The True Source of an Education is the Willingness to Learn
"Alright, the Aburame'll be the only one from Team 7 that'll be getting special lessons from me. I've already spoken with Shiranui, and he has no issue offering you other two more lessons in T&I stuff if you're willing to put up with him." Kakashi-sensei informed them the Monday after the Chunin Exams had hit its hiatus, even though he didn't look at any of them because he was preoccupied with his own book.
Sakura looked over at Chouji, silently asking him if he was okay with such an arrangement. She liked Shiranui and, even though he could be over bearing and treated them too much like kids at times, his heart was still in the right place. When he taught them, they learned. And a future in the Information Gathering Division of Konoha certainly didn't sound so bad... Unless Ino would be there too. If she was gonna be there, Sakura wanted nothing to do with it.
Thinking about the Yamanaka was not very pleasant... So the civilian did her best to completely ignore the incessant scratching in the back of her head that tried to get her to think about everything that had happened because of their plan during the Second Phase of the Exam.
They had done what they needed to do to pass the Exams. That was all there was to it. No matter what Ino said, the fact of the matter was that she was just jealous Team 7 and Team 8 had managed to finish before her own disaster of a team.
She had just been exaggerating when she had said that they almost died. She had always been quite a dramatic individual, after all, and she didn't understand just where the line of going too far was drawn. Team 10 had just needed to fight two different teams to succeed, instead of just two. There was nothing more to it.
"Before that, though, I'd like a full report of everything that went on during the Exams."
The three of them exchanged looks at this, but soon shrugged and returned to looking at their teacher. He soon put his book down and looked them all over with his one eye, sighed, and motioned for them to follow him. "Let's go get some food. These stupid reports always take too long."
Sakura smiled and followed after her teacher, more than sure that he would be impressed with what he would be told about what had happened. He had been the one to order them to tail Genma Shiranui, after all. And, sure, Shino's father had put a stop to that mission, but that didn't mean that their choice to steal from Team 10 during the Chunin Exams was a bad one. They had just adapted to the situation and come out victorious.
Where was the harm in that?
She was the only member of Team 8 that had not passed through to the Final Round.
She had been prepared to be ridiculed and humiliated by those around her for having been too weak to defeat her cousin. She was prepared to finally be thrown from the clan for having lost to a member of the branch house. And she was prepared to hear from her teammates that they had been wrong to ever have believed in her skills- she wasn't good enough and she would never be.
None of that came.
Her father, in curt words, congratulated her on getting so far; she would undoubtedly be promoted to chunin, if not this year, then during the subsequent Exams she would take part in. He had then eaten breakfast with her and Hanabi, without anyone else around them.
This had been the first time in years that they had not been surrounded by other Clan members during their meal... Hinata had really enjoyed it, even though it was mostly silent and kind of awkward around the three of them.
Because of the injuries she had sustained at her cousin's hands, she would not be able to take part in rigorous activity for a while. But that did not stop her from going to the Team meeting Kurenai had called for the Monday after they had been informed as to who would be passing onto the Final Round of the Exams.
They would be announcing the match-ups that would be set to fight in a week. Until then, the genin that had passed were supposed to recover and begin to prepare themselves for any kind of fight.
When she limped into the training grounds Kurenai-sensei had told them to meet, it was to find that Sasuke and Shikamaru were aleady there with their teacher. When Kurenai smiled over in her direction, both boys turned around and looked at her in confusion.
"What're you doing here?" Sasuke asked, almost sounding alarmed, "You're supposed to be recovering." This he said with an edge of scolding.
There was reproach in his words. But there was also worry. And Hinata couldn't stop herself from smiling- they had come a long way since Team 8 had first been formed, hadn't they? Sasuke was a true friend now, even though he wasn't the kind to admit it out loud. But it he wasn't a friend, he wouldn't waste his time in talking with her.
They had never said it out loud, but there was no need for it- Team 8 was finally on the same page.
"I-I didn't want to miss this." She offered softly, limping up to them so she could sit down beside Shikamaru.
"I agree with Sasuke- Hinata, you should be at home, recovering. Not walking around the Village." the Nara frowned at her with disapproval and Hinata had to stop herself from giggling.
She was fine. In a bit of pain, but it wasn't an excruciating type that left her grasping for any kind of relief.
"If it hurts too much, I'll l-leave." She offered, making both of her teammates nod.
When they turned back to Kurenai-sensei, it was to see her smiling. It wasn't just any kind of smile- it was a wide smile that made the corners of her eyes crinkle up and showed them most of her teeth.
"What's wrong with you?" Sasuke grouched, only for her to shake her head slowly.
"Nothing at all. Now that you're all here, why don't you tell me how the Exams went for you?"
She was in pain.
But that pain was nothing compared to her need to improve.
"Dad! I want you to teach us how to sense everything!"
Her father had been reading the morning paper with a cup of scalding tea in his hand. When Team 10 burst in, it was with the slamming of the front door. And Ino was a witness to her father spilling hot tea all over his front because of how caught off guard he had been with their sudden entry.
"Ino Yamanaka!" He yelled with pain clear in his voice.
She at least had the decency to wince and run over to his side to fetch him paper towels to help sop up what had been spilled.
After minutes of scrambling to help her father, cleaning up the mess, and countless apologies, Team 10 was herded into the living room while Inoichi went to change his clothes.
They waited in silence for him to come back.
The silence was only broken when there was a knock on the front door they had burst in through. Ino went to open it, already very aware of who it was that would be waiting on the outside. Without even making sure it was him, she unlocked the door and returned to the couch, all the while calling out "Door's open, Asuma-sensei."
It took a couple of seconds, but soon enough the door opened and Asuma-sensei stepped inside.
He looked much older than the last time they had spoken.
"What's wrong?"
The man sighed softly, crossed his arms over his chest, and said, "I spoke with Kakashi about what happened with his Team during the Second Phase of the Exams."
This caught all of his team's attention. Even Akamaru perked up, even though he had been happily sleeping on Kiba's lap.
"And?" Ino prompted, eager to hear what had happened during the confrontation.
He didn't answer for a couple of seconds. Instead, Asuma-sensei remained quiet in thought and allowed time to tick by without saying anything. Eventually, though, he murmured, "He'll talk with the team. He didn't promise anything; but he didn't seem too happy to hear about what happened."
That meant nothing and they all knew it. Team 7 would continue on their high horse and no one was ever going to knock sense into them because they refused to listen to anyone other than themselves.
Whatever, Ino decided. They had shown their true colors and Konoha now knew which genin could be trusted and which couldn't. Team 10 had done everything they could under the circumstances without turning on their own allies. In the end, their hands were clean. Team 7's own were not.
They were kept in silence once again until her father came back down, in a fresh set of clothes, and asked them just why they had burst into his home so suddenly. Asuma-sensei then scolded them for not having any decency, but soon explained to her father that they wanted to enhance their sensing abilities cumulatively.
"I can do that. Will you stay for the lessons as well, Asuma-sensei?"
"Yeah. This old dog can still learn some new tricks."
Ino smiled sadly at this, then chanced a look at her uncharacteristically quiet teammates. They had both been hit hard by the Exams and by that creepy snake guy. It was a shame that they still weren't back to their old tricks... But at least they had agreed that they needed to enhance all of their abilities to never allow anyone to sneak up on them again.
… She couldn't believe she was thinking this... But she actually kind of missed Naruto and Kiba being loud and obnoxious.
While they had ordered their food, Team 10's teacher had called on their own teacher and asked for a bit of his time. This had made the man groan dramatically and curse Asuma's name. But he soon stood up, told the team to stay put, and walked out of the BBQ place they had chosen to eat in.
Chouji munched on a delicious piece of rib while all of this happened.
"Figures."
"What'd you mean, Shino?" He asked curiously, peering over at his teammate.
The Aburame was not a fan of Team 10. Hadn't been for a while, honestly. But it had really become apparent after Sakura and Ino's fight.
"Team 10 cannot stand the way we were able to trick them during the Second Phase of the Exams. They are petty and childish, so they decided to whine at their teacher in the hopes to get him to tell our own instructor. Asuma Sarutobi is here in a show of true lack of professionalism to speak to our teacher and try to undermine our success."
Damn, Chouji thought. Shino really knew which people he liked and which weren't even worthy of a single kind thought towards them.
"Tch." Sakura huffed, "Ino never could stand being second best. She always wanted to be number one."
Chouji could attest to that. His old friend had never been particularly fond of losing in any kind of way. If she wasn't winning, then she wasn't doing everything right. And she hated messing up.
He wasn't going to lie, he kind of understood why Team 10 was so hurt. But he couldn't let that stop him. The Chunin Exams were known for the brutal reality that surrounded them. Kids died all the time- getting betrayed by childhood friends surely wasn't the worst thing that could have happened to someone.
"Well, I'm sure Kakashi-sensei will deal with him easy enough." The Akimichi muttered, earning a chorus of agreements from his friends before he returned to his meal.
Kakashi-sensei took quite some time getting back to them. Actually, by the time he reached the table, they had mostly finished their meals and were only waiting for him to get back so they could see if they would be able to order dessert.
The silver haired man sat down with a small sigh, closed his eyes, and didn't say anything.
All three members of Team 7 looked at each other curiously, each one wondering just what their teacher was doing and if he would say anything. Right when Sakura opened her mouth to speak up, his visible eye opened and he addressed them.
"Well, I think it's about time you gave me a full report about the Chunin Exams. No time like the present, yes?"
There was something off about Kakashi-sensei's voice. There was a tightness in his words that hadn't been there before- as if he was straining to speak.
But... That didn't make any sense...
What had Asuma-sensei told their teacher to have him sounding so weird?
Kurenai-sensei decided on a training schedule that would help Sasuke and Shikamaru prepare themselves for the Final Round of the Chunin Exams. For the time being, Hinata would only be reading specific works on taijutsu theories and medical ninjutsu rather than actually training, due to rather obvious reasons.
Sasuke was relieved to see that Hinata wasn't too injured after the fight with that bastard of a cousin. But he was also eager to find out who his first enemy in the Finals would be because he wanted nothing more than to break that asshole's face. He had a perfectly good family, no matter how messed up, and he deemed them unworthy of his respect? He dared forsake family because of pride?
Neji Hyuga was disgusting. Sasuke Uchiha wanted to be the one to teach him just how wrong it was to think in such a manner.
Family was precious. No matter how messed up they could be. He would give anything to have his family back, even though his father wasn't the best parent in the world. He would be willing to lose everything if it meant he would be able to see his mother's smiling face outside of a photograph one last time. He would give his life to get his family back.
Those that turned their backs on family were worse than monsters. They were the most disgusting human beings out there, worse even than those that turned against their teammates.
"Maybe I should forfeit right now? That would save me from having to wake up so early..." He heard Shikamaru mumbled half-heartedly.
If he had heard such a thing from the Nara before, Sasuke would have been annoyed and his disdain for the Nara would have grown. But right now, for some reason, he just found the exasperated sigh somewhat comforting.
Shikamaru was still the same.
Hinata would eventually go back to being the same after she had healed.
Team 8 would be able to continue going on missions and Sasuke won't have to separate from the only people he actually considered friends.
… Deep in the back of his head, he knew that this perfect ending would never come about.
One of them would undoubtedly end up being promoted. And once that happened, the Team would have to be disbanded- there was no other foreseeable ending. Unless a new ninja was added to fill the vacant spot, but that would just be horrible...
He didn't want to think about this.
"We should go eat." He grunted, making Hinata immediately hum in agreement.
"Th-there's a new bakery close to my h-house... I heard an A-Akimichi runs it."
Sasuke nodded and looked over at Shikamaru, silently telling him that they would be going there. The Nara looked back at him without an ounce of disagreement- he just nodded and stuck his hands in his pockets.
"Alright. I will be seeing you all tomorrow bright and early." Kurenai-sensei called after them as they walked off, leaving Sasuke to shake his head softly at her enthusiasm.
He hated to admit it, but the woman knew what she was doing with them. They were a successful team unit now.
He just didn't want them to be separated.
"Your weakness doesn't have to end your usefulness, puppy. Accept me, accept my mark, and you will never be less than your teammates ever again. You will never be less than the Nine Tails."
The snake bastard's words kept swirling around his mind, even though he wanted nothing to do with them.
Pain, throbbing and sharp, emanated from his neck at all times. When he was around others, he could distract himself and it would numb a little. But when he was alone, it grew unbearable and Kiba had thought of grabbing a kunai to end it all on more than one occasion.
He wouldn't ever do such a thing... But the thought had struck him more than a dozen times in the past week.
He wasn't weak. He knew he wasn't. But he wasn't smart like Ino. And he didn't have a chakra monster living inside of him like Naruto. He just had a limited set of Clan jutsu that only actually worked in a small amount of scenarios.
The snake bastard was right. He was weak.
Wait, no... He wasn't!
"Hey, Inuzuka, you feeling alright?"
Kiba forced himself to shake his head in a futile attempt to get rid of his traitorous thoughts. He then looked up to find Asuma-sensei looking down at him with narrowed eyes, a small twinge of worry coming from his pores.
"Yeah... Just feel a bit sick; like a cold or something." He lied, cleared his throat, and looked over at his teammates.
Both blondes were working together to try and sense the 'special' scroll Inoichi had left in his garden for them to sense without knowing what they were looking for. It was an exercise in being able to pinpoint what was wrong with an area- what was different.
Kiba had smelled it before he had even explained what they would be doing, but had not told the man. Instead he had tried to sense it in the same way his teammates were trying- through touch rather than smell- but had found it in a couple of minutes of prodding with his senses. He considered it to be a loss, though, because he had known what he was looking for and where he would have found it.
He could have tried to continue reaching out with his senses, seeing just how far he could go without his smell, but gave up on it when he noticed that his sense of smell reached farther. Inuzuka just weren't made to be sensors like other ninja were.
It was as he had tried to not bother anyone and not let them know that he had finished with the exercise that he had found himself falling into the rabbit hole that were his thoughts... Yet again.
"You have been looking pretty feverishly lately..." The man murmured softly, then raised his hand to try and place it on his neck.
Right where Orochimaru had bitten him.
Kiba flinched away immediately, raised his hand to the spot, and forced a chuckle, "Guess I haven't been taking good care of myself..."
As soon as Asuma's scent was filled with worry, Kiba knew he had messed up.
"Would you like to accompany me to go and get some food, Kiba? We can leave these two to continue training."
Kiba knew that this wasn't a request. It was an order.
"O-okay."
Shit.
What was he supposed to tell the man?
The truth?
No... He couldn't... He couldn't let him know just how much of a coward he had been...
Asuma stood up from the cushion he had been seated on and Kiba knew that he had no choice in the matter.
They told Kakashi-sensei everything. There was no need to lie to him, after all. They had done everything they thought they had to in order to survive and come out victorious. They had done nothing wrong.
"Like with Genma Shiranui." Sakura offered when they had explained their plan to send Chouji to Team 10 so he could see if they had the scroll they needed. "We infiltrated, acquired trust, and quickly finished our objective." She beamed and Shino found that she had nicely summarized everything he considered worth mentioning.
Kakashi-sensei's expression was mostly unreadable throughout their report. This annoyed Shino, but it did not surprise him. Their teacher was known for his relaxed state, but he was also known for an impressive poker face few could decipher.
One day he would be able to read the man even when he put up a look of pure stone. But today he would not be able to.
"I taught you how to turn on your allies, huh?"
The Aburame's eyebrows furrowed as soon as he heard the odd question.
Once they had finished reporting everything to their teacher, silence had reigned over them for a couple of seconds. Shino had not considered this to be odd, seeing how Kakashi-sensei had always shown a predisposition towards unnecessary theatrics. But, after he had spoken up, he did not sound like his usual self. He sounded... Pained.
"Well, yeah." Sakura mumbled, "We were supposed to have turned on Shiranui, per your instructions. We didn't because Shino's dad assigned us another mission. Remember?"
Kakashi-sensei huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, allowing his head to lower a bit. He closed his eye and remained silent, letting Team 7 glanced at one another in confusion.
Just what was going on?
"They'll be announcing you opponent next week, Shino. You're all on vacation until the announcement."
"Wait, but, Kakashi-sensei-" Sakura tried to ask the man just what was wrong, but he was gone before she had finished speaking.
Team 7 was left alone in the BBQ place they had come to recognize as their favorite eatery in Konoha. Kakashi-sensei didn't excuse himself or even offer a proper farewell. He just vanished in a flurry of leaves and wind.
The three genin blinked in stunned silence, then Chouji murmured, "Guys... I'm starting to think we did something wrong."
Indeed, that was most probably what had happened. But just what it was that they had done wrong, Shino did not know.
If anyone had told him that he would enjoy spending time with Sasuke and Hinata a couple of months ago, Shikamaru would have told them that he didn't really want to deal with either of them.
If anyone had told him that he would be looking through legal documents to try and find a way to help Sasuke move out of the dead and dilapidated Uchiha Compound for at least a couple of years without him losing the lands, Shikamaru would have thought the person talking to him was insane.
And if anyone had told him he would, simultaneously, be helping his father prepare for a dinner with Hiashi Hyuga that determined the future relationship between both clans, Shikamaru would have thought the person telling him all of these insane things had broken out of a mental hospital.
But there he was, reminding his father about proper Hyuga etiquette while his mother prepared the man's finest robes to not seem uncaring when he entered the Hyuga's domain. And, in his room, there were stacks of property laws and ownership contracts that were much older than himself, waiting to be scoured through so he could find a way to help Sasuke out.
They hadn't found anything yet, but he was sure they would. Old laws were filled with vulnerabilities- finding them was the tricky part.
"You were never interested in politics before, Shikamaru…" His father lamented, making Shikamaru glare at him when he had to stop reading for the fifth time in the evening.
"I wasn't. Now I am. You should be proud."
"I am." His mother appeared from her closet with a fine set of clothes in her hands, turning a broad smile onto her husband. "You should be proud of our son, Shikaku. He's going to make a fine politician one day."
That wasn't what he wanted to be. He wanted to be a ninja and cloud watch all day long with an okay looking wife and moderately behaved kids. He didn't want anything more; nor anything less.
But the Hyuga Clan were much too tightly wound to accept him as Hinata's teammate at the moment. If the Nara were able to ease tensions, though, then Team 8 wouldn't be a point of discontent in the Clan anymore.
And Sasuke had been handed horrible cards by the Village and it seemed as if no one actually cared about him. So, if no adult did, Shikamaru would make damn sure that at least he tried something.
He had managed to spend a peaceful and quiet day with his teammates. They had finished eating in relative silence and had decided to go to the top of the Hokage Monument together to just cloud watch. So Shikamaru had found himself laying down beside Hinata, who was a bit too winded for his liking, and Sasuke, who had grouched about useless activities but still stayed with them throughout the afternoon.
Today had been a day in which Shikamaru had been reminded as to why he cared about his teammates.
Tonight would be the night his father would show that Nara were worthy of being a Hyuga's teammate.
He wouldn't let his lazy father ruin such an important moment.
"Dad, listen. You can't bow too low, but it can't be too high either."
His father groaned and Shikamaru had to stop himself from growling at him to stop being such a child.
His mother merely chuckled at them both, telling Shikamaru that she was happy he was able to feel her pain for once in his life.
It took him an hour, but he was eventually able to pass Inoichi's exercise. Ino had managed to finish it about ten minutes before him, but he didn't feel discouraged by it. It had taken her a while too, and she was much better at concentrating than he was.
"Now that you two have finished up with this, I thought we could maybe take a break while Asuma-sensei and Kiba come back with food. And, if you don't mind, we can take this break for you two to learn something new."
Naruto kind of wanted to tell Inoichi that he was too tired to learn something new... But after a second to catch his breath, the blonde decided that this would be something stupid to say. Inoichi Yamanaka had proven to be one of the few adults in his life that genuinely wanted to help him without any selfish reasons behind said help. If he thought they should learn something new, he most probably thought it would be really useful.
"We of the Yamanaka Clan aren't really known for our prowess with fūinjutsu. All ninja have some basic knowledge of such a skill because it is a very useful tool to have on hand at all times. Most use it to carry around items in scrolls that are much too heavy to lug around regularly. But some are able to use them for offensive and defensive purposes and incorporate this into their fighting style."
As the man told them this, he walked over to the work station he had in the front of the garden, where there were tools and scrolls scattered all around. He picked up two in particular and walked back to them, offering one to each blonde.
"If Kiba were here, he would also be practicing this particular skill. Kids, today you'll be learning how to unseal something that has been sealed away in a scroll. And your next lesson shall be to seal it back once again."
Naruto blinked down at the simple looking scroll in his hands for a moment, at a loss for words.
Like other genin, he knew what fūinjutsu was. But he hadn't paid it much attention, like genjutsu. It was one of those branches of ninja life that had never intrigued him, so he had never paid it much mind. But Inoichi seemed dead set to teach them about this...
"What's in here, dad?" Ino questioned, immediately receiving a broad smile from her father.
"You'll have to open it to see."
Naruto looked at him in complete confusion and the man's eyes softened.
There was a sudden twist in his gut Naruto had not expected. And his eyes widened slightly in surprise at it.
Why... Why had he felt like that when Inoichi had looked at him?
Could- did he dare? Could this be what it felt like to have a parent?
"No need to look at me like that, sweetheart. I'll teach you how you're supposed to seal and unseal properly. So don't worry so much, princess. You know I like giving complicated explanations for your exercises."
Ino huffed and grouched about it.
Naruto had no idea how to feel about the whole situation.
"Shiranui!"
Kakashi burst into the man's home like a dog infested with rabies. He didn't care about propriety. He cared about fixing his huge screw up as soon as possible. And the only person he knew that could help him out without totally condemning him as a complete lost cause was Genma Shiranui.
The man had been cooking and almost burned himself when he accidentally bumped into his hot wok when Kakashi burst in.
"Kakashi! What the he-"
Kakashi didn't stop. He ran to Genma and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and looked him straight in the eye.
"I have committed the greatest sin any teacher could ever commit in their whole career. I need your help to fix this screw up or I have damned three genin to hell!"
He dropped to his knees and clasped his hands in front of him, "Please, Genma, teach me and make me into the teacher my kids deserve."
Asuma knew there was something off with Kiba. Even more so than with Naruto. So he sternly yet patiently prodded at the kid to find out just what it was that was eating away at him.
He had managed to pry a name out of the kid after much hassling.
As soon as he heard it, Asuma knew that the situation in the Forest of Death had been much more dangerous than he had thought. And he wanted to kick himself for not having connected the dots earlier- how many other snake ninja with a hate for Konoha existed out there? Not that many and he had been a fool for not assuming Orochimaru's interference sooner.
He didn't alert Kiba to any true danger yet, though. He instead got the food he had said they would be fetching and returned to the Yamanaka household with Kiba in tow. Once the kids were eating, he had pulled Inoichi to the side and asked him to keep the kids inside his home for the time being- he would have to speak with the Hokage about the situation before they allowed it to go on much longer.
Orochimaru had been in the Chunin Exams, looking for Sasuke. That was bad, but not horrible. The Snake Sannin had not found Sasuke, though, and had instead targeted Naruto. That, though, was very bad. And, from what Kiba had said, Naruto currently had some kind of Orochimaru imposed seal on him.
He would need to deal with this as quickly as possible.
Kurenai had been preparing to go to bed when she heard a knock on her door.
The woman sighed and shook her head at late night couriers, annoyed at their interference but proud that they took their jobs so seriously.
When she opened her front door, it was safe to say that she was surprised to see Kakashi Hatake and Genma Shiranui standing before her, rather than a courier ninja with a new mission for her.
"Uh... Hello?" She murmured in confusion, "Is everything alright?"
Kakashi didn't seem okay. If anything, he looked sick to his stomach. And Genma looked as if he was prepared to murder someone.
Truly a strange night.
"Kurenai, I know it's late, but we've got a favor to ask you." Genma informed her, immediately piquing her interest.
~..~..~
I hope you all liked this chapter! Yes, Team 7 had a reason to have done what they did. That doesn't mean they were right, though. It just means they had a reason to do it.
On another note, okay, maybe now it'll be two more chapters. The problem with this story is that I really like it. But it's really hard to write for. But I really like writing for it.
Please review and tell me what you thought!