Project Naruto: Shinobi X.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto world or characters. Those are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. The challenge I answer here is from devilzxknight86, with all due credit for the basic concept. Paranoia: Just because they are out to get you, doesn't mean you're not crazy.

Fourth Seal: Pursue.

Kurenai stared at Naruto's file. It was thicker than she expected, and the blond orphan had apparently had assessments performed by Lady Senju Tsunade and her apprentice, a clanless prodigy named Shizune, apparently the niece of the Sannin's lost fiancee. Master Jiraiya had also placed a few notations and recommendations in the file as well. The veteran kunoichi, as reluctant as she was, knew better than to set a task she knew was unfair, and was carefully flipping through the file before she and Kakashi went to meet their genin teams.

The first page detailed Naruto's academic grades, which were better than others might have thought. Apparently the boy had some kind of deal with Tsunade, based on his scores. If he'd been able to nail that last jutsu, she had to admit, he'd have more than qualified for the slot on her team. Next, she looked at his tracking scores. Visual tracking was pretty good, but was hardly a patch on Hinata's, and his hearing was also sharper than she'd thought. The real trick came down to his sense of smell, and she knew no-one could beat an Inuzuka in that regard, it was impossible.

In truth it was, but Naruto's sense of smell at least matched Kiba's, according to the file, although it was to be noted that he didn't have as much experience as of yet. Apparently it was part of a newly emerged kekkei genkai...

Kurenai sat up straight as the information struck home. Turning the page she continued reading, even as her face paled. This was an S-rank secret, if word got out that Uzumaki Naruto had two kekkei genkai, the village council would slap him into the CRA faster than you could think it, and that would definitely be a Clan Restoration Act Problem... The first kekkei genkai was the main Uzumaki bloodline, heightened vitality, longer lifespan, faster healing and sharper senses, with the potential for their special chakra to develop... unusual manifestations, such as the chakra chains of Uzumaki Kushina... Kurenai had to re-read that line five times before it sank in that her jonin sensei as a genin had to be Naruto's mother... but then who was the father? Was he the source of the other bloodline? Shaking her head, the genjutsu mistress continued to read.

Abducted from the hospital three and a half years back by Orochimaru, discarded as a failure by same when experiment appeared to fail, awakening of second kekkei genkai from assimilated transplanted tissue, escaped and finally taught by Senju Tsunade... if someone was telling a lie, or selling a story, they would have come up with a better one than this.

Sealing the file again, she put it in her personal safe, which seemed to be her fruit bowl. She stood and hurried towards the academy. If she got there after Kakashi, she'd never live it down.


Naruto's entrance to the classroom that morning was a surprise in more ways than one. None of his classmates had expected him, although Hinata had prayed he would at least stop by so she could finally return his jacket... not that she wanted to, but three years was long enough for her to dream, and at least now she felt confident enough to. The whole thing came to a head as Kiba spotted the boy, although everyone else did too, as he was the last to arrive before Iruka-sensei.

"Hey, Naruto," the Inuzuka boy taunted, "I thought only those who passed were supposed to be here."

In answer, Naruto pointed at his forehead. There was a gleaming hitai-ate there, on a dark orange band with white tips like a fox's tail, dangling down his back. He then spoke up. "Kiba, I had a special job to do for the Hokage, that needed me to seem to fail." It was the official version of what had happened that was being circulated around the village. "I can't say more than that."

It was perhaps predictable that Sakura leapt to her feet from her spot next to Sasuke. Ino, on the other side of the boy, joined her. In the back row, Nara Shikamaru shook his head.

"That much hotness on either side, and the boy's still emo?" he mused as the girls opened their mouths in unison. "Then again, considering how much... or little... they actually think..." It was true Ino was a fraction better at most non-academic things than Sakura, but it was a small fraction.

The two 'rivals for Sasuke' began to screech, and Naruto slapped his hands across his ears, muffling the sound from downright painful to merely annoying. From the looks of it, they'd hit the right frequency to irritate Aburame Shino's kikaichu colony as well. "NARUTO! HOW DARE YOU LIE LIKE THAT? IF THERE WAS SUCH A JOB, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO SASUKE!"

Hinata was seeing red, and everyone else was staring at Ino and Sakura, who they'd never have believed could be that much in synch over anything. She was actually red, not with embarrassment this time but with fury, and was gripping the edge of her desk so she wouldn't go over there and... many punishments flitted through her mind, but she couldn't settle on any one of them.

Sasuke was partially in shock. This was mostly from being at ground zero of his two biggest fan-girls' explosion, but partly it was from Naruto being given a task he had not.

The tense atmosphere was broken by Naruto... breaking into laughter. Hinata lost her grip on her temper as he clutched his side, and now Sasuke was beginning to go red with anger, before Naruto managed to stop. "Oh, yeah, that was a good one," he chuckled. Looking up he called out. "You all saw and heard that right? Heh, I think the next three classes in each direction heard it. Doesn't anyone else find it hilarious that Sasuke's two biggest fans, his two most ardent supporters, wanted him to fail?"

There was a moment of time when everything seemed to halt as that realisation worked its way across the classroom. As it reached the aforementioned fan-girls, some of them smirked at Sakura and Ino for making that slip, others glared at Naruto for pointing out the problem with their thinking (if you could call it that), and finally Ino and Sakura went white as sheets... snow-white ones, freshly laundered... As they drew breath to scream again, the most unlikely event ever happened, stalling the vengeance of the pair.

Sasuke chuckled. "Heh."

It wasn't loud, but he definitely chuckled, and he still had the remnants of a grin on his face. "Heh, heh." It happened again, twice more, before descending into full-blown laughter, that had Sasuke clutching at ribs that had grown unused to such effort. Naruto grinned as well, as the fan-girl horde was shocked speechless. That, that Baka Naruto had made Sasuke laugh, for what had to be the first time in years... It was beyond belief.

Eventually, even as Iruka-sensei entered the room, having caught the laughter and raised voices, Naruto stepped up beside Hinata and sat down as the Uchiha heir wiped his eyes clear of the tears laughing that hard had brought on, still chuckling now and then. He wasn't Naruto's friend, not by a long shot, but pointing out the fallacy in Ino's and Sakura's argument had definitely earned him points.


Without further ado, Iruka began his announcements. "First, I'd like to welcome you all to class. You may have noticed that I'm your only sensei today, and for those of you wondering why, the events surrounding that explanation have been classified an A-rank secret by the Hokage. Moving right along we have ten genin squads here, and we'll start by placing those of you we can. Team One..." As Iruka called out their names, the genin moved into the appropriate groups. The first three squads were announced in proper order by Iruka. There was, by long standing custom, no Team Four, because nobody wanted to be part of any group marked by death. Team Five and Six were oddities... Five was an all boy squad, while Six was all girls. "Team Seven consists of Uchiha Sasuke and Sakura Haruno, with an open spot to be determined, led by Hatake Kakashi. Team Eight has a similar problem, with its set members being Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata, led by Yuhi Kurenai. Inuzuka Kiba and Uzumaki Naruto will be filling one or the other slot based on a jonin sensei determined test. Team Nine is still in circulation from last year, so next we have Team Ten, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino..." The line up bothered Ino, and all the fan-girls except Sakura, but there was little they could do. As for Team Ten's line-up, it seemed their parents had managed to convince the Hokage that another generation of the odd yet effective trio their clans made was a good plan. Once all teams were assigned, Iruka dismissed the class, with an admonishment to be back by the end of lunch to meet their respective jonin.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I wonder what that's about?" He turned to the girl who was his closest, if a little shy and awkward, friend. He'd noticed she wasn't wearing his old jacket, and was curious about why, but felt this wasn't the place to discuss it. As the other fresh genin left, most of the girls glaring at Sakura and Naruto, although for very different reasons. The six members of Teams Seven and Eight, even though two of them were undetermined, were unsure of what to do. With their rosters up in the air like that, it was difficult to even think of bonding as a team.

It was all to the good, then, when a few minutes later, Yuhi Kurenai arrived with one of her friends, Kiba's older sister Hana, and her canine partners with her. "I'm Yuhi Kurenai. Teams Seven and Eight are to come outside with me," she announced, trying to at least be neutral in her attitude, although a touch of her true attitude seeped out regardless. "Hatake Kakashi will meet us in the yard by the gate." With that brusque introduction, she turned and walked out.

As they were walking outside, Naruto slipped up beside Hinata and whispered his question to her. "Hinata-hime," he murmured, hoping in vain that neither of the two with the sharpest senses, Shino or Kiba, would catch what he said, "You're not wearing the jacket I gave you. What's wrong, is it too small now? I mean it was three years ago, and it can't have been comfortable in some places."

A quick glance, stolen as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his index finger, told Hinata that Naruto, her Naru-kun, was... blushing? Then she remembered exactly where the jacket hugged her tightest, and she too turned red... They were outside by now, and she didn't have the time to explain, so she just held the small bag she'd brought the jacket in question in, and whispered her reply. "I... I'll t-tell you later, Naru-kun. Kurenai-sensei is about to speak."

Indeed, they had been joined by a tall jonin with gravity-defying hair and his hitai-ate pulled down over his left eye. Kurenai didn't comment an his (for once) punctual arrival, since she knew he'd left hours before her to get here. As the jonin in dispute, she had to take the reins here, so she stepped forward. "The reason we are standing here is due to a minor dispute over which genin gets placed on Team Eight, which is being set up as a tracking and reconnaissance team. As a result, the Hokage has told me to test the two potential genin before the final determination is made." She paused for breath, and looked over the assembled genin. "Hinata, Shino, the two of you are free to train or speak as you wait, but we will not be leaving until your team-mate, whoever he is gets back. Team Seven's Sasuke and Sakura, the same applies for you."

Turning to the last two genin, she smirked, Kiba's experience would stand him in good stead here, she knew, but then Naruto's physical stamina would also help him. "The test is as follows," she told them. "Somewhere in Konoha is Tora, the cat belonging to the wife of the Fire Daimyo." As she said this, Hana winced, and Kakashi shook his head in pity for the genin, even as he admitted that the genjutsu mistress couldn't have come up with a better test. "The two of you are to track him down, capture him, and return him here by sunset. The first one back gets the spot on Team Eight, and the other is placed with Team Seven. Before you start, a few rules... No outside assistance. This means Akamaru stays here with Hana, Kiba. To be fair, however, no shadow clones for you, Uzumaki." The difference in address wasn't something she noticed, but Hinata did... "The test applies only inside the walls of Konoha, and no interference with each other will be tolerated. I have two friends who'll be keeping an eye on you both, and they will inform me of any offences against each other. This is Tora's scent." She held up a scrap of silk that had obviously come from a cat's bed, allowing each boy to sniff it twice. "Begin!"


As he raced out into the village, leaping to the rooftops as he'd been taught, Naruto's mind raced. Kiba had been using his sense of smell for this for a long time, but he hadn't. If he wanted to get this, he had to think about what was going on... and according to everyone, it wasn't his strong point, he was in no way anywhere near Shikamaru, for example. Heck, he probably thought more like the cat than Shikamaru... a moment of revelation was all it took.

Dashing to the first place the cat would have left his scent, Naruto began trying to recall which hotel the Fire Daimyo's wife used when she was here...

Kiba knew he had this in the bag. He too understood the laws and customs surrounding clan symbols, and had started to worry that Hinata would never see him as a possibility for a boyfriend... and then today she hadn't been wearing Uzumaki's jacket, which he just knew meant she was starting to see things his way...

As Kiba leaped and raced around, he wondered why the scent wasn't just jumping out at him as it usually did, and at the unusual lightness of his head. Oh, well, surely Akamaru would let him know if he missed anything... Akamaru! But he'd left Akamaru with Hana back at the Academy! Oh this was going to bite...

In the shadows, two figures had split up, one following Kiba, and the other watching over Naruto. In about thirty minutes it would be time for their first obstacle...

The blue-eyed jinchuuriki emerged from the hotel, sniffing gently at the air by the fence as he worked his way around it, soon arriving at the point the runaway cat had walked, and began to follow the old scent... he wasn't good enough to guess how old, and as he moved on, he kept a wary eye... and ear... out for... something. He wasn't sure what, but this seemed too easy. It was.

Kiba was finally able to pick up a scent of that cat, dratted nuisance, and it was less than an hour old, too. As he dashed forwards, his mind drifted towards how happy Hinata would be to have him on her team, and so he missed the slight whistling sound.

The flasks of concentrated peppermint had been supplied by Hana, and the people throwing them were Kurenai's friend Mitarashi Anko, who was following Naruto, and a old chunin squad-mate by the name of Sodaitora Shinshi, who Kiba never noticed until far too late. At the same time, in totally different districts of Konoha, Naruto and Kiba responded to the ambush in very different manners...

Naruto had a fraction of a second to react, whoever that was, they were fast, and reached out and snatched the flask from the air, stopping the open top with his thumb to prevent the contents from spilling on the street, and managed not to break the fragile glass bottle in his grasp. That had been close. Channelling chakra to his senses, he moved on, unaware that his whisker mark were now glowing faintly with his chakra.

Kiba, totally caught by surprise as his thoughts drifted away from his surroundings, also managed, by some miracle, to catch the flask thrown at him... unfortunately, with his mouth, and the peppermint sloshed into his mouth and throat, pretty much killing his sense of smell. Gasping and choking, the Inuzuka marked his current place, and hurried over to a nearby hose to try and rid himself of the smell of peppermint, a smell so strong that it blocked his sense of smell completely...

As Naruto picked up the pace, moving more quickly once he again had the trail, sniffing every so often as he ran, he swept through an area with a vague whiff of peppermint to it. If someone was obliterating sections of Tora's trail, he reasoned without slowing, he had better move even faster...

When Kiba finally got the dratted taste and stench of peppermint out of his mouth and nose, he darted back to the place he'd marked, and cast about to get the scent once more. He caught Tora's scent after a few minutes, because another scent, much fresher and stronger, had overlaid it... that of Naruto. A few seconds of anger had Kiba growling, until he hit on a really shinobi plan... let Naruto do the work, then swoop in and grab the cat, then beat the baka back to the Academy. It was so simple, it couldn't fail, and then... Forcing his mind back to the now, he set off. Yes, Naruto's scent was easy to follow.

Shinshi sighed, and swiftly caught up to Anko. "Pretty Snake, the hound is hunting the fox instead of chasing the cat," he said in a deep low voice. "Orders?"

The special jonin thought for a second. "Leave it, it is a legitimate strategy... even if it's not a nice one." The chase continued.

The afternoon was dragging on as Naruto closed on Tora's position, some bushes in one of Konoha's many parks and gardens. As he did, he heard the faint rustle of leaves, and presumed it to be his watcher. Moving slowly forward, one foot at a time so as not to startle the runaway cat, he crouched and slid closer...

Kiba had nearly lost Naruto a couple of times that afternoon, a frustrating experience considering the other boy wore orange for crying out loud! He'd soon picked him up again though, through a few moments sniffing around, but making up the lost ground had the Inuzuka tired and grumpy. He'd finally caught up, and he too could smell the cat in those bushes. Naruto, the baka, was cautiously approaching the cat from the windward side, letting the stupid creature (Inuzuka and cats do not get along) catch his scent. Kiba, however, had worked his way around until he was upwind of the cat, with his own scent blown away from the feline that had led them this merry chase. But if Naruto got there first... Kiba didn't stop to think, he didn't feel a need to, and he raced in to grab the cat...

Tora was getting bored. He'd run away again, but there was no-one chasing him to put through hell until he found these two. The first one, the one who was showing him he was there, that he was nothing to fear, he smelled odd... like a fox, but not like a fox. It was confusing, and Tora was wary of confusing things like this. And vets... always watch out for vets.

Then there was the other one, the dog-smelling one. He was hunting, but he didn't smell nice to cats. He made Tora's whiskers itch. He'd lost track of him now, and looked around as he heard Kiba's rush begin... Instinct took over, and the cat bolted away from Kiba, straight into Naruto's arms, where the young jinchuuriki immediately cradled him to be comfortable and placed another hand over the top to secure him as he jumped... straight over Kiba as he barrelled from the shrubbery with his arms outstretched, and from the tree limb he landed on Naruto was off to a nearby roof, still cradling the now-scared cat which had sunk its claws into the arm of his jacket as he raced back to the Academy...


Kiba was not happy, and began to chase Naruto across the rooftops, wondering how the blond could just keep running like that. He'd been going all-out all day and was barely breathing hard, by the kami! Whereas Kiba was most definitely slowing down, and realised he could either keep shouting threats at the other genin, or shut up and run, but either way he couldn't catch up. He'd lost, and all he could do was take it. He snarled, partly at Naruto, but mostly at himself. His former classmate had earned this, after all. And now that Kiba thought about it, Hinata probably would prefer Naruto on her team anyway. Well, maybe she'd thank him for making the baka work for it, and if she ever changed her mind, he'd still be her friend. There was always hope, right?

He didn't realise he'd spoken aloud until he heard the chuckle of the chunin behind him. "Indeed, there is always hope, Inuzuka-san," the man said as he stroked his goatee-style beard. Combined with the bald head and the chunin vest, he looked almost... villainous, but in a cool way. "Hope is all there is that cannot be taken from you. It can only be cast aside, and even then, there are those who will carry it for you until need it again. I am Sodaitora Shinshi, Inuzuka-san, also called Gentleman Tiger, and I bid you good day." The deep voice and almost formal manner of speech distracted him, and the man was gone from right in front of his eyes.


Hyuuga Neji had arrived while Naruto and Kiba were undertaking their test, and on hearing what was going on, had reported to Hiashi and the Hyuuga elders. They had taken it upon themselves to see what came of this, and sent an elder with two Branch House bodyguards as well as Hiashi and Neji, to see that Hinata's team-mate was... worthy. It didn't help that the elder they sent was a close friend of the deceased Inuzuka Kujo, Kiba's father, who had been killed during the Kyuubi's attack... although not by the Kyuubi, which the Inuzuka didn't bandy about much.

So as Naruto came up the road, at a slow jog, stroking Tora's fur gently as he ran to reassure the now-comfortable feline, he was greeted by the sight of six Hyuuga Clan members, as well as Kurenai-sensei, Kakashi-sensei and Shino, as well as Sasuke, who was leaning behind a tree, and Sakura, who was staring dreamily at Sasuke. "For such a smart girl," he thought, "she can sure do some stupid things at times." He turned his gaze on Hinata, who'd clasped her hands together as she saw him, a smile brightening her face, and although the sun was setting, it was as though it had sprung back into the sky as far as he could see.

Kurenai watched as Naruto jogged in, petting the cat that existed to make genin life a living hell, and shuddered, a motion that was not missed by Hinata, who had never heard tales of the cat. Neji didn't speak about things with her very often. Or at all. As the red-eyed kunoichi nodded to Naruto Anko appeared behind him. "He ran fair, and passed the obstacles without help. He's pretty good. Shinshi says the other gaki needs work, but he'd probably be better off as a fighter with tracking as a secondary speciality." Grinning the woman in the trench-coat, mesh and miniskirt disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Turning to Naruto, she swallowed her pride, and extended her hand. "Well done, Uzumaki, and welcome to Team Eight."

"Before Naruto could say anything, Hinata's temper finally blew. Striding past her family, which surprised the Hyuuga no end as she wasn't hesitating in the slightest, nor did she seem to care that others were not only present, but watching. Hiashi felt the urge for some popcorn...

Placing herself before her new sensei, she exploded into an angry rant. "Kurenai-sensei," she hissed, enough venom in her words to give the jonin real pause, even as Kiba finally jogged up to the Academy gates. "I don't think you really mean that. I think you feel forced and badly-done-by to have him here, when the truth is you should be fighting to keep him. I don't know why you wanted Kiba on the team, but I do know why Naruto should be her. He has drive, determination like no-one else and you should be ashamed of yourself for treating him like the rest of the villagers, the narrow minds that can't stop blaming him for something that I'm sure he didn't choose. He helps others every chance he gets, did you know that? He stands up for anyone who needs it, and even when he has to fight someone, he tries to help them afterwards." Sasuke nodded at that, with a grunt, as he recalled their fights at the Academy. "He sees the bright side of everything, he works hard, and when people laugh with him, his smile could light the room. He is Uzumaki Naruto, a part of this team now, and if you insist on calling him 'Uzumaki', then I insist you call me 'Hyuuga'. It's about as polite."

Everyone was staring at Hinata during this rant, and as it went on, Naruto had looked around for confirmation. With each point someone else nodded, although apparently only Hinata had seen the true smiles he apparently used. Sasuke had actually given a wry grin as she mentioned the part about making others laugh, at the same time as Sakura blushed.

As each person nodded, Naruto's smile got wider. It was a true smile, as Hinata would have put it, not a mask to hide pain, or to keep others away, but a beacon of good feelings to be shared. As he realised this, Hinata stopped talking, and looked around, realising exactly who she'd been speaking in front of. The shocked adults of the Hyuuga, the bitter and glowering face of Neji, the placid exterior of Shino, and the general look on everyone's face that seemed to say they'd have found a wolf being mauled to death by a fluffy little rabbit to be easier to believe.

She brought up the bag that had Naruto's old jacket in it, even as he murmured in a low tone, "Tell it, Hinata-hime..." and tried to hide her face behind it as she went bright red, and struggled not to faint.

Kurenai felt like the world was upside down. She'd just been verbally mauled, and deservedly so, by a genin she'd had charge of for less than six hours. She bowed at the waist towards the two genin and spoke clearly. "I'm very sorry, Naruto. I was too wedded to what I'd heard from others, and jumped to an unfounded conclusion."

When she straightened up, she walked over to Kakashi and handed him a stack of coins. "Here's your twenty ryo, Kakashi. If you buy another Icha Icha book with it, I'll have my new team hunt you down and burn your mask."


As the two teams separated, Shino leaned in towards Naruto. "Why do you think he wears that mask?" he asked his new team-mate in a level voice.

Naruto thought a moment before answering, still gazing at Hinata. "As much as he reads Ero-sennin's books, it's probably to hide his nosebleeds..." Straightening as Hinata spoke to her father nervously. "Sorry Shino, but can you excuse me, I just remember Hinata-chan said she needed to talk to me." With that, he made his way closer to the girl with the midnight hair.


"I told you, daughter," Hiashi was saying as Naruto approached, "it was all well and good to play at it for the last few years, but if the elders are to make you a good match..."

For a change, he was interrupted by his child. "I am sorry father, but time has gotten away from us. I was going to explain things but events came up to postpone the telling. If you can give me a few minutes..."

"A few minutes for what, Hinata-hime?" Naruto asked, startling an 'eep' from her as she startled.

This was embarrassing enough in front of her whole clan, without actually having them hear what she said. Taking his hand, she led him away from everyone, but took great care to remain in full view of them all. As she did, Naruto found himself caught up in how soft her hands were, before he realised she was speaking to him. "Um, sorry," he muttered. "What was that you said?"

"Do you remember the jacket you gave me, Naruto?"

He snorted. Of course he remembered it. "You've only worn it every day since, Hinata," he replied. "Until today, of course. Is there something wrong? It's definitely too small now. If you want I can get you another one?"

Hinata very nearly passed out from excitement, but managed not to by the barest margin. Taking a deep breath she continued. "Hai, Naruto-kun, it is too small, but please let me finish, okay?" At his nod she went on. "You know the spirals on the shoulder and back of your jacket?" Again he nodded. "Those are clan symbols... your clan symbols... and the only people allowed to wear them are the active duty chunin and higher shinobi, to honour a treaty as old as Konoha itself, and the members of that clan."

Naruto nodded again. He had a vague memory of Tsunade saying something along those lines, and his curiosity was piqued as Hinata began going red again. Studying it, he saw that it started at her jaw and spread upwards and down from there. A tiny part of him began to ask how far down, but the rest of his mind bludgeoned it into submission.

"Well, if you give someone your clan's symbols like that, you're asking them to join your clan. If you g-give them t-to an unm-married girl or w-woman, i-it c-can b-be t-taken as a m-marriage p-proposal..."

Naruto noticed that that cute stutter she used to have when she was nervous was back, meaning she had to be really... nervous... He went pale, and looked over at Hiashi. "Y-you m-mean..."

"Hai."

"I p-p-p-"

"Hai." Hinata was pushing her index fingers together now.

"And y-your d-dad..."

"Hai."

Naruto's eyes rolled back in his head in a moment he would never live down, and he fainted.