Disclaimer: Anyone trying to accuse me of owning Naruto shall be handed over to Orochimaru who shall then use the moron in his Summoning Jutsu: Resurrection to an Impure World.
Rei Higurashi was currently walking home from the Ninja academy with her thoughts constantly going back to her first team meeting. One thing that Rei was very pleased about was the fact that her teammates didn't seem to be the hormonal idiots that she had had to deal with for the past two years. When Rei had first reported to her old classroom for her team placement Rei had resigned herself to having to put up with the antics of two of her admirers. Hearing that she would be place on a team composed of genin from other classes had filled her with a good deal of hope. Since the various classes in the academy tended to be isolated from each other there was almost no chance of her two teammates being in her fan club. So it had been with hope that Rei had gone up the stairs to meet her new teammates.
When she considered her teammates Rei figured that she had lucked out very well considering what she had been expecting. Naruto was rather friendly and seemed to have a sort of cheerful air about him that Rei found refreshing. Iori was gruff and his attitude reminded Rei of a bear; friendly if left alone or shown respect but nasty if angered. To Rei's surprise, she had found that she was able to open up a little bit and be herself with those two boys. Actually, when Rei thought about how Naruto and Iori acted compared to her classmates, it would be easier to describe the two as young men instead of boys. Whatever the case, Rei had found out in that hour talk that the three of them had had that Naruto and Iori were two people that she could trust to have at her back and that was enough for now in that department.
Finding out that Chouza Akimichi was her new sensei had been a bit of a surprise for Rei but yet again it was a pleasant surprise. The Akimichi were one of several clans in Konoha that her grandfather had spoken very highly of to her. Rei knew that this was because the Akimichi were one of the few Clans to regularly come to the shrine that the Higurashi family tended in order to offer offerings of thanks to the kami. Unlike several other clans, the Hyuga and the almost destroyed Uchiha quickly came to Rei's mind, the Akimichi were a very humble in nature clan and were known among the shrine tenders for their habit of offering prayers for those ninjas that had departed without exception even if the ninja was an enemy.
While Rei had a general respect for the Akimichi as a whole, she had been curious as to how Chouza was as in individual. Chouza was rather friendly and had sat down to talk with them all. The man's simple speech to the team showed Rei that Chouza would be a good sensei for them. "Hello you guys and lady, I'm Chouza Akimichi and I will be your sensei from here on out. If you ever have a question on something or need some help I am right here for you. It doesn't matter it the thing you need help on is ninja related or something from your personal lives; I'll be there to help you just the same. Should I not be able to help you for any reason in whatever you need I will do my best to either find out what you need to know or find someone who can help you."
Once Chouza had said his introduction he had gone on to outline what Team Chouza would be doing for the first two weeks. For the first week the team would be doing nothing but drills and training. Chouza had stated very emphatically that jumping into doing missions, even if they were as harmless and boring as D-rank missions were, without any training in working with each other was a big mistake. He had then gone on to say that D-rank missions didn't really teach teambuilding like a lot of Jonin seemed to subscribe to. Most D-rank missions, Chouza told them, were basically chores and that just because you can do a chore together doesn't mean you're able to work together out on the field where it all counts. The second week would still have a lot of drills and team building exercises but Team Chouza would start to do missions.
As Rei approached the gate to the shrine her family lived at she stopped and thought about what had happened at the very end of the team meeting. When Chouza had dismissed the team Rei had found Naruto following her down the halls of the academy. She had immediately turned to face Naruto and demanded to know why he was following her. Afraid that she might have been wrong about him, Rei was ready to summon her naginata for use in the 1000 years of pain jutsu if Naruto was trying to get a date. Rei was surprised that Naruto did not in fact try to get a date from her but had come to talk on an issue that he had felt he should bring to her attention. Naruto then went on to say that there was a seal that had been placed on him a long time ago and he wanted to notify her about it.
Rei, who enjoyed studying seals of all shapes and sizes, had asked if she could see the seal that Naruto was talking about. Surprisingly, Naruto had refused to show her the seal or mention what the seal was for. When Rei had asked Naruto why he had informed her about the seal and yet at the same time was so closed mouth about it Naruto had replied, "I told you about the seal to make sure that you don't ever weaken it." Naruto's voice when he had told her this was extremely serious and his eyes were like cold sentries warning her off. Seeing that, whatever the seal was for, the seal's integrity was of great concern for Naruto Rei quickly vowed that she would never do anything to knowingly weaken the seal. The relief and gratitude that Naruto showed her after she had made that promise worried Rei. What kind of seal and what could it be doing that made Naruto so worried about it ever weakening?
Although Rei would never tell anyone about the conversation she had had with Naruto, Rei had to admit that her curiosity was piqued. Rei knew that this seal of Naruto's was a private matter and that she shouldn't go trying to get the information on it out of Naruto. But Rei also knew that her curiosity, once piqued, made her want to figure out what this seal of Naruto's could be about. Her respect for individual privacy and desire to know what was going on warred within Rei. Eventually Rei found a compromise that she could live with which was her spending her free time looking through the family archives on seals. After all there was a good chance of her either finding records about an instance similar to how Naruto reacted, of which Rei personally doubted, or her finding something else to pique her interest. If in the off chance Rei did find some record that would unravel this mystery for her she could use the information to help Naruto.
Walking into the back door of the family house/bakery, Iori gave a gruff but friendly hello. Iori then walked into the massive kitchen and quickly grabbed one of the small rolls that his mother always set aside for the family. Although the Kusanagi clan had been reasonably well off back in the Land of Grass, the clan had lost a good deal of its wealth when his parents fled from the Land of Grass. From what Iori had managed to get out of his parents, his great-grandfather had tried to take over the Hidden Village of the Land of Grass. Knowing that the clan could very well be destroyed by that madness Iori's grandfather had instructed Iori's then newly wed parents to flee to another country. His grandfather had called the situation very well because the bulk of the Kusanagi clan had been killed when Grass retaliated against Iori's great-grandfather. The few Kusanagi in Grass who had survived that massacre were killed off less then a year later by Orochimaru who had desired the legendary family sword.
Neither of Iori's parents had been sad when they had received word that the Grass had slaughtered 90 percent of the Kusanagi clan. As his father Kenma had explained to Iori and his twin little brothers, those clansmen who had been killed were egotistical and had come to the false belief that the Kusanagi had the right to rule. All who had believed that the Kusanagi were inherently better then their fellow men had all come to pay the price for their hubris. Their names had been blotted out of the family tree and were by Kenma's decree as head of the clan to never be considered part of the clan again.
On the other hand, Iori's parents had been absolutely devastated when they had received the news that the rest of the family had been killed by Orochimaru. From what Iori had been told, his clansmen in Grass when Orochimaru had attacked were mostly just a few elders along with the little kids that were spared as a reward for the four Kusanagi ninjas who had faithfully stood by Grass during the Kusanagi coup attempt. According the reports sent over by a sad grass emissary Orochimaru had ruthlessly killed everyone from the oldest elder to the little cousin that was apparently only ten days older then Iori was. What had made it even harder on Iori's parents was the fact that half the kills had been done with the Kusanagi family sword itself after Orochimaru claimed the blade.
When Iori had finally gotten his parents to explain it all to him three years ago he had felt his pride in his parents rise immensely. Both of them had managed to deal with blows like that and still managed to smile and keep going. Currently his father was a well respected member of an ANBU squad while his mother had actually given up the life of a kunoichi so that she could raise him and his little brothers. Half of Iori's skills as a ninja had been taught to him by his mother when she had a chance to help teach Iori and his little brothers. One thing though that had always surprised Iori about his parents though was the fact that both of them had vowed never to go after Orochimaru to try and reclaim the family blade. When one of the twins had asked why, Iori's parents had explained that they weren't worthy of carrying the family blade and that only Iori, the twins, and any of their descendents deserved the right to reclaim wield the family sword.
Finishing off the roll that he had been munching on, Iori turned his head towards the large oven that his mother used to bake the various breads and rolls to sell. Looking at the large oven Iori's eyes was drawn as they usually were to the flames at the bottom of the oven. The flames were all connected and seemingly perfectly smooth; like a single solid block of red that was placed at the bottom of the oven. This was the true power of the Kusanagi bloodline, complete mastery and manipulation of fire. Outsiders mostly just seemed to think that the Kusanagi bloodline was simply an extremely strong affinity to fire with minor chakra cost reductions thrown in. Over the years the Kusanagi had had to use this incorrect explanation when relating their bloodline to others outside the clan who wouldn't understand.
This poor description of the family bloodline had always frustrated Iori because people at times seemed confused that the Kusanagi couldn't use water jutsus and had a great deal of trouble water walking exercise. "After all" these ignorant outsiders would said, "having an elemental affinity simply means that it's easier to learn and use a certain type of jutsus. Also," those 'knowledgeable' people would continue on to say, "Water walking is chakra manipulation and not elemental manipulation. It must all be in your heads that you have trouble with these things." Oh how at times Iori had wished he just use Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Projectile on those useless morons and get away with it.
The truth of the matter was that the Kusanagi and fire were brethren and partners. At least that's how the Kusanagi had found to best describe their bloodline among themselves. Fire flowed through the veins of every Kusanagi warming them with its powerful embrace. It freely gave itself to protect and serve each member of Kusanagi as was shown in the fact that Iori could use a "B" rank jutsu such as Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Projectile for about the chakra cost that non-Kusanagi needed to use for the "C" rank jutsu Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique. Known 'masters' of fire manipulation spent years and decades training to do what came naturally to the Kusanagi and very rarely did the 'masters' ever equal the control that the Kusanagi possessed over the flame.
This great gift that the Kusanagi had in their bloodline also came with a great price. Water seemed to recognize the Kusanagi as only enemies to be destroyed. Oh the Kusanagi could have a glass of water, bathe, or swim like normal people. However the instant a Kusanagi extended his chakra away from his body water seemed to 'lash' out at the Kusanagi. This was why it was impossible for a Kusanagi to perform water jutsus. As for water walking, Kenma had described walking on water to Iori once as 'trying to walk while in the middle of a great earthquake'. His mother had once told Iori that Kenma had once managed to walk on water for 30 minutes, something that was only average for most Jonin but awe-inspiring to the Kusanagi.
Thinking back on his new team Iori let out a small smile. Neither the blond boy Naruto nor that rather attractive, but not his type of girl, Rei made any smartass remarks that Iori had come to expect when he revealed the 'official' explanation of his bloodline. Instead both of his teammates had calmly accepted his explanation of the Kusanagi bloodline and had proceeded to move on to other topics. That made the two of them okay in Iori's book and he was more then willing to work with them as a genin team. If today's conversation was any indication, Iori was sure that Team Chouza would have a long and successful future.
Chouza Akimichi was happily walking into the front door of the Akimichi Clan home carrying two fresh hogs on his shoulders. His wife had asked him to stop by the butchers after he was done with his new genin team and as far as Chouza was concerned; what his wife wanted she would get. Passing through the front door and gently closing it with his foot Chouza called out, "Honey I'm Home and I've brought home the Bacon!" Laughing at his little joke Chouza headed into the kitchen where he knew his loving wife would be.
When Chouza walked into the kitchen he was greeted by his sweet and loveable wife who gave him a big kiss on the lips. Mrs. Akimichi then reached over and took the hogs off of Chouzas shoulders and carried them over two the spit in the open fireplace oven. Since Mrs. Akimichi was technically Chouza's sixth cousin she had the same stout physique that the Akimichi were famous for. Standing back and out of the way Chouza watched as his sweet and lovable wife happily prepared the two hogs he had brought home. As she was in process of putting on a layer of flavoring onto the hogs Mrs Akimichi called out, "So Dear, who did you get as your new genin students. What are you planning on giving them as their 'true' genin test?"
With a big smile on his face, Chouza crossed his arms over his chest and said in his jovial voice, "I've got a great team Honey. It's kind of different from most teams you or I've run across because their all from different classes in their year. Their rather interesting because their all actually a lot stronger then they showed in the academy. In fact the Lord Hokage seemed rather proud of how strong they all are and how well they managed to hide it during their academy days. At least, he looked very proud of this fact when he mentioned it to me. To make things even more unique the Lord Hokage told me that giving these kids the second genin test wasn't needed. They had already shown their ability to work together in satisfactory levels by getting to know each other and to start talking about their abilities as ninjas."
Mrs. Akimichi was carefully listening to her husband as he talked about his team. She could hear the pride in Chouza's voice as he talked about his team and she had to admit that his team sounded like it would be a great one. When she heard who was on Team Chouza, Mrs. Akimichi brought her head out of the fireplace and said, "Didn't I tell you that there was something special about that Uzumaki boy? You better make sure that he does well in his studies under you; that poor boy doesn't get the respect that he deserves for what his been doing for this village. As for the other two, I've talked to Iori's parents and Rei grandfather. It's really such a shame how all three of those kids were treated in the academy. I'm just glad that our Choji never joined in on the teasing that his classmates seemed enjoy doing so much."
Nodding his head Chouza agreed with everything that his wife said. Chouza, like all Akimichi, never liked judgmental people who teased or shunned other people. This trait came from the fact that the Akimichi tended to get teased a lot as children due to their build. The fact that all three of his new students had been teased and made into virtual outcasts had really burned Chouza. Once he knew that little fact Chouza had become even more determined to help out his new students and show them acceptance and respect.
Chouza and his wife turned their heads towards the door when the heard their son Choji start to walk in the door. Choji came walking into the kitchen with his head hung low prompting Chouza to ask, "What's the matter Choji?" Looking up at his father, Choji went on to talk about how there was another test that his sensei Asuma was going to give Team 10 tomorrow. Continuing on Choji stated how Asuma had stated that if they failed the test then everyone in the team would have to go back to the academy for another year. Finally Choji had mentioned that this one kid in the classroom, Naruto, was having to team up with complete strangers and Choji was worried that Naruto wouldn't be able to pass whatever test the boy's sensei gave him. Throughout the boy's entire conversation Choji had his head hung low in a slight depression.
Putting a meaty hand on Choji's slumped shoulders, Chouza said in a jovial voice, "Don't worry Choji. I have every bit of confidence that you'll pass this test. Just remember Choji that the key to the Ino-Shika-Cho combo team is the very same key that you need to get past this test. Also, I'm very proud of you Choji for your concern in regards to your fellow classmate. That shows strength of character which is something fair more important then strength of body. However you don't need to worry about Naruto, he's on my new genin team." A few minutes latter Mrs. Akimichi stated that dinner was ready and had Chouza and Choji carry dinner over to the dinner table for her.
Promptly at eight o'clock every member of Team Chouza showed up at the training field that Chouza had stated would be the team's training field. For the first two hours after the team had gathered, Chouza had had Rei, Naruto, and Iori doing various warm up physical exercises. It was just some basic stuff like sit-ups, push-ups, crunches, stretches, and running many laps around the training field. The three genin on the team figured that this part of the training was mostly to help them improve their physical strengths and probably also allowed Chouza to gauge how fit each of them was. Because of this and the fact that Chouza was right there doing the exercises with them no one complained about doing 'simple' training.
After the two hours of exercises Chouza had everyone start to practice their taijutsu. Iori and Naruto had been ready to start sparing with each other when Chouza stopped them. Seeing the confused looks on Iori and Naruto's eyes Chouza explained that for the first week Team Chouza was just going to practice their taijutsu forms. Chouza went on to explain that this way each member of the team could practice their taijutsu and at the same time observe their teammates. This way, Chouza stated, each member of the team could start to learn what to expect from their teammates and they could each better challenge each other when they did start to spar. Once the hour of taijutsu practice was over Chouza basically had the team repeat it but doing kenjutsu this time.
There was an hour long lunch break after the kenjutsu practice was over and Chouza had brought a picnic lunch for the team that Mrs. Akimichi had been kind enough to make. Sitting down in the training field munching on chips, sandwiches, and chips with two large bottles of soda to drink everyone was able to relax and get to know each other better. During the picnic lunch Chouza told his students various tales from his own genin days. The tales were enjoyable and quite humorous to Rei, Naruto, and Iori. However they all saw that each of the tales had the moral that teamwork was essential for a ninja team to succeed.
Once Team Chouza had finished their lunch, Chouza had each of his students demonstrate and then practice their ninjutsu jutsus. The three genin had every E rank and most of the D ranked ninjutsus that Konoha had at its disposal down fully under their control. While their base ninjutsu skills were mostly equal, the three of them had branched out very differently after that point. Iori had concentrated solely on Fire jutsus and wielded them with great control. Chouza was only mildly impressed when he saw Iori whip out a Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Projectile as his strongest attack. Other Jonin might try and label Iori as a prodigy for being able to perform such an attack but Chouza had made the acquaintance of Kenma a while ago. Thus Chouza knew that Iori was, in Kenma's own words, 'good but not exceptional' in his use of fire jutsus.
Naruto's jutsu list both surprised and intrigued Chouza. Most of the jutsus that Naruto knew that were above D rank were defensive jutsus like Earth Style: Mud Overturn. From what Chouza could see Naruto's jutsus were centered on the premise of using ninjutsu so that the enemy could be set up to be taken out with a taijutsu or kenjutsu strike. Considering the rather limited information that Chouza had on the Ranseigan, Chouza figured that Naruto's style made a lot of sense. Thinking about the ease that Naruto had with the Shadow Clone jutsu, and the fact that the Uzumaki family had brought it to Konoha, Chouza made the decision to ask the Hokage later if a copy of the Shadow Clone Shuriken Jutsu could be given to the cheerful blond.
Rei's ninjutsu style was careful and efficient Chouza mused. Although Rei had very large chakra reserves for a kunoichi her age, she still only had about 70 percent of the reserves that Iori had. As for comparing her reserves to Naruto, that just wouldn't be fair; Chouza didn't know many Jonin who had reserves that could compete with the boy. Thus to make up for this 'deficiency' that Rei had compared to her teammates she had developed superb chakra control. For attacks Rei had two ninjutsus that she liked to use. The first was Spirit Release: Hand of Harmony. This attack involved Rei shooting out a chakra string from each of her fingers and thumb on one hand. The chakra strings would attach to an opponent's tenketsu at which point Rei could proceed to use her chakra to destroy an opponent's chakra system. Sure a person would eventually regrow their chakra system, but it would a painful experience. Rei's second favorite attack was Spirit Release: Penitence Palm. That technique was a quick jab with one of Rei's hands covered in Spirit Chakra. She used that technique to attack a person's chakra reserves. According to Rei herself the attack could only be stopped if someone stopped the blow or was able to overwhelm the attack with a massive amount of chakra.
After three strait hours of ninjutsu practice Rei, Iori, and even Naruto to an extent were exhausted. Lying down on the training field, the three of them were all hoping that Chouza would let them go home and rest. Sure Chouza had been a wonderful sensei so far and all the points he had brought up were very good ones, but they had been training for 7 hours today. Walking up to his genin students Chouza said in his usual voice, "Good job you gentlemen and lady. So far today you've proven that you deserve every bit of praise that the Lord Hokage said to me yesterday. Before I let you go today there is one more thing that needs to be done."
Rei, Naruto, and Iori immediately sat up and were paying a great deal of attention to Chouza. After all, it wasn't every day that you here that the Hokage himself was giving out praise for you to your instructor. Besides Chouza had said that after they did whatever it was he had planed they would be free to go. To their surprise and confusion Chouza brought out a large mat and set in on the ground. Next Chouza broght out a large stereo and placed it off to the side. Finnally Chouza turned to his confused students and said, "For the next hour we shall start on your dance lesions." In complete unison Rei, Naruto, and Iori let out a loud 'WHAT' that was heard throughout Konoha.
With a slightly stern face Chouza said, "You three may not see it right now, but dancing will be a big help to you three. The various complex dance routines will help you three get used to working with each other and moving as one. Once you three get good enough at this you will start incorporating the use of some of your weaker jutsus to help you get your time and to further refine your teamwork. Besides these benefits to your teamwork, dancing will give you several skills that will help in a multitude of ways. For instance, should you three be called to do an infiltration mission you three could pose as a troupe of dancers. Such a disguise is useful as entertainers often are in places where they can observe defenses or who the enemy is in contact with."
It was obvious to Chouza that, although they were accepting his reasons for this move, that Rei, Naruto, and Iori didn't want to start on their dance lessons. Personally Chouza didn't blame them because he and the rest of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio had been utterly confused when their sensei had brought this same thing up. Remembering the trick that his own Jonin sensei had used at first to get the dance lessons going before Chouza and his teammates had come to accept the benefits of their dance lesion, Chouza decided to use it on his own genin students. Pulling out a microphone from behind his back Chouza said, "Here's the deal. You three shall dance or I shall sing. Trust me you don't want to hear me sing; in fact I've been banned from ever performing at a karaoke bar."
Chouza had to hold back a chuckle as Rei, Iori, and Naruto quickly scrambled over to the dancing mat that he had laid out earlier. Once the three of them were on the mat Chouza showed them the dance steeps that they would be working on in this session. The dance itself was a relatively simple one but it did require the three of them to get their timing right or they would smack into each other. After the three genin had had a chance to look at the dance steeps Chouza took the diagram away and hit the play button on the stereo.
For the next two hours Chouza had to watch as his three students proceeded to butcher the dance that he had given them. It was painful and hilarious at the same time to Chouza to watch the three try and dance. Painful because Chouza had become an expert on dances and the expert in him was writhing in agony over the three's horrible performance. The hilariousness of the situation came from Chouza remembering back to his first day of training when he and the rest of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio had proceeded to demolish the dance mat. Once the two hours were up Chouza told his students that they had made noticeable improvements, which the really had, and told them that Team Chouza would be following this training pattern for the whole week and any day that they didn't take a mission.