Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any rights to it. I just like to write in Kishimoto's sandbox.
She watched the rest of her class as they ran to their parents to report their graduation. Out of the entire class only her forehead lacked the band and metal plate that marked one as a Konoha-nin. Sure, tomorrow half of them would find new ways to wear it, some on their arms, some around their waists, but today they were all done in the traditional style. Except hers since it was nonexistent.
Her long red hair created the perfect curtain to hide her shame filled expression behind. It didn't save her from their stares though. The children didn't have any true hatred of her, but the gazes of the parents were glacial. Had it not been an everyday occurrence she would have worried that she'd disappointed them somehow. As it was though, she could see well enough to pick out the looks of relief that were shot her way as well. They had wanted her to fail, and in failing she had granted their wish.
There was a brief comment carried on the wind about someone being put out by her golden eyes. Her face tilted lower in an unconscious gesture. Without any guidance her eyes slid to Iruka-sensei's feet. She could read a whole situation just by watching how he stood and shifted his weight. He didn't like the person he was talking to and they didn't want him to end the discussion. There was a pronounced lean in her direction that gave her the brief hope he was going to come over and talk to her next, but she quashed it before she could be disappointed.
"Naruko-chan…" Mizuki-sensei appeared next to her. She briefly turned in his direction, signaling him to continue. "I know it's hard to see but Iruka-sensei just wants the best for you. He honestly wants you to have everything mastered before you actually wind up out in the field."
She's touched actually. Iruka-sensei is the only person to ever hold her back because he cares too much. Still he's treating her differently than the other students. That just doesn't sit well with her.
Mizuki-sensei fidgets slightly at her silent response. Unlike Iruka-sensei he still isn't used to her silence. "You know… it hasn't happened in a long time but there is a back-up exam. Something of a practical skills test if you will. Would you be interested in hearing about it?"
He's lying. It's not that hard to figure out. His feet gave away the first half of the lie, his tone the other. The underlying lie is that he cares. Past experience provides the information that he doesn't. He's just as cold as the rest of them, sometimes more. He's just able to smile at the same time… it's a shinobi thing she thinks. Nonetheless she can't afford the off chance that he's only lying about the details. If there really is a test, even if that test is far more dangerous than he'll let on, she still has to take it. So she nods.
He relaxes slightly, "well we can't talk about it here. Meet me…" He gives her a time in the near future at a place not too far away. She memorizes and nods again. He leaves. Her footsteps are soft as she walks out of the academy yard. Out of the corner of her eye she can see the dejected set in Iruka-sensei's stance and the slight turn to follow her out. It feels like she did something wrong, now that she knows he really was going to speak to her.
Oh well, time to find out what this test is all about.
She wiped the mud off the seat of her yellow training dress and tried again. She was tired and aching. Her muscles burned from exertion. A terrible migraine was exploding behind her eyes. Nonetheless she pressed on. Forming the hand seal she tried one more time at the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. This time there was some sort of internal snap and with a horrible anticlimax a semi-perfect copy of her appeared.
It looked exactly like her in most ways except for its extremely feral features. The canine teeth were a little too long, the fingernails too sharp and the eyes had tall narrow slits for pupils. With a sigh she released the technique.
"Naruko!" Iruka-sensei cried out from the trees behind her. Startled she turned around and looked at him with wide eyes. "What are you doing? Why did you steal the scroll!"
Silently she formed the hand sign again. Once again the semi-identical clone popped into life. She and the clone each cocked their head to the side slightly.
"What do you mean did you pass? Pass what? This isn't a test Naruko!" Iruka cried out in frustration. He was the only one who knew her well enough to read her gestures. Her vision swam as her eyes filled with tears. It wasn't the most bitter loss in her life. She'd overheard him tell the hokage that he was going to adopt her if she failed this year's exam, so even losing was something of a win. In truth she really did want to be his daughter… but she wanted to be a shinobi more.
The tension left his shoulders and his gaze softened. "What are you crying for? I swear whenever I figure out who put you up to this…"
"Well you aren't going to have to search long, Iruka-sensei!" Mizuki spat out as he dropped into the clearing throwing a brace of kunai at Iruka. Her would be father was too surprised by the man's sudden arrival to properly dodge. Several the kunai caught his clothes and trapped him against the tree he was standing on.
"Now Naruko, just hand me the scroll and you can become a full-fledged kunoichi. Just like you always wanted, ne." Mizuki held a hand out towards her.
A dull stare of disappointment was her only response. She was mute and desperate not stupid. Instead she quickly wrapped the scroll up and took a defensive posture. The clone beside her disappeared, but she didn't bother replacing it.
"Naruko run, don't let him get the scroll!" Iruka cried out to her.
"Don't listen to him. He's trying to confuse you. It's the final part of the test. If you don't give me the scroll now you'll never be a kunoichi!" Mizuki shouted at her.
For her part her eyes caught Iruka-sensei's and conveyed the message she knew he'd understand. He obviously didn't like it judging by his grimace. It was a simple message really, what about you?
"Don't worry about me, just run!" Iruka shouted.
She got a few steps away before Mizuki trapped her with the ultimate snare, "Naruko-chan… Don't you want to know why all the villagers hate you so much?" His words were sickeningly over sweet but they trapped her as surely as any ninja's wire ever could. Slowly she turned her head to look at him.
"You can't tell her Mizuki! The Hokage has forbidden it!" Iruka shouted.
Mizuki laughed, "you think I care about that old man when I'm about to get a scroll like that." The words sent shivers up her spine. Her feet refused to move though even as her brain screamed at her to run away. "Let me spell it out for you Naruko-chan. Nobody can actually kill the nine-tailed fox so they had to seal it away. Twelve years ago, when the demon fox attacked, that was you! You can't remember it but it was really you that killed all those people! Even Iruka's parents were killed that day. I bet he hates you more than anything in the world. He's just playing daddy to get you close so he can do some real damage!"
"Shut up, Mizuki! You don't know what you're talking about!" Iruka cried out in frustration. He finally broke free of the kunai and started towards Mizuki.
"Bah, I'll just kill the runt first then take you out." Mizuki pulled out a massive fuma-shuriken and launched it towards Naruko. She knew that she needed to move to survive but the shock of the reveal was just too much. Her mind was too busy making sense of the words Mizuki had said and their meanings. Her eyes widened as they caught every moment of Iruka's shunshin into the path of the shuriken.
A warm liquid splattered across her cheek waking her from her reverie. For a brief second she looked up into his eyes, seeing the apology there that needed no words. He was sorry for not telling her, not being there, but mostly he was just sorry. She wanted to tell him it was okay. There was even a tickle in her throat like she might make a sound.
Then her attention dropped to the wound and her eyes narrowed dangerously. Mizuki had hurt Iruka-sensei. He'd tried to kill the closest thing she'd ever had to a father. She snaked out from under Iruka's arms and stood facing Mizuki. A second fuma-shuriken was already in the air sailing towards her. But it was too late for him; she felt the need to scream.
"Naruko!" Iruka called one last time before the cry erupted from her throat.
A torrential outpouring of pure chakra washed through the clearing like an ocean wave over a ship's deck. The shuriken was slammed back slicing through entire trees with its new found momentum. Trees were uprooted and thrown away from her. Mizuki himself was simply too weak and fleshy to maintain any sort of form in the maelstrom. He was dead before he even had a chance to fear for his life.
Quietly she lay the scroll down and knelt down by her sensei. He was staring at her in a mixture of awe, respect, and disbelief. Her body language spoke for her, 'are you okay?'
He reached around and pulled the massive shuriken out of his own back and tossed it aside. It probably wasn't the smart move, but she trusted him to not done it if the result would be fatal. With her help he was able to sit against a tree-trunk. "So… does that always happen when you try to talk?" Iruka asked.
She blushed and nodded, looking down in shame. A calloused hand cupped her cheek and lifted her face. "I think it's very noble of you to decide on your own not to talk, then." He pondered for a minute then gave her a genuine smile. "Close your eyes."
Curious she did as she was told. It was strange hearing him move around in her suddenly dark world. Cloth scraped against cloth, sliding against itself as something was untied. Suddenly something heavy was placed against her forehead and tied on behind her crimson hair. Tears were already welling up in her eyes before she even opened them. She raised a single hand to brush against the cool metal and trace the symbol there. It was a forehead protector of her very own.
"Congratulations, Naruko. You've graduated to being a ninja. I'm proud of you." Iruka grinned at her. They had a few minutes to bask in this wonderful moment before the Anbu arrived.
Naruto Hatake sat nervously on the floor of their small apartment. His adoptive father Kakashi was running late now by nearly an hour and a half. Needing some outlet for his nervous energy he toyed around with the forehead protector he had set in his lap. It was brand new and a sign of a bright future… maybe. Today, though, it was the key to his past. Or at least it would be if tou-san ever actually came home.
Kakashi suddenly materialized in front of him in a puff of smoke. His one visible eye curved in a slight smile. "Gomen, gomen. I got held up by a dozen black cats-" the silver haired man decided to cut his losses when he saw the look in the boy's eyes. With an audible sigh he sat down on the floor across the coffee table from his son. "Well how about we just get down to business then."
The boy looked at him with apprehension. Usually he was barely able to contain his natural energy, but for this he could do it. Naruto realized his throat had gone dry and he was no longer sure what exactly he was supposed to be doing with his hands. He didn't say anything though, waiting for the man across from him to say his piece.
"Now that you're officially a ninja of this village you'll be expected to carry important secrets with you from time to time. In this case, since it directly affects you, you're being allowed to know one of this village's S-class secrets. An S-class secret cannot be shared except by Hokage-sama's direct order and carries very harsh penalties, including execution, for anyone who breaks their word and shares it. Are you ready to carry an S-class secret, Naruto?" Kakashi spoke firmly, but kindly.
Naruto took a deep breath and nodded.
Kakashi's eye curved up in another smile, "Good!" He reached into his weapons pouch and pulled out a picture which he then slid across the table. The picture had a blond man that Naruto instantly recognized as the fourth Hokage hugging a woman with long red hair. "These are your birth parents."
Naruto stared up at him dumbfounded for a moment before finally letting it out, "WHAT!" The walls vibrated a little at the cry and Kakashi had to flinch away at the height of the shout. "But that would mean that… he's… how can this…" Naruto wasn't sure how to even finish a sentence, he was so overwhelmed with excitement. Finally though one slid to the surface and he couldn't push away or lose in the din of thoughts. "Why is it such a big secret?"
Kakashi gave him a measured look then spoke, "Your father was one of the most deadly participants in the last great shinobi war, by far. Iwa and Kumo still have enormous bounties on him just in case. If it got out that you were his son… There would be no end to assassins coming for your life."
They both sat in silence for a long moment before Naruto finally spoke again, "what about my mother? What was she like?"
Kakashi smiled, then began to relate as much as he could remember of Kushina Uzumaki.
Naruko shuffled into the classroom and looked around for a seat. Since she was early most of the seats were open. She sat down next to Shino and gave him a warm smile which he acknowledged with a slight nod. Shino could talk, unlike her, but he usually didn't. As such he was never uncomfortable from her silence, and she didn't feel like she was being left out. It wasn't quite friendship, but it was a very comfortable arrangement.
Shikamaru arrived soon after and sat on her other side. He enjoyed his peace and quiet. That made it the obvious choice to sit next to the two quietest people in the entire class. Chouji of course sat down next to him, happy to eat his snack and watch the rest of them. It was a familiar formation for the four of them by this point. Naruko wished she would wind up on a team with Shino and Shikamaru, it would be so much more comfortable that way.
"Eh, what's so great about teme anyway!" Naruto asked loudly. The room had steadily been filling up, and the blond haired boy had the misfortune of sitting next to Sasuke when his fan-club arrived. Now he was on the desk in front of him, glaring at the dark haired boy in challenge. Naruko's attention shifted to the noise just in time to see something thoroughly entertaining. The boy behind Naruto had bumped him and for just a second the two boys' lips had met.
Her mind immediately spiraled into a series of boys-love scenarios inspired by the scene. Her face then flushed to the same shade as her hair with embarrassment and shame. It's not like she was a pervert… After all it wasn't her fault that the only book store that would sell to her happened to have an especially large segment devoted to boys-love stories.
"BE QUIET AND SIT DOWN!" Iruka cried out, momentarily filling the room with his presence. She hadn't even noticed him shunshin in with all the confusion. Once everyone was silent and seated he began talking.
"Today you're all moving on. Thanks to your time at this academy and your own personal determination you've managed to become full-fledged ninjas!" Iruka said. "But… You are all still genin, the hard part has only just begun. From here you're going to be on three-man squads, training under your jounin-sensei."
Across the room Sasuke gave his signature "tch". It was hard to determine if that meant he was unhappy, ecstatic, exasperated, haughty, or amused. Perhaps his inability to display an emotional range set him further on the path of the shinobi than the rest of them. Whatever the case, it didn't change the fact that she hated people she couldn't read. It made communication even harder than usual.
"Now pay attention and I'll read out the team assignments." Iruka started down the list, but most of the names didn't really catch her attention. Finally at team six that began to change.
"Team Six: Sasuke Uchiha, Sai," Iruka frowned here and she did as well, she didn't know of anyone named Sai in their class, "and Ryuuga Tanihana." The boy who sat directly in front of her groaned. She felt a small measure of sympathy. He was a kind person at heart and definitely didn't deserve the death-glares that the kunoichi around him were shooting in his direction. "Your Jounin-sensei is Kakashi Hatake." Naruto looked somewhat crestfallen that his father wouldn't be his sensei, but he seemed to get over it well enough.
"Team Seven: Naruto Hatake, Sakura Haruno," a small cheer from Naruto was met by a groan of disgust from Sakura, "and Kiba Inuzuka. Your Jounin-sensei is Hayate Gekkou." It seemed like a good team to her. Naruto and Kiba were front line attackers, Sakura had the book-smarts to act as strategist, and Kiba would also be able to track. So long as they worked as a unit they would bring significant battle strength to bear on the right place at the right time in any given situation.
"Team Eight: Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, and Naruko." She smiled to Shino, glad to be on his team. He gave her a nod that she took as encouragement. "Your Jounin-sensei is Kurenai Yuhi."
"Team Ten: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Chouji Akimichi." Ino let out a cry of disgust but Shika and Chouji just looked at each other before simultaneously rolling their eyes. "Your Jounin-sensei is Asuma Sarutobi."
"That covers all of the teams," Iruka said before looking up at his students. "You'll have some free time to get lunch before you meet your sensei. Meet back in this room at the end of two hours. Dismissed."
Kurenai knelt down in the large office, "you wished to see me, Hokage-sama?"
The old man before her nodded, the white brim of his hat dipping down to cover his face during the motion. "Please, one moment." He made a few hand-seals and a swirling vortex of kanji dispersed around the room sealing them within a barrier of text. "There, now we won't be overheard."
"May I ask what this is about, Hokage-sama?" She said. Her voice barely managed to stay even.
"I am assigning you a long-term S-rank mission," he said.
"Hokage-sama, I thought I was starting my job as a Jounin-sensei today?" She asked, clearly confused.
He put his hand up to reassure her, "and you will. This mission is an extension of your duties as a Jounin-sensei. Tell me, Kurenai, what do you know of sealing containers?"
She searched her mind for a moment before answering, "well inanimate objects can be sealed fairly easily in just about anything. Storage scrolls are a good example, since they can contain many objects and even fairly large objects. You would need a specially designed seal to store something that's already storing something and it would have to be developed on the fly. Once you get to things with chakra it becomes much harder. The more chakra it has the more chakra it takes to bind an object, and exponentially more so if sealing into an object without its own chakra. On top of that, a failure to bind something with chakra inside an animal or person has a chance of killing target of the bind."
Sarutobi waited for a moment to make sure she had finished speaking. "I see, that is a rather informed but concise way of putting it. However, there is a very rare third form of seal."
Kurenai felt like banging her head against a wall. "Of course, it's the form you just used to soundproof the room, Hokage-sama," she said. "A seal may be bound to the boundaries of a barrier and in some cases become self-perpetuating so long as there is enough chakra within the barrier's field."
The old man leaned back with an approving smile, "well since that is understood it should make what I am about to say next easier to understand. Naruko is not actually a Jinchuriki."
Kurenai looked at him in shock, "you can't mean that in all this time, after the way she's been treated-"
"Naruko is the Kyuubi itself in sealed form." He let the words fall like a hammer. This time she only stared at him in stunned silence. "Kushina took it upon herself to find a way of sealing the demon fox that would not require a jinchuriki after her own… experiences. She had succeeded while pregnant with Naruto but had decided to wait until after the birth to perform the new sealing ritual. Kyuubi's attack on the village forced their hands though."
"Wait, if Kushina-sensei was the previous container… then how did the Kyuubi get free to attack the village in the first place?" Kurenai asked.
The hokage stared out a nearby window for a long moment. His expression was drawn and grim, "somebody attacked Kushina and forced the Kyuubi out of her body. That is all Minato had the chance to tell me before leaving to battle this mysterious attacker. I believe that the Kyuubi was being controlled when it attacked us, but one can never be certain with beings so old and powerful."
"In any case," he continued a sad look on his face, "I should get down to the details of this mission. Your mission is threefold. First, I would like you to become a friend and confidant to Naruko. She has never had a mother figure in her life. However, this mission will most likely take an unpleasant turn so keep that in mind. Second, you are to use your genjutsu to calm, confuse or contain her at the first sign that she is weakening in her capacity as a seal. Third, if you determine there is no hope of further containment of the fox-demon…"
He lifted a sword from his desk and held it out to her, "this is a special sword Kushina had prepared before fully completing her research. Its original purpose was to sever portions of the demon's youki into more manageable segments without causing undue pain to the demon itself. If the sword is thrust through her stomach it will temporarily reinforce the seal while consuming her life force. We estimate that as old as she is, it will give us roughly two weeks to seal the demon inside another container."
Kurenai returned his sad look. She understood her duty all too well, but she wasn't certain how she felt about the first order. On the one hand, it was good that they were trying friendship and attempting to give the girl, or whatever she was, a real connection. On the other it would only mean even more heartbreak when they inevitably had to put her down.
"I… understand, Hokage-sama. Is there anything else?" She took the sword, still fully sheathed, from his hands and slung it across her back.
"No, that will be all." With a final hand-sign the kanji filling the air around them dissipated. In the next moment Kurenai was gone.
Hayate Gekkou looked at the three genin in front of him, his natural kindness overflowing in his gaze. "I'm," he coughed for a moment, "Hayate Gekkou and I'll be your instructor from here out. Let's get some introductions out of the way." He coughed again. "I'll go first. I already told you my name. For things I like… there's my girlfriend, and my best friend, Genma. Things I… dislike are anyone who threatens my village and the cold at dawn just before the sun comes up after a storm. My dream is… to see my family sword style find a successor. Now, uhh… Hatake san?"
Naruto shot up with a bright grin. He was wearing a dark grey jacket over a light grey shirt and black pants. "My name is Naruto Hatake. Things I like are ramen, training with my dad and the Yondaime Hokage. Things I dislike are people who complain a lot or think they're better than everyone without earning their way. My dream is to become the next Hokage and take the hat right off ojiji's head!"
Once Naruto was seated again Hayate nodded to Sakura. The rosette who was wearing a red dress and black training pants stood up. "I'm Sakura Haruno. I really like reading and Sasuke-kun. As far as dislikes, I don't like loud mouths who are always going on about how great they are!" With this, rather loud, proclamation she shot a glare in Naruto's direction. "My dream is…" With this she went silent as though uncertain what exactly to say.
"It's fine if you don't have one yet. We'll just have to work on getting you one, then." Hayate said. He coughed again then looked at Kiba. The boy's heavy grey hooded coat and dark grey pants were a compliment of his male teammate's.
"My name is Kiba Inuzuka! I like it when I can really give it my all in a fight with a strong opponent. I don't like people who smell like crap or weak men who run away just because they have a scary wife! My dream is to become hokage and prove to everyone that Inuzuka are not only the strongest, but have the best nindo of all!" He shouted.
At this point it crystalized in Hayate's mind that he had managed to get the single loudest team in the group.
Kurenai wasn't sure if the dead silence her team walked in was comforting or abjectly terrifying. The Aburame heir seemed to feel no need to speak as they walked to their meeting point. And she already knew the Kyuubi's container was mute. That only left Hinata-chan to actually speak up. Once or twice the young Hyuuga would open her mouth, but then close it again before actually saying anything. It disappointed her a bit to know that her former student still hadn't gotten over her shyness.
After they all came to a stop she gave them a warm smile and started to speak, "My name is Kurenai Yuhi and I'll be your Jounin-sensei from here on out. You can just call me Kurenai-sensei, alright?" All three of them nodded as one. Taking a brief chance to look them over she noticed that Shino seemed to be especially interested in her sword while Naruko's eyes always seemed to drift past it without taking it in. "We'll be starting with introductions, Shino why don't you go first?"
Shino nodded, his sunglasses bobbing with his head. It was impossible to see much of him under his oversized, hooded and high collared sea foam green jacket and maroon pants. "My name is Shino Aburame. I like kikaichu and other insects. I dislike people who dislike insects. My dream is to become a greater shinobi than my father." With that he sat back down.
Kurenai turned her attention to Hinata. The young Hyuuga wore a heavy tan coat and baggy blue pants that stopped around her calves. Her blue hair was naturally flat and fell to just above her ears except for a pair of long bangs that framed her face. She blushed slightly realizing it was her turn.
"I'm… H-hinata Hyuuga. My l-likes… a-are p-people who d-don't give up. D-dislikes… I c-can't really say. Umm… m-my d-dream is… umm… to b-be a bit s-stronger about… t-things." She looked away not willing to meet anyone else's eyes.
Kurenai sighed before looking away. She pulled out a scroll wrapped around a fountain pen and handed it to her final student. Naruko looked up at her, surprise evident in her golden eyes. With a moment's hesitation she took the scroll and turned out just enough of it to write down her own introduction. She finally turned it around so the others could see what she had written in beautiful calligraphy.
Name: Naruko
Likes: People who are nice to me.
Dislikes: Rainy days.
Dream: To be someone people want to rely on… just a little. Maybe.
Kurenai smiled at her, containing the sadness she felt before it could make it to her eyes. "Well, we're going to head over to training ground eleven and get your final test out of the way."
"Test?" Shino asked. He didn't let his voice betray anything except curiosity.
"Yes we have one final challenge for you before we can let you truly start at Genin. Though let me warn you failing this test will mean that you have to go back to the academy for another year." She replied. Without further explanation they all set off for the training ground together. It was a fairly long trip, but nobody seemed to mind. Each of the three were mulling over the revelation of a test in their own minds, trying to work out what it might be.
When they had finally arrived Kurenai turned to them, "now I'll give you a full explanation of the test. Somewhere in the forest behind me are two sacred statues. If you can bring a statue back here before sundown, you'll have passed the test."
"O-only t-two!" Hinata squeaked.
"Yes. Only two, the one who doesn't get a statue can't become a genin," she replied.
All three looked quite nervous at the revalation and looked at each other curiously. "Go!" Her shout pushed them all into action as they spread out into the forest looking for the statues. None of the three felt especially good about the rules of the test, but they were too high on adrenaline to question it at the moment.
Hinata was the first to find one of the statues thanks to her Byakugan. She landed in the low branches of a tree staring out at the clearing it was in. Careful to look for traps she gently lowered herself to the ground. A few steps out into the clearing though it went wrong. Kurenai placed a hand on her shoulder and Hinata looked up into her eyes in fear. A tree suddenly sprung to life between them and grew long tendrils which wrapped around her, holding her in place. The blue haired girl continued to struggle and even let loose a few loud, for her, shouts but it didn't make much difference.
Naruko stumbled upon the next one, but couldn't help being extremely wary of its positioning. It sat on a flat stone in the middle of a lake. It was simply too obvious of a trap to move in on. Crossing her fingers in front of her she cast the kage bunshin no jutsu and called forth a dozen clones. Not a single one was lacking the feral features her previous clones had. She sighed in defeat then silently motioned them forwards.
Three passed around the lake, looking for traps along the edges. Four dived into the lake hoping to obscure their later actions. The other five jumped from various parts of the bank straight for the stone with her prize. All five were hit by kunai from seemingly random angles. The three on the bank each took a senbon to the leg which was enough to dispel them. Three of the remaining four jumped fully out of the water pouncing on their inanimate prey. They too were demolished with well-placed kunai, leaving a cloud of smoke in their wake.
Once the smoke cleared though it was obvious the statue was gone. Four more shadow clones sprang out of the water, one carrying the prize and the other three forming a defensive formation around it. They ran as one towards the tree-line though only the carrier actually made it. She saw a shadow separate from the forest and chase after the clone.
Thinking it safe she inched to the edge of the clearing and waited for a long moment. Finally the clone threw the statue out to land a few inches in front of her. It made a small wave as it dispelled itself. Knowing her time would be short she slipped the rest of the way into the clearing and grabbed the statue only to be distracted by a red feather falling past her head. She looked up and one landed directly on her nose. In the next instant she was unconscious.
It was almost an hour later before Shino had brought them somewhere safe and released them both from their genjutsu. There was a short rapid fire discussion as Hinata and Shino threw out ideas and Naruko either gave her okay or her veto. Finally they settled on a plan they could all agree on. Shino spoke to some bugs to get the latest intel and then they moved out.
Both statues were now in the same clearing, slightly further in than either of the earlier traps. Shino and Hinata burst forth into the clearing making straight for the prizes. Kurenai appeared ahead of them and flew through the motions for a genjutsu. Rather than stopping, they each exploded in puffs of smoke. Kurenai smiled at the ploy and began looking around for the originals. Suddenly another troupe of clones burst into the clearing. There were nine in all and they took up a three lines of three formation confusing her for a moment.
As the front rank came into range she threw a full brace of kunai. Rather than block, the first two immediately performed kawarimi no jutsu. The kunai bounced off the hard stone of the statues that they'd changed places with. Realizing their plan she threw more kunai at the rest of the clones, but they worked through the kawarimi chain too fast. Finally the statues were at the edge of the clearing and the real Shino and Hinata each grabbed one and made a break for it.
Kurenai immediately leapt to chase after them but the original Naruko, eyes firmly closed, flew out of the trees to match kunai with her. They stopped in mid-air, trapped in a battle of strength before gravity could reassert its power. To her surprise Kurenai was actually being pushed back. True she was holding back to what she might consider Chunin level but that did little to diminish the accomplishment.
"So you've chosen to give up your chance to be a ninja for them?" She looked into the girl's eyes as she asked, trying to see an answer. Sacrificing a teammate was actually a poor solution in her opinion, but it would at least get them a passing grade. The girl just smiled. An invisible force suddenly pulled her back into the forest. Kurenai chased her all the way back to the original clearing. Shino and Hinata stood near the entrance each standing near a statue as they heaved on the ninja wire they were using to propel their teammate. Something seemed vaguely off about the scene though. She just couldn't quite put her finger on it.
She a took a moment to look at the team, then sighed, "so that's your answer?"
"No!" A voice behind her shouted. She jumped back in surprise as the Naruko in front of her dissolved into a pile of bugs and the other team members and statues all disappeared in puffs of white smoke. She spun around and saw her entire team, each one touching both of the statues in some way. "O-our answer…" Hinata began, and then looked at the ground for a moment. There was a long silence before she looked up again and this time stared straight into her sensei's eyes. "Our answer i-is to s-stick together! No m-matter w-what!"
Kurenai couldn't help but chuckle as the shadow clone she'd left watching the clearing dispelled revealing their actual plan. They'd used their entire sneak attack as a ruse to distract her from their real attempt on the statues. With a broad smile she spoke, "That is an answer you can be proud of! Congratulations, you all pass! Welcome to team 8."
She stood outside the simple white building, studying its features for some hint as to what actually happened within. None were forthcoming. The chunin assigned to the lower ranked duties were very good at their jobs. Even if it seemed like mere chores, maintaining the blank façade of the building was actually one of the village's more important duties. After all it was better for everyone in the fire nation if few ever knew what it was.
Finally deciding she'd enjoyed the view long enough she slid into the main reception area and walked up to the woman at the desk. As she approached she caught the woman's attention. That was one thing she liked about the place, while few smiled nobody ever looked at her with anything less than professionalism.
"Ah, Naruko-san. Dinner is still being served in the cafeteria. Feel free to get something to eat before you turn in for the night." She said then turned back to her work.
Naruko nodded to herself then proceeded down the hall. A pair of chunin and a medic-nin slid out of a room in front of her. She stepped to the side respectfully waiting for them to pass; they gave short nods of acknowledgement. It wasn't far after that to the cafeteria and everything was self-serve so there was no need to interrupt anybody to get a plate. Soon she was sitting in a private corner of the room watching as the chunin and jounin around her ate.
A few were sharing bouts of dark humor, but for the most part the people eating here were grim faced. It wasn't really a pleasant job, working T&I. Often times it was more emotionally damaging than killing on missions could ever be. Here you didn't just kill your enemy; you cajoled, tricked them, befriended them, betrayed them, broke them, put them back together and then started the cycle all over again in the hopes of getting just one more secret. Even more they were rarely in a position to fight back. Not that there wasn't danger, but rather it made the illusion of nobility difficult to hang on to.
To her, these were real ninja. Then again for the first six years of her life they were the only ninja she'd ever known. It had been a genuine surprise attending the academy and seeing ninja-instructors and ninja hopefuls that regularly gave honest smiles. Now she was somewhat used to both and couldn't really decide which she favored. A familiar chunin named Tonbo sat down across from her.
"So did you meet your Jounin-sensei today?" He asked.
She nodded. He leaned back and gave a slight smile. She wasn't sure how he even knew what she'd done since the entire top portion of his head, including his eyes, was wrapped in bandages. Briefly, she wondered if that would ever as much as slow the man down.
"How did it go?" He pressed on.
She smiled at him and gave a generous thumbs up.
"That good, huh. Well keep it up and maybe someday you'll graduate from mascot into a real live shinobi," he said. A slight chuckle crossed his lips. She gave a playfully hurt expression then let out a guttural chuckle of her own. It was as close as she could come to laughter with destroying half the building so it would have to do.
After dinner she wandered back to her "room". They had several cells that were intended for more… pleasant stays. They were virtually indistinguishable from a hotel room really except for the lack of windows. They'd given her one for her fifth birthday, finally moving her out of the massive barren cell she'd lived in before that. It probably wasn't much by the standards of those around her, but it was home.
The walls of the room were painted in soothing lavender. A table in the center held a couple pictures, one of her and the guys from T&I out for dinner after a tough case she'd helped with. The other was of her and Iruka-sensei taken shortly after she had been put in his class. She'd have to get a picture with her new teammates to go with it soon.
The bed was set against the far wall with a large cleared out area around it. Several years ago she'd had a terrible nightmare. When she'd awoken she found an area roughly that size visibly burned by chakra fire. The only thing she could remember of the nightmare anymore was an orange swirl mask. The phenomenon hadn't repeated, but what little she had was far too precious to her to risk.
There wasn't any great risk to the outside world. Unlike a normal dwelling, the walls of the cell were made of chakra absorbing materials. A normal shinobi would find it debilitating, for her it just meant she'd be a little off her game in the mornings.
Mostly the single greatest difference between this room and the other cells on the block, the thing that made it home, was that there was also a locking seal on the inside. It could still be overridden by the likes of Ibiki or the Hokage, of course. It just added that extra layer of psychological security. A guarantee, however flimsy, that they wouldn't be waking her up in the middle of the night and dragging her out for a round of questioning.
She collapsed onto the sunflower yellow sheets and let her mind wander. It wasn't long before the familiar drain of the stones around her drew her into sleep.
Tobi leaned against a tree, far from the prying eyes of any other Akatsuki members. His expression was somber as he took in the valley below. He didn't like being outplayed, and if his most recent information was correct then he'd been outplayed far more thoroughly than he'd initially thought. Not for the first, nor last, time he found himself cursing the Yondaime Hokage.
"I guess I'll just have to send in Itachi to clean up this mess…"
A/N:
I really enjoyed writing this, so hopefully I'll get more chapters out soon.
Before anyone makes a big deal out of it, I'm not putting Sasuke on a separate team because I don't like him. I tend to dislike his core concept, but Kishimoto did a good job on the execution of the character. My reason for separating him from the story is that he simply is not as important to my story. Without Naruto's outcast status there isn't as great a dichotomy between them in terms of skill, and they aren't fellow outsiders. He'll still have his moments of course. Orochimaru is still after him, after all.
I've noticed a lot of fanfics spend a lot of time beating up one character or another for their perceived failures, especially towards Naruto. I don't really agree with all that and it's certainly not going to be my intent. My hope is to show everyone in a better light, but with hard choices and smart enemies. I want their failures to reflect well on the strengths of their enemies, rather than be a reflection of the character being ineffectual.
