Disclaimer: Nothing funny about me not owning Naruto comes to mind
Chapter 24: Bird catcher
Tenten carefully set the brush aside and examined her latest creation. At first glance the seal seemed to be fine. It was time for the practical test. After placing the scroll inside a sturdy wooden box with an opening just large enough for her hands she set a small, soft leather ball in the midst of it. She didn't want to risk an accident if things went wrong. Slowly channeling chakra into the seal she took painstakingly note of the chakra flow. With a small puff of smoke the ball disappeared. The formerly empty center of the scroll was now filled by the symbol for 'projectile'.
'So far so good.'
Once again the brown-haired girl began to channel chakra into the scroll, her attention even more focused on the process. With a somehow sad sounding 'phut' and another cloud of smoke the ball was launched out of the scroll, hit the top of the box with barely any momentum and fell back to the bottom. Tenten let out a disappointed sigh.
'Still not good enough by far, but I'm getting closer.'
She removed the scroll from the box and ran a diagnostic technique on the seal. The degradation of the seal matrix was clearly discernable. It would be good for around a dozen launches, not that the current results made it worth it. With another sigh Tenten made an entry in her notebook before cleaning up her workroom.
Learning the sealing arts was incredibly hard, especially without anyone to teach her. Gai-sensei had done what he could, but he hardly knew anything about fuinjutsu. None of the people he or she had approached had been willing to teach her more than the basics, at least at rates she could afford. She had turned to the sealing arts after her attempts at learning medical techniques had proven fruitless. It had been a damper on her efforts of emulating the great Tsunade of the Sannin, but she wasn't to be deterred. The basics of sealing had been simple enough; especially storage seals came easy for her. But now that she was trying to advance beyond the utmost basics it had become enormously difficult to make progress. Oh, she had received all the sealing-related possessions of her grand-uncle after he died almost a month ago, but it wasn't helping much. Most of the stuff was either supplies or incomplete drawings of complicated seal designs. She wasn't ready to experiment with such high-level things yet; the danger was too great. The books and scrolls were helpful, though.
The old man had been one of Konoha's last seal-masters, but since an accident around nine or ten years ago his mind had been addled. All he did was creating storage scrolls of all kinds, but he couldn't really speak or interact in a normal fashion with other humans anymore. Tenten had watched him occasionally when she was younger. It was probably one of the reasons why she was so proficient with storage scrolls. All of his pupils had died in the Kyuubi attack and his accident occurred before he had been ready to choose new ones. It had been a painful loss for her family and Konoha.
They weren't exactly a clan; more an extended family that worked loosely together. Most of her relatives worked either as artisans or as shopkeepers (mostly selling the products the others created). There had been some shinobi over the generations, but not many. Currently Tenten was the only one. Her parents had been shinobi, too, but they died on a mission when Tenten was seven. She had stayed with one of her uncles, but she had already been enrolled in the academy by then.
With a last look over her now clean and orderly workroom she closed the door and proceeded to her bedroom to change clothes. It had been a relief when she had finally been able to afford her own apartment. She loved her uncle and his wife, but they had been driving each other spare. Now that she only visited (even if was quite often) they got along much better.
'Which blouse should I wear? Blue or pink?'
After a moment of indecision she chose the blue one. Clothing wouldn't matter much for the upcoming mission. After grabbing several sealing scrolls full of weapons and supplies she was ready. A few minutes and a quick chat with the apartment manager later she left the building and headed into the direction of Konoha's southern gate. Team Gai would meet up with one of the rookie teams for the first part of a double mission.
'I wonder what they are like.'
Tenten didn't know much about the four elite teams that had graduated a few months ago. Some names and she thought she had seen some of them from afar, but there had been no closer contact. In her graduation cycle only one other team had been formed, but it didn't last long. Somehow the two kunoichi on the team had managed to get pregnant in the first few months, leading to the disbanding of the team. Well, she had never liked the two girls in question anyway. The three teams from half a year later were all thoroughly unremarkable. Basically competent, but unremarkable. Well, Team 9 had lost their jonin, which was the reason they were still called Team 9. Usually the team name changed to the jonin's name after half a year. For example, Team Gai had been originally Team 5.
In contrast, four teams were the most that had been formed of all graduating classes in the last three years. She had heard some rumors in the last few days that Team 7 and Team 11 had managed to bring down one of the last two swordsmen of the Mist. That certainly sounded impressive, but she wondered if it was true. Well, perhaps she would get a few answers soon.
When she arrived at the meeting point a short distance in the woods outside the gate she saw three people already awaiting her. Three backpacks lay on the ground. Tenten used the last few seconds of her approach to unobtrusively seize them up.
A boy with blond hair and three thin lines on each cheek looked at her from blue eyes. He wore a mix of leather and cloth in brown and green. The look wouldn't be out of place for a huntsman or woodworker, but the multitude of weapons and weapon pouches gave him away. 'Probably a weapon user. Might be interesting to talk with him.'
Another boy. Rather rotund and with swirl marks on his cheeks. Green jacket worn over an off-white shirt. Less weapon pouches, but if she wasn't mistaken he wore several additional layers of clothing that could hide who knew what. 'I think there was an Akimichi on that team; that's probably him.'
Finally the only girl among them. Her eyes marked her as a Hyuuga. Dark trouser and a sleeveless leather vest worn above a long-sleeved mesh shirt. 'I think she's Neji's cousin.'
"Hi everybody! I'm Tenten from Team Gai. Are you Team 11?"
The blond boy was the one who answered with a charming grin. "We are. I'm Naruto Uzumaki; these are my teammates Choji Akimichi and Hinata Hyuuga. A pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise. Did they tell you what this is about? We were supposed to head out a day ago for a mission, but Gai-sensei said something about a double mission that came up."
Choji nodded sagely. "Yeah, our sensei told us a bit about it. Apparently we are to transport something to its destination together before we split up for our individual missions. I have no idea about the details, though."
Tenten continued to make small talk with the rookies. She had heard that all rookie teams had been entered into the chunin exams and wanted to learn more about the competition. In her opinion it was probably the four jonin of the rookie teams that had some sort of rivalry going; there was no other explanation for volunteering all rookie teams for the exams so soon. They were all friendly, but to Tenten's frustration she wasn't able to extract any useful information.
'That fact alone is telling. They may be rookies, but they have good information security. This team might not be the easy target I thought them to be.'
The next one to arrive was Neji. The introductions proceeded normally until he faced Hinata. The girl's formerly friendly face had morphed into an emotionless mask. Neji's face in contrast was showing subtle signs of contempt and hate. For a moment the two Hyuuga were only staring at each other before Neji bowed slightly and the girl gave a short, regal nod.
"Neji-san."
"Hinata-sama."
The icy tone of voice caused Tenten to wince. Neji's family was a sore point with him, but she hadn't suspected that it was this bad. Social obligations observed, he immediately retreated a few meters and simply stared into the woods. When Hinata turned back to her the face of the Hyuuga girl had returned to its friendly expression with just a hint of sadness.
"S-Sorry about that. We d-don't get along."
Before Tenten could answer Lee arrived at a full run. "Yosh, I'm late! I will do one hundred pushups to make up for it!"
Tenten rolled her eyes. "Lee, relax. You're still early. We were just a bit earlier than you."
Another round of introductions later they were back to waiting. Neji was still staring into the forest, ignoring Team 11. Lee was doing pushups. Naruto and Choji were talking about something in a low voice. That meant it was up to her to make conversation with Hinata.
"So, how do like life as a kunoichi?"
Hinata shrugged. "It's p-pretty much as I expected. Anko-sensei has us training hard."
They continued talking about this and that. Hinata seemed to take being a kunoichi seriously despite her shyness. To Tenten's frustration it was still impossible to learn anything definite about Team 11's skills, but she found that she liked the Hyuuga girl. She strongly suspected the shyness was an act, at least to a degree; no one with that personality would have been able to deflect her questions so skillfully.
A few minutes later Gai-sensei arrived in a swirl of leaves. The sensei of Team 11 appeared not even a second later in the same manner. Tenten eyed the woman curiously. Dark purple hair, a vest and mesh top that emphasized her ample bosom without actually being indecent. No indication what her specialty might be. If Tenten wasn't mistaken she had seen the woman hanging around the academy immediately before the time of her graduation more than a year ago, but the memories were indistinct.
"Greetings, my youthful students. I see you have already become acquainted with your comrades from Team 11. At my side is the lovely Anko Mitarashi, leader of Team 11 and my second-in-command for this mission." He turned towards the genin of Team 11 and gave them his 'Nice Guy' pose, complete with sparkling teeth. "I am Maito Gai, Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey and leader of Team Gai."
The female jonin favored Gai-sensei with a smile that seemed just a little bit strained. "Thank you, Gai-san. As you all know our teams were scheduled for separate missions, but someone in the mission office noticed that both teams were headed in the same direction. At the same time a delivery mission came up; the teams that originally had the mission came down with some sort of illness after they stopped in Konoha on the way from the original starting point. The objects are sealed in a scroll in Gai-san's possession; we expect no trouble. As soon as we drop it off at the client's home we will split up and go about our own business."
Lee's hand shot into the air. "I have a question, Mitarashi-sensei. Why are two teams committed to this mission if no trouble is expected?"
"A good question. The answer is simple: The client requested and paid for a level of protection that is equivalent to two teams. Since there were no problems meeting the request we got the mission." the jonin answered.
"Yosh, I will strive to show my comrades the flames of youth! We will run day and night to fulfill the client's request!" Lee shouted
Gai gave him a thumbs-up. "That's it, Lee! Let the power of youth explode!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
Tenten felt the edges of Gai-sensei's sunset genjutsu wash over her as they hugged. Even after more than a year on the team she still found the display somewhat disturbing, so she averted her gaze. The three genin of Team 11 were staring at the sight with a look of mild curiosity while their sensei kept a straight face.
"I give that a four on a creepiness scale from one to ten." Naruto said after moment.
Choji and Hinata nodded. "That s-seems about right."
Tenten blinked. "You know, most people have a stronger reaction when they see it for the first time."
The three shrugged simultaneously. "Our friend Yakumo specializes in genjutsu. She's always in need of guinea pigs and we're the most readily available. Her imagination is… very vivid and strangely creative."
"I'm not sure I want to know." Tenten said, shaking her head.
"You're better off not knowing. Trust us." Choji agreed.
A few minutes later Gai-sensei and Lee had calmed down and they were underway. To her surprise Team 11 kept up with them without problems. 'They are stronger than expected. Of course, that doesn't say anything about their combat capabilities.'
When they made camp that evening (much to Gai-sensei's and Lee's chagrin) she sat down next to Naruto after finishing her part of the chores. She had seen him nail a deer (that was now cooking above the campfire under Choji's watchful eyes) with a throwing knife from quite a distance away. That together with how he handled his knives in disemboweling the dead animal had perked her interest. He had just finished cleaning the blades and was now sharpening them. From what she could see they were made of high-quality steel and in excellent condition.
"You take good care of your knives. Are you a weapon specialist?" Tenten asked.
Naruto nodded. "I'm pretty good with my knives and other weapons. Not as good or accurate as Anko-sensei, but I'm working on it."
That started an in-depth conversation about weapons, the materials they were made of and their possible applications in combat. Naruto was surprisingly knowledgeable and she enjoyed speaking with him greatly. There was no trace of the condescending tone she had to face sometimes because she wasn't a boy. That seemed to make no difference to Naruto. His interest for weapons wasn't quite on the same passionate level as hers, but he knew more than anyone from their age group she had talked with. Time flew and soon it was time to eat.
After they finished the meal Tenten debated with herself if she should bring up the matter of the Wave affair. There were countless rumors flying around and it was impossible to ascertain which were true. Some said that Kakashi had completely failed as a sensei and almost got his team killed because of overconfidence and blatant stupidity, but Gai-sensei had refused to believe that of his rival. Now she had the chance to learn more.
"Say, I heard you encountered the swordsman of the Mist Zabuza Momoichi on your last mission. Can you tell me about it?" she finally asked the blond boy sitting to her right.
"Sorry, we aren't allowed to talk about that. What happened on that mission has been declared a village secret, even if I don't know exactly why." Naruto answered apologetically.
"Oh." Tenten was disappointed. She had hoped to get a first-hand account. "Could you tell me at least about Zabuza's blade?"
Naruto sent a questioning glance towards his sensei who nodded. "Okay, I can do that."
He began describing the weapon in vivid detail and Tenten leant closer so she wouldn't miss anything. The massive zanbato that was one of the most famous blades in the world came to life in her mind's eye. Made from dull grey chakra steel, one side of it was sharper than a razor while the other was reinforced to catch and deflect enemy blades. Two holes were cut in the blade, one circular and the other a semi-circle with sharp edges. Tenten could almost feel the steel under her fingertips. To actually wield such a weapon… it would be a dream come true. She imagined fighting with the sword, the envy of all kenjutsu users.
Suddenly Naruto's voice pierced her daydreams. "Umm, not that I really mind but could you please give me a bit more space?"
When Tenten became aware of her surroundings again she noticed that she was practically sitting in Naruto's lap. Her upper body was pressed against the blond boy's side, her chin rested on his shoulder and her left hand was touching his upper leg. Both teams were staring at her.
Immediately after that realization she hastily backed off while blushing furiously too embarrassed to speak. Naruto had a light blush on his cheeks, but good-natured amusement was clearly visible in his eyes.
'Oh Kami, I'm acting like one of those stupid girls.'
Anko was the first to regain her voice. "My, my, what a forward little kunoichi you have here, Gai-san. It seems she is very interested in weapons. It almost looked like she couldn't wait to take my pupil's sword into her sheath." she said in a teasing tone.
Everyone needed a moment to get her meaning, but then Choji erupted in roaring laughter. Tenten's blush intensified. Hinata added her pealing laughter while Lee didn't seem to understand the insinuation. Even Neji's lips curved upwards. Gai-sensei came to her rescue. "Anko-san, please don't speak about such un-youthful things."
"Oh, don't act all stuffy like an old man, Gai-san. Why, if anything I think that it would be very youthful behavior. I clearly remember the stories about you at that age. Didn't you make that bet with Kakashi who could outlast more kunoichi? The gals in the seduction department couldn't walk straight for a week."
If Tenten hadn't been so occupied with her own embarrassment she would have greatly enjoyed Gai-sensei's helpless spluttering that he wasn't acting old. After awhile the amusement died down and the conversation returned to more normal matters until it was sleeping time. When she was about to lie down Naruto approached her.
"I wanted to say sorry for Anko-sensei's behavior. Her humor is at times a bit crude."
Tenten shook her head. "It's nothing I can't handle. I'm the one who should apologize."
"Nah, I didn't mind. Your thoughts were clearly far away." Naruto gave her wink. "On the other hand, if that happens again you'll need to have a talk with my girlfriend about a time-sharing agreement."
They shared a laugh before Naruto returned to his sleeping place.
Later that night Tenten was trying to get some sleep, but her thoughts were returning to the blond boy again and again. She had clearly felt the muscles under his clothing along with what could only be additional hidden weapons. The close contact had felt nice and some part of her wanted to feel it again.
'Well, he is kind of cute. Pity he's already taken.'
Suddenly she shook her head violently. She wasn't one of those girls who fantasized about boys to the detriment of their training. She just wasn't.
Idate took a deep breath. It was time for him to meet his temporary teammates. Until the exams he would be under Kakashi's nominal command, but they wouldn't leave the village. There were some disturbing rumors, though. His big brother had refused to tell him the truth until he had the opportunity to see for himself. He spotted them as soon as the bridge designated as the meeting spot came into sight.
The black-haired boy clad in white shorts and a blue short-sleeved shirt with the Uchiha crest was leaning against the railing of the bride and was staring broodingly into empty space. 'I hope he wears something different on missions. That symbol tells everyone beforehand from what clan he is. He's practically begging to have his eyes gouged out by anyone who wants a sharingan and it marks him as a kidnap victim for people who would like to start their own breeding program.'
The pink-haired kunoichi was wearing a red dress and stared at the Uchiha with a dreamy expression. 'Uh oh. It seems she has the hots for the boy; never a good thing on a team. At least the dress looks like it doesn't hamper her mobility.'
When he walked up to them the boy noticed his approach early, but the girl only snapped out of her state when he was practically standing before them. 'Not good.'
"What do you want?" the Uchiha asked.
'So much for friendliness.' Idate thought before answering. "Hello. I'm Idate Morino and I've been temporarily assigned to your team."
"So you're the replacement for the dead-last who got cold feet. My name is Sasuke Uchiha." the boy said.
"I'm Sakura Haruno. A pleasure to meet you."
Idate took the girls hand and kissed it. "Charmed."
The blush spreading across the girl's features signaled his success. 'I still have it in me.'
"Say Idate-san, could you tell us a bit about you?" Sakura asked when she had recovered.
Shrugging, he answered "Sure. I've been a genin for almost four years now. My team was discontinued around two years ago; I've been working in different departments since then. When the opening on your team came up I decided to help out."
Sasuke gave him a respectful nod and looked far less dismissive than before. He even participated in the conversation from time to time. 'So the brat has at least some respect for experience and skill. That will make things easier.'
"Where's Kakashi? Shouldn't he be here by now?" Idate asked curiously after half an hour.
"He's always late. Usually he turns up one to two hours after the meeting time, but it can get up to four on bad days." Sakura said apologetically.
Idate was sorely tempted to say something snarky, but refrained. If he had to play babysitter he would try to get through this with the minimum amount of fuss.
"So, what do you think about our chances in the exams?"
Both genin looked at him in confusion. "What are talking about? Which exams?"
Idate blinked, a feeling of dread spreading through him. "Do you mean to tell me Kakashi didn't tell you anything about the chunin exams? The exams taking place in three weeks we are scheduled to participate in? Haven't you been training?"
Somehow he dreaded the answers to these questions very much.
Naruto carefully tied the last corner of their tent to a stake before he used a big stone to secure it further. It was raining and windy; he didn't want their only protection against the elements go flying due to some especially strong gust of wind. The tangle of trees both broken and intact they had chosen as their camping spot offered some cover on its own, but not enough. The group entered the tent as soon as he was finished, seeking cover from the rain. Naruto and Hinata proceeded to set up their sleeping arrangements while Anko and Choji busied themselves getting a meal ready.
Warming a pot full of water with camping jutsu was easily possible, but at most times it was easier to use wood. A conventional wood fire didn't need to be constantly maintained and didn't require chakra, after all. Unfortunately it would be impossible to find dry wood under these conditions. Sometime later they sat together wrapped in blankets, their clothes drying on a clothesline overhead. The hot soup certainly made the situation much better.
"So, now that you have met Team Gai what do you think of them?" Anko asked.
The teams had parted ways early this morning after delivering the scroll to the client. There had been no problems of any kind. It was a welcome change from their last two missions.
Naruto asked the question that had been on his mind for a while. "Is Maito Gai sane?"
Anko laughed lightly. "Probably not completely, no, but don't let his act fool you. He is the strongest taijutsu fighter in Konoha. Since he took his team he hardly uses ninjutsu or genjutsu anymore, but he is average in both fields. Average for a jonin, that is. I meant to ask about the genin, though."
"They certainly seem strong." Choji said. "I didn't get much information from Neji or Tenten, but Lee was less guarded than he ought to have been. Lee is incapable of using his chakra for techniques; he relies completely on taijutsu. His goal is to prove you can become a top shinobi with taijutsu alone and that hard work beats natural genius. To me he seemed far too overenthusiastic, though, which can be very dangerous."
"He's wearing v-very heavy training weights." Hinata added. "In fact, they are far heavier than what is considered h-healthy for a boy his age, especially because he doesn't seem to take them off. I didn't get to perform a m-medical scan, but from what I could see he has several half-healed injuries from overtraining under his bandages. There are t-traces in his chakra network that i-indicate he has opened at least one of the inner gates several times."
At hearing that Anko got serious. "Are you sure about that, Hinata?"
Hinata shrugged. "As s-sure as I can be without an outright examination."
"That might be problematic. He didn't seem like he would always be responsible in the use of such a dangerous skill." Anko mused. "On the other hand I don't know him well enough to pass judgment. He might be very different in a combat situation. What about the others?"
Naruto answered that. "Tenten is obviously a weapon specialist, but I don't know on what range she concentrates. Judging from the number of sealing scrolls she had on her she at least dabbles in the sealing arts. If I had to take a guess I would say that she is more comfortable at mid-to-long range; that would give her the necessary time and space to utilize her sealing scrolls to get more weapons. That's only an assumption, though."
"I think she's the most analytical and observant of the three. She was trying the entire time very hard to learn more about our skills without making it obvious. Oh, and she has a crush on Naruto since the first evening. I never thought talking about weapons would be such a good pick-up strategy." Choji said with a laugh.
Naruto shrugged. "What can I say? I'm just that awesome. At least I misled her about my skills. I don't think she realizes that my specialty is ninjutsu."
Anko nodded. "That was indeed a very good example for deception without lying. What about the Hyuuga?"
A shadow seemed to cross Hinata's face. "Neji is m-my cousin, but we hate each other. He m-makes my life as difficult as h-he can. He's a genius with the G-Gentle Fist; much better than I could ever hope to be. I observed him t-training in main house techniques back in Konoha when h-he thought himself unobserved. At close r-range he is deadly, but his arrogance t-tends to get the b-better of him and blind him t-to possible dangers. If he gets the chance I e-expect him to try and cripple or k-kill me."
That seemed to unsettle Anko. "Is it really that bad?"
"I cannot be s-sure, obviously. He might c-content himself with humiliating me, but I would r-rather not take the chance. Neji is obsessed with f-fate and resents his p-position in the clan. It isn't unfounded, b-but I can't condone that he is t-taking it out on me. In the last f-few years my situation in the c-clan has improved, but Neji h-has done his utmost to undermine my efforts."
"From my observation they work very well together under most circumstances. There is some tension between Lee and Neji, but I wouldn't expect that to become a critical problem. All in all they seem to be serious contenders for the exams." Choji said to break the ensuing silence.
Naruto stared at the ceiling thoughtfully for a minute. "Two close range fighters and one long range supporter. Normally I would say this is a good balance, but something bothers me. They all seem to use purely physical attacks. Oh, Neji's Gentle Fist uses chakra externally, but he has to touch his opponent all the same. It just seems like dangerous overspecialization to me. Tenten seems to be the only one who has an additional skill set, but I don't think she uses fuinjutsu for anything other than supporting her weapon skills."
Choji agreed after a moment. "It seems that way from the available information, but we don't know everything. Neji as a Hyuuga definitely won't use anything aside from clan techniques, but Tenten and Lee are wildcards. The team already exists for more than a year; I simply don't believe they could be such one-trick ponies, especially when they want to become chunin. It would be safer to assume that each one has at least one secondary skill set for combat that they keep secret. Do you know anything else, Anko-sensei?"
"Not really. I rarely interacted with Gai in the last years." Anko sighed. "Once upon a time I hoped to take Tenten as a personal apprentice. Just like me she is very accurate with thrown weapons. I observed her a bit during the end of her academy time. Originally there would have been only four graduates that had any hope of getting a jonin that term; Tenten, Neji and a girl and a boy whose names I have forgotten. One full team and a personal apprentice. What I didn't know was that Gai had taken an interest in Lee and pulled strings of his own. Normally Lee would never have been able to pass the elite exam; his inability to use techniques at all would have seen to that. I don't know what favors Gai had to call in, but somehow he managed to get an exception for Lee. Then he picked the other two for his team. He doesn't know about my interest in Tenten, though." She drank the rest of her soup before continuing. "Enough for now; it's time to get some sleep. You know, you never told me why you picked this particular mission."
Naruto shrugged. "It just seemed nice to take a vacation in the mountains. I didn't want anything combat-related and we aren't likely to run into any delays or complications. Besides, we can test some of our new jutsu without any danger of someone spying on us. The training grounds around Konoha aren't completely secure, after all."
Anko seemed content with that explanation. It wasn't that far off the truth. Just as they spied on other people those other people tried to spy on them. Now, between Naruto' senses and Hinata's byakugan that was very difficult to pull off, but it wasn't impossible and the attempts were irritating. The mission would provide them some truly unobserved time.
Their client was a wealthy scholar at the Daimyo's court. From time to time he hired shinobi to search an area for lost cities and the like. As soon as he learned the location of something worthwhile he would assemble a true archeological expedition. Apparently it was cheaper that way. The current mission was to find one of the lost cities of the Fire Empire, the long disintegrated precursor of the Land of Fire. Naruto doubted they would find anything, but he wouldn't complain about it.
The true reason for accepting this mission was the area they had been hired to search. It was an extension of the same range of hills they had crossed during their first mission out of Konoha, but currently they were far to the west. Here the hills had changed into true mountains. He and Hinata knew exactly where several summoning contracts were located, and this area qualified. The long-extinct Yamaguchi clan had made his home here, not that anyone knew this fact. The Yamaguchi had been soundly defeated in the Clan Wars and disappeared from the face of the earth. It was assumed they had been destroyed completely. In truth they had simply retreated into their secret mountain stronghold.
At this time Naruto didn't know the reasons, but the clan had died out nonetheless. What was important to his current situation was that they had possessed a summoning contract. The timeline where he had discovered it had been one of the worst. Konoha had been destroyed early, leading to him being on the run ever since he was six. The group he was with had simply tried to find shelter in these mountains and stumbled upon the stronghold. A very few times he or someone else had found the hidden contract. Now they had only to lead Anko and Choji to the right location. It wasn't as if they could simply walk directly to it; that would have caused far too many questions. Luckily they had already made a plan.
Several days later Team 11 was camping in a large, sparsely vegetated valley. They had already searched their assigned area and were just training a bit before returning to Konoha.
"You can do it, Hinata!" Naruto shouted in encouragement.
Said girl just nodded determinedly and carefully began another string of hand seals. Once she could perform the technique successfully she would cut down on the number of hand seals, but for now she used the large number intended for learning the technique. Nothing seemed to happen for a moment, but then a section of the small stream running through the valley bulged up. The watery construct became more defined by the second, limbs sprouting from the main mass. A few times quivers ran through it, but finally it assumed Hinata's form. Clear water became opaque and a second Hinata seemed to stand on the water.
Naruto was quick to congratulate her. "You did it! Good work, Hinata."
"Thank you. Now to see what it can do." Hinata replied before she returned her concentration to the clone.
Anko-sensei was currently helping Choji with his fire techniques, leaving Naruto and Hinata alone. The water and ice techniques recovered from Zabuza's hideout had proven very interesting, but naturally the ice techniques were unusable for them. Unfortunately most of the water techniques had been high rank and practically impossible to learn without access to more basic techniques and a water user as instructor. Both Naruto and Hinata had memorized the scrolls thanks to their memorization spell, but it wasn't enough. From simply knowing the instructions of a technique to actually being able to use it was a big step. Once learned you had to train it until you became able to use it under battle conditions. Even then there was still room for improvement, like further omitting hand seals and the like.
Hinata had already learned the Water Needles and the Wild Water Wave, both C-rank jutsu. Nominally the Water Clone was a C-rank jutsu as well, but in truth it was closer to B-rank thanks to its complexity. Naruto had tried his hand at the Water Needles, but soon given up. Lacking a water affinity as well as water elemental training C-ranked water jutsu were difficult for him to perform successfully. The C-rank earth and fire jutsu of his repertoire had been difficult enough to master, but now they were pressed for time. He doubted he could get the water clone to work without at least several months of basic water elemental training. For now it was more important to get the jutsu of his own affinities to work. Their forced participation in the chunin exams had played merry hell with his timetable.
The visit to the shinobi library some time ago had yielded basic jutsu of each element (with the exception of wind), but most of them were too ineffective to bother with in combat. How many different ways to throw fiery doom at an opponent did one really need? Most techniques accomplished the same thing in different and sometimes quite convoluted ways. It was the same with Anko-sensei's lightning techniques. Too complicated for what they did; too many hand seals. Chakra consumption wasn't really a problem for Naruto, but it just irked him to use horribly inefficient techniques. Since he could feel his own chakra very precisely he was acutely aware of those facts each time he performed a jutsu.
His thought were interrupted when Hinata plopped down on the ground at his side. "Already finished?"
"For now, yes. I can give the clone basic instructions, but it isn't very good at performing them and has no real mind of its own. I guess it operates at around a tenth of my own combat abilities and naturally it can't use my jutsu, juuken or my byakugan. Considering how integral the last two are to my fighting style that causes further problems. On the other hand I can control its actions myself, but that costs a lot of concentration. In that case its raw performance is almost on a level with my own. Still, the technique will have its uses." Hinata explained.
"How do the jutsu hold up in comparison to your direct water manipulation?" Naruto asked.
Hinata looked thoughtful for a moment. "It's easier if it's a technique. For example, I could form several water needles on my own, but it's simpler if I use a pre-existing technique. I suspect at some point in the future my water manipulation will become good enough that it will reverse the situation. For now though the fixed techniques are better."
They enjoyed a few minutes of silence before Anko and Choji returned. When the jonin saw two Hinata's present a smile appeared on her face. "It seems congratulations are in order. I'm proud of you, Hinata."
Hinata acknowledged the praise with a nod and dispelled the clone.
Anko turned towards Naruto. "How are things going with your projects, Naruto?"
"Good, Anko-sensei. I finally have the Shocking Grasp technique down. It will come in useful if I can't use weapons for one reason or another." Naruto got to his feet. "As for the other technique I'm working on…"
Naruto performed a string of eight hand seals and a bright disc of actinic light appeared above his palm. It emitted a faint humming noise and some tiny bolts of lightning arced along its surface, but none got far enough away to actually touch Naruto's flesh.
"I present to you the Thunder Disc; electric death in a small, efficient package. You can look, but don't touch." he announced proudly.
"How long can you hold it in your hand?" Choji asked curiously.
"Effectively indefinitely. I still have to feed it chakra, but not overly much. The containment isn't as good as it could be yet so it slowly loses power in contact with air. If I decide to not use it I can dispel it, but that's rather unpleasant." Naruto answered.
Choji had another question. "Why is it such a thick disc?"
The blond boy shrugged. "I tried a sphere first, but I found that it flies easier in this form along with improved accuracy. Any other questions before I launch it?"
When no one spoke up he thrust his arm forward. The disc immediately left his hand and streaked towards a man-sized boulder some distance away at a respectable speed. It hit with a resounding boom, shrouding the impact area in a cloud of dust. When the dust cleared the group could see that the boulder was completely blown into small fragments.
Anko let out a low whistle. "Not bad. I don't think many people are creating their own techniques so soon and so successfully. From what I've seen I would class it as a C-rank technique."
Naruto smiled at the praise. "It's still a work in progress. I can adjust the destructive power within limits, but since it's lightning it's most effective again rock. Against humans or wood there will be some loss of destructive power. Mainly it's a flexible, basic technique I can improve on later. I already have several ideas for other modifications like making it guided and derived techniques. With a bit of practice I should get it down to two hand seals for combat application. For now it gives me some destructive power at mid-range."
For a while he had considered developing a higher-rank technique first, but his father was right. First a solid foundation, then the good stuff. The more experience he got with lower-ranked techniques the easier the complicated ones would be. With a bit of refinement the Thunder Disc would become his lightning jutsu of choice when had to fight at medium distances and didn't want to cause massive collateral damage. Well, he had a technique in development for that, too. Unfortunately the chunin exams had come too early for everything to be finished in time.
Suddenly he became aware that Anko was very close to him and looking at him with a strange glint in her eyes. "Say, could you blow up some more stuff?"
Hinata watched Naruto tossing Thunder Discs at various objects, urged on by Anko-sensei. Something in the process of blowing things up seemed to be deeply satisfying on some level for both of them. Anko was acting almost giddy; cheering whenever a new explosion occurred. Well, Naruto had promised her to teach her the jutsu once he perfected it. Even Choji seemed to slowly get into the spirit of things.
"Look out; here it comes a max power!"
The disc didn't look any different, but the explosion was much bigger. The area of broken ground left behind had a diameter of almost a dozen meters and the sound of the explosion was still echoing in the valley.
'That should do it.'
Suddenly Naruto's expression grew serious and he turned his head from one side to the other. Anko and Choji noticed the change immediately. "What's up, Naruto?"
The blond boy threw another Thunder Disc and listened carefully to the explosion. "Something is wrong with the echoes."
After a few second of silence Anko shook her head. "I don't notice anything unusual."
"I'm certain of it." Naruto continued causing explosions, listening to their aftermath and slowly wandering through the valley. After about a dozen explosions the group ended up before a steep rock face. "Hinata, can you see anything unusual?"
Hinata knew her part of the plan and activated her byakugan before frowning. "You're right, this isn't n-normal. I didn't notice it when we were f-farther away, but this isn't rock." She tried to touch the rock, but her hand went right through it. "This is some sort of illusion, but not a n-normal genjutsu. I can't see through it. Should we explore?"
Anko gave them a nod. "Do it, but be careful. We don't know what to expect here."
Taking a step forward Hinata completely entered the fake rock face. Encountering an illusion that was able to deceive her bloodline was rare, but not impossible. The Hyuuga's all-seeing eyes weren't as infallible as most people believed. Whoever had designed this illusion had weaved a chakra-masking technique, elements from a spacetime jutsu and the actual ninjutsu illusion together. If she tried to look past the barrier her viewpoint would end up inside one of the mountains to the side. Since there was no light inside the rock that meant she couldn't see anything. Hinata idly wondered what was powering the barrier after all these years.
'Probably some sort of robust sealing matrix.'
Not even a second later she left the darkness of the illusion, entering the bottom of a chasm. When she looked up she could see a tiny speck of sky, but the cliffs were enormous. Now that she had left the illusion behind her byakugan could work unrestricted. Some distance away the chasm opened into a small basin. If one looked carefully one could see the overgrown remains of what had once been fields and gardens. Several small brooks emerged from different points of the cliffs, flowing into a lake at the center of the basin. Even more interesting were the houses built into one of the sidewalls.
Hinata turned around. "Can y-you hear me? It seems to be safe."
"Okay. We're coming through." came the answer. A few moments later the rest of the team emerged from the cliff behind her.
"Do you see anything interesting, Hinata?" Anko asked.
She nodded. "There's a b-basin complete with a small abandoned settlement about a kilometer away. No s-signs of human life."
There were a few traps in the chasm, but Hinata always warned them in time. Most had fallen apart long ago anyway. When they reached the basin they split up to explore but didn't find anything. Hinata could see the remains of field boundaries under the dense vegetation, but anyone else would have seen only wilderness. They met again at the houses. At some point there had been a fire that had destroyed most of the buildings, but since they were made of rock the walls were still standing. The houses had been built almost atop each other, partly carved out from the rock wall. Once upon a time there must have been ladders, but in the present day none were left. It wasn't difficult for them to walk up the walls, though. They found some remains of tools and weapons, but nothing intact.
That lasted until they entered one of the few intact houses. A skeleton was lying on the bed, a clay tablet by the side. A symbol was scratched into it above an inscription.
Choji read the inscription out loud. "I am the last one left and the time of my death draws near. Defeated in the field we retreated here to recover our strength. Unknowingly the warriors brought the illness with them. At first only a few were affected, but then it spread quickly. Our healer was the first to die. Part of the clan tried to escape. No one knows what happened to them. I hope they survived and you are one of them. Our clan's treasure is safe in its hiding place. I am unworthy of using it. Goodbye." Choji looked up. "An illness killed them all? Who were they?"
Hinata knew the answer to that. "I remember that s-symbol from a history lesson. It b-belonged to the Yamaguchi clan. The last report of the Yamaguchi w-was from about 120 years ago. That is the s-same time as one of the outbreaks of the g-great plague. Some villages d-died out completely."
The entire team suppressed a collective shudder. Epidemics had always been a problem even medical jutsu had difficulty dealing with. The last great outbreak of the plague several decades ago had cost Konoha almost half its population; practically the complete Senju clan had been amongst the victims.
"We should leave here. This is a tomb." Choji said.
Naruto shook his head. "I disagree. We are obviously the first to explore. Perhaps something valuable is left. There was a mention of treasure, after all."
"I agree with N-Naruto." Hinata said.
Anko looked at the position of the sun. "Okay, I agree to spend the rest of the day exploring. Tomorrow we return to Konoha."
They split up in two groups, Hinata and Naruto in one, Choji and Anko in the other. As soon as they were far enough away Naruto turned to Hinata. "Is the door where it should be?"
Hinata nodded. "Yes. Everything is like in the vision."
Determinedly the two made their way to a specific, completely unremarkable wall in a corner behind several buildings. If you didn't know it was there it was very easy to overlook.
"There's empty space behind it." Hinata said.
"Good. Here goes nothing." Naruto replied and proceeded to push against the wall. With a low grinding noise a section slid backwards. The bricks had been fitted so skillfully that the seams had been completely invisible before. Behind the door a dark stairway led into the mountain, going steadily upwards.
Naruto took her hand and they began to climb the stairway. There was a light in the distance. It enabled Naruto to see enough to lead her without them having to use a torch. Not that she minded the contact; they could rarely risk such a display normally.
Finally they arrived at a sort of gallery looking out over the mountainside. Hinata approached the edge and looked down. "Don't get too close. It's a long, long way down." she said to Naruto when she stepped back. Still, the view was breathtaking. When she turned around she saw what they had come to collect.
A niche was cut into the wall besides the stairway. There was a stone box there, adorned with the clan symbol of the Yamaguchi. Hinata examined it carefully before she allowed Naruto to approach. "No signs of traps, but please be careful."
Naruto patted her hand. "I'm always careful, love."
She watched anxiously as he approached the stone box and conducted a meticulous examination of his own. After a few minutes he was finished and opened the box with a grunt of effort. As soon as light fell into the interior Hinata could see that there was only a big scroll inside. It wasn't a normal scroll, though. She could easily see that it was laced with chakra. There wasn't even the slightest sign of decay.
Naruto carefully took the scroll out of the container and unrolled it. There were quite a lot of names, but the symbols had turned black, signifying the summoners' death. Taking a deep breath, Naruto cut one of his fingers with a knife and added his name to the scroll. For almost a minute Naruto made no further movements until he suddenly nodded. Moving a short distance to the side he made the hand seals necessary and put his still bleeding hand to the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
As soon as he wrote his name Naruto felt it. Something established a tentative connection to his essence. It wasn't quite chakra, nor was it magic even if his soul was involved. Until the summons formally accepted him the bond was tentative, but once confirmed it would be very difficult to dissolve. It was one of the reasons Anko was still a snake summoner; she literally had no means of ending the contract. Oh, she could do it by deliberately killing her own summons, but that would lead to them actively hunting her down to take revenge. After they reverse-summoned her to their home, of course. The designated master summoners could dissolve the contracts of their junior summoners deliberately, but no one else could with one exception. Since no other signatories of the contract Naruto had just signed were still alive he would be automatically the master summoner in this case.
The one exception to the rule came into play when a summoner signed the contract of another species. If they didn't agree to sharing a summoner the summoner in question could dissolve the contract of his choosing. At least that was the case if the tribes were of similar strength; otherwise the stronger summons would retain the contract after a metaphysical tug-of-war. It was the only way out for a master summoner.
As far as Naruto knew no human alive was aware of all those facts. Even less creatures knew about what summons truly were. Heck, even most of the rank-and-file summons probably didn't know. Naruto himself had gained the information from his mother who had reconstructed it from the remaining memory fragments of the Juubi. The various species of summons had been originally created as servants and heralds of several gods of nature during the age of gods. When the gods left the world their summons remained. Over the millennia they had developed independently in different directions, but one common legacy remained.
Summons needed a master to serve.
It was deeply ingrained into their very nature and the reason why summoning contracts existed. They offered their master their services for free and allowed access to techniques unique to them. Unfortunately the connection cut both ways and some summon tribes worked hard to bend their summoners to their will or ideals, often quite subtly. The snakes and toads came to mind as major tribes who did that.
There were two kinds of tribes of summons. Major tribes were often very strong, had many members with different skills and most importantly were led by an almost immortal sage. The lesser tribes had either lost their sages or didn't have one in the first place. They were often less powerful and had fewer members. Kakashi's dogs fell into that category.
Additionally there were exceptions to the rule like human-created summons, but they were rare in comparison. The Morino clan in Konoha was rumored to have the necessary knowledge to create such things.
Naruto had worried a long time about being bound to the toads. It was very likely that they had conspired with Minato in the plan of creating a savior for the world, even if he had no proof. There was simply no way to be sure. It was unlikely that the average toad knew anything. The leading toad sage would know; maybe some other members. That didn't mean they couldn't be manipulated into furthering that goal. Signing the toad contract would have given them power over him. That would have been unacceptable.
'That's in the past. I know my new summons didn't get along well with the toads in the past and that they adhere to a more traditional obedience to their summoner. I'm finally safe from that particular danger.'
Introspection complete, Naruto nodded, stood up and prepared to summon something. He didn't know anything about his summons other that they belonged to the great tribes. It would probably best to summon something of average strength. Whatever appeared would most likely be able to help him further. Luckily the summoning technique was widely known since it was useless without a contract. Molding a respectable amount of chakra he made the five necessary seals before slamming his hands on the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
A thick cloud of smoke emerged. Two arguing voices cut through it.
"Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?"
"Not at all. They could be carried."
"What? A normal one carrying a coconut? One of us could do it without problems, but a normal one?"
"It could grip it by the husk!"
"It's not a question of where it grips it! It's a simple question of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut."
Finally the smoke cleared, revealing two arguing bird-like creatures looking similar to swallows. They were rather small, hardly more than thirty centimeters from head to tail. Gesturing wildly with their wings, it sometimes seemed as if some feathers were fingers. They displayed far more facial expression than should be possible for birds. One had steel blue upperparts and white underparts while the other one had crimson feathers instead of the steel blue ones. Naruto had to look twice, but the blue swallow was wearing glasses.
At that moment the crimson one seemed to notice him and Hinata. "Well, it doesn't matter. We have…"
"Listen. In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a normal swallow needs to beat its wings forty-three times every second, right?"
"Please!"
"Am I right?"
The patience of the crimson swallow apparently ran out in that moment. "Shut up! We have been summoned!"
"Huh?" It was only then that the blue swallow took notice of them. "Upon my soul! No one has summoned one of us for over a hundred years. I feared we had to go back on our word and retrieve the summoning contract on our own to choose a new summoner."
A moment later it was all over Naruto and Hinata, examining them from all angles, sitting on their shoulders or their heads before changing its position. It was so fast that it almost seemed to teleport from one position to the next. That lasted until it crashed into the floor, the red swallow sitting atop of it.
The red swallow bowed. "Please excuse my partner. He is… overly curious and excitable. My name is Natsu. My partner is named Fuyu. Might I ask for the name of our honored summoner?"
Naruto bowed slightly in return. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I just found and signed the contract."
Natsu cocked its head. "Uzumaki? I heard of your clan. What happened to the Yamaguchi? We are honor-bound to serve them exclusively. Our last summoner died in battle, but they should have chosen a new one long ago."
"As far as I know they are extinct. It's been more than a hundred years since the clan was seen last. From what we learned here they retreated after being beaten in battle only to succumb to an illness." he explained.
The swallow seemed saddened by that. "That would be a pity, but it would explain our long wait. Most of us have slept for the last few decades. If you allow, we would like to investigate for ourselves. It won't take long."
Naruto shrugged. "Feel free to do so. We'll wait here."
"Thank you, honored summoner." Natsu began kicking the still downed Fuyu. "Wake up; we have some investigating to do."
The blue-feathered swallow grumbled. "Typical, now you want my help." A second later he was already up. Before Naruto could blink both swallows had already flown out of the gallery.
"They are certainly fast." Hinata remarked.
Naruto nodded. "That they are. I hope they will prove valuable allies. Do you want to sign the contract, too?"
Hinata thought a moment. "No, we follow the plan. We will acquire more contracts in the future and we don't know all the rivalries between the tribes or if they accept multi-summoners. It's better I remain unbound for the time being."
In that moment the two swallows returned. They seemed crestfallen. "You have spoken the truth. More than a hundred years have passed since a summoner was chosen, thereby voiding the agreement between us and the Yamaguchi." Natsu said.
"That means you can become our summoner." Fuyu added. "You'll have to hammer out the details of the agreement later with the higher-ups, like if the contract should be passed on exclusively in your family or what other people can sign. That isn't urgent, though."
Once again Natsu took over. "The only thing that remains is to finalize our contract. Please summon the contract keeper. Simply think of the name while performing the technique."
Naruto did as asked. An explosion of smoke later the contract keeper stood before them. The new swallow was bigger than a man and almost completely black. Its head feathers were white and very bushy, giving the impression of a wild mane of hair complete with a full beard. One eye was completely white while the other was black. Somehow it gave the impression of smiling maliciously.
"Who dares summon me?" it asked in a deep voice.
"Excuse us; let us tell him the news." Fuyu interrupted. The three swallows huddled together and exchanged words at a rapid pace, too fast for Naruto to understand. From time to time one would turn its head and look at them before continuing the conversation.
When they were finished the black swallow turned towards Naruto. "Who would sign the contract here must answer me these questions three or the bottom of the abyss he'll see."
Naruto blinked. "Huh?"
Fuyu sighed. "It's easy. The old-timer here will ask you three questions. If you can answer them you'll be accepted as our summoner. If not, well, you get a free flight into the abyss outside. Sorry about that, but it's tradition."
"Let us demonstrate." Natsu ruffled his feathers. "Ask me the questions, contract keeper. I'm not afraid."
"What... is your name?"
"My name is Natsu of the swallow tribe."
"What... is your quest?"
"To serve a worthy summoner."
"What... is your favorite color?"
"Red."
The contractkeeper nodded gravely. "You pass. Off you go."
"That wasn't so difficult." Hinata remarked.
Now it was Fuyu's turn.
"What... is your name?"
"Fuyu of the swallow tribe."
"What... is your quest?"
"To serve a worthy summoner and learn the secrets of the world."
"What... is your favorite color?"
"Yellow. No, blueeeee…"
With a cry Fuyu was catapulted over the edge. A few seconds later he came flying back, glaring at the contract keeper. "That was so unfair. You know I can never decide on a color."
Naruto steeled himself and approached the contract keeper, ignoring a worried Hinata.
"What... is your name?"
"Naruto Uzumaki."
"What... is your quest?"
"To free myself from the fate others want to force me into."
"What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?"
Naruto stared at the bird for a moment. "What do you mean? An Elemental or Island swallow?"
The contract keeper blinked. "Huh? I... I don't know that. Auuuuuuuugh."
Both the two swallows and Hinata stared open-mouthed (or open-beaked) as the venerable contract keeper was picked up by an invisible force and thrown over the edge. Naruto smirked victoriously. Playing these scenarios with his father had been a worthwhile investment of his time. With a great gush of wind the contract keeper came back, looking seriously pissed.
"That was underhanded. How do know so much about swallows in the first place?" he asked.
Naruto shrugged. "Well, you have to know these things when you want to become a summoner, you know."
The contract keeper fixed him with a glare. Naruto stared back fearlessly. Suddenly the big bird erupted in laughter and seemed far friendlier. "You pass. That was the funniest thing any candidate ever did."
"Yahoo! We have a new summoner! We have a new summoner!" Natsu and Fuyu chanted while dancing around Naruto.
Naruto could feel the tentative connection to the swallow tribe strengthen. For better or worse he was now bound to them and they to him.
'Well, that was different.'
When things had calmed down Natsu spoke up. "My lord, if you don't need us for anything Fuyu and I are going back to spread the news. Don't hesitate to call us if you need something or just want to chat."
Fuyu looked at him expectantly. "Please don't wait too long, boss. So much has changed since we were last here. We've been cooped up far too long. I can't wait to learn everything about the new world. See you."
With two puffs of smoke the two swallows disappeared, but the contract keeper remained.
"Would you really have thrown Naruto over the edge to let him fall to his death?" Hinata asked curiously.
The contract keeper made a dismissive motion with his wings. "Nah. I would have caught him in time. There aren't unlimited hordes of potential summoners, you know. It's a test of courage. If a candidate backs out after seeing what happens when you answer a question wrong he clearly doesn't have what it takes."
Naruto had a question. "What happens with the contract scroll? I don't want to watch the thing the entire time."
"I can take it with me. Just summon me if you want to have some cadet summoners sign it. It was only here because of our agreement with the Yamaguchi. I recommend you summon Grandmother Tsubame to learn more about us when you have some free time. She knows everyone and everything, but her stories take time." He took the contract scroll into his claws. "If that is everything I too take my leave, Naruto-sama."
"Wait. Is there one of you who can carry a party of four? I always wanted to fly." Naruto asked before the big swallow could dispel.
The contract keeper cocked his head thoughtfully. "Several actually. Depending on what exactly you want there are multiple options. To get the best experience of your first aerial voyage I recommend…"
Naruto listened attentively as the contract keeper gave him several names. It would be a nice surprise for Anko-sensei when they turned up. Besides, he really wanted to try flying in the real world.
"Where are they?" Anko wondered. "They should have been back by now."
Choji was about to say something when suddenly his eyes widened and his mouth fell open. He was looking at something directly behind her.
"Hey, Anko-sensei. Look what we've found!"
Author's notes: Thank you for all the reviews and additions to alerts and favorites. Random fact: The story passed 100k hits in late April. Including this chapter it has now over 300k words.
I hope you like the animal I picked as summon for Naruto.
My Natsu has no deliberate connection to the Natsu of Fairy Tail (I have not enough time to read or watch it). I picked the names before one of my betas (who for some reason still have no account here) pointed it out. The names give some indication of the powers of that particular pair, though.
Some people might wonder why Tenten wasn't able to find much instruction in the sealing arts, especially in light of Homura's thoughts on the need for seal masters. The answer is simple: He hasn't yet become aware of her interest in (and aptitude for) the art. Tenten only switched her interest to fuinjutsu after she failed at becoming a medic-nin a few months ago. Since he is a very busy man and has no reason to specifically keep track of the members of Team Gai the information has yet to reach his ears. Additionally, quite a few people try and fail at learning it, meaning he doesn't jump each time someone tries it.
Seal specialists (not masters) who are good enough that they can actually teach almost always belong to a specific department. They would be teaching it in a package deal (you join our department for X years and we teach you all about our specialized seal knowledge) Tenten can't accept as long as she is a member of Team Gai. Outside of that they would require a high sum of money or several large favors since their time is very valuable.
So long.