A.N: So I found a decent name for this Fic: Toy Kunai's and Chapter Two is up! Didn't have anything else to waste my time on (Except perhaps studying for the upcoming tests…) so I decided to continue this. This Chapter the teams will be chosen that's for sure.
"Word" = Talking
Word = Narration
"Word" = Thought & Reading
"Word" = Jutsu
-o-
Choosing the Teams!
It's been one month since the Academy started and Josuke was once again trying to talk to the Hyūga; his previous attempts were… somewhat interrupted.
But this time, he took the necessary precautions.
First: Telling Naruto that Sakura had lost interest in Sasuke, he'd have to apologize to Sakura later for that one.
Second: Leaving Akamaru behind at Kiba's house so said person would spend the day searching him, he'd have to apologize to Kiba and Akamaru for that one.
Third: Convincing Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji that they needed more practice on their Ino-Shika-Chou combination, no apologize needed for that one.
And now, Josuke was in his usual seat in the back-left of the class, shifting closer to the girl on his right.
"So… Y-You're Hinata… right?" Since Josuke had no idea how to talk to girls, he was just improvising and hoped for the best.
She turned her head and Josuke tried to contain his blush, again, but failed… again. However, if Hinata had noticed, she said nothing about it.
Instead, she gave a shy nod and responded "Yes, Hinata Hyūga… Um, forgive me asking but… How did you know my name?"
This struck Josuke like a ton of bricks; he couldn't tell her the truth: That he asked the Sensei for her file, because that would sound… What's the word?
Stalker? Yeah, that sounded about right.
So, to not make a fool of himself, he responded cooly "I uh… I-I heard it from… places... Yeah"
Being the horrible liar that he is, he looked up to the roof as he said that.
But if Hinata had noticed that was a lie, she said nothing.
Josuke was regretting starting this conversation, he didn't know what to say or how to say it and to top it all off, he was blushing. But determined, he kept on.
"I-I heard that the H-Hyūga's were a very s-strong clan, is that true?" "Yes, good job, keep going like that, Josuke. You're doing great!" His mouth said words while his brain was motivating him.
Those motivating words immediately turned to slaps on the face as he saw Hinata hang her head low. "No! What did I do wrong? Was it something I said?! Damn it Josuke, you idiot!"
Hinata forced a weak smile on her face "Yeah, most of the clan members are really strong"
"Okay, boy. Time to turn this around, say something positive!"
"I bet you're really strong, right?" "Good! Like that"
The weak smile on Hinata's face faded almost instantly "N-No… I'm not that strong"
"Okay, touchy subject, try something else; maybe her family?"
Josuke looked to his desk and tried again "Oh, I see. What about your parents? They must be great people if you turned out like this!"
A few tears started pooling in Hinata's eyes. Now Josuke was no expert on woman, but he knew that this conversation was going worse than a drunken sailor with a shotgun at the Artic.
"I-I mean uh…!" "Josuke! Say something comforting! Don't be such a pansy!"
He was running out of idea quickly, so he just said what was on his mind.
"I-I like your eyes…!"
"… Really? That's the best thing you can think of?"
Hinata wiped off the small tears and gave a shy smile "T-Thank you, uh… What was your name?"
Finally, things weren't looking so horrible for Josuke and giving a big grin, "My name is Josuke Kazuko!"
The atmosphere around them turned into a happy and calm one until…
"Josuke! Have you seen Akamaru anywhere? I can't find him!" There it was…
Kiba had appeared out of nowhere and had startled both Josuke and Hinata, ending the calm part of that atmosphere.
Josuke looked around; faking innocence "I… have no idea where he is"
Giving a disappointed moan, Kiba continued his search, in vain.
Just as Josuke was about to say something else, Iruka's voice sounded through the classroom.
"Okay! Today we have the Taijutsu test and after that, the final test to pass to Genin, which is, of course, the Clone Jutsu. So Good luck to all of you."
"But for now, let's go outside for the Taijutsu test, everyone follow me please!"
X-X-X-X-X
Outside there was a large circle on the floor drawn out of chalk, which is where the Test will be taken.
Iruka opened his booklet and announced "First off: Uchiha Sasuke V.S Uzumaki Naruto!" But you all know how that story goes.
Thirty seconds later
Naruto was on the floor with Sasuke pinning him down, like always.
"Winner: Uchiha Sasuke!" Is what Iruka would've said if Sasuke's fangirls weren't shouting and yelling, supporting the lone Uchiha for winning.
Re-opening the booklet, the next fighters were called: "Aburame Shino V.S Kazuko Josuke!"
Kiba elbowed his best friend lightly in the ribs, to wake him up; since Josuke was sleeping standing up, again.
Slightly annoyed at being woken up (He was dreaming of swimming in a giant Ramen Cup), Josuke made his way to the circle, where he crossed eyes with the… sun-glasses of the 'Bug Boy'.
"Alright then… Begin!"
Shino was the first to react, since Josuke was still drowsy from his nap.
The Aburame stretched his arms out and hundreds of small insects came pouring out of his sleeves, flying towards their destination: Josuke.
However, Josuke was aware of what was happening and dodged to the sides, avoiding the insects.
He jumped up and made some hand seals, "Air Style: Raging Winds Multiplied Jutsu!" He joined his hands and pushed his palms forward. "This will take care of those insects"
Out of his palms came a ferocious wind that killed all the bugs that were in the way.
Shino was also in the way but he managed to jump towards the left to stay safe, Josuke landed and dashed forward towards the Bug Boy.
He sent a powerful kick towards Shino, as the foot connected with his right side, Josuke felt like he was stuck.
Effectively, Shino's body had disappeared into a swarm of bugs that were now latching onto Josuke's leg.
"A bug clone? That's new…" Making the hand signs again, he blew off most of the insects; the ones that remained were sucking the chakra out of him.
Shino appeared behind him and placed a hand on Josuke's shoulder without said kid knowing.
The hand quickly disappeared as another swarm of insects came rushing out, covering Josuke's shoulder area and then quickly moving to cover most his body.
"I win" Shino's cold - and bored – voice was soft, barely audible but Iruka managed to hear it.
Lifting a hand and opening his mouth, Iruka declared Shino the winner: "Winner: Aburame Shi-"
"Not yet!" Interrupting Iruka's voice came Josuke's one from beneath the bugs.
Josuke disappeared in a cloud of smoke that dissipated to reveal a tree log. The real Josuke appeared above Shino and connected his fists, sending them down on the Aburame's head with force.
The effect was instantaneous; Shino fell forward and landed on the ground as the insects flew back to him to aid their master.
Josuke landed outside the circle, fixing his glasses and showing a winning grin as the insects lifted Shino. (A.N: Don't ask how that works, it just does)
Iruka looked over the scene and declared "Winner: Aburame Shino!"
"What?! But I left Shino unconscious! That's the rule!" Josuke, along with most of the class, was confused.
But of course, Iruka ignored him, "You're outside the circle"
The insects had been giving Shino the chakra that was stolen from Josuke so he managed to stand up. "I was not unconscious, Your blow wasn't strong enough to make it so"
Josuke stood still, processing what just happened: He thought he knocked Shino out, but there he was; standing like nothing.
He looked down to his feet and saw that, effectively, he was outside the circle, and since the battle wasn't technically over…
"But that's…! Hah?"
Iruka read through the booklet and announced "Next fighters: Kazuko Hidenori V.S Haruno Sakura! Josuke, get back in the crowd with the rest"
Still confused, Josuke walked back to the crowd, where Kiba was trying his best not to laugh, apparently, neither of them took attention to the names of the next fighters
X-X-X-X-X
"Winner: Kazuko Hidenori!" Sakura was on her knees outside the circle, face in her hands mumbling "Curse that Naruto! Giving me support! He kept distracting me with his annoying voice!"
But of course, Naruto was oblivious to what she felt and walked up to her anyway.
"Don't worry, Sakura-Chan. I think you did a great job!"
In the middle of the crowd, Kiba woke up Josuke - who was napping - and whispered to him, "Hey, that kid comes from the same clan you do"
Josuke opened his eyes and shrugged, "Nah, you probably need to get your ears checked, my clan's pretty small, so I doubt someone else from my clan would be in the same class. It's unlikely"
He closed his eyes again and tried to resume his nap.
Kiba elbowed him again, urging him to stay awake. "I'm from the Inuzuka clan! My hearing is about ten times better than yours"
But Josuke wasn't really in the mood to listen, still a bit mad about his lost match; he closed his eyes again and tried his best to ignore his friend.
After a few failed attempts to keep Josuke awake, Kiba gave up, and sighing, he put his attention back to the test where Iruka was announcing the next fighters.
"Hyūga Hinata V.S Akimichi Chouji!"
Almost immediately, Josuke opened his eyes "Hinata? Finally, I'll be able to see her strength! Wait, who else is fighting?"
Chouji walked towards the circle, smiling towards his group of friends: Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba and Josuke.
"NOOOO! If Chouji fights, I have to support him! But I kinda want Hinata to win… What should I do?"
As he mentally argued with himself, Iruka announced the start of the fight.
Shikamaru and Kiba were supporting Chouji while Ino and Sakura were with Hinata. Josuke was still mentally arguing.
"But he's my friend! I have to support him! But I want Hinata to win!"
"Partial Multi-Size Jutsu!" Josuke snapped out of his thoughts for a second as he saw Chouji's hand grow at least five times its original size and rush towards Hinata.
"Look out, Hinata!" His voice came out before he knew what he said, and when he did realize what he said, he pulled his shirt over his head to cover his embarrassed blush and to avoid the stares of his friends, mostly Ino.
In the safeness of the inside of his shirt, he kept his mental dispute
"What the hell?! Why did I do that? Because I want Hinata to win? Probably. Great, now Chouji thinks I'm rooting against him. I'm not! Chouji, I'm not rooting against you. I swear!"
He pulled himself out of the shirt and was thankful to see that they had stopped paying attention to him.
But suddenly "Winner: Akimichi Chouji!"
Chouji's hand went back to normal size and Hinata was struggling to stand up again, outside the circle.
The first thought that went through Josuke's head in that moment was: "Go help her up you idiot!" Not really thinking, he ran straight towards her and helped her up.
"Josuke, what are you doing….?"
Josuke almost dropped her when he heard Iruka's voice, as the Sensei was eyeing him strangely.
"Uh… J-Just helping out a classmate. Nothing else, Iruka" He gave a nervous laugh and finished helping Hinata, to then walk back to the crowd.
Ino was standing next to Sakura and both of them were smirking at him knowingly. Josuke didn't want to hear what they thought about this strange event involving the optimist Kazuko and the shy Hyūga
"Shut up…!" He said blushing to both of them as he walked past them.
The two girls started laughing while Josuke tried his best to repress the blush.
X-X-X-X-X
Class was almost over and Ino and Sakura were not letting Josuke forget about what he did. Hinata was acting indifferent to the whole thing, because to her, it was just an innocent show of help.
"Alright, before class is over, we'll have the final test to pass to Genin, I hope all of you pass. I'm looking at you, Naruto" Iruka was glaring at Naruto for everyone knew that he was the only one that couldn't master the Clone Jutsu yet.
Naruto - on the other hand – was smiling. He was too overconfident.
The students formed a line and one by one they showed their Clone Jutsu. Some were better than others, but bottom line; most students passed.
One of those who didn't pass was Naruto, who was currently pouting angrily in his seat.
"Okay, I will have teams ready tomorrow; those who passed will meet me in room 3-E at 4:30 PM and those who didn't… In this one. Now, the headbands will be on my desk, grab one and you are dismissed!"
Josuke was the first one to run and get a headband before exiting the class, but he wasn't gonna leave just yet.
Before Josuke left, he decided to wait for Naruto just outside the Academy.
"Hey… Naruto, uh… How you holding up?" He decided on a comforting tone to help his friend.
But Naruto was still too optimist to care. "I don't care if I didn't become a Genin, I'll pass the test next time for sure! Believe it! Just you watch, Josuke, I'll become Hokage someday and surpass all of you"
His determination was a thing to admire for sure, so Josuke laughed a bit and wished his blonde friend luck
X-X-X-X-X
Josuke was jumping towards his house, ready to tell his parents that he passed the test to Genin.
He burst open the door and announced: "I did it! I passed the test to Genin!"
Mother and Father were sitting on the table, playing with some cards which they immediately dropped upon hearing the good news.
"Good for you, Josuke!" They were both congratulating him repeatedly as Josuke sat down and thought "There is nothing that can bring me down now. I've finally become a Ninja!"
The family of the three spent the rest of the day celebrating by going to different places in Konoha and just having fun.
But, like everything good, it came to an end too soon and they were back home before they knew it. Josuke went straight to bed, waiting impatiently for the next day.
X-X-X-X-X
The rays of sun filtered through the curtains as Josuke woke up and searched his room for his glasses.
He looked outside and smiled as he put on his regular clothes and his newly acquired headband. Leaving a note on the table that said that he was leaving for school, he kept thinking "I'm a Ninja! I'm a Ninja! I'm a Ninja!"
Too happy to think straight, he ran back to his room and jumped out the window, heading towards Ichiraku Ramen.
He didn't care if he woke up late today, since; after all, the teams were chosen at 4:30 PM, so he had plenty of time to waste, and time wasted eating is hardly considered a waste, at least in Josuke's opinion.
As he neared the Ramen shop, he saw Chouji sitting on one of the stools, eating… Like always.
"Hey Chouji!"
Chouji spun around on his chair and greeted his old friend like usual. Josuke sat down next to him, ordering a plate of Ramen.
But Chouji was acting a little more… distant than usual, so Josuke started the conversation; he wanted to know what was wrong with him
"Chouji, you seem down, what's up?"
He said nothing, debating whether to ask or not. He decided to ask.
"Yesterday, were you rooting against me?" Josuke was not expecting that, but knew at what he was referring to: when he yelled 'Look out Hinata!'
For the Akimichi clan, friendship is important, very important, so since Chouji thought that Josuke was going against him, it was as if he was being betrayed.
Josuke started to blush, recalling the warning and managed to stutter out "N-No, of course not. I-I was just worried that someone would get hurt! I would never betray my friends!"
That explanation was vague at best, but it was enough.
He wasn't sure if that explanation actually did help, but after that; Chouji looked better, so after eating a bit more and begging Old man Teuchi to let them pay later, they left for the Academy, where they would finally find out their teams.
X-X-X-X-X
Since today was important, Josuke didn't take his usual seat at the back but instead next to Kiba, at the front.
Josuke didn't even notice that there was someone else where he was going to sit until he almost sat on top of him. "Hey, Josuke! Watch where you're sitting!"
Confused and surprised, Josuke turned to see the head of his spiky-blonde classmate, sporting his new headband, although it looked old.
"Naruto? Why are you here? I thought you failed"
Wanting to impress more than usual, Naruto told the story of how he and Iruka were attacked by Mizuki, another Jounin at the Academy but making it sound much more epic than it really was.
"…And then, I kicked Mizuki into a tree which broke in half. But he stood up and threw a giant Ninja Star at me, but I deflected it with one hand! It was awesome!"
Lies like that. Lies that Josuke believed.
After Naruto finished his story, he left to sit next to Sakura. "Come on, Josuke. You can't actually believe that he actually did all that stuff" Kiba was trying to convince Josuke that the story was a lie.
But as Josuke stayed firm, so did Kiba. "We're talking about a kid who couldn't even last a minute against Sasuke, even you can last a minute or two against him. You!"
"Ow…" Josuke put his hand to his heart and faked hurt, but still refused to believe Kiba.
"Okay, the story might be real, but there are some parts that you know couldn't be true. I mean, come on: Naruto back flipping into a tree to then impulse himself into Mizuki who exploded into a rainbow? There is no way you could believe that!"
Kiba kept on trying to convince Josuke, in vain until Iruka walked in, with a long piece of cloth surrounding his middle torso area.
That shut Kiba up.
"Kids, I will make this quick. I got into a… accident yesterday and I am supposed to be resting but first… The teams"
All the kids stayed silent while Iruka passed the names; some boys and girls groaned when they found out who their team was but the most annoying ones were Sasuke's fangirls.
Josuke wasn't really paying attention until he heard: "Team 9 will be made of: Hyūga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and…" Josuke looked up at Iruka hopefully.
"… Kazuko Josuke"
But even though Josuke seemed indifferent on the outside, inside he was nervous. The Hyūga girl? On his team? If he blushes and stutters when he just talks to her, how will he manage if they're on the same team?
He slowly turned his head to Kiba who was smiling victoriously.
"Hey… Kiba. Shouldn't we go… say Hello to our new teammate?" He whispered quietly enough, ignoring Iruka's voice who was announcing the next team ("Team 11 will be made of: Aburame Shino, Kazuko Hidenori and Kazuko Suki")
Kiba looked at him suspiciously, then at their new teammate, then back at Josuke and nodded. "You go…"
Meanwhile, in the back
Hinata was lost in her own thoughts "Aw, I'm not on Naruto's team… But at least I know one of my teammates…. "
As she looked forward to her new team at the front, Hinata realized something. "Wait… Wasn't he the one that said that he liked my eyes?"
She gave some thought and had a small smile "Well, I guess I could still make the most of it"
Back at the front
"I will pass each group a note written by your new Jounin Sensei's that will indicate in which class you shall meet tomorrow. Until then, I suggest you get to know your classmates"
X-X-X-X-X
Kiba was reading the note while Josuke made his way to the back of the class.
"Hey, so we're on the same team apparently. I'm Josuke… But you already knew that, didn't you…?" He let a small nervous chuckle and tried again.
"That down there is Kiba; he's reading the note from our Sensei. Her name is Kurenai and we'll have to meet tomorrow in the forest near the Academy" "Yeah, good job, Josuke. Just keep it under control"
Hinata nodded and gave a typical sweet smile "Okay, thank you" Josuke turned around to walk back to his friend, blushing. It was the first time he could talk to her without blushing!
He sat down next to Kiba and smiled, staring into the nothing.
"You seem happy, did something happen in the last fifteen seconds?" Kiba was confused when he saw Josuke sit down, giving a very dream-like smile.
He simply shook his head and stood up, leaving the classroom when he heard the bell.
X-X-X-X-X
It was the day after yesterday. Sitting on a log, Josuke was humming a happy tune while waiting for his team and Sensei to show up
Suddenly, he heard a loud explosion about twenty meters from his position. Without thinking, he ran straight towards it, he knew it might be out of his league but he wanted to make sure everything was alright.
Jumping from tree to tree, a branch appeared out of nowhere, hitting him in the face. He fell down to the ground and started hearing loud whispers.
The whispers were coming in from every direction and they were saying one word, but he was too shocked to understand it.
He knew that the whispers weren't going to cease, so after a while he tried to regain his calm, listening intently to the whispers.
"Genjutsu… Genjutsu…" Is what the whispers were saying, sure it would've been an easy thing to understand but with so many and at such a loud volume, he couldn't know until then.
Quickly putting two and two together, he deduced that this was, effectively, a Genjutsu.
He sighed; there was no way out of this. Of course he would be trapped in the thing he's worst at. It's his bad luck.
But, he tried anyway. Making the hand sign, he focused his chakra and tried his best to undo this.
His focus worked as he suddenly found himself lying on the floor, staring at the sky.
Sitting up abruptly, he said to himself "I did it? I had no idea I was this good at Genjutsu… Huh, learn something new every day I guess"
"What do you mean?"
Josuke almost jumped, he wasn't expecting someone to be behind him. He turned his head and saw Hinata sitting behind him with a confused look on her face.
Struggling to find words again, he stuttered out "H-How did you know I was here?"
"I saw you sitting on a log and then suddenly, you fell down. I activated my Byakugan and saw that your Chakra flow was messed up, so I hurried to help you"
Josuke nodded and replied softly "So… I was in a Genjutsu and… you undid it?"
Hinata nodded.
"So I am still bad at Genjutsu…"
She nodded again.
Josuke sighed and looked around, standing up abruptly "The explosion!"
"What explosion?"
He jumped onto a tree and scanned the area "I heard an explosion…" He stopped for a second and jumped down with an embarrassed look on his face. "That was part of the Genjutsu… Wasn't it?"
Hinata nodded for third time and Josuke hung his head low.
They spent a few more minutes waiting for Kiba to show up. Eventually, Josuke got bored and he started practicing his Taijutsu.
A loud bark came through the bushes and Akamaru jumped out of them, followed by Kiba. He had a worried look on his face and a part of his clothes were torn.
"Kiba! What happened to you?" Josuke had stopped training and had run towards him.
But Kiba wasn't listening; he looked from Josuke to Hinata for a bit and after a while he relaxed.
They made Kiba sit on the log and explain what happened.
"Well, I was making my way over here and I suddenly heard your voices. Not as if you two were talking, more as if you were being… tortured. So, naturally, I came here running and about ten meters back I found both your body's laying on the floor… Dead"
A few seconds passed until Josuke realized what had been said, and after he did realize, he asked Kiba a question.
"So, is that why you came running?"
Kiba nodded and turned to both of them "But after I regained my control I realized that there was no reason for anyone to torture a few Genin, much less kill them. But I was still worried… And right as I figured that out. You two… exploded into a bunch of cats…"
Josuke tried to hold back his laugh as that was what Naruto had said when he was telling the story of how he got his headband.
Kiba continued "And after that, I was sure it was a Genjutsu, so I dispelled it and ran straight forward, of course I was still a bit scared so I ran without thinking… Which explains my torn clothes"
But Josuke had stopped listening, he was thinking "Apparently, two of our team members were attacked by Genjutsu, so someone does want to attack us or… Someone's pulling a prank on us?"
As he was thinking, no one noticed another figure appear behind them. A tall woman with long wavy hair and a strange white outfit that looked like it was made out of cloths looked over the three.
"So scared from a few simple Genjutsu's? I thought my team could handle more" Her voice was teasing but caring at the same time, like an older sister.
Hinata and Kiba looked up to see the newcomer while Josuke jumped from the sudden voice.
As Josuke sat back straight, Hinata was the first to talk "So, you're our new Sensei?"
The woman nodded and smiled "My name is Kurenai Yuhi But you kids just call me Kurenai-Sensei"
Josuke looked at the woman up and down "Your clothes look weird" Apparently, Josuke was innocently honest.
She looked down at him and hit him lightly on the head. "Treat your superiors with respect!" This made Josuke flinch and hold his head, pouting.
Kiba, who had stayed silent until now, spoke up "Wait… Are you the one that put those Genjutsu's on us?"
The Sensei laughed "Looks like I have a smart one on my team. Yes, I put you three under my Genjutsu's to see if you could… handle it" She said the last part looking at Kiba, who frowned.
Ignoring his frown, she turned to face the whole team.
"I won't blab on about unnecessary things so I'll just go out with it. See that tree on the top of that hill?" She pointed towards a far-off hill in the West.
The three of them nodded.
"You'll have to make it up there today. Up there are two Bento's specially prepared with the best ingredients and with the most skilled hand, mine. There are only two so the one that does not make it up there in time or the last one to make up there will not have one"
Josuke and Kiba looked at each other as a silent competition formed in the silence.
"Well sorry, Kiba. Looks like today, you won't be able to eat." Josuke was pulling off a confident smirk as Kiba growled.
But Kiba also had the confident aura around him "Well we'll have to see who's the faster one; even though it's obviously me… I think I'll give the extra one to Akamaru" He started laughing as Kurenai hit him on the head.
"If you two keep talking, there won't be an extra one. While you two were talking about who'd make it first, I gave the order to start. See? Hinata's already got a head start on you two"
She pointed to the West and the two Genin turned to see Hinata's leaving figure jumping on the tree branches.
"Well I'll be the next one to get the head start!" Kiba ran off in Hinata's direction laughing evilly. "I suggest you get going, Josuke" Kurenai's voice made him remember that if he arrived last, he would have no food.
Jumping off at an incredible speed, Josuke chased after his teammates as Kurenai gave a small laugh.
"Let's see if they're able to actually make their way up there, with all those traps I put; it'll be fun to watch"
-o-
HOLY MOTHER TERESA ON THE HOOD OF A MERCEDES BENZ! ALMOST 5000 WORDS! This chapter was a bit longer than I anticipated since at the start I remembered that Taijutsu test that took place before they graduated and I think I spent a little too much time just writing down details.
As always, enjoy and review!
Bento = Lunch
Genjutsu = Mental illusion/technique
And with that, I say Goodbye c:
