CHŪNIN EXAMS II - IN PREPARATION OF GROWTH
Hidden Leaf Village - Third Training Ground
The place where it all started, over 10 years ago. He currently has his back to the three wooden pillars that played such a vital role on his first day as a Genin, in particular the middle one that he spent a few times tied to. Instead, he's sitting cross-legged in front of a monument only a few metres away. The polished dark kunai-shaped Memorial Stone, dedicated to the ones who lost their lives during the Third Great Ninja War. Probably the first reality check he received as a ninja- when Kakashi tried to hammer in them what it really means to go out and fight.
He focuses on two names in particular inscribed here- Rin Nohara and Obito Uchiha. His dad's student and his sensei's teammates. One name having been erroneously engraved after his presumed death in the Third War. Once everything calmed down in the aftermath of the Fourth War, there were many debates as to whether Obito's name should remain here and continue to stay besides the honourable shinobi who protected the village with their lives.
As the newly appointed Jōnin Commander, Kakashi made arguments for his old friend and he was backed up by enough people that Obito remained. Naruto himself continues to have conflicting emotions, but the words he spoke to Kaguya and Zetsu remain true in his mind. The Obito who wanted to be Hokage, who gave his own life to save Kakashi, and the Obito who killed his parents, who plotted to bring the world to its knees are two different people. Driven to extremes by extreme circumstances. That's what he has to and wants to believe, to prevent darkness from entering his heart. To lift the cycle of hatred, as he promised Jiraiya and Nagato.
"You sure are early."
A voice snaps Naruto away from the Memorial Stone. He turns around to see none other than his sensei making his way to him.
"Kakashi-sensei?"
"Yo." Kakashi gives a mock salute. "What brings you here so early?" He walks over to stand by Naruto's side to look at the Memorial Stone.
"I'm just… thinking." Naruto continues to look at the names in the Stone.
"Hm." Kakashi rubs his chin. "You do look like you're thinking about more than you should. Anything in particular got you worried?"
"It's just… Obito got dealt a lotta bad cards, didn't he?"
Kakashi tilts his head in curiosity but continues listening.
"Losing someone close to him, being manipulated by Madara. But in the end, he came back to his senses and helped us against Kaguya. Seeing the kind of person he was and the kind of person he became… Makes me wonder about who's behind everything happening now, you know?"
"You're thinking they might be like Obito, someone who has no other choice?" Kakashi asks.
"I guess. Nagato, Obito, even Sasuke. They all wanted to do what they thought was right. The ones behind all of this, the Uzumaki clan… they probably think that, too. I just don't know if I'm enough of an Uzumaki to stop them."
"Of course you are." Kakashi brings down his hand on Naruto's head, ruffling his spiky hair. "The reason you were chosen to lead the Uzumaki clan was to lead them into the future, not to focus on the past. You're someone who stands his ground for any cause. Against Pain, against Obito, against Sasuke. You helped them see past their darkness and glimpse into a brighter future. You don't need to relate to someone to help them or make them see their errors. You just need to have an understanding of what you want for the future."
Naruto looks up to him and grins. "Thanks for that."
"Is that why you're already here, to bear the weight of the world on your shoulders?" Kakashi asks.
"Well, that. And I'm just nervous, y'know?" Naruto chuckles lightly. "I signed Team Nine up for the Chūnin Exams so I gotta make sure I'm doing everything right to get them ready. Were you ever nervous, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Oh, all the time. Not a day went by that I didn't ask Minato-sensei if I was doing right by you guys."
"You never struck me as the type." Naruto notes.
Kakashi shrugs. "Part of being an adult, I suppose. You try to look like you know what you're doing."
"Yeah, I'm starting to get that. I feel like there's a lot I gotta learn, still."
"That's also another part of adulthood and of parenthood; you'll figure it out. Also, you don't actually have to call me sensei anymore. We're equals now."
"But I'm a Jōnin and you're Jōnin Commander, so you're still my boss, aren't you?" Naruto chuckles.
It's then that the two of them notice three presences approaching the clearing they're in, three familiar and expected presences.
"Well, looks like it's time for me to go. If you ever have something heavy on your mind, you do have people you can talk to." Kakashi waves as he turns around to leave through the trees.
"I'll keep it in mind. You don't wanna stay around?"
"Nah, this is between Jōnin and Genin. An old fart like me has on business here."
"You're not even that old, sensei."
As Kakashi disappears into the trees, Naruto finally stands up and prepares for his students' arrival. They flicker onto the field quickly enough where they stand in the place they usually do when they meet here- in front of the three wooden pillars.
Naruto looks them over and smiles. "Good morning."
Kotori pouts and crosses her arms. "I thought we were coming together, dad. I was looking for you."
Naruto laughs. "Sorry, I figured I'd come a bit earlier. Get a head start."
"Why do we always come here, anyway?" Shoto looks around the training ground. It's one of two places they mainly train, the other being in the Uzumaki clan compound. "Did you reserve it or something?"
"Nah, nothing like that, it's just a sentimental place for me. It's where Kakashi-sensei took us on our very first day as Genin. He gave us our first valuable lesson here, about what it means to be a ninja." He smiles as he takes a cursory glance at the middle post. 'I just hope I'm doing the same.'
"That's really nice, sensei." Yokumaru smiles.
"A place with old traditions." Shoto nods sagely.
"Yeah, yeah, so when do we get to the good stuff?" Kotori hops in place in excitement. "What're we doing today?"
'So impatient.' Naruto chuckles. "I probably don't need to tell you the Exams are gonna be hard. Each village picked out their most promising Genin so you're gonna be facing the best of the best and with a lotta eyes on you. All 12 villages in the Shinobi Union."
"Apparently it's the biggest Chūnin Exams ever held." Shoto says.
"It is. So we got our work cut out for us. In the coming month before the Exams, you're gonna train harder than ever. I'm ramping up the intensity to finally help you fix your shortcoming, so you better be prepared."
Naruto raises his hands in front of his chest, to form a cross with his index and middle fingers.
[Shadow Clones]
Nine doppelgangers appear behind him in a large puff of smoke.
"Shoto, we'll work on upping your taijutsu and Earth Style. Get even faster and stronger, and use them both on conjunction."
"I understand, shishō." Shoto clasps his fist in his palm, and takes a bow.
"Yokumaru, you still need to work on the speed and strength of your Crystal Style. We'll do that until my [Shadow Clones] can no longer break through in one hit.
"Yes, sensei." Yokumaru says.
"And Kotori, you still have a ways to go in mastering your [Aviary]. We'll work on the speed of your conjuring, their attacks, and combinations you can use. You probably have one of the most versatile jutsu out there; we need to make better use of it."
"Alright, dad-sensei!" Kotori cheers.
Naruto looks over the three of them with a smile on his face. "We've been together for a long time. You guys have been driven and motivated since the very beginning, so I know you got what it takes. A month might not sound like a lot but I know we can do a lot in it. Don't give up and you'll come out on top of these exams."
"I can't wait." Kotori grins.
Hidden Leaf Village - Fourth Training Ground
Shino stands quietly and motionless as he always does. Kashiwama, in stark contrast, paces in a circle while Genzai sits on the ground and tries to maintain composure but his leg's nervous spasming gives it away.
"Why isn't he coming?" Kashiwama bits his lip in frustration.
"I guess his parents really are set." Genzai lowers his head.
"That's bullshut!" Kashiwama throws his arms. "We're Team Five! We can't just split up now, this is the time we need to be together!"
"You think I don't know that?!" Genzai raises his voice. "It's not like there's anything we can do, especially by yelling at each other."
"Tha-" Kashiwama lowers his arms to his side and sighs. "Sorry. What if we go kidnap him?"
"Then we still wouldn't have permission."
Shino finally steps forward and speaks for the first time in a solid 10 minutes. "Let's begin. Are you prepared,..."
"No, we still have to wait-" Kashiwama goes to interrupt Shino-sensei but stops when he actually hears him finish his sentence.
"Jiriki." Shino turns his head to look to the clearing's entrance.
Kashiwama and Genzai snap their heads to see a panting Jiriki approach them, holding a signed registration form for the Chūnin Exams. "I'm prepared."
Kashiwama's expression turns from surprise to disbelief to joy in a matter of a couple of seconds, before he rushes at his friend and gives him a crushing hug. "You're here!"
"Ow," Jiriki winces in pain, "Of course I'm here." and rubs his shoulder once Kashiwama actually lets him go.
Genzai walks over and pats Jiriki on the shoulder. "We were getting worried. What changed their mind?"
"I don't know." Jiriki shrugs. "Might've been Kotori yelling at our front door, who knows. But they gave me the form after you guys left."
"So, this means Team Five's going to the Exams together, right?" Kashiwama turns to Shino-sensei with a hopeful glint in his eyes.
Shino nods. "That's precisely what it means, which does make today's planned exercise easier as we're all familiar with each other. You've all grown up together, fought and trained together, and thus grown accustomed to one another's styles. For the Chūnin Exams, we need to ensure that your teamwork is impeccable. Not a single gap in your style. That's because… your opponents will show you no less."
"We're ready, Shino-sensei." Jiriki declares. "I won't let you down."
"I know you won't." Shino smiles lightly. "For the following month, we'll focus on your individual skills and hone them to perfection, while also helping you better utilise them as a team."
"I think we've had pretty good teamwork." Genzai says. "We have a lot of good synergy with our jutsu."
"Thus far." Shino says. "There are new elements that will require you to learn new synergies. And that is what today will be for and why we'll move further into the forests."
"We're not training here?" Genzai looks around at the perfectly good training field.
"Nor for this, no. We're to go away from prying eyes and with much more space that the training ground can provide for us."
Kashiwama grins and skips ahead. "You guys better get ready. The stuff I trained on is gonna blow your minds! This is gonna be great." He gleefully chuckles.
Genzai and Jiriki exchange a confused look but walks forward, as well, following their sensei deeper into the woods.
Hidden Cloud Village
Samui finds herself, with a tanto in hand, standing in a field that's suffered clear signs of combat. Cracks and outright craters in the ground, kunai and shuriken embedded in it or simply scattered across it.
Takai and Hayai face off against her, both panting and sweating from exhaustion, while Kitsui hangs back a bit behind them. While those two seem to be engaged in combat, he's kneeling over a fish and trying to heal it.
Takai digs her foot into the ground, creating an indent, and leaps forward with enough force to kick up a cloud of dirt. Hayai uses this chance to rush in himself, body crackling with electricity. She comes crashing down but Samui easily dodges the fist. Takai's punch cracks the ground where her sensei used to be. In the split second, Hayai is on Samui, his body low and his arm open into a hook. With a burst of speed, he impacts right into her stomach.
[Spear]
However, the only thing he senses is the splitting of wood at his biceps. When he comes to a stop, he sees a wooden log split in two and no Samui-sensei.
Both Takai and Hayai look around, only to find her behind Kitsui with her tanto by his neck. And a dagger in the fish.
"Your healer is dead. Your fish is dead." Samui states.
"Can we at least eat it?" Kitsui jokes as Samui takes her blade off him and sheathes it.
Hayai brushes the sweat from his brow with the edge of his vest. "Isn't it a bit much, Samui-sensei? You're a full fledged Jōnin. There's no way we could win."
"I don't think a Chūnin would be able to beat you." Takai adds.
"Nonsense." Samui walks over to the middle of their battlefield. "I'm holding back to a level manageable for a Chūnin."
"Sure doesn't feel like it." Kitsui mutters under his breath, which is still audible for Samui but she chooses to ignore it.
"Look, you've all done remarkably well in your missions. You've grown a lot in such a short span of time, but the Chūnin Exams will be different. The teams selected from other villages will have done just as well as you, if not better. In the month we have until the exams, you need to put in twice the effort and become twice as strong."
"Yes, sensei!" The three of them say in unison.
"I have to show Kotori how much I've grown." Takai says as she clears her bangs from her eyes.
"You think she'll be at the Exams?" Hayai asks.
"She sent me a letter. She'll be there."
Hayai chuckles. "Groovy." He walks over to a nearby bench where the three of them had left their backpacks. "Then we really gotta show off."
"Hell yeah, we do!" Kitsui chimes in from the side.
As Hayai reaches for a water bottle to quench his thirst, he's stopped by the sudden presence of a boot pressed against his chest.
Samui looks down at him, "I don't recall saying we're taking a break," and pushes him back. Not enough to actually hurt him, but enough to send him flying and spinning in the air once or twice.
Hayai catches himself and sighs. "Oh, man…"
"This training is vital. Protecting your healer is an important part of emergency situations, when they need to focus on reviving a fallen ally, you must focus on protecting them." Samui dashes for Kitsui once again.
However, this time a boulder comes flying her way. Takai runs in shortly after it to keep Samui occupied with a flurry of blows, which are easily dodged.
"Not bad, but you'll need more than that. This already didn't work before and it's not going to work now."
Samui feels the hair on the back of her neck rise from the presence of static. Just as before, she dodges out of Hayai's way with no issues.
"I already said-" She stops herself just as she was about to repeat her warning.
She notices that this time Hayai wasn't going for a [Spear] attack but instead keeps running for Takai. He presses a hand against her abdomen and all of the electricity that was surrounding his body surges through his arm and into her.
[Lightning Style: Overdrive]
Once he transfers his jutsu, he continues running back to stand behind her and in front of Kitsui.
"Takai, think you can solo it?" Hayai asks.
Takai looks down to her crackling hand and clenches her fist, the sudden flex of her muscles sending a bright spark of electricity. "I can."
Samui smiles. "Well then, show me everything you have."
Hidden Rain Village
Konan looks on from one of the Rain's towering buildings, at the rooftop of a nearby structure- built as a wide open area for the purposes of lighter training. That's where Team Fuyō is. As the village leader, she knows she shouldn't be showing favouritism but as a mother she can't help but want to keep a close eye on them.
Currently, Mutsu and Samidare are squaring off, with Mutsu surrounded by several vaguely humanoid figures made of colourful origami papers that he's controlling. Samidare has her umbrella flung over her shoulder and is spinning it, first clockwise then counter-clockwise, which blows at her shiny curly hair.
To the side, their teammate Teru is tinkering with the mechanical gauntlet on her right hand, inserting opaque cartridges into their designated slots. Once done, a liquid travels along a tube from the gauntlet to a container on her back, where it begins to bubble.
"I'm ready." Teru says and looks up to Fuyō-sensei by her side.
"Alright." Fuyō nods and turns to Mutsu and Samidare. "This exercise will mostly be for you two, so give it your all. Teru, on my signal, release a smokescreen."
Teru nods. "Understood."
"Then under cover, Samidare, you're to try and hit Mutsu's targets and Mutsu, you're to try and dodge her attacks."
"Splendid." Samidare smiles.
"Got it." Mutsu nods.
"Begin!" Fuyō gives the command.
Teru points her gauntlet at her teammates' direction and releases a gray smoke from one of the compartments she'd just placed a cartridge in. The smoke goes directly forward and stops when it reaches between the two of them, when it begins to swirl and expand to form a dome of smoke that stays in place.
Mutsu sends his paper figures into the smoke and commands them from a distance to move about, like an odd version of the cup game. Then, from within the smoke, Samidare raises her umbrella and spins it clockwise, ever faster and faster, until a barrage of senbon is unleashed from the umbrella and flies in all directions.
The result is unseen and unknown to anyone until Teru commands her smoke to disperse and they see that only about a third of Mutsu's targets were hit by the senbon barrage while the rest remain unscathed.
Samidare flicks her curly hair behind her shoulder and smiles gently. "Excellent."
Fuyō walks over to them. "Well… it's a good start, at least." She reaches for her own umbrella on her back and opens it. "Remember, the barrage is mainly used for coverage and a distraction. The few senbon you can control should be saved for when you have a better grasp on your target's movement."
"But it's so bothersome!" Samidare complains.
Fuyō sighs. "It's something you'll need to learn if you want to advance in the Chūnin Exams. You'll have a lot of people closely evaluating and watching over-"
"People will be watching?" Samidare's indifferent demeanor suddenly turns cheery, her eyes practically sparkling.
"Well, yes, especially during the final of the exam. It'll take place in an arena and civilians will be allowed to observe." Fuyō explains.
"Why didn't you say so?" Samidare practically skips back to her spot. "I simply must put on a good show if I'm to shine. For my audience."
Fuyō shakes her head. "Whatever works, I suppose."
Mutsu chuckles from his spot before turning to Fuyō. "Is it really okay just for us to train, sensei? Should we be training together with Teru."
"You will," Fuyō answers, "But we also need to focus on what you're individually lacking. Teru's learned to navigate through gasses like this so you two need to catch up to her. Then while one or both of you are resting, Teru will do her own training. We'll keep rotating like that for a while."
"Right." Mutsu nods. "That makes sense."
"Alright, let's start over!" Fuyō gives the signal.
Teru immediately releases another dome of smoke to envelop her two teammates.
"Wait, I wasn't ready yet!" Mutsu protests.
"Too bad." Teru says, her voice giving off the hint of a smile behind her water breather.
Hidden Sand Village
One of the perks of living in a land of mostly desert is that you have a lot of free space. Probably more than needed, really, but it does mean one can go all out without having much to worry about.
Currently, Team Matsuri are making the best use of a wide empty space not far from the Hidden Sand. Beside them is a cliff that leads into a rocky forest, a place with large stone formations that provide a lot of natural cover, perfect for a different kind of training than what they're doing right now.
Matsuri-sensei is standing to the side, while her three Genin are facing each other. Sangen and Tayuri on one side, and Taiko on the other.
"Alright," Matsuri grabs their attention, needing to raise her voice a bit to be heard clearly, "Since all three of you are ranged combatants, we'll need to get you ready for as much adversity as we can. Sangen, Tayuri, you're easily hindered if something prevents you from sending your puppets and cloth forward.
Tayuri looks down at her feet in slight embarrassment. "I'm trying." She mumbles.
"Taiko, that's where you come." Matsuri continues. "Provide a wind wall for them to overcome. Consider this your training- preventing others from reaching you."
"Yes, sensei." Taiko responds.
"And begin!" Matsuri gives them the signal.
"Here I come!" Taiko reaches for the clasp on her lower back to release her Giant Folding Fan.
With a flick, she opens the fan and swings it side to side, increasing the intensity of the wind with each swipe, increasing the amount of sand blown into the curtain of wind.
Sangen and Tayuri shield their eyes and give each other a confirming nod, both ready to spring into action.
Tayuri unfurls the Binding Cloth from her back to create a protective dome around them.
"You ready?" She asks.
"Yeah." Sangen responds. "Come out, Viper!"
He reaches to the circular backpack strapped to him with a leather harness and sends in five chakra strings, one from each finger. From his backpack, he pulls out several rectangular blocks of wood that snap into place, each of them decorated with triangular carvings to resemble a snake's scales.
A giant puppet viper curls around him, comprised of a total of ten separate compartments, each of which he commands with a chakra string from one finger.
All the while, Taiko has been keeping up a constant gust of wind to present them with their challenge.
Tayuri commands her cloth to bend in a drill shape to pierce through Taiko's wind, but the shape proves unstable and breaks apart. Sangen tries to send his viper through but it's quickly blown away, as well. He loses focus on some of his chakra strings, forcing him to have to quickly reattach new ones before he loses control over his puppet.
The two keep up their attempts to break through Taiko's wind, with Tayuri using her cloth mainly as a shield, even repositioning it to better allow the strong winds to pass by it, but seeing as the wind is under Taiko's control, she can change its direction at a whim and ruins their plans. Sangen even tries to curl his Viper puppet into a circular shield and get through that way, but he doesn't quite manage to reach, either.
This exercise goes on for well over an hour, with Tayuri and Sangen making various degrees of progress before Taiko readjusts her jutsu to halt them in their tracks. The two put up a good struggle but in the end, it was just that- a struggle.
All three of them collapse on the ground, their chakra entirely drained from the exercise.
"We didn't even get close!" Tayuri says through her panting.
"No, you definitely got close a few times." Taiko says. "You had me worried there."
"Ah, you're just saying that." Tayuri dismisses the correction.
Sangen straightens himself up to sit rather than lie. "I think we made good progress."
Matsuri approaches their group. "You definitely did. There's still room to improve but we have a month to iron that out. You'll get it in no time. Tayuri, your range with your Binding Cloth is still relatively short and you're still using a lot of chakra to maintain it."
Tayuri nods. "If I send it too far away it becomes too weak."
"And we'll work on that in the coming month. Sangen, your puppetry is good but you still have trouble keeping concentration and reducing how many chakra threads you actually need."
Sangen looks down at Viper lying at his feet. "I think I made it too complicated. I can't seem to do it without using all of my fingers." He scratches his chin. "Maybe I should try another puppet."
"Don't fret too much over it." Matsuri leans down and pats him on the head. "Viper's an awesome puppet, you'll definitely figure it out."
Sangen smiles. "Thanks"
"And Taiko, your control was excellent. Your chakra usage and your manipulation really kept them on their toes."
"Thank you, sensei."
"But naturally, actual enemies aren't going to just stand in one place while you blast them away, they'll try to maneuver more, so we have to train more for that, too."
"So that's on the schedule for tomorrow?" Tayuri asks.
"Tomorrow?" Matsuri cocks her head. "No, in an hour after you've rested."
"An hour?" Tayuri and Taiko say in unison.
"But we can barely move!" Taiko argues.
"Exactly." Matsuri nods. "You need to train past your limits if you're ever going to surpass them. Your rivals aren't going to care if you're tired. You need to push through to reach your goals, no matter what. Understood?"
"Ughhh." Tayuri groans.
"Understood?" Matsuri repeats in a stricter tone.
"Yes, sensei." They respond with a sigh.
Land of Water
A man runs through the dark and shadowy woods. Alone. Terrified. Covered in blood, not all of it his own. He looks behind to see if there's any trace of who or what he's running from. The only thing he spots is a crackle of electricity somewhere in the distance.
"Shit. Shit, shit, shit."
He zig zags between the trees, leaps over branches, jumps through the thick shrubbery, all in a vain attempt to escape.
"That's not going to be enough." A voice echoes from the ether.
He ducks behind a tree and presses his back against it, trying to zone in on the voice's origin. He stands completely still, slows down his breathing best he can after all that running, and just waits for any sign that it's safe to go.
Just as he moves to turn his head around the tree and investigate, a sharp pain pierces his chest. He looks down to see three shuriken embedded in his torso, metal coursing with electricity.
Before his mind can even run through his choices, a figure [Flickers] right in front of him. He only has a second to register her form, a young girl with short slicked back hair and piercing dark blue eyes.
She looks up at him and grins, to reveal her sharp teeth. "I told you."
In a flash, she runs a sword through his chest and sends electricity running through. The man screams in pain for only a moment before his body falls limp.
"Six down." Buntan Kurosuki pulls out her sword from his body and slashes it to the side to get rid of the blood.
As she does, she hears the explosions from her right and the wailing cries from her left.
"Sounds like Ichirōta and Hebiichigo and doing fine, too." She leans down to rifle through the pockets of the man she'd just killed and clicks her tongue when she finds nothing of worth. "Why were you even running when you're just a waste of time." She sighs and walks back to their designated meeting spot.
Buntan treks through the forest, back to her starting point- a small clearing, free of the confines of the surrounding tree so the moonlight can freely illuminate when the clouds aren't in the way. Her eyes immediately focus on her sensei, Saizo Kyōrin, sitting on a large rock with the blastsword Shibuki lying at his feet.
She looks around to see the other team that had come with them on their mission. The Jōnin leader with a large turtle shell strapped to his back, an overly large girl with red skin and horn that makes Buntan question if they really are the same age, a smaller girl with a young panther by her side, and a pale and gloomy boy who seems to always be staring off into the distance and never mentally present. Shinobi from the Hidden Mountain Village.
Buntan narrows her eyes and looks over the three Mountain Genin. The two teams left at the same time and yet all three of them are already back and look like they've barely broken a sweat. 'They're good…'
At this time, both Ichirōta and Hebiichigo appear by her side. Ichirōta fixes his hair, ruffled from the explosions, and Hebiichigo hides her steel wires inside her overly large sleeves that cover her entire hands.
"Did they have anything of worth?" Saizo asks.
All three of them shake their heads. "Nothing."
Saizo looks back to Mizushi Ōsui. "Looks like these guys were just low-level trash."
"So it would appear." Mizushi shrugs. "We still made a significant dent in these bandits, so I wouldn't call this operation a complete failure."
"Why did we even waste time with common thugs?" Dōji Ibaraki crosses her arms and leans against a tree. Her oni-like appearance, completely with two horns and dark red skin, make almost everything she says look and sound like a threat, even if she doesn't mean it.
"We still have our duties to maintain, Dōji, you're aware of this." Mizushi explains. "This is the final step, after all, we mustn't waver."
"Everything is ready on our end." Saizo interjects. "The Bloody Mist is ready to act."
Mizushi smiles. "I look forward to these Chūnin Exams. "They promise to be quite entertaining."
"I just hope Naruto Uzumaki's team will be there." Buntan says. "Out of everyone, they're the ones I need to crush into dust."
Dōji cocks her head. "Naruto Uzumaki's? Why?" She asks.
"I have my reasons." Buntan answers. "What's it to you?"
"It's more to you- Naruto Uzumaki's team is mine to deal with. Don't even think of getting in my way."
"What'd you say?" Buntan stomps one step closer and places her hand on her swords' hilts. "I've been waiting for this moment for 10 years, if you think some random freakshow's gonna tell me what to do, then-"
"Enough!" Saizo calls out. "We're not enemies in this. Whatever grievances you each have won't be up to you to settle. It'll be the luck of the draw. After that, you can do as you please."
"Yes, sensei." Buntan says through gritted teeth.
"Then we'll take our leave." Mizushi says. "We still have leads back in the Land of Hot Water. If any of these thugs swim into the Land of Water, we'll inform you."
"Thank you kindly."
"Let's go, you three." Mizushi Flickers away.
Hyo Nekomata follows shortly after with her companion panther; Onryō isn't far behind. Dōji lingers for a moment longer to pointedly stare a hole into Buntan before leaving, as well.
With the Mountain shinobi gone, Buntan clicks her tongue. "She better hope we don't have to fight in the Exams."
"She does look strong, be careful with her." Ichirōta advises caution. "That pale guy looked off, too. All somber and quiet." He shivers.
Hebiichigo giggles. "I think he's kinda cute."
"Of course you do." Ichirōta sighs.
"Do try not to jeopardize the mission. All three of you are training to wield the Seven Swords of the Mist, you're an important part of our future. How you act and what you do will be important. Be mindful."
"Yes, sensei." They say unison.
1 month later
Land of Fire Coastline
All four of the Hidden Leaf's teams stand at the dock of a port town, waiting for their ship to prepare to depart. For Team Naruto, it's an almost nostalgic feeling, reminiscing of when they had to travel to the Land of Water the last time; the final part of their journey across the lands.
Kotori in particular is practically jumping with excitement at the prospect of getting on a ship again.
Kashiwama steps forward to stand next to her and takes a deep breath. "This is awesome! I've never been on the ocean before."
"Really?" Kotori says in surprise. "Not even for a mission?"
"Nope." He shakes his head. "Never had a reason to. Farthest we traveled was to the Hidden Moon Village and we just ran there."
"Oh, it's super fun! You'll love it!" Kotori grins.
"I prefer land." Shoto grumbles. "All that swerving and swaying…"
Jiriki scoffs. "And how do you plan on proving yourself if a little water gets to you?"
"Oh, shut it."
Yokumaru smiles and looks on at the horizon. "I do look forward to seeing the Land of Water again. It was nice."
"Last to the dock's a rotten egg!" Kotori immediately makes a dash for it, not even waiting for an acknowledgement from the others.
"Hey, not fair!" Kashiwama's not far behind.
Genzai sighs. "They're always so energetic."
"It's never boring, at least." Yokumaru chuckles and follows them.
Genzai shrugs and runs along, as well. "You're not wrong."
Shoto and Jiriki share a brief glance, both of them determined to win the race but neither of them admitting they're racing. They start with a normal walking speed, each picking up speed to get ahead of the other. Then they start power walking, which turns into a jog, until they're eventually running at full speed.
In the distance, Naruto and Shino are looking over the docks at their student's obvious antics.
"It's good they're in high spirits." Naruto laughs.
"They need some time to relax." Shino nods. "The Chūnin Exams are right around the corner, I'm sure they're trying not to show how nervous they are."
"Hah, I wasn't nervous in the least!"
"No, you were not." Shino chuckles lightly.
They remain silent for a brief moment, taking in the soft breeze as their minds go over the next step of their lives, an important moment for them as both shinobi and teachers.
"It doesn't feel like a lotta time's passed, y'know? I remember Kiba's punches like we just fought yesterday. Still remember how the arena smelled."
"I'm certain he remembers how you smelled, as well." Shino says.
Naruto bursts into a fit of laughter. "Oh, man, I'm sure he does!" He wipes away an imaginary tear.
"Naruto! Shino!" They turn around to see their fellow Jōnin sensei Kokage Yanagikage calling out to them from further into the docks. "We're all clear to go. We should get ready."
"Well, then, shall we?" Shino says.
"Let's go." Naruto stretches his arms and the two go to their colleagues.
RETCON
Previously, the OC named Tōrō Goshiki was introduced as a member of the Hidden Mist's Team Saizo. He was created back when the idea for the fic first came to mind, in 2012. As I've since decided to use characters from 'Boruto: Naruto the Next Generation' anime as his teammates, it dawned on me that he doesn't really need to exist, either. I could use established characters from the franchise instead of making an OC. So now all members in Team Saizo are ones that appeared in School Trip Arc (Boruto episodes 25 to 32). I do intend on going back and re-writing the parts where Tōrō appeared since he wasn't that big of a presence just yet.