Unraveling secrets: the first step: shaping the protagonist

by Aakareo Kokokuhikari

In canon Naruto was an idiot with lots of latent potential which surfaced after he learned his signature move shadow clones. But what if just a year before that fateful day an assassination attempt was executed, what will change? how will it affect the shinobi world? Naruto in team 8, perverted Naruto, strong Konoha 12. Read as the world goes to the '5th' shinobi world war.

10. Chapter 10

Unraveling secrets: the first step: shaping the protagonist

Ch 10-The day before the storm

Hey guys, I'm sorry to say but I'm not making it a fic where Naruto fucks with other girls but pairs up with Hinata only, I'm sorry but there is no way I can make it a proper fic with Naruto having his mini-harem, I'm sorry but this will be NaruHina only. There will be lemons for other characters for sure but not with Naruto, he will have sex with others only if required in a mission or maybe a threesome with friends but that's it. I will however write lemons with other characters but not with Naruto only.

But what will happen to Ayame then, well I have a plan for that. A very...interesting plan, you will get a glimpse of it in this chapter, if you read it carefully.

And starting after the next arc I will be starting to give out OST.

I will be using Haikyuu! OST along with magical index OST, I will be using other OST from many other anime alongside Naruto.

Oh and I also changed the conversation between Raido and Naruto a bit, please see it if possible, I made it more natural.

Saga- Team 8 saga.

Arc- Team formation arc.

---

"So why are we summoned here?" asked Kakashi.

"Well I'm glad to see that you are on time Kakashi" said Sandaime.

"You told me to arrive at 11:00 AM" said Kakashi glaring at the Sandaime.

"That was a plan that my student here formed" said Hiruzen.

"Well otherwise he wouldn't be on time" said Jiraiya shrugging.

"Forget that Sarutobi, tell me why are we gathered here" said Torifu.

"Before that tell me about your team's progresses" said Hiruzen.

"Well I took the exam today Hokage-sama so I can't say that they are very promising but because they are great friends they were able to stick together until the very end" said Aoba.

"So what do you think were the qualities that stood out the most in your team?" asked Jiraiya.

"They don't have much to offer, but there is no ideal strategist in the team. That is because all three of them have same level of intelligence but Gennai is the foundation, Komugi is the overconfident one, Inaho is the pessimist. They formulate plans by combining their strengths together" said Aoba.

"So teamwork is the striking feature of team 2, just like Ino-Shika-Cho..." said the Hokage.

"Nowhere near such high level sir, but they will be a good team in the future. Although it will take time, they are not that...shinobi-like to say the least" said Aoba.

"What about your team Torifu?" asked Hiruzen.

"Hosei has very impressive...gut instinct, it will be interesting to see him developing his own repertoire, Ami as you know...she is an artificial human, a living clone of the original. If what Suiku said was true then she still hasn't unlocked the power to do that...you sure that is even possible?" asked Torifu.

"Well that is what Suiku said" said Hiruzen.

"Well but she has knowledge to make gadgets using chakra, she showed some of them to me...that was innovative to say the least...academy city and the land of iron uses them" said Torifu laughing.

"What about Suiku?" asked Aoba.

"You should know his strength Aoba; we are the ones who found him on that mission. He has lost of his touch because of being out of commission by his own volition, but he is still strong. Well he is not cut out for teamwork, but he is trying...maybe" said Torifu.

"The ability to control vectors huh" said Asuma.

"Why weren't we informed about this? About the land of Iron being...you know" said Kurenai.

"The only ones who know about this are the 3 elders, Shikaku, Aoba and Torifu. Now Ko, Kego and Raido along with you four, try to keep this a secret" said Hiruzen sternly.

"YOSH I WILL KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT ABOUT THIS UNYOUTHFUL ACT, RIGHT KAKASHI" shouted Gai.

"Hmm did you say something Guy?" asked Kakashi finally looking away from his porno.

"NO KAKASHI AND YOUR HIP AND COOL ATTITUDE" shouted Gai.

The Hokage sighed.

"Alright Gai shut up, next Gai your team is fine I guess. Kakashi what about your team?" asked Hiruzen.

"Forget the word 'team' Hokage-sama; I will need three months to make them a 'team' to say the least. It's a miracle how they managed to pass the bell test" said Kakashi.

"Is Sakura Haruno the problem?" asked Raido.

"She is an avid supporter of the uchiha; both the uchiha and the inuzuka hate her. And the boys though reluctant do get along but they start competing for every little thing" said Kakashi sighing.

"I will not start teaching them literally anything for a month and will simply let them do missions. They need to get along before they even get out of the gate" said Kakashi.

"How is her mental state Kakashi? Do you think she knows about Naruto being a jinchuuriki? Kizashi may have told her" asked Jiraiya.

"She looks fine but it doesn't take a professional to see how much she is suffering...she has no interest in training but she asked me to train them today after they completed the test even though she was the most tired out of all three. She doesn't want to go home" said Kakashi.

"Before you ask my team will surpass the previous trio of Ino-Shika-Cho, Ino is a fan girl, Choji is too kind and Shikamaru is well...a Nara, but they have the potential" said Asuma.

"What about you Kurenai?" asked Hiruzen.

"Naruto is learning water surface walking using his hands" said Kurenai.

Asuma and Aoba's jaw dropped.

"W-wait what about tree walking?" asked Asuma.

"He has completed both the most basic chakra control exercises" said Kurenai.

"Wasn't he supposed to be the dead-last?" asked Aoba dubiously.

"I trained him for the previous year...to protect him from the council" said Raido.

"Raido you taught him both of the chakra exercises which were supposed to be taught to someone once graduated" said Asuma.

"I taught him between the week too" said Jiraiya.

"Ah that explains his capabilities" said Kakashi.

"Wait...you were watching their test?" asked Asuma.

"Yes and he is easily chunin level to say the least" said Kakashi.

"Seriously, first the uchiha and now the jinchuuriki, what's going on with this year's graduates?" asked Ko.

"But are we summoned here just for something like this Sarutobi?" asked Torifu.

"No, the real part comes now. As you know that Danzo is becoming active, I tried to gain information by sending Ko and Kego but Danzo as always is cautious" said the Hokage.

"However as their attention was on them I sent out Raido to investigate about the principal of the academy" said Hiruzen.

"So what did you find out?" asked Kakashi looking at Raido.

"For the last three years Naruto's training was sabotaged, all the teacher's were involved in this except for Iruka umino who was quickly shifted to a mere history teacher from the homeroom teacher once his loyalties were clear to the principal" said Raido.

"I see" said Torifu.

"It also appears that Kizashi was the mastermind behind this plan" said Raido.

"HOW UNYOUTHFUL" shouted Guy angrily.

"So now we can understand why Bekko and Iwana attacked Naruto" said Kego.

"So have we got concrete proof for this?" said Asuma.

"By the way, Shino questioned me about Naruto's potential being sabotaged" said Kurenai.

"Are you serious? He figured it out just in a day" said Jiraiya.

"Yes, I was surprised too" said Kurenai.

"To answer Asuma's question, no but in some days we will have it" said Raido.

"Yes I will have Hayate help out" said Sarutobi.

"So we can conclude that Danzo plotted the assassination attempts not only to give a boost to Naruto's training but also to corner Kizashi who was being used by the principal" said Aoba.

"No if that was the only reason then he could have easily reported back to me" said Sarutobi.

"Why don't you just raid him, I'm sorry but you are the dictator here" said Kego.

"As an elder he has got his own rights as well, the only ones who can oppose my orders to some extent are Danzo, Koharu and Homura" Said the third, 'it's not like I don't want to, but then I will have to deal with over 3000 skilled but socially inept children whose loyalties do not lie with Konoha. What will we do if it turns into a civil war?'

"Anyway, the reason I called you out is because I want to make the rookie 18 stronger. As the Akatsuki is rising steadily, an unknown threat too is out there somewhere. One of them is an uzumaki, and besides the Akatsuki is hunting down the jinchuuriki, they will come to Konoha too. We need the next generation to become strong enough to protect the village" said the Hokage.

"Hai Hokage-sama" said all the shinobis except for Jiraiya.

"Good, disperse" said the third.

They all disappeared in a shunshin.

"I will be going out today sensei; I heard the Akatsuki is becoming active. Give this scroll to Naruto" said Jiraiya and handed out a small scroll to his former sensei.

"Is this the book you wrote on seals?" asked Hiruzen.

"Yup, it will save him the trouble of buying it from the stores" said Jiraiya.

"Okay when team 8 comes to take their mission, I will give it to him" said Sarutobi.

"Tell him that I will be coming back next month" said Jiraiya and jumped out of the window.

Why did I let Danzo keep his root despite the uchiha massacre? Oh right, the hidden village is the 'cleanest' village out of the other hidden villages, this is the image I have to maintain.

So don't worry Hiruzen, I will take care of everything for you like always, though you might officially dispose my root, unofficially it exists and you know it, you hate it but you need it.

And now you want to use that to your advantage and frame Danzo for possible assassination attempts on our possible greatest weapon.

All Danzo has done is help Naruto uzumaki regain his abilities which were lost, yet Danzo must be doing something wrong because I myself wasn't aware of this plot.

And whatever that war hawk is planning is not good for my already slumping health, I'm too old for this shit damn it.

"Hokage-sama" said his ANBU.

"...Yes" said the Hokage.

"Your grandson has painted ramen on the Hokage rock, we are currently engaging him but we can't catch him successfully" said the ANBU.

Okay, maybe there was something entertaining after all.

After 1 week:

"Alright, from today we will take missions. Shino you have managed to learn both water walking and tree climbing. Hinata you have also managed to do both of them and you have also learned to water walk using your hands, Naruto although barely you have also managed to complete water walking using only hands instead of legs" said Kurenai.

"Yes sensei" replied all three of them.

"You can feel it right; your level has gone up by a lot. Hinata you can now increase the range of your vision and you can also detect Genjutsus way better, Shino you can now use higher rank jutsus safely without getting exhausted and Naruto your speed and ninjutsu has gotten better" said Kurenai.

"Wow...you are right" said Naruto as his eyes widened a little.

"Hinata because of your Kekkei Genkai you can dispel high level Genjutsus easily, although you still need a lot of experience to match me, Shino you have gotten better too and if it comes down to it you have your bugs to help you out..." said Kurenai.

"I-I see sensei" said Hinata.

"I understand" said Shino nodding.

"So what about me?" asked Naruto.

"You can perform the basic releasing technique easily and to detect Genjutsu you have the sensory technique that Iruka umino has taught you, but I have taught you the limits of that strategy during the mock battles haven't I?" asked Kurenai.

Naruto nodded.

"There are a lot of Genjutsus where the victim fails to access chakra, that is why chakra control is important for you...and how far have you progressed with your sensory technique?" asked Kurenai.

"Previously I could detect solid objects and chakra of those people whose chakra network I have recognised very well, that includes you guys but now I can detect smaller objects too" said Naruto.

"Good and for Shino and Hinata remember the uses of kunai and shuriken along with wires that I have taught you well, remember to run a simulation in your mind everyday about what you have been taught and how can you use your knowledge" said Kurenai.

"Yes yes you say that everyday" sighed Naruto.

"I say that because it is important, these small and unnecessary things will save your life one day" said Kurenai sternly.

"Naruto for the next step you will learn to detect chakra better using your sensory technique, here take this" said Kurenai and handed him a piece of cloth.

"Bind it around your eyes" said Kurenai.

"Okay" said Naruto and wrapped it around his eyes.

"Now run around the whole training ground, to detect trees or rivers you have to use your sensory technique continuously. This will help you perform your technique without any hand seals and you will learn using it unconsciously" said Kurenai.

"Why can't we do something cooler?" asked Naruto grumbling but still followed orders and ran away.

Thunk.

And quickly collided with a tree.

"Alright Shino your father said that you were learning to do another hiden technique so concentrate on that" said Kurenai.

"Yes sensei" said Shino and walked away.

"Hinata come with me" said Kurenai.

"Y-yes" squeaked Hinata nervously.

"Why are you so nervous?" asked Kurenai.

"A-ano you said y-you will b-be t-teaching me s-something today...what if I'm n-not a-able to c-complete t-the technique, w-what if I f-fail to do it c-correctly" said Hinata, she was becoming quieter as she spoke.

"C-calm down Hinata, I'm just going to introduce you to archery" said Kurenai.

"Archery?" asked Hinata confused.

"You have 360 degree vision Hinata; you can become near invincible through it, you don't have to be close to the target but you can still damage him" said Kurenai.

"B-but sensei..." said Hinata.

"Hmm" said Kurenai.

"D-does that mean y-you are r-retiring me f-from front line" said Hinata quietly.

"No of course not" said Kurenai surprised.

"B-but then y-you are t-telling me to handle b-both l-long and s-short range" said Hinata shocked.

"Yes Hinata, Naruto is mainly a close range fighter, Shino is a long range support, so we need someone who is proficient enough to handle both ranges" said Kurenai.

"B-but why me?" asked Hinata.

"Because you have the byakugan so this job will fit you perfectly Hinata" said Kurenai.

'But sensei, someone like me can never handle such a big responsibility, I will only be holding Shino-kun and Naruto-kun back' thought Hinata feeling depressed instead of being encouraged.

"Alright let's start Hinata" said Kurenai and revealed a practice bow and arrow for beginners.

After some time, as Shino and Naruto were doing their own practice Hinata was practicing archery. As she was a beginner, her control and aim was not that good unlike her vision.

However slowly she was improving, it will take some time...but she will manage, however as Kurenai watched Hinata she was feeling happy because Hinata looked like she was enjoying herself. Unlike Hinata's normal meek personality, she was smiling.

Probably because Hinata was feeling independent from the piling stress she had to tackle everyday because of her father. If only she could be like that normally...

"Hinata, come here for a bit" said Kurenai.

Hinata stopped her archery practice and went towards the tree against which Kurenai was standing.

"Y-yes sensei" said Hinata.

"Here take this" said Kurenai and quickly took out a small scroll from her pouch and gave it to Hinata.

"Unseal it" said Kurenai. Hinata quickly unrolled the scroll and then unsealed it.

It consisted of a semi-rigid but elastic arc with a high tensile bowstring joining the ends of two wooden limbs of the bow. The grip of the riser was white coloured and the black riser was connected to the nock. The arrow rest and the window box was deep blue coloured.

"Sensei t-this i-is the..." said Hinata.

"Well I can't allow my sister to go out in the field with just a practice bow, can I?" asked Kurenai rhetorically.

"B-but this must be c-costly..." said Hinata.

Kurenai rubbed Hinata's head softly.

"Consider this a gift from me... after the missions are over today come with me to the Higarashi shop, you still need a quiver" said Kurenai.

"Y-yes sensei" said Hinata smiling.

'I would do anything for you to be happy Hinata' thought Kurenai as she stared at her sister in all but blood.

"I don't really have any experience in bow and arrow so Higarashi can explain that to you too" said Kurenai.

"Ok sensei...I-I w-will be returning t-to practice t-then" said Hinata.

Kurenai nodded.

"Now I should check on Shino" said Kurenai and shunshined away.

As Kurenai reappeared in the middle of Shino's training she saw Shino reading a scroll.

"Do you need any help Shino?" asked Kurenai. Shino looked up and saw her sensei walking towards him.

"No sensei, this is something I need to figure out myself" said Shino.

"That difficult huh" said Kurenai.

"I can send my insects underground, and shape them together to launch a surprise attack using kikaichu from underground, so this technique shouldn't be so difficult" said Shino.

"Except the kikauchu individually lack the ability to penetrate or position themselves underground, together they have strength to breakthrough from under the ground, however to spread out the range of your new jutsu...how about you learn this" said Kurenai.

"Water style: wild water wave" said Kurenai and launched a stream of water from her mouth towards Shino.

"It will be exhausting without nearby water source, and I don't need any shortcut for this, why do you ask? I must be able to achieve perfection in this jutsu otherwise..." said Shino.

"Ok, ok, don't strain yourself though. We still have to take a mission today" said Kurenai and shunshined away.

She quickly arrived near the river and saw Naruto coming towards her blindfolded. Kurenai barely managed to stifle a laugh as she saw his rugged and tired appearance.

"What happened?" asked Kurenai.

"I slammed into the damn trees numerous times, it's your fault for assigning this exercise to me dattebayo" said Naruto frustrated.

"Well your sensory technique has gotten stronger as a result, do this every day for an hour" said Kurenai.

"I'm taking this damn piece of cloth off then" said Naruto and took off his blindfold. He walked towards the river and washed his face and then he fixed his hair and went towards Kurenai.

"Alright create some shadow clones" said Kurenai and walked over to the riverside.

Naruto quickly created 10 shadow clones. Kurenai motioned them to come to the riverside.

"Now I will show you the more advanced form of chakra control, water surface walking using your fingers" said Kurenai and created a shadow clone.

"While the clones practice that with the clone of mine, you will play shogi with me...let's call Shino and Hinata back after some time" said Kurenai.

2 hour later:

"Hinata do you see it?" asked Naruto hiding behind a tree.

"Y-yes it's just in the clearing in front of you" said Hinata's voice in the walkie-talkie.

"What should we do Shino?" asked Naruto.

"My bugs has made a barrier around us, it won't be able to escape now. Let's pincer it with a three way attack" said Shino.

"Fine, let's go" said Naruto and jumped into the clearing. The black creature quickly noticed the new presence and tried to run away but in front of it stood Shino as bugs enveloped both of his hands.

Naruto quickly tackled it to ground but the slippery cat escaped Naruto's grip as Naruto rolled in the ground, the cat flipped in air and landed straight on Hinata's hand. Hinata gently rubbed Tora on his head and slowly the cat calmed down.

"So much trouble just over a damn cat...well at least I got a book on sealing in return" said Naruto scratching the back of his head.

"Alright team you did a great job, Shino you can recall your bugs now" said Kurenai and walked over towards them.

"Yes sensei" said Shino and all the bugs which were forming a hidden barrier came out of their hiding places and went inside Shino.

'No matter how I think about it, Aburame are creepy' thought Naruto as he watched the scene unfold in front of me.

"Hinata make sure to keep that kitty with you" said Kurenai.

"Yes" said Hinata while rubbing the cat's fur.

"Meow"

"Heh, the cat likes you Hinata" said Naruto.

"W-well I like a-animals..." said Hinata.

"Let's go back to the Hokage tower and report" said Kurenai.

"Yes sensei" said all three genin in chorus.

...

"I feel sorry for the cat" said Naruto as he watched Tora being squished by madam Shinji.

"I-It's no wonder it runs away" said Hinata.

"Well done team 8, here collect your pay" said the Hokage and tossed a scroll towards Kurenai who caught it.

"Thank you Hokage-sama" said Kurenai.

"Now let's go back, shall we?" asked Kurenai.

"Now we will do team training right" said Naruto.

"Yes, I prefer to discuss some strategies with you Naruto-san, what do you say Hinata-san?" asked Shino.

"Y-yes it's a-alright with me" said Hinata.

"Of to training ground then" said Naruto.

After 40 minutes:

"Say sensei, do we still have some time left" said Naruto.

"Hmm yes, about half an hour or so" said Kurenai as she sat down on the ground.

"Then what about we spar Hinata, I always wanted to fight a hyuga in close range" said Naruto.

"E-eh, N-Naruto-kun wants to f-fight me" said Hinata in disbelief.

"Um...yup, although if don't want to..." said Naruto.

"N-no I am f-fine, b-but are y-you fine w-with someone l-like me" said Hinata pressing her fingers together.

'This is an interesting development' thought Kurenai.

"Huh, well you are pretty strong so why not?" asked Naruto in confusion.

'N-Naruto-kun thinks I'm strong' thought Hinata blushing red.

"Alright then, let's go" said Naruto and stood up along with Hinata who slowly took her fighting stance as Naruto took his defensive boxing stance.

"Hai" said Hinata timidly.

'I-I can't d-disappoint N-Naruto-kun, I must n-not a-any mistakes' thought Hinata.

Flashback start

'As the Hyuga clan heir you must act accordingly Hinata'

'Yes father'

'Don't make any mistake; a Hyuga must always stand tall'

'Yes father'

...

'Why can't you hit your sister who is younger than you, a Hyuga must not display any weakness. Don't show any kindness to Hanabi-sama otherwise the one who will be branded with the caged seal will be you Hinata'

'Y-yes elder'

'How disappointing, to think that the oldest was so weak'

'What is Hiashi-sama thinking, she should be made a branch member as soon as possible'

'Yes, it is not like she has any chance of becoming the head anymore'

'What do you mean?'

'Don't you know, Hinata-sama has been denounced from her position as the clan heir'

'So then why hasn't she been branded with the caged seal?'

...

'I'm disappointed in you Hinata'

'Are you sure that lady Hinata should be a part of the ninja program'

'I have no need for a weak Hyuga like her; you can do whatever you want with her Kurenai-san'

...

'You should give up Hinata-sama'

'Fate has decided that you are not fit to be a shinobi'

'Neji-neesan'

...

'Weakness must not be displayed'

'So weak'

'So timid, so uncharacteristic for a Hyuga'

Flashback End

'I can't d-disappoint N-Naruto-kun too' thought Hinata.

"Alright then I will make the first strike" said Naruto and charged at her.

'N-Naruto-kun is coming' thought Hinata.

Naruto just as he reached the space in front of her went for a left jab.

"B-byakugan" said Hinata and activated her dojutsu.

'W-what should I do...g-go for a counter, b-but what if I f-fail. I-I can't f-fail N-Naruto-kun...' her thought process stopped just as she activated her byakugan, with her godly eyes she saw Naruto bending and lifting his left knee a little.

Hinata did not have confidence in herself at all, but for all her doubt it should not be forgotten that she as a hyuga started training in hand to hand combat as soon a she learned to walk.

She instinctively saw through Naruto's feint jab and did not bother to dodge and simply waited for his knee to come at her.

Naruto as suspected did try to knee her in her stomach but quickly stopped as soon as he saw Hinata bringing her left hand down to block it...with two of her fingers pointed vertically to intercept Naruto's knee.

'Oh no...I won't let you disrupt my chakra' thought Naruto and quickly went for the left jab but Hinata swiftly arched her head back, meanwhile Naruto had brought his left leg back and bent both of his knees at the same time when Hinata leaned her head back and sprang upwards having his right arm forming a fist.

His right uppercut might have worked if not for the Byakugan, alas Hinata did have the byakugan so just as Naruto launched his powerful uppercut she used her right palm to strike Naruto's arm softly, just enough to divert his fist upwards.

'Damn it, I gave her an opening' thought Naruto and quickly brought his left hand in front of his body in a defensive manner.

But Hinata didn't attack at all, her free left hand did twitch but she didn't attack. She didn't seize the moment and that was all Naruto needed.

He quickly used his speed to get away from her; Naruto frowned momentarily but quickly recomposed himself.

He started circling around her while having taken his Peek a Boo stance. He approached her but quickly ran back, just as he reached the space behind her he ran towards her again trying to unnerve her and create an opportunity but she didn't even turn around.

Naruto withdrew again clicking his mouth.

'I underestimated her, so this is the Byakugan's true power. But why didn't she attack me when she had the chance dattebayo' thought Naruto.

'I-I managed to force Naruto-kun to withdraw...but that must have been luck. I have to be careful or I will again disappoint someone. I can't make any mistake' thought Hinata.

'I have to go now' thought Naruto and charged at her in his defensive stance.

Naruto quickly launched a left jab at her but Hinata just tilted her head sideways, Naruto suddenly changed his outstretched left fist to a chop and horizontally swung it to hit Hinata's neck but Hinata easily ducked and got inside Naruto's guard.

In normal situation, Naruto could guard using his right arm and leg but against a gentle fist user even one hit could result in broken bones or internal damage.

But Hinata hesitated, she stopped in mid path and that was all Naruto needed to knee her in the gut and follow it up with a right straight to her head.

Hinata flew backwards by the power of the punch and dropped the ground.

'Why did she hesitate, is it because of her crush?' thought Shino as he watched the battle unfold from the sidelines.

'No, that's not how it is...She didn't know whether to attack or not, she hesitated because she doubted her capability, if I don't do anything about her low self-esteem then it would be troublesome later on' thought Kurenai.

Hinata shakily stood up again holding her head in her hand and groaned in pain.

'Now's my chance' thought Naruto as he watched Hinata's eyes closed in pain and charged at a blinding speed.

But he again forgot...part of it might have been because of his inexperience while fighting a Hyuga but still that was a mistake, a grave one at that.

Naruto jumped in air and went for a spinning kick at her head but Hinata while in that vulnerable position arched her head back and let the kick fly past her head.

'Oh shit' thought Naruto and span around in air and tried to elbow Hinata's head but she caught his arm, Naruto used the momentum to position himself upside down parallel to the ground using Hinata as a base.

Hinata not understanding Naruto's plan launched her free left hand to hit Naruto who was...doing athletics using her!

However Naruto used his free hand to catch her outstretched palm and started channelling chakra to his elbows and torso and knee.

'Thanks to all that chakra control exercises I can now manipulate the bones of three places simultaneously' thought Naruto smirking.

Naruto could now bend his torso and hands to channel more power to his legs and use the momentum to knee Hinata on her spine.

This would normally result in life threatening damage to the user as the user would have to break the bones in his body to start the anticlockwise motion but thanks to Naruto's uzumaki taijutsu style Dance of the water princess he can easily overcome those limitations.

To perform this unexpected attack Naruto earlier did his circus move. But he forgot...that the Hyuga could see chakra.

"The fight is decided" said Kurenai.

"Yes Naruto-san will lose" said Shino.

Just as Naruto started channelling chakra to his body Hinata stretched two fingers from both her occupied hands.

'Oh no no...No no no' thought Naruto as he started to panic, but he couldn't stop his attack now. His torso was already bent.

Hinata now could disrupt Naruto's chakra system and defeat her.

'So this is the power of byakugan' thought Naruto gritting his teeth. He knew he screwed up and he waited for Hinata to strike...Only for Naruto's knee to hit Hinata's back.

'What?' thought Naruto in surprise.

Hinata was forced to let go of Naruto and Naruto used it turn himself around vertically in air and used the momentum to punch Hinata's face.

Hinata dropped to the ground as blood spewed out from her mouth.

Naruto quickly dropped to the ground and took his stance, he was still surprised but he waited for Hinata to stand up.

But she didn't.

"I'm sorry" said Hinata.

"Ano...Hinata" said Naruto confused.

"I'm sorry for being so useless" said Hinata as she slowly stood up with tearful eyes.

'Did I bonk her a bit too much' thought Naruto nervously.

'Not again' thought Kurenai sighing.

"Why is she apologising, she had the upper hand until now" said Shino confused too...although nobody could figure that out.

"A-are you alright Hinata?" asked Naruto dropping his guard.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry for my u-uselessness" said Hinata meekly and ran away from the field.

"W-Wait Hinata" shouted Naruto but she disappeared from his view.

"What exactly happened?" asked Shino.

Meanwhile Naruto was chasing Hinata to ensure her health; still thinking that maybe she suffered a brain damage because of him.

Shino watched as Naruto left the clearing too.

"Did that happen because of her low self confidence?" asked Shino.

"She is very kind...truly like a princess, but that is also the reason she is as meek as she is scared of offending anyone in her presence" said Kurenai.

Shino didn't speak.

"But a clan heiress can't have that weakness...so she was disinherited" Kurenai spat out angrily.

"Excuse me...she was a former clan heiress...and she was disinherited" repeated Shino in shock, with as much emotion an Aburame can give.

"Yes, and that resulted in this, not to mention she was always made to spar against her kid sister who Hinata didn't want to hurt and her genius cousin...when I came to know her she was a emotional mess" said Kurenai.

"So did she just second guess her judgement...in a fight" said Shino.

"Yes, she is probably scared, as much as she wants her family to acknowledge her she doesn't believe that she can be that strong. She has already lost her family, she probably didn't want the only one who she looks up to so much to be disappointed in her" said Kurenai.

'As I thought...she likes Naruto-san because unlike her he never lost hope in himself' thought Shino.

"Such a shame...she actually is very strong in close combat if her dodging and countering skills are at that level" said Shino.

"We should go after them" said Kurenai.

"Yes sensei" said Shino.

Both Shino and Kurenai started running towards the direction Hinata went.

'Did you get your answer...you cunning bastard' thought Kurenai as she glanced upwards at a tree.

There was a blonde hiding in that tree, Shino couldn't detect his presence.

But Kurenai could, and she also felt the blonde watching the entire battle.

The blonde then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'Although he will not find out about the crush...yet' thought Kurenai.

'So that's how it is'

In training ground 7:

"I got you now Cyclops" said a purple haired kunoichi as she launched a fireball at the white haired man.

She was the snake princess of Konoha.

The white haired man quickly dodged the incoming fireball with his sharingan and launched a kunai at Anko.

Before she could even blink it hit her shoulder as lightning coursed through her body.

'He channelled lightning chakra to the kunai' thought Anko as she dropped to the ground.

He was the legendary shinobi Kakashi hatake, the master of 1000 jutsus, he had mastered all basic chakra natures, and he was a master in lightning nature manipulation.

"It's over now" said Kakashi.

Suddenly Anko dispersed in the form of deadly snakes.

"A snake clone" said Kakashi surprised.

"Yeees, its over" purred Anko from behind Kakashi.

"You have gotten stronger over the year" said Kakashi giving an eye smile.

"But...not enough to defeat me" said Kakashi and dispersed in water.

'Shit' thought Anko.

Kakashi appeared behind her and held a kunai to her neck.

"Yield" said Kakashi.

"Okay, okay" sighed Anko.

Kakashi retreated back.

"What has gotten you so fired up?" asked Kakashi cheerfully.

"Hayate's report came in, principal is allied with Orochimaru" said Anko.

All traces of humour left as Kakashi's features stilled.

With Naruto:

"Hey Hinata" said Naruto as he reached the riverbank where Hinata was standing.

Hinata released an 'Eep' as she turned around to face Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun, I'm s-sorry f-for..." said Hinata looking down on the ground.

"Why did you hold back against me?" asked Naruto.

Hinata appeared shocked.

"W-what do you mean N-Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata.

"I mean that you stopped all my blows but didn't counterattack. Why did you that?" asked Naruto.

"I'm s-sorry N-Naruto-kun" said Hinata.

"Don't apologise, I mean I happy for your consideration but you can hit me you know. I won't die" said Naruto chuckling.

Hinata just nodded.

'But I'm not strong enough to defeat you Naruto-kun' thought Hinata.

"...Is what you're probably thinking aren't you?" asked Naruto grinning.

Hinata jumped up in surprise.

"I'm sorry, I placed a shadow clone beforehand to watch our battle" said Naruto scratching his head sheepishly.

"I didn't detect it" said Hinata mortified.

"D-don't worry, you detected a bird didn't you. Your chakra control and experience is not good enough to distinguish a transformation" said Naruto.

'I saw a chakra laced bird sitting on a branch. So that was a clone in reality...ingenious' thought Hinata.

"Impressed aren't you...but from my memories you hesitated all those times when you could have defeated me not because you were afraid" said Naruto.

"If that was the case, then you wouldn't have fought at all" said Naruto.

"I-I d-didn't think that I c-could've b-beaten you" said Hinata.

"Why?" asked Naruto frowning.

"Y-y-you are v-very strong N-Naruto-kun, a failure l-like me..." said Hinata.

Naruto interrupted her.

"Why would you think like that when you're this strong?" asked Naruto confused.

Hinata looked up in surprise; it looked like she had suddenly entered a world of her own as she stared at Naruto dreamily.

Naruto sweat dropped.

"You don't like yourself much do you?" asked Naruto bluntly.

Hinata's dream world shattered as she hung her head down depressed.

"I knew you were always spying on me back at the academy" said Naruto.

Hinata hung her jaws down in shock.

"I-I-I" stammered Hinata not knowing what to say.

'OMG I was caught, I was caught. He knows...what I should do...' thought Hinata as she appeared to be fainting.

"I thought you were a spy from the council" said Naruto sheepishly.

Hinata quickly caught herself from falling into the darkness.

"S-spy" said Hinata surprised.

"Yeah, well later Kiba told me that you just admired me, I just wanted to know why?" asked Naruto.

That was a partial truth, he found it from Kurenai right now but he didn't want to say that to her.

"Did h-he s-say anything e-else about m-me?" asked Hinata activating her byakugan suddenly staring intently at Naruto.

Naruto instantly felt a shiver run down his spine. He quickly shook his head and somehow felt a sense of relief...not for himself, but for Kiba.

After seeing Hinata calm down...so quickly after getting angry he began.

"So why did you admired me?" asked Naruto curiously.

Hinata blushed and looked down.

"I-I thought t-that y-you w-were p-pretty amazing N-Naruto-kun. Y-you n-never g-gave up n-no matter w-what a-anyone s-said, a-and always t-tried your h-hardest u-unlike m-m-me" said Hinata pressing her fingers.

Naruto stared at her then burst out laughing.

Hinata looked more distraught as she watched Naruto laughing at her.

"Sorry, but what do you mean 'unlike me' Hinata" said Naruto.

"I-I'm weak..." said Hinata.

"So was I Hinata, but I'm strong now, and besides the fact that you belittle yourself for some reason, you can whip my ass in taijutsu so if you call yourself weak then what does that make me?" asked Naruto appearing offended.

"I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun, I-I didn't mean it l-like that" said Hinata bowing in apology.

Just as she bowed she was hit in her head lightly.

Hinata looked up at Naruto to see grinning.

"I don't know what circumstances you've got..." said Naruto lying. He knew some of it as he overheard from Kurenai.

"...But at the very least, you can be free without any shackles here. There won't be anyone disappointed in you, you can be yourself and nobody will complain" said Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun, I..." said Hinata speechless.

"I can't say if you try hard then you can be what you want to be, but if you give up then you can never be what you want to be Hinata, I can at least help you out to carry your burden...that's what a team should do" said Naruto giving her a thumbs up.

Hinata processed what he said; being herself was a foreign subject for her. So when she finally understood what Naruto said she just nodded, with a smile was on her face.

"Great, now let's practice some more" said Naruto.

With Kurenai:

"They are getting along well" said Kurenai watching from a tree branch along with Shino.

"Yes, perhaps we should go now" said Shino.

"You look like you're in a hurry, what's up?" asked Kurenai.

Shino didn't say anything for some time.

"Why does the whole village hate Naruto-san? I want to find that out" asked Shino.

Kurenai's eyes widened.

"You can't fool me by saying I'm misunderstanding something nazenara I'm not that big of a fool. Pranks that harmless can't harness such ire" said Shino.

Then he looked at his sensei for answers.

"I won't lie to you Shino, but I don't have the permission to give you the truth either...all I can say is that behind that grin of his lies a broken person who has been desperately suffering from isolation for something beyond his control" said Kurenai solemnly.

"I...don't understand" said Shino.

"Maybe you will understand when he trusts this team completely" said Kurenai.

"Hey guys" called out a battered Naruto lying down on the ground.

Seeing him call out, both of them jumped down from the branch.

"Naruto-kun" said Hinata worryingly, she quickly ran up beside him.

"Damn you really kicked my ass" said Naruto wincing as he slowly stood up.

"I-I'm sorry" said Hinata.

"Don't be, this was just a spar" said Kurenai.

"Yup, but I didn't think there was such a great difference in our taijutsu" said Naruto.

"There isn't, in fact you are both equal in taijutsu" said Kurenai.

"Huh" said Naruto in confusion.

"However, in fox style taijutsu you try to trick your opponent by using all kinds of sneaky movements. This won't work on the x-ray vision of the byakugan who can already see your body movements and chakra network and thus perceive what kind of attack you are about to launch" said Kurenai.

"I see, I didn't think the byakugan was this formidable" said Shino.

"Besides, she was practicing taijutsu from the day she was born. There is a vast difference in experience between you guys...but if you fight using ninjutsu then you will win. They are your special skills you will use to defeat an opponent" said Kurenai.

However Naruto was already looking at Hinata with respect at her display of skills making her blush.

"Alright, Hinata let's go and buy your equipments" said Kurenai.

"Hai" said Hinata.

'She is looking a bit more confident in herself. As I thought, having Naruto in the team is good for her' thought Kurenai.

One week later:

Kurenai and Asuma were sitting on Kurenai's bed.

"I'm worried about the shadows Asuma" said Kurenai.

Both of them knew that they were talking about the Root.

"That guy huh, not to mention we don't know what Kizashi will try to pull" said Asuma.

"And now we have confirmation that a former A-rank shinobi is a spy for that snake, things are getting chaotic" said Kurenai.

Asuma coughed.

"Don't worry, no matter what happens, I will be there to protect you" said Asuma putting his hands over her shoulder.

Kurenai leaned towards Asuma's chest and huddled closely.

"Asuma...that dialogue sucked" said Kurenai.

"I know" grumbled Asuma.

Kurenai playfully smacked him on his head and chuckled.

"What I'm more worried about is the group of people that are after my student" said Kurenai.

"The dawn, they are a dangerous group" said Asuma, his expression turning grave. He understood who his girlfriend was talking about. Akatsuki.

"Are you going to be busy tomorrow?" asked Kurenai.

"I'm always free for you babe, just like today night" said Asuma.

"Stop being so perverted" said Kurenai.

"For someone who dislikes perverts, you sure know your way around tentacles" said Asuma chuckling.

Kurenai didn't smile. She slowly drew a chakra blade similar to Asuma and channelled her chakra to it.

Asuma then noticed how much his jokes sucked and tried to run away but his body was already enclosed by tentacles.

"Then...let me show you how much I love them" said Kurenai smirking.

"Damn, I'll be taking revenge tomorrow. Just you wait for tomorrow morning" said Asuma but a large tentacle found its way around his mouth.

The next day:

"Hey sensei" greeted Naruto.

Naruto's chakra control had improved greatly as he had finally mastered even the new type of water walking exercise.

Hinata's accuracy with her bow had increased.

Shino had asked his clansmen with different elemental nature to help to get used to his new jutsu' mechanics, although he found he will never be able to use that technique with his present chakra reserves.

Naruto had learned gravity seals and created it for his teammates, it acted as weights as it allowed manipulating gravity around the user.

"Who might you be?" asked Shino as he watched Asuma Sarutobi and his team coming towards them beside Kurenai.

"He is team 10 sensei, Asuma. He will be helping us with our training" said Kurenai.

"Hey guys" greeted Choji.

'I don't know any of them well enough' thought Ino.

"Troublesome... this is such a nice day for sleeping too" muttered Shikamaru.

"Oh what's up you guys, long time no see" said Naruto cheerfully.

'He still looks damn hot with his hair like that, not like I'm interested...besides I don't want to make the hyuga clan my enemy' thought Ino.

"Hey Naruto" said Ino unenthusiastically.

Hinata and Shino gave a short bow.

"So, are we supposed to train together?" asked Naruto.

"Yea, although it's so troublesome, never thought Asuma-sensei would train us so seriously" said Shikamaru sighing.

"I've never ever trained you physically Shikamaru" said Asuma sweat dropping.

"This was my idea, although today you will fight against team 10" said Kurenai.

"Your teacher's so enthusiastic, why are women so troublesome" said Shikamaru.

"Well this is my first team, I want to give good results to the Hokage" said Kurenai.

"This has been her dream for quite some time" said Asuma.

"Eh, I thought you wanted to duke it against Itachi uchiha" said Naruto.

"This was my other dream. This was not supposed to be mentioned Asuma" said Kurenai.

"Why not, it suits your elder sister nature perfectly" said Asuma chuckling.

"How do you know about her dreams and personality so well?" asked Ino narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"Eh...what do you mean, it's normal for a guy to know this much about his colleagues" said Asuma sweating nervously.

"Is that so?" asked Ino with a suspicious gaze.

"Is there something going on between you two?" asked Shikamaru smirking.

"No way" said Kurenai waving him off nervously.

"Suspicious" said Shino looking at his sensei as his glasses shined.

"Cut it off, we are not in a relationship" said Kurenai.

"You sure sensei, I'm getting a smell of love around the air" said Naruto grinning.

Kurenai leaned closer to Naruto and whispered something in his ear.

"Unlike you and the ramen shop woman, we are not in such a suspicious relationship" said Kurenai smiling at Naruto.

Naruto sputtered.

"H-How d-do you...n-no I-I m-mean w-what a-are y-you talking about?" asked Naruto.

All of them looked at him questionably.

"Should I say it to everyone?" asked Kurenai.

"N-no, g-guys let's start whatever she is planning" said Naruto.

"This is piquing my interest" said Ino interested.

"Don't be a gossip queen any more than you are" said Naruto.

"But that's my job" said Ino grinning.

Naruto looked pleadingly at Kurenai.

"Fine, let's start" said Kurenai.

"I will definitely find the dirt on you Naruto" said Ino with a glint in her eyes that made him shiver in fear.

"So sensei, how shall we fight? Should we fight individually or as a team?" asked Shino.

Kurenai blinked.

"Wait guys, you misunderstood what I meant, I meant to say that you will fight Asuma here" said Kurenai.

Few moments of silence ensued.

Asuma's cigarette dropped from his mouth.

"Wait, what do you mean by fight sensei, they will be annihilated" said Ino.

"Uh-huh, Asuma-sensei is a jonin" said Choji.

"S-sensei, w-we can't d-defeat h-him" said Hinata fearfully.

"Yes, that means I will not have to do anything" said Shikamaru.

"Wait, Kurenai I don't want to discourage your genins" said Asuma.

"Of course, you will not go at them seriously, I just want to see how far they have come" said Kurenai.

"I see" said Shino nodded.

Naruto smirked.

"So that's how it is..." said Naruto.

"Wait, Naruto you seriously think you can defeat a jonin" said Ino looking at him incredulously.

"Of course not, but when we fought against sensei, she just toyed with us" said Naruto.

"This spar is not a spar to see who is stronger nazenara that is very obvious...but it is too see whether we can make him even a little bit serious, right sensei" said Kurenai.

"Only two weeks have passed from our graduation, and the only one good enough to fight against sensei are probably you and Hinata" said Ino.

"Hey, what about me?" asked Naruto.

"You were the dead last Naruto" said Ino.

"I don't have a problem as long as you show my students some Genjutsu dispelling techniques and give them tips in chakra control" said Asuma.

"Troublesome..." said Shikamaru.

"But are you sure about this?" asked Asuma.

"Let them decide this" said Kurenai.

Team 8 nodded and went towards a tree.

"What's there to discuss? This is ridiculous" asked Choji.

"I will hold back though..." said Asuma.

Team 8 was meanwhile discussing what should they do.

"Please tell me your opinions..." said Shino.

"I'm in" said Naruto quickly.

Both of them looked at Hinata.

"Ano...I d-don't t-think I-I c-can f-fight a j-jonin" said Hinata.

"You did fight Kurenai-sensei" said Shino.

"I-I d-don't think..." said Hinata fiddling with her fingers.

"You are not weak Hinata-san...we have seen enough of you to conclude that much" said Shino.

"Yup, just be who you are, don't strain to be someone else. Even if you fail nobody will say anything. So, why not just try it?" asked Naruto.

"B-but w-what i-if we f-fail m-miserably..." said Hinata.

Naruto shrugged.

"Then we have to try harder the next time...let's just enjoy this moment" said Naruto.

"I think so too...but we won't force you" said Shino.

Hinata was more comfortable around them as they had never criticized her and had always helped her unlike her family.

If they trusted her, then she will try to have faith in herself too.

Hinata nodded.

"Ok then, it will be great to have your support" said Shino.

"Your support in both ranges makes our job easier...your participation makes it a lot easier for us" said Naruto.

"Yes, you should have more confidence in yourself, I'm sure you will do great nazenara you are more skilled in shinobi arts than you yourself think" said Shino.

Naruto grasped her shoulder making her release an audible 'Eep' and blush. Naruto gave her a foxy grin.

"Besides, you're excited too aren't you? You want to see yourself go wild too right. Don't think too much and do what you want to do" said Naruto.

Hinata smiled at hearing her crush's words. He always seemed to make her relax.

"Then we are all set right" said Naruto.

"Yes, let's witness our growth objectively. This will help us out in the future too" said Shino without a hint of excitement in his voice.

"You should show your feelings sometimes, don't be so blatant" said Naruto.

"Feelings are not necessary Naruto-san" said Shino.

"You won't get woman like this Shino, you have to be more passionate...or manlier about things" said Naruto.

Shino pushed his glasses up.

"I don't want to hear that from a pervert who reads porno all the time" said Shino.

"What? H-how?" asked Naruto.

"I have the byakugan Naruto-kun" said Hinata.

"Oh shit" said Naruto sighing.

"Hey, are you guys done" asked Choji.

Team 8 walked towards them.

"So what will you do?" asked Kurenai.

"Isn't it obvious...we fight" said Naruto bringing his palms together smirking.

"Are you insane?" asked Ino.

"Your funeral" said Choji shrugging.

'Just sleeping on the grassy field, watching them get beat up. Not troublesome at all...' thought Shikamaru releasing a sigh of happiness.

Asuma shrugged and walked forward.

"Asuma, don't underestimate my students too much or they will humiliate you" said Kurenai.

"Whatever" said Asuma but was inwardly curious.

He was not going to be using his speciality, wind natured blades and was planning to fight only using taijutsu.

If needed then he might use the trench knives for defence but definitely wouldn't channel chakra through it.

"Let's watch on the sidelines" said Shikamaru and climbed up a tree followed by the rest of his teammates.

Ino scoffed.

"It will be over as soon as it will begin" said Ino.

Kurenai raised her hand.

"So we are going with that" said Naruto.

"H-hai" said Hinata.

Shino nodded.

"Begin" said Kurenai and dropped her hand before jumping up and landing to tree branch next to team 10's genins.

Just as Kurenai said start Naruto drew some smoke bombs and threw them upwards.

"Smoke bombs won't hide you for long" said Asuma as he watched the small pellets fly up.

All three of them made a hand seal and their legs were enveloped in a light green light.

'They are releasing...gravity seals now' thought Asuma.

"What is that?" asked Ino.

Naruto then made some hand seals which Asuma instantly recognized. Asuma then looked up to see the dropping smoke bombs multiplying.

Around 35 smoke bombs dropped around Asuma and the area was suddenly covered in a dense smoke.

'Creative use of shuriken shadow clone jutsu' thought Asuma impressed, he could have blown the smoke away using a wind jutsu but decided against it, giving them a chance at least.

"What did he do?" asked Ino as she covered her mouth from the smoke using her hands.

Kurenai smirked.

Suddenly Asuma jumped away as two arrows landed right where he was previously standing.

'Such accuracy in this smoke, I see byakugan huh' thought Asuma as he dodged to the left as another set of arrows hit the ground from a different direction.

'Not only that, she's moving around constantly to not give away her position' thought Asuma as he dodged another set of arrows.

"What is going on?" asked Choji trying to see what was going on in the smoke but failing.

The smoke obscured Asuma's vision, as he was busy dodging the arrows. Suddenly he turned around catching a fist aimed at his face. The smoke revealed Naruto's face.

Naruto tried to punch him with another arm but Asuma dodged to the side releasing his fist, Naruto quickly turned around using his toes to shift his weight and used the momentum to kick Asuma in the face but Asuma ducked and swept Naruto off his feet and then kicked him upwards with his other leg.

The flying Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'Shadow clones, I see so the arrows were shadow clones transformed. Just as I dodged them they transformed back and attacked me using the smoke' thought Asuma and suddenly jumped dodging an assault of two shadow clones.

'While the original processes information and distributes it to his teammates' thought Asuma and sidestepped another clone.

"What is going on down there?" asked Ino.

"Damn, the best part of the fight and I can't see anything" said Shikamaru.

Kurenai smiled. She was clearly able to understand what her team was trying to do as she sensed their chakra signature through her sensing.

"Ino-chan was it?" asked Kurenai.

"Yes ma'am" said Ino.

"You might want to prepare yourself, what you will see today might change your view of Naruto" said Kurenai.

Ino looked confused.

Shikamaru looked on in interest although he couldn't see anything due to smoke.

Asuma punched another clone but it was blocked by a peek a boo guard. Although the clone dropped to the ground, before Asuma could finish the job another clone jump kicked towards him making him step back, the newcomer kicked at him with another kick while spinning but Asuma leaned back.

But before Asuma could counterattack both the clones jumped away in the smoke, Asuma understood what they were doing.

'He is mixing in clones with his taijutsu, the clones are trying to get more information before dispelling...smart, I now understand what Kurenai meant by 'genius', high level of raw talent and the creativity to use it properly gives him an unorthodox set of skills. Moreover, he is clearly able to sense me in the smoke if he is able to accurately attack me in the smoke...he must have a sensory technique' thought Asuma just as another clone jumped at him from behind.

Asuma caught that clone and threw him towards another clone which was trying to sneakily attack him.

'But that means another clone will definitely be hidden somewhere near to rescue the clone which will take the position of an assaulter' thought Asuma and took advantage of it with this move.

'If that doesn't work, then what will you do?' thought Asuma.

Suddenly another arrow directly landed in front of him.

'Frontal attack' thought Asuma as the clone released its transformation.

'No' thought Asuma and blocked the clone's punch while elbowing the air behind him.

A puff of smoke was heard.

'Launching a fake forward attack while using camouflage to attack from behind...is that it' thought Asuma.

Suddenly the clone whose punch he had caught used his other hand to grip Asuma's hand more tightly.

'This little...explosive clones' thought Asuma and kicked the clone away from him just as he jumped away.

He watched as the clone exploded clearing some of the smoke away.

"What was that sound?" asked Ino.

"Explosion" said Choji.

6 more arrows came at him and he flipped back continuously dodging them all before using the momentum to jump back.

A second later the explosive tags attached to them detonated clearing away the rest of the smoke due to the force of the explosion.

"The trap is set" said Kurenai.

Team 10 appeared confused.

"So what now, are you done with hide and seek?" asked Asuma at the open clearing where he was alone.

'The original was not even present here in the clearing; the rest of the team is hiding in the trees' thought Asuma impressed.

Suddenly, a leaf in front of Asuma transformed into Naruto taking team 10 by surprise.

"What, how did he appear here?" asked Ino.

"No he was already present, he transformed into an indistinguishable leaf" said Shikamaru.

"When did he get good at transformation?" asked Choji.

Asuma jumped up as Naruto tried a short uppercut, however using the chance the clone formed a hand seal.

'He faked the uppercut to get me up in air' thought Asuma.

A shadow clone appeared in the air and the clone who summoned him joined his arms to give the new clone a base to stand in.

Then he launched the clone upwards and the summoned clone tried to punch Asuma in his face.

"Ninja art: shadow clone uppercut" said the clone.

Asuma quickly caught the approaching fist while in air but the clone grinned and caught Asuma's arm.

'I again fell for a feint' thought Asuma.

The Naruto who summoned the clone caught the clone's hand and suddenly in a puff of smoke many other Naruto's appeared behind the first Naruto.

'How many of them had he hidden in the form of leaves' thought Asuma.

"Holy...they are all real" said Ino.

"He shouldn't be able to perform a taxing technique like this" said Shikamaru with his hand on his head.

Choji just opened a pack of his chips.

All the clones caught each other and the last Naruto lifted all of the clones up, by proxy making Asuma go up way high in the air.

"Ample amount of strength does he has...for a genin" said Asuma amused.

'Normally, I would write something like this as idiotic and way too chakra taxing but in his hands it becomes a powerful technique huh' thought Asuma as he in air was above all the trees in the training ground.

He used that moment to properly locate the hidden team 8 members hiding behind a tree together.

"Ninja art: clone chain body suplex" said the Naruto who was lifting all the clones and then used a large portion of his own body weight to drive all the clones down the ground arching his back. This motion was in turn followed by the other connected clones.

Asuma realized that if he suffered a crashing fall from this height then he will definitely die, but he decided to not use ninjutsu, thus he drew a kunai from his pocket and stabbed the clone holding him making it burst.

Then he used the other clones that were falling in air as a clone chain along with him as a base to step on and jumped down safely before landing.

'That was pretty cool of me, if I say so myself' thought Asuma as he watched the Naruto clones fall down in vain and dispelling.

When this process was over he saw there was no one in the nearby vicinity.

"As I thought, the real one wasn't even here from the beginning. Wait...a shadow clone can multiply itself" muttered Asuma in wonder as he remembered both of Naruto's clone arts.

'I will have to admit, he will be able to catch most of the shinobi off guard with this combo' thought Asuma.

'But I found out their real location' thought Asuma.

Suddenly from in front of the ground of him black insects burst out in the form of a hand.

'So they won't allow me to rest even for a while...Shino had already sent the bugs underground when Naruto's clones were distracting me' thought Asuma as the hand swiped at him.

He quickly flipped back easily but carefully. The bug hand punched at him and he was going to dodge back but quickly veered towards the left.

The reason was because an arrow landed in his previous choice of area to dodge.

'The Aburame and Hyuga are working together to lead me somewhere' thought Asuma as he dodged the bug hand and the arrows.

Suddenly the bugs dispersed away, he looked around in confusion before realization dawned and he jumped up.

The arrows exploded in red hot flames but Asuma made it out.

'Arrows with invisible explosive tags thanks to Naruto's fuinjutsu...they know how to make use of each other's strength' thought Asuma.

Asuma threw three kunai just as he landed. They impressively went towards the well hidden genins, who dodged them by tilting their heads.

However, a flash bomb was attached to them and they enveloped the genins.

"Damn it" said Naruto as he closed his eyes.

Similarly, Shino and Hinata were forced to close their eyes due to the brightness. Only Hinata's byakugan was blinded because of the flash just for a second.

'We should activate it now' thought Shino.

Not wanting to give the jonin more than a second Shino gave out the signal.

"Naruto-san now" said Shino.

Naruto quickly made some hand seals just as the bright light subsided.

"Fuinjutsu: gate of greed" said Naruto as a black square barrier was erected around the area Asuma was standing on.

"When did they..." asked Ino shocked.

"I see, when Naruto had thrown the smoke bombs, he kept Asuma busy and planted the seals for the barrier. After that he led Asuma halfway to the trap using the clone techniques and Hinata and Shino took over for him" said Shikamaru.

"Good analysis" said Kurenai.

"But it's over..." said Choji.

"Yea...it was pretty fun but..." said Ino.

"We did it..." said Naruto cheering from his hiding place.

"Yes it's our..." said Shino.

"It's team 10's..." said Shikamaru.

"Defeat..." said Kurenai.

Suddenly from the ground jumped out Asuma and reappeared on the branch where they were standing.

"What..." said Naruto quickly drawing his katana but before he could even move all three of them were kicked by Asuma and landed on another tree on their back.

The Asuma who was trapped in the barrier disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Shadow clone..." said Naruto.

"But when...I see when we were blinded by the flash bomb" said Shino.

"S-so t-that was m-meant to d-disable m-my dojutsu and g-give you a c-chance to create a shadow clone" said Hinata while grimacing in pain.

"I had already noticed you guys while Naruto used his clone suplex on me. And besides I already had figured out your ploy to lead me way before you executed it, but congrats brats, you forced me to use a ninjutsu...not my speciality though" said Asuma drawing a cigarette.

Meanwhile, team 10 were climbing up the higher branches to see what was going on inside the trees better.

Naruto chuckled.

"What's so funny?" asked Asuma lighting a cigarette.

"You totally fell for our plan sensei, why do you ask?..." said Shino.

"We are not our real selves" said Hinata.

Realization dawned upon his face as his eyes widened in understanding. All three of them were transformed shadow clones who were ready to explode.

'These guys...' thought Asuma and tried to jump away but was caught in the explosion caused by the transformed shadow clones. It was way bigger than what Naruto normally used. Normally Naruto's explosive shadow clone covered around a circle of 3m radius, but this one covered around 5m.

"What, but...what happened?" asked Ino.

"Wait, I see...so that's how it was played out. The real members were actually hiding way deeper in the forest. Naruto didn't use his clone chain suplex to lead or distract sensei from the barrier trap..." said Shikamaru.

"Yes, he made Asuma believe he found the real ones while in air, and baited him to come at them. A trickster above everything he is" said Kurenai.

'When he previously used the explosive clone during the earlier taijutsu battle, he intentionally reduced the potency of the explosion to make Asuma believe that was his limit...only to beat him in this move' thought Kurenai.

"Yea but no matter how much techniques Naruto might have right now, team strategy is not one of them. That is clear while watching him fight. Thinking while fighting is his forte, so someone must be using the abilities of Naruto well enough, is it Hinata or Shino?" asked Shikamaru with a hint of interest in his voice.

Kurenai's frowned in surprise because of the genin' observations, wasn't his scores supposed to be below average?

"It's Shino, he is the leader of this team in my absence" said Kurenai.

"I see" said Shikamaru.

"How can you be so relaxed Shikamaru, our sensei lost to a team of genins" said Ino enraged.

"Troublesome..." said Shikamaru sighing.

"Relax Ino-chan, Asuma is not that weak" said Kurenai.

With the real Hinata:

Their plan had worked. Hinata was separated from her teammates because she was shooting arrows continuously. A sniper must not remain in a single position.

'Shino-kun is a genius' thought Hinata.

Hinata observed with her byakugan as Asuma fell for their layered trap. They knew that Asuma would definitely notice how Naruto's clones would use the smoke to set up invisible tags, thus Hinata and Shino assisted Naruto to solidify Asuma's belief.

Then Asuma would definitely try to fool them, Shino understood that and layered another trap by giving Asuma a fake position of the team.

'I-I managed to contribute a little this time' thought Hinata smiling.

Hinata was slowly getting more confidence in herself because of her new proficiency in archery and thanks to Shino and Naruto's support she found a reason to fight.

She was slowly getting used to not fainting around Naruto too.

But she was definitely not used to fight a jonin, singlehandedly. Especially in close range.

So when she saw that Asuma was not present where the explosion took place she was surprised, but when she noticed him travelling towards her underground, she was terrified.

Asuma quickly burst out of the ground in front of Hinata.

"B-b-but how did you escape f-from t-that e-explosion, you s-should've b-been c-caught unaware..." said Hinata shocked.

"That was a shadow clone" said Asuma chuckling.

Hinata's eyes widened.

"I made another shadow clone while underground" said Asuma.

"H-how did y-you recognize u-us sensei?" asked Hinata as she shakily took her stance.

"That was a solid plan, no doubt there...but I'm an experienced veteran myself. Don't you think it is weird for an archer who was shooting from all over the place to be together with her teammates" said Asuma.

Hinata looked up in surprise as she realized the fault in Shino's planning. Hinata was shooting while continuously jumping around...how she could have been together with her teammates?

With Shino and Naruto:

"Damn it..." said Naruto.

"What happened Naruto-san? What did your clone's memories reveal?" asked Shino.

"It failed, we were fooled" said Naruto.

"I see...where is Asuma-sensei now?" asked Shino.

"Sonar pulse jutsu, found him...he is engaging Hinata now" said Naruto cursing inwardly.

"Please listen before engaging him Naruto-san...I have another plan" said Shino.

"Insect observation jutsu" said Shino as he released five small insects from his sleeve.

"What should I do?" asked Naruto.

With Hinata:

"You have good skill in archery Hinata, but let's see how you fare against me in close range?" asked Asuma as he drew his trench knives.

Hinata's whole body froze up. She remembered her father's words, his disappointment in her.

"I don't need a weak hyuga to be the heiress for this clan"

Asuma reached her and quickly kicked at her, she brought her hands close to her body to block but still was blown away by the sheer force of the physical contact.

Her back struck a tree and she moaned in pain.

But she slowly lowered her guard; it looked like she didn't think of fighting him anymore.

'It's as Kurenai said, she has zero confidence in herself, especially in taijutsu' thought Asuma.

Asuma charged at her and slashed at her with his knife but she jumped to the side and then flipped back.

'Is she thinking of dodging all my attacks?' thought Asuma.

'I-I can't d-do it after a-all, I-I will a-always be a-a b-burden to this t-team' thought Hinata.

However as her mind went down the negative way of thinking, a certain person entered her thought...her crush, she remembered what he said.

"At the very least, you can be free without any shackles here. There won't be anyone disappointed in you, you can be yourself and nobody will complain"

"Yes, you should have more confidence in yourself, I'm sure you will do great nazenara you are more skilled in shinobi arts than you yourself think"

Shino and Naruto had always stayed to help her out in taijutsu after their training session was over. They had never criticized her, they had always supported her.

Naruto had always encouraged her.

Shino always spoke the truth; he never lied and always spoke bluntly. But he trusted her.

Did she trust herself? No.

Did she trust her skills? No.

Did she trust her teammates? Yes.

Did she want to hold them back? No.

Asuma sighed and charged at her, he was inches away from her. But then her facial expression changed, he slashed at her with his right hand's knife.

Hinata leaned back and then jumped back to gain some distance.

'Does she plan on fighting me?' thought Asuma as he charged at her again and attacked her body with his left hand, Hinata side stepped. She noticed that she could strike his left hand and block his tenketsus.

But her eyes widened and she jumped back. Just then Asuma spun around and slashed at the place she was standing with his left hand.

'He gave me an opening to draw me in, while he was already shifting his weight and was reading to spin around' thought Hinata as she took in a deep breath.

'I can't fight against this man, I will gather information and give it to the other's when they arrive' thought Hinata determined as she stepped back once again and readied her stance.

"Is she just running away?" asked Ino.

"No...She is waiting for the others to come while she watches Asuma-sensei's taijutsu" said Shikamaru.

'That's rare...she is actually fighting back and unlike other hyuga she is not standing her ground' thought Kurenai.

Asuma quickly used his trench knife to strike at her horizontally but she ducked, Asuma went for a kick but she rolled away before jumping back again.

But he was no slouch either and thus he was already before her when she jumped. Just as she landed Asuma launched a sweeping kick, Hinata fell down but she rolled away just as Asuma struck at her head with his fist, before she could stand up though Asuma used his other hand to punch her head, but she continued rolling.

'I got an opening' thought Hinata.

Hinata quickly twisted her body while rolling and launched a kick at Asuma while her body was supported by her hands.

Asuma brought his hand to block her kick with his trench knife.

Just as he did that though Hinata used her other leg to attack Asuma's midsection, but Asuma used his other trench knife to block it.

Hinata was using her hands to support her legs, she was in an upside down position while Asuma was standing and was in a position to sweep at her hands.

But Asuma grinned and overpowered Hinata' body and made her go flying back before she managed to land on a tree and stuck to it using chakra control.

"Smart kid, if I used my legs to attack you would've sealed of a chakra point of mine before I could make contact" said Asuma.

Hinata frowned.

"Damn...Hinata, when did she get so quick on her feet" said Ino.

"Those gravity seals helped, Shino and Hinata's speed has increased tremendously...although not as much as Naruto" said Kurenai.

Hinata was standing on the tree not moving, she was not going to engage him.

She was taking deep breaths trying to calm her nerves down...understandable, since it was the first time she was actually being brave enough defying her own believes.

'She really won't fight me huh, but I have to take her down before the others come here. I can't use full of speed and strength or any ninjutsu. With the byakugan she will not fall to a surprise attack' thought Asuma.

'Naruto-kun will soon be here, Asuma-sensei has a brawler type of fighting style but even though it looks so full of openings, it is actually to lure the enemy in' thought Hinata.

"Here I come" said Asuma and charged towards the tree she was in, he then climbed it up before readying his knives and charged at her to engage her.

But before he reached her she jumped down the tree and threw some shurikens to make him stay up on the tree for a while.

'Huh, she is now wasting time' thought Asuma as he parried all the incoming shurikens.

He then jumped down at her and kicked her but she ducked, this time though before she could get away Asuma turned around and kicked at her horizontally, Hinata was forced to block. She was getting pushed back in her sitting position.

'Just a tap...' thought Hinata and tried to tap his legs. But Asuma quickly brought his leg back giving her enough time to make some distance.

'This is annoying' thought Asuma and was about to charge at her but she quickly fired and explosive tag covered arrow at him. Asuma jumped back and dodged the arrow which landed in front him...he was still forced to jump back again as the explosion covered the field.

'This...this is not how a hyuga should fight; she is great at dodging and has good flexibility but what about offence' thought Asuma and charged at her.

Hinata again fired arrows with explosive tag attached at him but Asuma cut all of them down in midway before continuing towards her.

Hinata quickly panicked. She put the bow on her back and jumped back from a slash.

'I-I'm a-actually doing it, I-I'm able to stall him' thought Hinata. She was surprised in herself.

Asuma had enough and so he slashed at her left shoulder but Hinata side stepped towards her right and twirled beside him.

'I-I have seen enough of his moves' thought Hinata.

'She was not just gathering information; she was planning for an opening. I don't know if she just created the different way of fighting but it sure suits her flexible nature' thought Asuma as he watched Hinata trying to hit his outstretched arm on its elbow.

'But it's still way rough...' thought Asuma as he lowered his elbow just as the strike hit the air above his elbow and then lifted it up parrying her strike, it also took her by surprise.

He used the chance to hit her with the blunt side of the trench knife with the same arm, Hinata skidded back.

Before Hinata could focus on the battle again Asuma already charged at her and lashed out with a kick to her chest.

Hinata brought her arms in a cross arm block and managed to block it but the force of the attack shoved her like a ragdoll towards a tree not far behind her.

'I-I still couldn't do anything...I'm sorry Naruto-kun' thought Hinata.

"You came up with a good idea to use your flexibility and mobility, but you still have not reached a level where you could fight with it" said Asuma.

Hinata looked confused; she didn't get what her sensei was talking about. Then her eyes widened as she realized what she had been doing, she didn't fight like a proper hyuga should have.

"Wait, don't tell me you didn't plan it ahead and just went with the flow?" said Asuma.

Hinata looked disappointed in herself for betraying the traditional rule of the hyuga's gentle fist.

"Don't look so down, that suited you" said Asuma.

"H-huh" said Hinata slowly taking her stance again.

"You fought like you naturally wanted to...there's nothing bad with it. I think you should invest your time in developing your own style" said Asuma.

"Y-you think I-I can d-do s-something like that" said Hinata.

"Well you were pretty damn frustrating and annoying to hit. So I think you have the knack for it. You are pretty good" said Asuma approvingly.

Hinata looked a bit happy. After joining this team everyone seemed to acknowledge her more and more.

"Damn, she actually held her own against Asuma-sensei" said Choji.

"When did that shy girl get so good?" asked Ino narrowing her eyes.

"But her role's over...it's time for the tank to take over" said Shikamaru.

Just as Shikamaru said that Naruto jumped down from a tree and made a vertical strike at Asuma's head with his katana.

In response Asuma just raised one of his trench knives overhead and blocked Naruto's strike.

"N-Naruto-kun" said Hinata.

"Take a break Hinata, after that join me in close combat if I still can't take him down...I have a plan" said Naruto.

"J-join you..." said Hinata before nodding.

"Naruto-kun, don't get fooled by the openings he gives, I can guarantee that he will use his other hand to take you down from your blind spot" said Hinata.

"Hinata good job, this was also what my clones gathered from the earlier scuffles but a taijutsu user's confirmation makes it more acceptable" said Naruto. Although Hinata couldn't see him as his back was turned to her she could just feel a foxy grin crept up his face.

Hinata smiled.

Asuma used his other hand to slice at Naruto but Naruto quickly separated and jumped back before readying his stance.

'I've managed to combine both my taijutsu style well, now to see whether it works for kenjutsu or not' thought Naruto and charged at Asuma.

Asuma slashed at Naruto with his left hand soaring overhead but Naruto ducked and went inside Asuma's guard.

He lifted his katana which was trailing on the ground creating sparks, and slashed horizontally upwards at Asuma, but he parried it with his right hand's knife making Naruto take a step back, Asuma brought his left hand's knife to slash at him diagonally but Naruto parried it with another slash and tried to get inside his guard only to block a stab from his right hand.

Naruto skidded back due to the force but charged again, this time he slashed at his sensei in an overhead rising strike but Asuma blocked it by bringing his left hand up and stabbed at him with his right hand's trench knife.

Naruto tilted his head and dodged the blow, and then he separated and spun around slashing at him. Asuma jumped up and kicked at his head which Naruto dodged by leaning his head back.

Asuma landed and was forced to block a slash from Naruto using both of his trench knives, and then he forced the boy back.

Naruto slashed at Asuma in a horizontally rising slash, but Asuma parried it with a downward strike from his knife, Asuma slashed at him vertically at his head with his other hand but Naruto quickly brought his sword up and slashed vertically from an opposite direction parrying the blade.

"This is just awesome..." said Choji dumbfounded.

"He is going head to head with Asuma-sensei, I know he had improved when I saw him fight Kiba in class...but this is just impossible, he was supposed to be a dead last" said Ino.

"Troublesome..." said Shikamaru sighing.

'He is good' thought Asuma.

Just as Asuma stabbed at him with his left blade Naruto side stepped and made a stabbing motion to Asuma's shoulder, Asuma himself brought his right hand's trench knife and stabbed at Naruto's blade.

Sparks flew from the collision, but Naruto just twisted the axis of his hilt making the blade parry Asuma's blade before being overpowered.

Asuma's eyes widened as the sword sailed past his head just as he dodged, but now he had an opening.

With his left hand's trench knife he struck his side hard before he could bring his outstretched arm back.

Asuma's eye widened however as his strike was blocked...by a scabbard, Naruto used his scabbard to block his blade.

Naruto took this opportunity to jump back. Asuma whistled clearly impressed.

"Raido mentioned that your affinity was wind right, when you decide to train in that ask for me. I'm Konoha's sole wind style user after all" said Asuma.

"Thanks for the offer sensei, but first I will try and land at least on hit on you" said Naruto smirked and charged at Asuma.

'I should take it a bit serious' thought Asuma and just as Naruto reached him struck his right hand out, Naruto brought his sword to his forehead vertically positioning it so that he could block the knife properly, however he noticed that Asuma struck with his left hand's knife at his legs.

'As long as I use both of my hands, I can't reach my scabbard, but if I remove one hand from my katana, I will be overpowered by the brute strength he is applying' thought Naruto.

Naruto then smirked.

He released his sword.

'What?' thought Asuma as Naruto tilted his head; the sudden action caused Asuma's right hand to overstretch and Naruto's katana to fall down.

"What the hell is up with his mind...he is insane" said Ino.

Naruto however still couldn't reach his scabbard in time, noticing this he bent his legs at an extraordinary angle positioning his whole body like a slanted 'T'. Using his uzumaki taijutsu duh!

'The hell' thought Asuma as he rolled his eyes in shock.

It won't save him from getting impaled, only delay the time by mere seconds.

Mere seconds were enough for Naruto to grab his scabbard. He blocked Asuma's left hand with his scabbard and suddenly grabbed the katana that was falling down.

'This kid...that was damn cool' thought Asuma as his chest was impaled by Naruto's katana.

"SENSEI" shouted Ino and Choji.

Suddenly Asuma's body disappeared in a puff of smoke and in its place was a log with an explosive tag.

'Damn' thought Naruto and threw away the sword just as it was about to explode.

He was about to jump away but because his legs were in slanted 'T' shape he stumbled back. Thus he was knocked back by the massive explosion and was about to hit a tree hard. But Hinata jumped and positioned herself behind Naruto to cushion his fall.

'Hinata' thought Naruto and quickly jumped back.

"Are you alright?" asked Naruto.

Hinata was blushing a shade of red thanks to the physical contact but activated her byakugan quickly before nodding.

"S-so t-that's w-what you meant by plan" said Hinata as she saw Asuma with her vision.

Naruto grinned.

"T-that's S-Shino-kun's plan though" said Hinata.

"You realized" said Naruto rubbing his head sheepishly.

With Asuma:

"That was close, that kid's fighting style is very...very weird" said Asuma.

He was standing away from the clearing where he was standing before.

Suddenly bugs exploded around him shocking him, they quickly formed a torrent surrounding him.

As they surrounded him, some of the bugs came forwards and quickly enclosed them on Asuma sucking some of his chakra before going back again mixing in the crowd of spinning bugs.

Just after a fraction of second another bunch of bugs came and followed the same motion.

'Mimetic insects: crawl'

Asuma quickly substituted to another clearing with a log.

"Damn, I barely got away" said Asuma wiping sweat off his forehead.

"Not really" said a voice whispering to his ears in the air.

Asuma released a girlish scream and stepped back quickly readying his trench knives.

Suddenly bugs erupted next to him and surrounded him with a torrent...again.

"It's useless sensei...nazenara I have already placed some traps all over the clearings with logs scattered around...it cost me quite an amount of s all over the clearings with logs scattered around...it cost me quite an amount of m hive but I have sealed of your movements" said Shino from outside the barrier.

'That must be clone made of bugs, that's why I didn't sense it's presence as it was a construct of bugs hovering around in the air before coming together' thought Asuma.

"So that's what he was doing" said Shikamaru nodding in realization.

"What do you mean?" asked Choji.

"Yeah, tell us Shikamaru" said Ino.

"This is team 8's training ground, so they know where all the logs to substitute are placed very well...he used his knowledge to his advantage and trapped him in a position where he will be forced substitution...and now Asuma can't even go underground like before because the bugs have already latched on to him" said Shikamaru sounding intrigued.

Asuma then sighed before forming a hand seal.

"Wind style: rippling blast" said Asuma and wind erupted around him and he made a pushing motion with his hand, the wind blasted outwards omni-directionally pushing the bug barrier away from him, furthermore taking out the bug clone along with it.

Kurenai suddenly appeared behind him in a shunshin and put an arm on his shoulder.

"You guys can come out now" said Kurenai looking towards the trees around them. Hinata, Shino and Naruto came out of the surrounding bushes and landed in front of them.

Naruto was grinning like mad; Shino looked on...like always, Hinata had a small smile on her lips.

"So, we made you a tad bit serious didn't we?" asked Naruto.

Asuma sighed and drew a cigarette.

"Well, I'll be damned...caught by genins, what dad will say?" asked Asuma.

"I still can't believe it, you forced Asuma to use his wind style jutsus" said Ino coming towards the clearing followed by the others.

"Uh huh, when did you guys get this strong?" asked Choji.

"Oh you guys were watching" said Naruto.

"Troublesome...yup you were great out there" said Shikamaru.

"I-I still c-can't b-believe t-that I-I f-fought y-you l-like that" said Hinata looking at Asuma.

"Well believe it, Hinata you were badass out there" said Ino.

"R-really" said Hinata shocked.

"Uh huh, I didn't think that someone as shy as you could do something like that...you held Asuma back for some moments" said Shikamaru.

Hinata looked flustered.

"Wait, wait how did you, YOU of all people get this strong just in some weeks" asked Ino.

"Well I was training for a year you know, why did you think I was skipping the year" said Naruto.

"You don't say...so beating Kiba was not a fluke after all" said Ino still in shock.

"Yup" said Naruto.

"Alright, why don't you guys take a break while I take care of Asuma's kids" said Kurenai.

"Ok" said Naruto.

Team 8 then moved back towards a tree.

"So, what will we be doing sensei?" asked Choji.

"Genjutsu release techniques mostly, and water walking...that's why Asuma helped me out" said Kurenai.

And with some grumbling from Shikamaru they began their training.

"Hey guys, do any of you know the body flicker?" asked Asuma walking towards team 8.

The smoke coming from his mouth forced all of them to cough...even Shino.

"Are you alright? Did you push yourself too much?" asked Asuma.

"It's your fault, off with the cigarette" said Naruto.

"Oh sorry, so do you know the shunshin?" asked Asuma.

"I do...pervy sage taught me" said Naruto.

"How about the others?" asked Asuma.

Hinata shook her head.

"No sensei" said Shino.

"You guys have the chakra control for it...how about I teach you guys?" asked Asuma.

Yamanaka compound secret room:

"And how many times more will you check my memories Inoichi-sama, I can guarantee that I'm not under a Genjutsu" said Ko.

"He is right Shikaku, we are seeing his memory for about some hours repeatedly and still we haven't caught a sight of Danzo and Kizashi meeting" said Choza.

"And besides my jutsu can break through any Genjutsu and show us the truth" said Inoichi.

"Hmm...no Ko, you are definitely in a Genjutsu" said Shikaku.

"Don't underestimate the power of the byakugan sir, there is no Genjutsu that can't be detected by a main branch hyuga" said Ko scoffing.

"Troublesome...just once more Inoichi, I will explain you my viewpoint" said Shikaku.

Inoichi nodded and placed his hand on Ko's head who sighed.

"Mind body transmission jutsu" said Inoichi and transferred Ko's thoughts to the other members of his old group.

"Stop here" said Shikaku closing his eyes.

'What is it Shikaku?'

'Look at the eyesight provided by Ko's byakugan'

'The roads, the streets blazing red, the men and women in the red light areas and Danzo...that's all'

'Towards the furthest area at northwest pub, can you see the woman who is entering the store?'

'Who is she sir?'

'That's Hakui, a medic nin'

'...Is she relevant?'

'Just remember her'

And then Ko continued tailing Danzo, before returning to the Hokage tower. And then Shikaku told them to stop.

'Now what sir'

'Troublesome...I know you have to prepare for the big mission tomorrow but just bear with the old guys for a while'

'So what is it Shikaku?'

'Look at the northwest area now'

'Ah...she is there'

'It's been roughly 45 minutes from the time we saw her at northwest pub'

'So...how is it weird, she might've been sitting there for a long time? How is that wrong'

'But that's the problem...I asked her where she was roughly around that time, she had already gone home'

'But how is that possible? Maybe she was mistaken.'

'It's just not her, look at all the figures after your vision of 10 km'

'Ko...your vision is 50 km, so why are the figures that are not inside 10 km in your range not moving from their incident position?'

'I-I don't understand, how is that possible?'

'It's not possible, what we are seeing is the Genjutsu world you are trapped in'

Inoichi then closed the connection. He was sweating due to the exhaustion of doing this repeatedly.

"That's impossible, my clan's jutsu break through any mental blocks, including Genjutsu" said Inoichi.

"That's what I'm saying, Danzo has a Genjutsu to fool the byakugan and even your clan rather well" said Shikaku.

"Rather well?" said Choza.

"Think about it, till 10 km of Ko's vision everything was proceeding normally, even he could tail Danzo properly, shit happened after that...but who will try to see so far, what we are seeing is his memories, not a test of his byakugan. Nobody has the time or resources to check for each and every person in range and even if one did, the timing of the others in his vision will match up to freaking 10 km. No way will Ko even try to see beyond that without any reason, but that's why I thought about checking my theory" said Shikaku.

"A Genjutsu of that level exists" said Choza amazed.

"So...wait sir, I'm in a Genjutsu" said Ko confused.

"Apparently, but it doesn't look like your day to day activities are affected, and more importantly, if we take you out of the program temporarily Danzo will get suspicious" said Shikaku.

"Yes, no spy will approach you around here because they will be detected by my sensory technique" said Inoichi.

"First Orochimaru pulls his strings to manipulate the village council to sabotage Naruto, and then Danzo pulls his strings to save him in an extremely dangerous way, a way unfitting him making the Hokage suspicious. And land of iron and Akatsuki are even rising to the challenge. This is so troublesome" said Shikaku groaning.

"And that boy is in the centre of attention for the most part...except for the land of iron part where Suiku is still being hunted down" said Choza.

"Troublesome...don't remind of him" said Shikaku.

"Why are you so worried sir, the third can deal with this" said Ko.

"You haven't experienced war yet kid, this premonition...we old guys can say for sure that war might be on the horizon...and Konoha will be the centre of it if things remain this way" said Inoichi.

Outside the Yamanaka compound secret room:

"Interesting desu" said a light voice.

Two yamanaka passed by the voice without noticing it even when they were right in front of it.

"This is an interesting development, I can use this desu" said the voice.

Academy principal's room:

A tan skinned man with white spectacles and wavy whitish-green hair and a small goatee was sitting in his chair. His hair reached the back of his shoulder and he had whitish-brown eyes.

He reached for his cigarette and pulled out his lighter.

"Yo, Kabuto" said the man.

A figure wearing a white ANBU mask entered his room through the opened window.

"Did you come to dispose of me?" asked the man.

"Heh, and yet you are not even preparing to defend yourself" said Kabuto as he entered the room.

The man lit his cigarette and put it in his mouth.

"Well, the moment I allied myself along with your master I had already prepared myself for death" said the man.

"You still don't understand how much your failure has cost us...Satoshi-san" said Kabuto.

"What mistake are you talking about?" asked Satoshi.

"Oh please don't joke around...your oversight has cost us so much" said Kabuto scoffing.

"Let me get this straight, my mission here was to make sure that you get admitted to the academy and be hidden from Danzo" said Satoshi.

"Yes but, you were also told to see that experiment failure Mizuki doesn't cause too much problem" said Kabuto.

"Oh please, you expected that idiot to die beforehand, if he actually succeeded in stealing that scroll he would've been killed by you all...he stole the ingredients for the curse mark from the Nara facilities, even if he didn't do anything he would've been caught by them soon. So you ordered me to give him a mission that was to steal the scroll for Orochimaru-sama" said Satoshi.

"Yes and we found the perfect way to do that, Naruto-kun was already hated by the village council. All we had to do was give them some kind of support. However, Danzo intervened and foiled the plan, he double crossed them before we could properly begin our move" said Kabuto.

"I still don't get why he didn't inform the hokage about me being a spy if he knew about my my false alligations beforehand, it's as if he didn't want Orochimaru to get caught" said Satoshi.

"Who knows, he probably used this oppurtunity to give the nine tails a chance to become what he was meant to be for the village, although now he has been cornered" said Kabuto.

"I also knew that both Danzo and Orochimaru-sama is using the jinchuuriki as a decoy for something else...and that my death by root will finally allow the sandaime to take direct action against Danzo...after all I not only know about Orochimaru but also about Danzo's plots, there is no way that man will standby and let himself be captured" said Satoshi.

Kabuto laughed.

"I see now why Orochimaru-sama held you in such high regard" said Kabuto.

"I'm not like your usual trash, boy. I did my research, though Danzo dug his own grave. Sandaime had been looking for opportunities to end root unofficially after the uchiha massacre and Danzo gave him just that" said Satoshi breathing in his smoke.

"But you still have to die, we have to give the Hokage an illusion of Konoha being safe, thanks to Danzo the Hokage unintentionally found out your origins, even if Danzo falls and our primary objective have been achieved the fact that Orochimaru-sama is under the village's radar can't be changed, also we need to take out the bodies" said Kabuto.

"I know...Danzo's and Orochimaru's animal curse mark normally contain mental blocks that even Yamanaka clan can't break, but now that Jiraiya was here to finally break them the information might leak. That's why we have to take out Mizuki's body before Ibiki breaks the seal tomorrow. He knows about you after all" said Satoshi finishing his cigarette.

"You figure out things quickly" said Kabuto.

"But...what will we gain from this? This is the worst case scenario isn't it, even if that bastard falls this plan has been nothing but failure thanks to root's interference" asked Satoshi.

"Although this is not how master wanted it to be, Sandaime thinks that even Orochimaru-sama wants the jinchuuriki when our objective is different" said Kabuto.

Satoshi's eyes widened.

"So that's what going on here, you guys will destroy the leaf village as you take the uchiha's eyes" said Satoshi.

"...How do you know that much?" said Kabuto.

"I said I did my research...I want to know what I will be sacrificed for" said Satoshi.

"You are not afraid at all, are you?" asked Kabuto.

Satoshi laughed.

"I'm a shinobi kid, we die during missions, even if it's suicidal our job is to follow orders...and besides if it means I can end Danzo I have no qualms sacrificing everything...don't you wish the same, I know all about you Kabuto yakushi" said Satoshi.

"It's been a pleasure, Satoshi Ijikiri, former twelve guardian ninja" said Kabuto.

With Danzo:

"Well done Sai, so tomorrow leaf will apprehend Satoshi Ijikiri for information" said Danzo reading the report.

"I got this by spying from snake mistress Anko and Kakashi of the sharingan...though I believe they might've noticed my ink creatures" said Sai with a fake smile.

"You are dismissed" said Danzo.

Sai bowed and disappeared in the darkness.

"Fuu, Torune, Ayame, I will send you for tomorrow's mission. You know what to do, don't you?" asked Danzo.

"Yes sir"

In a sewer plant of Konoha:

"What's your code?" asked a muffled voice...from a white rat in a sewer.

A white rat and a girl with glasses were standing inside a sewer plant.

"234 code Kiri desu" said a glasses wearing woman.

"That doesn't sound cute at all" said the voice from the rat.

"Whoa Tenka, I practiced so much desu" said the woman.

A sigh from the rat was heard.

"What did you get?" asked the rat also known as Tenka.

"I got some interesting information from Ino-Shika-Cho desu, when will you guys be coming desu? I don't want your ice creatures, I want you as a whole" said the woman licking her tongue.

"Keep it in your pants...for now gather more information...don't get caught by anyone, stay alive please" said Tenka's voice from the rat.

"Are you worried about me? Then take me to a date when you get to Konoha for the chunin exams desu" said the woman.

"...Alright, but don't die" said Tenka.

The woman laughed.

"Don't be so upright Tenka, I won't die, not until we have taken out that bastard who is controlling Yagura...if Ao-san's theory is correct" said the woman.

"I'm still 16 you know, I won't die till I see our grandchild's" said the girl grinning.

"Keep it in your pants Mayuri...we will have to succeed for Mei-sama" said Tenka.

"For Mei-sama desu" said Mayuri.

---

Jutsu list:

1) Shuriken shadow clone jutsu (Shuriken kage bunshin no jutsu) -The user creates up to a thousand shadow clones from one shuriken, striking down the enemy. This is a technique that combines ninja tools with ninjutsu. Compared to normal shadow clones, clones of material objects are said to be on a far higher level. There is no need for preparations beforehand, like stocking up on shuriken, or kunai, yet since the shadow clones are real and not illusions, all the shadow blades that fly around are equally lethal. Because the clones form in just an instant, completely evading them is next to impossible. This technique can also be used on Fuma shuriken, increasing its lethality.

Ninjutsu, Shurikenjutsu, A-rank, Offensive, Short to mid range.

Hand seals needed- Ox- Dog- Dragon- Rat- Dog- Boar- Snake- Tiger.

2) Ninja art: Shadow clone uppercut (Ninpo: kage bunshin appakatto) – The user creates a shadow clone quickly and joins his hands to make a base for the clone to stand, then pushes it upward to give the clone the necessary spring and lower body strength for a full power uppercut, if used in close range and quick enough, it will catch many off guard giving an opening.

Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, B-rank, Offensive, Short range.

Hand seals needed- Clone seal (where index finger and middle finger of both hands are crossed).

3) Ninja art: clone chain body suplex (Ninpo: bunshin kusari karda no Supurekkusu) - The user needs about 8 to 15 clones. One of the clone will grab the enemy and lift him in the air, the other clones will grab the clone and lift him up. This will be followed by the other clones, in the end the user will grab the clone chain being the last one in the sequence and lift the massive cluster of clones with tremendous strength with the enemy being on the top. Then using his own body as an axis will slam the chain on the ground hard, the enemy will be slammed from the height and will die.

Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, A-rank, Offensive, Short range.

Hand seals needed- Clone seal (where index finger and middle finger of both hands are crossed).

4) Fuinjutsu: the gate of greed (Fuinjutsu: yokubo no mon) –Using this technique, one can give rise to giant square shaped barrier black in colour to surround the opponent, no matter what ninjutsu one fire from inside that will be repelled back depending on the power. It can repel up to B-ranked attacks only, but has two major weaknesses: It can't stop Genjutsu and the ground is unprotected by the barrier so if one has techniques to phase inside the ground, they can escape by phasing and blasting jutsus to create a way or use earth style jutsu to escape. This is a jutsu created by Jiraiya.

Fuinjutsu, B-rank, Defensive, Supplementary, Short range.

Hand seals needed- Boar- Hare- Ox- Dog- Horse- Boar- Monkey.

5) Sonar pulse jutsu (Sona myakuhaku no jutsu) - Using this technique the user releases a pulse of chakra from both of the hands and uses it as sonar. The range depends on the mastery of the user. It is quite wasteful technique because pure chakra needed to be released to use this technique. But for those who have enough chakra reserve, it is not a problem.

Ninjutsu, Sensory Techniques, C-rank, Supplementary, short range.

Hand seals needed- Ram.

6) Insect observation jutsu (Mushi kansatsu no jutsu) - Using this technique an Aburame can see what the bug can see, but the user have to continuously use chakra for the technique to be active. This is useful for reconnaissance mission.

Ninjutsu, B-rank, Supplementary, All ranges.

Hand seals needed- Ox- Boar- Ram- Hare- Horse.

7) Mimetic Insects: Crawl (Gitai konchu: Kuroru) - Shino calls forth kikaichu from all around him to engulf the opponent in a small barrier that implodes in on them.

Ninjutsu, D-rank, Offensive, Defensive, All ranges.

Hand seals- Hare.

8) Wind style: rippling blast (Futon: namiutsu bakufu) – The user calls forth wind around him and makes a pushing motion with his hands, the wind blasts over omni-direction soundlessly and sends anything near the user flying back with great force.

Ninjutsu, Wind release, C-rank, Supplementary, Short to mid range.

Hand seals- Wind release special seal- Boar- Ram- Horse.

9) Mind body transmission jutsu (Shindenshin no Jutsu) - The Mind Body Transmission Technique is a hijutsu utilised by members of the Yamanaka clan to telepathically communicate with people.

Using this technique, the Yamanaka may also act as a medium for persons to communicate with one another telepathically; this is done through establishing physical contact with the person. The user can communicate with multiple people at once and the targets can also communicate with one another while the technique is in effect.

This technique is not limited to just transmitting thoughts, and images such as memories or even strong feelings can be conveyed through this method. The more people that are connected through this technique however, the more a physical strain is put on the user, forcing them to keep the connection going for shorter periods to otherwise avoid sustaining injuries. When Inoichi overexerted himself keeping up a connection with the entire Allied Shinobi Forces for more than ten seconds, it caused him to suffer a nosebleed.

Hiden, Ninjutsu, A-rank, Supplementary, All ranges.

Hand seals- Ram.

---

I hope you liked the chapter. I know I'm late but I had my class 12th exams and my maths, chemistry and physics sucked. Hopefully with Physical Ed, English and computer I will pull through with 70%. In worst case I will have to give compartment. As long as I pass with above 60% I will be alright because I will be scoring well in my admission test and will crack Environmental science or Social science colleges. Author's rant...you can skip it.

Only one chapter left for this arc to end, next will be first mission arc, look forward to it as some S-rank battles might take place.

Ja ne.