Chapter 12: Getting Started
The training ground was fairly basic, occasional clearings and otherwise forested, with a lake. As far as Naruto knew, that was the layout of a majority of the training grounds. The team followed Asuma to a particular clearing where he stopped and turned around.
"I'm not a guy with a particular obsession," began Asuma. "Some Jonin senseis get real jazzed about teamwork. Some value seeing underneath the underneath, insightfulness. Some Jonin just want to put their Genin through the wringer and pass them on the ability to pass some elaborate test. Not. My. Thing. The whole point is that you have the potential to be taught by a Jonin, the elite of this village. For every Jonin that takes on a team of children, we lose out on higher rank missions. The raising of the next generation is deemed important enough. So that's the question, are you worth it? And how do I find out?" Asuma stared each of the team down, Naruto calmly looked back, fire in his eyes.
He snapped his fingers. "I'll do double time. Tell me your greatest weakness and greatest strength as a ninja. I'll test them. If you lie, you fail by the way."
"Shikamaru!" Asuma pointed to Shikamaru.
"My greatest weakness is my laziness, so probably my physical condition. My greatest strength is my intelligence if I'm being honest. Naruto seems to think so."
"He's the smartest person I know," Naruto replied.
"Good! We'll play a game of shogi and then you'll run around the lake twenty times."
They played a game of shogi, which Asuma oddly had with him in a storage scroll. As the game progressed Asuma became a mix of very stressed and happily surprised.
"That's game," said Shikamaru.
Asuma stroked his beard. "Very well, go run."
"Troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled as he ran off.
"Next! Girl blondie. Ino!"
"My greatest weakness is also my conditioning. My greatest strength is probably my chakra control or my ability with my clan techniques," Ino admitted.
"Great, can you tree walk?" asked Asuma.
"No," said Ino.
"You concentrate chakra to the bottom of your feet at a constant rate so they stick to the surface you are on." Asuma proceeded to demonstrate chakra going to his feet, and then walked up the side of a tree. "If your greatest strength is chakra control and your weakness is conditioning, you're probably the low reserves, good control type. Meaning this exercise should come easily to you, within an hour to get to the top at worst. Do that and run five laps, since the chakra drain would hurt your endurance."
Asuma waited patiently while Ino took about fifteen minutes to complete tree walking, then she also ran off to complete her laps.
"Now then, mister Rookie of the Year, weakness and strength."
"My weakness right now is my Genjutsu, it is lagging behind my other skills due to a lack of available jutsu."
Naruto pondered for a little longer than Asuma thought he would. He was a jinchuuriki, his strength would be his chakra reserves. If he couldn't figure that out-
"My greatest strength is, my learning speed!" Naruto grinned.
"You're going to be fun to teach," remarked Asuma. "Alright, hit me with your best genjutsu."
"Okay! Look out Asuma-sensei!" Naruto yelled, but all Asuma saw was Naruto standing in place, until he felt a tap on his shoulder, but nobody there.
"Kai!"
Naruto appeared next to him and disappeared from where he was.
"Damn, Static Body jutsu. C-Rank. Very good. That's your weakness? Where did you learn a jutsu like that?" Asuma asked.
"Library," Naruto replied.
Asuma then remembered that Naruto only had access to the Chunin library as of late last night.
'This kid is gold! And now he's making me teach him something for what is supposed to be a test? What a true genius. But what to have him learn? C-Rank was not an issue for him. I don't have chakra paper for elemental jutsu. Eh, screw it.'
"Anything you want to learn kid? If we're not going to waste any time with this test."
"Barrier ninjutsu, preferably one to defend rather than trap," said Naruto, thinking of what he was missing.
"Okay, but I only know one barrier that can be done by one person."
"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" A bunch of Narutos appeared.
There was a B-Rank four-man barrier jutsu. Maybe? Ah, hell. He was already impressed. If Naruto could complete a B-Rank barrier jutsu by himself a week from now, Asuma would be impossibly impressed. Realistically, if the kid was as much a genius as he had been told he'd have it ready by the time they were ready for C-Rank missions a month from now.
"You know kid, you're a real pain. I just hope you don't let your head swell from this. You pass whether or not you get this down. Let's set the goal for a week from now."
Asuma explained the technique: it's uses, drawbacks, the required hand seals, and chakra molding requirements. Naruto nodded along.
"TAJU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Naruto filled the surrounding forest with clones and began working on the jutsu.
Asuma's jaw hit the floor. The kid was giving him a headache, he went to go check on the other two at the clearing by the lake. Ino had finished, Shikamaru was still running. To be expected considering how fast Ino mastered tree walking. He should be on his last lap looking at his pace.
"Come on Shikamaru! Push it!" yelled Ino despite appearing wiped out.
For all his laziness, Shikamaru was determined to finish the lap. Asuma pondered, maybe he couldn't be convinced to work for himself, but Shikamaru would never allow himself to bring the team down.
"Ino, could I talk to you?"
"Sure Asuma-sensei. I passed, right?" Ino asked with a squeal.
"Yeah, yeah. You and Naruto both. I need to talk to you about Shikamaru though."
"Oh! Did he not pass? I thought he did?"
'Time to put the screws to these two. It would have to be done if they were going to be a functional team with that monster…' Asuma slapped his forehead internally. 'I should have realized. Dad did it on purpose! These other two are not living up to their potential!' thought Asuma.
"Don't tell Naruto or Shikamaru this Ino, but you're the lynchpin of the team. I would have failed them both if not for you." Mix some fact and fiction! "Shikamaru is too lazy, if his academy scores and intelligence are that far apart. And Naruto-" Lonely genius trope? "-will have a hard time on a team that can't relate or keep up with him. He's always been a bit isolated. That's where you come in."
Tears filled the young blonde's eyes, and her lips quivered in the slightly dramatic fashion so many teenage girls seem able to adopt. Jeez, he didn't even lay it on thick.
"W-what can I do A-Asuma-sensei?"
Bingo.
"You must become much stronger. I want you to make Naruto feel like he can rely on you and not have to carry you guys through missions. As for Shikamaru, I want you to completely outclass him."
"How will that help Shikamaru? Maybe he'll listen to me when I tell him to work?"
"No. Ignore him when he's being lazy. If Shikamaru feels like the weak link, he'll be forced to try harder on his own."
"Are you sure Asuma-sensei? Won't that hurt Shikamaru if he's not training like he's supposed to?"
"He'll do the bare minimum to get by. And if he chooses not to train himself, it's his own fault. You're ninja now. You're adults in the eyes of the village, act like it."
Shikamaru finally finished his laps as Asuma finished talking.
"Do- we pass?" Shikamaru asked, his hands on his knees, panting heavily.
"Hold on, let me get Naruto," said Asuma.
"NARUTO! COME HERE! SHIKAMARU FINISHED HIS RUN!"
A series of popping sounds echoed from far away, Naruto came running moments later and stood with Ino and Shikamaru who looked almost dead.
"You all… PASS!" Asuma did his best to make it sound more exciting than it was. "First D-Ranks tomorrow. Nine o'clock in front of the Hokage Tower. I'd like everyone to work on chakra control. Ino, show Shikamaru the tree walking exercise and then practice running up and down the tree to build reserves. Naruto, practice that jutsu. We'll work on chakra control another time."
# # #
Ino walked into her home deep in thought, none of her usual blonde exuberance of coming home after a tiring day. Instead, what filled her was one thing, dread. Why had her mother behaved as she had towards Naruto? And how was she going to confront her mother over this? The warmhearted, if not a bit buttoned-up, woman who raised her. But Naruto had said…
"I'm home!" Ino called out. She smelled dinner cooking from the kitchen and heard the clanging of dishes that meant her parents were just sitting down.
"Ino! Come sit. Your mother made a delicious dinner. Tell us about your day!" her father yelled.
Ino walked into the kitchen, everything seemed back to normal. She didn't know what she was expecting, for her mother to suddenly turn into a different person? What could she say about her day?
"Oh, I got Sarutobi Asuma as a Jonin sensei. He seems great, but a little blasé about the whole thing."
"What did he do for a test? The bells? I love the bell test," her father said with a goofy smile.
"Asuma-sensei asked us to name a weakness and a strength and demonstrate our potential. I think it was supposed to have us think about what we needed to train, and prove that we could overcome our weaknesses?"
Ino told her parents about her strength and weakness, and then about Shikamaru's strengths and weaknesses. Then she recalled she never learned what Naruto's strength and weakness were. She would ask Naruto tomorrow. But her parents never asked. They were so open, so honest, being mind experts had made her clan a very warm and open place. Were they hiding something? It was unthinkable. Maybe it was a mistake.
"Oh mom, what was up today with Naruto?"
Both her parents dropped their chopsticks with a loud clatter. Their faces were stone-like.
"Ino," her father started hesitantly, "try to avoid bringing that boy around. He's no good." Adding finally as if an admittance, "Bad for business too."
It wasn't a mistake. Ino's heart dropped into her stomach.
She started to cry. "Dad, mom, this doesn't make sense. What has he done?"
"That boy has done everything and more Ino! Have minimal contact with him, and do NOT bring him by, am I understood?" her mother demanded.
"Sato-chan…" her father said warningly.
"Do you want him around Inoichi? I don't. Forget it! I can tell you're just trying to make me happy. It's not as if you're a fan of the boy either." Ino's mother stood up, pushed in her chair precisely, and as gracefully as anyone could do, stormed off.
Ino was shell shocked, this wasn't her mother. And her father, the doting husband, it didn't look as sweet as she remembered. Ino and her mother had sometimes clashed, but over little things. Her father was always available to talk though.
"It's a secret Ino dear," her father said as if to cut her off before she could question him. "I'm going to go to the Hokage tomorrow. You should be made aware if you are going to be on a team with him."
# # #
A thousand Naruto's practiced the barrier jutsu, and attempted to break through it. Until Naruto stopped and had one set of four clones do the jutsu.
"Kekkai: Beasts of the Four Directions!"
"Naruto army! Break through!" a lone clone yelled.
With four clones holding up the jutsu, and the real Naruto in the center, the rest of the clones relentlessly attacked the barrier to no effect. The Naruto in the center frowned. He needed a penetrating attack. His barrier jutsu was not there yet, but C-Rank elemental jutsu wouldn't cut it. Especially since he was specifically avoiding his natural element, the one that would come easiest to him, and the one with the most penetrative power. He cut the barrier and popped all of his clones.
His father had the Rasengan, should he attempt to acquire it? Or should he develop his own jutsu? The Rasengan didn't have an element, which was a plus. It meant it could be improved if Naruto should ever need to. But it was also his father's jutsu, and said to be the peak of chakra manipulation. If Naruto added an element, it still wouldn't be his. One of his flashiest jutsu being his father's didn't sit well with him. Then again, if he developed his own jutsu, it would take a long time, and in the meantime, he would need to acquire lower level penetrative jutsus. A huge waste of time, and it didn't mean he could compete with the Rasengan. Powerful personal jutsus didn't fall out of the sky, even for the best ninjas, they required inspiration and genius. The biggest problem with the Rasengan was: he wasn't supposed to know his heritage.
He would go to the Hokage in the morning and ask about acquiring the Rasengan. It could be improved upon, whether in form or in the low hanging fruit of nature manipulation! And Rasengan was too big and destructive for some purposes. He would ask Asuma about a more concentrated finishing move in their training tomorrow.