Chapter 1-14
I gazed down from the roof of the academy and watched the two academy students spar.
My frown becoming more and more pronounced.
Why was this so difficult?
As usual, I'm probably making this harder than it is, but this was fucking important, there were no second chances for something like this.
How do I make a cool and laidback entrance? Do I make my entrance under the assumption, that they will recognize me right away? Do I want to make sure, that they sense my badassness?
And how exactly did Kakashi make this shit look easy?
I heaved a sigh, a tentative plan was forming as I continued to watch their training fight.
Naruto fought a lot like me at his age, which was unsurprising given that he apparently took my guidance to heart. The very basics drilled into his fighting style all by himself, alone and probably for hours on end, until he reached not quite mastery but a healthy proficiency with it. It gave him a solid foundation, which he built on with speed, strength and endurance.
Kiba on the other hand, rather noticeably, got some hands-on guidance and tips from his sister as he utilized some hallmarks of their fighting style. He was light on his feet and swift in dodging Naruto's straightforward attacks. He seemed to know, that he couldn't quite keep up with Naruto in terms of physicality, but he more than made up for it with quick and vicious counterstrikes when Naruto lingered too long in close combat.
Straightening, I eyed the spot I was going to Shunshin to, stepped into motion and appeared just as they disengaged from a short close-combat exchange. Making sure to use enough smoke to mask my appearance I put one hand into my pocket and casually strolled into their field of view.
"Not too shabby." I commented with a smile and genuine admiration.
A heartbeat later and I struggled to hold my composer as I was assaulted by pure noise.
"DAIKI!" Both shouted in a mixture of elation and surprise as I gave a nonchalant wave in return.
"Yo, how's" I tried to greet them, but two leaps and my personal space was instantly violated, and I was frankly reminded of Hana's little puppies when I first met them.
It wasn't the most graceful retreat, but a flawless Shunshin a few feet back gave me some much-needed breathing space to get things rolling again.
"Alright, alright!" I held up both of my hands in a placating manner and watched them take a deep breath after their rapid-fire blabbering.
"Alright." I said one last time, all traces of being the coolest most badass ten-year-old in town all but forgotten.
"You are back!" Naruto shouted with glee and I couldn't help but smile in return.
"Yeah, now Hana can finally molest you." Kiba said while doing exaggerated kissing lips. Naruto just giggled while I stared dumbfounded at Kiba.
'Molest!? Where did…'
My train of thought was disrupted as Naruto stepped right in front of me, chest puffed out, doing some vaguely heroic pose.
"I bet you are plenty strong," Naruto started to say, trying and failing at a superior smirk. "As you should be as my rival for the seat of Hokage."
'Wait, what?' I stared at him, being at a loss. Unbeknownst to my brain fog Naruto carried on, Kiba with a big grin on his face obviously enjoying the show.
"But only the strongest will get the hat of the old man. So that's why I challenge you to a spar right here and right now!" He exclaimed full of bravado.
I blinked away the mental cobwebs and focused, this could be fun. Ninjutsu wasn't allowed on academy grounds and I wasn't too keen to smack around Naruto, so…
Yes…, yes, that would do nicely.
"Very well." I said and straightened from my slouch, pretending I was serious.
Turning on the spot I walked a few feet to give us some space. I heard Naruto get into a ready stance, practically vibrating with giddy anticipation and Kiba gave a loud whoop just as excited for some action.
My hidden smile growing just a tiny bit, as I went for a quick Tiger hand-seal and concentrated.
Satisfied, my hands left the seal, a tiny amount of chakra remained at the tip of my index finger and I turned around.
Instead of going for the Seal of Confrontation and lead by example, I lifted my chin, put on a smirk and gave the universal sign of 'come at me bro'.
To my utmost delight, I saw Naruto's mask of determination and focus instantly crack as he came at me with a war cry and a flying round-house kick.
I watched him come and waited, my smile never slipping. His foot was at an arm's-length when I stepped into action.
A 90° turn while sliding diagonally forward into a crouch let me slip underneath Naruto's extended left arm as he sailed through the spot I just vacated. I wasn't finished however as my left hand shot upwards and my finger gently tapped Naruto on the forehead.
'Temple of Nirvana Technique'
In one smooth motion my hand came back down, I did another 90° turn and rose to my full height again, which left my back to Naruto and my gaze on a wide-eyed Kiba.
I raised my eyebrow and gave him a flat stare as if to ask just what he expected.
Theatric aside, I listened intently as Naruto landed on his feet, gave a few big yawns and finally went to sleep on the ground. My sensing went one step further and confirmed his docile chakra. I had the very basics of the jutsu down pat, but not much else, that's why I was actually quite happy with my showing.
Patting myself on the back for that incredible show I put my hands back in my pockets, resumed my relaxed slouch and went to wake up Naruto.
"Yo, Kiba." I called over my shoulder and motioned him to follow me. "Your mom sent me to get you home for lunch."
"What..what the hell was that?" He shouted rooted on the spot.
I crouched down, tapped Naruto on the forehead again and leaned back. Not a second too soon as he instantly jumped up.
"What the hell was that?" He unknowingly echoed his buddy and shouted in my face.
I was too amused to care and gave an exaggerated shrug.
"Boys," I said and saw that they both waited with bated breath on whatever gem I had to share.
"I'm just awesome like that."
"Fine," Naruto said as he crossed his arms and gave me a determined stare. "You may hold the hat for a few years, but I WILL come and beat you and then I will be Hokage, you hear me!?" He finished by raising a fist in my direction as if daring me to mock his challenge.
"Kiba!" Naruto yelled.
"Yeah?" Kiba said as he joined us.
"After lunch we go back to training!" He stated, determination practically leaking from him, which was apparently infectious as Kiba gave him an excited fist-bump.
"You bet!"
Half an hour later we were finally on the home stretch towards the Inuzuka household. Naruto had happily described every single ramen variant currently on the menu at Ramen Ichiraku , which in turn lead to a friendly argument between the kids about what was the best and why, which didn't exactly help with my growing appetite.
Somewhat distracted by tasty images I saw Kiba suddenly stop in front of me. Unbidden he turned around and gave me a sly grin. I could only raise one eyebrow in question and watch him do his smacking kisses again when I was unceremoniously bowled over by something warm and soft.
Upon feeling two soft points exerting pressure on my shoulder and upper body instincts kicked in and I seamlessly slipped into the Replacement Technique with the Shadow Clone I formed a heartbeat before.
Feeling no need to wait for the Clone to disperse himself I canceled the technique and got the vague memory of exciting panting in my ears.
Luckily, I could hide my brief embarrassment at getting caught flat-footed when the exact same excited sounds reached my ears from right in front of me. What I could not hide however was my honest delight upon seeing a very familiar litter assaulting my legs and a certain someone land right in front of me.
We locked eyes and the easy smile we exchanged felt exactly right, no need for soap opera. She quickly launched herself at me and I was pleased to note, that I had managed to catch up quite a bit when my forehead reached just past her chin.
I stiffened somewhat when she hugged me tightly, my face pressed into the nook of her neck. Reflexively returning the hug I felt all sorts of things when I realized she let her chunin west unzipped. Trying to make this the least awkward as possible I gently padded her lower back, signaling that I was happy to see her, but wouldn't mind a bit of space between us. Thankfully getting the hint, she released her tight grip on me, but kept her hands on my shoulders, taking the chance to inspect me closely.
My hands left dangling at my sides awkwardly, unsure and reluctant to put them anywhere 'dangerous', I returned her gaze and eventually took a good look at her, too.
"You look great." I complimented with genuine affection in my voice, and I meant it. Her hair now tied in a ponytail, her face full and with a healthy tan, she was rocking the standard chunin outfit, and given her unzipped west I was more than certain she would grow into a very attractive young woman soon.
She looked like she wanted to respond, but was suddenly interrupted, by two very obnoxious boys.
"Are you done making out? I'm hungry." Kiba yelled from the sidelines.
"Yeah, get a room!" Not to be left out, Naruto helpfully backed up his buddy while barely containing his giggles.
I kept my eyes on Hana and saw with some humor, that she pursed her lips in obvious annoyance. Her heartfelt reunion, or what she hoped for, marred by two loud brats.
"I was collecting them for lunch for your mother," I murmured, getting her attention, and somewhat dispersing her ire. "We could eat at your place and then have the rest of the day for ourselves?" I half asked half suggested, not knowing if she had previous plans or commitments.
"Sounds good." She said, full smile back in place, and wrapped one arm over my shoulders. Steering me forwards to the Inuzuka household.
Feeling bloated for the first time in ages after a generous meal Hana and I had decided to take it slow in this summer heat and had headed for our usual spot at the stream near the cemetery.
Slightly dozing in the shades, to the sound of dogs playing and cooling themselves in the nearby water and the soft breathing of my friend next to me, I was more and more certain, that I had made the right choice.
We hadn't talked much yet, my previous 'job' wasn't exactly table talk and so I had been slightly grateful that Kiba and Naruto had taken it upon themselves to provide the entertainment.
They even had reenacted my little spar with Naruto, tap on the forehead included, which had gotten me a curious grin from Hana, which I only had shrugged at.
"So," I hesitated, a bit unsure of how to get things started, "your mom told me you're helping out at the hospital."
Hearing her shift, I glanced up in time to see her turn and finally rest her head on my stomach, using it as a headrest.
"Yeah, after my Sensei saw what I was already capable of he managed to book me a trainee position in the hospital. After lessons there and some tutoring with Hifumi I was officially made a medic-nin upon my graduation to chunin." She explained proudly and justifiably so.
My head resting against the tree behind me made it easy to look and watch for her reaction.
"You like it? I mean the work in the hospital." I asked, keeping an eye on her expression. She closed her eyes and gave me a noncommittal hum.
"It's alright, I guess." She eventually answered. I kept quiet and waited for her to gather her thoughts, which she did.
"I still want to work at my aunt's clinic, but there are only so many ninja animals and pets around, so I more or less need something to spend my remaining time on."
"What about those messenger birds?" I asked, curious, there must be a ton of them.
"Well, they are highly trained so they usually can avoid predators while out carrying a message, but if a bird does get injured outside 99 percent of the time it will end up dead shortly after. So not much healing to do there and the remaining care is provided by the messenger office itself." She helpfully answered.
"Huh." Was my eloquent reply.
"Given the situation, I'm stuck with patrol missions for the next few weeks and after that, I'm probably back at the hospital for the foreseeable future. At least the boys are getting some exercise outside the walls." She said and turned to me. "What about you?"
"I have a two weeks vacation period to get my stuff in order while they do some evaluations. Probably scratching their heads where to put me." I answered with a hint of a shrug.
"Do you have any preferences? Surely you are no ordinary genin." She shifted so she could look me straight in the eyes.
"It's difficult. In straight-up combat I can easily go against experienced chunin toe to toe and come out on top, but I lack field experience in basic stuff. For example, I have yet to do an escort mission." I stated, no hint of bragging in my voice.
"I may look like a normal genin, but putting me on a regular team would be….
Interlude
…an absolute waste." Shikaku Nara said to the tokubetsu jounin in front of him.
"Which is why we are considering him as an apprentice under your guidance."
"Why me? Given his file, he seems more inclined towards physical combat." She asked, not giving a hint if she was pleased or annoyed with the proposition.
"May I?" Shikaku simply asked and took the file in question from the young woman.
Unfolding it in front of him, he channeled a tiny amount of chakra into a spot next to the name of the genin in question and watched as a sizeable amount of text appeared further down.
That done, he pulled out a small second scroll and activated the seal in the middle. In the blink of an eye, a small pile of shinobi-ids appeared right on top.
"I guess, it would be prudent to go more in-depth with you considering what we are asking." Shikaku eventually said.
"Please." His counterpart agreed.
"These are 51 shinobi ids of very promising and highly skilled genin from the last chunin exam held in Tsuchigakure." He paused, feeling the need to make a point before he continued.
"All of them were killed by Daiki and his squad during the survival portion of the exam on behalf of a Root infiltration and extermination mission to weaken rival villages to cover the slump of shinobis we still experience due to the Kyuubi attack." He said matter-of-factly and watched her eyes widen the slightest bit.
"I don't want you to judge his character based on this mission. While the scale and, dare I say success, of the mission is on the upper scale, the idea of the mission itself isn't too uncommon. To be honest I think the remarkable part is the aftermath of the mission when the extraction team failed to appear due to the situation at home." Here he paused and gave the file back so she could read the details herself.
"He is immensely capable and mature for his age, but he's showing signs, that we are trying to keep a closer eye on since Itachi." He continued his own evaluation of Daiki, knowing that she was still listening while reading the file fully now.
"While good at it, he does seem to prefer his ninjutsu and quick solutions to handle his confrontations." She said, hinting at her previous question, why her?
"There are two reasons," he paused and shrugged, "or rather three reasons why you are considered."
"First, while not his preferred method, he has shown a remarkable proficiency. In an extremely short timeframe, he managed to learn the art itself and managed to reach a level to use it in a combat situation against another Root-trainee. Secondly, we would want you to put a focus on directly teaching him to a higher level and fill the gaps provided by a regular shinobi everyday life."
He paused and took a sip from his tea before he continued.
"When he isn't learning from you directly, he would be filling in for injured genin on missions, while you would take temporary command of the squad itself."
"Furthermore, we actively try to keep him from excessive combat. While he would no doubt finish such missions to our utmost satisfaction, I feel it would blunt him even further, which might cause serious harm in the long run. And last but not least we feel this apprenticeship would be a good final steppingstone before you go on to become a full-fledged jonin sensei with your own little brats."
"Depending on your reports and eventual opinion we would consider a delayed field promotion to chunin for him when the next batch of academy graduates will be ready to take on as a team for you."