This chapter was a lot of fun to make. I really enjoy your reviews so feel free to keep leaving them. Updates might become more frequent in the summer, maybe. Overall, feel free to share this story with your friends if you want.
_
It was another week before Naruto heard anything from Granny Tsunade. In that time, he had formed a sort of routine for himself. The initial awkwardness and anxiety between him and Shion had lessened considerably, and the two settled into a sort of easy rhythm. With his shadow clones, he was able to keep an eye on Iruka and Taruho without sacrificing time he could spend working. And what a blessing that was considering all the preparations that had to be made for the inaugural class of "Onigakure".
Shion had given him and Tenten an unused space on the western of the city where the great wall met a craggy path of small hills. It was discrete, away from civilians, and provided plenty of room to train. From there it had been a simple matter of setting up training dummies, obstacle courses, and other things. The local guard had been kind enough to supply some manpower and equipment to make it better, which Naruto was thankful for.
"It's turning out well," Tenten observed as she returned with a jug full of water. "Guess all that hard work is paying off."
She offered the water to him and he accepted. His orange jacket laid off to the side, cast away before the blazing heat of the early summer sun. "You're telling me. Feels like we haven't had a moment to rest since we began."
"What can you do? We're not exactly planting daisies."
Naruto laughed at that, remembering his abysmal attempt at helping Shion garden. He watched some of the soldiers finish drilling or moving boxes of equipment. As the two shinobi took a break, Naruto heard a voice call out to them.
"Lord Uzumaki, sir," a regimented, deep voice called out. They both turned to see Sergeant Mizuno striding towards them.
The grizzled drill sergeant had come at recommendation from Nobuo, who thought that having only two teachers would be hard, even for practiced ninja. In the time they had known each other, Naruto found the man driven if a bit intimidating.
Guess that's by design though, he thought to himself as he stood. "Mizuno, good to see you."
The man stopped a few paces away and saluted. "Sir, we've finished preparation for the target range and the Level C training course. By this time next month, we'll have permanent fixtures for the new recruits to be housed in."
"At ease, Mizuno. You don't have to be all formal with me," Naruto chuckled. "Thank you and your men for all the hard work."
"It'll pay off when we get our recruits, I'm sure sir."
"Right you are. We're just waiting on them to show up and Grandma Tsunade's response to the message we sent. If we can bum some scrolls off the old hag, then all the better."
"Naruto," Tenten said, aggrieved. "Can't you at least call her Lady Hokage?"
"Pfft, it's fine. For now though, sergeant, do you mind sending your men to check the northern trails? I figured they'd be good for a pack run once the kids are at that level."
"Sir!" the man saluted before turning on his heel and walking back towards the work site.
"That guy needs to get laid."
"Naruto!"
Naruto laughed devilishly as he darted under his companion's threatening attempt to grab him. The two carried on like that for a few minutes longer, Naruto deftly avoiding the stinging strike of her palm while she did her best to swat him like an annoying housefly. They were only interrupted as a soldier ran up the path back to the city proper and addressed them.
"Sirs, we've received messenger birds from the Hidden Leaf Village. Captain Shiganshina believes them to be a response to your requests," the young man saluted starkly. "He asks that you return ASAP."
"Sweet! We're there!" Naruto cried happily. "Let's go Tenten!"
"W-Wait, Naruto!"
Before she could say anything else he was already gone, racing down the hilly path towards the palace. Tenten followed close behind as best she was able, but the blonde idiot just didn't seem to have a patient bone in his body. The two arrived at the rookery and found a small flock of birds being tended too, each one carrying a small pack with the Leaf Village crest on it. Nobuo was already there, giving orders to the men when he saw them come in.
"Lord Uzumaki, Madam Tenten, good to see you two. These birds arrived just half an hour ago. We've been able to relieve them of their contents, mostly notes and scrolls, however this letter was addressed to you personally," he handed a sealed and stamped envelope to Naruto.
He opened, pleasantly surprised to find that it was from Grandma Tsunade.
Dear Brat,
Hope things are getting along well over there. Neji and Lee both reported good tidings, which makes me relieved. Things in the village are going well, and after talking it over with the geezers we agreed to try out your idea. What we sent isn't quite everything, but it will be enough to get your idea off the ground. Iruka himself was adamant on including a parcel of his own, which I'm sure has arrived with this message.
On another topic, I won't lie and say we aren't curious as to what your kids are like. Somehow word got out among the rookies and it raised a whole tizzy. If I were you, I'd bring those ankle biters back so the rest of these grown men and women can coo over them. Me included. More seriously, I hope you're okay. I hope Shion and the kids are okay. Take care of yourself, and take care of them.
When you return, I want to give you a present. Until then.
Yours truly,
The Fifth Hokage
Naruto didn't realize until he put the note down that his eyes had gotten a little misty. He'd be sure to return so he could tease everyone about how un-ninja like they were. Seriously, getting excited over a couple of babies, weren't they supposed to be shinobi? Naruto wiped his eyes with a small smile before pocketing the note.
True to Tsunade's words, the birds held an assortment of notes, test questions, training techniques, and pointers on the basics of being a ninja. It was enough to get started at least, and that was all Naruto needed. He and Tenten sorted out the scrolls until they both had a better idea of what they were working with. With this, they could form the curriculum and begin setting bench markers to test their new students on.
"It's all coming together. By this time next year we'll have this down, believe it!" Naruto cried as they both walked back to the palace.
"Yeah, I gotta admit I wasn't sure if Lady Tsunade was going to go for it. Or rather, if those cranky old advisors would," Tenten said nonchalantly. "Still though, can't complain. All we have to do now is wait and see."
"Oh, hey guys," the two of them stopped as they heard a voice call out to them. Shion, flanked by a guard on either side, walked down the hall to meet with them. "Coming back from setting up the training grounds?"
"Even better, we got the response from Granny. We've got her support, and she sent us a bunch of learning material too! This way we'll be ready for anything when it comes to training our new recruits."
Shion clapped her hands together. "That's wonderful! I knew it would work out. According to the local administrators, we managed to get a handful of interested folks from around the country. I sent a small contingent of guardsmen to gather them up and bring them back."
"Awesome, this is going to go great. Believe it!" Naruto cried victoriously.
"I'm sure you'll do great, hun," Shion leaned in and shared a quick kiss with her fiance. "I have to get back to work so I'll see you two around dinnertime. I swear, it's like some of these old guys wouldn't be able to breathe without triplicate documents giving them approval to."
"I'm sure. Well, you just let us handle everything else. See you tonight."
The two shared another quick goodbye kiss and parted ways. Tenten glanced at her companion and appraised him. He had fallen into the swing of things with a sort of grace that she didn't expect him to have. Granted, Naruto had always been a "roll with the punches" sort of guy, but still. At the very least he seemed more mature, like Neji said. Tenten had been sure that the day she saw Naruto being all proper and grown up would be the day pigs flew, but here they were.
She glanced at him again and found a red-hot blush had crept onto his face, a dopey, overly-sappy grin plastered on his face.
Or maybe not, she thought with an eye roll. Boys…
0-0-0-0
"-And it's like, I know I'm the Priestess but you don't need to run everything by me. I don't know about town zoning laws so how I can be expected to sign off on opening a new mine so close to Kuroyuri," Shion's complaints were muffled somewhat as she spoke into Naruto's chest.
The two had retired back to their room after dinner. As he had come to realize, Shion hadn't really been able to vent about the more stressful aspects of her job in awhile. It had become a nightly ritual for him to listen to her get her anger out. The young priestess laid across the bed, her head nestled on his stomach as he read the contents of one of the teaching manuals he was gifted.
He hummed in agreement either way. "Seems like passing the buck to me. Like they don't want to make the decision."
"Yeah," she rolled over to look up at him. "Old people, right?"
He glanced down with mock surprise. "Are we not considered old?"
Shion laughed and flicked his forward, rolling onto his side to lay down next to him.
"Maybe you with all those grey hairs, but I'm going to be young forever."
"Ouch, no immortality for your husband?"
Shion laughed again and relaxed, now out of her vestments and into something more comfortable. Formality was key, and the Land of Demons style of dress was somewhat odd. A mix of old fashioned and pseudo-formal. She'd been trying to convince him to ditch the bright orange jumpsuit in exchange for some of the land's best fashion trends. Thus far, he'd put up a good fight against doing so, but it was hard rotating two sets of identical clothes every couple days. It was just a matter of time before she put him into one of those odd "dress shirts" she seemed to like so much.
"Did you check on the kids today?" he asked her idly.
"Yup, Taruho was still asleep-"
"As usual."
"And Iruka was trying to crawl out of his cage. I swear, the kid's a monkey. A really cute, perfect redheaded monkey," she sighed. "He just about gave me a damn heart attack."
"Luckily he's got low battery power like his brother. I'll check up on them tonight to make sure they're okay."
He would never admit it to her face, but being able to make shadow clones so he could spend time with his kids was a major plus. Maybe he should teach her to do it as well? He chewed on that thought for a moment before filing it away. If he did want to do that, he'd need to coach Shion on it personally. It was a technique that required a large amount of chakra, and he didn't want her to risk her life.
"Whatcha thinkin' about," she poked the side of his face.
"Oh, you know, how amazing I am," he said, earning a flick to the temple. "Alright, alright. Just thinking about random stuff. Wondering if I should train you to use chakra."
"Hm, why?"
"I dunno, guess it wouldn't hurt? But you're pretty busy, and it would be a lot of training. More of an errant thought."
Shion leaned back. "Maybe, when I have more time. You could give me private lessons."
The emphasis she put on "private" had him looking over. He found his fiancee laying there, a coy grin on her face. She leaned in for a kiss which he reciprocated, and soon one thing led to another…
Time passed, and the couple laid in bed together. If he hadn't been tired before, he had a feeling he'd get to sleep easily now. Shion herself was nearly there, her breathing soft and even. He heard her mumble something, half-awake.
"I've been thinking…"
"Mm?"
"I'll need to pass down the title of Priestess someday. I want to make sure that there's someone to take up the mantle."
He followed her line of thinking. "You want a daughter?"
She leaned back into him more, sighing pleasantly as he wrapped his arms around. For a moment she said nothing, and he thought she might've gone to sleep again. However, just as he was about to try and get some shut eye himself she spoke.
"Not now. When we're in a more comfortable spot. When things are a bit slower. You have your work, I have mine. I want the boys to grow up a bit."
"Me too, Shion," he leaned in and gave her a kiss on the back of her head. "Go to sleep, we can talk more tomorrow."
She mumbled something incoherent in response, and he knew he had lost her to the clutches of sleep. He followed not long after, drifting away into a warm, peaceful slumber. That night, he dreamt of his village, he dreamed of him being with his parents again. Them going to the park together, waking him up in the morning, laughing and spending time with him. Things he never had.
But he did now…
0-0-0-0
The weekend came quicker than he thought, and with it the new recruits. He, Tenten, and Sergeant Mizuno stood at prompt attention upon a temporary wooden stage. A soft wind swept across the hills, rustling the grass and providing some relief from the cloudless blue sky. From their vantage, one could see almost the entirety of the city. To the West lay the massive wall that protected the city, and further North was the path towards the mountain ranges. Mizuno had assured them both that the trails would be fine, and that further up the paths were areas perfect for wilderness survival training.
There's less than I thought, and Naruto wasn't sure if that was a blessing or a curse. The kids who stood before them numbered eighteen in all, their ages ranging from what appeared to be seven at the youngest to the oldest at eleven. Hardly fair, but they had to take what they could get. The fact that they had come at all was heartening at least, but the butterflies in his stomach were wreaking havoc on his anxiety. He could do this, he was a ninja and he had faced down harder prospects than this. He just needed to find his stride.
He cleared his throat to get their attention. "Hello, and good afternoon. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and to my left and right are my fellow instructors: Sergeant Mizuno and Tenten. We will be your trainers and mentors as you become the first shinobi to grace the Land of Demons. All of you have taken a bold first step to becoming ninja, and for that you should be proud. However, things will only get harder from here. As the first class, you must set an example to all who come after you."
The proclamation caused a stir among them, as hushed whispers and nervous looks were passed around between them. Luckily, Mizuno stepped in before it could reach a fervor.
"Silence!" he called out, loud enough to quiet them in an instant. "The introductions are not yet over. Remain silent."
Nodding his thanks to the man, Naruto continued. "I won't lie to you, the career you've decided to undertake is punishing, and dangerous. You will learn real world skills here, you will be pushed to excel, and you will get hurt."
He saw one girl with shaggy brown hair flinch as if he had threatened to physically hit her. He filed away her face in his mind for later. As callous as it sounded, if they couldn't even handle a speech without losing their nerve, they were not cut out to be ninja. Still, he could see the resolve in others. A trio of identical boys in matching dress shirts, slacks, and suspenders faced ahead almost proudly. An older girl in a high waisted skirt and rolled up sleeves seemed to take his words as a challenge, smirking all the while. Yes, there was some spirit here.
"Instructor Tenten will explain how things will go from here on out," he splayed a hand to her and stepped back.
"Your training will not be focused at a grade level like other academies, rather we will be performance based. Before you are made genin, the lowest rank of ninja, you must past the D, C, B, and A levels in that order. When we believe your class to be ready, you will be given the chance to attempt the courses or mock missions to move to the next rank.
Some of you will mature faster than others, that is just a given. However, we are committed to your success. If you do not pass a level on the first try, we will give you the training you need to pass it the next time. Performance Evaluations will test various things, including your technique, physical aptitude, mental aptitude, and chakra control. Once you have completed the A Level, you will officially be considered genin."
A hand was raised, and Tenten paused. She glanced at Naruto who just gave a shallow nod. The weapon kunoichi pointed towards the hand, and a young boy in thick rimmed glasses spoke up.
"D-Does that mean we won't all graduate together?"
"It does," Mizuno interjected. "However, if all goes well, we expect all of you to be at the level necessary to complete the evaluation when we decide to give it. Until then, it will take as much time as it has to."
"Right. However, those who are unable or unwilling to improve will be dropped. If it becomes clear that this is not the career for you, we will send you back home," Naruto finished. "Your instructors and I would rather see you alive in a safe career than dead because you wanted to play ninja."
The words were harsh, but necessary. Life as a ninja was often violent, and it could be cut short at a moment's notice. If these kids were serious about being shinobi, they deserved the unmitigated truth. There was no one to sugarcoat things on the battlefield, and they would be expected to fight. That meant weeding out the ones who were unfit to serve as ninja. The performance evaluations had been a compromise of different ideas to make up for the lack of existing structure that a bigger village had. The training would be more ad hoc, based in the real world instead of a classroom.
"We will begin today by splitting you up into three companies to test your current abilities. This will give us a benchmark and allow us to tailor our plans going forward. The following people will be with Instructor Tenten: Nao Aoyama, Yuuma Sharaku…" Mizuno listed off the names and the kids began to break away.
Naruto let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. They had gotten through the first step with flying colors, now he just had to keep it up. In the end, he was left with the largest group composed of six kids. Most of them seemed to be of an older stripe, around ten or so if he had to guess on most of them. He had gotten the triplets, but not the girl who was in Tenten's group.
He spotted the scruffy-haired girl alongside the glasses boy and one more girl whose hair was cut so short she was nearly bald. He saw the indent of a crooked scar across the side of her head, reaching up and around to the back. The scruffy girl was wearing too many layers for the summer heat, with a large brown jacket and dark green scarf over top a long plaid scarf. The boy in glasses appeared more suited to a classroom than a muddy field, and the bald girl regarded him with a sort of detached patience as he surveyed them all.
"Alright, while they get settled I want to hear some names. You three, triplets I assume?" the biggest one nodded, that same cocky smirk on his face. "Names?"
"Okino Bruise," he said, his voice nasally and almost deriding.
"Mitsugi Bruise," piped up the other one.
The final one glanced at his brothers before adding. "Wakita Bruise."
"The Bruise brothers, hm? Alright, I'll try to remember which is which. Correct me if I get it wrong," Naruto glanced at the glasses kid, bidding him to speak.
"S-Sir, Kugo Kaoru from Akiharu, sir!" he nearly saluted before realizing that maybe it wasn't appropriate which had the unfortunate effect of making him flap one of his arms before he set it down.
"Noya Erisa," the bald girl stated before he could call on her.
That left the final girl who seemed to draw in on herself. She muttered something under breath and coughed, before repeating it a bit louder. Naruto could see that she was clearly lacking in the self-confidence department.
"Speak up," he said, trying his best to seem stern without being mean.
"Momoi Ado!" she yelled, clutching at her coat.
"Thank you," he penned down the name and added a note about her shyness to his clipboard.
He had an idea of their names, and a bit of their personalities. He put the clipboard under his arm and addressed them as a group. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm a ninja from the Leaf Village. I don't like icebreakers, so I think the best way for you all to get to know each other is through working together. We'll be going through three exercises today: a target range, an obstacle course, and a small mock mission. Through this, we'll gauge your strengths, weaknesses, and what things we should know going forward."
"Mock mission?" Wakita raised an eyebrow.
"Raise your hand next time, Wakita," Naruto said sternly. "And yes. It will be an exercise where you will try to obtain a flag from me in a set amount of time. I'll explain more as we get closer."
The young boy lowered his hand, still smirking. Naruto had a feeling those three would be a source of grief for him going forward. He looked over the assembled children to see Tenten giving him the wave as Mizuno led his group towards the obstacle course. His comrade would take the mock mission, leaving his group to go head towards the target range. Truth be told, it wasn't much to look at. The soldiers had done their best with what they had, and to their credit they had gone the extra mile. Painted lines boxed in the range and provided different points from which one could attempt to hit their mark.
The children were all lined up next to a table that was laden with kunai and shuriken. Naruto went over the basic safety procedures, how to hold these weapons, what not to do, and basic range safety before glancing at his clipboard once more.
"We'll be testing your throwing technique and accuracy. If you don't do well, don't get discouraged. This is merely to ascertain your current level," Naruto explained. "Orino, you're up first."
The large boy stepped forward, a kunai clutched in his meaty fist. With a nasally snort, he reared back and tossed the thing down range. Naruto watched it fly, analysing its speed and direction. A bit wobbly, but it hit the target dummy on its abdomen, just above the right hip.
"Two more, then switch out with Wakita."
The next two volleys were roughly equal. The boy had more force than aim, which made the shots off center if more powerful. Naruto penned down the notes and had the next Bruise brother come up. Wakita, for all his weaselly sneering, proved to exceed his brother. The boy's aim was good, so much so that Naruto was convinced he had some level of experience in it. Three shuriken, each of which hit the center target. No bullseyes, but it was impressive nonetheless.
On and on it went, with Mitsugi bringing up the rear among his brothers and Kaoru not even managing to hit the dummy at the standard range. He saw the well-to-do boy sulk as he paced back towards the rest of the group, head hung low in shame.
He's going to require practice. His form and aim need work, but we can train that in, he glanced at Momoi and her attempt. Her on the other hand, is something else.
The young, frizzy-haired girl didn't even seem to be keeping her eyes open as she threw the knives. Two of the three attempts didn't even make it to the dummy, let alone hit it. He heard a familiar scoff from behind him, but didn't turn around to chastise Mitsugi. Instead, he tried to watch the girl. She seemed to flinch the moment she threw the knife, as if she expected it to bite her in retaliation. Was it fear? A ninja who was afraid of throwing knives and shuriken would not go far, but it was possible. Maybe it was nerves, instead.
Momoi fell to the ground, winded and barely blinking back tears. Naruto sighed as he added some more notes to his clipboard, appending a thought that he should keep an eye on her. The final one to be graded was Noya who strode forth without a care in the world. She stepped aside Momoi who was helped up by Kaoru and taken back to the group. The blonde ninja could tell this one was different from her classmates. There was something about the way she held herself.
She knows what she's doing, was his immediate thought. The shaven-haired girl reared back and tossed the kunai with impressive force. With a soft "thunk" it stuck into the center of the target. A perfect bullseye. The Bruise brothers stopped their hushed joking as Momoi seemed to flinch back behind Kaoru. Two more times Noya let the knives fly and each one landed perfectly. Maybe it wasn't so impressive for a ninja of his caliber, but these were supposed to be kids. Recruits from across the land who wanted to try their hand at being a shinobi.
Her form and steadiness spoke of real world practice. Combined with the scarring and impassive attitude…
Naruto added a longer blurb for her, including a tailend note to look into where she was from. It wasn't uncommon for kids in bad spots to try and become soldiers or ninja. Whether they were small-time street urchins or naive bandits looking to get into a more respectable line of work, he'd heard stories in his time. If this Noya girl was one of them, then he'd need to keep an eye on how she developed as well. Giving someone the ability to perform destructive jutsus when they didn't have the mental state to use it responsibly could go horribly wrong. Across the hills Naruto heard a sharp whistle, to which he responded in kind. It was time to move on.
"Alright, next up we'll be testing your physical aptitude and endurance. There's a small obstacle course up ahead that we've set up. Once you all begin, we'll time you to see how long it takes," he called back as the group marched on.
The course was ramshackle by design, simple and straightforward. It began with a short sprint towards a trio of logs suspended over a dug-out pit of mud. Past that was a belly-crawl underneath some planks of wood that led into some monkey bars. Once that got through those, it would be a rocky, uneven uphill sprint towards the final platform where they'd be timed. For him or Tenten, it'd take maybe fifteen seconds, less if they went all out. But for the kids it would be good to gauge their weaknesses.
His class lined up, each person preparing for the slog ahead. Naruto observed them all from where he stood at the platform, eyeing up their confidence. As always, Kaoru and Momoi seemed to be the ones lacking the most. One the nearby soldiers gave a thumbs up, and Naruto blew the whistle. In an instant they were off. Noya took the lead almost immediately with Wakita right behind her. Despite her earlier performance, Naruto was surprised to see Momoi leading in third.
The blonde proctor kept a close eye on their advance as they made it to the balance beams. Noya leapt upon them with ease and rushed forward, barely even slowing down. Wakita took it slower, trying to keep his earlier pace but still being careful. Momoi, for her part, slowed to a walk and shimmied along the log, costing her precious seconds. With a brash shout, Orino leapt upon the wooden bridge and attempted to join his brother. However, as he reached the midway point his foot slipped and he was sent careening down below. Naruto marked it down as Wakita and Mitsugi stopped their attempt to complete the race and tried to help their brother out of the pit.
Even as Kaoru passed them and Noya reached the belly crawl they seemed more concerned with Orino than continuing on. By the time the main bulk of the group had reached the belly crawl, nearly forty seconds had passed. Noya remained in the lead, deftly swinging through the monkey bars and pushing forward. Kaoru huffed and puffed as he tried to keep running, his glasses slipping down past his nose from time to time. He stumbled and nearly fell but managed to regain his balance at the last second.
"Wahoo!" Orino cried, leaping up onto the bars in mud-stained clothing. With his natural strength and brawn the large boy deftly swept through the obstacle in mere moments. Naruto couldn't get the image of an short gorilla with something to prove out of his mind as Wakita followed behind.
Momoi was nearly knocked to the ground in the initial rush, stopping to catch her breath. They would all need to work on their physical endurance, it seemed. Some more than others. Naruto paused as he watched Mitsugi run up to Momoi and pick her up by the arm.
"C'mon kid, they're leaving us behind," between the slimy grin and nasally tone, Naruto almost thought he was being condescending were it not for the gentleness with which he picked her back up.
"Hmm, interesting," he noted.
Noya climbed up the final obstacle, half running half bear crawling her way to the top. One of the soldiers remained on standby with the stopwatch as she approached. Even with the uneven footing and sharp rocks, she forged ahead with single minded ambition. She barely seemed to even notice the scrapes, cuts, and gouges she accumulated as loose rocks came free and gritty dirty rubbed against her skin, turning it raw and pink.
"Time!" the soldier called out as she reached the platform, sucking in gasps of air. "Forty nine point four-four seconds!"
Orino and Wakita were next to finish with a time of nearly a minute. Thanks to him helping Momoi, Mitsugi clocked in fifteen seconds after that. And, finally, Kaoru finished in last place with nearly triple the amount of time as Noya. The boy looked about ready to puke as Momoi rubbed his back. The boy had clearly never done hard exercise in his life, that much was obvious. Naruto also didn't miss the cold feeling of disdain that seemed to radiate off the Erisa girl as she looked over them all. As if she thought them beneath her.
Wonderful class we've got here, Naruto sighed, finishing his notes. I'll need to get some workout plans together. Specifically for those two.
The real kicker would be the social aspect. Being a ninja required working in a squad, as a team, and these kids would have their issues. Time would tell, but for now they needed to get on to the final exercise.
"C-Can't we- we rest first?" Kaoru wheezed. "S-Sir?"
Naruto stopped for a moment and glanced up at the blazing sun. "Get some water. We're taking a five minute break, but no more. Go!"
"Seems kinda generous, don't ninja go for longer in the field?" Noya said, almost a challenge.
"Yes, they do. But you all are neither ninja or in the field. Go."
The girl gave him a half-hearted glare, but joined the rest of the group in rehydrating.
"That one has spirit, sir," one of the soldiers remarked.
"She has something to prove alright. Like a lot of these kids I think. We'll make them into full-fledged shinobi by the time we're done though, believe it!" Naruto responded, clapping the man on his back. "Check back in with Mizuno and Tenten, we'll move on to the third exercise after this break."
"Yes sir!"
"Alright listen up," he clapped his hands. "The final exercise is about to begin. You'll have forty-five minutes to complete it to my satisfaction."
Kaoru raised a hand before dropping it to ask. "What's the exercise, sir?"
"Glad you asked. Have any of you played or heard of 'capture the flag'?" he asked, seeing all of them raise their hands. "The principal here will be similar. In the hills behind me is a small forest wherein a bright red flag has been planted in the center. You must all work as a group to retrieve the flag in the allotted time."
This time, Mitsugi raised his hand. "What's the catch, bossman?"
"The catch is that you will need to take it from me. I will be guarding it. If you cannot take the flag in the allotted time, you lose."
"Anything off limits?" Noya asked brusquely.
"Apart from killing or serious injury, no. You may use the tools at your disposal, and we will be providing blunted weapons for you to use as well," Momoi seemed to shrink back at every word. "Any other questions?"
None raised their hands.
"Good, the soldiers to my right will lead you to your starting positions. The exercise begins when I blow the whistle. Formulate a plan and get going!"
"Yes, sir!" they cried out.
Naruto watched them all go for a moment before leaping towards the woods. This would be the final test to prove what they all could do, and whether they could work as a team. He had gotten the idea from the bell test Kakashi-sensei had them do. Here it would hopefully be a bit easier on them, since he himself would avoid using shadow clones or other jutsu. It gave him an odd sense of nostalgia almost, that he would be using his sensei's old tests against his own class.
"Alright Naruto, time to see what they're made of," he said as he landed down next to the flag.
He just hoped this wouldn't blow up in his face.