I~~~~I
Naruto hummed as she walked with her arms raised behind her head, the boys standing behind her watching her withy odd looks while she passively argued with their Sensei.
"It's not my fault you burned another training ground down. We don't have many forests left too. Tschusikage-Jiji will be angry with you."
Roshi growled and swiped at his irritating student, the girl ducking without changing pace, her humming not fazing once.
"He'll understand when I tell him why, Naruto. How does that brother of yours deal with you, anyways?" Roshi hissed at the girl, glaring at her through the corner of his vision. All around them were stalls, the team having decided to head toward Naruto's place to access the other Genin since she and Roshi had basically totaled the previous training ground.
Naruto stopped, turning sharply to Roshi while pointing accusingly at him while shouting, "S-Shut up! Deidera-Ni adores me! Besides, you just aren't a cool as he is, even if you aren't as obsessed with art."
Roshi raised a brow at the blonde, silent for the first time since the argument began. The look had Naruto's cheeks flushing, before she turned toward the others.
Yarui was smirking at them, looking back and forth between his sensei and the Kunoichi. Darui was sighing while Hesei had pointedly stopped listening long ago, turned toward the mountains surrounding the village.
"W-well…before we get to the training ground why don't you guys introduce yourselves?" Naruto offered, a mental counter in Roshi's head putting another mark in his favor. He earned himself a glare from Naru as he smiled in triumph, as though she knew what he was thinking.
Yarui raised his hand, leaning quite close to Naruto as he shouted, "I'll go!"
Darui shook his head with a smile at Yarui's antics, allowing the boy to continue speaking.
"I'm Oduriko Yarui. I'm fourteen, and I specialize in Taijutsu. My favorite food is sushi, and I like blue eyed blondes best! My hobby is painting, but I do enjoy gardening and cooking. I'm an only child, and I live with my mother."
Naruto tilted her head, blinking at the boy, before she grinned and gestured to Darui.
The Genin sighed but began speaking. "Ryutai Darui. I'm fourteen as well, and I specialize in weaponized combat. My favorite food is yakatori, and I don't have any other hobbies besides training. I have a little sister who is training to be a priestess, and I live with her and my parents."
Next was Hesei, who muttered softly before answering Naruto's look with, "Kopi Hesei Shisui. I prefer Shisui. I have an older brother and twin younger brothers. My favorite food is spiced dango, and I only train in Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and specialize in Kenjutsu. I live with my older brother with my younger siblings."
The three turned their gazes to the two others, garnering a rather frightening grin from Naruto.
"I'm Iwatoshi-Rida Hosha Naruto. I specialize in quite a few things, I don't have a specific type though I do like odd hair colors, my hobby you'd hate if you piss me off, a certain broth is my favorite food, and Deidera-Ni happens to be my Oni-San."
The boys blinked at the girl, their minds working double time. Each of them had a single thought running through their heads.
'She only told us what we already know.'
Roshi chuckled at his apprentice's introduction, calling over his shoulder at the Genin.
"I'm Roshi, I specialize in chakra techniques, my hobby involves fire and wood, I like Daifuku, my specialty isn't a secret, and I don't have family, but I happen to live with a student."
The three boys groaned at the vague answers, glancing to one another as they tried to figure out what had been told.
Shisui blinked, before he glanced sharply to Roshi. "Roshi of the Lava Style."
Shisui spoke up, drawing looks, before Naruto clapped and turned around, continuing to walk.
"Congrats, you got one of our hints."
With that the team continued onward.
I~~~~I
When the team arrived at Naruto's house they were rather surprised. The small home was enough for a growing family, though it currently housed only Roshi, Naruto, and her brother. The inside was decorated with dull greys and softer greens, the paint varied shades of blue.
Out back there was a training ground that had been worn down quite often, several indents in the ground showing where holes had been created on multiple occasions. A small shack was set up outside the fenced backyard, no doubt storing gardening supplies and other items necessary for training.
Naruto led them through the house to the training ground before she promptly left all of them alone with Roshi, stating she 'needed to make some dinner'.
That left the three Genin with the legendary Roshi of the Lava Style, renowned Jinchuuriki of the four tailed monkey.
"So I'm not going to be testing you per say. Really, I'm just going to come at you and you have to do the same in return but with everything you have. If you manage to complete your objective…good for you. If not…then I suppose Tschusikage-Sama will have to deal with your paperwork."
Roshi told the Genin plainly, his eyes darkening on them as his crossed arms slipped down to his sides and his feet shifted into his own stance.
The three shared looks, each of them nodding to one another before they turned toward Roshi with determined gazes.
Roshi smirked and pointed to his headband with his rather large thumb before he told them, "If you can get my Headband by the end of this then you're good to go."
Right after Roshi finished talking his smirk firmed and he attacked them all.
I~~~~I
Naruto could hear the sounds of battle rather close, though it seemed that Roshi had decided not to use his Lava Style since they were at their home.
She shook her head with a small sigh. She had no doubt the Three Genin wouldn't realize what Roshi was actually doing.
Of course, sooner or later, the fighting would stop.
One Roshi had stopped playing around with them in order to gauge their abilities, things would get serious.
Naruto could still remember how Roshi had done the same exercise with her when he wanted to see if he shoulder train her or not. Fear still had a habit of working its way up her spine when she recalled the horrendous amount of pressure that the nin could release.
The blonde had to stop and set down the glasses she had meant to fill with tea as she recalled Roshi's rather choking killer intent.
First there was the sudden stillness of everything around the intended target, followed by the crushing weight on their body that seemed to squeeze any energy from them. After collapsing there was only the irrational fear followed by the even more irrational urge to just die, to end it all and never feel that again.
A small shake wracked Naruto's body and she gasped softly when she finished recalling the horrid situation, her eyes opening to gaze out her kitchen window that showed the training ground.
All three boys were on their knees, though the one going by the name of Shisui seemed to still be able to glare up at Roshi.
Fear was important in a Shinobi, but knowing how to deal with it was even more important. The nights following Roshi's test had involved more nightmares that Naruto cared to admit. She had never wanted to feel like that ever again or have anyone close to her think what she had. The crippling fear was so similar to the night that her adopted father had died, the night that he had used such a weird technique to bring her closer to Deidera than she had thought possible.
Naruto calmly let out a heavy breath before she started to regulate her breathing. She clutched the countertop before her and quelled the thoughts that threatened to overtake her.
Roshi had helped her realize her fears and had even helped her in overcoming several. The Jinchuuriki had been there and pushed her further than even Deidera had. He had her believing in herself after everything had been screwed up in her life. Nothing would take away that belief, nothing would downplay the man's hard work.
Grabbing the cups Naruto filled them with cold water and set them on the tray situated next to her drying dishes. She then grabbed the handles and started to walk outside. The three would no doubt need something to refresh them after dealing with Roshi's power.
When she stepped outside she was greeted to the sight of Shisui checking on his teammates while Roshi stood with his arms crossed several feet away. There were a few weapons and messed up land patches around the area, telling the blonde that they had indeed fought before Roshi had dropped his real test.
Naruto, ducked down and set her tray of drinks beside the boys, reaching past Shisui to place a hand on the other boy's forehead. Yarui opened his eyes to stare at her as she then took a cup of water and carefully helped the shocked boy drink it. She had to pull him up into a sitting position, but soon enough he was okay.
When the blonde glanced toward her fellow light haired teen to the others she noticed how Shisui had done exactly what she had done to Darui and was now helping the boy take sips of his water.
"Pretty scary, huh?" Naruto commented when no one decided to break the silence, earning her several unamused glares.
The girl only smiled at them gently, rubbing the back of her head when her smile turned sheepish. She was used to the smirks or the curses that either of Deidera's still Genin teammates tended to give her when she tried to be the icebreaker. Roshi also liked to tease her about it, but the Jinchuuriki was strangely silent.
Behind her, Yarui managed a small chuckle.
"Scary doesn't cut it, Naruto-Chan…I haven't felt anything like that since…well anyways I'm pretty scared of Sensei now." Yarui offered, his eyes darkening slightly when he mentioned a previous experience, before they returned to their rather warm hazel coloring.
Shisui huffed from where he sat, drawing Naruto's attention to the raven as he glared at the ground.
The boy turned away from her and muttered under his breath. "If that's what death feels like-" The rest of the sentence was cut off when Roshi cleared his throat and caught their eyes. Every single Genin looked to their Sensei, the three boys holding a healthy bit of fear and respect for the Jonin.
Roshi grunted and began to explain exactly why he had put the three through that.
"On the field you'll have to deal with this. It's Killer Intent, or Chakra pushed through in order to display the darker emotions of a shinobi. When it comes down to it you must know how to deal with it or at the very least be prepared enough to avoid the effects. KI is also important because it introduces fear. Fear is mostly taken as a weakness in the shinobi world…but to me it is the best teaching element. Without fear there is overconfidence and a vain shinobi is a dead one. Nothing can save you from the consequences of underestimating an opponent. Fear shows you to look for certain signs, to be warry of anyone and everything. You all passed my little test…all because you did not try to play it off. You admitted to your fear and reacted. I have to say that I'm impressed by how well you handled my KI too. Naruto here passed out her first time."
Once Roshi had finished, Naruto garnered several looks. She shrugged at the incredulous stares her teammates gave her and instead stood up so she could walk to Roshi.
The girl grabbed another cup of water, the very last one, and handed it to the man. In return Roshi thanked her and gulped it down.
Naruto then turned to each of the Genin, taking in their stares and the hardening in their features. They were taking Roshi's words to heart, and that was very good.
"Don't forget that your fears empower you and also weaken you. You simply have to sort through them to figure out which ones do which and deal with them accordingly. Should you need help…well we are all a team and you know where Roshi-Sensei and I live so don't be afraid to stop by."
Naruto grinned widely at them and Roshi scoffed before he landed one of his large hands onto her head of blonde hair. He ruffled the locks rather playfully, earning himself a growl from the annoyed blonde.
Shisui, Yarui, and Darui all looked at one another before they sighed, the latter two gaining smiles while Shisui just stood with them to go join their Sensei and other Teammate.
I~~~~I
Oh geez you have no idea how long this one little chapter took. I had it going all over the darn place before I finally decided on this. Honestly it was mostly because of Fairy Tail. The battle Natsu had with Gildarts got me thinking and then Roshi's rather hard and stubborn attitude, one that kind of reminds me of the Gravity Mage, had me retyping until I got it to be like this. I'm pretty happy with it but I'll wait to see what you guys have to say. As for Konoha and the Genin Exam there…Should I make it so that Menma and Sasuke ditch Sakura or they barely manage to succeed? I'm having some trouble writing that out so I'd appreciate any feedback. One more thing. I was wondering if maybe I should stick to the original pairing or maybe not have one. It's kinda hard for me to fit love or anything close into this mess, so I'd like to know. Thanks for reading!
On a side note, I figured I'd mention the changing of names. I honestly don't see much problem with it, but I will make it transition better. The whole reason for the Hosha/Naruto and Hesei/Shisui transitions are either difference in character (Where Hosha is Naruto's more vulnerable side, the one that honestly is like a child to me) and the wish to be called something else (Because Shisui hates his given name of Hesei and I have friends that do this to some extent too). The whole Hosha thing is meant to distance the actual Female Naru character from the OCish person I turned her into. Of course I'm pushing more for a Canon Naruto with this Fic unlike my others with the cold/distant Naruto. All of it is just practice and I'm treating this fic as more of a project than anything else. Maybe once SAN has reached Shippuden or once I finally get sequel to TLJ up I'll be able to give you a bit more.
