Chapter 36: New Branch for the Leaf
Morning came, as it must everyday. With each morning came the nagging voice of Shikamaru's mother.
Looking at the clock, which said 0630, Shikamaru groaned. "What a drag. I'm awake, I'm awake!"
"You'd better be, Shikamaru!" Came her voice from the hallway outside his room. The usual routine was his mother starting the wake-up process already at 0530 to force Shikamaru to wake up early enough to get to the academy at 0730, being in a team later on would mean little difference for the young Nara. His mother wanted to keep with the routine as to not allow him to slack in the gap between graduation and team assignment... too much.
"I have something to do this early anyway." He groaned as he sat up on the bed.
Silence met him for a minute before she opened the door and looked upon her son with a worried gaze.
"Son, are you ill?" She asked concerned.
"What? No, what made you think I was?"
"You never get up this early voluntarily, for anything."
"Troublesome. Believe me, mom, this will not be a common occurrence. I just need to get up this early to be there for a friend of mine."
A pleasant smile came upon his mother who then spoke softly to him. "I'm proud of you, Shikamaru. You'd best get up and get to it then." She then closed the door to allow him to get up in peace.
'She was... gentle this time. Perhaps I should make an effort to wake up early on my own and have her be just as gentle each morning?' Shikamaru pondered. 'Naw, the drag would be too much to bear.'
Later, outside the the entrance to the Hokage tower at 0655.
"Here he comes." Sakura noted to the rest of the group, who had all gathered by that time.
"Sorry I was almost late." Shikamaru apologized with a lazy expression.
"As long as you're on time, it's all good." Kiba replied.
"Any last minute considerations before we head in?"
Everyone shook their heads. They then went in as soon as the door unlocked and went straight for the Leafs leader's office. Once they arrived where the secretary sat, still a tad drowsy from the early hour, she looked upon the group.
"*Yawn* Do you have an appointment?"
"Yes, miss. Though I'm not sure as to what we're called. The Rookies or something perhaps. Last night I was told to have us all report in to the Hokage this morning, no specific time." Shikamaru answered.
The secretary perused through the schedule. She giggled a bit before looking up once again.
"You're called 'the youngsters'." Everyone sweat-dropped at that. "And he will see you momentarily, he's in an early meeting."
"Already? We entered as soon as the doors opened." Shino asked.
"You didn't think that the Hokage started working at exactly 0700 did you? He starts at 0600 everyday and has a smaller meeting with his Jounin and the night guard every morning before meeting with any special guests. The doors for general errands open at 0700."
"It is logical now that you explained it to us." Shino nodded.
"So who's he meeting with right now?" Ino asked.
"I believe he's meeting with Naruto-san's sensei, Yokai-san." She answered cheerfully.
"I think we'd like to talk to him as well." Shikamaru commented.
"Yes, but that will, of course, have to wait until they are finished in there." The secretary answered politely.
Just then, the intercom buzzed and the Hokage asked the secretary if anyone has arrived yet.
"Yes, sir. The *giggle* 'youngsters' are here to see you."
"Very well, send them whippersnappers in, please." He called through the intercom, making to sound as if he was a stereotypical old fart.
The secretary allowed them to pass, trying and failing to hold in her laughter. They went in, some quietly grumbling about geriatrics and their antics.
They entered to the scene of the Hokage guffawing and Yokai laughing at their expense.
"Whippersnappers? Really?" Sakura grumbled.
"Now, now. Old men like me have to have their slice of fun every once in a while." The Hokage chuckled.
"I'm guessing you and Yokai-san here were discussing Naruto?" Shikamaru asked.
As Yokai went to answer, they noticed the Hokage making a strange face they didn't know what it meant. As Yokai spoke, however, they could guess why.
"Not this time, me and the old man here were talking about something else." Yokai answered.
"What's that?" Kiba asked.
"Something other than Naruto." Yokai simply responded.
"Secret stuff, gotcha." Kiba then nodded.
"Hokage-sama, we were wondering if we would be allowed to wait for Naruto-san to arrive for his scheduled meeting with you this morning." Shino approached.
"I take it you couldn't find him last night?"
Sheepish faces went all around the group. "Err... no. None of us have, surprisingly, learned where he lived. And Shino's bugs, which we used to find him last time, were not on him anymore." Kiba explained.
"Would I be correct in assuming that you wanted to find him an congratulate him for passing the exam?" Yokai asked with a smile.
They all turned to the, now sheepish, Hokage. Apparently they hadn't gone over the details of that yet.
"Um... Yeah, sure." Shikamaru replied.
Raising an eyebrow at the peculiar hesitation, Yokai called him on it. "Something the matter?"
Sighing in resignation to the inevitable, Sarutobi addressed Yokai. "Perhaps you should sit down, Yokai-san."
"Uh, oh. What has Naruto done this time?" Yokai complied and asked the Hokage with a sour face.
The Hokage told him everything from his point of view and the rookies told from their point of view once everything was said by the Hokage. Yokai was scared for Naruto when the part came about the big shuriken strike and the Kyuubi, but was reassured as the story progressed and greatly pleased to learn that Naruto's words and actions then and in the past have garnered him loyal friends.
Once all was said, Yokai was silent for a good while, looking at nothing.
"Yokai-san, are you alright?" Hiruzen gently prodded his secret colleague verbally.
"I don't know whether to be proud of the kid or want to strangle the brat." Yokai answered. "Before I decide that, I must say that your exam system leaves much to be desired." He then fixed a disapproving gaze upon the old Sarutobi.
"I've learned as much from Shikaku-san earlier this morning. Apparently some people have voiced their displeasure of the system." The Hokage glanced at Sasuke and Shikamaru, though no negative emotions were on his face. "We will go over the details and possibly revise the system at some point soon."
"Oh. Okay, as long you're doing that much." Yokai said. "Now then... I'M GONNA KILL THAT BRAT WHEN HE GETS HERE!" He then suddenly roared, which caused everyone to stagger back in shock and fear, save the Hokage.
Said old man tried to placate the upset man. "Yokai-san, please control yourself. If you're going to be angry at anyone, be so at me. I was the one who came up with and approved the plan."
"I'm not displeased with the brat's conduct. I'm proud of him for doing all that he did, not to mention managing to 'pass' the exam AND get promoted at the same time. It just frustrates me to no end that he keeps getting..."
"Yokai-san!" Sarutobi then interrupted with a harsh tone. Realizing he was about to reveal classified information in his tantrum, Yokai calmed down and then became a bit sheepish.
"Keeps getting what?" Ino asked.
"Nothing important, young Yamanaka." Sarutobi waved off with a smile. Hinata, though, had a feeling she knew what Yokai was referring to. But it sounded as if there was more than the two events she knew of that Naruto was some part of. Little did she know of his deeds in the Uchiha Massacre.
Sasuke was in the same boat, only he was not aware of Hinata's kidnapping.
Shikamaru, ever the sharp observer, took notice of what Yokai was about to say. 'It sounded like "keeps getting into trouble." He also wasn't too surprised about this whole ordeal. What could Naruto possibly have...'
But it struck him like a bolt of lightning.
'Oh, don't tell me he was involved in the massacre too?' He thought with slightly widened eyes, which no one present noticed. 'That's got to be it. There's nothing else that either comes close to or surpasses the level of troublesome the Uchiha massacre had than this.'
He quickly deduced that Naruto somehow got involved and was on the side of the village. But what actually happened, he couldn't even hazard a guess.
"At any rate. You may stay and... ambush him and tell him you still are his friends. In fact, I'll give you his address so you can visit him." The Hokage spoke while Shikamaru was pondering this.
"That's another thing, why hasn't he told where he lives or invited any of us?" Kiba asked. Several nods accompanying that statement.
Yokai answered that with a neck rub. "Well, his living conditions are not the best and he was most likely not proud of it so he probably made it a point to spend any time with you anywhere as long as it wasn't there."
"Why hasn't he moved to someplace else then?" Sakura asked.
"He hasn't had the money to. And as much as I would like to, I cannot set aside the funds to help him live in a better place than where he is at currently. I have no doubt, though, that he will rectify that issue on his own when he starts getting an income."
Hinata was looking particularly down for Naruto's situation. She wondered what the Fourth Hokage would say about all this. Chouji, ever the sensitive guy, came and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hinata, what's wrong?"
"I... just wondered... what would the Fourth... say to Naruto's treatment?" She asked, looking down and poking her index fingers together.
Yokai looked to Sarutobi who looked back at him briefly before looking back at the group. "I don't know what he would say, but I am certain that he would not be happy with Naruto's current situation. He was supposed to be hailed as a hero for keeping the fox demon at bay every day for the rest of his life."
"Then why did no one honor it?" Shino spoke, a tad quieter than usual.
Ino spoke, being the one with the better education in psychology of the Genin gathered. "It is as Naruto-kun himself said when confronting Mizuki. The people, and even a few ninja as Mizuki is clear evidence of, don't understand the workings of seals. What is not understood, is feared. It is only compounded by the fact that Naruto is the container of the very thing that took so much from them, including the Fourth himself. It was simply too much for them to handle."
Hinata narrowed her eyes slightly, almost imperceptibly, at Ino's affectionate suffix for Naruto.
"Wow, you can be insightful when you want to be, Pig." Sakura said.
"With the size of your forehead, Forehead, I'm surprised you didn't reach this conclusion before the whole group." Ino bit back with narrowed eyes.
"Who said I didn't?" Sakura smugly shot back.
"When is Naruto due to arrive here?" Sasuke cut in before the argument could escalate.
The old leader produced a watch from his chest pocket and read the time. "He is due any minute now, I suggest you get into 'ambush' positions. I only ask you to wait until my discussion with him is finished before surprising him."
"Why then? Do you not wish to discuss whatever you wish to in private with him first?" Shikamaru questioned.
"The fact of the matter is, it will involve you all in certain ways. So, to avoid me having to repeat myself, you get the general idea before you and I will iron out the details later." Sarutobi explained.
"Intriguing." Shino commented.
Just then, the secretary called on the intercom to notify the Hokage that Naruto had arrived to speak with him as scheduled. Without wasting time, the entire group hid and masked their signatures to the best of their ability. Yokai remained where he was.
Naruto entered and gave a smile to his leader and his sensei. But they could see through it, he was still very saddened and troubled.
"Welcome, Naruto-kun. Once again, congratulations on completing your first assignment last night." The Hokage spoke happily.
"And for your subsequent promotion. You've done well, my boy." Yokai then added with a proud grin.
"Thank you, jiji, sensei." Naruto responded with a bow and less than enthusiastic tone.
"Are you okay, Naruto?" Yokai asked, raising an eyebrow in concern. While also a bit of an act, the concern was genuine.
"I'm fine, sensei. Thanks for asking." Naruto answered with a dismissal wave.
Frowning a fraction at the display, Hiruzen started the meeting. "Right then. Naruto-kun. As I mentioned last night, we needed to talk a bit about your responsibilities, and benefits, as a Special Genin."
Yokai then took over. "While your promotion and what made it possible weren't part of the plan, it certainly was a boon. Me and Hokage-sama have been discussing for several months about you and me forming Konoha's first infiltration specialization unit once you graduated."
"Infiltration specialization unit? Aren't ninjas all infiltrators and all that?"
"Technically, yes they are." Yokai began. "But the truth is, from the first ninjas that came to be, to this point in history, we've gone from stealthy, lethal assassins, spies and saboteurs to flashy powerhouses that have, more or less, taken over the role of the samurai of old, without many of their codes of conduct. The art of stealthy and precise operations have been more or less lost. While ninjas still perform such duties today, they are much less efficient in it compared to their ancient predecessors, I dare say. Even ANBU, while more impressive in this field, are still not quite what they could be in terms of subterfuge.
Since my clan have kept up the tradition of valuing the skills and arts of stealth, espionage and other related tasks, I have proposed to Hokage-sama that while he keeps the modern style ninja as they have been for the longest time, you and I will form a new unit that specializes in what we do best. In time, it is meant to strengthen Konoha in its ability to do covert ops. Giving you an edge in the ability to sabotage your foes."
Naruto nodded, his woes temporarily forgotten as he took in the new information.
"Cool. How would be go about doing this?" Naruto asked, a bit more of the old him showing.
The Hokage chose to answer. "With you being deducted from the Genin pool due to this formation, there's a gap in our team forming plans. We were thinking of, in this particular year, instead of forming four man teams, senseis included, that we would have three man teams. This would mean that we have an extra team to work with. Yokai-san has volunteered to be a part-time sensei for one of these teams while also part-timing as your sensei and leader in this new unit."
Yokai took over. "The plan includes to have the groups occasionally meet so they can get used to working with different members at different times. When the time comes for them to move out to perform C-rank or higher missions, they will be four men teams, consisting of someone from another team, or even two whole teams at once, depending on the difficulty. If a mission requires an infiltration specialist..." Yokai left it hanging.
"... Then I would be part of that team." Naruto concluded as he thought about the idea. "What if two, or more, separate missions requires infiltration specialists?"
Yokai replied. "We are hoping that at least a few of your classmates would be interested in at least partially learn the arts of infiltration in more detail. Freeing you up as the senior member and foremost expert in the unit, besides myself, to partake in those missions that require one better suited for it."
"How do you determine what missions need a certain level of skill?"
"I have a system I've introduced to Hokage-sama and I will go through it with him for each mission. Don't worry, it's a proven system." Yokai said. He then turned to Sarutobi. "I meant to ask, what do you think are the chances your Chunin, Jounin or ANBU would be willing to train to sharpen their stealth skills or become part of this unit?"
"Some of the mainstay forces, meaning Chunin or Jounin, are too set in their ways to start training in that field. Certain individuals that have focused somewhat more on secrecy and stealth might be persuaded to at least attempt to learn from you. ANBU might be the best chance at gaining some volunteers to improve their subtlety. But the fact is that ANBU are, more often than not, required to use flashy and destructive jutsu to accomplish their objectives. They are basically Jounin with black-ops as a focus. Discretion has never been the main focus of any section of our military."
"Then it's about time you got a unit that the enemy will never see coming, nor going." Yokai commented.
"I look forward to it, but I can't see it becoming a large unit in the near future." Sarutobi said.
"It doesn't need to be large, the best infiltration units are those that are small. One man or woman from our clan can infiltrate a single fortress and have a greater chance of success at accomplishing the objectives than a team of ANBU, more silently too. But if it does get larger, it's good, to a point."
"To a point?" Naruto asked.
"Well, if it becomes large enough to rival ANBU or the Jounin echelon of ninja in numbers, then we risk not increasing their skills as much as we could. Even larger than that and you'd get no better in the field than what you've already got with this village's setup. It is often better to have a smaller amount of dedicated men and women to make sure the skills are as sharp as can be."
"But you said your people have specialized in this field, sensei. Wouldn't that mean that they were many?"
"True, but the whole village back then focused on that field, there wasn't anyone that practiced the ninja arts the way everyone else does today. Meaning there was enough room to accommodate many more students, apprentices, teachers and masters and so on."
Both Naruto and the Fire Shadow nodded at that. Naruto then asked what was on his mind next. "Between missions with teams, what will I be doing?"
"Besides training in new abilities and honing your skills, we are hoping that you might train any fresh volunteers what they can learn from you in our field." Yokai stated.
"Don't worry too much, Naruto-kun. You'll get your chance to go on missions pertaining your skill set sooner than you think, I have no doubt of that."
"Will I get paid for training others?" Naruto questioned.
"Of course, we can't expect you to do that and not get compensated. There might be gaps in stealth missions after all." Sarutobi replied.
"Okay, sounds good. How do I advance in rank?"
"That's a bit special. You carry two ranks." Yokai responded.
"Two ranks?" Naruto exclaimed, wide eyed.
"Yes. As luck would have it, both ranks happen to be the same level for you currently, Tokubetsu Genin. One is your rank within the Konoha ninja ranking system, since you're still a part of their forces. That rank is advanced the way they have always done it, mainly through the Chunin exams. The other rank you bear is one my clan uses to determine where your skills are within the arts of infiltration."
Hiruzen took over. "Basically, you could, in theory, be a Genin in rank in our system while in your internal system you could be Jounin. Yokai has explained it to me that since your way of the ninja is considered... unsophisticated by today's standards, they simply cannot be sufficiently comparable. Hence, I've allowed a parallel ranking system to be established to signify how good one is in the respective field of skill. There's no system 'better' than the other to advance in, do you understand?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I gotcha, jiji, sensei. Will I go on solo missions?"
"As a matter of fact, you most likely will. Even from the get-go. But it all depends on the skill estimation the mission lands within. If it's above your level, either I do it or we do it together."
"I would like to do as many solo missions as often as possible then. And when a team needs an infiltration expert, I will not be, officially, assigned to them." Naruto stated.
Both men looked at the boy, both eyebrows raised.
"Why, Naruto-kun?" Sarutobi asked worriedly.
"Because I... need to disappear from the village at large and disappear from my former classmates lives... for a while at least." Naruto explained, tilting his head to the floor a bit. "I also don't want to be their teacher of our arts. Anyone outside of my graduating class is fine but..."
Yokai looked sternly at Naruto. "Naruto, our way of the ninja is not a means to an end for your personal problems, nor is the village's way of the ninja."
"It isn't about me!" Naruto hotly returned. "My friends found out last night what I am, at the same time as I did. They hate me now! I saw it in their eyes, eyes accusing me of being the beast itself." This surprised the Genin. None of them recalled ever throwing such a look his way.
"Naruto-kun, I..." Sarutobi began but was interrupted by Naruto. "Although they hate me, although I'm not their friend anymore. I still treasure them dearly." Naruto spoke as his eyes moistened. "So if it is all I can do, I will protect them from the shadows. To do all that I can to make sure that they live and have as safe a life as I can help it. And they don't have to stand my presence any longer than necessary." Naruto finished his declaration, voice trembling and tears streaming down his face.
The Genin in hiding ached to come out at that time.
The eyes of the Hokage and Yokai softened and took on a sorrowful expression at the display of the now crying Naruto who was trying, and failing, to not openly weep.
That was the straw that broke the camel's back for the hidden spectators. One by one, they emerged from their various hiding spots and softly approached the quietly sobbing boy, who didn't notice them.
Naruto, trying his best to reign in his emotions, suddenly felt a hand firmly grasp his shoulder. Turning around, he saw something that was both a joy and a horror to see. There stood all his classmates, looking at him.
Naruto was so shocked that he lost balance and fell on his bottom. At first, Naruto's first thought was to run away. But before he could act on that notion, he took a closer look at his friends' faces. They were not looking at him with disgust or anger. Instead, they had faces of sadness and worry.
He couldn't help but be surprised.
"Wh... what's...?" Naruto tried to speak.
Kiba, who was the one to alert Naruto to their presence, answered.
"What's going on? Well, dog. It's like this..." Kiba began in a careful yet slightly macho manner, as he crouched down to eye level with the floored Naruto. "when we last saw you, you kind ran away before any of us could say anything about the whole mess."
Sasuke, walking up to stand beside Kiba, then took over. "Did you really think we would hold your newly discovered status against you?"
Shino then added. "If so, then I must point out the error of your illogical way of thinking. All evidence point out the fact that you are the demon's container. Your actions and the actions of the demon are easily differentiated."
Shikamaru put in the finish. "Therefore, as troublesome as this all is, we had to find you and let you know we are still very much your friends."
The rest of them nodded with smiles.
Naruto blinked, causing previously unshed tears to run down his cheeks. He looked at each and everyone of his friends. There was no hint of any lie in their tones, no trace of malice in their faces.
"You guys... you don't... hate me?" Naruto asked with poorly contained hope.
Ino came up to him and embraced him, much to Hinata's ire since she wanted to be the one to do that. "No, Naruto-kun. If anything, all of us have an even greater respect for you.
'And love too.' Hinata and Ino thought simultaneously.
"But... what about the look I saw before?" Naruto asked bewildered.
"What look?" Sakura inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"The look Shikamaru gave when he said you guys knew." Naruto supplied, steadily calming down.
Shikamaru was flabbergasted. "What look are you talking about?!"
"You had a dark look of scorn when you said that." Naruto said.
"Wait, was it like this?" Shikamaru said and then made a face for all to see.
"Yeah, like that."
"*Sigh* Naruto, that's my 'This is a colossal drag' face."
"So let me get this straight." Sakura said with a twitching eyebrow. "This whole mess was because Naruto mistook one of your annoyed and lazy faces for hating him?"
"I'd say that about sums it up." Sasuke nodded.
Sakura and Ino then rounded on Shikamaru. "You couldn't have been more considerate of his situation and act more concerned than annoyed you lazy good-for-nothing sloth?!" Ino growled.
"Oi, oi. He was just as much at fault for only looking at me and not the rest of you!" Shikamaru backed up while making placating gestures.
"He's right." Naruto said, effectively halting the angered females' advance. "I was too shaken to think rationally. I'm sorry about all this, and I'm sorry for not trusting you more."
This time, Hinata capitalized on the opportunity to comfort her secret love and hugged him softly. "You h-have n-nothing... to b-be sorry f-for, N-Naruto-kun."
"Yeah, no one is blaming you, dog." Kiba added with a gentle man-slap on Naruto's shoulder.
Immensely relived and happy for having his friends back, no, for never losing them in the first place, Naruto returned the hug from Hinata with gusto and laughed happily while a couple of tears of happiness ran down.
After a few moments of reveling in the feeling, he noted that Chouji hadn't said anything yet.
"Chouji?" Naruto addressed the rotund Genin. All eyes turned to the boy. "What do you say to all this?"
Chouji approached Naruto. Looking him straight in the eye with a very scrutinizing gaze.
"You eat Ichiraku ramen as if it's Kami's gift to man. That's good enough of an indication that you're alright in my book." He then said with a big grin. Never in the history of the Hokage's office had there been so many face-plants as that day. Naruto, however, just grinned in response and bumped fists with the food loving ninja.
"That's your measuring tool?!" Ino asked annoyed and confounded.
"What and how much he eats?!" Sakura asked, just as irritated and confused.
"That's Chouji for you." Shikamaru commented with a knowing smirk as Naruto laughed and Chouji just smiled and scratched his cheek in mild embarrassment.
"*Ahem*" The Hokage cleared his throat to gain the attention of the Genin. "I'm proud of you for the fact that my faith in the next generation was proven to be well placed. You have all shown that you are indeed wielders of the Will of Fire for accepting Naruto despite the terrible, dark burden he has had to carry his whole life."
Everyone either proudly grinned or smiled with blushes at the praise from their village leader.
"Now that this is behind us, let us move on to the next item on the agenda. I know all here has heard every word of what me and Yokai-san here has discussed with Naruto. We are very interested to know whether any of you are interested in joining this new branch of shinobi."
With the mess all cleared up, everyone could focus their thoughts regarding the offer. One response came after only a few seconds.
"I'll join." Shino announced, stepping forward.
"Join? As in full time, not part time or just to refine your stealth related skills?" Inquired Yokai.
"Indeed, my present abilities are best suited for reconnaissance and tracking as well as assassination or incapacitation. I've done the required training for combat but it is still lacking for anything but self-defense. It is my firm belief that I am suited for this new endeavor. It would allow me to sharpen my abilities to the point I rarely would need to fight a battle yet be a very capable combatant should the need arise." Shino elaborated with a push of his glasses.
Kiba looked oddly at Shino. "Why is it you either say next to nothing or you can barely stop?"
"As I have said before, I speak only when, and what is, necessary." Shino flatly stated.
Naruto threw in his five ryo, "I think Shino would be a great member of the team since he's a silent guy and efficient. He's by-the-book when possible but can think outside the box when faced with something out of the ordinary. He's a tactician too, so he can plan ahead and think quickly when faced with surprising developments. Definitely an assassin style ninja with a secondary skill-set for scouting."
Both the Hokage and Yokai nodded in agreement. "I've already got a few ideas of how to set up your training regimen. Welcome aboard, Aburame Shino." Yokai declared with a handshake with the mushi-nin.
"Anyone else like to join or just improve themselves?" Hiruzen queried.
Sasuke approached the Hokage's desk. "I'm interested in being a part-time member." He stated.
"What is your reasoning and what are your skills?" Asked Yokai.
"I'm a evenly skilled in all areas, but my focus lies with combat, mainly taijutsu and ninjutsu, and trap-making and ninja-tools. I want to be a member because I want to be able to get the drop on my enemies, especially those stronger than me, and take them out efficiently before they become a problem."
Yokai studied Sasuke before nodding. "Very well, but I also think you should be trained in infiltration. To be able to enter hostile territory, move about unnoticed and spy on our enemies, sabotage their assets and exfiltrate."
Naruto piped up again, with a grin. "He'd probably make a good spy in the open at times too. He's got one of those rich pretty-boy faces that can help him ingratiate himself to businessmen and other important figures."
Growling, Sasuke turned to Naruto. "Rich pretty-boy? Why do I get the feeling you're mocking me, saying that?"
"Me? Naaaw, not me." Naruto widely grinned back. "I'm just stating facts. No one else but fancy-pantsy rich boys have hairdos that resembles a goose's ass."
Uproarious laughter erupted from the boys and giggles were heard from Hinata and Ino while Sakura blushed as she tried to contain her mirth at the accurate description. Sasuke fumed.
"It's supposed to be practical, it provides less wind-resistance while running." He defended, which turned out to only fuel the fire.
"So does trimming it down to the scalp, Goose." Naruto teased with a smirk.
"Alright, enough!" The Hokage ordered silence, while containing his own chuckle. "Yokai-san?"
"Well, Naruto has a point. Sometimes you have to, basically, hide in plain sight. But that isn't exactly our area of expertise since we deal with the shadow part of infiltrations. He can benefit from our training, but what Naruto suggested would come more from your side of the shinobi force."
"So Sasuke's part-time membership is a good idea?" Asked the Sandaime.
"It is."
"Well then, let's go with that and I'll have one of our own... specialists take care of undercover training for Sasuke."
"Who's that, jiji?"
"Can't tell you, Naruto-kun. He's so dedicated in the undercover art that he is always undercover."
"Oooh, I like this guy already." Naruto commented.
"Anyone else?" Yokai asked.
Kiba stepped forward. "I'd like to give it a shot. I like to think me and Akamaru are sneaky already, but my mom always says that there's no such thing as being too sneaky when being a ninja. Given what I've heard about you guys, I doubt even she knew how right she was. We are fierce in combat but our main asset would be our tracking ability and our sense of smell."
"You're a scout ninja then, with a secondary for diversion." Yokai said.
"Diversion?" Wondered Kiba.
"Well, as of right now, I can't say you seem to be an infiltration ninja, but you are an obvious choice for scouting and reconnaissance, like your Aburame friend. As for diversionary duty, if, say, Naruto had to infiltrate someplace but could use a distraction to draw attention away from his area then you would be a good choice to sneak in someplace and make a mess without actually being found yourself."
"Huh, yeah. I can see me and Akamaru doing stuff like that." Kiba smirked.
"Anyone else?"
No one else came forward.
"Very good. The offer is always open in case you change your mind." Said Yokai. "What do we do with team placements, Hokage-sama?"
"Only Shino has opted for full-time membership, which leaves us with 3 part timers and 5 regular Genin."
"5 steady and 3 loose." Yokai summarized in thought.
"Yes. For certain we have one full team and 2 members without a third. When available, the others would make it 2 teams and 2 members without a third."
After a few moments of consideration, Yokai spoke his mind. "Would you be willing to allow for an experimentation with these Genin?"
Raising a brow, the Third Hokage silently asked him to elaborate. "You see, we could have the Genin that remain simply be one big group, loose members included. We could assign 2 or more senseis to supervise their training as they see fit, once they are given guidelines set up by you and me regarding this novel approach."
"What about mission assignments?"
"I'd put the decision to you, of course. But since you asked, I'd think that depending on the predicted difficulty you could have the basic three man team or you could assign more Genin as you suspect might be necessary and according to their individual skills."
Shikamaru decided to add his opinion. "As troublesome as this new method sounds, it is nonetheless a good idea. We're a tight nit group as it is anyway, we would have little to no problem working in any combination you would set up, personal chemistry wise. Skill wise, it would help that we get used to working with each others' abilities so we can make combos without having to give it much thought or effort."
"Excellent point, Shikamaru-san. That is one of the points we will put on the guidelines list. Would you perhaps be interested in participating in its creation?"
Sighing, Shikamaru nodded. "It will be a drag, but anything to lessen any future problems is in everyone's best interest."
"Splendid!" The Hokage said happily. "I guess that ends our discussion for today. All of you 'loose' members return here in a week's time to discuss further your place in our shinobi forces. The rest of you are to report in to the academy as planned. Also, let me remind you to keep quiet about what we've discussed, all of it. Until I deem it safe, we are not to reveal this project to anyone who is not privy to this information."
"Understood, Hokage-sama/Jiji." Everyone chorused (guess who said "Jiji").
"Dismissed!" The Hokage declared. The group then exited the office to do as they pleased the rest of the day.
"Interesting bunch, them Genin." Yokai commented.
"Agreed. I have a feeling they will become something very special in the future."
"And I'll be there to help them become that." Yokai nodded with a confident smile.