Kurenai held her breath as she walked into her friend's apartment. She opened her eyes reluctantly, expecting to see the place torn to shreds by the three gaki. What she saw instead was three children sitting ruler straight on the couch, and was shocked, to say the least.
"Hello, I'm Yuhi Kurenai, a friend of Iruka-kun's."
"Hello Kurenai-san," Sai greeted calmly from the far right side of the couch.
"Oi Kurenai-san." Hinata said sweetly.
"Kurenai eh?"
"Huh?" the girl jumped, not sure where the sound had come from. She looked down to see the boy who was at her toes. She blushed slightly at the fact that someone who wasn't even a student at the Academy had managed to sneak up on her without even intending to.
"Um, yes, may I ask your names?" She said quickly collecting herself.
"I am Sai." he said monotonously.
"Hai, I-I'm Hinata."
"I Naruto! Believe it!" The blond shouted, unnecessarily loud.
"I see. Do you have last names?" She asked politely.
"If I do, I am unaware of it." Sai informed her.
Kurenai looked to the girl who was obviously a Hyuuga, waiting for a response. "Hyiga?" Hinata answered, unsure. "That's the only other name I've heard associated with mine." She continued looking disappointed.
"Hyuuga." Kurenai corrected. At the statement, Hinata's head shot up.
"W-what makes you say that?" Hinata asked, curious of how the woman knew something about her that even she didn't.
"It is evident that you have the blood limit, or Kekkei Genkai of the Hyuuga Clan. Although, I've never heard of an orphaned Hyuuga child and I'm shocked that someone from such a high placed clan would be sent to an orphanage and not to the branch family." Kurenai wondered aloud, confusing the girl even more.
Hinata's face twisted into an expression that went beyond confusion.
"Never mind that for now," Kurenai said, and the girl's head turned back to looking at her own knees.
"What's your surname, gaki?" She asked looking at Naruto, who still stood by her leg.
"I'm Naruto uhh...Naruto?" Naruto's started excitedly, before realizing he didn't know his surname.
As most people in the village knew, the Kyuubi's container was an Uzumaki, descending from a clan outside of Konoha. "Uzumaki." She informed him bluntly.
"Uzumaki... Uzumaki..." Naruto said, testing his 'new' name on his tongue.
"Wait, how do you know dat?" He asked, giving the older girl his best 'stink eye'.
"It's commonly known," Kurenai replied simply. Despite the fact that her answer didn't help quench his curiosity, he chose to let it go.
"Iruka-kun mentioned that you three were interested in becoming ninjas. Is that true?" She inquired, changing the subject.
"Believe it!" Naruto chimed. "So, do any of you know any... jutsu?" She inquired.
The three deadpanned.
"Just wha~?" Naruto asked, never hearing the word before.
"Ninja skills." Kurenai tried again, putting it more simply.
Sai spoke first. "I can kind of throw these?" It was more of a question than a statement.
He raised his hand, holding it up rather sharp shuriken and a kunai.
Kurenai gasped a bit. "Let me see them." she demanded.
Sai handed her his 'toys'. After testing the edges of the weapons and determining that they were in fact NOT fake but slightly worn professional grade knives, she was a bit curious. "Where did you get these?" She asked, squatting in front of the boy.
"I'm not sure." He said with as much emotion as any of his other responses.
"Are you lying?" Kurenai demanded again.
"No, I have no reason to." Sai said bluntly, looking her straight in the eye.
"I see..." Kurenai was then silent. "Ok," she finally said standing up, "We're going to try your hands at weaponry. Follow me." She said and led the three to the 'yard' behind the apartment building.
Since many younger shinobi resided there, the yard been turned into what was basically a mini training ground. There were straw dummies and targets set up for free use. Kurenai led them to the targets and stopped about 4 feet away from a rather large one. She pulled out 6 blunt kunai that she had picked for this particular task.
"Ok." she started after motioning for the kids to sit down by her. "Does anyone know what this is?" She asked holding up the blade.
"A kunai knife." was Sai's response.
"That it is. Ninja use kunai knives very often. In a fight, an extra kunai could be the difference between life and death. As could the accuracy with which you throw them. In the academy, you learn the basics to working with kunai in your first year, but most families have their children start at the age you are now." Kurenai stood up. "This is how you hold a kunai." She showed them, the round part of the knife in her palm, with her fingers enclosed around it. "This way, you can cut a close enemy." she informed them, slashing an invisible enemy with such speed that made their eyes bulge. "Or you can throw it at a farther off enemy, like this," she said and threw the knife with unnerving accuracy, without even looking at the target.
Hinata and Naruto gasped in awe.
"May I try?" Sai requested, standing up at Kurenai's approving nod.
Sai grabbed the blunt kunai that the woman was holding out, and threw it, hitting the target, but reaching about four inches from the bull's eye.
"Very good." Kurenai congratulated, honestly stunned by the boy's skill. What she found the most striking though wasn't that the boy hit the target; it was that the he had held the kunai by the metal ring and thrown it by putting his index finger through the loop and basically flicking it, a trick that she had only seen a Jounin execute properly.
"M-may I try K-Kurenai-san?" Hinata requested politely.
"Yes you may. Here." Kurenai said softly, handing Hinata another blunt kunai.
Hinata grabbed the kunai and aimed at the target. She didn't use enough force however, so when the knife struck the wood, it bounced off, falling to the ground. The bluette looked at the ground in shame.
"Don't blame yourself. You had a good aim, but you didn't throw hard enough. A lot of people make throwing kunai look so easy that no one ever realizes that it requires strength." Kurenai said and patted the girl on the back.
"My term!" Naurto shouted. Sai face palmed at the boy's skewed choice of words and Kurenai handed him a knife. Naruto focused on the target long and hard, to the extent that his tongue came out and he looked a bit more like he was constipated than like he was throwing a knife.
"Just throw it already." Sai said, his voice laced with annoyance, but slightly mocking.
Naruto turned briefly to scowl at the boy.
Once again, but much quicker, Naruto took aim at the target. He threw the kunai right at the bull's eye. But that was not where it went; the kunai soared 3 inches above the wood target and didn't stop until it hit the tree 5 feet past the target. "Hehe oops..." Naruto said in a small voice.
Sai face-palmed again.
Hinata looked at him with an expression that read 'Maybe next time?'
Kurenai just stared dumbfounded at the knife.
After a few long moments, she cleared her throat, making the three pay attention to her again. "It appears Naruto might've thrown it a bit too hard..." She concluded. "I'm going to go retrieve those kunai. Do not touch any of these until I get back." She said, pointing at the other three blunt knives on the ground.
The children nodded.
Kurenai strolled to the target and leaned over, picking up Hinata's kunai. She pulled Sai's out of the wood with ease, proud of the fact that it had stuck almost an inch in the wood, an average for a student after a year in the Academy.
She walked the distance to Naruto's kunai, dropping the other two when she got a good look at it. Not only had the kunai flown past the average distance achievable by kids his age, but it was embedded in the bark halfway up the blade, a good 4 inches. Either this kid had the strength of a Chuunin already, or he had used chakra to help his throw, a skill taught only in the final year of the academy.
This was going to be more interesting than she had expected.
Ok, thanks for reading. I plan to start making chapters longer, but since its Thanksgiving today, I figured I would get this out. So, I hope you enjoyed it, and have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for all of you wonderful readers and reviews (hint hint) ;)