Eleven

"You have got to be kidding."

It has been an hour and a half. The remaining genins that were still standing were Neiji, Shikamaru, Shino, Lee and Naruto. They gathered behind some bushes, panting and were feeling very frustrated. It irked them to know that these two clowns are not just ordinary shinobis. They maybe young but their level of sneakiness were at the same level as their jounin senseis. Heck. There lies a possible that their shinobi level surpasses their senseis.

So far, they have yet to have found an opening to attack. They were too busy fending off flying shurikens that revealed their hiding spots.

"Eleven of us and we couldn't even touch them. Argh!!" Naruto said.

"We need a plan. At least, after the earlier exchanges, we managed to get them to pull out some of their skills."

Shikamaru sat down and planted his fingers together.

They are fast and very agile. Both seem competent in all areas but Ishida favors genjutsu while Maiko demonstrates an edge in an Advanced Bloodline trait. Something we wouldn't have known if the girls did not team up to tackle her.

He pondered further.

Sakura had earlier distracted her and took her on directly while Tenten activated her scrolls to heave everything she's got at the petite one. Their attempt at trying to throw her off balance was commendable to order to allow Ino, who was in hiding to take over her body.

Except the one they were distracting was just a clone.

Maiko, in the flesh went forth to gather shurikens and knives that Tenten threw earlier and began to perform some seals. Upon the release of her chakra, she created new forms of weapons to fight them. It would seem that the Advanced Bloodline limit lay in the manipulating the properties of metal.

According to will, the weapon changes shape to match the situation that she was in. One moment it was a daggered staff, the next a cross-bow that shot shurikens back at the opponents.

Man, it's so troublesome.

The girls now are currently tied up and have been placed together with the others who weren't able to get out Ishida's genjutsu. Chouji, Kiba and Hinata were doing quite well really until they realized that they were fighting a mere illusion, his genjutsu was about luring the opponent deep into a fight that doesn't exist or rather it does, only in their minds. The real one appeared after and used precision and speed to paralyze their bodies by adding pressure to certain points in the bodies, very similar to Hyuuga's taijutsu abilities. However, as Neiji confirmed, it was unpolished at the edges and not as precise. He was merely using experience and memorization to gauge where the points in the body were. Still, it was an additional problem to tackle.

That was frustrating. It made seemed too easy. Insulting even.

Troublesome. Troublesome.

It was a few more moments before Shikamaru got up. He turned to his fellow comrades and begins discussing plans of action.

Naruto flew out at Ishida who used one finger to flick him off course. It was going easy until Ishida felt a hand clamp onto his ankle. And another that grabbed his back and two more that hang onto his arms and head.

Trapped by Naruto's duplicates?

Before Ishida had time to be amused by the situation of the level of ability in Naruto, he suddenly felt his body not moving to his will.

Immobilized by Shikamaru's Shadow binding jutsu, Naruto released the seal and came walking up from behind some bushes. Meanwhile, Neiji jumped in front and activated his Byakugan.

Another pair of white eyes that could see beyond the surface.

"Now, we can finally end the game as you so happen to be standing within my sphere." And he opened the stance into the 64 hands of hakke – the technique that has the ability to render opponents helpless by sealing all chakra openings in the body.

An impressive dance of the gentle fit style was seen. The movements were precise, undeniably steady and confidently executed.

The answer was definite. Ishida could move no more.

"That was really good!"

Neiji jumped. The rest were taken back, for there stood a cheery Ishida right beside Neiji, it appears that he has been watching them.

"What the-" And the clone sublimed into nothingness.

"Surprising isn't it?"

The boys growled. Highly irritated.

"Maiko isn't the only one with special stuff, you know? Just like the Byakugan, advanced bloodlines exists elsewhere and each is very unique from the other."

Ishida stood back. A series of seals danced in the air, but suddenly it halted.

There was a pair of shadowy hands that were grabbing his throat.

"Checkmate."

"Ma, ma. Very interesting mind you have there. You should meet my elders to play a game of go or shoji with you one day."

"This is so troublesome. Just say that it's over and we can stop it already."

Whack!

Shikamaru was send flying across the field.

"Those two are incredible. One moves like the wind and the other is one sneaky tactician." Maiko said, holding out both Shino and Lee under her arms, which were unconscious. They were meant to distract her so that the rest can fend off one first.

Neiji and Naruto stood their ground. Ishida rubbed his neck. Naruto then begins to summon Rasegan; the ball grew in strength and in might within the palms of his hands. This caught the attention of the two targets. Neiji too was amazed at the amount of chakra that the ball contained; Naruto was halfway generating the might into his hand when the alarm clock went off in a distance.

"What a pity. I really wanted to see what it can do." Ishida sighed.

"Well, let's all gather up, shall we?"

The lot of them gathered around a rock where the two senseis perched on. The ones that have been knocked out were revived by Sakura while the rest were released from the genjutsu. The younger individuals were rather disappointed considering that they did not get a chance to prove their worth. They have fought way better before and were certain that they were capable of a better match.

"You lot are one amazing bunch. I have never seen adolescents with that much passion and determination before and I have to commend your abilities. Such potential that have yet to reach its peak, I will be thinking twice before taking on later on. Anyway, we may have lost but it had been fun. Maybe we can play again next time."

"Huh??" The genins and chuunin were puzzled.

"I thought we lost!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Nope. Shikamaru's shadow hands landed on me so you guys won!"

You have got to be kidding.

"Anyway, we will go report to the Hokage and have someone else to act as substitute sensei." He said, before taking a short pause to watch an eagle soar through the cerulean sky.

"Each and every one of you is a bright student with an even brighter future. All of you have the makings to be a great shinobi. Do not lose sight of your ninja way of life!"

"But most importantly, never forget the responsibility to protect this village and the people you love. Life is full of trials and tribulations but as long as you persist, even history can change. The future is in your hands." Maiko added.

They smiled.

"Let's head for dinner. Can someone recommend a place to accommodate everybody?"

There was no response. The young ones were sharing mixed feelings. The match was unsatisfactory, they had to admit to themselves that they were enjoyed the challenged and deep in their hearts, knew who was the better shinobis.

"YO!!!" Maiko yelled! "Free dinner!! And no one wants it??"

In the end, it seems that only Naruto took the offer. Ramen is just something he can't resist and besides someone is treating. The rest, it seems had dinner plans at home. The two senseis were disappointed but not too much, after all, their pockets was at stake.

They went to Ichiraku Ramen (as anyone would guess). There, they happened to meet Umino Iruka who was passing by. Naruto insisted that he joined them and dragged the sensei in to meet the now jobless shinobis. A casual conversation took place between all four as they got to know each other better.

"Wow! You trained all these kids before?" Maiko asked in amazement, causing a flow of blood to rush to the sensei's cheeks.

Naruto whispered not too subtly to the blushing sensei. "She's pretty! Ask her to take off her mask!"

"Naruto!! That is unnecessary, in fact, it's rude. We should respect other people's privacy."

A burst of laughter came from the other two.

"Well, actually we have to take it off anyway. There's no way we can eat with something covering our mouths."

Maiko said as she pulled her coverings down.

"I've never liked the idea of masking all the time. But it's become such a tough habit to get rid of; it has in a way grown to become part of me but I hope some day I can define me without the mask." She said before looking at Iruka straight in the eyes.

Ba-bum.

Iruka couldn't help but stare at the angel sitting next to him.

She is pretty.

"Ano sa. Ano sa. I told you right? She's pretty isn't she, Iruka sensei?"

"…………." He was speechless. It took an elbow in the ribs to get him to snap out of it. He blushed further when he realized what happened and eve dropped the chopsticks in his hands.

Ishida by this time had unmasked as the stall's assistant presented him his bowl of dinner. Ayame too, got caught up drooling and staring blatantly at him.

They received extra condiments for their dinner because the stall keepers were just so pleased to be treated to such lovely visuals. The two in question, on the other hand were rather oblivious to the staring and were just too busy eating their ramen.

What am I doing? Staring at someone I just met, that is just so rude and unlike me, Iruka thought to himself.

He looked up from his bowl and his eyes met hers again.

She smiled.

His heart skipped a beat.

Again.


The morning came. A lovely sky unfolding hues of blue and yellow, crisp fresh air and warming sunlight that helps to get the day started. Ishida met Maiko at the lobby of the apartment block where they were staying, they were people of their word and the Hokage will be informed of what happened yesterday.

They strolled out leisurely as they chat lightly about wondering how the older ones and Kakashi were doing. They were speculating whether the pervert with his books tried anything funny with their Onee-chan when they came upon a group of young people waiting outside on the streets.

"Ohayo Minna-san!! " They chorused. "You lot are rather early."

"Ohayo. Erm, there's something we would like to talk to you about." Shikamaru said, with a reluctant look on his face, hands in pockets whilst leaning against the wall.

"Troublesome isn't it?"

"Yeah. Erm! No! That's not what I mean." He got red in the face, before he managed to calm down and explain the situation.

"About you guys being substitute senseis for the next couple of days, we just want to say that the match yesterday was unsatisfactory and we want a rematch."

"………."

"But that's only going to happen after the contract period that you are suppose to train us is over."

"Oh. You actually want us to train you guys?" Ishida asked.

The lot nodded.

"Beats training by ourselves when we can't see much improvement and besides, I guess you deserve a chance at teaching since you seem so enthusiastic and all." Kiba added.

"Say yes, Maiko-sensei and Ishida-sensei." Sakura urged.

"From a stranger's perspective, we might be able to benefit and learn more about our flaws and strengths and train according. Our senseis are after all not around anyway, we can use the extra training to improve ourselves in the meantime." Neiji said in his usual serious manner.

Someone could use a sense of humor, thought Ishida.

The two of them looked at each other before bursting in smiles.

"Yeah, why not? It'll be fun anyway!" Maiko was pleased.

"All right!!!! We're going to get stronger!!!!!" Naruto yelled enthusiastically.

It was the start of another phrase in their lives as shinobis of the Hidden Leaf village.