-Training Ground Seven-
Underneath his mask, Hatake Kakashi could not help but smile as he watched his "cute, adorable genin" stand in a triangle formation, kunai in hand, surrounding one of his summoning dogs as the other dogs in the pack tried to 'kidnap' the first.
After more than two months of D-ranks and teamwork training, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were acting like single unit. While Kakashi's dogs were clearly holding back, the genin were easily holding their own. Pakkun, the dog Team 7 had been assigned to protect, didn't even seem concerned.
Deciding he had seen enough, Kakashi dropped down from the tree he had been perched in and began clapping, calling off his pack.
"I must say, well done you three. My dear little adorable genin, you don't even look like you've broken into a sweat."
Pakkun was the first one to react: "I know I haven't, these kids have me locked down tight."
"That was easy, sensei." Naruto added, "you should tell the dogs to not hold back as much next time."
"I could do that, or we could postpone next-time until tomorrow. Take a break you three, we need to have a little chat." Looking over to his summons, he added "You guys are free to go, thank you for your help."
"No problem." Pakkun replied, "just remember that you owe us."
"Yes, yes, I promise no more leaving you guys to babysit Obito while Anko and I go out."
"Good. That kid loves to pull our tails...it hurts."
After the dogs disappeared in a poof of smoke, Sakura turned to her sensei and asked the question on the minds of all three genin: "Sensei, aren't your running out of things to promise them to get them to help us?"
"Eh, not really." In a tone that clearly conveyed how low his level of concern was, Kakashi continued: "I haven't promised anything relating to Anko's snakes yet. There's usually one or two in the house and oh boy do the dogs not like them."
"Is...is it safe for Lady Anko to leave snakes around with little Obito in the house?" Kakashi might not have been concerned, but now Sakura clearly was.
"Of course, while not all members of the snake clan are loyal to Anko, the ones that hang around the house are practically devoted to her. If only we could get our two summons to cooperate we'd have the perfect home security system. Oh and Sakura, remember what happened the last time you referred to my wife as 'Lady' Anko?"
As they had been speaking, the 4 shinobi had been on the move, and by the time Kakashi cracked his joke about security in the Hatake home, they had come to rest under a large tree located in their training ground.
Which was good, because the reminder that Anko's reaction to being addressed formally was much more severe than her three teammates had caused Sakura to relive a traumatic experience. "so many snakes..." she muttered in between shudders, "in my bag, in my bed, in my clothes..."
"Yes, well, anyways." Realizing his error, Kakashi quickly tried to reverse course and pull Sakura back to reality. "I wanted to let the three of you know that today's teamwork exercise was a test, and you passed with flying colors. Team 7 has met my minimum level of expectations for being able to function as a team. I'm now willing to let this team travel out of the village, and will be requesting our first C rank mission later this week."
Even Sasuke, normally the poster child for 'keeping cool,' couldn't help but grin eagerly, but it was Naruto who actually asked the question all three of them wanted to ask: "You mean, no more D ranks?"
"I didn't say that." Again, Kakashi was thankful for the mask, as watching how quickly his three genin's excitement dissipated was just funny.
"C ranks are great for getting you experience out beyond our walls, but they don't allow for as much time for things like training. If we only did C ranks we'd hardly ever be in the village, and it would be tougher for you to train."
Nods of understanding came from the genin, especially Naruto and Sasuke, who had clan training on top of their team training.
"We'll start taking the occasional C rank mission, and we'll still do D ranks and team-work exercises as well. But now that you're at this level, I'd also like to begin focusing on your individual specializations."
The only member of the team who did not come from a shinobi background spoke up next "What are we going to be specializing in, Sensei?"
Not unexpected I suppose said Sensei reflected, before launching into his answer:
"Well, Sakura. A Shinobi's specialties depend on a variety of factors. Team composition, individual strengths and weaknesses, individual interests, and more. As for team composition, Team 7 was commissioned as a heavy assault team. The default for such teams is two ninja who specialize in more direct forms of combat, and one who specializes in a support field."
After a moment's hesitation, most likely due to a minor panic at finding out she was assigned to an assault team, Sakura spoke again: "So who in our team takes each role?"
"A good question. Let's look at each of the three of you and figure that out."
"Sasuke is an Uchiha. Almost everything about the Uchiha, from their taijutsu style, to their traditional use of ninjutsu, to the Sharingan itself is useful in direct combat. In a vacuum the Sharingan is also useful from a support sense for things such as genjutsu, but everything else about the Uchiha clan screams combat."
"Naruto could likely go either way. The Uzumaki produce both great combat focused ninja and great support ninja. On the combat side of things Uzumaki Kenjutu practices are quite famous, and they are known for their mastery of water-style ninjutsu. On the support side of things most Uzumaki are sensor type ninja, and good sensors at that, but their fuinjutsu mastery is both the thing that is most useful from a support standpoint as well as the thing the clan is most famous for overall."
"Then we have you, Sakura. You don't come from a clan, so we have no secret techniques or kekkai genkai to help us figure out what you are. But let's look at your strengths and weaknesses. First of all, you have incredible chakra control. Not only is your chakra control the best of your graduating class, but it is the best of any graduate from a non-clan background since the 4th Hokage, and the best of any graduate from a civilian background ever. Just the fact that you were placed in the most advanced class for your age group at the academy despite your lack of a shinobi background screams of how high your potential is."
Sakura couldn't help but smile at her sensei's praise. She of course knew that she was the weakest of the three, and the fact that she was teamed with a clan heir, and the son of a clan head all under the leadership of yet another clan head was not lost on her. Kakashi's praise was just the mental pick-me-up that she needed...at least until he kept talking.
"It's a good thing your control is so good, because your chakra reserves are absolutely pitiful."
For the umpteenth time that day, a genin of team 7 visibly deflated, though Kakashi kept going.
"Don't get me wrong, by civilian standards your reserves are great, but by shinobi standards they aren't even academy level."
"So what does that mean, sensei?"
"It means that unless Naruto really wants to lean into the support side of the Uzumaki abilities you are going to be our support ninja."
"Fine by me." Naruto spoke next. "Don't get me wrong, I am a sensor and I do like Fuinjutsu, but it's said that my mom's first love was swordplay, so I'd like to focus more on that side of what the clan does, in honor of her."
"Yes, Uzumaki Kushina was the greatest kenjutsu user that I've ever personally seen. Her blade looked like it was dancing, truly incredible to behold. That being said I'm not much for kenjutsu myself and can't really help you beyond the basics. I take it your clan is teaching you that?"
A quick nod in confirmation from Naruto was all that Kakashi needed.
"Good, I'll leave that in the capable hands of the Uzumaki Clan and we'll focus on other things."
"Like Ninjutsu?" Naruto asked hopefully.
"Eventually." Kakashi responded, "but there are a lot of other things you need to learn first. You are the opposite of Sakura, Naruto. The Uzumaki are known for their large chakra reserves, but even by Uzumaki standards yours are incredible. However, likely due to how large your reserves are, your chakra control is terrible. That's our first priority. We'll also need to work on your stealth and your tactical knowledge."
Naruto looked a bit disappointed, but nodded in agreement. Well aware of his Jinchuuriki status, the red-head knew exactly why his reserves were so large and his control was so poor.
"As for Sasuke, your reserves and control are about normal for a genin, but unless you plan to retire before getting promoted we'll start out by focusing on both of those. Uchiha of course are staples of the police force, but it's also quite common for them to work as assault specialists and assassins. Once your control and reserves are good enough we'll start working on your ninjutsu.
Kakashi then flipped up his headband, revealing his sharingan, "and once you awaken your sharingan I'll be working with you on that aspect as well."
That proclamation finally got the Sasuke to speak up: "Is there a reason you'll be working on this with me and not a member of my clan?"
"Yes." Kakashi responded. When Sasuke's body language seemed to be asking 'go on?' Kakashi continued. "You are of course free to seek out a member of your clan to work on this stuff with you on your own time, but the village wishes to remain neutral among the Uchiha factions, so I will be your official sharingan instructor as far as the village is concerned."
"And that way the village can't be said to be favoring either side." Sasuke said, the logic behind Kakashi's appointment as his designated Sharingan teacher suddenly making sense.
There was a brief pause in the conversation, as if Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi were expecting Sasuke to continue speaking, but when it was clear that Sasuke considered the matter settled, Kakashi turned to the sole kunoichi in the group.
"So with Naruto and Sasuke confirmed as our combat specialists, you'll be our support Ninja, Sakura."
"What exactly will I be doing, sensei?"
"Well for right now it's a bit of a moot point. Your reserves are too low to do much of anything. We'll be focusing on raising your chakra reserves, stamina, strength, and taijutsu in training for now. Once those reach acceptable levels more doors will open for you. I'd recommend you look into either medical ninjutsu or genjutsu. Either one will work for your team, so it's really your choice."
"If you chose genjutsu I'll be able to help you with the basics, but given that I primarily rely on my sharingan for genjutsu I'm not the best person to teach you anything past genin level. For medical ninjutsu I won't be much use at all, though I'll certainly be able to help you connect with someone who can teach you. If that's the case then in our team training hours I'll work on your ninjutsu and taijutsu."
"Thank you for the assessment, sensei." Sakura responded, bowing as she spoke. She might have gotten a little less formal with clan shinobi, but the habits her guild ingrained into her from a young age were hard to break.
"When do I need to let you know my decision by?"
"Eh, like I said, it's a moot point until your reserves are bigger, so you'll have plenty of time. The only thing I'll say is that I want you to be at least working on one of your areas before I enter you three in the chunin exams. After all, there will a lot of pressure on this team to perform."
"The three of you are from prominent backgrounds. Naruto will be the head of the Uzumaki one day and they will be wanting to see a good showing from him. Sasuke is the son of Lady Mikoto, and as a member of the head family of the Uchiha there will be pressure on him as well."
"Sakura, the Haruno Merchant Guild has been wanting to work with shinobi for generations. A good performance from you could send a positive message to the clans. Finally, I'm a clan head myself and your performance could impact my reputation."
"Ah, but we're a ways a way from that still. You've only even been genin for 2 months. No need to stress over that right now. Since all three of you need to work on either your reserves, control, or both, for now let's focus on working on our chakra."
Kakashi then stood up, and started walking up the trunk of the tree Team 7 was sitting under, using chakra to stick his feet to the bar. "And we'll start by getting the three of you to be able to do this."
Looking back down at his students, Kakashi was pleased. The little talk they had seemed to have both re-energized and motivated them. Each now had clear goals for their training, and the prospect of being allowed to go for promotion was dangling in front of them like a worm on a fishing line.
As he hopped down to the ground and began to explain the process of using chakra to climb the tree, Kakashi could only think back to happier times. And as he pushed those thoughts from his mind to focus on the present, two last words stuck in his head: Obito. Rin.
-Uzumaki Clan Compound Training Fields-
The sound of wooden training swords bashing against each other echoed throughout the training fields as the Uzumaki Clan's 4 genin honed their kenjutsu skills under the clan's foremost kenjutsu user, Uzumaki Kozumu.
Kozumu's daughter, Tenten, was easily the most advanced of the four genin. She was a year older than the other three and thus had an extra year of training under her belt. Additionally, she had decided to prioritize her kenjutsu studies. As such, while she was holding pace on fuinjutsu largely due to her mother's insistence on practicing the sealing arts, her ninjutsu studies were suffering.
She was currently sparring against not one, but two Narutos, the original and a shadow clone. Naruto was also wanting to specialize in kenjutsu, though being the future clan head his skills were required to be a bit more balanced than Tenten, and he couldn't spend quite as much time practicing his swordsmanship.
Nearby, the other two genin, Karin and Daisuke, were sparring. Neither planned to specialize in kenjutsu, and thus their spar was much less entertaining to watch, as neither was quite as far along in their sword skills as Naruto and Tenten.
The two Narutos were working in close collaboration, trying to catch Tenten off guard. To do this, they were employing a highly aggressive style, constantly on the attack. As soon as one's attack lost momentum they jumped away, only for the other Naruto to immediately jump in with an attack of their own.
Tenten for her part seemed quite content to just let the Narutos expend their energy. She was fighting incredibly defensively, focusing on parrying Naruto's attacks rather than trying to attack herself. It was almost as if she was biding her time, waiting for a Naruto to make a mistake.
And she didn't have to wait all that long. As the original Naruto jumped away, the clone Naruto charged in. However, the clone hit a rock on the way. At the high speed that it was moving, this was enough to knock it ever so slightly off balance. Sensing her moment, Tenten finally attacked. Keeping her stance the same, she struck out in one fast motion, dispelling the clone with her wooden blade.
This caused the original Naruto to hesitate, as if pondering his next move. That moment's hesitation was all Tenten needed. Her stance changed, as did her grip on her blade, and she launched forward, finally moving. Naruto tried to block, but his defenses were nowhere near those of Tenten. He was very quickly disarmed, and with a wooden blade held up against his chest, he surrendered.
As Tenten and Naruto were recovering from their fight, the spar between Karin and Daisuke was coming to an end as well. For most of this fight, Karin had been practically dancing around Daisuke, looking almost like a ballerina with a blade. Daisuke had been unable to land a hit. However, Karin eventually found herself in an awkward position, her legs twisted around at a weird angle. When that happened, the fight was over. Daisuke was easily able to score enough hits to be declared the winner.
When all 4 genin were resting, Kozumu approached them to debrief.
"Well done you 4. I'm seeing more and more progress from you every time we have Kenjutsu training. As usual, let's dig into the feedback."
Kozumu then turned to Karin.
"Karin, I really do think that the Makashi form suites you well. However, you need to go back and drill your stances. You were winning until your feet got mixed up, and that error is what cost you the match. Until we next meet I want you to focus on going back through the basic stances and katas of the Makashi form, paying special attention to your footwork.
"Of course, Kozumu-sensei. Thank you for your instruction."
Next, Kozumu turned to Daisuke's opponent.
"The Niman form is neither fancy, nor flashy, and for that reason not many seem to want to learn it. But it is a form that takes the best elements of each of the flashier styles and combines them into one. I commend you for sticking with it, Daisuke. You have the basics down, it's time to start working on some combinations. I know your mother has some kenjutsu scrolls in her possession, you should ask her if you can look at them. They should help you take the next step forward."
"I'll do that, thank you sensei."
With that said, Kozumu turned to the two genin who were wanting to specialize in Kenjutsu.
"Lord Naruto, you are making good progress with the Ataru form. It is a very demanding form, but with your ability to spam shadow clones and high even by Uzumaki level chakra reserves you have the potential to turn what is already one of the more aggressive of our kenjutsu forms into something truly incredible. However, as you saw today, the Ataru form is not without its flaws. It has almost no defensive stances or techniques. The minute your attacks lose steam, there is little you can do to regain the advantage. The challenge you will have, heck the challenge every master of the ataru form has, is to find some sort of defense. We'll work on that in our lesson tomorrow."
"Of course, sensei."
Finally, Kozumu turned to his most experienced student, Tenten.
"If you'll permit me to speak as a father instead of as the jonin in charge of training our academy students and genin in swordplay, I could not be more proud of you, Tenten."
"Dad..." Tenten protested, clearly embarrassed.
"In all seriousness," Kozumu moved on, sparing his daughter further embarrassment, "Shien So is not an easy form to master either. Staying grounded and highly defensive before attacking unexpectedly. That transition from only defense to all-out-offense has to happen in an instant or all is lost. You continue to improve in this area, as you showed today in fighting two opponents. Great job. We'll work on further refining your stances tomorrow."
"Now then," Kozumu said, addressing all 4 of his students. "There's just one last thing I need you 4 to do before I dismiss you for the day."
"What's that?"
"Help me with them."
Looking behind them, the 4 Uzumaki genin saw the Uzumaki Academy students arrive for their Kenjutsu lesson. Before any of the genin were able to back out, Kozumu spoke again:
"One of the best ways to learn is to teach. You all remember the Shii-Cho form that we teach to beginners. Lord Naruto, take the most advanced students. Karin, Daisuke, you take the middle group. Tenten, as the most advanced of the genin, you should take the beginners."
Doing as instructed, the 4 genin put all the academy students through a series of light warm-up exercises and then divided the students into groups. The 1st year students went with Tenten, who would demonstrate a stance of the Shii-Cho form and make all the students hold it while she walked around and offered feedback and correction.
Karin took the 2nd and 3rd year students while Daisuke took years 4 and 5, and Naruto took the students in their final year. Paring them off into spars with their classmates.
Kozumu looked on approvingly, paying close attention to make sure that neither teacher nor student made a mistake. Still, one thing stood out in his mind.
It had been Naruto who had first greeted the academy students, Naruto who had led them through warm-ups, and Naruto who had divided them into groups and sent them with their instructors. No one had asked him or prompted him to do that, he just did so. Similarly, no student questioned Naruto, they just followed him.
It seems you have the makings of a great leader, Naruto-sama. You command the loyalty and respect of not only your generation, but those younger than you. I have no doubt that you'll lead our Clan to glory once again.
Kozumu stayed silent through the hour long lesson, allowing his genin students to teach and supervise his academy age students as he mentally contemplated their shared future.
AN: As things stand at the time of writing this outline featuring snippets and slices of life for Naruto and the Uzumaki will run through chapter 9, with a more coherent story arc revolving around the chunin exams beginning in Chapter 10.
I wanted to dive a bit into Uzumaki Kenjutsu. With Tenten as a member of the clan, she seems to be a natural fit for the best sword user of the next generation. I've based Uzumaki Kenjutsu on the established forms of lightsaber combat in Star Wars, where the Jedi have 7 different forms and the sith have a minimum of 1 unique form on top of the 7 jedi forms. (at least in legends, not sure if the sith form is canon or not). If you'd like more information about the inspiration for Uzumaki Kenjutsu here, checkout the Wookiepedia article titled "Lightsaber Combat."
Here's a high level rundown of the forms mentioned so far in this story:
Form 1: Shii-Cho
Wookiepedia describes Shii-Cho as being popular among Jedi Padawans, for the purposes of our story, this is the style that Uzumaki Clan members are taught in the academy.
Form 2: Makashi
Makashi is being described as being elegant and ballet like. Perfect for 1 on 1 duels.
Karin is learning this style.
Form 4: Ataru
Ataru is said to be fast and aggressive. Naruto is learning this style right now. I envision Naruto really wanting to specialize in Kenjutsu, but ultimately the responsibility of being clan head making him unable to truly master multiple styles. He needs to be good at Kenjutsu, Fuinjutsu, and water-style ninjutsu (the clan's 3 specialties).
Form 5: Shien / Djem So
There are 2 variants of form 5, Shien and Djem So. However, both forms are similar in that they are said to be "demanding due to their requirement of quick transitions from dedicated defensive stances to all-out attacks."
For the purposes of this story I have unified the two variants into just one form call Shien So.
Tenten is learning this style right now. She's going to be the most Kenjutsu focused of the 4 Uzumaki Genin. I envision her focusing primarily on it while just doing the required minimum for the clan in ninjutsu (mirroring canon where she can use ninjutsu, but hardly ever does), and just slightly more than that in fuinjutsu.
Form 6: Niman.
Niman is a well balanced form of combat that is said to be easy to learn.
Daisuke is learning this style.
In Star Wars, there are also 2 other regular forms (3 and 7).
I'm definitely pulling Form 3 in to this Naruto story as well. It's just that we haven't seen anyone use it yet, so there hasn't really been a reason to bring it up. Again, see that wookiepedia article if you want to learn more. I'm undecided on if I want to bring in From VII or any other combat styles over.
In Star Wars Form VII is considered highly dangerous for Jedi to use because it is super aggressive and that has Dark Side implications. Only Mace M-Fing Windu seems to be able to use it effectively, and even then only because he made a slightly less aggressive variant.
I think it would be cool if Kushina had been a practitioner of this rare, hyper aggressive form, but I'm unsure how to map the "This style might cause you to fall to the Dark Side" thing to Naruto, so that's the main reason I'm unsure on its use here. Forms 1-6 are definitely present in Uzumaki Kenjutsu, everything else is up in the air.
So that's a brief overview of what Uzumaki Kenjutsu is like so far. It was fun to pull from Star Wars and create a lore around the sword side of the Uzumaki. Most stories about the Uzumaki that I have seen here on ff tend to focus on the fuinjutsu side of things, and that's great too, but it was cool to delve into a side of the clan that we know existed, but doesn't seem to have been explored as much.
There is also a dive of sorts into Uzumaki Fuinjutsu coming up too, so if you liked this then please look forward to that.
Thank you for reading!