The Kunoichi Project
1.
They were sitting in the Konoha Ninja Academy classroom, surrounded by their fellow classmates. A nervous tension filled the air. Students were being called into the next room over, one by one, by their Academy instructors - both men - and tested on the Bunshin jutsu. If they couldn't make two good clones, they would not make Genin.
Three girls in particular were confident. They were the top three kunoichi of their graduating class by a wide margin, and were constantly competing with each other: Hanakiri TenTen, Mitarashi Anko, and Yamanaka Ino. Each was confident they would perform the best showing in the exam.
TenTen was called in first. She had brown hair arranged in a complex bun hairdo and chocolate brown eyes. She wore a Chinese silk shirt and pants. When she was called in, she was clutching her prayer beads and in the midst of praying. TenTen was an extremely credulous girl and she believed that when you asked the universe for help, the universe listened.
"Hanakiri TenTen." TenTen looked up, and stood to take her test.
As she passed by Ino and Anko, she smiled. "Watch me," she muttered.
When she came out, she was proudly carrying her new hitai-ate.
Anko was called in next. She had shocking purple hair done up with a clip at the back of her head, and amber-colored eyes. She wore fishnet armor and gigantic black boots. When she was called in, she was in the midst of eating. She always packed herself a careful lunch, full of delicious hand-made food, and carried constantly with her was a warmed thermos of tea. Anko believed strongly in the fine art of tea and the importance of a good meal. She was currently on a Mediterranean-style diet, her favorite food was dango, and she had passed the tea ceremony part of her kunoichi classes with flying colors.
"Mitarashi Anko." Anko looked up, and stood to take her test.
As she passed by Ino, she sighed affectedly. "I'm going to wipe the floor with you," she said scathingly.
When she came out, she was proudly carrying her new hitai-ate.
Ino was called in last. She had platinum blonde hair done up in a ponytail, shocking blue eyes, and she wore a dark shirt and skirt combo and eye makeup. When she was called in, she was in the midst of watching Haruno Sakura make googley eyes at a boy in their class named Uchiha Sasuke. Ino and Sakura had once been friends, after Ino had saved Sakura from some bullies. Later, Ino had pretended for a while to compete against Sakura for Sasuke's affections, thinking it would help Sakura's self confidence. But Sakura, with poor self esteem and a sharp tongue, had quickly proven herself quite harpy-ish and so Ino had just drifted off. It wasn't worth it, and Ino didn't like keeping people in her life who didn't make her feel good. Anko and TenTen, whatever their faults, were healthier to be around than Sakura. Still, Sakura's rejection of her did bother her, on some level.
Ino had gone shopping for a new outfit in preparation for her Genin test. Looking like a million bucks made her feel good, and she wore that new outfit today for her test. She'd also filled her bag with flowers from her mother's flower shop, so that the sweet perfume filled her from her seat.
"Yamanaka Ino." Ino looked up, and stood to take her test. She smirked silently as she walked into the exam room.
When she came out, she was proudly carrying her new hitai-ate.
Ino, TenTen, and Anko had all gotten perfect grades in nearly every subject: the female etiquette lessons specific to kunoichi, taijutsu, genjutsu breaking, the three Academy ninjutsu, stealth, trap making, and team management and psychology.
They were perfect for a little experiment the third Hokage wanted to try.
"Ah, Kurenai, please come in. Take a seat."
Yuuhi Kurenai, tall and glamorous with long thick dark curls and distinctive crimson eyes, sat down across from the Hokage uncertainly. The Hokage had called her in for a personal meeting. She wondered if he was giving her some top secret mission - Jounin were sometimes assigned to such things.
"Kurenai, you agreed to test a Genin team this year, correct?" the Hokage asked.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," said Kurenai. "Is something wrong? Are we overstaffed?"
"Nothing so severe. Though if we were overstaffed, it would be a happy misfortune," the Hokage added dryly. "I would simply like to run an idea by you. I am considering the idea of deploying an all kunoichi team, and was wondering if you'd be willing to lead it."
Kurenai, a woman in her twenties, came from a set of strict ninja parents. She was a wine connoisseur and a great reader of psychology. She had previously tutored another young kunoichi, unsuccessfully. She was also an extremely dutiful ninja with a fiery determination to be the best.
"Who are the girls in question, Hokage-sama?" Kurenai asked.
"Yamanaka Ino, Mitarashi Anko, and Hanakiri TenTen. They're the three best kunoichi in their year and are constantly competing against each other, showing a determination to be the best that even matches yours at their age, Kurenai."
"Yamanaka... the mind-body controllers. Typically information gatherers," said Kurenai thoughtfully.
"Mitarashi has excellent chakra control, and could inherit your genjutsu ability. Both Yamanaka and Mitarashi show a positively sadistic ability to manipulate others. Hanakiri is very good at taijutsu and seems to be a budding weapons specialist."
"So they cover both close distance and long distance," said Kurenai, pleased.
"Yes. The only thing I would worry about is their competitive natures. Competition can be good, but only if -"
"Channeled in the right way," Kurenai finished.
"Exactly." The Hokage nodded.
"Alright," Kurenai accepted. "I'll take them. It should be an interesting exercise."
"Very good. Then the four teams most expected to pass are as follows: Yamanaka Ino, Mitarashi Anko, and Hanakiri TenTen, under Yuuhi Kurenai. Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji, and Nara Shikamaru, under Maito Gai. Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Akimichi Chouji, under Hatake Kakashi. Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino, under Sarutobi Asuma."
There was only one other girl in the entire lineup, and she was from one of the most prestigious ninja families in Konoha. Kunoichi weren't nearly as common as male ninja, after all.
When Ino entered the Academy classroom where they'd be given their first ninja assignment, Anko was lounging languidly in her seat and TenTen was sitting forward eagerly, smirking. She sat in between them.
"Girls," she greeted them coolly. Then: "I bet I can finish our first mission before you." Her tone was smug.
Anko snorted. "Says you. You were the last to pass."
"Only because our names were listed alphabetically. What about you, Anko? You took like ten minutes in there. What were you trying to do, shit out another clone?" Ino retorted.
Anko stood, her face reddening. "Say that again." Anko had a bit of a temper.
"What, you want to fight? I'm game," said Ino, standing too.
"Yeah, that's it. Get into a fight on our first day, ruin your chances of looking good to your superiors. Brilliant." TenTen rolled her eyes.
"Know it all," said Anko scathingly.
"I'd like to think so," said TenTen.
"Oh, gag me," Ino replied.
"I'm not getting pulled into your guys's mess," said TenTen. "Besides, we all know I could wipe the floor with both of you any day."
"I reject that out of hand! Let's step outside." Anko waved to the door in an exaggeratedly polite bow, smirking.
So they filed out toward the door, ready and eagerly anticipating another three way fight. As they passed, they saw a bunch of girls arguing over the seat next to Uchiha Sasuke - one of them was Haruno Sakura. They appeared to have tossed a staring Uzumaki Naruto out of his seat next Sasuke.
"Harpies," Ino greeted them on the way by. "Haruno."
The girls glared. "Ino-pig," said Sakura in a hostile fashion, hand on her hip.
"I may be a pig, but at least I'm a good ninja," said Ino dryly, and Anko and TenTen swallowed their laughter.
"What, and you're saying I'm not?!" Sakura's eyes narrowed.
"Haruno, if you spent half the time training that you do thinking about Uchiha Sasuke, you could beat the shit out of me any day," said Ino. The harpies giggled, but Sakura looked angry.
"You just want Sasuke all to yourself!" She moved to hit Ino, and a hand went to stop her. But it wasn't Ino's. It was Anko's.
"Watch it, Haruno," said Anko, grinning gleefully. Sakura swallowed and took a step back at the sadistic look in Anko's eyes. "You fight one, you get all three of us."
TenTen smirked and went for her kunai pouch. Ino covered her surprise at their defense of her and tried to look certain.
Just then, their old Academy instructor Umino Iruka walked into the room. "What's going on?" He frowned, looking between the two groups of girls.
"... Nothing," said Sakura sullenly at last, stepping back. Then she sat quickly down next to Sasuke, sticking her tongue out at the other angry harpies. Sasuke glanced sideways at Sakura and then rolled his eyes - not a promising indicator of a future relationship.
"Iruka-sensei," said Anko, raising her hand, "me and the other two lovely ladies with me were just about to get into a really good fight where I beat the shit out of them -"
"Says you!"
"In your dreams!"
Anko smirked. "So we were wondering if you could postpone announcements until that happens?"
"I'm not delaying team announcements for a silly spat," Iruka scolded. "Go sit down." He glared after them as they went to their seats. Anko had rolled her eyes, TenTen had pouted, and Ino had opened her mouth as if to argue but then changed her mind.
Once they were all seated, Iruka sighed and said, "Now. You have all graduated into the ranks. Congratulations. From here, you start out at the lowest rank - Genin. The Genin gathered here today will now be separated into three-man squads. Each squad will be led by a Jounin-ranking instructor who will help them accomplish their first missions."
He started listing off the teams from a sheet of paper, and seemed to place special emphasis on Teams Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten.
"Team Seven: Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Akimichi Chouji." All boys. Naruto shouted out in annoyance at being teamed up with Sasuke.
"Team Eight: Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata." The only girl was Hinata. All of them seemed neutral to their assigned team.
"Team Nine: Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Nara Shikamaru." All boys. Shikamaru complained and Lee shouted enthusiastically.
"Team Ten: Mitarashi Anko, Yamanaka Ino, Hanakiri TenTen." Iruka looked up hesitantly, as if expecting an argument.
But far from an argument, the girls looked... excited? TenTen's eyes had widened as a beam filled her face, Ino looked surprised but satisfied, and a slow gleeful grin was working its way toward Anko's entirely vicious eyes.
"This," she said, "is going to be great."
They all sat in a circle and had lunch together at the nearby park. They had one hour to eat lunch, before they had to head back to their Academy classroom to meet with their Jounin instructor. In a show of good faith, Anko shared her lunch with the other girls.
"This is going to be great. A team of all girls," said Anko decisively.
"You bet it is!" TenTen enthused.
"And I think we should unanimously elect me the leader," Anko added, lifting her chin.
"Uh. Excuse me? No," Ino replied.
"No way!" TenTen agreed, frowning. "I'm the sanest one; I should lead."
"Sanity is relative," said Ino, scoffing.
"It's also not a good indicator of being a good ninja," Anko added in a mutter.
"What do you mean?" Ino and TenTen asked in confusion.
"When we get back to the classroom to meet the Jounin, I'll show you," Anko promised.
Sure enough, the Jounin were just one long, male parade of insanity.
Sarutobi Asuma was a lazy cigarette addict.
Gekkou Hayate was thin and sickly.
Morino Ibiki was a massive, bald, scowling muscle-head.
Hatake Kakashi never showed up.
Maito Gai wore a green spandex body suit and orange leg warmers, had an incredible bowl cut, and kept shouting enthusiastically about "the power of youth."
"So that's where Lee got it from," said TenTen.
Anko and Ino were laughing over the look on Shikamaru's face as he stared at Gai, until a thought occurred to Ino. "What will our Jounin instructor be like?" All three girls wilted in dread, wincing.
But when a tall, glamorous dark-haired woman walked in and called out, "Team Ten?" it wasn't as bad as they'd thought it would be. They perked up, hurrying over to her.
"Sensei, I'm easily the most amazing person on this team!" said Anko, leaning forward aggressively.
"I'm ready for my close up!" Ino struck a pose, smirking.
"I'm so excited to be taught by a cool older woman!" said TenTen, fists in front of her face, stars in her eyes.
Kurenai sweat dropped.
Kurenai took the three girls out for milkshakes at a nice cafe. They sat outside underneath an umbrella, the wind buffeting their hair.
"Okay," said Kurenai, "here's how this works. We each go around in a circle and introduce ourselves to each other. Once we've done introductions, I'm supposed to put you guys through a second test. If you do not pass this test, you will be sent somewhere else, either back to the Academy or into the reserves. If you do pass, you will get to stay an active-duty Genin with hopes of advancing."
"So we've got to win this test," said Ino, clenching her cup determinedly.
TenTen's eyes had widened.
"I thought that Genin test was just a little too easy..." Anko muttered. "What?" she added at their stares. "It was! We just show our proficiency at one ninjutsu and we're allowed to be ninja? What about all the other stuff we'd practiced over the years?"
"Exactly," said Kurenai. "This second test will be much harder. But I have faith in you. I think you will pass and be allowed to remain my Genin."
My Genin. It had a nice ring to it.
"So, I'll go first. My name Yuuhi Kurenai. I like trying new wine and reading scientific nonfiction. I dislike idiots and bad parents."
"The two often coincide," her Genin noted dryly, in tandem.
"Well," Kurenai smiled, "quite. My dream is to prove myself as a strong ninja to the people I love."
"I'm Yamanaka Ino. I like shopping and flowers. I dislike fakers who pretend to be friends and my own tendency toward indecisiveness. My dream is to fall in love and be a strong kunoichi."
"That's mine," said TenTen immediately.
"Mine too," said Anko, shrugging.
"Even the fall in love part, Anko?" TenTen asked in surprise.
"What? I'm allowed to be a girl if I want to," said Anko defensively, blushing. "Anyway, I'm Mitarashi Anko. I like good food, good tea, and tea ceremony. I dislike traitors, hypocrites, and spineless people. My dream has already been said."
"And I'm Hanakiri TenTen. I like trying out new religions, plotting astrology charts, and reading tarot cards. I also really admire strong older kunoichi as role models, which is why I want to be one someday. I dislike people who give up easily. My dream's already been said, too."
"Alright," said Kurenai. "Very good. Now, our milkshakes are done and so are our introductions, so let's get to the Genin test, shall we?" The girls all sat forward eagerly, ready to prove themselves, and Kurenai suppressed a smile.
"You will be sent on a treasure hunt around the village. First, you will go to a certain teahouse, the address of which I will give you, and show your infiltration abilities by pretending to be geisha. If you can pass as geisha for one client, you will be given a red ticket by the head of the teahouse.
"Next, you will sneak up on your old Academy instructor, Umino Iruka, as he's walking home from work. If you can sneak up on him, entrap him, and then defeat him, he will give you a second red ticket. Be sure to remember this: you must defeat him using a combination of taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu. You also must successfully enact a trap against him. And you must use stealth sometime during the fight. Otherwise, it won't count.
"You will take these two red tickets to a menagerie, the address of which I will also give you. There, you will trade in your two red tickets for a rabbit, one with specific black markings to make it recognizable. Be warned: I am an illusions specialist and will know if you try to pass off an ordinary rabbit for the correct one.
"Your job is to take the rabbit around the village, in a pattern labeled on a map I will give you. There will be markers along this route, with little scraps of paper you will have to take up to show you passed that point. If you can meet me just inside the gates of the village, with the marker papers and the rabbit, by eight o'clock tonight, you will pass into Genin.
"Here's a side note: You can just go the quick way to the gates, without taking up the markers. But if you don't get the markers, you will be deemed only adequate, whereas if you go around the village to get the markers, you will be deemed excellent.
"Any questions? Good. Go. You'll need all the time you can get."
Her new Genin all leaped up in a blur of speed and disappeared.
Author's Note: I actually have the first six chapters of this story already written. If you want to read more, the link to my archiveofourown page is on my profile.
Expect another update in two weeks' time.