Disclaimer: don't own naruto.
Ch 8: the dawn of a new team 7
The day of the genin exams.
Naruto and Kushina, alias Shina, got ready for their Genin exams. This time around, their not late. Both arrived in good conditions, they were welcomed with ignorance, just they way they like it. Naruto however was still in his depressed mood, Kushina was going to have to deal with that in some way. The classmates of both Namikazes still annoyed both the jounin and soon to be genin. Every academy student was told to do a few things. A written test, a taijutsu test, kunai and shuriken usage, and the three basic ninjutsu.
On the written portion, Kushina landed in the middle, just like Shikamaru. Naruto, still a bit under the weather, scored slightly higher than the two. Sasuke and Sakura of course surpassed everyone else and Sakura pestered Kushina about it, not that Kushina cares, she just wants to see the look on everybody's face when they realize that she's a jounin and soon to be the sensei of 3 of them.
On the taijutsu part. Naruto did a lot better than most people would have predicted. He beaten Shino and Shikamaru, tied with Kiba and Chouji, and lost to Sasuke. Thanks to Kushina and him training in secret. Naruto did cheer up a little after his improvements.
Kushina let Hinata beat her, but only permitted herself to tie with Sakura and Ino. Everyone else was dominated, and Mizuki and Iruka noticed.
The weapons test gave Naruto the hardest time though, Kushina and Naruto did train on this part, but they only had three weeks to train Naruto enough to pass the genin exams. Weapons were the least trained part. Naruto only scored a below average. Not enough to fail him, but enough to barely pass him. For Kushina, the to-be kunoichi all tied on this portion.
On the last part made Kushina angry. Naruto successfully henged, and substituted, but at the bunshin no jutsu, the Chunin teacher Mizuki intentionally tried to sabotage Naruto's Kage bunshin. Of course it didn't work. Naruto used enough chakra to fill the room with the clones in hopes of showing off, but Mizuki only managed to suppress enough to only let Naruto make the necessary 3, so Naruto still passed, much to Mizuki's fury. For Kushina, she did the minimum and passed with ease. Mizuki didn't bother to sabotage her test.
After the genin exams, everyone who passed met up outside the academy. There, everyone was bragging to their parents, and Naruto and Kushina were left at the lonely swing. Where Kushina praised Naruto for passing, and pushed him on the swing. Naruto again cheered up, but this time. Kushina didn't noticed Naruto's stalker. Hinata actually had the courage to walk up to Naruto and said.
"congratulations Naruto-kun." least to say, Naruto was ecstatic, this proved what Kushina said was true a couple weeks back, Hinata really does care for Naruto. Naruto cheered up that day.
The next day all the people who passed met up again in Iruka's classroom. Except one Shina Uzukaze. Naruto was told what was going to happen so he wasn't worried. That night will be the night that Mizuki will steal the forbidden scroll. Kushina told the Sandaime about this last night and Hiruzen kept Anbu watching Mizuki. The Anbu says that Mizuki is planning something. Further proving Kushina's point.
Everyone questioned where "Shina" was. Some went so far as to say she stolen her head band, but Naruto knew the truth. He grinned at the fact that everyone was going to get the shock of their lives.
Iruka eyed the room and didn't see Kushina or Mizuki. So he was left alone to call off the teams. Looking at the clock, it was time to call off the teams, ignoring the absents of Kushina and Mizuki. He began.
"team 1... Team 7, Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto picked his head up when his name was called. Eager to see the shocked faces, inside he was grinning wildly. Iruka continued.
"Sakura Haruno." this time, Naruto didn't cheer, he knew of the teams before, but what made him didn't cheer was the fact that he must date Sakura. Iruka went on.
"Sasuke Uchiha." Sakura went ballistic to say the least. Ino and every other fan girl of Sasuke groaned in compliant. Iruka went wide eyed and gasped when he saw what's next. A student asked.
"what's wrong Iruka sensei?" Iruka snapped out of shock at the question. He blinked several times, then came to his sense. Naruto kept his snickering to himself. Iruka went on with a whisper, but everyone heard him.
"it seems that team 7 gets two sensei this time." everyone looked at Iruka in shock and one blurted out.
"it's because of Sasuke-kun!" several fan girls agreed with the person, Kiba complained vocally. Everyone else frowned. Another student asked.
"who are the sensei?" everyone else quite downed at the question eager to know the answer. Iruka hesitated, but answered.
"the two sensei for team 7, are Kakashi Hatake" a lot of people looked at Sasuke in a mix of emotions, like jealously, and rage. Iruka went on.
"and your classmate, Shina Uzukaze." everyone immediately burst into protests, few bragged on how they beat her and complained that this was a mistake, some even went so far as to say they should be "training" her. Several others demanded the truth and other stayed silent, like Shikamaru, Hinata, and Shino. Sasuke actually showed shock, the Uchiha knew something was going on, but didn't know what till now. Sakura of course denied the whole matter, and Naruto? The blonde haired to-be ninja grinned in satisfaction of the reaction. Several students had several different though processes.
'Ha! Look at everybody's faces!' a blond to-be shinobi though.
'why is that baka teaching me?' a pink haired monster mentally processed.
'hn, I knew something was up with that girl.' a raven haired boy though.
'how troublesome, now she's a jounin sensei.' a pineapple headed to-be genin deducted.
'oh Kami, that girl I hit on was a jounin?' one feral looking to-be genin paled.
'Naruto-kun's sister is a jounin?' a pale eyed Hyuga processed. Iruka had enough and shouted out. Using his enlarging his head jutsu thingy.
"Shut up! I know! This must be some kind of mistake! I will talk to the Sandaime about this!" Iruka assured loudly. Everyone else calmed down, only a little. Iruka doesn't know that he's being watched. Iruka continued to read off the list, nobody would shut their mouth about team 7's sensei.
"Team 8 will be… Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. Your sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi." Hinata and Shino understood rather unclearly thanks to the loud reaction to finding out team 7's sensei, but they got the gist. For Kiba was still hollering about Team 7. He had enough and enlarged his head and shouted to the class to silence themselves. The class room quite down several notches, but some were still protesting. Iruka continued with the team placements.
"team 9 is still in use, and team 10 is… Shikamaru Nara, Chouji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka. Your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi." Ino again complained about being on a team with lazy and fatty. Chouji gritted his teeth wanting to take Ino's head, but refrained himself doing so. Iruka then went on with the list. When he was finished, everyone quickly busted into conversations about their teams, and team 7. that's when the jounins entered the room.
A few moments ago. In the Hokage tower, Hiruzen, Kushina, Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai was all present in the room. Asuma and Kurenai looked at the red headed jounin in confusion. Asuma looked at his father, and then back to Kushina, he just had to ask.
"are you really a jounin?" Kushina just laughed, it was Hiruzen who assured him.
"yes, a newly instated jounin taking a genin team" Hiruzen smiled, his son and Kurenai looked at the new Jounin in both awe and confusion. Kurenai more in awe, and Asuma more in confusion. Asuma questioned his father again.
"where she from?" it was Kushina that requested.
"before you all scream at Sandaime-sama, I want you guys not to yell at the old man for this. OK?" Asuma and Kurenai nodded. Kushina went on.
"I was in the Anbu." both jounins ignored her request and started screaming at Hiruzen for putting a child in Anbu. It was Kushina who stopped them.
"I willingly joined! I had nothing and Sandaime-sama gave me a home when I needed it. I happily worked for him, I then left a 4 years later because I had enough money to leave!"
The two jounin calmed down, both jounins gave the old Sarutobi glares. Then from the spying globe Iruka called out the team names. Unfortunately Kushina couldn't understand what Iruka was saying. The spy globe doesn't have audio and it was Kakashi who translated the words for Kushina, reading Iruka's lip. When the news of team 7 came up. Kushina blew into laughter, Kakashi and Hiruzen chuckled. Asuma and Kurenai was left confused. It was Hiruzen who cleared their minds.
"Shina here was a undercover bodyguard for Sasuke Uchiha. Everyone's reaction is completely reasonable. Nobody ever expected one of their classmate to teach them." Asuma and Kurenai nodded their heads for the explanation.
The teams were called on and other jounins picked up their teams. Kakashi suddenly left in a shower of leaves. Kushina tried to stop him, but was too late. She cried out in complaint. She knew where Kakashi was going.
"darn it Kakashi! He's going to wind up late! I kind of don't want to deal with the team alone!" she gritted her teeth and then left in her own shunshin. Shocking the 2 remaining jounins.
"she knows the shunshin? I guess she really is a jounin." Asuma muttered, Kurenai shared his shock. Hiruzen merely smirked.
Back to the classroom. All the teams were called out other than teams 7, 8, and 10. Then a familiar red headed jounin entered the classroom. Immediately, Kiba shouted out in frustration.
"how are you a jounin sensei! This has to be a mistake!" Sakura joined in the shouting.
"why are you teaching me! Where's our real sensei!" Sasuke kept silent, glaring at the red head. Naruto snickered to himself quietly. Shikamaru, Shino, and Hinata kept quiet. Ino merely pouted. Kushina smirked at the reaction. She then spoke up ignoring the protests.
"team 7 to the roof, I will get our fellow sensei." in a cloud of smoke she left. Naruto was grinning and got up to the roof. Surprisingly, Sasuke followed. Sakura then called out to her Sasuke.
"Sasuke-kun! She can't be our sensei! She's some sort of imposter!" she weakly protested, Sasuke merely ignored her. Being the last of team 7. She reluctantly went with them, fearing that she was wrong. Team 8 and 10 were soon called by their respective sensei.
The memorial stone.
Kakashi was staring at the stone before him until Kushina showed up, she noticed Kakashi and what he was doing. In truth, Kushina didn't know about Obito or Rin, but she knew that the memorial stone was for the KIA. She deduced what it was about and said.
"I may not be very wise on many subjects such as this Kakashi, but it wasn't you fault. If they were alive, they would have been disappointed in you. They gave their lives so you can continue living. Don't make their sacrifice worthless. Your new teammates are waiting for you on the academy rooftop." Kushina then left him, leaving in a cloud of smoke. Kakashi stood there, thinking about what Kushina said. He though out.
'your wiser than you know. Granddaughter of my sensei.' in a shunshin, he left the stone.
Kushina to her surprise, she arrived on the academy rooftop first. She waited for a few moments then at the same time, Kakashi and her students arrived at the rooftop. Sasuke and Sakura sent questioning glares to the red headed jounin. Naruto grinned at his nee-chan. Sakura had to ask.
"are you really our sensei?" Kushina smiled and replied.
"yeah, I'm your sensei. Before you bombard me with question, yes, I was holding back on you guys during our time in the academy." Sasuke and Sakura shook at the revelation. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. They turned to their other sensei. Sakura again asked in disbelief.
"is she really our sensei?" Kakashi nodded. Kushina then spoke up.
"take a seat on those step over there." the genins then seated themselves on said steps. Kakashi then spoke up.
"alright guys, lets introduce ourselves." team 7 paused for a moment. Sakura then asked about what.
"about what?" Kakashi sighed, not wanting to answer. It was Kushina the answered for him.
"you know… talk about your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and goals." surprising team 7. It was Sasuke that spoke up.
"why don't you start? And while your at it, why were you in the academy if your already a jounin?" Kushina sighed and answered the first part.
"I am Shina Uzukaze, I like… ramen, training, and nii-san there." she indicated Naruto. The blond to-be genin looked at her, giving a grin. Sasuke and Sakura started to worry. It was Kushina that calmed them.
"don't worry, I'll be training all of you, now on with my introduction… I dislike" she tapped her chin, faking a thinking pose, ignoring the ticked off Sasuke and Sakura. Kushina then continued.
"shallow people, the broody arrogant folk, and history." she whispered the last part, only Kakashi heard her, being the one closest to her. Sakura and Sasuke gave glares at Kushina. Kushina went on.
"my hobbies are… eating ramen, and training… And protecting my nii-san" she again whispered the last part, frowning, again the only Kakashi heard her, he too frowned. Kushina suddenly turned to her optimistic self and continued her introduction.
"my dream is already accomplished, a new record for me, but my other goals, is to eventually have a family." she finished, she then remembered Sasuke's second question.
"for your second question, I was in the academy for an evaluation, most of your generation needs lots of work" she lied. Sasuke and Sakura glared at their sensei. Kushina though out.
'I'm getting better at lying. Awesome!' Team 7, other than Naruto and Kakashi, were confused. Kushina then told Kakashi to start.
"I'm Kakashi Hatake. I like… lots of things, I don't really dislike anything, hobbies, well, I don't have many hobbies, my dream? Uhh." the students and even Kushina sweat dropped at the introduction. All had the same though process.
'he only told us his name.' Kushina then scolded the one eyed jounin.
"come on Kakashi!" Kakashi did nothing, giving up, Kushina picked out Sakura to go next.
"I'm Sakura Haruno. I like…" the pink hair monster turned to Sasuke only to blush, then turned to her two sensei and went on.
"my hobbies are…" she again turned to Sasuke only to giggle, then turned back to the 2 jounins again.
"my dream is to…" she turned to Sasuke for the last time and squealed loudly. Team 7 sweat dropped at the display, the two sensei frowned at the pink haired talker stalker.
"my dislike is Naruto-baka and you!" Sakura pointed at Kushina. Kushina snapped and let loose her killing intent. Sakura instantly froze at the spot. Sasuke stared at Kushina in wonder and awe. Kushina stomped over to Sakura, lifted her up with one arm and shouted out.
"I don't care if you don't like me, because I'm sure as hell I don't like you. but if you ever. Ever! Insult my nii-san ever again! You will live to regret such actions!" Kushina then shoved Sakura down. Shocking Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi. Naruto merely smiled at his protector. Sakura then mumbled out.
"sorry sensei." Kushina feigned that she didn't hear and said.
"what was that?" Sakura again said it louder.
"sorry sensei." Kushina then tone down her killing intent. The tension in the air lifted. Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi had one unifying thought.
'touch Naruto and you will die' it was short, simple, and to the point. Sasuke again glared at his sensei, he suspected the red head for a long time. Kushina then told Naruto to have a go at his introduction.
"my names Naruto Uzumaki! I like ramen, training, and my precious people." Kushina smiled at that, Naruto went on.
"my dislikes are the three minute wait for the ramen to cook, and I don't like people who don't give others a chance. Oh and I dislike the teme over there." the last part he said bluntly, Sakura scolded him, but Kushina defended him by sending her killer intent. Sakura, suddenly feeling like somebody wanted to kill her, instantly shut herself up. Learning that it's a bad idea to attempt to hurt Naruto. Naruto continued his introduction.
"my hobbies are to pull pranks and watering plants. (look up Narutopedia for the last one, it's somewhere near the bottom of the page.)" having no reaction Naruto went on for the last part, with a shout he said.
"my future dream! Is to become the Hokage. The greatest of them all! So that the village will stop looking down on me and make them look up to me!" the rest of team 7 look at Naruto in awe before Sakura and Sasuke scoffed at him. Of course that only brought in Kushina's wrath upon them. Kushina then told Sasuke to go.
"my name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and kill a certain someone. (sorry again, it still felt fitting to redo this quote. Once again. Kishimoto owns this quote. I of course own absolutely nothing.)" Sakura just squealed at his 'coolness'. Kushina and Kakashi frowned at the boy. Naruto was confused, he didn't know what the heck was going on. After the moment Kushina then questioned her sensei partner.
"so Kakashi, which one of us will do the genin graduation test." Kakashi thought about it then said.
"you will do the bell test, I'm sure you want to do this more than me." Kushina raised her eyebrow, she didn't have the bell test. The to-be genins were confused. Naruto spoke up.
"sensei, what's the bell test?" the Kakashi grinned and spoke up.
"the bell test will be the last test before any of you guys are true genins. Right now, you guys are candidates for genins. If you fail, then you have to go through the academy for another year. A fair warning, this test has a 66% chance at failing." all three genins paled at this. Naruto shot an accusing look at his nee-chan.
"nee-chan! What!" Kushina merely ignored him, but Kakashi intervened.
"meet up at training ground 7 at 7. Don't eat breakfast, or you'll puke." with that, he took Kushina and left in a cloud of smoke, much to Kushina's protests. The to-be genins merely shrugged and left. Kakashi then pulled Kushina back on the Academy rooftops and told her about the bell test. Kushina smirked at the test's devious plot.
Mizuki was stealing the forbidden scroll just as Kushina predicted. The fake Chunin ran from the crime scene in decent stealth. So far, the servant of Orochimaru manage to bypass several Anbu teams surprisingly. However, he was found none other than two jounins. One red head, and a one eyed Cyclopes. It was Kakashi who broke the silence.
"give it up, you got nowhere to go." apparently Mizuki didn't care. The traitorous Chunin snatched one of his overly sized shurikens and whipped it at the pair. Shaking their heads, they both evaded the large shuriken. Kushina charged at the traitor. Mizuki already put down the forbidden scroll and pulled out a kunai. Mizuki leapt for his kill. Unfortunately for him, Kushina excelled in Taijutsu. Already in motion, Kushina slapped the kunai out of the traitor's hands and gave a weak punch to her opponents stomach. Mizuki of course flew back and his back slammed into a tree. Mizuki actually got back up, giving a small glare to Kushina, who applauded him.
"good, your up!" Mizuki scowled then pulled out his last over sized shuriken. Again he threw it at Kushina. Who actually took the hit. Mizuki grinned wildly till Kushina poofed out in a cloud of smoke. That is until a voice from right behind him spoke.
"aren't Kage bunshins amazing things?" Mizuki paled, but tried to turn around. Only to limp down on the ground. Mizuki immediately snarled out.
"what did you do to me? You Bitch!" Kushina sighed out, then explained bluntly.
"I'm a medical ninja, and what I did to you was a thing called chakra scalpel. It can cut muscle, making you useless. You lose." she paused then spoke up again.
"I saw what you tried to do to Naruto's genin exams. You intentionally tried to sabotage Naruto's bunshin test. For that." she stopped then slammed a heavy punch on Mizuki's face. This one wasn't chakra enhanced. But still hurt nonetheless. Mizuki was cursing on the top of his lungs at his assailant. Kushina sighed out and started healing the wound she made. The traitor was very pathetic as a Chunin. Kakashi took the opportunity to retrieve the forbidden scroll and told Kushina.
"I'm sure you can handle this?" Kushina nodded, and Kakashi left in a cloud of smoke. Kushina smirked, having a thought.
'gotta love the shunshin' she grinned to herself. The shunshin was such an amazing jutsu in her opinion. She finished tying Mizuki and called out an Anbu team. From there, the Anbu team took over. The red head thanked them and had a though.
'good start, one traitor down, three more to go, if you count Orochimaru…' she grimaced. She didn't like the idea of facing many missing nins, but it must be done.
'for the future, right?' she asked herself in false hope. Kushina then left in one of her favorite jutsu. Thinking to herself again.
'gotta love the shunshin.'
The next day, team 7 meet up in training ground 7, at 7 o'clock, (nice, lucky number 777). However, the two jounins were late. The to-be genins were tired and complaining. Complaints like.
"where's nee-chan?"
"where are those bakas!?"
"hn"
The to-be genins stayed like that for 3 more hours. Then the two jounins arrived. Naruto and Sakura immediately accused them. With an old fashion.
"your late!"
Both jounins however shrugged it off. It was Kushina that spoke up.
"OK boys are girl, you job here is to steal these bells." she held up two bells then continued with her explanation.
"now this will be my first try ever to give this test. So you guys actually have an advantage." the 3 to be genin watched carefully. It was Sakura who pointed out the obvious.
"but sensei, there's only two." Kushina smirked and told them.
"nice job Sakura, your observation of the obvious is impeccable. Good work, now all we have to do is improve on that." Sakura got ticked off at the remark. Kushina ignored her student's ire and went on.
"the ones who fail to retrieve a bell will instantly fail and go back to the academy for another year." the 3 to be genins tensed at that. Kushina absolutely loved this. Although she never had the bell test. When Kakashi explained the bell test, Kushina loved every part.
"you must receive a bell before 12 o'clock. If you don't then you will fail and the penalty will be given." she revealed a clock, setting it to 10 o'clock, turned to the genins and said.
"you have two hours. Come at me with everything you've got, if you hold back, then you will fail, and you will return to the academy." she paused then suddenly shouted out.
"haijime!" instantly Sasuke and Sakura bolted from the scene. Naruto stayed behind. He asked.
"can I have a bell nee-chan? Please?" he begged. Kushina only exploded in laughter. She stopped then replied.
"sorry nii-san, your going to have to earn these the right way." Naruto merely shrugged it off and said.
"it was worth a try." then suddenly charged. Kushina snorted out.
"a frontal assault? Come on nii-san! I taught you better than that!" to her surprise, a Kage bunshin of Naruto actually latched on to her back, but it didn't work. Kushina merely substituted. Making the clone hugging a log in Kushina's place. Kushina came out of the clearing and called out.
"that was a really nice try, but you should have just grabbed the bell nii-san." Naruto cursed to himself and called out.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu (shadow clone jutsu)!" 10 clones poofed into existence and the real Naruto shouted out.
"Charge!" all the clones obeyed his command. On the side lines, Sasuke and Sakura were surprised.
'those are solid clones!' each thought out. Kushina merely ran into the forest. All the clones followed her, but at one point, the clones lost her in the forest. Kakashi was watching the action instead of reading his perverted novel.
Suddenly Kushina walked out, for all the Naruto clones to see. The clones charged in, but the attacks only phased through. The clone that attacked Kushina called out.
"it's a bunshin!" the bunshin dispelled, but the Naruto clones nor Naruto noticed another Naruto slip into their midst(whoa, too many Naruto in one sentence). The latest Naruto clone suddenly smashed two clones together, dispelling them. This newest clone then started fighting with the other clones, substituting while doing so. All the clone then started fighting amongst themselves. Till the real Naruto shouted out.
"disperse yourselves!" all the clones did and there were only two Naruto left. The real Naruto called out.
"undo your henge nee-chan." the clone merely smirked and in a cloud of smoke, revealed Kushina. She then lectured.
"nice try. But you gotta keep track of your clones, how many you make, and how you can tell which is a clone of yours or an enemy." Naruto absorbed his nee-chan's words. He continues to learn even though he's fighting.
"sorry nii-san but I gotta test out the others." Kushina wanted to test out the other two genins. So she charged at Naruto. Naruto knew his nee-chan would win in just taijutsu, so he called out his best jutsu again, but Kushina was too quick and knocked Naruto out. With a punch to the head. Kushina being the nice nee-chan. She quickly healed the wound. Then ran off.
Sakura was looking for her Sasuke-kun. Some how she knew something was up. Suddenly she came across Sasuke. She called out.
"Sasuke-kun. Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke noticed her presence and smirked. He approached Sakura in an un-Uchiha like manner and said.
"you look beautiful… Sakura." for Sakura, she couldn't hold her glee. She nearly squealed at the though her Sasuke loves her. She snapped out of her stupor when Sasuke spoke again.
"let's go somewhere… alone" Sakura was immediately spellbound towards Sasuke, who took Sakura's hand. Sakura was having the time of her life. Her thoughts were in a mantra.
'Sasuke-kun's holding my hand! Sasuke-kun's holding my hand!' both to-be genins then left for the clearing. Both stopped till Sasuke suddenly stopped. He said.
"this is the place, come now Sakura. Now let's-" Sasuke was interrupted by a smirking Sakura.
"I knew you liked me" Sakura already made her move and kissed Sasuke. Sasuke all the sudden went wide eyed and pushed Sakura away. Sasuke immediately cried out.
"aw gross! Disgusting! Blah! The horror!" Sasuke tried getting the feeling out of his mouth. Sakura moved to check up on him. But Sasuke with wide eyes stopped her.
"I'm not who you think I am! I'm not into YURI(girlxgirl) !" Sasuke suddenly burst into a cloud of smoke. Revealing a severely ticked off Kushina. The events suddenly caught up to Sakura and she quickly shouted out.
"how dare you play with my heart!" Sakura enraged that her emotions have been played with by the red headed jounin. She recklessly charged. Kushina, while gritting her teeth, sidestepped Sakura and with chakra scalpel, she cut the arms and one leg of the pink haired to-be genin. Sakura cried out how mean Kushina was, the red head jounin merely made a Kage bunshin and the clone carried Sakura away. The real jounin left to find her last to-be genin.
Sasuke was still in hiding. Till he saw Kushina sat next to a tree. The last Uchiha waited for a while, till his to-be sensei starting dozing off. The Uchiha smirked thinking.
'here's my chance!' with that mindset, Sasuke threw several kunai and shurikens. All made their marks. Kushina merely busted into a cloud of smoke. The Uchiha, with wide eyes knew his position was revealed. He tried to flee, but another Kushina stopped him. Both leapt into the clearing and Sasuke arrogantly said.
"the others are losers. Their nothing compared to me." Kushina merely laughed. She then retorted cryptically.
"the strongest one of you three is nii-san. Trust me. That boy is meant for big things." Sasuke only ignored the comment and threw more kunai and shurikens. While the kunai and shurikens were airborne. Sasuke charged. Kushina merely slapped the pointy weapons away and evaded Sasuke's first punch. Sasuke threw in a kick, but Kushina threw in the same. Both legs connected, but Sasuke was the one who was blown back. Kushina lectured.
"I held back on every one of you. You should know that on our first day I was able to pick you up with one arm. Use that head of yours. Play smart. You can't beat me in sheer firepower." Sasuke gritted his teeth. Seething to himself that he needed more power.
'I need more power. To kill him!' It was Kushina that seemed to enter his thoughts.
"Sasuke! Power isn't everything. You think medical ninjutsu is weak right? It has no flashy moves." Sasuke nodded hesitantly. The Uchiha responded.
"all you can do is heal people, it holds nothing in battle." Kushina shook her head.
"that's where your wrong. We medical ninjas can use many things like poisons, electric shocks, chakra scalpels, and we can use those to hit people where they can't hit back." she paused. Kushina wanted to save both Uchihas. But that's the problem. She can't. She suddenly called out.
"I'll show you how a medical ninja fights!" Kushina charged. Chakra scalpels ready in both arms. Kushina aimed for Sasuke's right shoulder, but blocked the blow with the right arm. Suddenly his right arm gone slack. With wide eyes. He shouted out.
"what did you do!" Kushina calmly responded.
"that was a chakra scalpel. It can cut through muscle with ease and leave the skin intact. Now do you see? Medical ninjutsu is far more than just healing people, it can also cripple them! How do you think Itachi would fair against a medical ninja that managed to land a blow to the arm? If one did, Itachi can't weave hand seals. Thus checkmate." Sasuke stared at the red head. Absorbing the logic behind it all. If he could indeed learn this stuff, and manage to land a blow Itachi would virtually be defenseless. Kushina pressed on.
"there are smarter ways to bring down a foe. Having the flashiest ninjutsu could indeed cause huge damage, but there are smarter and more conservative ways to win a fight. Look at the Sandaime. He became Hokage based on Variety and the Nidaime. He dabbled on nearly every field. Sure he may not know some superpower move. But he makes it up by using other fields to cover his sides." Sasuke continued to stare at his sensei. Even though his arrogance wants him to retort. But he couldn't refute the fact that being a medical ninja can be deadly, and the fact that the Sandaime is an old man, he did know several fields that contributed to his power. That got Sasuke thinking. Kushina allowed Sasuke to process this information and with a chakra scalpel, made Sasuke's other arm limp to his side. Both arms useless, Kushina then done the same to his legs. Like her last two students. She carried Sasuke and left.
The three genins and the two jounins are back to the three tree posts. All three to-be genins are tied up. Kushina scolded each other. First Sasuke.
"Sasuke. Your arrogance believed that you could beat a jounin. Do you know how foolish that was on your own? You believed that the others were useless. As you said, their Nothing compared to you." Sakura looked at her Sasuke-kun, she didn't know that her Sasuke thought of her as cannon fodder. Naruto didn't like the Teme anyways. Kushina continued her scolding.
"you recklessly insult the work of medical ninjutsu, without fully understanding what it's capable of. That in it's self is foolish. It's like me insulting the Sandaime, just because he's old, he can still kill me as if I was a fly compared to him." all three genins stared at her. each thought out.
'the old man's really that strong?'
'hn, as if.'
'Ha! As if! The Sandaime-sama couldn't hurt a fly!'
"you all doubted the Sandaime's power didn't you!" Kushina accused. All the genins snapped out of their stupor. Proving Kushina's point. Kushina said one last thing to Sasuke.
"I need to talk to you in private." Sakura shot a suspicious look at Kushina. Thinking.
'Is she going to steal Sasuke-kun!' Sakura came back to the land of the reality when Kushina shouted out her name.
"Sakura! You were the worst of the three. You fell for a basic henge, and that would have killed you. In the immortal words of Kakashi Hatake, look underneath the underneath." Kakashi eye smiled at that. Kushina continued her lecture.
"if you don't shape up, then you will die. In the ninja world. People die." Kushina let this sink in. Kushina noticed Sakura looking away.
"don't look away Sakura. I bet your family filled your head with fairy tales. Tell me? Are your parents civilians?" Sakura looked at her sensei in confusion, but answered anyways.
"y-yes" she answered timidly. Kushina gritted her teeth.
"exactly! Your parents didn't tell you the evils you would need to face. that's because they didn't understand the life of a ninja! So get this through your big forehead. Being a ninja means far more than good things. There will be horrible times that your will come to a harsh decision. You will eventually come to a choice. You will decide who lives and who dies." Kushina explained coldly. Kakashi frowned, but it was the truth. Naruto knew this already, Sasuke understood most but Sakura was again shocked. She thought out.
'can I really play with other people's lives like this?' she suddenly wanted to back out of the ninja program. Till Kushina told her.
"these evils will be done for the sake of Konoha. You Sakura are the weakest on your team, probably on your generation, but you can definitely be the strongest if you are willing to work!" Sakura flinched and panicked a bit at being the weakest. She genuinely believed that she could beat most of her generation, but being told by a superior brought her to reality. The idea of being strong gave a large incentive to stay. Kushina then spoke to her nii-san.
"and last but not least, you." Naruto looked up at Kushina. Waiting for his scolding.
"that was a nice try asking for a bell, hoping to play on my nicety, but you should have been able to group the team. I've told you many things before this and what was it about?" Naruto took his time then suddenly he understood.
"it's about teamwork, wasn't it? That lecture you gave me about when you first fought a team. No matter how strong a opponent is, that person can fall to a team. That was this test was about, teamwork. Right nee-chan?" Sasuke actually glanced at Naruto and Kushina in hopes, if he can gather a team, then he can kill him. Back to reality, Kushina nodded and scolded him again.
"you should have been the first to see through this, again, see underneath the underneath. If you don't you will fail as ninja." all three to-be genins put their heads down after this, but Kushina gave them a second chance. She whipped two kunai and freed Sasuke and Naruto. She then spoke up.
"you will have a chance to eat, but if you feed the girl lover over there" she indicated Sakura, who turned red, Kushina couldn't understand if it was rage or embarrassment, but she didn't care. Naruto and Sasuke was confused. Kakashi understood perfectly and giggled to himself. Kushina shot him a glare and shouted out.
"I still want a match against you! I've been cheated out of fighting you and I want a chance." Kakashi shut himself up and said.
"nah. Your in charge already-" he was interrupted.
"I still want a fight you" Kushina declared. Kakashi sighed out, but accepted.
"fine we will have our spar eventually…" Kushina raised an eyebrow at this and retorted.
"when's eventually? Let me guess, never?" Kakashi look at Kushina in panic, but hid it well. He raised his hands defensively and assured her.
"I will talk to the Sandaime about it okay?" Kushina stopped her scolding upon her fellow jounin and turned back to the 3 to-be genins.
"if you feed Sakura, then you will be punished." Kushina added a tone that promises a threat. Both males of team 7 nodded at this and both jounins left the area. The moment Sasuke was sure that both jounins were gone. He offered his food to Sakura. Who, with wide eyes, protested.
"Sasuke-kun. You can't! if you do then-" she was interrupted by her desire.
"don't you remember what sensei said? This is about teamwork, if you don't eat, then we fail for you unable to hold your weight." Naruto hid a smirk at Sasuke's proclamation. Sakura was again blinded by the fact that her Sasuke was going to feed her. She thanked him and the to-be team 7 fed Sakura. Who openly showed her glee. Unbeknown to any of them. Both jounins were watching. Both were smiling to themselves.
In the bushes, Kakashi spoke up, low enough that none of the to-be genins could her them.
"their getting it, aren't they?" Kushina replied.
"yep, they could definitely go far. We just need this team to stick together, if we do, then the future is safe." the jounins stared at the to-be genins for a little while longer. When Sakura was finished eating. Both jounins took action. Both shunshined in front of the to-be genins and Kushina shouted out.
"how dare you ignore me! I specifically told you not to feed the girl lover! But no! you ignore me! Prepare for your consequences!" Kushina then began weaving hand seals rather slowly. Sasuke and Naruto quickly freed Sakura with a kunai knife, and Naruto shouted out.
"nee-chan! This is about teamwork! If Sakura didn't eat, then the team would suffer!" both Sakura and Sasuke nodded in agreement, but Kushina didn't care and finished her hand seals. With a cry, she said.
"Katon: Ryuka no jutsu(fire release: dragon fire technique)!"
The large fire wave approached the 3 to-be genins, they all, with wide eyes, though they were going to die. When the fire made it to the to-be genins, each closed their eyes. They waited for the approaching pain, but they felt nothing. After a couple moments, they opened their eyes, looking at a laughing Kushina and a stoic Kakashi, who was grinning under his mask. Kushina stopped her laughing and explained why the to-be genins weren't dead.
"that was a genjutsu, no need to freak about it." Kushina assured. The to-be genins took a breath of relief and Kushina continued.
"congrats team 7, you passed." she said casually, she turned to walk away, but suddenly team 7, other than Sasuke, burst into shouts.
"what! We passed?" that was the common shouts Sakura and Naruto said. Kushina turned back to them and replied.
"yeah, you passed, so? You want me to fail you guys?" Sakura and Naruto both shut themselves up. Kushina smirked and said.
"same place, same time, we are going to train you guys to be truly strong. Your dismissed." team 7 finally cheered themselves. Kushina smiled to herself. Thinking.
'all I gotta do is keep team 7 together right? Can't be to hard can it?' she though, although she didn't know how hard it was going to be to keep team 7 together. Kushina turned to Kakashi and said.
"don't be late Kakashi, if you are late, I will find you" Kakashi sheepishly scratched the back of his neck and eye smiled.
"ah, don't worry about it Shina. I think you got this in the bag, you don't need me." Kakashi assured, Kushina didn't want that and scolded him.
"no! your arriving on time alright?" Kakashi nodded and left, leaving the genins and Kushina alone. Kushina spoke up.
"Sakura, nii-san your dismissed. I gotta talk to Sasuke about something." both genins left, Sakura left reluctantly though. Kushina then turned to Sasuke, saying.
"I'm well aware of your goal, but I'm telling you that if you go down the same path as him, it would only lead to your death." Sasuke immediately roared out.
"I have to kill him! He killed my clan! Itachi is nothing but a monster!-" Kushina stopped him right then and there.
"I'm not saying give up, I'm saying that you have to find your own path to follow, if you follow the same road Itachi has, your only going to see his back. He's too far ahead of you in that run. Your only hope is to pick another path and hope that the path you choose to go on beats the path Itachi went on." Sasuke looked at his sensei in confusion. Kushina elaborated further.
"power comes in many forms, I showed you that today when we fought, I used medical ninjutsu to stop you. I beaten you with medical ninjutsu alone. That makes medical ninjutsu powerful. Doesn't it?" Sasuke nodded at Kushina's logic. Kushina went on.
"you told me that medical ninjutsu can't be used in battle, but I did in our battle and you lost. Now what does that say about the path your going on now?" Sasuke took the time to think about it, he then replied.
"are you saying that hating things won't make you strong?" Kushina looked at him in confusion. She didn't know where Sasuke was going with this. Kushina asked him about it.
"who told you hate will make you strong?" to Kushina, hating things just didn't work. Sasuke answered rather hesitantly.
"Itachi Uchiha." Kushina narrowed her eyes upon the name. she ran a hand through her hair in frustration then said.
"Itachi is wrong. It was the fact that he was a prodigy that made him strong." Kushina paused for a moment, Sasuke looked at his sensei, hoping his sensei would continue. He didn't need to hope.
"it seems Konoha these days have a hard time figuring out who's a prodigy and who's not." Sasuke again looked at his sensei in confusion. Kushina again elaborated.
"I'm a jounin because I was told by many people I was a true prodigy. You probably got the same treatment right?" Sasuke nodded, he didn't know where Kushina was going with this. Kushina continued.
"that's because I'm a real prodigy and your not." Sasuke's world suddenly shattered. It was true. He maybe is the rookie of the year, but him graduating at the same time at the dead last Kiba Inuzuka made him think otherwise. If he really was a real prodigy, then he would already been a Chunin if not a jounin. He could not refute the fact that his same aged sensei was already a jounin. He looked to the ground in disappointment with himself. Kushina saw this and remedied it.
"you were given false hopes that you were a prodigy, weren't you?" Sasuke again nodded, but didn't bother looking up. Kushina again said.
"like what I told Sakura, you can definitely be strong enough if your willing to work for it." the two paused. Sasuke was trying to process everything that was told to him. Kushina suddenly changed the topic and said.
"back in the academy days, why were you glancing at me every now and then back then?" Sasuke fought his blush down so Kushina couldn't see. He simply replied.
"hn, of course, a jounin like you would see that wouldn't you?" Kushina nodded and Sasuke continued.
"hn, I noticed that you were holding back on everyone. Why?" Kushina smiled at this and said.
"like I told Sakura, I'm tired of being on the top. If I was in the academy, I'd easily be the rookie of the year." Kushina lied. She couldn't tell him that she herself was the rookie of the year, if she did then Sasuke could investigate on her, but Sasuke said.
"you were the rookie of the year at your time right?" Kushina was shocked, but hid it and lied.
"no, I never entered the academy, I was originally in the Anbu." Sasuke looked at his sensei with wide eyes. Kushina elaborated.
"during my time in the academy, I did an evaluation, apparently what I said was true. Lots of people of your generation needs lots of help." Sasuke again looked down. Kushina continued.
"you are one of those people that needs help." Sasuke grunted in frustration and turned away. Kushina however wasn't going to take that. She grabbed his shoulder and looked at him straight in the eyes.
"receiving help is not a bad thing, nor is it to your stupid pride. I needed help plenty of times and I got it from the Anbu. The people there helped me a lot and now here I am. A jounin. Look at the Hokages. Do you honestly think they made it to becoming Hokage on their own?" Sasuke again shook at this revelation. The Hokage of course never made it to become hokage on their own. Kushina pressed on.
"look at the sannins, they all had help in their developments that made them strong. Especially Jiraiya. He is known as the strongest sannin, mostly because he had the most help." Sasuke knew that Jiraiya was the dead last in his generation. If the dead last could be the strongest with some help, then anyone could. Kushina then pressed on the most dangerous topic.
"let's look at Itachi now." at the name, Sasuke again turned away. Kushina knew he was listening, she accepted that and said.
"Itachi became strong because of the Anbu, just like me, Itachi had plenty of help from them. He didn't become strong on his own, just like everybody else." again Sasuke began to tremble at these revelations. He had to ask.
"how are you so sure of this? How are you so smart about this?" Kushina softened and asked.
"if I answer those questions will you answer one of mine?" Sasuke hesitated, but nodded. Kushina then answered.
"I'm sure because I met Itachi. I saw him before, he didn't become strong by isolating himself, and the reason why I'm so smart, well, I say that learning medical ninjutsu adds perspective of things." she grinned at the last part. Sasuke again looked at his sensei. He once believed that isolating yourself will make you strong, but now, he's doubting himself. He absorbed the knowledge he just received and file them away. He asked.
"okay, what's your question?" Kushina then grinned wildly then asked.
"why were you glancing at me many times back in the academy? And don't say that it was just me holding back, now spill." Sasuke cursed himself, he manage to divert the attention away from that a few moments ago. Only to come back to it a few moments later. He suddenly reverted back to his Uchiha mood and said.
"hn, I though you were interesting" with that Sasuke walked away. Kushina smiled and let him be. Kushina thought to herself.
'I think I got to him. Now I just need to see how things turn out.' she suddenly thought to herself.
'there's nothing wrong with asking for help Sasuke'
Author's note: I will be performing a thing call a rewrite. I've seen many people rewrite their stories and I want to do the same. I'm slightly disappointed in myself at how the story is going and I'm going to fix that.
So, a rewrite in progress after this chapter. See ya!
I don't think this chapter needs a rewrite. cause mostly I'm getting better at this stuff. yay for improvements, and please remember this is my first story, so im still learning about certain aspects of writing.