Chapter 2

AN: I just wanna say thanks for the 2 reviews I have so far, it feels good to get some positive feedback for trying something new. Friaku: Let me just say that you're likely to be surprised by the Abata clan's techniques...which I'll tease you all about for a few chapters. I'm still working out the mechanics for how it would work exactly. With that said though, I'm actually debating if I should kind of revamp the whole Naruto world with ninja's that scream and run at people(. Not very ninja-like) or leave it more or less the same and deviate with my chosen clan and friends. Thoughts? Suggestions? Don't forget to review people. Gimmie ideas!

Naruto sat across from Kai at the large table they had secured at the Gilded Swan, a joke from Kakeru-sama. Grins lay across all of the youngsters faces. Kai and Naruto elated that the next day they would meet their jounin-sensei, the others excited for the two youths accomplishment. The older members of the family sat to the left of the kids, smiling and talking amongst themselves as they let the younger ones enjoy themselves for the moment. The sounds of conversations filled the large room they had rented out for the occasion, the noise volume loud enough that the owner of the restaurant had to begrudgingly activate the privacy seal to prevent the rest of his diners from having their dinners interrupted by the jovial shouting and joking going on.

"SEE! I TOLD YOU I'D PASS! I'm pretty sure I set a record too! 3 lethal shots on the chunin-teacher in like 10 seconds. You should have seen the look on his face. He was soooo pissed." Naruto shouted to Kai as he ate his food with abandon; the adults not correcting his lack of behavior merely because his antics amused them.

Kai shook his head and laughed at his brother in all but blood. "You would have if I hadn't gotten him 5 times with my Seishin. He was weak in Taijutsu. I think he was a genjutsu specialist by the way he carried himself. No idea what to do against my techniques." Grinning Kai broke the news to his buddy. "Don't worry though I heard the judges talking about loop holes to try and fail you...so I may have put that douch-bag through the judges table. I wish you could have seen the look on their faces when they had to pull the idiot out of the wood. It was priceless."

"Kaisui Abata, watch your language young man!...and you know better than to use a clan technique during the exam. The only reason they didn't fail you is because you used Seishin for Taijutsu...which is technically acceptable as the Hyuga and Uchia use their Dojutsu for combat as well." Mihane chastised her son with a stern voice, despite the small smile she fought from her features at hearing her son defend Naruto.

"Yes mom." Kai returned in a small voice, looking adequately chastised, if one ignored the smirk on his face.

A voice broke through the noise as Kakeru stood up with his glass in hand. Tapping the side of the glass for attention the older male waited for the asembly to pay attention before continuing. "Everyone, I propose a toast. To the two youngsters we have watched grow from diaper wearing poop factories to honorable young men who do nothing less than make us proud to be in the same clan. To the heir and the blond knucklehead upholding the Abata clan honor and wiping the floor with morons. To the prankster and his best friend! To the genin sitting before us all, now on the long road to showing the village what elite jounin look like when they're wet behind the ears! To Naruto Uzumaki-Abata and Kaisui Abata, Once my students, but always my family." Kakeru spoke with amusement in his voice despite the slight catch in his voice towards the end. His eyes focused on Naruto as he spoke of family.

Nothing was said about the moisture that collected in the wide eyes of the blonde youth as the meaning washed over him. Glasses all around were raised and sips were taken. It was a family affair.

The next day found Naruto and Kai in the old classroom for the last time before they left the academy behind entirely. Neither wanted to teach so this would be the last time they were anything but visitors. Violet and cerulean eyes took in for the last time the chalk board and podium behind which their teacher stood. Iruka-sensei was currently explaining how they genin would be meeting their jounin-sensei. "On each of your desks there is a training field number. You will head out to that field when I dismiss you to meet your team and your jounin-sensei."

Clearing his voice Iruka smiled at his youngsters with pride as he spoke his goodbye. "This is the last thing I will tell you as your teacher, as from now on you're no longer my problem to deal with." A few of the students chuckled at Iruka's joke. "Now you're off to bug the crap out of some of our villages elite as they try to teach you what you need to be successful. It will be dangerous. Learn what you can, keep your eyes and ears, and most importantly minds open and hopefully enough will stick that I will call you my equal in a few years time. Some of you may even advance further than I in the ninja ranks...but always remember I gave you the foundation you needed to stand that tall...so no picking on your old sensei." With a wink at the youths, Iruka pulled out a box of headbands and lay them on the table before him. "I want you to line up so I can put your headband on you. It's somewhat of a tradition with my classes."

The group lines up, messily, and walked forward one at a time for iruka-sensei to tie the headbands across their foreheads befor returning to their seats. Iruka smiled the whole time whispering words to each as he did so. When Naruto arrived Iruka merely shook his head as he fastened the ninja marked upon the blondes head. "You will be something great one day. I know I've not been the best teacher for you, and others even tried to hold you back...but you've proven us all wrong. Time and again you've shown me what the will of fire is, reminded me what it means to be a shinobi. Good luck Naruto, I expect much from you."

Naruto grinned brightly at his teacher and walked back to his seat, noticing that both his and Kai's headband had a similar distinction from the rest of the markers; their metal bands had been powdered coated to a dull matte black unlike the shines the rest of the genin's held. Quirking a brow at Kai he wondered if that meant something.

As the assembled genin stood waiting their dismissal Iruka merely smiles at the lot of them. "I have only one more thing to pass onto each of you. Remember you're village and your comrades. You walk out of this room as true ninja of Konoha. Walk with pride." Gesturing to the door, Iruka watched as the group began to pile out to find the training grounds they needed to go to.

Kai punched Naruto in the arm and then through his arm around his shoulders. "Aight lazy I'm off to training ground 37, what about you?" Holding the slip out Naruto let Kai read his slip; it read "37".

Shaking his head in amusement Naruto smelled Mihane's touch all over the coincidence. "So what are the odds of that? I'd say almost as great as me ending up in your class when your mom adopted me into the Abata clan."

Smirking Kai couldn't argue with Naruto's words, he did have a point. "Yup I'm betting my mom pulled strings to keep us in the same squad. Cool though, we're officially squad mates!"

"Um...aren't clan members usually put in different squads? Why would we be allowed to be in the same squad?...I didn't think that was allowed"

Kai shrugged as he responded, guessing at what he thought the answer was. "Usually they're not, but you're adopted into the clan, so you don't use out techniques. I'm pretty sure the reason clan members don't end up in the same squad is to allow for diversity amongst the squads...and since you're not using Abata clan techniques, there's no reason to hold the same standard."

Pausing as the two made their way to training ground 37 Naruto had to admit it did make sense.

The two arrived at the training ground only to find it wasn't what they expected. Instead of a large wide open field like many of the others set aside for ninjutsu specialists, they found what looked like a series of obstacle courses all tied together in weird ways.
They couldn't make heads or tails of where one would enter and exit, but the closest thing they could make to the structures connected by wires and poles with walls and roofs and other such features seemingly tacked on was that it looks like an obstacle course. Glancing around they saw another youth waiting against a near by tree, apparently also trying to figure out what the structures were as he seemed to stare at the wooden and stone field with mild confusion.

He stood with a large forst green trench coat covering much of his features, arms crossing his chest as he lazed against the tree; hints of elaborate looking arm guards peaking from underneath the long sleeved of the coat; black in color with oddly raised bumps running along the matte black finish. Just barely visible if one looked closely. High necked trench was lain with the lapels flat, wide swaths of cloth that seemed to reach the shoulder of the youngster. A dark gray shirt could be seen beneath the trench, laden with pouches and pockets attached with a molly strip system. Matching trousers and boots were offset only by a dark red trim that mirrored an odd pattern across the jacket. Died green hair lay unkempt across the male's features, hanging across eyes covered by orange tinted shades. His lips were pursed with boredom. He'd clearly been waiting a while.

Head tilted when he heard Kai and Naruto approach, his face turning towards them. "Yo. I'm guessing you're my squad-mates." Pushing off of the tree the green clad male made his way to the others. Extending his hand towards Kai he greeted the other jovially. "I'm Ioshin, but you can call me Shin. I'm hopin our Jounin-sensei gets here soon cuz I'm waiting to kick this party off." Kai admired the odd blades that ran across the youths fingers as he shook his hand; careful not to cut himself. The arm guards covered a pair of matching metallic gloves with a single plate of metal sewn into the back of the hand and an odd metal frame built across each finger that lead down into a mock fingernail that looked very sharp.

"Hey, I'm Kaisui, and this here's Naruto. You can call me Kai and you can call him trouble." Grinning Kai glanced at Naruto as he joked only to see the blonde roll his eyes at his best friends antics.

After shaking both Kai and Naruto's hands he took a step back to look at their gear; after all one had to have spiffy threads.

The black haired youth wore fingerless black gloves that tucked into a long sleeved shirt that seemed mottled in color. It was a spray of shades of dark gray black and dark green with a little burnt-orange thrown in, at Naruto's insistence. Matching trousers tucked into black boots which were bound at the ankle by metal clasps which were powdered black. Upon his hips he had two pouches set across his belt which held his kunai and shuriken while the lower back was sewn in with odd holsters which held what looked like a plethora of slim scrolls tucked in safely.

Naruto took Shin's hand as he commented "Just ignore Kai here, he thinks he's funny, but he's too dumb to realize how bad his jokes are. It's a pleasure to meet you Shin." Trailing off for a second Naruto absently wondered aloud. "I wonder what our squad specialization will be...Really it depends on our jounin-sensei, but we all look like competent fighters and unless you're a tracker type then we're lacking that all together...Kai and I are trained at tracking but we don't have any advantages there other than knowledge and experience...and we're both garbage at genjutsu..."

Shin answered the rhetorical question absently as he took in Naruto's new look. "Well I'm actually trained in hunter-nin tactics and tracking, though I'm still learning a lot...so most likely either a response squad, hunter squad, or infiltration squad. I specialize in disabling techniques as my father trained me and he was a hunter nin...so you're guess is as good as mine. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

The blond was now decked out in a similar style to Kai though with the Uzumaki flare thrown in. He wore a dark burnt-orange short sleeved shirt with a pair of fingerless gloves, odd blades sewn into the gloves between his fingers so that they curved out and ended just passed the first join of his middle finger. Each blade was curved so that they would be a present factor when either grappling or striking. A soft wire mesh undershirt lay beneath his clothing as it broke up the coloration of the boys tanned skin. Across his shoulders lay a knee length coat with the sleeved ripped off, mottled gray, black, blue, and orange in color for camouflage. Across the back of the coat was the Uzumaki swirl in a dark blood red. On his hips we wore two pouched, and presumably he had matching scrolls across the small of his back. Dark gray trousers tucked into matching boots, fasteners and all. Over top of the jacket he word was a three point harness that kept a small pack nestled against the male's left side, a single toggle fastener keeping the pouch flap locked down and hiding the contents.

"Ahem" A soft voice broke their conversation as the three boys turned to look at a large figure that seemed to simply one moment exist beside them all.

He stood towering over the teens before him, long brown hair tied back into a ponytail managed by a series of leather thongs. Lightly tanned skin marred by several scars across his rather intimidating visage; one scar bisecting his left brow from his forehead to just below his left temple, the thin white line raised slightly as though it didn't heal properly. Piercing green eyes regarded the genin before him with a serious gaze, taking in every detail about each of them seemingly in an instant before moving on to the next. A thin black shirt was left bare at the elbows with wire netting covering the joints as the ends tucked into fingerless black gloves. Seemingly intermittently sewn into the shirt where a series of overlapping shuriken, held securely but designed for easy removal for utility-sake running both along the top and bottom of the large male's forearms. Atop the shirt a dark olive colored vest deviated from the standard jounin design in that it wasn't thick and bulky; instead the material was thin and sewn with small matte back metal plates at various important spots, the kidneys, lungs, and heart. Strategically placed along the vest were molly strips which allowed for small pouches to be secured with ease. Two weapons rested against the jounin's lower back, the sheaths made of soft cloth with a wire meshed edge to prevent the blades from slicing through the silent-draw harness. The blades were thick and heavy looking with a spiked guard along the handle, the curve of the blade reminding one more of a butchers knife than a shinobi weapon. Dark gray trousers, almost black, adorned the older male's legs having been tailored to sit snugly across the muscular thighs of the imposing figure. Upon each thigh a small pouch was fastened using a similar molly strip design, presumably full of ninja gear. Three such pouches lay across the outside of each leg. Matching boots bloused the legs of the trousers, fastened with matte black metal bands which, like every other piece of metal, had been powdered to absorb light rather than reflect. Over all an impressive figure, the full extent of which was lost upon Kai shouting "Cousin! You're our Sensei! Sweet this is gonna be fun, Abata clan taken ass and kicken names!"

Diaki face-palmed at his younger cousins elation. "Kai-kun, you do realize this isn't a game. I'm not going to be going easy on you like when we play Ninja-Tag. This is life or death. I'm going to take the three of you and shape you into hardened killers. Night-warriors the likes of which this village has never seen. We need to make an impression as the Abata clan is still new to Konoha, and you're the genin heir. We're gonna make the other squads look like a bunch of pussies if I have my way...and I WILL have my way. So get ready to hurt. Get ready to bleed. Get ready to be beaten until you break so I can build you back up into the best I can."

Kai grinned at his cousin and nodded slightly, a sadistic gleam appearing in his eyes at the remark of making the others look like pussies. "Cousin, I like the way you think. Let's start this. After all the three of us don't have all year to become chunin." Conviction and determination laced his declaration of the timetable for their promotion, the sentiment was matched by both of the youths by his side.

Diaki spoke softly as he expected them to listen. "You all were hand picked for a reason. Mihane thinks that each of your skill sets will compliment each other quite well. Now I'm supposed to give you a test to make sure you know what it means to be a shinobi...but I've seen all of you in action; it would be a waste of all of our times. So instead I'm going to have a team skill assessment. I want the three of you to come at me with the intention to kill me. Don't hold back or I'll stop going easy on you. I need to see both how good you all are individually, as well as how well you all work together as a team. With no training I'll get a better feel for the chemistry you guys are going to naturally have. Then with training I'll make you into a force that is far stronger than any of you three alone...the assessment begins...now"

With that said Diaki jumps back away from the youths, landing amongst the odd obstacle course to stand sideways upon one of the walls. Arms crossing his chest as he waited to see how coordinated his students could be on the fly. A sadistic smirk crossing his face.

AN: Cliffy, mostly because I want to hold off on showing the Seishin for another chapter. Though it WILL be in the next chapter during the fight. I'll wait to explain why it's super awesome for a few chapters after that :D

Read and review. Hit me with suggestions, ideas, and critiques. Gimmie gimmie gimmie! ~Jester