Naruto, ever the quick recoverer, frowned and brightened up again. "Haha so I could easily surpass that Sasuke-teme?!" The foot on his shoulder pressed harder.
"Naruto. Look at me." The cerulean eyes met the muddy ones. Her voice was steady and calm and Naruto knew that this was the reason many believed Chi could become an excellent teacher.
"Once we put the headband on, we are no longer enemies. Rivals, but no enemies. Sasuke is an arrogant bastard, yes. But you'll see, he won't get far with that attitude. You should not focus on trying to defeat him with every step, instead you should try to improve more than he does. You understand the difference?"
Naruto rubbed his head as Chi released him. "Maa, I get that we're supposed to be teammates and everything, but I want to defeat him so that Sakura-chan finally sees that he's no good."
Chi rolled her eyes "Stupid fangirl... I got two of 'em in my team. They are going to be the death of me."
Naruto was about to reply when his stomach rumbled.
"LET'S GET SOME RAMEN!"
The atmosphere was tense, every Genin waiting for their sensei. Sure enough, Jonins walked into the room, one by one and called a team out. Naruto was drumming on his table and occasionally glanced at his new team. Sasuke was brooding and Sakura was trying to get his attention, to no avail. He sighed, ever since lunch ended he had been stuck on his seat. His feet were restless and in the end he had pulled out some papers and ink and started writing. It caused many to stare at him and few to try and dispel a genjutsu but he ignored them like he was told to do.
It was an exercise Chi told him about. She once saved him from getting caught after a prank and blackmailed him into reading a thick book from her clan's library. When it turned out that he, for the live of him, had no patience to sit down and read, she pushed a huge scroll and a brush into his hands. She then showed him a large board with various drawings on it.
"Copy these. Try to send as much energy as possible in the brush so that you have less in your legs."
It turned out to be quite helpful. The thick, black ink seemed to flow straight out of his hands. Chi tried explaining that it was his chakra that mixed with the ink but Naruto failed to understand it. All he understood was that he had found a new hobby. Of course, the giant scroll was a better way to keep him busy since it required him to walk around and stretch in order to draw, but a small paper was more difficult. Naruto got the hang of it pretty easily and bugged Chi for more and more drawings until she caved and just gave him a key to the library.
A light tap on his head made him look up.
"We're going too."
Shikamaru yawned as he walked past him and Chouji waved, Ino just stuck out her tongue. Naruto grinned and waved back. There was a tall Jonin standing in the door's entrance. He looked old but Naruto guessed that it was because of his beard. The man was playing with a cigarette in his hands but a warning on the blackboard from Iruka kept him from actually lighting it. Naruto thought that Iruka had a sixth sense.
"Alright, good luck!"
Shikamaru grumbled a reply and left with his team minus his sensei in tow. Naruto looked around, just his team and Chi's team were left behind.
Oh well, I guess our sensei's are busy with awesome missions.
"They're just late, ya know." Chi's voice interrupted his daydream and he jumped up.
"Why must you always destroy my dreams like that?!" He shouted and Chi offered him a apologetic smile.
Sasuke sighed and of course Sakura looked up from her place. She was huddled together with the rest of Team 11 on the table right in front of the last Uchiha. Their legs were carfully adjusted to look longer and their hair got an occasional brush with their fingers. Sakura leaned forward with a worried expression.
"What's wrong Sasuke-kun?"
She got ignored and Chi broke out in a grin "He's probably dreading the fact that his teammate is only focused on dates she will never get."
Her response earned her an accusing shout from Naruto ("Don't say such things to Sakura-chan!") and a flaming blush on the pink haired girl before she twirled to face the taller girl.
"Stupid Chi! And Naruto-baka, you're annoying!"
Chi grin turned feral and she leaned closer "Oh? And what are you going to do about it?"
Sakura's eyes were blazing "Shut up! You know I scored much higher than you in the exams, you stupid Bipolar! You wouldn't last two seconds in any strategic battle!"
"At least people realize I am a kunoichi when they see me." Chi shot back, still smirking and Sakura went still. It was a painful truth. The differences between the clan children and civilians were big. Differences like their outfits for example: Chi wore a short haori and mesh armor while Sakura wore a silky dress. Their mentalities were different as well. While most shinobi children could relatively easily talk about death and murder, the civilians were more cautious and almost scared of the thought.
The muddy eyes flared yellow and held the green ones for a long time. Then Chi sighed and shook her head "Be a fangirl all you want, but you should know that there is no place for that on the battlefield. Your precious Sasuke-kun won't be there to save you and wipe your tears, you know?"
"Oi, Sasuke-kun is gentleman!"
"Yeah! Stupid Chi. Why don't you just take the dead last and leave already!"
Team 11 other members, consisting of Akamura Ryuya and Lee Shinji, all got up and stood behind Sakura. Naruto sighed, he was always telling Chi to lay down and just let them be: he would take down Sasuke and then they would change. Granted, it would take a while, but he could do it! But Chi was just too easily frustrated and valued the Shinobi code too much. If he was honest, he could understand. His first serious reactions after hearing who his team was, were worries about how Sakura would cope with the missions. He stepped in between the girls.
"Maa, calm down. Just because Iruka-sensei had to leave doesn't mean we can go and fight like this'ttebayo. Besides, Chi is just worried for your safety, in her own way."
He winced when he felt a sharp jab to his ribs but smiled nonetheless. The two behind Sakura gritted their teeth and sat down again muttering about how stupid they were and how he was still inferior to Sasuke. Much to his shock however, he noticed tears brimming on the corner of Sakura's eyes. Behind him Chi sighed and pushed him away. He held his breath as the lean girl approached the fragile looking one.
"Oi, I meant what I said. Right now you have to train twice as hard to catch up with your team. They will only grow and you will be left behind like a deadweigth. And since we're ninjas, you'll soon end up as literal deadweigth. So start working."
Naruto let his breath out, that went better than he expected. He had half anticipated on a one sided beating that would end with Sakura in the hospital. She may be smart but Chi was muscular and just plain better at fistfights.
If she had a good day of course, she couldn't be a Legendary Bipolar if she was always just as good. The Genin fell into a silence as Chi went to sit behind her desk again. Sakura got surrounded by Ryuya and Shinji in a corner and after some not so quiet insults thrown at Naruto and Chi they started speaking in a hushed tone.
Their subject was not hard to guess as every now and then one would send a passionate glance at Sasuke. The latter was still sitting with his fingers intertwined and glaring at nothing.
Naruto rolled his eyes, feeling too tired to challenge him and slumped in his seat.
His absurd stamina must have reached his limit, because not too soon the five Genin could hear soft snores coming from the orange ninja.
Hours later, the door slammed open, making all Genin jump out of their skin. Naruto woke with a start, hands immediately on clenched and waving around. The man who entered spared him a strange look before barking an order.
"TEAM 11. OUTSIDE NOW."
His voice echoed in the classroom and the students sat up straighter out of fear. Shinji looked about ready to cry as she took in the scars on the man's face. Ryuya, being the smallest, looked extremely uncomfortable and intimidated by his huge posture. Chi carefully approached him and send Naruto a look that screamed for help. This man was going to kill them for sure. Naruto, of course, being Naruto didn't understand the look and instead turned to the scary teacher.
"Oi, when is our teacher coming?"
The giant stopped and slowly turned around. He stared deep into the blue eyes. Recognition followed by sadness flashed into the older man's eyes but it was so short that it might as well been imagination. Naruto paid it no attention and instead narrowed his eyes at the man.
"Are you Hatake's brats?"
"Eh, yes." Sakura answered timidly. The man's glare intensified and then even Sasuke lost his arrogant posture.
Much to their surprise however, the man started laughing and pushed his new students out of the door.
"You brats better get used to this!"
His laughter could be heard from the hall and send shivers down Sakura's spine.
"Was that man Ibiki-sensei?"
She felt bad for the trio of girls.
"Alright you brats. To you I am Ibiki-sensei. To me you are a bunch of snot nosed brats. To others I am the head of Torture and Interrogation." Ibiki smirked as he saw the girls shift. He had chased them to a rundown alley where he started the introductions. Not that they would matter soon.
"I don't need your names until you pass the test-"
"T-test?!" The smallest shrieked. Ibiki glared at her until she cowered and hid behind her taller teammate.
Ibiki held his glare until the short one managed to squeak out an apology. His eyes flitted over the tall one. Her eyes were turning a disturbing shade of yellow and he decided to continue his monologue.
"You may have passed the Academy test, but that doesn't mean a thing to me. You will need to pass my test or else you'll be back in the classroom by the end of the week." He paused to look at the reactions.
They all looked nervous to some degree. He noted that the yellow started to dull and gave himself a mental pat on his shoulder. He didn't know much about her clan but he knew that yellow eyes meant danger.
"Meet me at midnight in front of the Forest of Death. If you don't know where it is, consider yourself sacked. If you are late, consider yourself sacked. If one of you is missing, you are all back to the Academy. If you fail the test it means that you are either dead or dying. Understood?" He received three pale faced nods and had to suppress a wince. These brats would never be the same again after tonight, dead or alive.
"I will meet you there and give you your instructions. Be sure to be in full gear and keep an eye out for the wild animals. Oh, and watch out for a missing nin. We dropped him in the forest to warm him up a bit, he might be a bit cranky." He send them the scariest smile he could muster and poofed away.
He reappeared on a nearby rooftop and looked down on the trio that looked like they had a nervous breakdown. Or at least two of them had. The one in the haori was in deep thought and eventually slapped the other two on the head. He watched as she dragged them out of the alley and finally let out a sigh. Orders are orders, right?
In the end Team 7 had to wait for a total of five hours. As it was, their sensei had come at his usual time of three hours late but found that he could not enter. All because there was a raging Ibiki stomping through the corridors, muttering about a certain snake and wishing her to the deepest pit of Hell. Of course, this meant that Kakashi had to wait. After all, how could he let himself arrive at the same time as someone else? He couldn't, because Kakashi Hatake was a man of principle and discipline. He had to be at least one and a half hours later than anyone else. So, he turned around and decided to pay another visit to his old friends.
When he returned, he not only got hit with a duster, narrowly avoided a flying can of paint, stepped in puddle of super glue, and almost got impaled by a barrage of pencils, he also had to wake his new students up. Kakashi decided that it was worth his reputation.