Hey!
I know I'm kinda late, but I've been quite busy with exams and all, so sorry about that... ^^'
Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own DB nor do I own Naruto, all the credits go to Akira Toriyama (DB, DBS) and Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto, Boruto).
A day had gone by after the preliminary matches for the Chunin exams, giving place for the month-long break for the remaining genin to prepare and rest before the final challenge of the exams. Most of the genin of the Leaf had gone out to either celebrate or just to spend time with their teammates, some even going to the hospital to visit their injured teammates, between those, team 5 and team 7. Genma, Yakumo and Shiho went to visit the severely injured Nobuyuki, who had actually won much prestige after revealing his capability of using both of the Leaf's dojutsus, so much that even the likes of Danzo Shimura, known for being the Third's advisor, visited him.
Once such visit was over, one that even Genma was surprised about, the jounin in charge of team 5 decided to explain how he had decided to handle his students' training.
"I'm glad you're getting better, Nobuyuki. Your performance in the preliminaries was remarkable, nevermind the fact that you lost." Genma said, getting a smile out of the Hyuuga. "Now, I need to talk to you about the training during this month."
"Oh, right, I also wanted to talk to you about it, Genma-sensei." Shiho said, clearly relieved because her teacher brought the topic before her.
"Will we continue to train as well or will we have to train on our own?" Nobuyuki asked, his face turning serious. His interest in training was given by the humiliating defeat he'd suffered in his match of the preliminaries, where he'd been proven not to be strong enough. He had promised his father to become the strongest Hyuuga alive, and so he would.
"You will have to wait until you are recovered, so forget about it." Genma replied, his voice strong and demanding, although suddenly changing to a softer tone as he turned to his other student. "But Yakumo can join us if she wants to."
Yakumo nodded in response, accepting to join them in their training. "Could you help me with my chakra control, Genma-sensei? I waste too much chakra with every genjutsu." She said, her softness reflected on her voice, although Gemma knew that she wasn't as weak as she seemed to be.
"Hmm, we'll have to work on that, but there's just some jutsus that inevitable waste lots of chakra." The Jounin explained. "But maybe we'll achieve something, women tend to have better chakra control."
"Huh? Really?" Nobuyuki asked, raising one of his eyebrows in confusion.
"Uh, I thought you learned that in the academy." Genma said as he scratched his head. "That's why most of the medical shinobi are kunoichi, so yeah."
"We did learn about that, it's just that Nobuyuki was never one with amazing results in the academy." Yakumo said as she mocked her teammate with mean faces.
"Don't lie! I have always been an amazing student!" Nobuyuki replied, wanting to move but feeling a lot of pain every time he tried to, causing him to remain in his bed, staring at Yakumo.
Shiho only watched the conversation silently, as she did most of the time. She had always been a quiet girl, after all.
"You're lucky, though, Yakumo." Genma said, interrupting the conversation between the two other genin. He had to explain what he meant as all of his students got confused expressions. "You are both a girl and a member of the Kurama clan, so that means your chakra control is better and your ability in genjutsu remarkable." Genma said, reminding them about the Kurama clan, which had been exiled a couple of years prior.
"And what about me? I'm a Hyuuga!" Nobuyuki protested, receiving a confused glance from both his teammates.
"Half Hyuuga, you mean! I actually had forgot about this, but we need to talk." Genma said, scaring his student with his menacing stare. "You never mentioned your mother was an Uchiha!"
"Wait, what?" Yakumo asked before her jaw dropped. "Uchiha and Hyuuga as a couple? There's no way."
"H-half Uchiha?" A shocked Shiho asked, her eyes widened.
"My mother what?" Nobuyuki asked back with a confused expression. "A-an Uchiha?" He remembered his first years in the clan, always separated from his father, who was despised by those of both the main and secondary branch.
"Didn't you know about it?" Genma confusedly asked.
"I don't even remember how she looked like." Nobuyuki said, his tone softer and weaker than before. "My father told me she went on a trip, but if she was an Uchiha..."
"I-Itachi Uchiha." Shiho added, lowering her head as she took her glasses off to clean them.
"That explains your ability to awaken both the Byakugan and the Sharingan, but..." Gemma scratched his chin. "Aren't you supposed to actually lose both instead of having them? Doesn't matter, maybe we'll get an explanation later, let's just focus in something different." He cleared his throat before continuing. "Did you know that I used to be a guard of the Hokage?"
"That story again?!" Yakumo, annoyed, asked.
Meanwhile, Kakashi decided to reunite team 7 and visit Sasuke in the hospital, using that time to explain how their training would proceed, having already chosen to only train Sasuke as Naruto would train with Ebisu. Once they were in Sasuke's hospital room, Kakashi raised his voice.
"As you know, you've been given a month to prepare for the next phase of the exam." Kakashi said with his typical calm tone, getting the attention of his students. "And someone has to take care of you for that month," he scratched his head before continuing, "and I chose Sasuke."
"What do you mean you chose Sasuke?!" Naruto angrily yelled. "I also got to the next round!"
"Calm down, calm down, you will train with Ebisu." Kakashi indifferently said as he waved Naruto's yells away.
"Ebisu? That weakling?" Naruto disappointedly asked. "Why won't you train me too?"
Sasuke just stared at the two of them discussing from his hospital bed, not caring much about it as he was being trained by the silver-haired Jounin. On the other hand, Sakura was also disappointed that her teacher wouldn't help her with training, although she kind of understood why, it being because she didn't go on to the next round.
"I don't have much time to train all of you, that's why." Kakashi answered. He knew in his insides that he was lying, but he needed to say something.
"Ugh, whatever, I'll still become a chūnin and become Hokage!" Naruto yelled, pointing to the jounin's face. "You'll see!"
"Um, Kakashi-sensei..." Sakura raised her voice, catching her teacher by surprise, him turning to her with his eyes widened. "What about me?"
Damn it, I forgot about her... think think think. Kakashi cleared his throat before answering. "You didn't go on to the next round, so I don't think it is necessary to train you."
"O-oh, I see..." Sakura disappointedly replied, lowering her head as she remembered her defeat against Ino, who was clearly superior to her.
"Don't worry, Sakura! You can train with Ebisu and me!" Naruto said, giving her a thumbs up and receiving a nod from the girl.
Huh, I was saved by Naruto... Kakashi thought. "Alright, then, it's settled."
The attacks taken from Neji had left Hinata in a severe state, unconscious and having been close to death as her heart stopped shortly after being taken to the nursery, but she was rescued by the medical shinobi that achieved to revive her with chakra pulses. This made it impossible for Kurenai to even hope to train her within that month, forcing her to exclude the shy girl from her plans. Nevertheless, her other two students had gone through to the next phase of the Chunin Exams, which still made her feel quite proud, generally speaking. She had told both of them to meet at one of the training camps, and there they were when she arrived, which she expected from Shino but not from Kiba.
"What a surprise, Kiba, you're here early." Kurenai remarked, laughing as the dog trainer smiled nervously. "Anyway, I asked you to come because we need to talk about your training during this month."
"Oh, so will we get some training from you?" Kiba excitedly asked.
The red-eyed jounin nodded in response, which interested Shino, as he felt that being trained by a jounin would be quite beneficial to him. "I see you two are interested, I'm glad." Kurenai said, catching the expressionless bug expert by surprise.
"I will become stronger so I'll defeat that Neji guy!" Kiba stated, his fist working as a manifestation of his determination. "I'll never forgive him for what he did to Hinata!"
Kurenai's face got decorated by a little and subtle smile. "I see you like her pretty much, Kiba, that's so cute."
"Yeah, she's really cute!" The dog trainer said before cringing at the realization of what he'd just said.
"Do you at least care to try to hide it anymore?" Shino, annoyance filling the sound of his voice, asked.
Kurenai laughed at both of them, although they couldn't be mad at her as that laugh was a sweet one more than a mocking one, which caused Kiba to join the laughs, and Shino to smile behind the turtle neck of his jacket as he shook his head.
Winning was all Neji could think of, it was his destiny, which he had started to accomplish since his triumph over the heir of the main branch of the clan. Multiple times had his teacher told him to leave that idea of destiny, which he thought to be bad for the Hyuga genius, but Neji refused to give up on his principles, he refused to let go of his hatred.
The day before, Might Guy had told all three of his students to meet at the training camp, where he would be waiting for them, patiently and excitedly. In said training camp, Guy waited for his students to arrive, who arrived at the exact hour he had told them to. Neji showed up with his typical clothes, just as Lee did, although Tenten had her arms and legs covered with bandages as a result of her match in the preliminaries.
"Welcome, my youthful students." The jounin said, trying to retain his tears of pride. "I'm really proud of you, your youth is truly admirable." He finally succumbed to tears.
"Guy-sensei..." Lee said before joining his teacher's tears and hugging him.
The sight of both shinobi, same hairstyle and clothes, caused Tenten to cringe as Neji just shook his head. The duo rushed to the other two members of the team, forcing them to join the hug. Tenten managed to escape first from the hug, being followed by Neji, who palmed one of Lee's arm, leaving it numb and escaping through the space it left.
After a couple more minutes, the green spandex duo finally got apart, giving space for a change of atmosphere as Guy adopted a serious expression. This managed to get Neji's attention, who had previously heard that his teacher was actually one of the strongest shinobi in the village, but believed it to be fake given his personality. Tenten was also surprised by the change of attitude her teacher had.
"Given that two of you managed to go on through to the final part of the Chunin Exams, you shall now receive superior training." Guy said, clearly fighting hard to hold the tears of pride back. "Tenten, you will also be part of this training, your performance was remarkable and I'm pretty sure you will achieve to reach the Chunin rank next year."
"Thanks, Guy-sensei." Tenten said, bowing at the jounin, but cringing as soon as she noticed that he had started to cry again.
Guy cleared his throat before continuing, tears already escaping his eyes. "Excuse me, I am just a little bit emotional today." He cleared his throat once again. "Your training will start by tomorrow, so feel free to come here by the same time, also doesn't matter if you need some time to rest, just let me know."
Neji, disappointed in his teacher, nodded before leaving the place. Tenten, who actually intended to train with the jounin as she was perfectly conscious of his capability in tajutsu, nodded, also leaving the place shortly after. Lee got a firm stance and bowed, showing his gratefulness to the jounin.
The day before, his teacher had told him to meet at that same training camp, the one he and his teammates had their brief training on, at that same hour. Under the intense midday sun, a calm half-saiyan meditated, his body levitating as a result of his meditation and his purple clothes, similar to those given by Piccolo to him, were soaked by his sweat. For him, his teacher had already took too long, although he always preferred to wait, a clear result of Piccolo's teachings. As a drop of sweat went down his face, from the forehead to the chin, going through the closed right eye and the side of the nose, the click of a lighter filled the once silent training area, where only the sound of the grass and leaves of trees dancing was heard.
Gohan's black eyes opened, his sight catching the figure of his teacher, who was smoking a cigarette, his expression calm as it mostly was. The saiyan's feet stood in the grass, the sound getting Asuma's attention, whose eyes turned to his young student. The son of the Third sat down in the grass, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and breathing the pure air provided by the plants, his sight suddenly turning nostalgic for a moment, turning back into their serious counterpart rapidly. As the cigarette went back to his mouth, his gaze went back to the onyx-haired foreigner, that mysterious kid that came down from the sky, who had imitated his movements and had sat down in the same position he had previously held during his meditation.
One cloud of smoke came out of his mouth before speaking. "I used to train here with many friends, it brings really good memories." Asuma said, his cigarette moving slightly as he smiled. He smoked once more, erasing that smile from his mouth. "As well as really sad ones." The cloud of smoke emitted by him hid his hurt expression. "But that's just one more part of my job."
A pair of onyx eyes were now staring directly at the calm Asuma, their owner calm himself, but curious of what the one in front of him was trying to reach with what he was saying. The memories of losing Piccolo, Krillin, his own father and now his family went quickly through his mind, interrupted by the typically relaxed voice of his teacher.
"Many of us dream from a really young age to be a shinobi, one of those heroes that protect our home with their lives, those heroes that represent the very Will of Fire, those heroes that receive honors from the Hokage himself, those heroes that everyone loves and admires..." Asuma paused for a moment to smoke from his cigarette. "Those same heroes that participate in constant wars, those same heroes that suffer many losses throughout their short lives, those same heroes that do not even say goodbye to their loved ones before dying."
Gohan waited for a couple of seconds before speaking up, he didn't want to interrupt what he thought was a monologue being held by his teacher, but those seconds demonstrated that more than a monologue, it was supposed to be a discussion, that his teacher cared about his view. "I see that a shinobi has quite a powerful meaning in this world, which makes me think that maybe I've misunderstood the concept." The saiyan opened his eyes and turned them to the son of the Third Hokage. "In the place I come from, the heroes are those that save the world, the universe, the heroes are those like my father..." Gohan remembered Goku saying goodbye before taking the gigantic mass Cell had turned to at that point, dying along with the bio-android and King Kai. "But through his life, he's also killed, like a shinobi does, for what we believed to be the greater good."
Asuma nodded as the saiyan's eyes asked if a shinobi was like he'd just described. "But I'd be lying if I said that everyone or even the majority were what a shinobi is supposed to be." Sarutobi let another cloud of smoke out of his mouth. "Many commit horrible things, that unfortunately aren't crimes when they are affiliated to one of the hidden villages... But I would be lying too if I said that there's no wonderful or just good shinobi out there, because they're out there, sharing the same place as horrible people."
"I think I get it now..." Gohan wanted to learn more about many things of that world, but he still had the urge to find a way to go back to the his world, which he already missed quite badly. "It doesn't take the fact that I don't like that way of living, I despise killing."
"So do I and many others, but unfortunately, it is sometimes necessary and mostly inevitable." Asuma explained, his tone serious and calm.
Gohan didn't like that answer, but he kept his composure. "Isn't there another way? I've always found myself surrounded by death and suffering, trained harshly from a really young age, forced to fight when I didn't want to... I'd like to think that there is another way of fighting without including death."
"And maybe there is in certain cases, but as I told you, sometimes it is necessary." Asuma said as he stood up. "But don't worry, you will understand it one day, and I'll be there to see it." He extended his arm, helping Gohan stand up, even though it wasn't necessary. "I see you came early, that's great."
The silhouettes of his friends were suddenly recognized by his onyx eyes, which took him by surprise. As they approached him and his teacher, Gohan figured that they had come because Asuma needed to tell them something, but he didn't really mind their visit. He was hugged by Ino, which took him by surprise, but not disliking it at all. Chouji bumped his fist with the saiyan's, opening Gohan's hand after doing so and leaving a chip in his hand. "Enjoy." The Akimichi said as he gave him a friendly smile.
Shikamaru, on the other hand, went directly to greet Asuma, ignoring the presence of the saiyan. This affected Gohan slightly, but he preferred to let it flow, as he believed time would solve things.
"Alright, so I called you here because we need to organize how your training will be managed during this month." The jounin explained. "Chouji and Gohan will be included in our training even though they didn't make it into the final part of the exams." He let a cloud of smoke go out of his mouth before continuing. "Any doubts, objections?"
"No, Asuma-sensei." Ino quickly answered.
"It'll be quite efficient to train with Gohan, he's really strong!" Chouji excitedly said.
"Whatever." Shikamaru indifferently said as he looked away.
Before Gohan could object to his teacher's decision, Asuma spoke up. "It's settled then, we'll start by tomorrow, alright?"
"Alright!" Ino excitedly replied, being followed by Chouji and Shikamaru, who nodded in response.
Gohan hesitated, and a lot, but a kind smile from Asuma, along with the excited face of Chouji and the even happier face of Ino convinced him to accept, remaining silent, which everyone took as a yes. Maybe I can show them there's another way...
So that was the chapter! Let me know what you thought in the reviews!
Anyways, I hope I can update more frequently, but for now, see you later!