My dear readers ... I have returned, and yet I have not. No, that is not a riddle. It is quite unfortunate that I have this little thing called a life I have to live. If I had any choice, I could sit right here for hours until I have sore butt muscles. It didn't help that one of my teammates for a joint project conveniently vanished into thin air. Doesn't answer his phone or reply his emails; doesn't even seem to go back to his apartment. If you see a tall, weedy looking fellow from Korea with perfectly round glasses and big girly eyes, please tell him that he is going to get fucked if he doesn't show his ass soon because this project will go on, with or without him. Sorry for that little paragraph of completely irrelevant shit, but I need to explain that these chapters won't be coming out as quickly as they were three weeks ago. At least for awhile.
Naruto does not belong to me, but this tube of Pringles on my table does and I ain't sharing it with nobody. Have at you.
(PS – Those of you who are really observant might spot the naughty little Maple Story reference I dropped.)
--
This is the conversation that took place in the Sandaime's office one day before.
The old man had been trying with all his might to read the text of one of his late successor's journals – the handwriting of which is so bad Sarutobi began to suspect that it was written in foreign language or a secret code. It had been at the precise moment when his headache was at its most debilitating when the young, beautiful jounin from Squad 8 stormed in through the door, tailed by a babbling chuunin with a scar across his face.
Kurenai Yuuhi had been upset ... no, pissed to say the least. That bastard Iruka had disappointed her again! The fourth day counting from this one would mark the first month anniversary of Squad 8's existence, as well as the end of Kiba's and Hinata's first month as qualified Hidden Leaf shinobi. And it is Kurenai's first-month anniversary as jounin-sensei as well. It would be a beautiful day and one worth celebrating except that raven-haired lady felt that they hardly had anything worth celebrating about.
At this point Squad 8 had gone for exactly ZERO missions outside the village's main gates. They have encountered exactly ZERO obstacles that required them to use their weapons and jutsu for real. Ii means that her two genin have not even begun to scratch the surface of real shinobihood.
Squad 8 had been ordered to remain in the village and do nothing but D-ranked assignments until Umino Iruka and the other chuunin instructors at the Academy see it fit to graduate another one of their students. This is the third straight week of express trials that Iruka is putting his most capable pupils to, but he still refused to let anyone go.
"It just ain't on, Yuuhi-san," he amicably told the angry jounin. "These kids are not cutting it right. It is not that they have no potential and it is not that they don't try their best. But commitment does not guarantee competence. When you don't have it, you just don't have it. This is not a regular school. This is a professional training facility for ninja. We don't graduate students simply because they can calculate kunai deflection trajectories accurately or recite every line of the shinobi handbook of codes from memory. I don't know if you realize that ever only one of eight of these kids make genin."
"The overwhelming majority are doomed to leave the Academy by their 15th birthday as decreed by law, if they don't choose to leave sooner. They will walk out without the Hidden Leaf hitai-ite into the stinging reality that they have lost eight of the most productive years of their life to amount to nothing, and that every one of their hopes and dreams for the future had been snuffed out. The only path they can choose from there is to be an honorable tradesman of the village, a wandering bum or a rogue criminal. They will never again be given the chance to become shinobi, at least not in the Land of Fire. I feel like a complete bastard every year for the number of sad faces I have to cause. But I still have my own code to follow and I will award the title of genin only to those who truly prove themselves worthy!"
With the chuunin standing firmly on his ground, Kurenai gruffly announced that she will take the matter to the Hokage himself – much to Iruka's horror.
"Try telling that to Kiba and Hinata and see if they will accept it as a salient reason! They have hopes and dreams too! Maybe you don't realize, Iruka, that simply graduating from the Academy means nothing to these young genin. That is merely Step Number One. And once they've cleared that, they want what's coming next. They are so energetic and passionate; they want to go right out onto the field and start defending the Hidden Leaf Village with pride right away! But they cannot because of some stupid decree that says two people can never do the duty of three. It is not even their fault, or mine, that Squad 8 only has two genin! I'm sure you have your problems, but they are irrelevant to Kiba and Hinata! And you do not even have the courtesy to be more mindful about solving the problem quickly. Do you realize how foolish I look at the jounin council meet when I tell the others that Squad 8's 'mission of the week' is to help plan a successful wedding reception? But forget what I said about me – think about what it does to my genin! To our genin!"
Kurenai might as well have been a stuffed animal barking at a brick wall. Iruka's hands were tied after all. Painful as it was for him, he could not simply bend the rules 'just this once' because he felt bad for Squad 8's predicament. The only thing he can do is to keep nurturing the potentials of his students and hope against hope that one of them will quickly rise up and become a truly outstanding promise of a future great shinobi.
Thus, Kurenai had decidedly gone to the Hokage's office. She was going to give the old man a piece of her mind. She didn't even care if she is crossing the wrong border on this one. Her past experiences have beaten her character into good shape and she will not hesitate to fight for what she believes to be true. Iruka trotted after her, fearful that she was going to try and get his arse fired.
It was in this state that they greeted the already tired Sandaime. Sarutobi was not happy. Listening to Kurenai Yuuhi blowing off steam is not the best way to get you motivated to do more and more paperwork.
Why, my foolish successor? Why did you ... no, how DARE you die on me! I was supposed to be hammocking in my backyard lazy and fat until I died of geriatric back problems! Tsume Inuzuka was my sexy-looking pain the butt! Kurenai Yuuhi is supposed to be YOUR sexy-looking pain in the butt! Not me! I did mine! I don't want another one! (Not even she has better legs than Tsu-chan). How frightfully CLEVER of you to go up to Heaven whilst lucky ol' me gets back my old office! You even left me a new coffee machine, the generous and thoughtful wonderboy you are ! Oh, JOY!!
When Iruka lost his patience and started talking back at the jounin, Sarutobi held up his hand to call for silence. They waited as he took two long slow drags of his tobacco pipe, the aging lines on his face more vivid than it had been in recent years.
"I understand, Kurenai, your feelings on this matter. It is more for Kiba Inuzuka that you are fighting for, am I not right?" She did not answer at first, so Sarutobi continued. "We can speak openly here. It is only the three of us."
The jounin thought about that for a moment and then nodded. "Kiba knows nothing of his prisoner and this is greatly confusing him. He comes from one of the strongest clans in the land and his own mother is the clanhead. It must seem so strange to him when the villagers keep him at an arm's length and do not treat him with the same respect they do his classmates from other noteworthy clans. Hinata Hyuuga is the most obvious example of course."
Kurenai did not have to say more to get her point across. Those two had been meeting every day since the team was established. There is no conjecture that Kiba would be wondering about why the Inuzuka seem to spoken of in almost the same light as the Hyuuga; yet he never got the biased attentions his teammate got bombarded with constantly – little old ladies coming up to pinch her cheeks for instance whilst turning their noses up at him – even though everyone in the village should be well aware that he is as much the eldest offspring and rightful heir to the main branch of his clan as Hinata is.
The Sandaime closed his eyes tightly and took a long deep sigh. "You know ... there is something that the two of you should know."
Iruka and Kurenai both looked at him.
"Kiba's little secret was ... never meant to be ... secret."
That was not something they expected him to say. "What do you mean, Lord Hokage?"
"My successor, Uzamaki ... On his dying bed, he made me promise him something. That nothing of the truth will be kept hidden. He wanted Kiba Inuzuka to learn everything; he wanted all of the post-Kyuubi generations to learn about it too. Everyone was to speak about it openly and draw full attention to Kiba. Uzamaki strongly believed in the open-heartededness of today's youth that allows them to accept things we none of us ever would have ten, twenty and fifty years ago."
Kurenai frowned. "Then ... Then, why ..."
"Because Tsume made demands against it. She felt rather that the truth would only destroy the boy. You could probably say that she is ridden over with guilt and does not have the courage to risk having her own son hate her. After all, it was by her decision and her decision alone that Kiba became the unfortunate prison for the demon. There is nothing to say that the villagers would have a change of attitude towards the boy."
The jounin looked down at the ground and shook her head. "Even so, this decision is not helping either. If the truth were all exposed, Kiba would at least know what the villagers hated him for and would have taken steps to improve their perception. With all due respect, Lord Hokage, isn't it basic knowledge that the truth, no matter how well-hidden, has a sinister way of rearing its ugly head when we least want it to? Kiba is going to be a lot more resentful when he reflects back on his childhood and realizes that most of it was just a sham. There is also the issue of a dogless dog-nin to consider. It would be the first time in Inuzuka history that a son of the main branch is unable to form a partnership with one of the dogs they breed. Somehow I don't think Kiba would be glad of the honor. I'm not an Inuzuka, but I understand it to be an irrevocable faction of their cultural distinction. Hana poured out her pains on this to me herself. I'm sure you already know the full story from Tsume's side."
The Sandaime watched her with an unreadable face. "What would you have me do? Or rather ... what would you do, assuming you had my position?"
"Send Squad 8 out on more demanding missions!" Kurenai replied without hesitation. "I will tolerate no hesitation from this man any longer!" she cried, jutting an accusatory finger at Iruka. The latter shrank away from her, as though fearful of being bitten. "I don't care how ideal your three-man ideal squad is! I don't even care that this ideal is recognized by every shinobi village in all of the five great nations! I have got a Hyuuga and an Inuzuka on my team and between them they can cover more ground in a glance than can any combination of their fellow genin put together! The numbers have no relevance whatsoever! The outcome of a mission cannot be measured mathematically. It is the same with kunai throwing. For all your whimsical calculations, that kunai can never be thrown in a straight line because there are too many factors governing the throw that we can never control! Thus, Lord Hokage, I must insist that with or without a third genin, Squad 8 is to be assigned some real missions effective immediately!"
Umino Iruka looked panic-stricken. It is a very basic principle : Don't Shout At Your Boss. He wanted to say something to help out, something to cool the angry lady down before she inadvertently crosses too far over the line.
The Hokage stood up and went to his window without a word as Kurenai stopped talking. The kunoichi swallowed a bulb in her throat, wondering if she had offended him. She would rather not of course; after all, Sarutobi had been nothing short of the greatest of the four Hokage in terms of what he had given Konoha. Some of that came from holding the record for longest term of service, but He remained in one position with his hands folded behind his back for a few moments.
"Kurenai Yuuhi ..."
The jounin looked up at the mention of her name. "You are much too much like Tsume. Did you know that?" There is chuckle in his tone and the young kunoichi wasn't sure if this is supposed to be a good thing.
When the Sandaime turned around again, he had a leaf folder in his hands – in the color code that represented the data corresponding to a B-ranked mission. Kurenai's eyes twinkled whilst Iruka went ballistic at once.
"Now ... Now hold on just a minute!" he yelled in Sarutobi's direction, forgetting that a moment he had wanted to criticize Kurenai for the exact same offense. "That ... That ... That's a B-rank!? Is that a good idea!? I mean ... yes, I understand where this is coming from – that it isn't fair to freeze Squad 8's progress just because they don't have enough genin. But ... But they've not been on any such missions up till now; won't it be too dangerous!? Shouldn't we start them off with something a little simpler? How can we guarantee their safety!?"
The Hokage is patient. "How is their safety guaranteed if they did have a third teammate? You said so yourself ... this is a B-ranking mission," he said, flipping the question around. "Besides, that is kind of what their jounin-sensei is there for. It is Kurenai's duty to see to it that they learn everything that they can on every mission they undertake and to intervene when things get out of hand. Or would you like to arrange some sort of test ... perhaps you need to be more convinced of her capabilities?"
Kurenai had an almost smug expression on her face as Iruka backed out at once. "N-No ... that ... that won't be necessary. She ... She is a … a jounin, after all."
"Good! Then it is settled! Squad 8 deploys on its first B-ranked mission tomorrow!" said the Sandaime quickly. He wanted to end this little discussion as soon as possible. Curse the mountain of paperwork he had let pile up over the weekend due to a brief spell of summer laziness.
He stepped forward and placed the mission folder in the jounin's hands and caught her eye. "You know, Kurenai ... Tsume was ever the only other person that could convince me to consider bending the rules in such a way that we do not actually break them. Personally, I chastise myself for having too much of a tolerant heart towards hardworking women like you; however, Tsume has yet to disappoint and after all these years, I have begun to trust in her instincts as she does herself. The same I expect of you."
The jounin blushed at the well-layered "Baby Tsume" reference and took her leave. Iruka stepped up and bowed before his old mentor. "For ... Forgive me for doubting you, Lord Hokage. There are just so many things I am concerned about. Both of them are good kids, amongst the better third of the class in ... in everything. But this is B-ranked mission and they have never ... well, anyway, the safety measures are only part of it. I also cannot help but wonder if Kiba and Hinata would get so used to working as a duo that an additional third member would only disrupt whatever technical chemistry they have forged up till now."
Sarutobi took another puff of his pipe. "You never change, Iruka. Every year you let go of a few more students, but deep down you never really let them do, do you? You never learn to accept that they are no longer yours to watch, neither do you seem to have much confidence in the jounin that take over your job." He paused and put a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "But that would be your most redeeming quality. The children of the Leaf Academy do not vote Umino Iruka sensei of the year four times consecutively for nothing!"
Iruka reddened and looked down at his feet.
"In any case, my dear Iruka ... I never did say that Squad 8 was going to tackle this mission without a little bit of extra manpower."
The chuunin's head snapped up. "Wh-What? What do you mean by that?"
But the old man said no more; only smiled.
--
Going back to the present day ...
Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata Hyuuga took a moment to go out of character - linking hands and jumping and cheering – when Kurenai announced that they will finally set out on a proper mission – and a B-ranker at that. She had actually thought they might be afraid, or at least Hinata would, at the prospect of tackling something potentially dangerous when they haven't had a single C-mission up till now. But they had no fear; in fact they looked so overjoyed that Kurenai suddenly realized how painful it must have been for them to hear all the other genin squads chattering about the treasure thief they took down, or the caravan of dignitaries they escorted across the border, or the beautiful maiden who was taken hostage that they rescued from a notorious gang of bandits ... whilst Kiba and Hinata had no stories to tell.
The jounin momentarily made a mental image of herself beating seven shades of living shit out of Umino Iruka with a wooden mallet, before taking a deep breath.
The two of them stopped celebrating however at her very next words.
"Today, you are going to hunt yourselves down a tiger."
The two teammates looked at one another with perplexed expressions on their faces. "A tiger, huh?" Kiba wondered out loud. "What, you mean like a wild, untamed tiger? That's kind of lame isn't it? I mean, for a B-ranked mission."
Kurenai had expected him to say that. Tigers are usually found at the foot of the Black Mountains that lie right on the northwestern border. They are too far away to pose any threat to the villagers and their livestock; however on occasion, a stray one might venture far enough until they are too close to the village gates for comfort. If they start causing trouble – attacking people for instance, it normally turns up on the charts as a dispatch C-ranking mission.
"This is no ordinary tiger. It is a shinobi-trained tiger, much like the nin-dogs your family uses, Kiba. It was spotted in the patch of forest closest to where the trees end and Suna's sea of sand begins. Our client is a dispatch from the Sand Village. At least two of their people have reportedly gone missing since the tiger's first sighting and they suspect it killed them. They sent their shinobi after it, but realized they were dealing with no ordinary tiger when it started using some high level ninjutsu. According to the observed data, it is capable of Kage Bunshin, Substitution and even a low-level lightning jutsu. A very well-trained beast indeed – estimated to at least be of jounin level in skill."
Hinata's next question and facial expression are to be expected. "It ... It s-s-sounds dangerous. Are ... Are you s-s-sure it's ... it's s-s-s-safe?"
"You are only as safe as what you know and how much you understand of what you are doing," said a sudden deep voice from seemingly out of nowhere.
Hinata screamed and Kiba gasped as the two genin jumped away from one another. Something seemed to be stirring in the grass between them. They thought their eyes were playing tricks on them as they watched the air swirl into a vortex that is visible. They sensed an intense gathering of chakra as the funnel of air spun faster and faster, growing bigger as it picked up more debris, grass and fallen leaves. Gradually it all came together in the outline of a beastly looking shape and eventually coalesced into the form of a huge wolf-dog with a thick mane of fur and carnassials that glinted in the sunlight.
"Ku ... Ku ... Kuromaru!!" Kiba spat, nearly falling over in surprise as he identified his mother's loyal, trusted companion. Hinata took several steps back in fright, her face incredibly pale. She looked like she was going to pass out again. Of course, she had heard about the big wolf-dog and about his telepathic speech jutsu. Everyone knows that pretty much all of the Inuzuka have at least one of these animals glued to their side. Kiba's wild stories about his clan and family and dogs were always very intriguing to listen to. Hearing about it is nothing; actually standing face to face with a giant talking dog is an entirely different thing all together.
Kurenai was smiling. "Yes," she nodded. "Kuromaru will be joining you for the mission. Listen to him and learn well. I am sure you will find that he is a far more reliable instructor than his daunting appearance suggests."
Hinata calmed down enough to pick up on what her sensei seemed to be implying. "W-Wait ... Wait, Kurenai-sensei! Does ... Does this mean that you won't be coming along with us?"
The jounin's smile widened. "This is your first time out on the mission field. I am sure you both expect it to be as challenging as it will be enjoyable. If two of us went along to support you, it would make things a little too easy, won't it? It is a B-ranked mission after all, hardly something that requires the attentions of two jounin-level shinobi, regardless of whether they are human or not. Besides, I have been dispatched to aid an ANBU team on their assignment. They need a genjutsu user, the role of which naturally tends to fall to me."
Taking charge, the big wolf-dog shook out its mane and stood facing both genin. "An explanation is well in order. There are rules that bind any new genin squad from deploying to the field if one of their members is incapacitated; in your case, that member does not even exist. Umino Iruka is unable to release another one of his students to fill this vacancy; however, we all do agree that Squad 8 has been kept away from the field long enough. The two of you are to grow to be strong shinobi and the circumstances of the current arrangement are not helping. After a long detailed discussion between Iruka, Tsume, Iruka, the Lord Hokage and myself we concocted a viable solution that qualifies Squad 8 for higher ranking missions without actually breaking the rules. Thus, it is with honor, Kiba and Lady Hinata, to introduce to you ..."
Kuromaru pauses dramatically as he takes a couple of steps back.
"... your new teammate!"
--
A/N – My evil self demanded I end the chapter right here. He held me at gunpoint; I'm so sorry, I could not stop him. You're all probably wondering how bloody long more I can possibly drag this fanfic. Anyway, pertaining to my above reasons, it seems that my time for fanfic-writing is severely paralyzed at the moment. I am writing and no, I am not out of ideas. If I was writing fanfiction for a living, I'll gladly churn out at least a chapter a day. Give me some time to get some other shit back in gear. Keep posting those reviews and tell me how beautiful I am to cause me to shamelessly believe I am the best and update even faster. I dare lay claim that my production rate is higher than most other writers anyway.