(Hiruzen-Jiraiya conversation cotd...)
Until the graduates under the new curriculum are ready, the current Shinobi have to understand their responsibilities."
"A wise step to take Sensei.", Jiraiya nodded in approval. Well, I'll take my leave now. But before I go, can you tell me how is he?"
Knowing whom Jiraiya was talking about, Hiruzen said, "I assure you, he is in good health. I must say, he looks more and more like his father each day."
Jiraiya chuckled, "I'm sure he does. Well, I'll be taking my leave now. As soon as I locate Tsunade, one of my summons shall report to you." Saying so, Jiraiya shunshined out of the window.
The next day, Hiruzen decided to have a meeting with his academy instructors in his office. He addressed his ANBU:
"Neko!"
An ANBU with a cat mask appeared in response with a salute. "Yes, Hokage-Sama!".
"Fetch all the academy staff, whether they be teaching or not. I wish to see them now."
"Yes, Hokage-Sama", replied the ANBU with a salute and shunshined out of the office.
Hiruzen called out to his other ANBU after Neko had left: "Inu!, Tori!, Itachi!". The respective ANBU appeared and saluted the Hokage: "Yes, Hokage-Sama".
Hiruzen addressed them, "I have decided that the council meetings from next week shall be held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The timing of the meetings is to be the same as the last meeting, unless stated otherwise. Inu, I want you to make the clan heads of the Inuzuka and Aburame clans, Inuzuka Tsume and Aburame Shibi respectively, aware of this. Tori, you will inform Hyuuga Hiashi and Uchiha Fugaku, the clan heads of the Hyuuga and Uchiha clans. Itachi, the same, to Yamanaka Inoichi, Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Chouza, the clan heads of the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi clans. Go at once!"
"Yes, Hokage-Sama", they replied in unison with a salute and shunshined out of the office as well.
Around 5 minutes later, cat shunshined back into the office. "Hokage-Sama! The academy staff has been informed!", the ANBU replied, saluting the Hokage
Shortly afterwards, there was a knock on the office door.
"Enter!", called Hiruzen.
The secretary entered the office and bowed to the Hokage before speaking, "Hokage-Sama, the headmaster of the academy and the academy instructors wish to meet you."
"Let them enter.", said Hiruzen. The secretary bowed and exited out of the office.
The academy instructors entered the office, led by the headmaster, Yamada Shigeru. There were five instructors in total.
The headmaster spoke on behalf of the staff, "You called us, Hokage-Sama?"
"Yes", replied Hiruzen. "Thank you to all of you for coming at such prompt notice. Well, let me get straight to the matter. Yesterday, we had an important council meeting. It concluded with the Shinobi council gaining complete control over the Shinobi academy."
A female instructor asked the Hokage with concern, "Hokage-Sama, this doesn't mean I've lost my job, does it?"
Hiruzen knew that the instructor, who asked that, was Tanaka Naomi, a civilian born kunoichi. He waved her worries off. "No, of course not. None of you would lose your job unless you resign or are removed due to unsatisfactory feedback. Fortunately for you, none of the two things have happened so far."
The kunoichi breathed a sigh of relief at that.
Having reassured her, Hiruzen continued, "Now that the academy is under control of the Shinobi council, it has been resolved that the curriculum is to be made more stringent and difficult because the current curriculum isn't giving satisfactory results at all. These changes however, will require several discussions. Council meetings regarding this matter will commence from next week. Along with me, the elders'council and the Shinobi council, all of you have to be present at the meeting. Since you know the current curriculum down to the details and you are in touch with the academy students, your input is valuable. The meetings will be held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays every week during the afternoon session, unless you are pre-notified about any changes."
"Yes, Hokage-Sama!", they replied in Unison.
Hiruzen nodded and dismissed them.
Two days later, on Friday, as Hiruzen was going through his workload in his office, a red toad popped out of nowhere in the office. Hiruzen understood that it was one of Jiraiya's toads, a messenger toad to be exact, as he was carrying a scroll on his back. Hiruzen took the scroll and started reading it.
Sensei,
I'll get to the point. I've finally located Tsunade and am trailing her. I'll try and persuade her to return to the village. My next letter will arrive only if my mission is a failure. If I succeed and Tsunade agrees, I'll return to the village with her.
Jiraiya, the greatest toad-sage.
The messenger toad had disappeared as soon as Hiruzen had taken the scroll from him. He chuckled. Jiraiya liked to make jokes at his own expense too often. He completely trusted him to persuade Tsunade to return. He would wait for their return, and not any second scroll. He continued with his work, looking forward to the council meetings, which would start in 3 days.
Monday, Meeting 1:
As had been decided in the previous meeting, the Elders' council, the Shinobi council and the academy staff gathered for the council meeting at 1:30 pm on Monday. The only difference from the previous meeting was that the headmaster of the academy was seated between Hiruzen and Homura, and the seats belonging to the Civilian council had been taken up by the academy instructors.
When everyone was seated, Hiruzen addressed the council, "I welcome you all for this first of many council meetings which will play an important role in the future of Konoha. As had been discussed in the previous meeting, our academy training system needs a major overhaul if we are to produce worthy Genin for our ranks. As of now, the academy is under our complete control, and we are in a position to make the required changes. The academy staff, which I have invited to the meeting, has been made aware of the results of the previous meeting, as also of the objectives of this one. I formally welcome them in the council."
The principal and the academy instructors stood up, bowed and sat down.
"It appears that Hokage-Sama has invited the academy staff so that they can enlighten us about the current curriculum of the academy.", said Shibi.
"Makes sense. If we are to decide on how to solve a problem, it is important to understand where the problem is first.", said Inoichi. 153
Hiruzen nodded, and turned to the headmaster, "Shigeru-san, you may introduce your teaching staff now.
"Yes, Hokage-Sama", said Shigeru. Pointing towards each of the instructors, from the closest to the farthest, he introduced each one of them. "Tanaka Naomi, academy theory instructor, Yamamoto Kenta, academy Taijutsu instructor, Yamada Taka, academy Weapons instructor, Ueda Shima, academy Ninjutsu and Chakra control instructor and Honda Karin, academy Genjutsu instructor". As each instructor was introduced, said instructor stood up, gave a bow and sat down.
"Thank you Shigeru-san", said the Hokage. "Now, I want each of the instructors to describe the syllabus in the subjects they teach. Naomi-san, if you will."
"Yes, Hokage-Sama", said Naomi. "As the headmaster has mentioned in his introduction, I instruct the students in all kinds of theory. This includes the history of Konoha, theory related to Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, theory related to weapons and their maintenance and theory related to trap making and disabling. History takes up the majority of the theoretical part, followed by T-N-G theory, followed by weapons theory, and least extensive is the Traps theory. History theory generally includes the founding of Konoha, the three great Ninja wars, any other major events, and biographies of legendary Konoha Shinobi. T-N-G theory includes all basic knowledge about the three major Jutsu classes: Taijutsu katas, elemental affinities, Genjutsu dispelling make up the majority of this portion of theory. Weapons theory include proper ways of gripping and throwing kunai and shuriken, their sharpening, their polishing etc. Trap theory includes trap construction, materials, choosing traps according to the environment and trap chaining."
"Very well, Naomi-san", said the Hokage. "Kenta-san".
"Yes, Hokage-Sama", said the Taijutsu instructor. "As the headmaster has mentioned, I'm the Taijutsu instructor at the academy. Apart from teaching hand-to-hand combat, conducting sparring sessions and instructing the students in Katas, I also take care of their physical conditioning. In the four years that the students spend at the academy, physical conditioning is mandatory for all years. The students are encouraged to train their bodies at home as well. As they progress from year to year, the level of the exercises becomes tougher and tougher. Mainly this involves increasing the number of repeats in any exercise. Hand-to-hand combat training is done in the second year, and this enables the students to participate in sparring sessions in the last two years. Katas are taught in the second year. As each kata takes at most, a month, to teach, teaching all the katas require ten months at max. In the last two years, students merely have to demonstrate the katas, apart from the sparring sessions. In short, first year Taijutsu sessions include physical conditioning, second year's include PC, H-t-H combat and Kata training, and third's and fourth's include PC and Katas or PC and Sparring in alternate sessions."
"Thank you Kenta-san", said the Hokage. "Taka-san".
"Yes, Hokage-Sama", said the Weapons instructor. "As the headmaster has mentioned, I'm the Weapons instructor at the academy. At the academy level, the only weapons the students learn to use are Kunai and Shuriken. Practical Weapons training starts from the second year since in the first year, the students learn theoretical stuff about them. Practical Weapons training includes students throwing their weapons at a stationary target, while being stationary themselves. The difficulty level increases every three months, which mostly means that the eligible points on the target are limited every time and the distance between the student and the target is increased. Changes also occur in the angle at which the target is set with respect to the ground."
"Thank you Kenta-san", said the Hokage. "Shima-san".
"Yes, Hokage-Sama", replied said instructor. "As the headmaster has mentioned, I'm the Ninjutsu and Chakra control instructor at the academy. Chakra control is taught to students of the first year, and is regularly practiced during the next three years. Forehead Leaf balancing, which starts with one leaf and goes up to a maximum of three leaves and Water rippling, where the level is increased by increasing the time limit, are the two chakra control exercises taught at the academy. Ninjutsu is taught to the students of the second, third and fourth years. The second year's learn the rope escape technique, the third year's learn the Henge and the Kawarimi, and the fourth year's learn the Bunshin technique. A whole year is dedicated to the clone technique because of its difficulty and requirement of proper chakra control."
"Thank you Shima-san", said Hiruzen. "Karin-san".
"Yes, Hokage-Sama", replied Karin. "As the headmaster has mentioned, I'm the Genjutsu instructor at the academy. Genjutsu lectures only include practical lessons on how to recognise low ranked illusions and dispelling them. Practical Genjutsu dispelling is only taught to fourth year students since Genjutsu casting and dispelling require high amounts of chakra control, which is only possible by repeated practice of the chakra control exercises mentioned by Shima", said Karin, gesturing towards Shima. "Once the students learn to recognise and dispel the Genjutsus, which takes them three months to perfect, they practice that for the rest of the year."
When the instructors had finished describing the syllabus of their respective disciplines, the Hokage addressed them, "Very well. I want you all to submit a printed copy of the syllabus in my office by tomorrow evening without fail. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Hokage-Sama", they replied in unison.
"Good. Now that the syllabus is out of the way, I want you to describe the behaviour of the students in your respective classes, as also their general behaviour while they are within the academy premises. Are you satisfied with their conduct? Do you discipline them adequately when they go out of line? Do you have any complaints regarding them?"
Shigeru replied to this. "Hokage-Sama, since the instructors report to me after their lectures, I believe I can answer this."
"Sure, Shigeru-san", said the Hokage. "Please continue."
"Thank you Hokage-Sama. First I'll describe the general complaints of all instructors. They report students disturbing or distracting other students from concentrating on the lectures, this dragging them down along with them. Although the number of such students is minimal, they still exist. There are cases of seniors bullying their juniors in the campus. Again, the number of such students is minimum. These two kinds of students are usually disciplined by severe scolding or grounding. The majority of the students do not indulge in these things, and they don't disrupt the classes either, but they are still far from perfect. When they are asked why they want to become Shinobi, a few of them state reasons like wanting to make their family clan or village proud. Most however, and this is especially prevalent in the girl students, have only joined the academy to be close to their friends, or to be close enough to impress the students they have a crush on. When they are asked to describe their goals and ambitions, other students are quick to ridicule them if their goals sound highly far-fetched or unachievable. They have little emotional control, and are easy to provoke. None of them take care of their physical conditioning or practice outside of school, and this is easily observable during the practical lectures."
The Hokage was quiet for a moment and asked, "Have there been any cases of expulsion?"
"The students are expelled, but only if they do something really nasty. None of the above complaints justify such measures."
The Hokage listened silently. This would have to change. Apart from the syllabus overhaul, the students will have to be disciplined more strictly than present. The attitude of the students described by the headmaster were not minor offenses. This was not an elementary school for Kami's sake. This was an academy which was responsible for training future soldiers of Konoha. Manpower could be built over time. For the present however, they needed to focus on quality. If the students were not able to grasp the seriousness of Shinobi life during their stay at the academy, they did not deserve to become Shinobi, simple as that. Harsher disciplinary measures would be needed. It was harsh but necessary.
The Shinobi Councillors' thoughts were along the same lines. The disciplinary system was lenient in their opinion.
With these thoughts in mind, the Hokage addressed the instructors: "Have any of you anything to add to what the headmaster has said?"
"No, Hokage-Sama", replied the instructors in Unison.
"Very well", said the Hokage. "Shigeru-san, once the new syllabus has been finalized, it will be submitted to you immediately. Also, after hearing your complaints, I've decided that the students in the academy, especially those in the final two years, would face much more stricter disciplinary measures, and this matter is not up for discussion. It is clear that the present measures haven't been able to make the required change in the attitudes of the students. The new measures shall ensure that the students become disciplined Shinobi of drop out of the program. However, these measures will only come into effect along with the new syllabus, which will take considerable time to be finalized."
Understanding the necessity of such measures, Shigeru agreed immediately, "Yes, Hokage-Sama".
"Very well. I don't think there is anything more which can be discussed today. I thank the headmaster and the academy staff for their cooperation today. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, at the same time. The academy staff need not attend it. A reminder for the instructors, I need a hard copy of your respective syllabi submitted in my office by tomorrow evening. With that, council dismissed!
The next morning, a Jounin ninja arrived at the Hokage tower. He had spiky silver hair, which seemed to be standing upright and bent towards one side, wore a black mask and covered his left eye with a black cloth. His other eye had an lazy look which gave the idea that he didn't careuch about anything. He asked the secretary to grant him permission to the Hokage's office. The secretary immediately went and knocked at the office door.
"Come in, please!", said the Hokage.
The secretary came in, gave a bow and said, "Hokage-Sama, Hatake Kakashi wishes to see you."
"Please send him in."
"Yes, Hokage-Sama.", saying so, the secretary exited. Shortly later, the Jounin arrived at the office.
Hiruzen addressed him: "Come in, Kakashi. I need to discuss something with you."
"Is it another mission, Hokage-Sama?", said the Jounin, now identified as Kakashi.
"Not really. I summoned you because I wish to talk to you."
"What is it, sir?"
"You are about 2 hours late this time as well, aren't you?", asked the Hokage with smile.
His uncaring eye closed in a way which indicates that he was smiling, "You see, lord Hokage, on the way, I saw a black cat ..."
Suddenly adopting a serious demeanor, the Hokage said, "Kakashi, I know the reason for your chronic tardiness. So don't bother with any of your stupid excuses in front of me. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Hokage-Sama".
"Now, the reason I summoned you is, I wish to ask you: Till when is this going to continue? A ninja must know how to manage time. On top of that, you are a Jounin. You wasted two hours of your and my time at the memorial stone without caring that the summon you received was from me, your Hokage, the leader of your village. Till when am I supposed to tolerate this behaviour of yours.?"
Looking downtrodden, Kakashi sighed and said, "I don't know if I can ever get over their deaths, Hokage-Sama."
"Many Shinobi have lost those close to them in the war, Kakashi. Do you see any of them behaving like you?"
"It's not just the fact that they died, Hokage-Sama. I feel personally responsible for their deaths."
"Did you betray them, Kakashi?"
"No, Hokage-Sama."
"Ofcourse not. What you did do was poor decision making which resulted in Obito's death. Am I correct?"
"Yes, Hokage-Sama.", said Kakashi as he recalled the day he lost his teammate. He had to learn the value of teamwork the hard way.
"While that is not appreciable, it is not like you betrayed him. So don't hold yourself responsible. Coming to your other teammate, Rin chose to die by your hand, leaving you little choice in the matter. Am I correct?"
"You are correct, Hokage-Sama. But even so, it was may hand which killed her, my chidori which went through her. How can I not feel responsible?"
Looking at Kakashi with a thoughtful expression, the Hokage got up, and looked at the Hokage rock with his hands locked behind his back and said, "Kakashi, I have led this village through two great ninja wars. All those times, I had to dispatch thousands of my ninjas to the war zones, fully aware of the possibility that most of thight not return, a possibility which turned out to be true many times. Sometimes, none of them were able to return. While you feel responsible for the deaths of Obito and Rin, I feel responsible for the deaths of all those who are on the memorial stone, all those who died in those wars and all those who died on duty while doing dangerous missions for the village."
"But you are our Hokage. You have every right to command us and assign us to life-threatening missions."
"That doesn't change my feelings of responsibility Kakashi. I go to the memorial stone every day. There are many people like you who have lost teammates, friends and family to the wars. They visit the stone regularly. If everyone was like you, Konohagakure would be notorious for it's Shinobi's lack of punctuality. No, Kakashi. This has to stop. I'm not asking you not to visit the memorial stone, but you must learn to value your's and most importantly, others' time. Take this as my final warning. If you are late again at my summoning, and if you dare to give one of your foolish excuses, you shall be demoted one rank. If you continue this behaviour, a time might come when you may have to give up your status as a ninja of Konohagakure."
Hiruzen's tone when he threatened Kakashi was enough to make him widen his right eye. "Yes, Hokage-Sama!", said Kakashi with the firm tone of a subordinate in the military addressing his superior.
"Good. See that you change yourself and start behaving professionally. As the Hokage, I've decided that I need to be strict if I wish to keep this village strong. A lot of changes are going to be taking place, Kakashi."
"If you don't mind, what kind of changes, Hokage-Sama?"
"Firstly, the academy is going to undergo major changes, all of which are aimed at better preparing our students for the life of Shinobi. Two council meetings have taken place in this regard. It has been decided that the curriculum is going to be altered and toughened."
"Do you think the civilian council will agree to this, Sandaime-Sama?"
"Ah, the civilian council. Well, let me inform you that they are no longer in charge of things, as far as the academy is concerned." said the Hokage with a smirk. "The changes will be designed by me, the elders and the clan heads. And the civilians will have to accept them."
"An excellent move. Are the changes to take effect from the next year?"
"This is difficult for me to say, Kakashi.", said Hiruzen, returning to his seat. "It depends on how much time is needed to make the changes. We wish to increase the difficulty level, but still limit it to something that the students can handle. Meanwhile, there's another reason I called you today."
"What is it, Hokage-Sama?"
Activating a silence seal for privacy's sake, Hiruzen said, "I know that you have been taking life-threatening missions as an ANBU captain. Am I right, Kakashi.?"
"Yes, Hokage-Sama".
"Well, after our talk today and my warning, I trust you to get your act together. What I want is, for you to resign from the ANBU and become a Jounin of the village. In fact, I want you to become a Jounin Sensei from the next academic year. It's time you start playing your part in nurturing the future of Konoha by guiding the upcoming generations of Shinobi."
"I accept sir. I shall give my resignation tomorrow."
"Good. You may leave."
"Thank you, Hokage-Sama.", saying so, Kakashi left.
In a pub in some village, a fair beautiful blond woman with blond hair with two pigtails, a green haori and a sizeable chest ordered another bottle of sake. Beside her, was a younger woman with black hair, black dress with mail armour underneath who was holding a pig in her lap. The blond woman had finished her sake and had just ordered another one when suddenly,
"This one's on me. And I'll be having a glass too. Put it on my tab."
The woman turned towards the voice, recognising it at once. "Jiraiya!? What are you doing here?"
"Meeting you ofcourse. Can't I meet old friends?", asked Jiraiya with a smirk as he took a seat opposite to hers.
"We both know that you are not one to waste your time with trivial visits to old friends. The only time you waste is during your perverted activities.", said the blonde coldly.
"Well you got me there, Tsunade. Well then, I'll stop beating round the bush. I have tracked you down on Sensei's orders."
"Sarutobi Sensei?", asked the woman, now identified as Tsunade, with narrowed eyes.
"Yes. He wants you to return to Konoha. The village needs you more than ever right now."
"You already know my answer to this, Jiraiya."
"Is it the same answer you gave me when I asked you out?"
"Tell me why should I go back to that place, where I lost everything?"
"Like Sensei said, the village needs you more than ever now. And I agree."
"My answer is still 'NO'. You should have known my response. Why bother tracking me down?"
"I did foresee this. And so did Sensei. He has therefore, issued you a warning:", Jiraiya now looked sternly at Tsunade, "If you do not agree, Sensei will declare you a missing nin. He will not show you any mercy or leniency from now on. And I agree. You have had a long time to get over what you lost, but nothing justifies your abandoning of your village. Do you think you are the only one to have lost people close to you? If everyone starts behaving like you l, more than half of our Shinobi should have deserted the village. Did they?"
"After reporting to Sensei, I - I wish to visit Nawaki's and Dan's g-graves.", said Tsunade shakily.
"So you agree to return?"
"Do I have any choice? It's better than being on the run as a missing nin. Sensei seems to have become strict, now of all times."
"He has a lot to discuss with us once we get there. Let's go immediately."
"Sure. Shizune, get my things ready."
Jutsus introduced in this chapter:
1) Henge no Jutsu (変化の術)
English name: Transformation technique
Rank: E
2) Kawarimi no Jutsu (変わり身の術)
English name: Body replacement technique
Rank: E
3) Bunshin no Jutsu (分身の術)
English name: Clone technique
Rank: E
This is the second chapter. My apologise. I delayed it's release by a day. I don't intend to make excuses but I had to alter major passages of this chapter yesterday so that they make sense with the overall story.The next chapter is on April 30. またね。