Takanome gasped as the smoke-filled air of the burning forest was replaced by the cool breeze of central Fire country. He fell onto the cobblestones of a sidewalk, a pair of grunts indicating his teammates had come with him. He looked up, directly into the eyes of a boy a little older than he was. The black-haired leaf nin (as indicated by the headband positioned beneath a pair of orange goggles) stretched out his arm.
"Need a hand?" he asked, voice filled with obvious concern.
"Thank you," Takanome took the offered hand, stumbling as his legs almost buckled as he was pulled up, blurry vision revealing to him that his teammates were being helped up by a brunette with blue markings on her face, and a silver haired teen with a mask covering his nose down. The man who had saved them rose to his feet, the strange kunai held in his hand.
"Where the hell are we?" Heiko exclaimed, only for her question to be answered by the familiar stone faces staring down at them from their exalted perch.
"Back in the Leaf? But how?" Shodo was gobsmacked. They travelled over a thousand kilometres in an instant!
"That would be my doing Miss. I'll be happy to explain later, but right now I think you three need to be taken to the hospital and I need to get that scroll to Lord Hokage. " The blonde Jonin eyes focused on the document that Shodo still held.
"Oh, of course," she quickly handed him the piece of parchment, and not a moment later he disappeared with a rush of air.
"Well you heard sensei, let's get these cute little genin to the hospital," declared the black-haired boy.
"Obito, there's no need to be so disparaging ,but those burns do look pretty bad." The girl's expression shifted to one of compassion. Their silver haired teammate rolled his eyes.
Takanome took the opportunity to pass out from exhaustion.
Minato landed in the hallway outside the Hokage's office, calm façade hiding a maelstrom of grief and panic, the kunai he had specially designated as Shikazu's clutched tightly in his right hand. The Nara wouldn't have given it away unless he was sure he was going to die.
"Enter," came the call from within the office. Minato opened the door, revealing Hiruzen staring out the window, puffs of smoke emanating from his pipe.
"Emergency report from outpost W1 sir," Minato handed over the scroll, which was immediately snapped out of his hand, the elder ninja's eyes scanning the hastily formed characters.
Outpost under attack by Stone forces, seemingly led by Kitsuchi and Han. Going to try to take them out but can't guarantee it will work. Either way, my plan involves destroying the evidence of the extra research you've tasked me with. I haven't found much on the ruins, but I have encoded the info into the seal below.
It has been an honour to serve under you Hiruzen. Give everyone my love.
Shikazu Nara.
Hiruzen's face was as blank as the one that decorated the mountain above as he passed the scroll back to Minato. The two of them sat quietly for a moment, before duty re-asserted itself.
"Jonin Namikaze, how did you come to possess this scroll,"
"Sir, me and my team were returning from a routine C-rank mission when…"
Takanome awoke to the sound of chatter and the sterile white light of a hospital room. His vision resolved from a blur to reveal Heiko laying in a hospital bed opposite his own, blabbering away to the black-haired kid from earlier, with the rest of the two teams scattered around the room. The female member of the other team was the first to notice , who was sitting in an armchair near the window was the first to notice
"How are you feeling Takanome?" she asked, drawing everyone's attention to him.
"That was a pretty bad case of chakra exhaustion, especially coupled with those burns" she continued, genuine concern present in her expression.
"I am feeling well thank you, if I were to be perfectly honest it does not surprise me that I suffered from chakra exhaustion. I have never pushed myself that far in terms of Byakugan use." He replied, hands massaging the lingering soreness from his eyes.
"Well don't do it again white eyes, or you'll have to catch these hands," Heiko raised her bandaged hands in a poor approximation of a gentle fist stance. Evidently channelling that much Yang chakra had taken a toll on her. Takanome was quickly introduced to Team 7, who were around a year older than himself.
"If I may now ask, what exactly happened to you three? Sensei teleported away mid-sentence and then reappeared with you lot two seconds later," this came from Kakashi, who was leaning against the wall next to the door frame. Takanome looked to his teammates in surprise, had they not told them yet?
"We wanted to wait for you to wake up before telling them what happened. Even if we didn't, you were the only one who saw what exactly was going on." Shodo explained quietly, her arm in a sling, likely having fractured it when they were sent flying. Before Takanome could reply a commanding voice caused all the teens to look towards the doorway.
"Actually, I would also like to hear young master Hyuga's report myself." The Third Hokage stepped into the room, closely trailed by the Jonin who had saved them, who Takanome now knew to be called Minato, who took up a place across the door from his student. The Professor took a seat in another of the large armchairs and gestured for Takanome to begin.
"Sir," he said, stuttering slightly. The Hokage himself! He then proceeded to explain the events of that evening and although none of it seemed to surprise Hiruzen, his expression grew darker the longer the tale continued.
"I see…" he said as Takanome finished speaking, gaze transitioning from the youth's pale face to the grid of buildings that stretched out past the window. After a moment of silent contemplation, the 1000-yard stare drained from his eyes and he looked at each member of Team 3 in turn.
"I am extremely impressed with your actions this evening, they have spared this village a lot of hardship. I chose you three as one of the few teams to be stationed in active positions because I had high expectations, but those have definitely been exceeded. Take a few days off, but I would like to see you in my office on Thursday morning at 0800. Now I must take my leave, the village doesn't run itself." With that Sarutobi disappeared from his seat, a faint white and red blur the only indicator he hadn't simply vanished.
"I think we should get going as well team 7, but if any of you three ever need some help, feel free to drop by training ground 7. I'm sorry we had to meet under such negative circumstances" Minato gave a happy wave as he and his charges left the hospital room, leaving Team 3 alone.
"We can't let anything like that happen again." Heiko's solemn declaration was a far cry from her mood not a moment earlier.
"I've never felt so helpless. Even if we took down one guy, all we could do in the end was run…" Shodo was hunched over, her voice barely above a whisper.
"We need to get stronger. If not to defend ourselves, then to defend our home." Takanome's voice was filled with a burning determination.
"But that's the problem isn't it? How are we supposed to learn without someone to teach us?" Shodo's question was a logical one, the whole point of a jonin sensei was to help their students grow. But fate had seemingly robbed them of that luxury.
"I don't know, but we will figure it out, together." Takanome's statement was echoed by his teammates and the three relapsed into a dead silence, until Heiko broke it once again.
"What do you think the Hokage wants with us?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi sneezed as he came out of his body flicker on the top floor of the hospital, reserved for the highest priority patients. He quickly navigated to the room on the northern corner, the door sliding open to admit him. The only occupant of the room sat up on the bed, looking straight at him despite the fact that his eyes were covered with bandages.
"My lord, how may I be of service to you?" Fugaku Uchiha croaky voice was a far cry from its usual smoothness.
"At ease Fugaku, how goes your recovery?" Fugaku relaxed greatly at the order, a smile crossing his previously bleak face.
"Pretty good Hiruzen, Tsunade really is a miracle worker. Other than my eyes, I'm almost back to full capacity and should be discharged in the next couple of days."
"That's great, because I have a proposal for you."
"Sending me out again so soon?"
"Not exactly. Do you understand the effect the lack of available jonin has had on the recent graduates?"
"I do and I don't like where this is going. You're not saddling me with a gaggle of greenhorn genin."
"Ah but that's the thing Fugaku, the team I have in mind aren't exactly green."
Hiruzen explained Team 3's unique situation, both the events of W1 as well as the great potential he saw in them. Fugaku was silent, his face creased in consideration.
"If these kids are as great as you make them out to be Hiruzen, you have piqued my interest. I've always had 101 ways that I thought I could improve on how Jiraiya-sensei taught Minato and I." He paused for moment, evidently running the idea over in his head.
"How about this, I'll administer a test of my own design to see if these kids are all they're cracked up to be, and if they are, I'll take them on as apprentices."
"That would be agreeable to me, be at my office at 7:30 on Thursday. Oh, and one other thing Fugaku."
"Yes?"
"Have you made any progress in discovering the exact nature of the recent… changes with your eyes?"
"I have, Mikoto was kind enough to share with me some information that is usually kept within the head family. Apparently, this phenomenon is called the Mangekyo Sharingan…"
Team 3 was discharged from hospital a couple of days later, with orders to take it easy. They returned home to concerned family members, and subsequently established a schedule of light personal training until found out what was intended for them. Unfortunately, Team 7 was sent out on a mission the next day, and as such they were on their own.
Eventually, Thursday rolled around, and Team 3 found themselves standing outside the Hokage's office, dressed in their combat gear. Shodo announced their presence with three sharp knocks, and a call of "enter" granted them admittance.
The first thing that Takanome noticed when he entered was that another man was sitting in one of the visitor's chair, clad in a standard jonin uniform. With a start he realised it was the ninja he had seen the night before graduation.
"Team 3, thank you for coming." He indicated the black-haired man, who had risen from his seat, steely gaze fixed on the genin.
"This is Jonin Fugaku Uchiha. He was recently seriously injured, as I'm sure you know Takanome," the Hyuga went red at the offhand comment, but the Hokage continued without pause.
"As such he has been temporarily suspended from frontline duties. I suggested to him that he could use the opportunity take you three on as apprentices." The announcement was met by shock, which instantly morphed into joy as smiles split the faces of the three genin.
"Just a moment you three. Lord Hokage has spoken very highly of you, which is the only reason I considered this in the first place. But I'm still going to need you to pass a test," Fugaku's explanation did nothing to dampen the trio's enthusiasm.
"Sir, we will pass any test you give us, and that's a promise," Heiko complemented her announcement with a blinding smile and an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Fugaku's stony exterior broke away to reveal a slight grin.
"Understood, be at training ground 25 in 10 minutes," and with a pop, Fugaku's shadow clone disappeared. Hiruzen smiled at the shocked looks on the genin's faces.
"No time to gawk Team 3, Fugaku is very serious about being punctual."
With a yelp, the three genin rushed out of the room.
Team 3 arrived at the training ground 7 minutes and 37 seconds later, ever so slightly out of breath. They were met with Fugaku standing in the middle of the grassy clearing, situated between a pair of traditional sparring rings. He seemed significantly more relaxed than he had been in the office, weight on one leg, shoulders hunched, hands shoved into the pockets of his flak vest.
"Alright sensei, what's this test involve?" Fugaku tilted his head at Heiko's question, as if it was a difficult maths problem. Then he smiled, and Takanome felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
"How about something easy… Let's say, get my hands out of my pockets in the next 30 minutes."
Most genin would he dismiss something so seemingly trivial as beneath them but having seen just how big the gap between them and a jonin was, Team 3 knew better.
"Well come on, you don't have all day," Fugaku taunted, followed by an exaggerated yawn. With quick hand signal from Shodo, Team 3 leaped back into the tree line, using the rustling of the leaves to cover their conversation.
"We need a plan; this won't be as simple as he is making it out to be. This guy is in the bingo book as an A-rank." Shodo said, careful to keep her voice low.
"Then how are we supposed to force him to do anything? He could crush us in an instant," Heiko said, frustration creeping into her tone.
"Maybe that's the point? One can't always bulldoze their problems aside with raw strength." Takanome paused for a moment, ideas whirling within his head. He latched onto one, brought it to the forefront of his mind for examination.
"Sensei was injured recently right?"
"Well yeah, but so what?"
"Everyone has reflexes. If I shine a bright light in your eyes, you'll shield them, right? Especially if they have recently been injured and doubly if your normal fighting style likely revolves around them."
"And how does that… oh… that's not a bad idea."
"But it's the middle of the day! How are we going to make a light contrast bright enough to cancel out the sunlight?"
"My dearest Shodo, leave that to me."
Fugaku was ever so slightly puzzled. It had been a whole 10 minutes and Team 3 hadn't moved from their position in the trees. He was beginning to wonder if these kids were everything, they were cracked up to be. Then, as if spurred on by his thoughts, they scattered, and the onslaught began.
The first attack was a volley of arrows directed at him by Takanome. He weaved through the barrage, barely moving his feet, each projectile whistling past him and into the surrounding forest. He did however have to move when Takanome rushed him down, hands glowing with blue chakra.
The opening attack was a two fingered stab, aimed at his upper right arm, likely intended to cause a spasm. The strike hit only empty air, but Takanome was not deterred, continuing his assault, forcing Fugaku to keep dodging backwards. The Hyuga slowly grew bolder, leaving bigger and bigger openings, culminating in a flying leap with both hands outstretched.
This is definitely a trap. But let's throw them a bone.
Fugaku responded by ducking under Takanome, before instantly straightening his legs, slamming his shoulder into his exposed stomach. As Takanome went flying, he flung a kunai back at the Jonin, which transformed into Shodo with a puff of smoke.
In her hands she held a large piece of sealing paper, inscribed with what looked like a standard storage seal. Fugaku tensed, expecting a barrage of various weapons, but was instead greeted with a wall of icy water. He leaped to the side, resisting the urge to blast the liquid away with a wind jutsu for fear of harming Shodo.
Especially when he saw the distinct shape of a grinning Heiko burst out of the wall of water, both fists glowing with concentrated yang chakra. Fugaku's Sharingan activated almost automatically, crimson eyes ready to predict and counter the apparent lynchpin of their plan, when Heiko's grin grew even wider.
"Sorry sensei, I think this plan might be a bit too brilliant for you." Then, instead of striking Fugaku with her glowing hands, she instead clapped them together, unleashing an eruption of overwhelming radiance.
As the cry of "Yang release: Flashburst" filled his ears, Fugaku instinctively brought his hands up to protect his eyes, Sharingan already half deactivated but still blinded from the attack. Tsunade had been very insistent that he didn't expose them to anything that could damage them until he was cleared for active duty again. A grin split his face however, when he realised he had been played.
"Alright Team 3, you win," Still massaging his eyes with his hands. He was greeted with a trio of cheers, as the three genin clustered around him.
"Sorry sensei, did I hurt you?" Heiko's concern was genuine. Fugaku simply waved her off.
"I'm fine, but that was a good plan. Exploiting the fact that I had been injured recently and that I was likely to activate my Sharingan in response to a high-level attack." He drew his hands away from his face, and gave his new students a wide smile.
"Now then, why don't we learn something."