Alright everyone how is it going? I'm back! Well I never actually left but it feels like I have been gone for a while. I apologize for the lateness again for uploading a new chapter. School, school, and more school has been a killer. I wrote this chapter during the break between semesters so I have had time to write again. There's no telling when the next update is but rest assured I have begun the next few chapters already so again they should be out sometime lol.
Speaking of the story I've been following the canon and I'm going to try to keep with it until a certain point. Rest assured BIG changes are about to happen and my moniker of the Strongest Country is moving to become the theme of the story. I don't know if that made sense, but in the scheme of things the powers of the elemental countries are about to change again.
Please review the story. I know I ask that every time but I mean it. I want to know what you guys think, whether it be good or bad. Preferably good though :)
Well once more I'm tired of rambling so let's get on with it...
Chapter 10
After the genin exams the students were given a week off before they returned to meet their new senseis and teams. During the short break, Naruto and Aizen spent more time with their parents after Naruto's urge to do so. Both boys took the time out and visited Saya everyday while she took orders at the restaurant. Every time they visited the small diner however, Aizen was scolded by his mother for ogling and flirting with the other young waitresses.
After visiting Ms. Kurono, the two boys usually went by the hospital to see Rin. As opposed to acting flirty Aizen's demeanor did a big shift when they stepped into the hospital. The young boy became more serious as he observed the various patients and their ailments. To Naruto's surprise his friend even gave out instructions to the younger staff as they walked by the various rooms and some of the staff even came to young Aizen for advice. Both boys had insight into medical jutsu, but because of Naruto's large chakra reserves he had more knowledge on the matter than experience and application. Aizen however had a good balance of both. Rin was usually busy everyday that the boys stopped by, but she always reminded them of what occurred at the hospital. Her advice was that it is extremely dangerous to be a shinobi, and that they must always be on their guard. Being reminded by all the various injured shinobi at the hospital showed the boys what they were about to enter into as well.
With the weeklong recess over the boys had to go back once more for team assignments. As the two made their way into their seats at the back of the class they prepared themselves for whom they would be teaming up with. Ready for their entry into the shinobi ranks of Iwa, both boys had also decided on a wardrobe change during the break.
Naruto at 5'3'' had ash-gray hair similar to his mother. The Tsuchikage had seen to it that his hair changed the day after his arrival into Iwa. His new and fresh clothing consisted of a dark grey and brown loosely fitted long-sleeve shirt with one sleeve cut off at the elbow. Underneath the peculiar shirt was a mesh shirt that extended to both hands. On his hands he wore black fingerless gloves. His pants were dark brown and he wore brown anbu style boots. He had kunai holsters on both thighs and one lone shuriken holder on his left arm. On his right arm was his Iwa headband tied right above his elbow where his shirt was cutoff. Naruto finished the look with a brown facemask that hid his whisker marks and two pouches attached to his waist.
The 5'4'' Aizen's new look was drastically different than his friend. Aizen had read a book that talked about the Hidden Mist's ninja. He had taken a liking to it and had adopted a sizable amount of camouflage into his getup. Aizen's defense was that it would make people think twice about him being a medic and also that it simply looked cool. He wanted people to underestimate him and his abilities. The young boy wore a high turtleneck dark brown vest over top of a brown, burgundy, and black camouflage shirt. His pants were similar to his vest and like Naruto he wore brown anbu style boots. He also had kunai holsters on each leg like his friend, and on both arms hidden beneath his shirt at the wrist were senbon holders. Since the young ninja was training to be a weapon specialist, in addition to a medic, he wore a small scroll on his back, which contained more weaponry. Aizen wore his forehead protector at its proper place with the straps of the protector falling down his back.
As the two boys chatted amongst themselves the teachers came in to announce the news and congratulate the kids on their way to becoming excellent shinobi.
"Congratulations again class for becoming genin. I'm proud of all of you, and excited because every student has passed the exams this year," spoke Kenzo.
"I am proud of each off you as well," added Reika with a smile. "I look forward to hearing about how successful you guys will be."
As the two addressed the class, the students had smiles and grins on their faces.
"Each of you knows that shinobi life is difficult, and I'm not going to downplay what you are stepping into. Just remember to train hard, and remember the basics that you learned here. Some of you may think the lessons were worthless, but they may save your life one day," lectured Kenzo. "With that said, each of you are to remain here until your respective sensei's show up to pick you up. As you know genin teams are made up of three students, and with our class size some of you may be paired with already existing genin."
"How do we know which team we are on sensei?" spoke a girl near the front. "You didn't tell us what the team arrangements are."
"Your sensei will call out who is on which team, so wait for them to arrive," added Reika once again. "Also before you ask, the Tsuchikage himself selected these teams, so we personally don't know who is placed with whom," she said as she saw the question on her student's minds.
Taking a look at the clock in front of the room Kenzo made his way towards the door to leave. Reika followed him and made her way into the hall. Kenzo however stopped at the door and faced his students for one last time. A feeling of sadness washed over him. "Do you guys have anymore questions?" he asked.
Silence and a few shakes of the head were his answer.
With a shaky breathe he turned to leave. "Well it was a privilege to teach you all. Good luck and your sensei's should arrive within the next few minutes."
When Kenzo left the room the students sat in silence for a moment before slowly chatting in excitement about who would be paired with whom. Although subtle at first many students began to look towards Naruto and Aizen's way with hopes of being on their team.
Unfortunately that hope died when the first jounin, a woman, quietly stepped into the room.
"Aizen Kurono and Naruto Yamashita please follow me," she uttered with the attention of the whole class.
The classroom went silent and many of the young genin's hopes dropped. The two strongest of the class were being put on the same team. Both Naruto and Aizen were shocked as well, but quickly overcame their shock and rushed to follow their new sensei out of the class. It wasn't hard to see the happiness on display on each of the young boys faces.
Once outside of the academy, the darkhaired woman turned and faced her new students.
"Well young men as I'm sure your wondering my name is Nanao Tanamachi and I'm your new sensei. Welcome to Team 2. For simpler purposes we will also be known as Team Sigma. You have a third teammate that you will meet shortly. Our training ground is training ground B, and I would like you 2 to meet me there in 30 minutes. We will do all of the introductions then, so if you need to get any gear or other supplies feel free to go get it now. Understood?"
"Hai, sensei," chorused both boys.
It didn't take long for the two genin to make it their designated training ground. They arrived a few minutes early and began chatting amongst themselves. Both were still amazed that the Tsuchikage put them together. Naruto wondered if Roshi or his mother had a hand or say in the matter.
Training ground B was relatively large and near 500 meters wide. It sat in a valley of a rocky hillside and was littered with bushes and fungi covered boulders, some as close to 100 feet tall. The largest boulders sat in the northern part of the training ground where the hillside was the tallest. Both boys entered the training ground from its western side and were waiting near the center beside a completely circular boulder they guessed was a meeting spot.
After 3 minutes of waiting and talking. Naruto sensed that something was off. He shot Aizen a look, but his friend wasn't paying any attention.
"Man I'm telling you Naruto if there is anything that I will miss from the academy its Reika-sensei. I think we really were making a connection. Her body and those eyes," he trailed off with eyes glazed over. A smile was on his face, and something red resembling blood was starting to come out of his nose. Oblivious to his friend he continued on, "That one time that…"
"Aizen shut up!"
Jolted from his thoughts Aizen finally looked at his friend. Naruto was discretely scanning the surroundings. After catching on to his friend, Aizen closed his eyes for a moment to focus. A second later when he opened them, Naruto was staring at him waiting for the news.
With a smirk on his face Aizen spoke out. "We have company 150 meters Northeast. Someone is camped…."
Without a chance to finish his report both boys immediately sprang apart in opposite directions from one another. Less than a second later shuriken hit the area both were just standing in. Not one for standing still both boys continued moving. While in motion Aizen signaled, across the field to his partner, the location of their attacker.
Within the short time of the foiled initial attack, a small form quickly abandoned her spot hoping to surprise the more talkative boy. Angry at missing both of them, she quietly moved to stay hidden. 'Stupid pansies, well at least they dodged. They must think they are badass just coming out of the academy.'
Within moving less than 10 feet, her eyes widened as she ducked under a senbon needle that would have pierced her temple. 'What the fuck?' she thought.
Astonished at the accuracy of the small weapon and being found so quickly, young Kurotsuchi quickly scanned the direction the senbon needle came from only to see no sign of either boy. Unfortunately her moment of hesitation and distraction cost her, and after taking two more steps to continue towards her target, Naruto landed a solid kick to the side of her body that sent her flying into the clearing the two boys were talking in.
Now out in the open Kurotsuchi dusted herself off and quickly stood to her feet. She turned around and immediately scowled at the two boys. Both boys jumped into the clearing and stared at the young girl ready to attack if need be.
After a minute of glaring and silence, Kurotsuchi raised her voice. "So these are the two retards who are gonna be my new teammates? You don't look like much."
Slightly shocked at his new teammate's attitude Aizen laughed, and pulled out more senbon. "I like her already Naruto. Short hair, tight clothes, and ..." His tirade was ended by the arrival of his leader.
Not wanting the altercation to escalate, a completely hidden Nanao jumped into the clearing landing between her older pupil and her two younger ones.
"Took you long enough sensei. I thought you would never come out," spoke Kurotsuchi.
"Kuro leave the boys alone. One day you are going to start something that you can't finish. Naruto, Aizen once again welcome to Team Sigma. As I told you earlier I'm Nanao, and this here is your other teammate Kurotsuchi Kayucha. "
"I'm glad to be here Nanao sensei, but I gotta ask is she always this weird?" asked Aizen unaffected by the resulting killing intent immediately sent his way.
"All right Aiz, cut it out and stop fooling around," spoke Naruto trying to calm his friend down and ease the tension. He knew his friend was still upset by the attack that was sent there way earlier. Although no one would know based on Aizen's attitude Naruto knew his friend was itching for a fight.
'Well he is definitely the calmer of the two,' thought Nanao. 'Who would have thought he would grow into this?'
"Well now that we are all here lets introduce ourselves. Kurotsuchi since you're so eager to get things going you can start," directed Nanao.
"Tch…. whatever, this is all dumb. I like to train and hate weaklings. I hope I don't have to carry you two on this team because both me and Nanao-sensei don't have time for that." The young girl then proceeded to walk up and sit on a nearby boulder before speaking again. "Other than that listen to me. I'm the oldest and have been at this longer than both of you. You didn't learn shit at the academy and being the supposedly top rookies means nothing."
As the young girl spoke Nanao just shook her head. 'You can't do everything by force Kuro and you hardly know them.'
Continuing where Kurotsuchi left off was Naruto. "Well it is nice to meet you too Kurotsuchi," he spoke. "I would ask that you please don't label Aizen or I. We both understand that the academy rankings don't mean much in the entire scheme of things. Until you have really seen me in action, don't judge."
"Hmph," was his female teammate's response.
"Well I like to train as well and want to be one of the strongest shinobi to ever come from Iwa. I don't like rude people and I hate a certain clan that I won't elaborate on. My friends and family know that I try to stay calm and don't really get emotional. It's just how I am. I look forward to working with everyone here," added Naruto.
"Well Aizen how about yourself?" asked Nanao turning to her last student.
"Well I like my friends, training, healing people, and beautiful women." The last part was said with a huge grin. "I hate snobs, people who underestimate me, and really hate a certain clan that like Naruto I will not explain. I want to be the best medic ninja I can be and one day lead the hospital."
'Hospital? He's a medic?' thought Kurotsuchi in surprise. She had never heard of a goal like that. 'Hmmm odd, but interesting.'
"Well I think both of you have fine goals and aspirations. I have been a sensei for a while now and you both seem levelheaded and know how demanding shinobi life can be. Kuro and I have been together for 3 years, and I hope to stick with you guys or at least be a part of your life for just as long. I like to train and I also like to sing. I dislike traitors and quitters. If at first you don't succeed try and try again. If any of you have questions you can come to me at any time. I look after all my students."
After her introduction Nanao beckoned her pupils to huddle around her. "The Tsuchikage personally put you three on a team for a reason. I'm not entirely sure why, but you three have all caught his eye so work hard. He expects great things from our team and we will not let him down."
"So the old man is making us some kind of special team huh? I guess I'm not complaining. Hopefully we get better missions."
With a sigh Nanao turned to her only female team member. Both boys watched in disbelief as the girl blatantly disrespected the Earth Shadow. "Kuro for the last time show some respect. I know that he is your grandfather, but stop calling him that; at least in my presence."
'Wow she is the Tsuchikage's granddaughter,' pondered Naruto. 'Well I honestly didn't expect that. They don't look alike.'
Aizen's thoughts were similar. 'Granddaughter of the Tsuchikage?'
Kurotsuchi simply ignored her sensei's lecture of respect like usual. "Well he is old."
Nanao sighed once more before turning her attention to the boys again. "Well now that we have introduced each other, lets learn about one another's abilities. Our first day of training will be like this…
Team Sigma's first two weeks, as a team was an adventure. Just like many of the other shinobi village's genin teams often initiated there time together doing D-ranked missions. The main problem for Team Sigma was that Kurotsuchi had been a genin for close to 3 years now. She was first apprenticed to Nanao for 2 years, and then she gained her two previous teammates. She absolutely loathed the idea of doing D-ranks for a few months again. Nanao-sensei, and consequently Naruto, understood the need to build connections and teamwork, but Aizen and Kurotsuchi hated them. After displaying their skills in training every member of the team knew they were above D-rank mission assignments. But that still did not dismiss the responsibility that they had to do them.
The D-rank missions were not the only problem amongst the team. Aizen and Kurotsuchi argued and fought constantly. Kurotsuchi had never heeded Naruto's warning about judging them. She thought both boys were just weak and overrated. Even though the team had held what Nanao liked to call improvement spars, there had been no full on sparring yet. Naruto didn't mind the lack of fighting, because he didn't want to show his skills, but he still let Kurotsuchi know he was not to be trifled with and looked down upon. On the other hand Aizen wanted to show his female teammate up at every turn and as he put it "put her in her place."
After two weeks of bickering and fighting amongst themselves. Nanao came up with an idea to ease the situation. Her plan was rare, but since the Tsuchikage himself choose this team for a special purpose, she believed he would agree to it.
"Nanao what a pleasant surprise. How is your team coming along?" asked Onoki.
"Both Naruto and Aizen have surprised me. They are both strong and very guarded. I have not seen everything they can do, but what I have witnessed has been impressive," spoke the woman.
"I do expect great things from them as well as my young granddaughter. They should make for a powerful team. By my guesses they will be the strongest team we have fielded since the war. Hopefully those two boys will help little Kuro open her eyes a bit as well, but alas I'm getting off topic," he laughed. "You came her for a reason, so let's hear it."
"Hai Tsuchikage-sama. Well the team chemistry has been tense and I was honesty expecting it sir after how my last team ended. With this team's skills and talent the D-rank missions I feel have only limited their growth and maturity. Both boys have tremendous teamwork already. They don't even need to speak when truly focused and they work together flawlessly. On the other hand, with Kuro's stubbornness it has been hard to add her into the equation. I have come here to ask if you would grant my team a training trip of sorts, but I don't want the trip to be just for training. If you wouldn't mind I would like my team to perform missions while on this trip as well. As you have said this team is going to be important and I believe they can take some C and even B-ranked missions sir."
"Hmm… while rare for genin teams this is not a bad idea Nanao. How long do you estimate this trip to last?"
"I was going to leave those details to you sir, but the trip should at least last a month if possible. If a month of being together doesn't help them grow together then I'm not sure what will."
"I can agree to that, but I will make a few changes as well. As you know the chunnin exams are coming up, and coincidentally they are held in Konoha this year. I'm glad you came because I was not planning on sending them, even though I really want to. This trip will give them something to do, and should keep them occupied through the exams. For some reason I feel this particular exam is going to be trouble," spoke the Tsuchikage.
"Trouble, what do you mean?"
"I'm not sure, but it's just a feeling of unease in these frail bones of mine. I could be wrong, but regardless I'm not sending any of my ninja into that repulsive village. I will give you this training trip, but I want you to make it last 2 months. Start in the north; work your way west, then circle near the border before coming home. I will add some missions, as you have requested, that can be completed while on the trip. Give me three days to find appropriate ones, then you and your team can head out."
"Thank you Tsuchikage-sama," Nanao replied as she turned to leave.
As the Tsuchikage promised Team Sigma was heading north in 3 days time. After travelling for close to 6 hours, the team decided to stop. Nearby was a small pond and Nanao informed her team they would train here for a few days before moving again.
"Alright team lets set up camp," ordered Nanao.
As the genin moved to set up a camp worthy of shinobi standards, Kurotsuchi began to give out orders like she was the team leader.
"Hey Nurse-boy, search the perimeter and get some shrubs and brush from the bushes so we can start a fire. You have 20 minutes or is that too hard for you?"
"Who died and made you captain?" yelled Aizen.
The girl ignored her angry teammate and turned to her remaining one. "Fishcake, since your name is retarded, why don't see if there are any fish in that pond."
"Hey who made you the boss?" Aizen yelled again. "You could at least ask politely. And if you call me nurse-boy one more time and I'm gonna stuff a kunai so far up your ass it's gonna quince your thirst."
After Aizen's remark the camp went silent. Nanao raised an eyebrow at the insult, and Naruto even smirked at Aizen's choice of words. Even the natural environment and wildlife went silent like it knew all hell was going to break lose.
Kurotsuchi turned around in shock before quickly turning to anger. "What did you just say to me?" she spoke lowly with killing intent lacing every word.
"You heard me. I'm tired of you bossing us around like your better than us. You think your hot shit, but me and Naruto could kick your ass all over this clearing without breaking a sweat," spoke Aizen. "You don't hear us putting you down, and you don't know the things I've done to push myself. I'm not taking your shit anymore you washed up genin."
"Fuck you, you piece of garbage." Her killing intent was flaring wildly.
"Look at you," mocked Aizen again. "Your grandfather is the Kage of our village and you are still an immature genin. You're 3 years older than us, 3 freaking years. But the way I see it your just a weak and sad little girl. You try to put us down just to make yourself feel better."
Sensing the argument getting out of hand Nanao stepped in to stop. "Both of you…" she yelled but was stopped by Naruto.
"Nanao-sensei as much as I want to stop it as well, I think we should let them fight and get it over with. We can jump in if they start throwing killing blows."
With hesitation Nanao looked at her two genin still arguing. Her last team hadn't argued to this extent, but she could tell that maybe a fight for this group would do them good. With a sigh and a nod from Naruto as reassurance, she crossed her arms and watched. A moment later a manly roar erupted from Kurotsuchi as she rushed toward Aizen and threw a left cross.
Immediately he dodged and for the next 20 seconds or so the two exchanged blows in an angry taijutsu dance. Wanting to shut up his opponent Aizen raised it a notch and broke through Kuro's defenses with knee to her gut followed by an elbow and a left cross to her face that sent her to the ground.
Taking the blows in stride Kuro rolled along the ground and into a kneel. As she came out of the roll, she finished a sequence of hand seals and called out her jutsu. "Doton: Retsudotensho."
Around Aizen's feet the ground fell in like a pit, but before he tumbled into the earth he Kawarami'd with a small rock. After realizing her prey narrowly escaped Kurotsuchi was forced to move from her kneeling position as two kunai attempted to pierce her backside.
She dodged and launched two of her own, but young Aizen was nowhere to be found. Now standing out in the open without her prey in sight, Kuro took a deep breathe. Focused and determined she slowly closed her eyes. Staring at his opponent in confusion Aizen decided to remain hidden to see what her next move was. He didn't think she was a sensor like himself.
A second later Kuro opened her eyes and a visible smirk was on her face. "I found you Nurse-boy!"
Thinking that she was wrong Aizen watched silently ready for whatever technique she would attack him with. But unfortunately he was not prepared for her to softly shunshin behind him. Eyes wide with shock Aizen used all his speed to escape, but he wasn't quick enough. He received a huge cut across his chest and midsection making it hard for him to breathe.
Surprised from his sideline view, Naruto turned to Nanao. "How did she do that sensei? I know how Aizen is and she must have used a special technique to detect him that quickly."
With her eyes glued to the fight, Nanao spoke to her quiet pupil. "Kurotsuchi is the last of her mother's side and unfortunately both of her parents were injured and as a result died because of the last war. She awoke the bloodline from her mother's side and is the first in over 40 year's to have it. It is a rare bloodline and was nameless. But now Kuro calls it the 'Soragan.' It is a doujutsu that lets her see vibrations. She has to focus to use it, but I imagine she saw Aizen's movements as he tried to stay hidden."
Processing what he just learned to memory, Naruto realized that Kuro had some interesting abilities. "I see," was all he could say.
Meanwhile in the battle, Aizen had to stay on the move and use medical jutsu to heal his wounded chest. He was angry at himself and couldn't believe he let that witch get him. He was going to end it with one of his new techniques. He just couldn't stand the thought of losing to her.
Still in the middle of the clearing Kuro focused on trying to find her teammate again. After their short 5 minutes of fighting she knew she needed to keep him on the move. He was deadly accurate with his weapons.
Suddenly she caught movement to her right and she let two shuriken fly. They didn't connect and instead she had to dodge as numerous kunai were sent back her way. Under assault she ducked, dived, and darted her way around the weaponry that was aimed at critical areas of her body.
"Is that the best you got?" she yelled.
With the front of his shirt soaked in blood Aizen jumped back into the clearing and landed 50 meters in front of Kurotsuchi. As Naruto watched on he knew Aizen had taken off his weights. His best friend was tired of the games and would now fight with no limits.
Aizen took a deep breath and exploded into action. He crossed the distance between him and Kurotsuchi in the blink of an eye. He slashed at her with his hands as she hastily put up a feeble defensive block. His slash and chakra scalpel technique was rendered useless as Kurotsuchi crumbled to the ground signifying she had only been an earth clone.
The boy turned to his left and heard his female teammate give a yell announcing her next attack. "Katon: Karyuu Endan!"
Both Naruto and Nanao watched on and were impressed. Nanao felt the urge to speak up warning Naruto. "That is the largest fire dragon I have ever seen Kuro make. She is pushing her limits in this fight."
Aizen's thoughts mirrored his sensei's. 'That thing is huge.' With eyes wide open he dived out of the way as the jutsu burned everything in its path. He looked at his teammate and noticed she was looking winded. 'That fire technique took a lot out her, here's my chance.'
The young boy pulled out his favorite little weapons and threw hurled them at her with all his strength. Still worn from her fire dragon, she didn't even see nor sense the small projectiles. 5 senbon pierced the young girl and she immediately cursed her lack of carelessness. 2 senbon had hit both her shoulders and the other 3 landed on her chest. The senbon in her shoulders hurt the most, however, and made any movement of her arms painful. She looked up in haste as her opponent was rushing across the clearing to finish her off.
With a agonizing yell she pulled both senbon free and faster than she ever had before she performed the hand seals for her most powerful jutsu, praying in her mind that she could get the technique off before Aizen reached her.
Aizen on the other hand was running at top speed in a straight line towards Kurotsuchi. When he was halfway to her, he saw her pull the senbon free and furiously perform hand seals. Sensing the large buildup of chakra, he did his own hand seals, 5 in total, and visible chakra erupted on his right arm from his elbow to his fingertips.
With just a few feet separating the two, Kuro finished her jutsu taking a deep breath and Aizen began thrusting his arm forward. Unfortunately both were stopped before they could finish their attacks.
Naruto had caught Aizen's arm right above the elbow and pinned him to the ground while Kurotsuchi had her breathe taken away by a soft jab from her sensei. Before the young girl could blink she felt her sensei's tanto at her neck forcing her to remain still.
All was silent until surprising Naruto erupted on both of his teammates. "Look at both of you," he spoke in anger. "Are you happy now? Did this fight solve your problems? We are all supposed to be teammates and the jutsu you both were about to use would have killed both of you."
Nanao watched him speak in silence; blade still held to Kuro's throat.
"Aizen you know the dangers of that jutsu. Even if you are a medic, I saw where you were aiming that thrust. It would have been overkill had it landed. Kurotsuchi you are no better in the matter, but had Aizen hit you, you could very well have died. That jutsu of his forces the muscles to pulse and become stiff. Only a medic could reverse the effects. He was aiming at your neck, which would have forced you to suffocate as the muscles in your throat would block your air flow. In moments you would have died from loss of air." Naruto took a second to let his explanation sink in.
"But Aizen you are lucky as well, if it hadn't been for Nanao-sensei I possibly would have lost a friend. Kurotsuchi I know what you were about to do," he spoke. "Lava element?"
Shocked at her defeat and that he knew her plan she asked, "How did you know?" 'I haven't showed anyone that technique except grandfather.'
"I admit I have never seen a lava jutsu, but I know someone who can do them. I saw your hand seals, and could tell what you were about to do," stated Naruto again.
Sensing that everyone had calmed down Nanao released her oldest genin. "Listen up all of you. From here on out there will be no more fighting or else you all will be fighting with me. Get over yourselves or I will not hesitate to disband the team. Now as I said earlier we are going to set up camp and everyone will participate. Naruto fetch us dinner. Aizen you and me will set up a perimeter as well as some traps, and Kuro you will get the supplies so we can start a fire." She stopped so everyone understood her directions. "When you get done set up your tent. In a couple of hours it will be nightfall. Both of you, Aizen and Kuro, need to get along. And Aizen I want you to patch up both you and her injuries. Everything clear?"
"Hai sensei."
"Good."
Konoha
Another academy year had long since passed by in the Leaf village, and new genin teams had been formed. After the genin exams the Hokage decided 9 students had deserved to graduate and three new teams had been made. Those students turned genin were Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka who made up Team 8; Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Hanabi Hyuuga who made up Team 7; and lastly Ino Yamanaka, Shikimaru Nara, and Chouji Akimichi who made up Team 10.
Team 8's sensei was the lovely Kurenai Yuhi. The Sandaime Hokage saw it fit to make her a sensei, and this was her first team. The young woman was considered one of the most beautiful and dangerous shinobi in the Hidden Leaf Village. Backing up her looks was also her ranking in the bingo book as a B-ranked ninja. The gorgeous brunette's skills in genjutsu were almost unparalleled and she was bound to help her students excel in that area.
Team 10's sensei was a peculiar one by the name of Asuma Sarutobi. The man was one of the few remaining relatives to the Fire Shadow and also a great strategist. His skill in using his trench knives was dangerous and he was once a member of the 12 Guardians.
By far the strongest and most dangerous sensei of the new genin teams is Kakashi Hatake, a genius prodigy of the Hatake clan and a former Anbu Captain. The still young Kakashi was scratching at the S-rank section of the bingo book and his name is known around the elemental countries. Known as the 'Copy Cat Ninja,' many did not come out on the winning side after battling the shinobi. His strategies and tactics on the battlefield were legendary.
Unfortunately for all his skills, he was not above receiving a lashing from his superiors. He was also a first time sensei and everyone makes mistakes.
"What were you thinking Kakashi?" asked a fuming Hokage as the man's team was returning from a mission.
FLASHBACK
After close to two months of training and D-rank missions, Kakashi felt his squad was ready for more of a challenge. They still needed better teamwork but in his opinion he had the top ranking genin in Sasuke, and two brilliant minds in his girls Sakura and Hanabi. The Hokage granted his request and Team 7 received its first C-rank mission, which was to escort Tazuna a bridge builder back to his home country of Wave.
The mission had started normally until the group was attacked by two chunnin. A short fight occurred soon after, and it was here that Kakashi should have turned his team around.
Sasuke had fought brilliantly albeit in a flashy manor and separated the two chunnin who were brothers. Unfortunately both of the girls on Team 7 froze up. Their hesitation in the battle ended with both girls getting poisoned. After witnessing his genin get injured the jounin promptly ended the battle by subduing the chunnin. It was here that Kakashi realized his mission had been given the wrong ranking. Gato, a multi-millionaire businessman, was seeking to kill the bridge builder. But alas the jounin still did not turn around, which was protocol. He believed his genin would only get better and that they could handle the mission.
The team waited an hour and addressed the girl's poisoned bodies. When they moved again it was no surprise that they were ambushed again. Knowing that his client was being targeted Kakashi fought bravely against an A-rank missing-nin by the name of Zabuza. Both fighters ultimately fought to a standstill, until Kakashi was captured. Surprisingly the duo of girls created a distraction that fooled the ex-Mist ninja. And the distraction lasted long enough for Sasuke to be able to free his sensei.
Once freed both Kakashi and Zabuza fought again until their fight was cut short by a hunter-nin. From there the team safely made it to Tazuna's home and agreed to guard the man until he finished his bridge. After making it to the man's home Kakashi collapsed and while resting figured out that the ex-swordsman of the Mist was possibly still alive. It was here that the jounin sensei of Team 7 should have called for help again, but he did not. Once up and about he trained his team for their soon-to-be happening battle.
Roughly a week later the dreaded battle occurred and this one was on the bridge that Tazuna was constructing.
The story goes that Sakura was the straggler. On the night before the battle at the bridge, she actually stayed out training or at least claims to. Hanabi reported that she just cried because Sasuke didn't want to go on another date with her. But regardless because of her late night she missed when everyone got up on the day of the battle.
After she woke up late she realized everyone was gone, and in a rush to see her Sasuke-kun she ran off without making sure the house was secure and everyone was safe. It turned out to be a grave mistake and some of the tyrant Gato's men came and reeked havoc on the house. Tazuna's daughter and grandson were slaughtered in the very house they lived in. Sakura and furthermore Team 7 would come to realize how important those deaths were later.
With Sakura out of the picture and rushing to the bridge, the battle raged on. Kakashi once again fought Zabuza and Sasuke fought Zabuza's apprentice, the hunter-nin, while Hanabi guarded Tazuna. In Sasuke's fight, he eventually was worn down until he unlocked his sharingan, but it still didn't help much in the long run. After Haku, Zabuza's female apprentice, defeated Sasuke she rushed to kill the bridge builder. Young Hanabi fought bravely against the ice wielder, but struggled to guard her client and fight at the same time. The Hyuuga quickly learned the difference in her spars with her family and a life and death situation.
However luck was on the little girls side. During her battle Tazuna had been struck with several ice senbon and one of his legs had even been incased in chakra infused ice. Hanabi never gave up, but at one particular moment she became helpless and left the old man open for attack. With Tazuna now motionless Haku had a chance to complete her objective by killing him. But just as she was going to make the finishing blow she heard her master and father figure cry out in pain.
From Kakashi's point of view it happened very quickly. One moment he was thrusting his most prized and only original jutsu at Zabuza and the next his hand was going through young Haku. The young girl had stepped in and died in her master's place.
After Haku's death all was quiet until Sakura finally came and Gato showed up. The rich man arrived with his horde of followers claiming he was never going to pay Zabuza for his work. In rage the ex-Mist-nin fought through the followers and killed Gato by stabbing him and cutting his head off. With all his wounds Zabuza asked to be laid beside his apprentice before he too passed away.
With Gato, Zabuza, and Haku all dead the only remaining enemy was Gato's army of thugs and thieves. With no other choice but to fight Kakashi, Hanabi, and Sakura fought until only a handful of thugs remained. It was here that big news was delivered to Team 7. The remaining thugs surrendered and told the team the plans that were made before the battle. During their fess up they explained that a few of them had even gone to the bridge builder's house to kill Tazuna's daughter and grandson.
Shocked at the underhanded move Kakashi asked his late arrival, Sakura, if she secured the house. She immediately replied yes but alarms went off in Kakashi's head and he turned to rush back to the house. Unfortunately that was when the second big news of the day hit Team 7.
During the part where Gato, Haku, and Zabuza died no one took care of Tazuna whose leg was still incased with ice. With the Haku's chakra still in the ice the bridge builder's leg quickly became overrun with frostbite to the point where his leg was no longer able to function.
The old man quickly called out for help and expressed his desire to check on his family who the thugs had revealed were targets as well. But after pulling the leg out of the ice Kakashi immediately noticed a problem; Gangrene! Since there was no medic around to stop the damage to Tazuna's leg, the silver haired Kakashi was forced to amputate. The bridge builder lost everything below the knee on his left leg.
Eventually the team found out that Sasuke was still alive and Sakura cried out with joy.
When the Team finally made it to the house, they found both bodies like the thugs claimed they would and that is when Tazuna lost it. He cried for his family in despair regretting his decision to ever even try to get help.
The final results of the mission were not pleasant. First Tazuna refused to finish his bridge. For one he couldn't work without a leg and two is he lost his desire since his family was gone. Secondly he blamed Team 7 for the deaths of his family. The old man wrote up a report himself to tell the Hokage how reckless and self-centered the team was. He highlighted how Sakura didn't protect his family, and that he never felt safe or well guarded. The only good note was how Hanabi fought bravely against the superior Haku. He said to only lose his leg was a miracle. When Team 7 left to head back home Tazuna told the team that Wave would never ask for help from Konoha again. He admitted he was wrong to submit the wrong ranked mission request, but said once he paid it no more leaf ninja were welcome there.
After returning home the team briefed the Hokage and that's when he keep Kakashi behind to tell him how poor his decisions were.
END FLASHBACK
"That mission was a disgrace, it makes me wonder why I made you a sensei," spoke the Hokage again. His tobacco pipe lay off to the side on his desk. "Your team was unprepared and even your skills have become lax. You should have been able to dispatch Zabuza within a fair amount of time. You fought him twice and still never outright finished him. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I honestly didn't expect Zabuza to be that skilled, nor did I think my team would perform so poorly Hokage-sama," replied the 'Copy Ninja.'
"Kakashi that is a lousy excuse. Zabuza has been on the run for at least 5 years. He couldn't have trained much while running from the hunter-nin. Perhaps I should throw you back into Anbu training to get you back in shape."
"No sir, I will up my training."
"I'm not sure that will be enough but it is a start. Also you better start training your team seriously. I cannot believe you just taught them the tree climbing exercise and while in the middle of the mission. What have you been doing with your team?" asked the Hokage again this time clearly in disbelief that one of his top ninja's was failing him. With his killing intent slowly dying down to a tolerable level, he continued on.
"The chunnin exams are coming up in the next few weeks Kakashi. Your team is not looking ready and I'm not sure you will have them even close to being ready. Regardless the choice to enter them is yours alone, but I suggest you teach those kids something worthwhile. If I get anything that contradicts that I will have you replaced do you copy?"
"Hai Hokage-sama!"
"Get out of my office jounin!" uttered the Sandaime with a wave. In his mind was 'I getting too old for this shit.'
Earth Country
It had been close to a month and a half since Team Sigma embarked on their training trip. Like the Tsuchikage had suggested the team traveled north at first before heading west. While in the north the team spent two weeks training at the edge of the Northern Mountains. The extreme cold and icy climate hardened the team's countenance and stamina. There were no complaints though when the team started to head west towards warmer temperatures.
While out west the team spent another two weeks training in Earth Country's most lush and fertile environment the swamplands. The swampland was as the name implied. All of the snow from the Northern Mountains that melted made its way into this area where it collected forming a large swamp. This was also the place where Team Sigma started doing more missions. The two missions that they did, while in the swamplands, were relatively simple. They did a short C-rank escort mission and also performed a B-rank search and rescue mission.
The B-rank mission ended with the team facing off against an Iwa missing-nin. The older man, named Ramichi, had fled Iwa during the last War when he had been a young chunnin. Before Team Sigma's sensei captured the man, he gave his story to the team and admitted to his wrongs. Apparently he fled after his team had been ambushed during the war. He had fled in fear, because the Yellow Flash and his team had captured his. It happened at the end of the war right before Iwa surrendered. He wished he had stayed now, because his team had been a bargaining chip used to end the war. No one from his team had died, but he was labeled a missing-nin for abandoning his comrades. From there he fled and moved around Earth Country until finally settling in the swamplands where he stole to make a living. He found a woman who he slept with and 9 months later she had had his child. He never stayed in the same place for long, but after finding out he had a son he came back to raise him hoping to settle down. It was here that Naruto's team had come in. Ramichi and his son's mother had argued furiously because he wasn't there to raise his own child. With his short temper he did not want to kill the woman. So he took his child and fled resulting back to what he did best. After a day on the road the young genin team had found him.
The mission ended with Ramichi taking his own life. Before he committed suicide the man said he was unhappy with his life. While the team was unable to save the ex-Rock-nin, they did save the man's six month old child. When they returned the child to the village, the baby's mother expressed her gratitude and thanks for handling Ramichi. Before the team left for their next destination, Nanao sent a scroll with the missing-nin's head back to the Tsuchikage with her summons.
As the young team neared Earth Country's southern border Nanao signaled for the group to stop. They had travelled for 2 days straight and everyone including the jounin sensei was tired.
"Alright team we have made it and we will spent the next week here performing a mission. This one will be different so I want you all to secure your tents and then we will gather to talk about everything," directed Nanao.
Tired from the journey and slightly excited for another mission the team swiftly moved to obey their sensei. After the debacle at the beginning of the trip they had gotten over most of there differences. Kurotsuchi still looked down on the boys at times, but she was visibly more gentle and thoughtful when talking to them. She no longer called them hurtful names and made fun of them, but treated them with some respect. Her fight with Aizen showed her that the rumors surrounding the duo were indeed true. The 15 year old heeded Naruto's warnings with more seriousness now as well. She reckoned that Aizen and her were similar in strength, but on more than one occasion Aizen had hinted that Naruto was miles ahead of him.
Aizen had slightly changed after the fight as well. He was less arrogant and cocky, but kept up his playfulness. He and Kuro always argued but now it was on pointless and trivial things. If there was one thing that got worse after the fight it was the young boys infatuation in the female sex. He always made a perverted comment out of any situation. It was usually his comment that sparked the arguments amongst the team and he always brought Naruto into it eventually by asking his opinion.
The least changed member of the team was Naruto. He was more helpful now in training, but remained quiet and upheld his calm demeanor at all times. His display during Aizen and Kurotsuchi's fight had ultimately established his place as team leader. Both of his teammates treated him with respect and a slight amount of fear. His rare display of anger after the fight unsettled them. Coincidentally when they trained and sparred afterward he pulled no punches, or at least to them it felt that way.
The final member of Team Sigma was proud of her students and happy that she suggested this trip to Onoki. The fight at the beginning of the trip did not deter her thoughts at all. She knew from dealing with Kurotsuchi in the past that eventually a fight would take place or that both boys would ask to leave. Naruto surprised her a little by stating the fight was necessary, but it was at that time that she saw how instrumental Naruto was. After having her students for close to two months the beautiful woman could see a little of what the Tsuchikage saw. Her team would and will be immensely powerful in a few years time.
Once again her thoughts went back. 'Who would have thought he would end up like this?'
End
Please Review!
The Next chapter will continue from here!
***I hope you like the preview of Aizen and Kurotsuchi's skills. I know we have seen more from her and Onoki in the actual manga and I will try to incorporate some of that into my story without changing much. The biggest change is the bloodline and Kuro having a father, but the rest remains to be seen.