Chapter 35
The ninja academy had one primary aim, to prepare the future ninjas for their hard and very often dangerous job. It wasn't that much aimed towards developing the skills, but more to create a strong basis for future growth, giving the young ninjas adequate theoretical knowledge, basic fighting skills and at least some level of psychological preparation. Of course for many that wasn't enough so there was a reason why so few actually became genin. Only members of the ninja clans had enough preparation to not worry about their future. They received additional tutoring or help from their family members and usually came with their clan unique techniques and skills under their belt. Others had only their talents and determination to rely on, though sometimes that proved even of an asset than any kind of special tutoring.
"Hey, Iruka-sensei!" the voice was so familiar that Iruka didn't even have to look to see who it was. Few ninjas were so loud and Iruka shook his head with a laugh turning towards his now former student who approached along with his teammates. It was amazing how time changed things. When Iruka declared that Naruto would be teamed up with Sakura and Sasuke the reactions were mixed to say the least, but now all three looked like a very strong team. The members bonded despite their differences, especially true when Naruto and Sasuke were concerned, but even Sakura seemed to accept her loud and obnoxious teammate.
"Naruto ... I sort of expected they would send your team. I kept an eye on your development and I must say you are becoming quite a ninja."
"Heh, I told you I was awesome, sensei." Naruto grinned.
"Sure, sure. Sasuke, Sakura, I am glad to see you too and in perfect health."
"Yeah, we are doing great." Sakura smiled.
"Hn." Sasuke shrugged, but he clearly agreed. Toero watched the exchange with a neutral expression, but didn't interfere allowing the teacher and his students to catch up with news. He didn't like wasting time though and cleared his throat making Iruka turn to him.
"We have a task to carry out, perhaps we could get onto it?"
"Ahh, of course." Iruka nodded. "Toero-san, right?"
"Correct."
"Well, all that is required is for the genin to answer some questions asked by the students about obligations and duties of a real ninja. I felt they would be more willing to accept information from someone closer to their age group."
"You heard what your task is? Get to it."
"I'll show they way to the classroom." Iruka offered.
"Sensei, we've learned here, I bet any of us can find our way with our eyes closed." Sakura pointed out to her former teacher who had to agree with that.
"I guess, but I still have to introduce you, so follow me oh and Naruto, please, don't show off."
"Since when do I show off, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked. "What?"
Naruto saw that everyone including Toero were giving him blank looks.
"Uzumaki, just follow instructions." Toero said and kept walking.
...
"So today a group of genin will answer your questions about the duties of a real ninja. Hokage agreed with my request and sent genin squad seven to be here today." Iruka decided to first prepare the class before calling the genin into the class.
The class just couldn't stay quiet after that and the exited talks only intensified when three genin walked inside followed by someone whose presence sent shivers down the spines of some students.
"Boss!"
"Oh no." Sakura rubbed her face. That brat just had to be in this class. Sure thing there he was, sitting between his two friends who called themselves the Konohamaru Corps. The last time she ran into this bunch they nearly ended up fighting the sand siblings and then not so long ago the brat nearly hit her with a shuriken. Sure it was Toero who used her as a human shield before catching the shuriken, but she blamed the brat for that.
"Oh, hey Konohamaru, funny running into you here!" Naruto grinned. Sasuke sighed realizing that Toero found another way to torment them, this time by making them spend time in a presence of little brats that had 'annoying' written all over them. Sasuke didn't have Kiba's nose, but even her smelled that some of the girls already used perfume and remembered Toero's lecture about that when he felt Sakura use one. That day he explained that it was better to act like dirt, smell like dirt and look like dirt, because then your enemy might mistake you for dirt and leave you alone. That followed by him forcing Sakura to use that knowledge and Sasuke had to admit that by the end of the day Sakura did resemble a moving pile of dirt, as she was covered in leaves and mud and who knows what. Of course that was taking it a bit too far, but Sasuke somehow suspected that the aim was not so much to teach Sakura about the proper way to conceal her presence than about knocking out her habit of using perfume, or smelly shampoos or anything else. Naturally Sakura never came to team meeting smelling like a batch of flowers and somehow to her surprise that earned her more approval from Sasuke than anything else she tried before.
"Iruka-sensei, those are genin, seriously? I mean the one with the sword, fine, I can believe it, but a stupid girly girl and an orange idiot?"
Iruka groaned. These things never changed and the last thing he wanted was for his students to antagonize his former students. There were always loudmouths like that.
"Do you have a death wish?"
Surprisingly Iruka heard Hanabi speak out. The youngest daughter of the head of the Hyuga clan mostly kept quiet during lesson, but for reason completely different from her older sister. If Hinata was shy than Hanabi had a healthy amount of arrogance. In most cases she considered those around beneath her. Iruka had to admit that the girl despite her young age had a good amount of skill to back up such arrogance and she was quite aggressive during the spars. Still Iruka didn't like her overwhelming pride at being a Hyuga.
"Huh?"
"I said, do you have a death wish? You are insulting people that can kill you without breaking a sweat, at least two of them can. I've been at the chunin exam finals and I've seen what they are capable of."
"For once I agree with her, don't insult the boss!" Konohamaru jumped up in his seat. Iruka couldn't remember the last time Konohamaru and Hanabi agreed on anything.
"Oh, shut up!" Sasuke growled making the whole class go silent. "You are giving me a headache. Listen, Iruka-sensei asked us to come and talk to you, but so far it was a complete waste of our time. You might not realize but we are active ninjas and we have better things to do than to sit here and listen to a bunch of brats yelling."
"Hmm, he can be intimidating." Iruka nodded. That part about Sasuke was always present, but he never so actively directed his ire at the people in front of him.
"Better things to do? Like what?" Moegi spoke for the first time.
"Like not being here." Sasuke grumbled.
"What Sasuke-kun means is that we have to train and perform mission assigned by the hokage." Sakura spoke. Naruto who wasn't that good at explaining stuff sat down on Iruka's desk, while Sasuke leaned on the wall.
"What kind of missions?"
"It depends on the rank. Some are pretty easy, but some are tougher and sometimes mission end up more dangerous than expected."
"Oh yeah, like when Zabuza showed up. Mean bastard, but not all that bad actually and Haku turned out to be nice too." Naruto grinned.
"You ran into other ninjas? That is awesome boss, did you fight, did you beat them?" Konohamaru was practically jumping in his seat.
"Well, yeah, sort of."
"Awesome. What happened to those ninjas?"
"They are dead." Sasuke said coldly, his short reply once more made the class go quiet. "What, you expected that we fought, then shook our hands and went separate ways? It doesn't work that way generally."
"Logical, they were enemies, they are now dead, that is what you do to enemies." Hanabi shrugged.
"Stay silent, Hyuga. Talking about taking a life and actually doing it are different things. Even to see someone die is not the same as actually killing. Do not speak of it so easily, you have no right to speak about it." Sasuke glared and Hanabi somehow seemed to get smaller under his gaze. She knew better than to speak against this genin, she remembered the amount of damage he could do when back at the finals he sank his hand into the arena wall using some weird lightning jutsu. As for his blonde teammate, he looked strange for a ninja, but he pummeled her cousin into the ground with such power that she was surprised that Neji actually survived. He looked all cheery and goofy now, but back then he radiated such rage and animalistic fury that he scared her more than anything she ever saw or felt. Back then he was anger given flesh.
"You wanted your students to hear about the darker side of our job?" Toero turned to Iruka.
"Better if some broke here than in the middle of a battle." Iruka replied. He cared for every one of his students, he wanted to prepare them as much as he wanted and that not always meant that he had to be caring, sometimes he had to be strict, at times even cruel to teach them the lesson some were unwilling to learn.
Toero turned away, thinking. To care sometimes meant to cause pain in order to prevent even worse pain. A lesser of two evils, a hardest choice to make.
…
"Gai-sensei, I am worried too, but please, take a seat. You pacing back and forth isn't helping anyone." Tenten got sick of watching her sensei move around. She and Neji asked for a day off to be here today, waiting for Lee's surgery to end. So far it was going for three hours already.
"I am sorry, you are right, I'll take a seat." Gai sat down next to Neji, but couldn't sit still even for a little bit as he kept shifting and trying to take a more comfortable position, all the while not taking his eyes off the pair of large doors that read 'surgery'.
"Neji, maybe you can use your byakugan to see how our youthful teammate is doing?" Gai turned to Neji.
"No. I will not use my clan bloodline in such a manner. I will also not interfere in any way with the procedure, even by observing the process."
"Ughh." Gai turned away and began biting his nails.
"I wonder how long they will still be there." Tenten sighed. She was also nervous, constantly checking the pockets of her chunin vest if everything was in order and so on.
"They will be there as long as it takes, no more no less."
"How can you act so calm?" Tenten looked at Neji.
"I can control my emotions, that is what a ninja should be able to do."
"You sure seemed pissed during your fight at the finals."
"That was ... I failed to control my emotions back then. Uzumaki Naruto is a master of provocation."
"Sure he is." Tenten smirked. "You think Lee will be alright?"
"He is physically and spiritually strong and he is treated by one of the best medical ninjas you can find, so his chances are as high as they can get. I sincerely hope he will recover."
"Oh my, Neji, is almost sounded as if you care."
"If our team won't come back together, then I eventually will murder the blonde Yamanaka. I am irritated by her constant gossip and obsession over her looks. I can get along with her two teammates, but I feel sorry for them."
"Oh come on Neji, don't tell me that the prodigy of a Hyuga clan can't handle being around a girl."
"You are a girl, I can be around you just fine. But the Yamanaka is just so incredibly annoying and her mind is always somewhere high in the clouds. The only reason why I don't speak up against her, is because Shikamaru-san explained that it was more trouble than it was worth."
"And you actually respect his opinion?" Tenten asked. The conversation made their minds trail off, for a moment making them forget about the surgery and their teammate.
"First of all like you he outranks me. Then he also proved to be able to analyze information and come up with the best possible solutions, I can respect such a skill, especially when it comes to a squad leader."
"Good to hear. I actually ... "
"They are coming!" Gai jumped up and just as he did the doors opened and they saw Lee being rolled out on a gurney. He was unconscious and pale, but that was to be expected.
"Relax, your student will be fine, the surgery went surprisingly smoothly. He will need time to restore his physical prowess, but at least now he will be able to do."
"YES. THE POWER OF YOUTH OVERCOMES ALL!" Gai laughed and then doubled in pain as Tsunade rammed her fist into his gut.
"DON'T YELL, THIS IS A HOSPITAL!"
"Umm, lady Tsunade, you are yelling too." Tenten pointed out feeling awkward and nervous while speaking to such a famous kuonichi.
"Huh? Oh yes, I guess I was a bit too loud. Ahem. Anyway as I said your teammate will have a full recovery, but I want to keep him under watch for today so no visiting yet."
"Oh, that's a relief." Tenten smiled. She couldn't wait to see Lee after he received the good news. Knowing him he would be training in a few days already."
"This calls for a celebration. My youthful students, I say we go and eat honouring our most youthful teammate and if I won't eat more than you two combined I will do my best to climb the hokage monument in under five minutes!"
"Yeah, sure, you do that." Tsunade waved and walked off. "Man, what a weirdo."
...
It turned out that the academy mission had one advantage after all. They didn't have to go and report about it being completed. Instead Iruka himself would give the report to the hokage, explaining how the presence of a genin squad benefited his students. Only after that the payment would be transferred to the genin bank accounts.
"What now, Toero-san?" Sakura asked as the group walked towards their usual training field. Naruto now really hoped that he would be in good enough shape to train later with Hinata, but was smart enough to not voice his concern to Toero who without a doubt would just tell him that it wasn't his problem.
"We will develop our skills. In order to improve one must not also know his own strong points, but also his weaknesses. For a while we've been working to overcome the most important of them, lack of patience, self control, precision and in Sakura's case endurance. The combinations of your strengths and weaknesses determines your fighting style and your role on the field of battle. Knowing your weaknesses is the first thing you must know and learn to overcome."
"Fine, you tell us your weaknesses then?" Naruto turned to Toero.
"A fair request. My fighting method is based around my abilities to manipulate my bone structure. Mostly it means that I can create stabbing weapons to boost the lethality of my strikes. My bones are denser then that of a regular human and I heal faster from flesh wounds unless my organs are damaged. This gives me an advantage in close quarters, but leaves me vulnerable when an enemy prefers to stay at distance. For that reason I mastered the use of a bow, combining it with my abilities in order to provide arrows. Still I prefer to rely on stealth and element of surprise to finish the fight before it even starts. Now Uchiha, your turn. What are your weaknesses, what are your limitations?"
Sasuke frowned. He never tried thinking of his weaknesses, he never actually admitted that he had them, but telling Toero that was just asking for another dose of humiliation. Besided, he had to have weaknesses.
"Hmm, I lack an ability to fight against multiple opponents, especially if they are faster than I am. My most powerful techniques are deadly, but chakra consuming, every miss barely results in damage to myself. My sharingan is my greatest asset, but it has it's limitations, especially if someone limits my field of vision."
"Yeah, that is why Zabuza used the hidden mist technique against Kakashi sensei." Sakura remembered.
"Correct and that is why I tried teaching you to rely on your other senses." Toero said and Sasuke nodded, once more remembering how hard it was for him to stop relying on his eyes during those long and humiliating training sessions.
"Haruno."
"Umm, well as you said, I lacked stamina. I mean if compared to Naruto or Sasuke I still do, but it got better, I guess. I also had no clear purpose in the team, so Kakashi helped me with some genjutsu training and some other tips I might need. You helped with some taijutsu techniques to quickly get away from the enemy or to quickly take him out of action. Those methods don't rely on me outlasting, but more on outmanoeuvring my enemy."
"Good. Uzumaki."
"Fine, lets see. My chakra control is horrible. Well, I guess it was abysmal before, now, just horrible." Naruto grinned. "My techniques are well, they are very loud and huge and usually draw tons of attention. I can be stealthy, but once I go all out, you can be sure there will lots of commotion. I guess I am also not that good with books and that stuff. I am more of learn by doing guy." The group finally reached the training ground.
"You are also impatient and quick to jump to conclusions, something that you struggled to improve with. Anyway, our limitation can only be countered to a certain degree, but we must know how to act despite that. So today we will see, how well you learned to apply your new knowledge." Toero suddenly jumped back, creating distance between himself and the genin.
"Hey, what is going on?" Naruto demanded.
"If you will use all that you learned so far, I will not stand a chance. If you go back to the way you used to be, I will send all three of you to the hospital. Do not be afraid to hurt me, for I will not hold back as through pain, blood and injuries we forge our strength." Toero pulled out an arrow out of his arm and prepared his bow.
"Oh, I've waited for this for a long time." Naruto cracked his knuckles.