Chapter 4: Team Troubles and a scar
Tsunade looked around sharply at the Chunin in front of her, fitting comfortably in her new bigger office. Her eyes went down to a sheet in front of her. "Okay, I'm just going to roll call to see if everyone is here. I'll say your name if I see you. Sasuke and Sakura…Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee…Ino and Shikamaru…Hinata, Kiba and Shino…Good. Okay so the only ones missing are Temari from Team 7 and Choji from Team 10. Okay, it's good. Now, where are the ninja from the snow? They said they'd come…Maybe they're late. Everyone, meet Kina Gent, she'll be on Sasuke's Team for the time being" she said with a stiff voice. A girl with short, practical purple hair and dark violet eyes, pale skin, sat down beside Sakura.
The teams were sitting down together at one end of the room and all of them practically fell out of their chairs when the apparently open door closed. As quiet as a leaf touching the ground, three ninja had entered the room, all masked. One had sunny yellow hair and eyes like the clearest oceans. Another ninja had blood red hair and gray-green eyes and a gourd on his back. Between the two, a good 3 inches shorter than the tall men, was a kunochi. She had long dark hair in a high ponytail, golden eyes any girl would feel envious of and a perfect body. All of them had a mask covering from their noses down. Their Snow headbands were tied tightly to their foreheads. Ino and Sakura scowled at the kunochi jealously.
The beautiful female Snow ninja stepped forward and bowed, setting her apart from her stiff companions. "Hello. You must be Tsunade-chan; I'm Luxuria-chan. Nice to me-"The woman was cut off when Sakura yelled "Do. Not talk to Master Tsunade that way! You are not on formal terms with her!" Luxuria's flashed dangerously, her dark hair tinting silver, and the two other ninja she came with, took a step forward. Everyone but Hinata, Tenten and Neji jumped to their feet, prepared for a fight but there was no point. The two ninja just grabbed Luxuria's shoulders and stood close behind her, letting her know of their presence.
Immediately her hair lost its silver and she smiled sweetly, as the Kohana ninja slowly sat back down. "I'm sorry, Pinky. Tsunade-sama" Luxuria corrected herself, clearly egging Sakura on. "Anyways, my name is Luxuria. These two ninja are… um…" She looked back at the two ninja. An eyebrow rose. The men glanced at each other and nodded. Luxuria pouted, and whined "So what was the point of wearing masks in the first place?" she sighed and pulled down her mask. "Where was I?" she asked as her companions pulled off their own masks. "These are my brothers: Naruto Uzumaki of the Leaf and Gaara Sabaku of the Sand." Everyone and I mean EVERYONE fell out of their chairs as the masks got pulled off.
Naruto's face, now sharper with age, was angelic. His jaw was defined and sharp; his eyes were gems of sapphire against caramel skin. His whiskers were darker against his skin and his fangs pricked at his bottom lip. His wild hair looked soft and long. Gaara was just as beautiful. His face looked like it was carved by the best artists in the world. His features were mysterious yet soft and flowing, as if the artist wanted him to last forever. His eyes were no longer dull, like they used to be, but bright with life. His skin looked like sand during dusk. But there was something about their eyes that the ninja hadn't remembered before. Though they were shining and bright they were hidden. Like closed and locked books…but Rookie 9 and Team Gia mouths were still open. Hinata's pale eyes were locked on Naruto taking him in, as was Sakura. While Kina and was staring at Gaara. Shizune was helping Tsunade off the ground as she screamed "Naruto?! Naruto Uzumaki?! And…and Gaara?!"
Naruto shrugged. "That's our names last I checked." He and Gaara sat down on seats as far away from the others as possible, leaving a seat between them for Luxuria. When she sat down, they each grabbed her hand and held it firmly; as if afraid she'd disappear. Sakura felt a flash of envy. 'She gets hot Naruto, drop-dead gorgeous Gaara and she beautiful. Damn her. I'll take both of them away from her and then take Sasuke. Sounds like a challenge' she thought. Tsunade blinked and went on.
"Um…anyways, not all of you are going. We only need those with certain skills, I'm sorry. Okay so the ninja who are going are: Naruto Uzumaki, Gaara, Rock Lee, Neji Hyuuga, Sasuke Uchiha, Shino Aburame, and Shikamaru Nara. The kunochi are: Luxuria Ivra, Kina Gent, Tenten, Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyuuga and Ino Yamanaka. Now we know Orochimaru is in the Sound so it's very dangerous. So we've made a storage room filled with things you can go as. We have everything from a Sound woman's outfit to a Sound ANBU. We've also prepared your bags, except for yours Snow ninja seeing as you already have them. Your bags are also in the room. Set off as soon as possible. That is all. Shizune will show you to the room. Remember your mission: Discover Orochimaru's plans and come back. Don't try to fight him. Now get out of my office" said Tsunade, laying her head on her desk tiredly.
Shizune stood up and walked out of the office while the other's followed. Luxuria's group came last so she could talk quietly to her brothers. "Naruto and Gaara: I know you've been solitary and I know it's hard. But try to get along with these Kohana people. Please. You're going to be working with them. And don't say you're afraid they won't like you because they will. Now, you two, be careful. I'm not sure I like the way that pink-haired girl was looking at you."
They entered the room and it looked like a department store. There was everything from wedding dresses to peasant's clothes. By the time they were done: Naruto, Sasuke and Neji were ANBU. Luxuria, Hinata and Ino were Kunochi. Rock Lee, Gaara and Shino were ninja. Shikamaru, Kina, Sakura were normal citizens and Tenten was a merchants daughter.
When it was time to go, Naruto and Gaara bee-lined to Luxuria, who sighed, and followed Tsunade outside to the gates of Kohana. Tsunade put her hands up for silence and said "Okay, before you go: When you get to the Sound, you must split up into groups of three. Luxuria, since you are the most skilled of them all, you are the leader until then. I suggest you get a…deputy if you will, from Kohana if they decide to reject your control. Now, get out of my village, right this instant!" The ninja nodded and disappeared, running at full speed out of the village.
With all 14 ninja running in a line, Luxuria could shout order to them. "Okay, so you heard her. I'm the leader. She also said I should get a 2nd in command. Unfortunately, it can't be Naruto-kun or Gaara-kun, so I'll have to choose one of you. Another unfortunate, it has to be a male, otherwise it would be Tenten!" When the weapons' mistress of Kohana looked confused Luxuria called "She sent me a scroll talking about all of your traits, so I know pretty much everything about you. Tenten, you're the fairest, strongest willed girl but it can't be you. So, Neji Hyuuga will be second in command. Why? Because Neji is the oldest, and hopefully, most mature, now, we're out of Kohana so there will probably be enemies. We'll stop in about 3 hours so I can make the teams. That's all!"
After 3 hours and half hour of running, Luxuria stopped in a clearing, and everybody but her, Naruto, Gaara and Lee fell to the ground panting. "I…I thought you said…only…3 hours….of running…that was…longer…" gasped Ino. Luxuria raised an eyebrow at her and waved her hand at Naruto. He nodded. "Training as a ninja, you must always be ready to use up more energy than thought. That's one of the lessons we learned as a snow ninja. Always keep some energy left. You guys, obviously, weren't taught the same things we were…" said Naruto in a disapproving voice but he gave Rock Lee an approving nod.
Tenten, Sakura, Neji and Sasuke's faces harden and they jumped to their feet stiffly. Hinata and Ino slowly followed. Gaara and Naruto smirked at each other and looked at Luxuria. "Lust-neechan, you said you were going to put the teams together?" asked Gaara. Luxuria looked up and nodded. "Oh yes. Okay, everyone sit down. Now, off the paperwork I read about you guys, and what I know about Gaara and Naruto-kun, that's how I'll place the teams but there are 14 of us so one team will have more than three. Before I do though there are two rules. One, protect your teammates with your lives. If they die, it's on your head. Two, work together. Even if you don't like each other, if you screw up rule two, you'll more than likely screw up rule one too. Now, the teams:
Team one: Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and me, Luxuria Ivra" she paused when Naruto and Gaara looked ready to protest but they stopped when she glared at them. "Team two: Naruto Uzumaki, Rock Lee, Hinata Hyuuga and Tenten…" Naruto and Gaara tried to protest again but they were stopped. "Team three: Shikamaru Nara, Shino Aburame, and Ino Yamanaka. Team four: Gaara, Kina Gent, and Neji Hyuuga. Now, I'll explain so quiet down brothers…"
Team one are together because Sasuke and Sakura are close, being on the same team and are good a genjutsu. Team two is together because they excel in fighting. Now, Hinata, I know you're not the best fighter in the world but you do have Byakugan which will allow you to see the enemies. Team three because you are the smartest. The strategists and Ino you can be both a distraction and a fighter. Team four because you pretty much level each other out. Gaara is the best at fighting, Neji is the smartest, and Kina is a mean genjutsu user. So everyone is square. You're all going to be depending on each other so get in your groups and get to know each other." When nobody moved, Luxuria glanced at Neji and scowled. "Now!" he ordered. Everyone got in their groups
"Okay, I want you names, age, specialty and what you like and what ticks you off. Now, who wants to go first?" Naruto said. Tenten immediately scowled, not liking being ordered around by someone who was younger than her and said "Why don't you go first? We all know each other to some limits but not you." Naruto actually smiled lightly at Tenten, liking how she stood up to him. Not many people would do that. With a chuckle he said "Cool; I'm Naruto Uzumaki, 18, my specialty is Shadow Clone Jutsu, and I like ramen, my special people and my siblings. I dislike people who hurt my special people, snobs and being hungry. You go next Bushy Brows." Hinata and Tenten, who had slim, trimmed eyebrows glanced at Rock Lee who looked overjoyed. "Me, really?! Yosh! My name is Rock Lee, I am of the age of 19 and my specialty is Taijutsu! I dislike nothing!! I like strong fighters, youthfulness and you, Naruto Uzumaki!!" he yelled. Hinata looked like a frightened rabbit, Naruto looked surprised and Tenten looked slightly annoyed. "Why must you feel the need to scream, Lee?" she asked with a sigh. Lee smiled big at the other teams, whom were looking at him with weird eyes. "Tenten, youthful flower of my and Neji's team, you should go next! Yosh!" Tenten sighed slightly, but her eyes were fond as she looked at Lee. "Fine, Lee; I'm Tenten, 19, my specialty is weaponry, I like my teammates, weapons and astrology. I dislike wind users, dull weapons and mean idiots. Hey, Hinata-chan, you talk now, okay?" she told the other girl softly. Naruto noted how gentle everyone was being to her and rolled his eyes. 'Great. I have a weakling on my team. She'll hold us back for sure' he thought, annoyed. When he looked back at his team, who had clearly seen him roll his eyes, Lee was holding Tenten back from slapping him and Hinata looked back at him stonily, her milky lavender eyes cold. "My name is Hinata Hyuuga, I'm 18, and my specialty is Byakugan. I like flowers, rivers and confident people. I dislike grudges, jerks and show-offs" she growled lowly, looking away. Naruto blinked, surprised. 'Wow. The shy girl has a temper. Hm…maybe she won't hold us back…too badly.' He smiled and stood up. "Okay guys, and gals, lets train, yes?" he asked softly. Hinata frowned at him with a distrusting look, Tenten mimicking her, but Lee jumped up and took the girls' arms pulling them away. "Yosh let us go! I shall show you my tremendous taijutsu skills!!"
Gaara stayed standing as he looked at his teammates. In a bored voice he said "Okay, truthfully, I don't care about you guys but I do care about Lust-neechan and Naruto-kun. So if you two screw up, they might get hurt. Thus, I need to know your names, weaknesses and strengths. Is that too hard? I'll go first. My name is Gaara of the Sand; my weakness is if the enemy is too strong and I'm forced to use my sand shield, it takes up a lot of chakra. My strength is that my sand protects me, and whoever I want it too, from enemies, without me having to do anything. You girl, you go next." Kina bit her lip to hold back a yell and said tensely "My name is Kina Gent. My weakness is my temper and my strength is genjutsu…" Gaara raised an eyebrow [-Yes, I know he doesn't have eyebrows but 'Gaara rose that flab of skin over his eyes' sounds gross - and Kina's sharpness but his eyes moved onto Neji. "I'm Neji Hyuuga. My weakness is…um…Lee and Tenten I guess. My strength is my Byakugan" he said, curiously looking at Kina's purple eyes to Gaara's green gray ones. Gaara nodded and walked in the opposite direction Naruto had gone. "Hn, well, lets test out those strengths and weakness shall we?" he said coolly. 'This should be fun, with a girl with a temper and a boy with Byakugan. Interesting' Gaara thought with a half-smirk.
Shikamaru stared quietly at Ino and Shino. Shino stared quietly at Ino and Shikamaru. Ino stared quietly at Shino and Shikamaru until finally "Okay, you know what? I'm Ino Yamanaka, I use Mind Transfer Jutsu. Shikamaru, you go, now!" she ordered. Shikamaru sweat dropped as 3 words flew through his mind…'Just like mother' "I'm Shikamaru Nara, I use Shadow Possession Jutsu, and you are…?" Shino smirked slightly as he thought 'They love each other…' but he said "I'm Shino Aburame, I use my destruction bugs to fight." Shikamaru nodded "Good. Now that that's settled, let's take a nap." He lay back and closed his eyes. Shino watched curiously as Ino kicked him in the ribs screaming.
"…And that's how I got that scar on my arm. Any questions?" Luxuria asked with a small smile as she finished her story. Sakura looked ready to throw up and Sasuke looked like a little boy in an interesting movie. "None? Good, now Sasuke, you have Sharingan correct? And you, Sakura, have been trained by Tsunade so we're set. Now, any extra information? None? Good, let's go on ahead." She stood up thinking. 'Okay, so there are a few problems with this team: Sakura has a grudge for me, likes Sasuke, Gaara and Naruto. Sasuke loves Sakura but knows she would drop him like a piece of trash. I'll have to get Sakura to notice Sasuke as more than a boy toy and I'll have to get Sasuke to see that she can change. Then there's that Hinata girl. I saw the way she looked at Naruto. Have to get her confident too. Luxuria, you have a problem ahead of you.'