Kurenai spoke to the team a bit longer to outline what the finer details of this final test were before she vanished in plain sight. Well, that was the three genin hopefuls thought at least. She was actually standing behind them, having woven a high level genjutsu on her team to obscure her from view. She would be highly impressed if they managed to notice it and dispel it.
"Right." Ino was the first to speak up got both of her potential teammates. "We need a plan. Daddy always says, 'those that fail to plan, plan to fail'. Now we just need to think of a plan. Now does anyone have any skills that they didn't show at the academy? I need to know what everyone is capable of doing before I figure out a plan."
"Hey, who made you the team leader?" Naruto questioned.
Ino looked at him and rolled her eyes. "Because Stupid, I was the rookie of the year and focusing during class whilst you were the dead last and off doing your pranks to care about becoming a ninja." The way she said it so matter of factly really grinded the gears of Naruto. "Alright then. If you have a plan, tell us right now." the pale blonde said with her hands on her hips, staring directly at Naruto.
He faltered for a second. "Uhh, we track her down and beat her up."
Ino placed a hand on her forehead and sighed. "Really numwit? That's the best you can come up with? After that, you just signed your rights away from ever being team leader." Naruto looked annoyed.
"Alright Ino-teme, you do better then." Frustrated at the girl already, Naruto wasn't sure how this team would go. He liked his sensei and he didn't mind Hinata. Ino on the other hand, he was starting to dislike more and more.
"Well the first thing we need to do is track her right, well we can use Hinata with her byakugan eyes to see where she is. Whilst this is happening, I will also take control of a bird and fly to hopefully see her from the sky. I'm not really sure what you offer tracking wise to be honest." She had gone from her bossy nature into trying to troubleshoot the problem. The problem was that she honestly didn't know what Naruto really offered her team.
She didn't want to tell him that he was a glorified meat shield. The only thing she remembered that he was really good at during the academy was taking punches from Sasuke.
Happy that he now finally had something to contribute, naruto grinned and spoke up. "I can make clones!"
"Look Naruto, I have seen the clones that you made at the academy. They were terrible and aren't going to full anyone.
Looking back on it, Naruto would probably realise that he could have worded it differently. "Nahhh Ino, I can make real clones! Here, watch this!" As Naruto said this, he put his hands in a familiar hand sign that everyone would come to know over time. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto called out and after a plume of smoke, there were a significant amount of clones, almost 50 that were revealed to be identical to Naruto.
Gobsmacked, Ino and Hinata looked with wide eyes and open mouths at the sight in front of them. Never would they have thought that Naruto was capable of such a thing. Even Kurenai who was watching on, she was surprised and impressed. The sandaime didn't go into too much detail about how Naruto graduated and now she could see why.
Having seen how he moulded his chakra, she had a fairly good idea on why he couldn't get the regulat clone jutsu working properly. So much raw talent! Jonin would kill to have that much chakra. The irony not being missed on Kurenai.
"See! I can make clones!" Naruto proudly commented elated at the sight of proving his potential teammates wrong.
Ino was the first to break out of her shock. "Yeah... there's no denying that. How does that help in scouting though? I mean you can make clones but is there any way for them to get the message back to you without having them run back and tell you in person? I mean it's great and all but I can a few drawbacks. If you have to get them to run back to you, the information could be outdated." The blonde-haired girl commented, hiding how impressed she was.
Naruto had to think. Ino wasn't wrong but it was if a light bulb went off since the event was still fresh in his mind. Had it been a few weeks later, then Naruto probably would have forgotten it. "Ohh! Umm, I remember reading that the clones when they disperse, you get the information that they find out during the time that they're alive."
Eyes went wide open upon hearing that. Ino and Hinata now realised just how powerful that jutsu was, especially so in the hands of Naruto. With the amount of clones that he could create, he would have a constant influx of information so long as he didn't get caught.
"Right. Well that definitely helps! Good job Naruto." Ino complimented to which Naruto smiled widely. Hearing a compliment never got tiring for the Uzumaki child. It was honest praise as well. I thought Naruto was going to be useless, a meat shield at best. Hopefully this means he wants to get better after learning something like that.
"So tomorrow, Naruto, you will create the clones and have them hidden in the training ground and whenever Kurenai enters, get them to dispel and let us know where her location is. Then Hinata will use her byakugan to make sure that we know her exact position.
Once the mission starts, I'll chase after her as I am the fastest. Naruto, I want your clones to set up traps and slow her down. I'll engage her in close combat with my katana, taking her focus so that he can't cast any genjutsus. Hinata will attack from behind and hopefully shut down her tenketsu and Naruto will attack from afar with kunai and shuriken thanks to the number of clones that he has. Does anyone have a problem with that plan or can they improve it some way?"
Ino explained her plan to the team. Hinata had no problem with it. She was happy that the team all seemed to be going in the right direction and that Naruto had a part to play. Now the pressure was on her to not let the team down. Naruto similarly had no real problems with the plan although he would have liked to be able to get up close and fight with taijutsu. He enjoyed that.
He wanted to be a genin more than that though. For now, he would do what was required to become a genin.
"Okay, well since Kurenai-sensei said that the mission begins at 09:00 tomorrow morning, we should get here half an hour early so that we can go through the plan in further detail and setup the traps." Hinata shook her head up and down to confirm this.
With all the conversation said that was needed to be said, the trio parted ways.
The jonin watching on was quietly proud of this team, even if they hadn't done anything yet. She could see the potential in this team and it was even better that they had the were planning ahead. Kurenai never agreed with the principle of forcing the team against each other. They were genin. They didn't need to be put against one another to see whether or not they got a hidden meaning.
Teamwork and bonds took time. In her eyes, you needed to nurture it from the beginning and then test it, rather than the other way round.
x-X-x
with the meeting with her team finished, Ino went to her house and found her mum Asuka. Her little sister was happy to see her, much to her delight. "Ino-neesan!" Suzuki cheered as her small legs took her as quickly as she could to the front door.
"Suzuki-chan!" Ino mirrored as she wrapped her arms around her sister and enveloped her in a hug.
Asuka saw the sight and her heart melted. Her family was perfect and she couldn't ask for anything more.
"Do you want to come watch me train?" Ino questioned with a big smile on her face. Suzuki nodded her head rapidly. Carrying her, the elder of the two walked out of the door and went to the grassy field.
Knowing that she had big stakes on the line tomorrow, she knew that she wasn't going to train hard. It was merely a session so that she could go through all the motions and refine her techniques. Ino placed Suzuki down on the grass and then walked to a tree. Upon reaching it, she broke off a small branch and then gave it to her sister. The grin on Suzuki's face spoke volumes.
Every single training session where Ino wanted to give in, to quit early, times where she didn't want to put in much effort; they were all for this moment. She absolutely loved spending time with her little sister. It was no longer that she had to put in the effort. She got the opportunity to be whatever role model she wanted for Suzuki.
The shinobi life was one that was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. In combination with her goal to be the best Kunoichi, Ino also trained hard so that people like Suzuki didn't have to.
Walking, Ino put some distance between herself and her sister and brought her hand up to her hip and pulled out her sword. Ino began going through the basic katas that she had ingrained over the year and a bit she had been working on kenjutsu.
She knew that her strength lied in her chakra control and chakra reserves that she had been working on for the past two years. Every single exercise she had done had been on top of the water's surface at the insistence of her father.
It killed multiple birds with one stone, increasing capacity, control over her chakra and the ability to multi task whilst in the middle of a fight.
With Kenjutsu, there was the possibility in the future of being able to use it in combination with one handed seals to allow Ino the chance to maximize her strengths. If she wanted to be the best then she knew that she was going to have to do this.
This also opened the avenue for the ability to channel her raiton element through the blade once she got good enough.
Suzuki who was watching on did her best to mimic her older sister. It was nowhere near as smooth or as streamlined as Ino although it was way cuter.
Once she had worked up a slight sweat and was warm, Ino then moved onto genjutsu. Using her little sister as a test dummy, Ino went through various genjutsus on Suzuki, albeit with positive images being embedded.
"Hey Suzuki-chan, do you wanna see something cool?" Ino already knew the answer before she said it. That familiar big smile returned as she raced over to Ino.
"Yeah!"
"Okay then, hold your hands up in the air." She said as she went through some hand seals. As Suzuki did this, Ino's hair shot out of the high ponytail and wrapped around Suzuki's stomach. Suzuki then went on a roller coaster.
Laughter filled the air as she raced around, doing loops, flips and zig-zag patterns. Whilst it was pure enjoyment for the younger Yamanaka, it was actually quite an intensive exercise for Ino as it required a great deal of focus in her chakra to make sure that whilst Suzuki was having all of this fun, it was done in a safe environment where there was no chance of getting hurt.
x-X-x
Inoichi got home and walked through the door. He was eager to get home tonight. Today happened to be the day where his eldest daughter met her genin teacher for the first time. He was anxious and excited to find out what team she was on. Inoichi was fairly confident that it was going to be the same Ino-Shika-Cho trio but he wasn't sure if Ino being the rookie of the year would affect that in any way. Nah… it couldn't
"Honey I'm home!" he called out as he saw the side profile of his wife Asuka.
She turned around and smiled. "Finally you're home. I've been dying to find out from Ino about her team but she has stayed tight lipped. She said she was waiting for you so that she can tell everyone." It didn't take a genius to tell that Asuka was not all that impressed with this.
Inoichi merely chuckled nervously. He knew his daughter could be a bit of a princess sometimes.
"Hey Ino-chan!" Inoichi said as he got home from work."
"Daddy" she called out and ran over to him with Suzuki following as fast as she could with her tiny little legs.
"So how did today go?" Inoichi questioned.
Ino for her part, took hold of her father's wrist and dragged him inside. This was going to be a long conversation so they may as well sit down.
Once everyone got comfortable with Suzuki sitting in Asuka's lap, Ino started her tale of how the day went.
"Well I got to the academy and they started going through team selections and then Iruka got to team 8. He started off by saying that Team 8 was Ino Yamanaka, Naruto Uzumaki and finally Hinata Hyuga. Then he went on to mention that our sensei is Kurenai Yuhi" Because she was so focused on the story that she was telling, she didn't notice the eyebrows of her parents rise. They turned to one another and even if it wasn't for the years of time spent using a mental link, they would know exactly what the other was thinking.
"You know more about the boy Inoichi-kun, is Ino going to be alright?" Asuka asked. She had never met the boy and had only heard rumours from around the village.
"Any stories you may have heard around the boy and the demon are greatly exaggerated. Naruto is perfectly fine as a kid. Terrible shinobi from what I hear though." Inoichi replied via the mental link that they shared. Asuka smiled and returned her gaze to her daughter.
"Well that's different from what was expected honey, how do you feel about that?" Asuka took over the conversation as she knew what her husband was doing with that mind of his.
I see where this could lead to Hokage-sama and I have to say it could be interesting. Whilst the Ino-Shika-Cho trio would produce a high result if everything went smoothly, the potential for a team like this is a fair bit higher. Genius rookie of the year, jinchuuriki and Byakugan wielder all on the same team is seriously stacked.
Getting them to work together and get the most out of them though will be hard, especially with a new sensei such as Kurenai. Given that she is new though, I can see her being eager to prove that she is a good teacher.
She's very strict and has great chakra control; something she can help all three with but especially Naruto. She's the best with Genjutsu which Ino has been crying out for more knowledge on. Her calm nature, along with the energetic ones from Ino and Naruto can help bring the Hyuga heiress out of her shell.
This could definitely work.
Unaware of what was going on through the mind of her dad, Ino replied. "I dunno mum. I think I was just expecting the Ino-Shika-Cho team that I didn't open up to there being the chance for anything else." Ino put her hand on her chin to think a bit harder.
"Kurenai-sensei seems nice and I like the fact that she is a woman. It's another sign that I can get to where I want to be! Umm, it's nice being on a team with Hinata-chan, hopefully I can help her a bit with her confidence."
"And what about your final teammate, Naruto Uzumaki?" Asuka questioned. One of the morals that they vowed to raise their kids with, was letting them make their own decisions. She didn't want any outside influences affecting the opinion of Naruto in this case.
"I don't like him!" Ino blurted out with frustration evident on his face. "He never really showed any interest at school, always skipping class and pulling pranks! I don't want someone on my team who doesn't take being a ninja seriously!"
Inoichi looked sad. As a psychologist, he knew exactly why Naruto was doing this. Getting affection and a social circle that others didn't have to worry about thanks to families was something that was just as, if not more so important for the jinchuuriki.
"I mean he showed that he has a lot of chakra and he can make clones now which he normally never could do but that just means he would be a good meat shield. He's always so loud and obnoxious as well and he wears that orange jumpsuit ughhh! It looks so fugly."
Inoichi and Asuka laughed and sighed; mostly sighed though at the last reason for their baby girl's dislike of her new teammate.
"Well doesn't he always say that he wants to become the hokage? Maybe you can show him how much hard work you've put in to get to where you are, it will rub off on him so that he takes being a shinobi seriously?" Inoichi suggested.
Ino took that on board and thought on it. "Well it would be better than him playing all those pranks all the time."
"And then he would be stronger, being able to help you more on missions, plus, who knows, he may become pretty strong and be a good friendly rival for you to have?"
"Pfft, that idiot? There's no way!" Ino vehemently denied as she shook her head.
Smirking at seeing his daughter act this way, Inoichi replied. "Just think Ino, if he managed to graduate without even trying as you said, imagine how much progress he will make if does try?"
"But I've got so much that I haven't shown at the academy! There's no way he is close to my level!"
Inoichi knew that and didn't deny it at all. However, he knew that Naruto had potential leg up on everyone.
x-X-x
Meanwhile, as went home and trained lightly in the beautiful garden with her baby sister and then going on to tell her family about her day, Naruto went home to a cup of instant ramen.
He didn't have anyone to tell the exciting news that he had made it to a genin team. There was no mother or father to tell him how proud they were of his achievements. He didn't even get the chance to practise his skills on lush grass. Instead he had sit on the cot in his dingy apartment.
And the worst thing was that Naruto knew that his teammates were spending time with their families, enjoying the moment whilst he was here in the apartment alone and depressed.
This changes! I want to stop feeling this way! I want to become a stronger shinobi so that people come to me, wanting to be my friend. I need to take this more seriously! Being a ninja is tough and I nearly almost lost Iruka. I can't have that happen again!
And I don't want to do it living in this crappy apartment!
Living in poverty definitely set a work ethic for oneself and Naruto was keen to get to work on improving his life. He just hoped that this team with Kurenai as his sensei was going to be that fresh start that he was looking for.
x-X-x
The rest of the night went on smoothly with Ino telling her family about what kurenai had told her. Inoichi wasn't going to tell his daughter but he didn't see them failing. When a team was stacked with that much potential talent, it would be a crying shame for the village to deny that team. They would just need remedial work but he didn't see a team with a Yamanaka, Uzumaki and Hyuga on it getting sent back.
"Now Ino, your mother and I have something that we want to give to you; this is our gift to you for making it out of the academy and to being a shinobi. Well not a full shinobi but we want to give you every opportunity to pass your test."
As Inoichi said this, Asuka used some chakra to unseal a small scroll that had been in her hand. It was replaced with a box just under one metre long
With a massive smile on her face, Ino didn't waste long in undoing the violet ribbon on the top of the box. After taking the lid off, Ino was greeted with the site of a kodachi blade. The handle was black with a pale green vine that wrapped around it. There were a few tiny violet flowers coming off stems of the vine. The metal was bright silver.
It was the slightly larger than the swords that she had been training with but that was expected as she was a growing girl.
Ino picked up the blade and held it firmly in her hand. This feels amazing! It's so light but I can tell just by looking at it that it is very sharp! This is really high quality!
Placing the blade back in the box that it came in, Ino then raced over and jumped to her dad and gave him the biggest hug that she could muster. "Thank you daddy!" She squealed, hurting Inoichi's ears.
She then went over to her mother and did much the same. "Ino. Whilst this may be a new present, this is not a toy. A blade can cause serious damage. I need you to promise me that you will be careful with it."
Looking him right in the eyes, Ino nodded. "I promise Dad. I won't let you down and I will use this kodachi to protect all of my friends and family." Ino said with steel that mirrored the blade.
x-X-x
Preparing that morning, Ino got up and had a shower just like she always did. She brushed her teeth as normal and went back to her room to get dressed.
She looked at herself in the mirror and liked what she saw. She had a form fitting violet performance long sleeve crop top which stopped just above her belly button. She combined this with a pair of skin tight black leggings which had mesh inserts up the thighs.
She finished it off with black sandals. Her headband was around her forehead with her long platinum blonde hair parted down the middle flowing over the headband. It went down to just below her mid back and breasts.
After receiving the present from her parents, Ino planned on learning about sealing or at least becoming very good friends with someone who was good at sealing. She hated the way her kodachi ruined her look. She had to wear the strap over her shoulder so that she had easy access to the blade in case she ever needed it.
The Yamanaka princess wanted to get to the point where she could have it sealed on her forearm or similar location, that way she didn't have to wear the obscene sheath any longer. Plus, it would be a good surprise too!
Getting all of her tools which she strapped to her legs such as shuriken and kunai, Ino went downstairs and had a small breakfast. She didn't want anything to ruin today so she played it safe.
She said goodbye to her little sister; an action that was much harder than she thought. Closing the door behind her, Ino made her way to the training ground, getting there slightly earlier than what she had planned with the rest of her team.
Out of the two who her remaining teammates, it was Hinata who arrived first. "Hi Ino-chan" Over the two years that they had been spending time together thanks to being heiress' of their respective clans, the duo had built a friendship. Ino was a friendly person in nature and like to make friends. Hinata also saw the similar quality in her purple loving friend that she saw in Naruto.
That desire to succeed was paramount. Albeit, that she didn't have the same hardships that Naruto had in her life, Ino's desire to improve was impressive. What she did admire about Ino though was that she was able to achieve her goals. Whereas Naruto said that he was going to become Hokage, he largely stayed in the same place in the academy rankings. Ino on the other hand had improved immensely over the past couple of years.
"Hey Hinata-chan! Are you ready for today?" The platinum blonde questioned.
It was a testament to Hinata's confidence improving over the years when spending time with her friend that she didn't stutter when she spoke. "Hai! I'm ready. I can't tell my father that I failed becoming a genin."
"Well the best way to do that is to win this test! We have to get that ball from Kurenai! Can you check where the dumbass is? We need to start setting up the traps soon and all those clones that he showed yesterday would be a good help for this."
Hinata did her best to frown but it was so minor that Ino didn't even notice it. She activated her bloodline limit and then noticed that he was on his way. She breathed a sigh of relief, happy that he was on time.
"N-n-naruto-kun is just about to arrive." Hinata replied, a small smile on her face.
"Well it's good to see that even he can be on time." She had no how crazy she would get if she had a sensei that was chronically late. She'd probably strangle him!
Naruto arrived within a minute. When he saw both Ino and Hinata, he panicked. "I'm not late am I?".
Surprising Ino, it was Hinata who spoke up. "N-no Naruto-kun."
"Good now that we are all here, we can start planting all of those traps. Naruto, can you make all those clones like you did yesterday?" Ino questioned to which Naruto nodded and placed his hands in what, given time, would be a familiar seal.
What none of the genin knew was that with Kurenai listening to their conversation the day before, she was aware of what time they were going to start prepping. She watched as Naruto's clones started running through the training ground setting up traps. Due to his pranking nature, the blonde haired boy was not short of ideas for creative ways to hopefully get the better of their sensei.
Ino and Hinata aided Naruto with this, with Hinata using her bloodline to find tools and Ino coordinating the team. During this time, they discussed their strategy for taking down a jonin.
Once they were done and half an hour had passed, Kurenai decided that it was time to make her presence known. Loudly, she walked along some leaves, the rustle alerting Hinata who turned her attention and spotted the jonin.
"Kurenai-sensei is here." It was the first time that Hinata had spoken in Naruto's presence without stuttering.
"Ahh, we should go meet her." Naruto called out and then walked over to where their sensei was.
"So Team 8, are you ready?" Kurenai said as she held out a small squash ball in her hand.
The game had begun.
Author's notes:
Hey there, just thought that I would do something different with the whole shadow clone jutsu. I hate how overused it is, especially in a training context. However, I know that this is a jutsu that has Naruto's name written all over it. I hopefully made a halfway point, where due to the wording that Naruto used, he realizes that he can use it for information gathering but not realise that he can use it for training.