Menma looked around his bedroom. "What a crap dream... Me? The reincarnation of the Kyūbi... as if." Then the redhead recalled something. "The old man wanted to tell something to me and Naruto before the Academy." He got up, changed out of his pajamas, and put on a purple shirt and beige pants. "Naruto, Menma." The twins heard their father and went to the waiting room. The younger blonde was pumped up for the selection that would take place later on. "I hope I get Sakura-chan in my team!" Menma only had a blank look as a response. They faced their progenitor, waiting for him to start talking.
"I'm sure you heard of how Sarutobi Hiruzen managed to slay the Kyūbi years ago, correct?" The Sandaime, titled God of Shinobi, met his end sending the creature into oblivion. "That, sadly, is false. It was a lie to make the civilians think it was over." Minato heaved a forlorn sigh. "Also, it didn't attack for no reason, it was enraged because it had been sealed within your mother, Uzumaki Kushina." The boys didn't like the tone the Hokage spoke with. "A Bijū can't be killed, it's now sealed in you, Naruto." The younger twin had a look of shock, while the other simmered in thoughts.
"Hehehe..." The two blondes stared at their relative as if he had gone mad. "So... you ignored me and treated me like that because he is more precious than me؟" Menma had a twisted smirk, creeping out his father and brother. "Fuck me, throw me to the wolves, I'm worth shit! Isn't that right, father؟" Minato had a look of shock and Naruto felt sick to his gut. Was the redhead always this close to snapping? "Well, it doesn't matter anyway." Menma turned to go out. "Good luck little brother, you will need it." The front door got slammed shut, making the blondes wince.
Menma was kicking pebbles down the road, uncaring of his surroundings, too pissed at his father to pay attention to other people. "Why did I have to be born to him?" Minato could go choke on a dick and he wouldn't mind. About Naruto, the redhead was still musing about their situation. "Well, when the time comes, I'll defend him from other villages and nukenin, it's the least I can do." He passed by an udon place and decided to eat, having missed breakfast. "One kitsune udon, please." Then he thought about Hinata. "I hope she passes the exam given by the jōnin."
Ā looked over the reports about the village, examining the details of population development and economic growth, grinning at how his proposal had worked gloriously. "Monsters...? They are much better than humans in strength and productivity." To the Raikage what mattered most was the utility of a citizen to Kumo. Kowan, the bull-spider that never left Bee's side, had produced clothing with properties no human could replicate easily. She had made a set of clothes for his brother that had blocked Ā's Raiton cloak, making the leader consider welcoming monsters then. And Mikado was crucial in defending a relatively inexperienced Yugito from nukenin, defeating jōnin level foes easily. He had a huge head start compared to other Kages, already having 'monsters' integrated to his nation.
"Greetings Raikage-sama." One of those crow tengus had come to him after he had asked the tiny tiger if it could get more of his kin to Kumo. "What is your purpose?" The winged male bowed to the human, extending an encyclopedia to him. "Your request for immigrants is under analysis. In here you can see your prospective citizens." A stack of documents was plopped over the book. "I was sent to examine the biomes available in your lands. If you could mark on this map the locations under your dominion, it would be a great help." Ā looked over the papers, noting the clauses about abusing his limits and acceptable boundaries for monster handling. "Not demand breeding programs, give land for them to settle down, keep the xenophoby low..."
The Raikage had a few doubts. "What are the chances of this request going through?" The male smiled with a notepad on hands. "Because you welcomed two of the nine great yōkai in your lands, I'd say they're pretty good." He twirled the brush thoughtfully. "And you didn't display behavior we would consider negative yet." Ā nodded and offered a handshake. "I guess that if all works out you will be one of the diplomats, correct?" The tengu accepted the offer and shook his hand. "You are right. The higher-ups are pleased that at least one human nation is amiable. I trust you will deal with your daimyō, so he won't throw a tantrum." The men shared a smirk, a business being closed flawlessly was a universal pleasure.
The daimyō did complain about giving land to 'lowly creatures', but Ā had used silk of jorou-gumo and sake brewed by satyrs along with other monster products to buy his favor, and the gifts (bribes) managed to shift enormously the opinion of the haughty man. "I suppose we can extend our gracious hand towards these creatures and form a trade link." The Raikage had to hold in the urge to slap the pompous self-serving ruler for making the project seem to be his own idea. But it had gone smoothly, monsters suited for mountainous and forested terrain had settled in Kaminari and accepted to serve Kumo if need be.
Civilians almost made the monsters just up and return to their land, but forceful encouragement (threats) and the exotic products mellowed their opinions as well. Bee was now trying to woo one of the female holstaurs that came due to the agreement, Yugito was doing the same with a Chesire cat. "As long they don't screw up things too badly, I'll allow it." The office door got slammed open. "DARLING!" A neon bluenette woman in a scanty silver kimono leaped on the bulky male. "I'M WORKING!" Now Ā had to deal with an amorous raijū who wanted to get in his pants. "So annoying!"
Hinata woke up with the sun hitting her eyes and recalled her last Academy assignment. "I wonder who will be my teammates." She got up and readied herself for the day, recalling what Menma had once told her. "The jōnin instructor will give you one last test, it's about teamwork." Would she be able to pass this extra test? The girl shook her head and went for breakfast, glancing briefly at the mirror, only to see herself and not the woman of yesterday. "Was it a dream?" Hinata stopped dwelling in her thoughts and exited the room.
After eating with her family, receiving votes of faith from her mother and sister, Hinata was now on her way to the Academy. During her trek, she passed by a certain stall. "Ojou-chan, did you enjoy the shūjin fruits?" She turned to face Warashi, smiling to the vendor. "Yes, when will you get more?" The man dug around in his paperwork and pulled one sheet. "Tell your mother that more will come within a week." She nodded and resumed her walk, wanting to arrive at the Academy on time. "Goodbye." The merchant waved goodbye as well.
The Hyūga saw the gates of the building where she spent many years attending, hoping this would be the last time she entered it as a student. The hallways and the smell of chalk became familiar to her, but now she would replace them with earth and blood, she knew the life of ninjas wasn't easy, as her father had once taken her to the hospital to witness a squad being carted in hurriedly, or else they would die. "I will have to depend on my team to survive." She entered her class with hopes of not being joined with Uchiha Sasuke. "Shino could be a good teammate."
The boy had turned bitterly cold since Itachi had murdered their father and most of the adults of their clan, only sparing the non-ninja people, children, and retired elders. Hinata had only heard rumors about the traitor's motives, none good, and knew that the now heir of Uchiha had his heart set on revenge. She had seen his eyes, that other girls claimed to be cool and attractive, these were pits of hatred that if left unattended it would end badly. She felt uncomfortable around him, he seemed so little empathetic to others. Would he throw her in the path of danger if it increased his chances of killing his brother an infinitesimal amount? She didn't want to test the scenario.
Iruka had arrived in class and silenced the chattering children, noting in passing that Naruto was strangely subdued. "Very well, keep quiet while I say your team assignments. One more thing, teams are decided by the Hokage, thus they can't be altered, understood?" The scarred chūnin began stating who would be grouped with who, pausing briefly to let them groan in defeat at being paired with people they disliked or holler in happiness at having a friend as their teammate. One by one the jōnin instructors came to take their new pupils away.
The Umino had a subtle cringe once he finished with team 7, knowing Kakashi's reputation of chronic tardiness. "Team 8 is composed of Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Hyūga Hinata. Your jōnin instructor is Yūhi Kurenai." The boy holding a puppy cheered until the aforementioned woman entered the room. "Team 8, come with me." The trio got up from their seats and followed the Yūhi. While they followed the jōnin, Hinata attempted to get the attention of the boys. "Kiba-san, Shino-san, Menma-kun told me something you should know." The Inuzuka had his curiosity piqued and the Aburame turned his head to hear better. "She will give us a test about teamwork."
The group stood at a training ground, the youths faced the adult intently until she took off two strips of cloth. "As a test, you will have to find the owners of these clothes." Her crimson eyes watched the reactions of the trio intently. "It seems that a certain chūnin told her, and she told the boys." The Yūhi smiled and threw the cloth to them. "You will have until sunset to find your targets, or else you won't pass." Kurenai had good expectations from them, having worked with their fellow clan members on missions. "By the way, none of these are mine." She disappeared in a cloud of petals.
The Aburame turned to his team, holding the clues given. "As Hinata-san told us, we will have to join efforts. Taking into account that she's a jōnin, it would be safe to assume that our targets are close in rank to our instructor." Shino offered the clothes to the Inuzuka. "Could you give us an estimate of our targets' specs?" Kiba sniffed the purple cloth along with Akamaru. "It smells like dango... Hmm... I would say it's a female around twenty years or more." Then he turned to the black cloth. "Ah? I smell a male close to thirty years. It smells like the open hot springs and... Gross!" Kiba slapped the cloth off Shino's hand, startling both him and Hinata and Akamaru began digging a hole to bury the offending article.
The Aburame rubbed his stinging hand while staring at his cringing teammate. "Explain your behavior." Kiba hesitated to speak up. "It belongs to a pervert! Why would someone be jacking off while wearing clothes at that place if they weren't peeping?" Hinata tilted her head. "Jack off?" The boys turned silent at her innocent question. "You tell her Shino, I spoke too much." The Aburame had an eerie glint to his sunglasses. "It was you who introduced her to the term, it's only fitting that you tell her the definition you meant to use." Akamaru whimpered at the intense standoff between them.
Who will be the one to tell Hinata what Kiba meant? Will Team 8 manage to pass Kurenai's test?
Tengus have an extra pair of limbs, the wings on their back, being like humans overall; different from harpies and sirens, who have arms turned wings.