Panda: Alright, everybody, just calm down and we'll get through this. I know that it's been a while (a very long while) since I've written anything on this one, but my muse is back and I am ready to write on this fic again.
Panda-Chan: Yeah, and this time he's actually going to have chapters that are more than one or two thousand words.
Panda: Shush! That wasn't my fault! I had a very short attention span.
Panda-Chan: And you don't have one now?
Panda: Nope! I have since grown out of it. So give the Disclaimer so we can get on with the story!
Panda-Chan: Panda does not own Naruto or anything else recognizable in this fic.
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Kiba woke the next day to an empty bed and the smell and sound of sizzling bacon drifting in through the slightly opened door. He groaned as the delicious scent of breakfast drew him from his comfortable place in bed and padded down the hallway into the kitchen, where he leaned against the doorway and watched Naruto as the blonde went about cooking the morning meal.
The radio was on and Naruto was swinging his hips back and forth and singing along silently with the words. With his advanced hearing Kiba could pick up his voice and found it to be both relaxing and very pleasant. He walked up behind the smaller male and wrapped his arms around his waist.
"I didn't know you could make other things besides ramen. Is the world coming to an end." Kiba teasingly looked out the window for any signs of mass chaos which resulted in a whap from Naruto's spatula.
"I do eat other things, you know. It's just that ramen is quickly made and affordable, so it's a lot easier to just buy it in mass along with a few other things from time to time." Naruto turned back to the bacon he was making and flipped it, smacking Kiba's reaching hand away from the pan and receiving a yelp from the dog-nin. "Go get a shower and it'll be ready for you when you get out."
Kiba pouted a little but did as he was told after giving Naruto a morning kiss. He found the bathroom next to the bedroom, only mildly surprised to find it clean, and he set the water temperature before getting in to clean himself. It took him about fifteen minutes to get completely clean and he mused to himself as to why it took women so much longer to take showers than it does men. He shrugged his shoulders, deciding that he really didn't care, and he walked into Naruto's room to change into his spare change of clothes that he carried wherever he went, just in case something happened.
He walked back into the kitchen to find the table set and Naruto dishing out the last of the food, Akamaru sitting on the ground in front of a little dish that was filled with the same thing as was on the plates on the table. Kiba chuckled as he took his place across from Naruto at the small table.
"He's going to fall completely in love with you if you keep feeding him meals like that." Naruto glanced down at the happily eating dog and chuckled, a little, as he turned to Kiba.
"What do you usually feed him at home?" the blonde ninja asked with a tilt of his head, making Kiba think of an inquisitive fox.
"Specialized dog food meant specifically for the Inuzuka nin-dogs. It keeps them healthy and active, along with giving them a shiny coat, of course." Kiba grinned cheekily at the other and was gifted with a happy laugh.
"Of course." Naruto smiled and they continued to eat their breakfasts until their plates were empty and in the sink to be washed when Naruto returned home that night.
They walked around the house collecting all the items that they'd need for the day, making sure that they left nothing behind and making sure that their weights were on properly. Everything ready the set out, going a little slower than usual but not really enough to make a difference, Akamaru settled happily on Kiba's head.
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The two Genin arrived at Training Ground Eight to find Hinata and Kurenai-sensei waiting for them and they hastened their pace so as not to keep them waiting any longer. They received smiles upon their arrival as Akamaru jumped down from Kiba's head and ran to Hinata to receive some love from the Hyuuga Heiress.
"Well, now that the last to members of our team are hear we can go pick up our missions for the day and get down to work." The amount of cheer in her voice did nothing to stifle the three Genin's groans as they trudged along after their sensei to go and start their daily torture.
On their way there they ran into Team Seven and would have continued on their way silently if Sasuke hadn't of spoken up.
"You mean that you three actually managed to pass your test? It must not have been that hard if three Dobes like you could get by it, not to mention that you have a woman for a sensei. She probably didn't know what to do and just let you pass without making you do anything." Sasuke snorted and turned his nose up, thus missing the menacing look being given to him by the sensei of Team Eight.
"Is that so, Uchiha-san? I didn't know that the Uchiha's had fallen so low as to mock those of higher rank than them. Fugaku-san would be so disappointed in you." Kurenai said in a sweet childlike voice, letting a little bit of disappointment seep into her words at the end.
Sasuke's head snapped up and he glared so hard at Kurenai that she would have have burst into tears (or flames) if she had been a lesser being. Seeing as she wasn't, however, she glared back even harder and activated a Genjutsu that made her eyes appear to glow an eerie red. She could see that it unnerved Sasuke somewhat and it wasn't very long before he turned away and huffed before walking off, Sakura trailing behind him.
"I am sorry for my teammates actions." A soft voice from the side drew Team Eight's attention and they focused on the third Genin of Team Seven, Shino Aburame.
"Your apology is accepted, Aburame-san, although you should not have to apologize for the actions of other's." Kurenai bowed to the bug-nin then straightened back up to face him fully.
"I know, Kurenai-sensei, I merely wished for you to not be left with a bad impression of out team." Shino explained, nodding to the three member's of Team Seven that were his age and receiving nods back before he turned to go. "Now I must go and make sure that my teammates have not gotten into a mess they may not be able to get themselves out of."
"Hey, Shino! If you ever want to hang out, or, you know, just get away from those guys just come and find us. It'd be great to talk to you again." Naruto's words stopped Shino, if only briefly, and the bug user's words drifted back to them as he disappeared.
"I shall take it into consideration, Uzumaki-san."
Team Eight continued on to Hokage Tower uninterrupted after that.
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The rest of the first half of their day had gone by relatively calmly as the tasks that were set down for them for the day had included grocery shopping, making deliveries and cleaning up the parks and streams. The only good thing that D-Rank missions seemed to do was give them the chance to get used to their weights, which they were doing faster and faster as the day went by. Naruto had noticed how Hinata had had very little trouble with her weights since the beginning of their weight wearing and decided to ask her about it.
They were picking up trash from a stream when he asked.
Hey, Hinata-Chan, how come you adjusted so easily to your weights? Have you done this before?" his question also drew the attention of their other two teammates and Hinata blushed brightly under their gazes.
"O-oh, uhm, no I ha-haven't, Naruto-Kun, it-it's just that I'm cha-channeling chakra into my limbs t-to help me move easily w-with them on." She explained and blushed again at the appraising look her sensei was giving her.
"Channeling chakra into your limbs? How do you do that?" Kiba asked, but it was Kurenai instead of Hinata who answered this time.
"Yes, Kiba, it's the traditional fighting style of the Hyuuga called the Gentle Fist." Kurenai explained, but seeing their faces fill with more confusion she decided to elaborate further. "The Hyuuga revolves around their Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan. The Byakugan allows a person to see into a person's body to their chakra points and, by tapping a certain point and releasing a burst of chakra, they can disable your chakra coils, thus leaving you defenseless in a fight."
Naruto scratched his head a little before respond.
"Not to be rude to Hinata and her clan, but isn't it kind of stupid to base their whole fighting style around their Kekkei Genkai?" the blonde ninja asked.
"What do you mean, Naruto?" Kurenai was sure that she knew what he was going to say, and by the look on Hinata's face she did too.
"Well, if I was an invading ninja and I was fighting against one of the Hyuuga family but I had found a way to disable their Byakugan, they wouldn't really be able to do anything unless they had memorized the locations of all the chakra points. So the only thing they would be able to do is strike randomly or attempt to hit my vital organs with a well placed chakra blast." Naruto finished with a satisfied nod, having gotten his thoughts across understandably.
"Very good, Naruto, I'm proud that you were able to work out one the Hyuuga's weaknesses so quickly. What do you think about this Hinata?" Kurenai turned to the silent girl and suddenly all eyes were on her again.
"We-well I had figured t-that out too and I thought i-it would be a go-good idea to start training i-in another type of fighting in-in case that ever happened." Hinata mumbled lowly, tapping her fingers together in nervousness.
"Wow, Hinata, you've been learning the Hyuuga style of fighting along with teaching yourself another style of fighting? You must be pretty exhausted during the day." Kiba looked at her in awe and she blushed even brighter.
"I u-used to be wh-when I first st-started, but now I-I'm used to it." The shy girl stated and ducked her head.
"What style of fighting are you studying, Hinata?" Kurenai asked as she motioned for her students to continue their duties.
"Uhm, its c-called Ato Sakura No*. I-It focuses on flu-fluid movements along with q-quick jabs and kicks." Kurenai nodded and spoke to her two other students.
"Do you see what Hinata has done, guys? She's found a fighting style that fits he body type and stature but is also somewhat similar to the Gentle Fist style. The Ato Sakura No style with also go good with her shortened Katana because it can be used quickly in a fight." Kiba and Naruto nodded along as they understood her points while simultaneously thinking about what type of fighting style would fit them the best.
Kurenai let her students think for a while as they finished up the last of their assignment and went to collect their payment from the Hokage before adjourning to Training Ground Eight.
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Once everyone was settled in and waiting for further instruction from Kurenai, said Jounin got up to stand before them.
"Alright, guys, now it's time for me to see what you've got so each of you are going to be sparring with me until I say stop. You are to treat this as you would any real fight, meaning that I want you to act as if I'm an invading ninja, got it?" her students nodded at her and she pointed a finger at Naruto. "You first, Naruto, come over here and show me what you've got."
"Good luck, Naruto." The other two encouraged and the blonde shared a chaste kiss with Kiba before standing up and walking over to stand in front of his sensei.
"Begin." Kurenai stated and Naruto charged, letting Kurenai know, immediately, that the blonde was untrained even as she blocked a sloppily thrown kick and tapped him in the chest with enough force to push him back but not harm him.
Naruto didn't let that deter him any as he regained his bearings and reached into his weapon pouch and threw a few kunai at his sensei. While she was distracted with those he attempted to sneak behind her and attack her unprotected back but he was stopped, once again, as she spun around and caught his fist before lightly throwing him away. Naruto figured that he should turn up the heat and he placed his fingers together in a familiar seal.
"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu." And almost immediately Kurenai was surrounded by solid copies of the yellow haired Genin.
'Those are solid clones. A Jutsu that was forbidden due to the extreme dent it made in a person's chakra reserve. Well, you certainly are surprising.' Kurenai's eyes had widened a bit but she let a smirk sneak across her lips at the feat her student had achieved.
The copies formed a circle around the Jounin and prepared to charge as they each armed themselves with a kunai in each hand. As the first Naruto started running toward her, Kurenai activated a faint Genjutsu that would allow her to both distract Naruto from his attack and test his knowledge of Genjutsu. He was obviously lacking in this area, as well, as he started chasing and attacking the fake Kurenai created by the woman's Genjutsu.
She looked over at her other two students and noticed that they hadn't fallen for her trick, as they were both staring straight at her when they should have followed the fake her. The Genjutsu expert figured that, with the Byakugan, Hinata could see through low-level Genjutsu even when her Kekkei Genkai wasn't activated and that Kiba could possibly smell her thanks to his Inuzuka nose. She sighed and deactivated her Genjutsu Calling for Naruto to stop. She spoke when Naruto was sitting back down, breathing a little harder than usual.
"Alright, Naruto, I have a question for you." She looked at him until she was sure she had his undivided attention. "Did the teachers at the Academy really teach you anything?"
Naruto blushed and looked down, slowly shaking his head in the answer that Kurenai had assumed.
"Not to worry, Naruto, we'll catch you up on everything that you weren't taught in class. You aren't that far behind, really, because while you are sloppy in your footwork and in the way you deliver your attacks you can think on your feet. The fact that you can't detect Genjutsu is also not a problem, seeing as I'm your teacher and an expert in the subject. So don't worry about it, yeah?" Naruto nodded as she finished and she pointed to Kiba to come join her next.
Kiba received a small kiss from Naruto and encouragement from Hinata as he got up to stand across from his sensei. Akamaru jumped off Kiba's head and landed beside him, ready to fight and protect his partner in any way he could. Kurenai smiled and began the fight, throwing a shuriken at the dog-nin.
Kiba dodged and threw a few shuriken of his own before charging with his increased speed and aiming a kick for Kurenai's ankles. Picking up on his plan Kurenai back flipped and landed several meters away; looking back at her student she saw him creating handseals.
"Man-juu Kuron.*"Kiba crouched with Akamaru, who had become a replica of Kiba sometime during her flip, on his back as they both became feral looking. Their hair turned shaggier as their nailes lengthened and sharpened and their teeth got sharper.
Kurenai was surprised as she hadn't expected Kiba to know this Jutsu yet but she really shouldn't be surprised; these students of hers were always surprising her in some way. With their completed transformation they were much faster and she had to actively avoid them to keep herself from being hit, but she could see that his jutsu was taxing for him so she flipped back into a tree and called it quits. Kiba cancelled his jutsu with visible exhaustion and Akamaru returned to his normal self before jumping on Kiba's head.
"That was good, Kiba. You have good speed and average Taijutsu and you were able to see through my Genjutsu earlier. Your Man-Juu Kuron was impressive as well but I could tell it still wears on your chakra reserve, but we can fix that. All-in-all your pretty well rounded in all areas but there's still room for improvement." Kurenai received a nod from Kiba and she smiled as she moved her head to look at the final member of their team; one who blushed when she realized it was her turn.
Come on, Hinata, you can do it! We believe in you, believe it!" the encouragements from her teammates worked to give her a little more courage but she still wasn't sure if she would be able to do this.
"Don't worry, Hinata, it's just a spar. If you're not the best then no one is going to hold it against you and no one is here spying for your father. Trust me, it's okay if you can't succeed at something, that's why you were assigned to a team; we can help you get passed anything that your having trouble with." Hinata was standing by the end of Kurenai's speech looking ready to give her best, even if she couldn't win.
Hinata didn't begin the battle by activating her Byakugan, as Kurenai was sure most Hyuuga family members did, but by falling into an unfamiliar stance that Kurenai assumed was from the Ato Sakura No style. She could definitely see how this style was used for quick moves and fast getaways as she looked at the position of Hinata's arms and legs. The Hyuuga Heiress would surely be a force to be reckoned with when she perfected her chosen Taijutsu style.
Kurenai decided that she would be the one to start this fight and she ran at Hinata using only half her real speed, aiming a punch for the shy girl's midsection. It came with little surprise when Hinata blocked her and gave a few soft jabs to her arms that, while not completely incapacitating her, would have hurt quite a bit had the girl placed any chakra in her hits. Hinata spun herself away and took up the stance again, just waiting for her sensei to come at her again.
Kurenai did and again Hinata blocked her before spinning away, never letting the older woman land a hit and keeping at a good distance. Their fight went on for a significantly longer time than either Naruto's or Kiba's with Kurenai landing only a few hits on the girl, as opposed to the many hits she had gotten in on the boys. She called their fight to an end and Hinata rejoined her teammates, who were looking at her in awe and wonder, only slightly winded.
"That was great, Hinata, you're really doing well with your Taijutsu and your hits would have surely brought me down if you had used chakra. I'm also glad that you didn't immediately bring out your Kekkei Genkai and depended more on yourself instead of your bloodline." Hinata blushed when she was finished and Kurenai continued to address all three of them together. "Now I noticed that you guys didn't use any Ninjutsu that they taught you at the Academy. Now, while that isn't exactly wrong since you don't need to use them to be efficient Shinobi, they do help in the long run. So we will be going over those in the coming weeks as well as Tree Walking, which I will explain the next time we're together."
Her students nodded and stood up, dusting themselves off as they prepared to leave.
"Naruto, would you stay behind for a minute?" the blonde haired Genin nodded at her request and waved at Hinata and kissed Kiba on the cheek as the other two left to go home.
"Yes, Kurenai-sensei?" Naruto looked up at the woman curiously, waiting for her to explain why he had stayed behind.
"I know that it must be hard to be so far behind the others, Naruto, and the fact that you're an orphan doesn't help but I think that the Hokage might be able to tell you if your family had any family Ninjutsu or Taijutsu that was strictly for your family." She smiled as she saw the hope that shined in the boy's eyes and patted him on the. "Why don't you go ask him, it might help you figure out what to look for while you and Kiba are at the Library tomorrow." She winked at him and disappeared.
Naruto grinned at the spot his sensei had just vacated as he made his way to the Hokage Tower and hopefully to a few answers about his family.
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(Panda: I wanted to end it here but I also really wanted to get this part done, so I continued.)
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Hiruzen Sarutobi, third Hokage of Konohagakure: The Village Hidden in the Leaves, was working in his office when there was a knock on his door and he looked up in surprise to see Naruto Uzumaki enter. The Genin walked to one of the chairs in front of Sarutobi's desk and sat down, looking slightly nervous.
"Hello, Naruto-Kun, what brings you here today?" the Hokage asked kindly, looking at the boy he thought of as a second grandson.
"Well, uh, Kurenai-sensei was evaluating us today and Kiba and Hinata have Jutsu from their clans and I don't. Kurenai-sensei said that maybe you would know what kind of Ninjutsu or Taijutsu my family used, or that you might have something from my clan." Naruto rubbed his hands together nervously, looking up at the Hokage with hope.
Sarutobi sighed and felt incredibly old and sad, feeling for this child who had never known his family and who was scorned by the village on a daily basis. He stood up from his desk and walked to the big bookcase that was situated by the window overlooking Konoha.
"You know, I think I just might have something here, Naruto." The Hokage said, pulling down a scroll that held a Taijutsu style that would benefit the boy.
Naruto had come to stand behind the older man and looked at the scroll in his hand as if it held all the secrets in the world, and he didn't even know what it was yet.
"This is a Taijutsu style called Shobatsu Geiru no Ato*. It uses fast speeds and strong punches and kicks to disorientate an opponent along with Wind Chakra to help you move faster and hit harder. Only one man was able to completely master this style of fighting and that was your father." Sarutobi explained as he handed the scroll to Naruto who held it tenderly, as if it was a newborn babe. "Are you sure you're up to learning it, Naruto-Kun?"
"Yes, definitely!" the Genin exclaimed, hugging the Hokage and running out the door with a yelled 'Thanks Ojii-sama!'
Sarutobi looked out the window with a chuckle as he watched Naruto run towards his house until he was out of sight. He turned to a picture that was hanging behind his desk and said softly to himself.
"We can definitely expect great things from your son, Arashi. Especially with Kurenai as his instructor." That said Sarutobi returned to his desk and the dreaded amount of paperwork that lay upon it.
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Kage Bunshin No Jutsu – Shadow Clone Jutsu
Ato Sakura No – Art of the Cherry Blossom
Man-Juu Kuron – Man Beast Clone
Shobatsu Geiru No Ato – Art of the Punishing Gale
Panda: Done! I hope you enjoyed it as much I did! I'm not sure if the other chapters will be quite this long but I can assure you that they'll be pretty darn close.
Panda-Chan: Panda noticed how lovey-dovey Kiba and Naruto were in the last chapters and, while he didn't cut down on it completely, he made it not so overwhelming. So they still act like a couple, just not one that looks as if they'll jump each other at any given moment.
Panda: Also, wither at the middle of the next chapter or the one after next, there will be a time skip and their first real mission outside the village. The mission will be something from my own imagination so you don't have to worry about the Wave Mission or anything else, even though that particular mission will be mentioned later on and Team Eight will go to Wave before this fic has ended.
Panda-Chan: That's about everything we wanted to say, so please Review and we love you!
Panda: 3!
