Maito Gai felt strange standing before the Hokage as he awaited a mission for his genin team. Ever since Uzumaki Naruto had confronted him about Sarutobi Hiruzen he had been thinking more and more about what the boy had said. Morals were something he had always acted with but just how much stronger could Konoha be if the leader lacked them?
He knew for one that the chances were that Orochimaru would still be within the village, quite possibly giving shinobi performance enhancers that would decrease casualties. It was definitely something worth thinking about and despite his love of the aged leader, he couldn't deny the genjutsu masters words.
Sarutobi was a loved leader but not a very good one. He would do better in a figurehead position that didn't require tough decision making while his old rival was practically the opposite, someone that would fail to garner the support of the public but would be more than capable of making the necessary decisions.
And that was the crux of the problem. The taijutsu master was anything but a fool and he knew that while Naruto was playing him, the boy didn't say anything that wasn't true, meaning he was incapable of denying the boys plan... even if he had been required to convince his genin to keep quiet about the meeting.
Of course the simple fact that he had decided to listen to the genjutsu master was shocking enough for his team, they had never expected their unwavering sensei to give in to a strangers words… not that they could really blame the man for giving up trying to attack the heterochromatic man when it was obvious that he was never going to hit the man that seemed to personify deception.
And so here they stood in the mission office with looks of distraction gracing their features before accepting a simple C-rank protection detail for a merchant caravan travelling to a small gambling town within Hi No Kuni's borders.
Upon seeing the team leave the room, the Sandaime let out a sigh as he thought about the strange tension that existed between the team that was normally far more excitable, the mere fact that Rokku Rī was being uncharacteristically quiet didn't help his headache.
Of course he had a suspicion concerning what happened to make them behave that way, however despite the fact that he was certain they had had a run in with Uzumaki Naruto, he didn't know what the boy did to make them behave in such an uncharacteristic manner… he simply hoped that it was nothing he couldn't deal with because even now, he understood that against a genjutsu master of Naruto's calibre, there was no guarantee he would win.
At least when he had encountered the Nidaime Mizukage the man relied on his summoned clam to cast his most powerful genjutsu, however Naruto had shown such a mastery of the art that he wasn't certain even Uchiha Shisui could match him, after all, even Shisui had trouble dealing with Kakashi and his sharingan the odd time they had sparred, yet Naruto found deceiving the man a simple task.
And that was just his genjutsu, the aged Hokage didn't even know if Naruto possessed anymore abilities or skills, something that the spiky haired blond could easily take advantage of if they ever came to blows and Sarutobi knew that mystery was the greatest enemy a shinobi could ever face.
And boy was the child a mystery.
"Tori," the aged leader called out to the shadows and almost instantly a dark haired ninja wearing a bird mask appeared before him wearing ANBU standard issue armour, "inform Tora that I want her to observe Maito Gai for the foreseeable future."
"Hai Hokage-sama," the elite ninja responded seriously before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.
"I just hope I'm worrying over nothing," the aged leader thought to himself as he returned to the paperwork that was sitting on his desk.
XXX XXX XXX
Kurenai had to admit, her team certainly weren't pushovers… then again she had already trained two of them so she already knew that they wouldn't be the same as a normal team… it didn't help that Sakura had trained with Anko either.
She also had to admit that Sakura had a rather… novel, way of dealing with genjutsu which revolved around having a pair of snakes wrapped around her arms to act as heat seekers and direct hers arms towards both her target and her allies, which in turn allowed her to do what is best described as spamming sharp objects and Katon jutsu in her general direction.
It certainly didn't help that Hinata's Byakugan was capable of seeing through the illusions and Yakumo… well, she was doing her best despite her lack of training. That thought made the dark haired woman frown, the sheer fact that the young Kurama heir was so far behind because of the decision to seal her power and essentially treat her like a prisoner instead of a ninja, was rather disconcerting.
Still, she was going to get the young girl up to speed, she was determined to do at least that much, honestly the young girl definitely had the skill to pass as a genin, she simply didn't have the raw strength to do so, meaning she would probably be better off giving the girl a training regime that was mostly physical exercises with the odd bit of chakra control and genjutsu theory.
Letting out a sigh, she proceeded to avoid another fireball sent her way by the pink haired genin that appeared to have taken her instructions of 'come at me with the intent to kill' a little too literally. Upon landing from her short jump she immediately used a quick Kawarimi to avoid a follow up attack from the pale eyed Hyūga heir and cause the group to pause in an attempt to find her again.
"Well, this certainly is quite entertaining to watch," came a familiar voice from next to her, making her eyes widen as she looked to see a familiar mop of blond hair sitting on the branch she had just landed on with his back resting against the trunk, "to think a pair of genin are pushing a Jōnin this far."
"Well, technically there are three of them," Kurenai corrected him as she proceeded to keep her students within her peripheral vision.
"Technically, yes, practically, Yakumo is basically a non participant," the whiskered genjutsu master admitted with a smirk, earning a small glare off the woman that had trained him, "however that will soon change once she receives proper training."
"And you plan on doing that yourself correct?" the red eyed beauty asked seriously before noting that the two girls still hadn't found her despite the fact that they should've after a couple of seconds.
"Of course, I also plan on correcting your deficiency in our art as well," now that statement made her eyebrow twitch, to think that he was mocking her talent in genjutsu without a care in the world, "after all, someone with your talent should have no trouble deceiving mere snakes and the Byakugan."
Upon hearing that claim the raven haired Jōnin suddenly realised why her students had lost her, what he was saying was that he knew how to deceive abilities like that. If he had simply claimed to know how to overcome them she would've called him a liar, however she had proof right here that he was being honest, that he really was so good at the art he could overcome even the most dangerous anti genjutsu abilities.
"How? How is such a thing possible?" she asked him in disbelief as she continued to stare at the scene of her students growing increasingly nervous at her absence.
"Two very simple tricks, the first is to use chakra to make their brain itself ignore your presence, doing that allows the user to bypass the enemies usual senses and make them invisible to them," Naruto informed her calmly as he also looked at the genin looking nervous, "and the second and most useful trick... is to alter their perception of their chakra so they don't even realise they're under a genjutsu."
"Y-you mean you actually did it?" the red and white clad ninja asked with wide eyes as she remembered the promise they had made back before he ran away from the village… even if she had always hoped they would create the method together.
"Yes I did Nai-sensei and now that I've returned I can pass on that knowledge to you," the heterochromatic child stated with a soft smile, "and I also intend on teaching the method to Yakumo when she's grown enough but that can wait after all, your students look like they're about to have a nervous breakdown right now."
"You're the one that's put them this on edge you know," she claimed, earning a small smirk as he proceeded to rise from his position and stand next to his old teacher.
"True, however they don't know that yet, Nai-sensei," he admitted with a smirk before dispersing in his usual mist like manner, honestly it made the Jōnin wonder exactly why he seemed to have an obsession with mist, even back before he left the village he had always incorporated it into his genjutsu so it was unlikely that it had anything to do with Kirigakure.
Shaking her head she decided that it was simply another mystery about the spiky haired youth that she couldn't answer and instead of continuing to dwell on it, she simply decided it was probably better to go back to her students and hopefully reveal herself to them.
"Well I think that's enough for today," she immediately heard a very familiar, feminine voice call out, upon which she immediately looked towards the source of the voice only to see herself standing there with a soft smile on her face.
"Naruto!" she shouted at the top of her voice only to find that he was completely ignoring her.
"So how did we do Kurenai-sensei?" Sakura asked with a carefree expression on her face while Hinata nodded in agreement with her friends question. That was when the newly promoted Jōnin noticed an important fact… Hinata's Byakugan was still active.
She could understand what he said about being capable of making the brain ignore a person's presence, however that should have no effect when utilizing a henge, so how was he pretending to be her without Hinata noticing? The only thought that could come to her mind was that he was tricking everyones brains to replace him with their image of herself, which would of course work since it would both be ignoring Hinata's eyes and using her own perception of what she looked like in order to trick the girl into believing he really was their sensei.
"You did better than I expected, however I would like to point out a few problems, in your abilities," the copy of her stated seriously, earning their undivided attention, "Sakura, while your use of summons to counter genjutsu is certainly an interesting technique, the fact remains that they hindered your movement and reduced your accuracy. Another point you must never forget is that all summons have chakra coils and are therefore capable of assisting you in breaking free of genjutsu."
And with that the pinkette's face fell with the knowledge that her trick for defeating genjutsu was practically pointless given the nature of her summons.
"Hinata, while you certainly are capable of holding your own in a taijutsu fight, you need to work on your speed in order to allow yourself to get close to your opponent, beyond that you are still hesitating too much, remember, if you hesitate at the wrong moment, it could cost your comrades lives," Naruto informed her while remaining in the henge, making Kurenai narrow her eyes at the way he was pointing out problems she had intended on doing herself.
"And Yakumo, it is obvious that unlike the other members of the team, you lack training, however there is something you must not forget," the disguised genjutsu master started with a serious expression adorning 'her' face, "you are a member of team eight, you were placed here because Hokage-sama believed it is where you belong, it is where your talent can be cultivated and your true strength can be realised."
Kurenai had to admit she didn't know what to feel upon seeing the brown haired girl relax upon hearing Naruto's words coming from her lips, if she had to make a guess however, it would be jealousy. Yes, that sounded about right, she was jealous that he was capable of imitating her and get close to her genin without any visible effort.
"Um… Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata suddenly started to question nervously, earning a soft smile and nod from the disguised blond, "how did you hide from my Byakugan?"
"Yeah, that's a damn good question," Sakura agreed whole heartedly with her darker haired comrade, earning a small smirk off the 'ruby eyed beauty' they were looking at.
"Do you really think someone can call themselves a genjutsu master if they can't do something so simple?" the copy of her asked rhetorically, earning a pair of kunai getting thrown at 'her' face.
"Sakura-san! Hinata-san! What are you doing attacking sensei?!" Yakumo asked in horror at the sight before her as Kurenai let out a grin at the fact the two properly trained genin could see through Naruto's illusion after he made such a statement.
"Because that isn't Kurenai-sensei!" Hinata stated seriously as her Byakugan glared at the blond haired illusionist, "she would never refer to herself as a genjutsu master like that."
"Yeah, she always calls herself a genjutsu mistress," Sakura agreed with a serious look in her eyes as she too glared at the disguised individual, "now tell us what you did with Kurenai-sensei!"
"I didn't do anything to her, she's right there," the young boy admitted while still in disguise, pointing a finger towards the dark haired woman and allowing the illusion to drop and render her visible once again.
"So you finally decided to let them see me," the red eyed Jōnin stated with a cold tone, obviously still annoyed at his actions towards her students.
"Of course Nai-sensei," and with that the blond finally allowed his disguise to disperse like mist, revealing his true appearance to the team.
"I told ya so," Sakura stated, earning raised eyebrows from Yakumo, Kurenai and even Naruto himself, though unlike Yakumo and Kurenai who looked confused, Naruto simply looked amused.
"So you already came to the conclusion that I wouldn't leave this team alone didn't you," the heterochromatic boy concluded with a smirk, earning a nod off the pink haired girl in the process.
"Wait! Does that mean you're Naruto-sensei?" the brown haired girl asked with shock clear in her eyes, making both Sakura and Hinata look at her in surprise, neither of them understood how someone couldn't know what their own sensei looked like.
"That is correct Yakumo-san, I believe introductions are in order now that we've finally met face to face," and with that the spiky haired youth gave a small flourish before continuing, "I am Uzumaki Naruto, genjutsu master extraordinaire and former member of the mercenary group Akatsuki."
And with that statement, Kurenai's blood ran cold. She had heard of Akatsuki, of how the group consisted entirely of S-ranked nuke-nin and took on any job that paid well… she had also heard of the fact that Uchiha Itachi was a member of the group. The mere thought of Naruto being surrounded by those sorts of people was disturbing, what was even more disturbing was the fact that he wasn't with them right now, did that mean he was a traitor and if so, how badly did they want to kill him? Or was he in Konoha to act as a spy for them? She didn't know the answer and in the end, she almost wished she never did.
"Ah… nice to meet you?" the hesitation in Yakumo's voice was clear to everyone in the clearing as she tried to get her head around this latest turn of events, "sorry, I was just expecting you to be a little… you know, older."
"That is quite alright Yakumo-san, it is not often you find a twelve year old with the skill to take the title of master," Naruto admitted freely, causing the young girl to look away nervously, "though to be fair, if it wasn't for your previous problem, you could probably be my rival right now."
Instantly the brown haired girl found herself blushing under his praise, honestly she had never expected any to praise her for anything, such a thing never happened with her family and Kurenai just kept telling her to stop when she tried to train, so this was a new situation for her.
"However, that doesn't matter now for one simple fact," the blond quickly decided to point out, "you didn't get the chance to learn the art of genjutsu because of your condition and are now simply a beginner in need of tutoring."
And with that the newly appointed genin found herself regaining her composure before inwardly flinching at the fact that she had once again lost control of her emotions, only to see the heterochromatic blond smirk at her knowingly.
"So I take it you decided to come here to train Yakumo, if you did then I will have to decline your wish, after all, right now she needs to strengthen her body before worrying about anything too strenuous," Kurenai stated seriously, earning a frown from the newly released girl.
"On the contrary, I came here with the intention of witnessing this team's ability first hand and have no intention of disrupting your training sessions," the red and blue eyed mercenary stated with his usual air of sophistication lacing his tone.
"If that's so, then I take it you intend on training Yakumo without supervision when she isn't at team training?" the red eyed instructor asked with a certain amount of unease clear in her voice at the prospect of him being left alone with the malleable girl.
"It's not as if you can stop me even if you want to Nai-sensei," despite the words the blond spoke, there was no condescension in his tone as he said them with an air of factuality that made it sound like he was simply talking about the weather… and that hurt the ruby eyed woman's pride. To think that a twelve year old could look down on her as inferior in ability, it was something that simply made her inwardly cringe at the reminder of the fact her student had surpassed her by such a young age.
"Perhaps but that doesn't change the fact I don't like the idea of you possibly corrupting her against the village," she finally settled on earning a narrowing of the young girls eyes at the fact she didn't believe she could decide things for herself.
"And why are you so certain I would even attempt to do something like that? As I have stated before, I am completely loyal to the village of Konohagakure no sato… just not necessarily the current Hokage," and once again the blond was met with a fierce glare off the raven haired beauty.
"Because you aren't doing anything to reinforce that fact and actually prove your loyalty," the genjutsu mistress stated seriously as the three genin looked on with a hint of nervousness entering their eyes.
"You mean outside of outing all of Orochimaru's spies, helping a young girl join the shinobi forces and deciding to teach one of the villages top ninja how to further improve on their specialty?" the heterochromatic blond asked with obvious amusement in his voice as he listed off the positive actions he had already made towards the village.
Despite herself, Kurenai couldn't stop herself from wincing at his remark. It was true, if you looked purely at his actions since returning to Konoha then he seemed to be perfectly loyal, however his demeanour just screamed traitor and to top it off, he didn't even deny that he didn't agree with current Hokage and that was something she found very unsettling.
"More than action is required to earn trust Naruto, surely you should know that," the red eyed woman once again stated as he simply began to smirk at her attempts of explaining her mistrust in him.
"Indeed, however do you think I would draw so much attention to myself if I really was planning on betraying the village?" the genjutsu master asked her with his usual, infuriating smirk, making her think for a couple of seconds.
"Maybe, you were going for a double bluff and it isn't working how you wanted it to," Kurenai stated knowing that he wouldn't deign her with a true answer.
"If that was the case then that would indicate that I overestimated Konoha's intelligence and therefore, lower my overall opinion of the village's ninja population," and immediately the ruby eyed beauty felt an aneurysm develop at the way he managed to turn her own words against her.
"Perhaps, they simply realised what you were doing and decided to make the correct decision concerning you," the three genin found themselves taking deep gulps as they proceeded to continue watching the confrontation before them, completely unaware of who could possibly win between the two.
"Then why is no one playing along?" and immediately the Jōnin knew he had her. If they really had come to the conclusion that he was performing a double bluff then they would've played along in order to let him think he was in control while simultaneously monitoring him for if he slipped up… however they were confronting him directly, proof that they were simply taking his demeanour at face value.
The way the raven haired beauty looked at the ground told the other four in the training field all they needed to know… Kurenai had completely lost the argument.
"Uh… Not to sound rude or anything but are you two finished arguing cause I'm hungry," Sakura asked the two talented illusionists, earning a smirk off the spiky haired blond and a sigh off the ruby eyed Jōnin.
"Certainly, I for one had no intention of starting such an argument, that was entirely Nai-sensei's fault," the whiskered boy said with a kind smile adorning his face causing the oldest in the training field to twitch in annoyance at his dismissal of responsibility, "so then, why don't we all go back into town and get some barbeque, my treat?"
"Do you have enough money to pay for it all Naruto?" the most experienced of the quartet asked him with a blank expression, uncertain if his intentions were to actually pay, or make the cashier think he'd paid when he hadn't… she wouldn't put either past the boy.
"Indeed, during my stint with Akatsuki I was partnered with Kakuzu of Takigakure and trust me when I say this, that man knew how to manage finances… honestly the number of times he tried to kill me for collecting jewellery and not letting him sell it was impressive," the blond admitted with an amused smirk adorning his face.
"Jewellery?" Sakura asked blankly, uncertain if she had heard her brother figure right.
"Yes, Jewellery," the whiskered Jinchūriki admitted calmly, "I have four passions in my life, Genjutsu, Jewellery, History and Education, all of which I have dedicated my efforts to mastering."
"History and Education?" Kurenai found herself asking with a raised eyebrow.
"Indeed, I have put quite a bit of effort into learning about the past and all that happened in this world," the heterochromatic boy stated with obvious pride in his tone, however he didn't go into any more detail such as how far back he had studied, "and I have analysed and deconstructed the ninja academies in all the different shinobi villages for effective teaching methods and exam practices."
And once again everyone froze.
Naruto had intimate knowledge of other villages educational facilities and didn't bother telling anyone? Seriously that didn't seem like the actions of someone who was loyal.
"And why haven't you informed Hokage-sama about this?" the genjutsu mistress asked him seriously as he turned his back on her and proceeded to start walking out of the field.
"He never displayed an interest in any secrets that were not my own, so I never bothered to tell him," the possessor of the Rokudo Rinne stated with a shrug, earning a few looks of disbelief from the other four in the area, "now are we going to get something to eat or are you going to stand there all day?"
And so with that, the official team eight proceeded to follow the boy with a certain amount of hesitation in their steps… that is until Yakumo decided to run up to the boy and walk alongside him with her hands held in front of her nervously as her breathing sped up slightly from exertion.
"Uh, Naruto-sensei, are you trying to turn me against Konoha?" the young girl asked seriously, earning a small chuckle from the boy.
"Tell me Yakumo, what is the one thing I insisted on beyond all others during our first lesson?" Naruto asked her calmly, making the other three listen in with the utmost attention.
Thinking back on her first lesson with the blond back when she was talking to Kurenai after being assigned to her team, the young genjutsu apprentice tried to pick out all the lessons she could remember before letting out a soft smile as she realised the one he meant.
"Make my own decisions," and with that the young brunette simply smiled as she came to one simple conclusion, even if everyone else in Konoha refused to trust the enigmatic blond, she would believe in him.
XXX XXX XXX
Orochimaru was not happy. He was not even remotely happy. He had received an emergency message from one of his spies within Konoha that Rokudo Mukuro had been seen entering Konoha.
That did not bode well for the snake summoner and he wouldn't be foolish enough to think otherwise… he knew that by the time he received the letter it would already be too late, Mukuro was if anything, a magnificent bastard and would've already routed out all the spies within Konoha… even Kabuto…
The pale skinned man let out a grimace at the mere thought that Kabuto would be in Konoha's hands, most probably already having had his brain split open by a Yamanaka and forced to reveal everything he knew about the sannin's plans and operations.
It also meant that the silver haired 'genin' couldn't sneak out and help Kimimaro survive longer… and with Kimimaro dying, he would lose his main tool in the control of Jūgo.
It also wouldn't help if a certain underling of his discovered the purple haired man was present in Konoha… honestly that girl would never stop talking about the man ever since she witnessed him crush Uchiha Itachi in a battle of genjutsu despite the Uchiha's ocular techniques being legendary in their power.
Yes, ever since she discovered that it was possible to reach such incredible heights without a kekkei genkai… she had become obsessed with the thought of becoming his apprentice.
Jirōbō had accused her of having a crush but stopped after she put him in one of her more… unpleasant genjutsu and then dared him to say it again.
Jirōbō stopped but everyone else in Oto took it up in his place.
Yes, Orochimaru would not let that girl discover her idol was now in Konoha, that would just be begging for her to run away, join Konoha, get her curse seal sealed and divulge everything she knew about Oto and himself to them in exchange for tutelage from the one man more slippery than himself.
Of course there was the whole question of how to pass on the news that the spy network within Konoha had been destroyed to everyone else without the girl finding out why he was so certain of it already.
It didn't help that if Mukuro didn't leave Konoha for awhile then his goals with the Chūnin exams could be compromised… especially if he ended up being there for the finals and appeared near the barrier he had planned for the sound four to maintain while he was fighting his sensei, honestly the idea of Tayuya dropping the barrier in exchange for training under the purple haired schemer made him uneasy.
Still, he was Orochimaru, he wouldn't be beaten by something like this, he would find a way to defeat the man that embodied the mist… well he would try his hardest that's for sure but even he had to admit that the thought of facing off against that man again was nerve wracking, especially given his track record against the man… twenty seven loses with no draws or wins.
"Maybe I should just give up while I'm not too far behind?" the yellow eyed genius muttered quietly to himself as he considered his situation before shaking his head in the negative, "no, I will defeat him, he will slip up sooner or later and then… I'll get him."
And with those thoughts in his head, the pale skinned missing nin proceeded to let out a series of nervous laughs as he tried to focus on his latest experiment only to find himself wondering if he would be better off crying in a corner before going to sleep.
It would probably be more productive for him than trying to deal with Mukuro after all.