Disclaimer : Don't blame my beta reader for anything you see wrong with this chapter....I put it up because I proofread it 8 times as I typed more stuff, and I didn't think it needed beta'ing. Ok...carry on!
Yondaime: The Strength of a Nation
Chapter 3: An Intelligent New Teacher
Though people knew of Kazama Arashi, very few actually knew him. And for good reason, too. He had advanced in class far quicker than the other students at the academy, and at the ripe age of 9, he made genin. Probably would have been faster than that, if the young man hadn't waited to graduate with his only real friend, Uzumaki Narashima. They had hoped to get on the same team together at some point, but that all changed quickly once the child prodigy finally became a genin.
A young Jiraiya had chosen Arashi to be his project…and as such the young boy was on Jiraiya's select team of genin. Who knows, Arashi might even become his apprentice in the art of ninjutsu. As a result, the young boy never got the opportunity to be on a normal genin team at all. His team was one of the best…even given the occasional b-rank mission…many of which would take months.
Yet every time he returned, things were just a bit different. The genin he grew up with had changed…heck…HE had changed. But it seemed like things just got a bit weirder every time he came back. Finally, when he turned 12, he became a chuunin…right around the same time most of the kids his age were graduating from the academy and becoming genin. This put an end to the super team of genin, and it also pulled him a bit away from Jiraiya's leadership. Even though Jiraiya would still pull the boy aside for months at a time, Arashi's mission work as a chuunin put him into a situation where he knew few of those he was expected to lead, and had no one to really depend on. He didn't feel ready for what he'd gotten himself into.
That was when he lucked out and saw her again. Nara-chan had apparently also made chuunin. The majority of his free time was spent with her, or with Jiraiya whenever their time coincided. They got really close again…and then Jiraiya took him out into the wilderness once more.
He returned again a year later, stronger, faster, and taller. No longer was he the small boy who had capability, but whom no elder genin would ever respect. Now, his frame commanded authority…even Nara looked at him differently for a while. But deep down, he didn't feel any different. He still felt unworthy of his office, and therefore strove hard in training himself so that some day he would be worthy.
By the time he felt worthy of chuunin, he and Nara (coincidentally) both proved worthy of Jounin. In a time when every Jounin didn't command a team of genin, however, it was decided that he shouldn't lead a team -- considering he had never been on one of this fashion himself. Instead, he was brought into the ANBU, and quickly became the type of ninja they delighted in. Once again, however, this stopped him from being seen by many, as the ANBU were the unseen ninjas of Konohagakure.
So the only ones who truly knew Arashi as a capable ninja were those who had worked with him personally in ANBU; those genin who had worked with him as a chuunin had a slight clue. Yet the vast majority of the ninja of Konoha knew this man by name…not by face. The happy blue eyes and smile that came from this one…many thought that it could not have come from the person they had heard so much about.
Arashi wasn't thickheaded enough to not recognize the problem, however.
Arashi yawned lightly as he began his walk. Up since 6, and there's still much to do…still, if it helps us stay strong, I'm more than willing to do it. He'd spent most of the morning dealing with the newly assigned Jounin instructors and the academy chuunin teachers; locking in the team assignments and making sure each of the Jounin had a fair test had taken more time than he expected. At least the hard part is done.
-----------------Flashback:Earlier that day---------------
The mighty Hokage walked to the front of the group, and stood in front of his seat. Taking a look around at the bunch, he smiled lightly when he noticed Nara in the crowd. She had a curious look on her face, but he quickly turned his eyes away, keeping his eyes moving from person to person.
"Ahh the chuunin and Jounin warriors of Konohagakure…it's my pleasure to have you all in my company. Such a strong group of ninja…anyway, I've called you here partially to apologize, and partially to make things better. I recognize the looks on some faces I see right now. I have been hidden for quite some time, so many of you do not know me. And how can you trust someone you do not know with such an office?"
He noticed a few of the Jounin shift noticeably in their seats and knew he had hit a soft spot. Figuring there was no point in dragging things on, he continued. "You guys are the real strength of Konoha…and if there's a problem with communication between you and me, it's only going to be more trouble for everyone…and believe me, I don't want that any more than you do." Arashi lightly took a seat, not missing a beat in his speech. "So…what I'd like to do is get some time with you all. I want you guys to feel confident in me…to at least know something more about me than what you see on paper."
He paused for a moment, considering the best way to get to know people. "What comes to mind for me is food. Yes…I'd really appreciate it if I could meet with maybe 4 or 5 of you a day for lunch. Feel free to ask whatever you please of me…I don't want to hold anything back from you guys." He hadn't even noticed himself smiling, but he did notice as the looks of the faces staring back at him seemed to warm slightly. "So…who's up for lunch later today?"
----------------------------------------------------------------Arashi sighed. It was 11:00 AM and he'd already been up for 5 hours. But the fun part of the day would begin soon. Right about now, the new genin were being informed of their team assignments, and around 1 they would actually meet the Jounin instructor for their team. Arashi was certainly looking forward to it.
After all, he would be only the second Hokage to ever lead a team of genin. All the others before him--with the exception of Sarutobi--had chosen one student to raise. Sarutobi, of course, had his "San Nin", the mighty group of three that had proven to be among the greatest ninja ever. Orochimaru, Tsunade, Jiraiya-sensei. One can only hope that my group can be half as strong as they are.
Looking around at the 3 Jounin (and 1 chuunin) walking to Nosodachi sushi restaurant with him, he noticed he'd gotten ahead of himself. First thing's first. Food, and getting to know the rank and file.
----------An hour or so later, the laughter could be heard down the halls of Konohagakure academy as 5 high-ranking ninja joked their way down the hall. As they reached an intersection of two hallways, the blond-haired young man leading the way turned around to all of them and smiled. "Thank you very much, all of you, for an enjoyable lunch. I can only hope the others go this well."
One of the other ninja--in fact, the only chuunin of the bunch--replied to him. "The pleasure's been all ours…you're not hard to talk to, and you're a lot stronger than you let on." She winked to him cutely.
The blond Hokage smiled back to her. A kunoichi chuunin…and the youngest of all the chuunin at that. "Thank you very much, Anko; I appreciate it. Now, I have to go introduce myself to the students." He bowed quickly to them, then turned left and walked down the hall. Behind him, he could hear one of the Jounin mumble, "A kage's work is never done…"
Arashi made some quick decisions. If I'm going to get through to these kids, I'm going to have to be tougher than I normally make myself appear. Might even have to curse a bit. But, I have to get through to them now…before they make a decision about me, or about what they trust me with. Especially the little runt.
Arashi reached for the door, but hesitated. What did he feel just now? Something within him registered an intention to kill on the other side of that door. Everything seemed to go in slow motion from there. Cautiously, he grabbed the handle once again, and slid the door open. His ears quickly adjusted to the sounds of the room, but one in particular caught his ear.
"…po…"
What was that? Arashi's eyes quickly focused on the young boy standing in the middle of the room. Dressed in all black, a specially designed shirt covered the lower half of the boy's face…and his silver hair was momentarily shielding his eyes from view. Kakashi. What's he doing? Arashi's eyes darted quickly to the boy's hands, noticing they were twisted into a fire in.
"Katon…"
Fire? He's using a jutsu? He noticed quickly as the boy switched seals, sliding his right hand down to be even with his left and extending his two index fingers into the air.
"Karyuu…"
Ack! The FIRE DRAGON!? He can't be about to use that jutsu! It shouldn't be physically possible…bionic kid or not he can't have that much chakra! Almost as a reflex, Arashi raised his arms in front of him, crossing them and extending his hands out. As if life itself depended on it, Arashi rattled off 3 quick seals-different ones with each hand.
"ENDAN!"
Arashi watched, feeling everything move in even slower motion as the kid began to jerk his head back, taking as deep a breath as he could. The kage unfolded his arms, moving his hands clockwise about each other, and--to the trained eye--seemingly releasing some type of blue field through his fingers…
With his eyes focused wholly on the Hatake boy, Arashi prepared to announce his move, but decided to wait, a smug smile crossing his face. The gray-haired runt jerked his head down violently and exhaled with force. Arashi watched carefully and smirked as Kakashi's hair tossed over his head…the only thing in the room that moved. As the room grew silent, Arashi decided to be the lead.
"Do you enjoy giving your instructor a heart attack?"
Kakashi looked up at the man, and returned a look. I can't tell whether that's a smile or not, Arashi thought.
At that moment, the jutsu Arashi had been preparing decided to reveal itself, as a gigantic wall of ice suddenly materialized in front of the kage's hands. Feeling like a fool, Arashi sighed and announced his attack. "Ninpo. Hyouheki."
(A/N: Hyouheki = ice wall :P Sounds a lot cooler in Japanese, eh?)
Kakashi raised an eyebrow and replied to the instructor. "Do YOU like overreacting to a student's joke?" The young boy was feeling quite complacent with his mock attack when suddenly, a massive chunk of ice flew over his head. He could see his instructor's fist clearly through a huge hole in the middle of the ice wall…
As Arashi bashed the wall down, he finally took a look at the other two students. One of them, he noticed, seemed to be holding in laughter. The other was quietly playing with her fingers. Arashi couldn't help but get slightly annoyed. "Well…how can I say…my first impression of you is…"
He grasped his chin, lightly fingering at the stubble as he noticed the looks of interest on their faces at his comment. Time to communicate something right then and there. "I hate you all." He smiled internally as he noticed the depression on their faces.
Arashi took a walk over to the chalkboard and began writing his name. "My name is Arashi. I might be your Jounin instructor." The man took a look, and noticed that no one raised an eyebrow at what he'd just said. Kakashi wasn't even looking his way, and the others seemed to be looking behind him. Arashi turned around and stared at his name for a moment, then turned back to them. "Is there…something majorly interesting about my name?"
The girl pointed at him and spoke first. "Arashi…YOU! You're the one from yesterday!"
The black-haired boy looked at him closely. "You mean the new Hokage?"
Arashi smiled. "So you remember…"
The kids reacted quite differently…the young girl bowed to him and yelled "Hokage-sama!" as the young black-haired one just stared. Kakashi blinked. You mean I just faked out the Hokage with a deep breath? Heh…jittery isn't he?
Arashi took it all in stride, waving off the young 12-year-old girl who was so intent on paying him homage. "No need for that…I told you I'm still Arashi here…not Hokage-anything. Anyway…yes, I am the new Hokage…16 years of age. My strength is in my chakra control and power…and in my determination to never let things go until there's no other choice. I chose to become a ninja mainly because it was the best way to defend my country in a time of war. Now that I've volunteered all this info, you guys have to tell me a bit about yourself."
Kakashi turned and faced the man who had-just a moment ago-been nothing more than a nuisance in the young boy's mind. No wonder he was able to pull up an ice wall in a place with so little water…he's the Hokage. Kakashi frowned momentarily, then began to speak. "I am Hatake Kakashi…obviously genin, age 5. I have no intention of telling anyone my strengths or weaknesses. As for why I chose to be a ninja…"
Arashi heard the boy stall off, and tried to encourage him. "What about your fears, Kakashi?" The boy returned a blank stare. Heh…this kid will make a good Jounin…he gives no information in word or response. Arashi turned to the girl of the bunch, and nodded.
Arashi took a good look at her. Her purple gi, had a light brown belt tied around it, and a purple shirt beneath it. The brown-haired girl started to blush, but then she opened her mouth finally and spoke. "I am a kunoichi genin, age 12. My strength is in weapons and taijutsu mainly. I became a ninja because I want to make a difference in Konoha…I want to be a great kunoichi, and the first female Hokage! But I'm…blush kinda afraid of bugs. But not REALLY afraid…just a bit of spiders and slimy stuff."
Arashi sweatdropped and sighed. Great…a taijutsu chick who wants to be Hokage…and who's afraid of the Aburame clan. And a 5-year-old genius brat. Interesting team I have here. "Rriiighhht…you didn't say your name…"
"Oh! I'm sorry! I'm Akaide Kaira."
Two down. Arashi turned to the sloppy, black-haired boy wearing a full-body brown coat that was a size too big. "And you are…"
The young kid looked up, passing a hand through his hair, and looking up to the Hokage. Goggles were lodged carefully in his hair, and the piece of straw he had in his teeth was really starting to grate on Arashi's nerves. This kid seems quite cocky…WAY cocky. Especially to say I don't know him off-hand.
"The name's Obito. I'm a ninja because my family is all ninja…not much choice in the matter. Anyway, I know I'll be good…our family has its techniques…and once I get them it's all over."
Arashi looked the guy over. Hmmm…if Kakashi is the #1 rookie…and the girl is average…then that means this guy is…why is he so cocky? Suddenly, he realized the magnitude of what the kid had said. "I'd assume you're an Uchiha then." The boy nodded, a knowing smile on his face. Darn it…does he think just having Sharingan means he can be dead-last and work his way up with ease? Baka…these are the type of people Jiraiya trained me to kill.
Kakashi interrupted Arashi's train of thought, noting the man's words from earlier. "You said you MIGHT be our instructor…"
Arashi smiled, his eyes giving a foreboding look of upcoming danger to the small children. "Ah yes…so someone did catch that little comment." He waited as the others seemed to be lost in thought for a moment; maybe they were trying to remember if that was what he had said. Interrupting their train of thought, he pounded his hand on the table in excitement. "YES…you all have the opportunity to be trained directly by the 4th Hokage."
Kakashi continued to pry. "And…there's something we have to do before we earn that I'd assume…"
Arashi chuckled. Funny…that the five year old is talking more than the twelve year old and ten year old combined. "Yes. There is one more element to the training for a genin that we don't tell you about…survival training."
Obito chuckled at the term. "Survival training? We've had survival training…living in the forest and what not…are you mocking the academy or something?"
Arashi laughed loudly, startling all of the genin runts. "You think I'm talking about surviving a forest?" He broke into laughter again, unnerving all of them with his best chiding laugh. Eventually, he shook his head and stopped his laughter. "No no no…this isn't about surviving the forest. It's about surviving ME." He leaned over the desk intently, looking each one of them in the eyes. He could see the doubt in the girl's…the boys he wasn't quite certain about.
"Here's the deal folks…you pass my training, and you are my genin warriors…until you're old and wise enough to order other folks around." He saw a smile cross Obito's face. "But if you don't, I'm sending each and every one of your asses right back to the academy."
The girl nearly went into shock…and the boys certainly didn't look happy either. "You might have passed the academy, but that doesn't prove much. Anyone can pass the academy with enough time…this is the test that will decide whether or not you're ready to really be ninja." Arashi smirked. "And don't think that the Hokage's going to give you the advantage either…if anything you will have the hardest test of all the genin this year." Again, the girl grimaced slightly…Arashi began to suspect she wasn't too confident in her team.
Kakashi looked intently at Arashi, passively speaking as if he were saying something irrelevant. "What if we don't want you?"
Arashi burst into laughter. "If you don't want me, AFTER you pass my test, then so be it I'll see about sending you somewhere else. If you fail my test, you have no say in anything. But then, that went without saying." He took a step towards the 5-year-old. "You might not want to look too far ahead…I'll simply say I'm not the Hokage for nothing."
Obito chuckled and joined in the chiding. "We'll be the judge of that."
Watching in the corner of his eye, Arashi noticed that the girl had balled a fist. With a smile, Arashi licked his lips and spoke again. "I have to say my second impression of you is slightly better than my first one. But the third impression won't come until after the test, and that's the one that matters." Grabbing a piece of chalk, he wrote some more on the board. "Our training will begin bright and early in the morning…be at the bridge to the city at 6:00 sharp. If I'm there and the rays of the sun hit my eyes before you show up, you FAIL."
Obito raised an eyebrow at the man's harshness, but got a harsher response. "Shut up. I don't want to hear anything about how early that is. If you're going to be a ninja, you're going to have night missions that require cover of darkness. If you wait until the sun rises to start those, you are going to fail." He looked dead at Obito, who seemed ready to snap back at him. "Suck it up, or go home." Obito bit his tongue and looked away.
"You might have heard from some that the 3rd Hokage was nice to his students. I don't expect to hear the same thing about myself…but my students will be the best they can be and everyone will recognize them. IF I recognize them." The Yondaime looked at them one more time. "If there are no questions, I'll see you all tomorrow." As the others made their move for the door, Kaira looked at him for a moment, then turned to go.
"Oh hey! One more thing." He waited as the others turned to look at him, then he turned and started erasing the board. "Don't eat breakfast. If you succeed, I'll buy dinner. But if you eat breakfast, I guarantee you'll throw up." Hearing them swallowing and gulping, he smirked. "Now go…enjoy your last sunset."
"Stupid boys…where could they be?"
Akaide Kaira yawned. Her stomach growled. Her frustration with the current events was beginning to rise. Here she'd been for a whole hour, waiting on the rest of her team…AND her instructor. Admittingly, that was partially her fault for being half an hour early. But still…after his bold words earlier, she didn't take him to be the type to be late…
"They're taking too long."
She gasped suddenly, hearing the voice behind her. Turning around and looking up, she noticed her instructor slowly sit up from his "seat" on the gate of the bridge. So he had been here all along…
Sighing, the Hokage leaped off of the gate, and landed on the bridge. "I had expected this type of tardiness from Obito…yet Kakashi as well?" Kaira looked at him in amazement, feeling quite awkward after realizing he'd probably been around for the past hour, listening to her talk to herself. Arashi, meanwhile, took a look to the east, noting the purple color of the sky in that area.
"Idiots…they don't know what they're getting into…" Arashi sighed again, a half-yawn leaking out of him as he silently stared out into the horizon. He lightly took a seat on the bridge, across from her. "and they're only hurting themselves…and you. I'm sorry you got stuck with them."
Kaira blinked, noticing he wasn't being as blatantly mean as before. "Arashi-sensei…why are you being…"
Arashi chuckled, and looked back to her. "Nice?" He noticed as she blinked, then sat there as if he'd plucked a close-enough word from her mouth. Stretching his arms above his head, he replied. "It's too early in the morning for me to worry about being tough. Besides, you don't need to see me like that as much as your teammates do."
Kaira looked away in thought for a moment, somewhat confused by what he meant. Arashi noticed and continued. "You listen to what your instructors say…they only seem to listen to how it's said." Arashi rose and walked, taking a seat next to her. "But enough about them. I'm curious about you."
Kaira blushed slightly, then looked up to him. "What about me?"
"You said you were good in taijutsu. What exactly did you mean by that?"
Kaira was somewhat surprised by his question. "Ummm…"
Arashi cut in. "Sorry…let me make clear what I meant. Some folks say they are good in taijutsu because they are…and some claim taijutsu because they know they aren't good in the others."
Kaira nodded, then thought for a moment. "Well…I'm not good at genjutsu, and I'm nothing special with the ninjutsu techniques…"
Arashi nodded.
"But…my father specializes in weapon training and taijutsu…so I claim that as my specialty."
Arashi raised an eyebrow. "So…you claim that because you want it to be, or because you're legitimately good in it?"
She looked for a moment, then looked back at him. Her eyes twinkled--an unexpected brightness and confidence showing within them. "I guess we'll both find out soon enough."
It was in looking into her eyes that he finally noticed the resemblance. That look…focused and confident. Yes…she's Akaide Mouko's child. It's fortunate that I practiced yesterday Still, she holds a bit of doubt... He smirked back to her. "Yes…I suppose we shall."(A/N : Akaide Mouko : Fierce red tiger)
Arashi looked over to the horizon again, noting the colors fading more towards orange. "I suppose it's time. Forgive me now for what I must do…"
Kaira was just beginning to get comfortable around Arashi…and then all of a sudden a switch flipped and he was gone. "Eh?!" She double-taked and then turned, searching for him. As suddenly as he had disappeared, he reappeared with a yell, throwing two small boys as though they were baseballs. Seemed the tough guy was back.
The two kids flew through the air screaming, and landed headfirst in front of Kaira on the bridge. She quickly stood up and backed away, half-confused and half-amazed by what she had seen. Meanwhile, Arashi leaped back up to the gate on the top of the bridge and stood there, looking down at the two boys in anger.
"You two…I'm ashamed. You dare to waste my…and your teammate's time?"
Both Obito and Kakashi had begun to rub their heads, and at the sound of his voice, they turned around to face the gate. Of course, Arashi noticed the small smirk on their mouths as they thought they had fooled him again.
"What are you so smug for? I saw when you both showed up. Obito got here at 5:45…and Kakashi showed up already late at 6:15." He saw the look on their face change a bit. "I only let you guys hide for that long because I wanted to see just how STUPID you could possibly be. I especially wasn't expecting Kakashi to do something like this…" He pointed over to the orange sky, directly toward the three glints of morning light. "Had I not gone out there and grabbed you idiots, do you realize you would have failed?"
Kakashi muttered something… "I would have made it." Arashi could feel the urge to kill the young boy rising…
"That's beside the point, because Obito would not have…and then you ALL fail." Arashi dug in his pocket, and pulled out a set of flags. "Like I said earlier to Kaira, the only one you hurt was your team." Kaira looked up to the man, noting the look of intense anger on his face.
"Let me make this clear. I do not like wasting my time. You will never be late again. If either of you ever do anything like this again-either to me or any of the other Jounin instructors-until the point where you become an instructor…" Kaira noticed that he seemingly was boiling with anger…his fists were balled, and his arms were twitching.
"…I will personally kill you. Have I made myself clear?"
Both of the boys nodded their affirmation (Obito a lot more fearful than Kakashi, however). As they nodded, Arashi clenched his fist, then tossed the flags down toward them…but not quite to them…
The trio looked in confusion as the flags fell into the water beneath the bridge, and Arashi made no attempt to recover them. Eventually, they turned their attention back to the man on the gate.
"Before you bothered to make me so mad, we were going to have a match of Capture the Flag…under cover of night…as your test." Both of the boys went wide-eyed, imagining for the moment just how cool that could have been. "Of all the tests I came up with, this one was most to your advantage…it's particularly hard for me to play both offense and defense alone. But…night is over, so we'll have to do something else."
Kaira turned and gave both boys a menacing glare…
------------
Coulda been longer, but I'll stop it before this thing gets rediculous. I'm over 5000 words for crying out loud.
This chapter is a big bunch of stuff...I apologize to those who are waiting for things to pick up...you won't have to wait much longer...but I gotta take some time developing the persona of folks, or else the cool action stuff won't be nearly as cool, ne?
I'll take this opportunity to plug another fanfic I'm starting...there is going to be a spin-off fic to develop the character of Nara a bit more...and to develop the romantic part of this story. With the way I've got this thing planned, it just doesn't fit into this one too well. I don't want to have a TON of chapters focusing on Arashi's first week as Hokage. So I'm going to take Nara's stuff and pull it aside to fix the issue...this one will dwell on Arashi, his team, and the big storyline of the things happening in and around Konoha.
With any luck, I'll have the first chapter of the new fic up tonight....a good chunk of it will fit into the day directly before the genin test shown above...during Arashi's training. Now then...a review response...
Naruto and Kakashi: Sorry for the confusion, although it was engineered that way. (:P) I wanted you guys to realize who he was just as everyone in the story caught on. Looks like it may have served its affect. Anyway, as to how I chose the name...I've read a few other fics and those who give the yondaime a name had often gone with Uzumaki Arashi (it means spiraling storm...like a cyclone...and it is a rediculously cool name that would definitely fit a ninja like him). I like the name Arashi...it flows off the tongue really well. But as far as the Uzumaki part...let's just say I don't think it would be easy for anyone to keep a secret about Naruto if his last name was the same as the 4th Hokage's. I'd figure the 4th's name would be common knowledge...and that would make you wonder why none of the kids ever thought about it. So I spawned off the name Kazama (which I had actually meant to be Kazuma...typo), and let the special female be Uzumaki....Narashima (coiled and balanced). As it is now, Arashi's name means "fierce wind storm"...I don't think I'll bother changing it.