"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks, Letters, and Setting

I don't own Naruto

Chapter 19: D-Rank Missions

At a Café in Downtown Konoha

The 2 kunoichi of Team 7 joined Team 10 at a café they promised to meet at after their team introductions.

"Hey! Hinata-chan! Narumi-chan! Over here!" Ino waved her female friends in Team 7 over. "Where's Sasuke-kun?" She asked, not seeing her crush with his team.

"Hey, Ino!" The redheaded kunoichi yelled as she dragged Hinata over with her. "Sasuke stayed behind to have a chat with our sensei."

"Oh. Guess he'll be coming by a little later?" Ino asked hopefully.

"Yeah, probably. Anyway, how were your team introductions? How's Asuma as a sensei? Is he super strong?" Narumi asked excitedly.

"Surprisingly not troublesome." Shikamaru replied, not bothering to lift his head from the table.

Ino scoffed. "You would say that, wouldn't you, Shikamaru? Asuma sensei? Where did you hear that he was strong? He seems like a lazy bum like Shikamaru over here. And he smells! Ugh! All that smoking! It's bad for my skin to be near him!" She complained dramatically.

"He's nice! And he bought us yakiniku (Japanese BBQ meat)! I'd say he's on my good side already." Chouji commented enthusiastically, as he dug his fork into his 3rd slice of chocolate cake.

"Ano, how was your t-test? Did you have to fight your s-sensei too?" Hinata asked curiously.

"Huh? What test? You fought your sensei? All that lazy bum did was ask us basic things about ourselves like interests, hobbies, dreams, and stuff like that, then he spent the whole time eating bbq and smoking!" Ino complained.

"Huh? Really? We did the whole talk about ourselves intro, but we had to fight our sensei to gauge our skills and all. He said all the senseis have some sort of test to see if they pass." Narumi replied.

"That is a logical way to see what kind of skills we currently possess. Our sensei tested us in a similar manner." Shino commented as he walked into the café.

"Shino!" Narumi greeted her bug-user friend. "How was your sensei? How was your team? Sorry to say, but being with the people in your team seems like my worst nightmare." Narumi gagged just thinking about having Sakura and Kiba on the same team, with Kurenai as a sensei, not that she had anything personal against the woman.

"My team was… interesting. One can hope that it will get better with time. Our sensei however, seems to be a competent sensei. I am interested to see how our team will develop under her guidance." Shino replied as he took a seat at their table.

"Really? But isn't she… you know… a genjutsu specialist? Isn't that kind of lame?" Narumi asked.

"H-how was your team introduction, Shino-kun?" Hinata asked as well.

"It was… interesting. To say the least." Shino replied as he recalled his team's introduction earlier.

Flashback

"Alright team, this is Training Ground 8. This will be our home ground in a sense. We will meet here in the mornings before missions, and we will mostly be training here, so get comfortable." Kurenai started.

"Now that we're here, let's get started with our team's introduction. I'll start. Hi, I'm Yuuhi Kurenai. I'm a Jonin, and a genjutsu specialist. I like training in genjutsu, and I like people who are dutiful. I hate perverts. Really, really hate them, so if any of you become perverts, I'll deal with you myself. I also hate fangirls, who give kunoichi a bad rep."

Kiba and Sakura gulped.

"My hobbies include reading, and drinking tea with my friends. My dream is to get rid of the stereotype of kunoichi being weaker than male ninja, and become a powerful kunoichi like Tsunade, that girls can look up to." Kurenai concluded her introduction. "Now, it's your turn."

"I'll start!" Kiba shouted out as he raised his hand. "Hi! I'm Kiba and this is my partner, Akamaru!" The small white dog hiding in his jacket with just its head sticking out barked in response. "I'm a Genin from the Inuzuka Clan, and I'm good at our clan's taijutsu, and me and Akamaru here are also good at tracking! Aren't we, Akamaru?" The dog barked again.

"I like most animals, but especially dogs! I also enjoy a good bbq, or any kind of meat really. I hate cats, and I hate people who hurt animals for no reason! My hobbies including taking walks in the forest with Akamaru, and playing with him. My dream is to become a powerful ninja, and maybe even become the Hokage one day!" Kiba concluded, with Akamaru barking in agreement.

"Very good. It's nice to meet you Kiba. Now, why don't you go next Shino?" Kurenai told her two male students with a warm smile.

"I will go next then. I am Aburame Shino. I am adept in the use of my clan's insect oriented jutsu. I like insects, or what many people call bugs. I dislike people who kill insects for no reason. I enjoy looking for new insects, or breeding new hybrids for my hive. My dream is to create a new powerful breed for my hive, and to achieve complete harmony between multiple colonies." Shino stated in a monotone voice.

"That's… nice." Kurenai told Shino. She didn't tell him that she wasn't too fond of bugs. "Why don't you go next, Sakura? She asked Sakura. Kurenai had high expectations from Sakura. She was the kunoichi of the year in her grades, and was noted to show a high degree of chakra control, and an affinity for genjutsu."

"Hi, I'm Haruno Sakura. I'm not from a ninja clan." Sakura stated, a little embarrassed.

Kurenai smiled at her and urged her to continue.

"Umm, Iruka sensei said I had good chakra control, and I'm pretty good at studying and remembering things. Iruka sensei also said I might be good at genjutsu, though I never really tried. I like… a certain someone." Sakura began to blush and giggle. Kiba rolled his eyes.

"I dislike loud, annoying people like a certain girl in my class." Sakura said as she clenched her fist. Kurenai wondered who she was talking about.

"My hobbies include…" Sakura began blushing and giggling again. "My dream is to get the attention of a certain someone, and to get him to fall in love with me. I dream of becoming his girlfriend, and his future wife."

Kurenai sighed. She had seen this before. A fangirl. Her likes, hobbies, dreams, basically her whole life, revolved around a boy, instead of herself. Kurenai was disappointed. She would not tolerate this on her team.

"So, you're telling me that what you like and like to do all involve a certain boy, and your goals for the future is becoming that boy's woman?" Kurenai asked seriously.

Sakura missed the hint in Kurenai's voice that told her that Kurenai didn't like what she heard. Sakura nodded with a dreamy look in her face.

"That… is unacceptable." Kurenai told Sakura sternly, which shocked the pinkette.

"Wha- what do you mean sensei?" Sakura stammered out.

"You're a kunoichi, but none of your interests or goals had anything to do with being one. Why did you even become a kunoichi? You could have done all these things as a civilian." Kurenai asked.

"Well, Sasuke-kun likes kunoichi, so I can't just be a regular civilian! Ino would steal him from me then!" Sakura responded back clueless to Kurenai's building ire.

"So, this boy is Sasuke? You became a kunoichi for Sasuke-kun?" Kurenai asked, and Sakura nodded. This was pathetic.

"That's absolutely pathetic. Do you even know what the life of a kunoichi is like?" Kurenai couldn't hide her look of disgust.

"Do missions for the village?" Sakura said naïvely.

Kurenai sighed. "Sakura, being a kunoichi means you'll have to steal, hurt, and even kill people. You'll have to do whatever the village asks you to do. Though Konoha doesn't take as many of these kinds of missions, sometimes you'll have to give your body to a client." Sakura gasped in shock.

"You're ready to enter a world of pain and suffering, for the goal of getting Sasuke's attention? If you don't get your act together, you're gonna get you and your team killed. So don't take this as a joke. I won't tolerate any fangirl behavior. Not on my team. If you want to be a fangirl, get the hell out of my team. It's a disgrace to all serious kunoichi." Kurenai reprimanded Sakura sternly, who's face fell.

"Well, that was most disappointing." Kurenai stated. "We were formed as a tracking team, so I was going to test your tracking skills, but after hearing what I heard, I'm first going to test you to see if you're worthy of being Genin on my team, especially you Sakura. Hopefully you won't disappoint me further."

"Tch, we'll show her we're strong, won't we Akamaru!" Kiba shouted out to his partner. He didn't like being looked down on.

"All three of you can attack me at once. You'll need to, if you want to have any chance of hurting me." Kurenai told the Genin.

"You think you're so strong? You're just a lame genjutsu user anyway! Don't look down on us!" Kiba shouted out brashly.

"You'll see that I've got a lot more than genjutsu in my arsenal. Come at me and find out for yourself." Kurenai stated calmly, though she was angry at the fact that her genjutsu was being looked down on again. She decided she would teach them the true terror that genjutsu could be.

Kiba and Akamaru charged at Kurenai, Kiba swinging viciously at the Jonin woman. Though Kurenai was not particularly gifted in taijutsu, she was still a Jonin. She easily dodged each swipe, and responded with painful blows of her own. She kicked Kiba in the chest, and sent him flying. Akamaru leapt to his master's side.

"Tch. Not bad. Come on guys! Let's show her we're not to be underestimated!" Kiba shouted at Sakura and Shino.

Sakura nodded, as she was angry at Kurenai for looking down on her and her crush on Sasuke. She decided she was gonna show her why she was kunoichi of the year.

Shino didn't show any movement, and stood there with his hands in his pocket. Though he didn't reply, he knew this was a test, and he needed to work with his new teammates to fight Kurenai if he wanted to become a Genin under a Jonin sensei. His kikaichu began to slowly pour out of his body, and buzzed around him.

"Let's go!" Kiba shouted and everyone charged Kurenai.

She smirked and waited until her opponents were almost upon her, when she suddenly threw a smoke bomb onto the ground.

The Genin jumped out of the smoke, coughing. They were scattered around training ground 8.

Sakura was coughing, when she saw Sasuke come out from the forest. "Sakura? What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked her.

"Sasuke-kun! I'm in a test with my Jonin sensei. Can you help me fight her?" Sakura asked.

"You want me to help you in your team's test? Isn't that cheating?" Sasuke asked curiously. Gosh he looked so damn cute with that curious face on!

"Y-yeah, of course. You're right, Sasuke-kun. It was silly of me to ask." Sakura said as she smacked her own head.

"It's alright. I'm sure you'll do well-" Sasuke was encouraging her, when suddenly a pack of wolves jumped out of the woods behind him, and began attacking him. Sasuke was taken by surprise, and had no time to respond. He screamed in pain as he was torn to shreds. Sakura's eyes widened, and she froze in fear.

"S-Sakura… why didn't you help me…?" Sasuke whispered out loud enough for Sakura to hear, before the wolves ripped his throat out. The handsome boy was now reduced to chunks of flesh and blood.

Sakura began to foam at the mouth and passed out from the traumatic sight.

Kurenai stared at the girl who stared at and talked to no one in particular before passing out. Pathetic. She didn't even realize she was in a genjutsu. She sighed. One down. 2 to go. She turned around to find her other students.

"Resorting to cheap tricks! It won't work on us though, will it Akamaru?" Kiba asked his canine partner, who yipped back at him. We'll use our noses to find her! They closed their eyes, and began to look for Kurenai using her scent. They found her in the smoke. "There you are!" Kiba shouted out as he charged her.

Kurenai dodged and stepped out of the smoke. "So, you've found me. Impressive for a loudmouthed Genin. Now let's see what you've got." She began to charge at him.

Kiba and Kurenai traded punches and kicks, though they were able to dodge each other's strikes.

Kiba finally swung a hard left hook, and caught Kurenai in the cheek, and sent her staggering back. She caught her balance and charged at him, more savagely than before. She appeared to come for a haymaker, drawing her fist all the way behind her, and Kiba prepared to block or dodge the telegraphed punch.

Kurenai suddenly switched gears, and lowered her body, until she was on all fours. This threw Kiba off, and Kurenai used that opening to bite him savagely in the leg.

Pain shot up Kiba's leg, and he grabbed his leg in agony, and looked down in surprise at his sensei's unusual attack.

The pain released the genjutsu, revealing that Kiba had been bitten by Akamaru. The two had been in Kurenai's genjutsu, and had been fighting each other.

Kurenai appeared from behind them, and chopped them in the back of the necks, knocking them unconscious.

'2 down, 1 to go.' Kurenai thought to herself.

Kurenai heard buzzing behind her, and she slowly turned around to see Shino standing a short distance away from her with his hands in his pockets.

"You cast a genjutsu on Kiba and his dog to make them fight each other. I assume you cast one on Sakura as well, based on her unconscious condition right now. As a genjutsu specialist, I reason that you are trying to show us the power and utility of genjutsu, by making us experience it first-hand. Am I correct in my deduction?" Shino asked.

Kurenai grinned. "Not bad, Shino. I'll tell you right now, that you show the most promise out of you 3."

Shino adjusted his sunglasses using one finger to push it back up his nose. "Based on what I've seen, I can deduce that you will use a genjutsu on me as well, or have already used one on me. Am I correct?" Shino asked as he turned away from Kurenai and looked up at an empty branch on a tree.

Kurenai laughed. "Not bad. The first step in breaking a genjutsu, is to recognize you're in one."

Shino's kikaichu pushed their chakra into Shino's chakra coils, breaking the genjutsu. Kurenai slowly shimmered into view on the empty branch that Shino was looking at.

"… How long have I been in that genjutsu?" Shino asked.

"The same as everyone else. You've been in one the moment I threw that smoke bomb." Kurenai replied with a smile. "How did you know I was up in this particular tree?"

Shino lifted an arm, and showed a few kikaichu crawling up and down his hand, and into his sleeves.

"I've placed a female kikaichu on you. The pheromones it releases can be tracked by the males." Shino explained. "Now that I know where you are, your genjutsu won't work on me anymore. My kikaichu will help me break out of any genjutsu." He stated calmly.

Kurenai smiled. "Oh, really? Is that so? So, what are you going to do now? How are you gonna get me off this branch and fight me?"

Shino said nothing, but a huge swarm of kikaichu began to form around him. He stretched out an arm towards Kurenai, and the swarm began to fly at her.

It looked like Shino's swarm would soon reach and overwhelm Kurenai, but they suddenly began to fly erratically and began to disperse, flying all in different directions.

"… what caused their strange behavior?" Shino asked himself out loud in a calm voice. Though his voice was calm, he was disturbed and shocked. His kikaichu had never disobeyed his commands before.

Kurenai smiled. "Just because I can't get you with a genjutsu, doesn't mean I can't cast a genjutsu on your kikaichu. I cast a genjutsu on them that causes them to smell the female's mating pheromones from all directions. I'm practically invisible to them right now."

"…" Shino stood there in silence.

"By the way, I can still get you with a genjutsu, even with your kikaichu. I just wanted to show you what it's like to not have them to break you out of one every time." Kurenai kindly told Shino as she jumped down from the tree.

"Alright, you've shown me that you have a lot of promise. Kiba's shown he's got heart, though not a lot of brain. We'll work on that." She gave Kiba a shake to wake him up.

"Wha- what happened?" Kiba asked.

"Shino impressed me enough to make me decide to give you a chance. Get up." Kurenai told her brash Genin, who stood up wobbling, still confused at what happened. His leg was throbbing.

Kurenai knelt down in front of Kiba, and began to disinfect his leg wound, and bandaged it. "Sorry about all that. I wanted to show you that genjutsu is a powerful tool, but I didn't expect Akamaru to bite your leg so viciously."

Akamaru looked away in embarrassment, not being able to meet Kiba's glare.

"You two are dismissed for the day. I'll see you here tomorrow at 8. Don't be late." Kurenai told the two male Genin, who nodded and looked over at Sakura.

"I'm gonna have a word with her. You two can go." Kurenai told Shino and Kiba, who nodded and walked away.

Flashback End

"Wow, she really did all that? Maybe she's not as lame as I thought." Narumi admitted in surprise.

"Of course, Narumi. She's Jonin for crying out loud. You don't become a Jonin for being weak you know." Ino told her friend. "Speaking of senseis, you never mentioned who your sensei is. I never saw who your sensei was when we left with Asuma sensei."

"Oh, my sensei? You won't believe who it is." Narumi stated to her friends. "It's my brother, Naruto."

Shikamaru's head perked up from his sleeping position. "Your brother? Isn't he in the ANBU? An ANBU captain if I remember correctly."

Narumi had a wide smile on her face. "Yup! He quit the ANBU! He's gonna be our sensei!"

Ino perked up immediately. "Naruto? As in your super hot brother Naruto? So lucky!" She sighed as she had a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Ewww, Ino! He's my nii-chan!" Narumi said in disgust.

"So what? He's super hot. I'm sure Hinata-chan agrees." Hinata looked down at her toes, as she began to blush to match Narumi's hair.

"He's probably one of the only guys out there who's hotter than Sasuke-kun. But that's because Sasuke-kun hasn't grown up completely yet. Gosh Narumi, you got 2 hotties on your team! Why do some people get all the luck?" Ino sighed as she thought about Lazy 1, 2, and 3 on her team.

"Wow you really got your brother as your sensei? Isn't he supposed to be like one of the strongest ninjas in Konoha? I think I heard my dad talking about him before." Chouji commented.

"Well, he's strong, but I don't know about all that. I know he's pretty good with the sword, but I haven't seen him use any super strong jutsu or anything. Even during our fight with the team, he didn't really use many strong moves." Narumi told her friends.

"B-but Narumi-chan, we were unable to land a single h-hit on Naruto sensei, even we w-worked together." Hinata reminded Narumi.

"Wh-what? Really? Not even Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked, and the 2 members of Team 7 present nodded.

That was news for Team 10. Team 7 was the cream of the crop of their class. A lot of the senseis said that they had the potential to beat Chunin, especially when working together. To think they hadn't been able to touch Naruto, who barely used any moves against them? It wasn't unimaginable as he was a Jonin, but it was still rather unexpected.

"I suppose that's to be expected somewhat." Shikamaru stated. "He is a former ANBU captain after all. I've heard he's a prodigy in the ninja arts, so a bunch of freshly graduated Genin shouldn't stand a chance."

"So, he's hot and strong? Didn't you say he's single?" Ino asked Narumi.

"Eww Ino! He's like 7 years older than us!" Narumi shouted in disgust.

"So what? It's not uncommon for older men to date younger women. Women mature more quickly than men you know. Besides, I never said I was gonna date him. I have my Sasuke-kun you know. Unless he's interested in me?" Ino said the last part as she tucked her hair behind her ear, and batted her eyelashes.

"Eww. No. Just no Ino. My onii-chan is not a pedo!" Narumi yelled out.

"… Ok I don't know what you guys were talking about, but I don't want to know." Sasuke told his friends who were waiting for him, as he entered the café.

"Sasuke-kun! You're here!" Ino yelled out, before catching herself, and trying to act nonchalant again. "Ehem. I mean, You're here. We were wondering where you were, you missed Shino's story on how his sensei kicked his team's butt using nothing but genjutsu."

"Big deal. Naruto nii-san beat me with a stare. Did Narumi or Hinata tell you how Naruto nii-san kicked our butts?" Sasuke asked as he took his seat.

"Nope! Why don't you tell us, Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked Sasuke, giving him 100% of her attention.

"Why did Naruto nii-chan want you to stay afterwards?" Narumi asked Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't want to remember how he cried, so he tried to pass over the subject quickly. "It was no big deal, just wanted to talk to me about some stuff. Anyway, so Naruto nii-san tells us all to attack him at once, right? So, what we did is…"

At the Hokage's Office

"Team 1 passes, but barely." A Jonin told the Hokage. The Jonin senseis had gathered after giving their tests and were reporting to the Hokage if their teams either passed or failed. A fair number had failed their sensei's tests.

"Team 6 fails. They were pathetic. I'm gonna need to torture a few prisoners or something to help me forget. Remind me not to be a Jonin sensei. Booooring." Anko reported as she picked her teeth with a wooden skewer left over from her dango. She jumped out of the window to leave.

"Team 7 passes." Naruto reported succinctly. The other Jonin looked at him in surprise. When did Naruto become a Jonin sensei? He wasn't at the previous meeting where they picked Jonin senseis. Wasn't he an ANBU captain?

"You decided to be a Jonin sensei, Naruto-san?" Kurenai asked in surprise. She was a new Jonin, but she had heard rumors that Naruto might be one of the deadliest assassins in Konoha. Why would he want to be a Jonin sensei to a bunch of Genin?

"Can't say I'm not surprised. You know this will be really boring compared to the work you do in ANBU, don't you, Naruto-san?" Asuma asked his younger fellow Jonin.

"Hmm. Nevertheless, I've decided to be one." Naruto responded, not really carrying the conversation.

"Right. Anyway, Team 8 passes as well, Hokage-sama." Kurenai responded, a little disappointed that Naruto cut the conversation short. She had always been curious about the man beside her, as he was a man of mystery. All she knew about him were rumors.

"Team 10 passes as well." Asuma told his father who nodded.

"Looks like we have a fair number of passing teams from this batch. This is good news. A lot of the graduating Genin this year were clan heirs. I'll be looking forward to how you all develop these Genin to be the future of our village." The Hokage told the Jonin. "Those of you who passed their teams may begin taking D-rank missions for your team tomorrow. You are dismissed."

The Jonin began to leave the room.

Kurenai whispered into her longtime friend Asuma's ear, as she pointed over to Naruto.

Asuma walked over to Naruto and tapped his shoulder.

"Hey, we'll kind of be colleagues or coworkers now that we're Jonin sensei. Some of us Jonin sensei are going to get together and have dinner and get some drinks. Why don't you join? We don't really know much about each other, and it's a good way for all of us to get to know each other a little better." Asuma invited Naruto on behalf of Kurenai.

"… Thanks. But I'm a little busy." Naruto told Asuma, as he walked past him, and disappeared into the crowd of Jonin.

"He's not the most social person, is he?" Asuma asked Kurenai.

She shook her head. How did her friend Anko get to know him?

The Next Morning, At Training Ground 7

"Alright. Glad to see you all made it here on time." Naruto told Sasuke and Hinata, as he walked onto Training Ground 7 with a still sleepy looking Narumi.

"Like I told you yesterday, we'll start the day off with a little training. Let's start by warming up with a run." The 3 Genin groaned, but got ready to run.

"Wait, wait, wait. Who said you're running like this?" Naruto plucked several leaves off of a tree. "I want you to focus chakra onto your forehead, and keep the leaf on your head as you run. It'll be a chakra control exercise combined with physical fitness." Naruto told his Genin as he passed out a leaf to each of them.

Narumi groaned. This exercise was hard enough for her when standing still. The other 2 obediently placed the leaf on their forehead. It wasn't too difficult for them while they were standing still.

Naruto began to place at least at 20 leaves on different tenketsu all over his body, keeping them on with his chakra. He sent out a clone to gather more leaves. Once he covered all of his tenketsu, he looked like a cocoon of leaves.

"Alright, I'll be doing the exercise with you. Now let's run 20 laps around the training ground. Let's go!" Naruto yelled out as he began to run. The three Genin looked at each other. That was close to 8 kilometers! In the morning? They began regretting eating breakfast as they began to run.

45 minutes later

Naruto had been stretching for the last 25 minutes after he finished his laps. Narumi finally stumbled past the finish line. The running part was usually alright, but trying to keep the leaf from falling had required all of her focus. Meanwhile, Hinata's legs were throbbing, as she struggled to catch her breath. Sasuke fared better than each of them, being better at chakra control than Narumi, and fitter than Hinata, but he was exhausted as well.

"Well, that was a great warmup! A great way to start the day!" Naruto commented to his team, sounding chipper than he did before the run. The Genin just groaned at him in response.

"We'll begin the next set of exercises in around 10 minutes. Listen up as you rest alright?" Naruto asked, and the Genin responded by giving him a thumbs up. They were too tired to talk.

"I was thinking about how I should train you, and I decided it's best if we focus on the basics first." Naruto began.

"Aww man! But onii-chan! You've been working with me on the basics this whole time! When are you going to teach us cool jutsu? Sasuke already knows a cool Katon jutsu!" Narumi complained.

"Oh, so you think cool, flashy jutsu are what make a shinobi strong? So, tell me how many cool jutsu I used to hand you your butts yesterday." Naruto asked.

"Umm… like 2?" Sasuke responded.

Naruto laughed. "Those? You mean Futon: Toppa (Wind Release: Breakthrough) and Kanashibari no Jutsu (Paralysis technique)? Those are D-rank jutsu. I just mastered the basics to a degree where they are effective enough to be considered B, maybe even A-ranked. Even a ninja as powerful as Shisui made his name by mastering a basic move like the shunshin." Naruto told his Genin.

The Genin had nothing to say, since they knew Naruto had destroyed them yesterday using nothing higher than D-rank jutsu, but they still wanted to learn cooler stuff.

"That being said, I'm not completely lame you know. I know how you guys want to learn cool moves. So, I'm gonna compromise." Naruto told his Genin who perked up immediately.

"I'll teach you all one jutsu each, but I won't teach you anything else, in terms of jutsu, until you show me that you've mastered it, and how you can use it in different ways. Remember, it's better to have one jutsu mastered that you can use in 10 different ways, rather than 10 half-strength jutsu that you basically use for the same purpose." Naruto told them, and they nodded eagerly, practically silently begging to learn new jutsu.

"Alright, keep in mind that most shinobi don't learn these kinds of moves until they're close to Chunin or until after they've become Chunin. I'm teaching it to you guys, because I know you guys can handle it. That being said, I don't want you to tell anyone or to use the jutsu until you've gotten my permission to do so." The Genin nodded in agreement.

"Ok, before we start, there's something we need to do." Naruto told his Genin as he reached into his pocket and pulled out 3 sheets of paper.

"Do you know what these are?" Naruto asked, and his Genin shook their heads.

"Yeah, I didn't think so. These are Chakra papers. Basically, you channel your chakra into the papers, and these hyper-sensitive sheets of paper will detect the elemental affinity you have in your chakra and show you."

"You're teaching us elemental jutsu!?" Narumi asked with absolute glee.

Naruto nodded. "If your paper burns, it means you have a fire affinity. If it crumples into itself, it means you have lightning, if it gets wet, it means you have water, and if you have earth natured chakra, it will crumble into dust. Finally, if it cuts into 2 pieces, it means you have the rare, wind-natured chakra affinity." He told them as he passed out the sheets of paper.

Sasuke eagerly channeled his chakra into the paper, and was surprised to see it both burn and crumple into itself.

"Impressive! You have 2 nature affinities! That's somewhat rare! Fire and lightning huh?" Naruto commented on Sasuke's discovery, and Sasuke beamed with pride. Take that Itachi! He had more elemental affinities than him!

Hinata's paper crumpled into itself. "Huh, a lightning affinity in a Hyuuga? That's rare. Usually Hyuuga have earth affinities." Naruto commented. Hinata's shoulders drooped. No wonder she struggled with the Jyuuken. She couldn't even get her chakra nature properly.

Naruto noticed Hinata's confidence dropping. He put his hands on her shoulders and dropped to one knee. "Hey, that's not a bad thing you know. Different doesn't mean bad. Lightning nature is actually quite a good nature affinity, though none of them are really bad. You know what? If you ask me, this is the best affinity for you."

Hinata looked up to meet her sensei's beautiful cerulean orbs. "Wha-what do you mean, S-sensei?" She asked, barely holding back a full blush, and having a slight pink hue to her face instead.

Naruto smirked. "I've got plans for you. So many plans. I've got ideas popping up on how to help you use your lightning chakra. We'll make you the deadliest Hyuuga ever seen. How does that sound?"

Hinata couldn't believe it. Her? A deadly, no, the deadliest Hyuuga? "A-are you sure? Me? You really think that I could become strong?" She asked her sensei, not sensing a hint of doubt in him. How could he have so much faith in her already? Faith that even her own family didn't have?

"I'm certain. I see so much potential in you. All we have to do is bring it out. Will you help me show you how strong you really are? To show the whole world, and everyone who doubted you?" Naruto offered with a warm smile.

Hinata melted in his hands. Well, figuratively speaking of course. She nodded. "H-hai, sensei. I'll do whatever y-you ask of me." She said with resolve. She decided to honor her sensei's firm belief in her by working her hardest.

Naruto grinned. "I'm glad to hear that. We'll show everyone, Hinata. Just believe in yourself like I believe in you." Hinata nodded.

Finally, Narumi channeled her chakra into her paper. It split into 2 pieces, and one side liquified completely, and the other side crumpled into a tight ball.

"Ummm… so what does this mean?" Narumi asked with a tilt of the head.

"… Sensei?" Sasuke asked. Did Narumi have 3 affinities? 3? That was nearly unheard of.

"… Looks like you're my sister after all huh?" Naruto answered with a smirk. "So, it looks like you got 3 affinities. I haven't seen anyone like that since… me."

"Yay! Looks like I got, lightning, water, and… wind? Sweet!" Narumi cheered as she danced a little where she stood.

"You've got 3 elemental affinities, sensei?" Sasuke asked in shock.

"Something like that." Naruto answered vaguely. "Man, but all three of you have a lightning affinity?" He began to laugh.

"Kumo is going to try to claim you guys or something! Forget Team 7! We're team lightning now!" He joked as he laughed out loud. His students just looked at each other and gave an awkward laugh. It wasn't really that funny.

Naruto wiped tears out of his eyes as he tried to stop laughing. "Too bad your sensei doesn't have a lightning affinity. I'll have to pull some favors to get my senpai to train you in your lightning affinities."

Sasuke frowned a little. He didn't want any lame sensei to teach him. "So, who will you get to train our lightning affinities?"

Naruto answered with a knowing smirk. "Oh, you'll see. He's a senpai of mine in ANBU. He was my captain when I first joined. He's a bit of a legend himself in the ANBU. Became Jonin at like age 14 or something."

Sasuke's eyes widened. Ok, maybe this won't be too bad. Being trained by an ANBU captain sounded like a pretty sweet deal. Oh, how he wished he could brag to the others.

"So how about our other affinities? Like Narumi's water and wind affinity or my fire?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto said nothing, but he pulled out another sheet of Chakra paper. He channeled his chakra into it, and it split into 3 strips, one liquifying immediately, and one burned to ashes instantly in a blue flame, and the strip in the middle fizzled away and dissolved.

"Don't worry about your other affinities." Naruto told Sasuke.

Sasuke couldn't believe his eyes. What was with those blue flames?

"Wait, what was that middle one, Nii-chan?" Narumi asked. Her brother's results were similar to hers, but looked a little different.

"Don't worry about it. Also, call me sensei when we meet like this. All you need to know, is that I can teach you wind and water, as well your fire, Sasuke." Naruto told his two Genin with multiple affinities.

Once again, Hinata felt like she wasn't good enough, with her single affinity. Why did she always have to be so plain compared to others? She tried to hide her disappointment, but Naruto caught on.

"Like I said, having multiple affinities doesn't necessarily mean you're stronger. You'll still have to master those elements, splitting your attention between them, while a person with one can focus all of their attention into their element. Also, like I said earlier, it's sometimes better to master one element or even jutsu, and finding multiple ways to use it." Naruto explained to his Genin, teaching them not to be too arrogant with their multiple affinities, or not to feel down because they only have one.

"Besides, Narumi and Sasuke have bigger reserves of chakra than most people their age. They'll most likely be ninjutsu specialists. Meanwhile, the Hyuuga usually focus on their taijutsu. I already have an idea of how you could incorporate your affinity with your fighting style, Hinata."

Hinata brightened up a little. Narumi's brother was just like Narumi, always making her feel better about herself.

"Now that we learned what affinities we have, we can start training those soon. I'll teach you how to master your affinity, and I'll bring my senpai tomorrow. We'll work on our taijutsu and combination attacks for an hour, and then start missions. Now, get into your stances." Naruto instructed.

The Genin smiled. Now this! This was what they expected shinobi life to be like. Proper training and missions! They got into their stances and prepared for spars.

At the Mission Board in the Hokage Tower, an Hour Later

Naruto had his three students behind him, as he looked over what missions were available. He frowned as he looked over the missions. He had only done 5 D-rank missions in his Genin days, and they were mostly missions regarding the village's reconstruction. He had thought the D-ranks back then were dull, but he had accepted it, due to the village's situation. These missions however, were just chores.

'Hmmm… painting a fence? Pass. Carrying groceries? Why the hell would you require a whole team of Genin to carry groceries? Are you stocking up for a siege or something? Pass. Walking the Inuzuka dogs? Really? Pass.' Naruto read over the missions available and couldn't help but think to himself about how useless these were. How would doing these missions help Genin improve their skills? Why couldn't they hire some civilians to paint a freaking fence?

His Genin stood awkwardly behind him, looking around at the busy scene. Shinobi of all ranks were coming in and out, taking missions, or cashing out from completing one. They had even seen their fellow Genin come and leave after taking a D-rank mission. What was taking their sensei so long?

"Pssst. Sasuke. What do you think he's looking for?" Narumi whispered to Sasuke impatiently.

"How would I know? Maybe he's looking for a cool mission?" He answered back.

'Baby sit? What the hell? People really hire ninja to baby sit? What the hell is wrong with these people?! PASS!' Naruto was getting frustrated. Is this what people were warning him about when becoming a Jonin sensei? 'Finding and catching Tora, the Fire Daimyo's wife's cat? I mean… it's lame… but I suppose at least it can help my Genin train their tracking and capturing skills… I guess this is it then.'

The Genin watched their sensei take a sheet of paper off of the mission board and walk over to them.

He came over with a smile that failed to hide his bored and frustrated look. "Alright team, this is your first mission. You ready?"

His Genin nodded enthusiastically. Finally! The first mission of their shinobi careers!

"We'll be tracking and capturing this cat." He informed them as he pointed to a picture of Tora on the mission directive.

"Eh? This is our mission? This is lame!" Narumi complained. This was not what she was looking forward to. This wasn't a mission! This was a chore! What happened to saving kingdoms and fighting criminals to protect princes and princesses?

"Sensei! This is a chore! Tell them to find their own cat!" Sasuke grumbled as well.

"This, my dear Genin, is a D-rank mission. This is mostly what you'll be doing." Naruto told his Genin, putting on his sensei face, though he wasn't sold himself. "Well, we haven't got all day. Let's get this mission over with quickly if you want to eat lunch."

Narumi dragged the other 2 Genin out as she bolted for the door. She wasn't about to miss lunch looking for a stinkin cat.

A couple hours later

Naruto watched his Genin with a bored look, as they looked for the cat for hours. He missed being in the ANBU already.

"I-I think I found Tora!" Hinata told her teammates with her Byakugan activated. "It's hiding in the alley behind the fish store!"

"Narumi! Go to the other side of the alley! We'll surround him and cut off his escape!" Sasuke instructed Narumi, who nodded and listened to his instructions.

Naruto watched Sasuke giving orders and smiled. Looked like Sasuke had some leadership qualities and skills in strategizing.

Sasuke and Narumi crept closer and closer, until they were near the trashcan Tora was hiding behind. They looked at each other and mouthed a 3 second countdown, before leaping for Tora.

Tora scratched Narumi, and jumped over Sasuke's head and escaped their blockade. This was the 5th time that demon spawn escaped their clutches. They were already covered in small scratches and dust from their previous failed attempts. They angrily turned around, muttering under their breaths about just blasting it with a fireball next time, only to see a content looking Tora being petted in Hinata's arms.

"Loo-look! It jumped into my arms!" Hinata told her teammates as she gave Tora a warm smile. Tora could sense the warm, kind energy around Hinata, and chose to be captured by her instead of the two Genin who were starting to unknowingly release killing intent.

"Good. Now, just hand him over, and I'll skin him for a new hat." Narumi growled out as she looked over all of the scratches Tora had given her.

"No, no. Give him to me. I need some new winter socks." Sasuke told Hinata as he rubbed the grime off of his cheek from Tora making him tackle the trashcan instead as it escaped.

"N-no! Don't hurt him! W-we have to complete the mission!" Hinata told her teammates, using the mission as an excuse to prevent the cat from being harmed.

"Hinata's right, you two. Let's get this mission over with. Hinata, hold on to Tora. Let's head back." Naruto told his Genin. He was glad this mission was over with.

At the Hokage's Office

"Oh! My sweet Tora! There you were!" Madame Shijimi, the Fire Daimyo's wife, cooed to Tora as she welcomed Tora back with a tight squeeze. Hinata winced at the sight, while Narumi and Sasuke gave the cat a wicked grin, savoring its suffering.

'Yes… suffer you damn demon cat.' They both thought to themselves.

"Team 7 reporting a successful mission Hokage-sama." Naruto told Hiruzen, as he saluted him.

"Very good. I'll have the payment for a successful mission added to your accounts." The Hokage told the team before him. "Please leave me a written report later."

Naruto nodded in response.

Madame Shijimi left satisfied, holding on to Tora tightly, to make sure he didn't escape again. Hinata gave Tora a sad look as the lady left with her pet.

"Alright Team 7, you are dismissed now. Good work on completing your first mission." The Sandaime told Team 7.

"Meet me at our training ground for our afternoon training session. I'll catch up with you in a bit." Naruto told his team, and they shrugged their shoulders and left.

"Is there something you need to tell me Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen asked the blonde before him.

Naruto made sure the door closed before he loosened his stance before the Hokage.

"Ugh. Hokage-sama. That was brutal. Why are these chores on the mission board? I saw a mission for painting a fence and even one for baby-sitting. Baby-sitting! You don't need ninja for these errands! How are these missions?" Naruto grumbled.

Hiruzen laughed. "I did warn you that being a Jonin sensei could be a bit dull for you, Naruto-kun. These missions are meant to introduce and ingratiate the civilian population to the shinobi population, so that they can interact more. It'll help us have a more unified village, as well as help promote teamwork between teams that could have Genin that are working together for the first time." He explained.

"If I do one more of these D-rank missions, I might "accidentally" end up with a rope around my neck hanging from a tree. Please, Hokage-sama, give us a C-rank mission. My team already has good teamwork." Naruto begged.

Hiruzen chuckled. "I'm afraid I can't do that. Genin are supposed to take at least 30 D-rank missions before they can take a C-rank mission."

"Wait, that can't be right. I remember only doing 5 D-rank missions when I was a Genin!" Naruto argued back.

"Well… times were different. Your team was a special case." Hiruzen tried to explain.

"That's a weak excuse, and you know it. This team is special too! Give us a C-rank, and I'll prove it to you!" Naruto pleaded.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but you'll have to complete your 30 missions like everyone else." The old Hokage told him.

"How do you expect me to train these kids into the next Sannin when they're out here painting fences! You're squandering their potential! The rules were made as a guideline or framework for producing shinobi, but you should know when there are cases when you're hindering growth by holding them to rules that are basically obsolete to them!" Naruto threw his hands in the air in frustration.

Hiruzen knew Naruto had a point so he kept his mouth closed as he thought.

"Why don't you consider this part of my favor? I mean I did offer a pretty big cut in debt payments for a favor that ultimately only benefits Konoha." Naruto pleaded.

Hiruzen finally spoke up after a few seconds of thinking. "…Fine. I'll compromise. If you think your team is so special, I'll let them take a C-rank mission."

Naruto was about to thank him, when the Hokage continued to speak.

"Only after you do 4 more D-ranks. I won't have them take fewer missions than you."

Naruto grumbled a little, but knew this was the best deal he was going to get from the old man.

"Fine. Sounds like a deal. Thank you, Hokage-sama." Naruto bowed to the Sandaime.

"I better not regret this, Naruto-kun." Hiruzen told Naruto, who grinned.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. They'll be just fine." Naruto told Hiruzen as he walked out the office.

He just needed to bear through 4 more of the civilian's errands before he could get back to real shinobi work.

*Author's Note*

Thanks for reading another chapter of the Jinchuuriki's Brother!

I thought about making this into 2 chapters, but decided not to. As a result, it's slightly longer than my other chapters, though not by much.

So, I finally revealed Narumi's affinities! Maybe I'll explain in a future chapter why she has her affinities, but she has a heritage from 2 different villages, which revealed itself through her affinities.

Some of you are probably wondering when the pairing is gonna start. Well, idk, but I know it'll probably be started by the time the Chunin Exams come around. So a few chapters till then. I feel like Narumi's might start first and the votes haven't even really started yet lol.

Here are the scores for the pairing votes.

Shizune 174

Samui 121

Izumi 89

Mei 86

Anko 92

Pakura 27

That reminds me, I've gotta start with Narumi's pairing again.

Let's go with the same format, where you can vote your top 3 characters for her to be paired with.

Sasuke

Shikamaru

Haku (If he's not paired with Narumi, I'm gonna make him into a girl)

Kiba

Gaara

Chojuro

Shino

Thanks again for reading the latest chapter! Hope you enjoyed it!

Until next time!