A/N: It's finally done!
Hopefully there's still interest here.
…
[Konoha Ninja Academy, several days later]
Naruto sat at the desk, waiting with the rest of the graduating class for Iruka to arrive, with Taeko curled up on the desktop, an open leather badge holder in his hand. On the cover was an engraved brass badge depicting the four-point crest of the Hunter's Guild in front of a stylized flame, representing the Hi no Kuni branch. One fold held his hunting license in a transparent pocket, the other had a slitted board with two badges attached to it; one made of bronze with four embossed stars, the other was brass with two red stripes bordering a raised middle band.
When one looked at the differences in the way Shinobi and Hunters ranked their operatives, most praised the former for its flexibility. Everyone started off as a Genin, and becoming a Chūnin or Jōnin was often a simple matter of passing the requisite exam, but many promotions were also made by recommendations and referrals. In the case of more specialized careers such as Tokubetsu Jōnin or ANBU, candidates were often scouted out for certain desirable qualities before being recruited. While the requirements for being a Kage varied from village to village, becoming Hokage required the holder of the title to at least be one of the strongest shinobi in the village on top of being voted into office.
On the other hand, the Guild's ranking system was a totally different animal: only Wyverians could become Guild Masters, while Hunters of all races were divided into Low-, High-, and Master-ranks. Along with their badge holder and license, every rookie received a bronze badge with a single star designating them as Low-Rank Hunters that were just starting their career. Climbing the ladder was straightforward in that Hunters gained stars upon completing Guild missions more challenging than their own level; at five stars, Hunters were allowed to take on higher-rank missions for a chance at promotion to the next rank. There were also a number of badges that marked significant achievements and events in a Hunter's career, such as the valor badge Naruto was awarded for rescuing Hyūga Hanabi.
"What've you got there, Naruto-kun?" asked a voice next to Naruto, startling him out of his reverie. He turned to the right to see that Uchiha Natsuki had arrived, her older twin brother skulking around behind her as they both found their seat.
"I went up a level in the Guild," Naruto answered, pride evident in his voice as he showed his badge holder to the twins.
"That is good news," noted a feminine voice from above. Naruto looked up behind him to find Ashi and Kiba at their seats, "When did you get promoted?"
"Just yesterday, though I got my badge today," Naruto answered, beaming with pride, "Hunted a Rathian for it; it was harder than I thought, but mostly because it took a while for me to find her."
"Says the brute who regularly does such pointless things," Sasuke groused.
Natsuki caught her twin brother in a headlock, a forced smile on her face. "Like you can take one on yourself!"
Before Sasuke could respond, the doors slammed open as Ino and Sakura entered the classroom, beginning their usual routine of racing down the stairs towards Naruto's aisle in an attempt to fight for a seat next to Sasuke. As he thought about it, it was for this exact reason that the twins set themselves up next to him on a regular basis…to serve as a barrier against screaming Uchiha fangirls and fanboys. It was a mutual arrangement, as the two of them helped to discourage his more flaky fangirls from swarming around him.
Today however, it looked like Sakura was more than determined to speak to her crush, running down the aisle ahead of Ino. She reached around Naruto's shoulder with the intent of throwing him aside; in response, the Ryōshinobi sat up, positioned himself behind her, and pinned her to the desk with enough force to wake Taeko with a startled yowl. "What the hell are you doing, Naruto-baka?!" asked the pinkette, glaring hatefully at him as she struggled to get free.
"I should be asking you the same thing," Naruto countered, his mind more focused on dealing with Sakura than on the compromising position he had her in, "Instead of trying to throw me aside, would it kill you to ask nicely?"
"Let me go, barbarian! You're never going to stop me from seeing Sasuke-kun!"
Naruto sighed in exasperation. "Y'know what? I'm in a very generous mood after being promoted by the Guild, so I'm gonna give you two options; you can either settle down and sit next to me, or sit somewhere else before I get creative." He turned his attention to her opponent, who was watching him with morbid fascination as he manhandled her love-rival with impunity. "Hey Ino, did you wanna come talk to Sasuke?"
"Um, i-it can wait," Ino stammered, backing away slowly, "Congrats on your promotion by the way."
As Ino ran to sit with Shikamaru and Choji, Naruto turned his attention back to Sakura. "So what's it gonna be? The hard way or the easy way?"
Sakura huffed in frustration, her words bitten through clenched teeth. "Easy."
"There, now was that so hard?" Naruto asked, letting her go.
The pinkette never got a chance to retort, as the door to the auditorium opened. Iruka walked up to the podium with a clipboard under one arm, the other in a sling, and several bandages visible on his body. All things considered, the teacher had done well to survive his encounter with Mizuki with only those, plus plenty of battlescars to show for his efforts.
"All right class, settle down!" he called out, quickly silencing any discussion from the class.
"Now, I know you all have heard of what had happened on Grad Night," Iruka began, turning his attention to a particular cluster of students, "Some of you were even there to lend a hand." He turned to regard the rest of the graduating class. "The world is a big place, and we are only one part of the whole picture. Remember what I've taught you, lean on each other, and you will all go far; but most importantly, don't be like Mizuki and let greed and selfishness lead you to make bad choices. With all that out of the way, let's get to team assignments. First up is…"
Naruto reclined in his seat, waiting as Iruka called out the teams; up until this point, he'd been waiting with baited breath as students were chosen and assigned to their jōnin sensei. Teams One through Six were organized, some of them had come from non-Shinobi backgrounds but had the ability to actively use chakra, but most at least had Shinobi parents. "Team Seven is Haruno Sakura…"
At this, Naruto glanced over to see the girl in question, her heart racing and her hands in prayer. "Uchiha Sasuke…"
Sakura pumped her fist in celebration. "…and Uzumaki Naruto plus Taeko."
Just as suddenly as she'd celebrated, Sakura's shoulders slumped in dejection, looking in Naruto's direction with no small amount of disappointment. The Ryōshinobi in question raised his hands defensively. "Don't look at me, I'm not liking this setup any more than you are."
"Team Eight will be Hyūga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino."
Naruto looked up to see Hinata with a similarly dejected look on her face, though she was not as expressive about it as Sakura. In all fairness, he honestly didn't want to be on the same team as Sakura either…he had no idea why, but his encounters with the Haruno girl weren't exactly friendly. Most of the time she'd call him out for trying to apparently upstage Sasuke, like beating him without using the Academy-standard taijutsu style, or that one time he'd beat him in the obstacle course by a few seconds.
To her credit, Sakura never consciously went out of her way to antagonize him, Sasuke-fangirl-antics notwithstanding. On the rare occasion she was actively nice to him, it was usually after he'd finished a Guild mission that her parents had put out…to be sure, they were relatively easy, low-paying missions, but they still took him pretty deep into the Giant's Garden. Still, as much as he preferred the company of her parents (who were surprisingly very nice people) Naruto was fairly civil with Sakura…he didn't like her much, but he didn't hate her either.
"Team Nine is still in circulation, so Team Ten will be Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chōji, and Nara Shikamaru."
Glancing around at the girl in question, Naruto saw her pinch the bridge of her nose in frustration. He didn't see what the big deal was, when he'd heard that Shikamaru's, Chōji's, and her dad were all in the same team too. As it was, she'd likely have grown up with them too, so she was in good company…though given that she was a Sasuke fangirl, he could very easily believe that Ino was wishing that she was in Sakura's place.
"Team Eleven will be Uchiha Natsuki, Inuzuka Ashi and Himiko, and Kunimitsu Ageha."
Naruto looked up at the stands at the name mentioned. Ageha was dressed in a short-tailed cotton kimono with white butterflies fluttering against a sea of jet black, a pale pink obi adding to the contrast. She wore a set of flower-tipped chopsticks that held up pitch black hair in a bun behind her head, which coupled with her pale skin, slender frame, and reddish-brown eyes to give her the appearance of a nature spirit. Overall, she gave the impression of a butterfly that could easily fly through a storm with little trouble.
Outside of class however, Ageha was on the weirder side; most of the time, she was pretty chill to hang around, but there were more than a few incidents where affectionate cheek-pinching and the odd butt-slap was involved. Naruto had no idea whether it was to be expected of a rich girl, but he did know that there was no question about her competence when she was considered a runner-up for rookie of the year. From what he'd understood, the only thing that prevented her from beating out the Uchiha twins was her seemingly unremarkable taijutsu scores…though Naruto had a feeling that she didn't even need to beat her opponents up herself.
"And that's all the team assignments," Iruka announced, "I would recommend that you all sit at your assigned teams, then wait here for your jōnin sensei to come pick you up."
"Later, Naruto-kun," Ashi said, waving as she escorted Hinata away.
"Be nice," Natsuki reminded her brother, glaring lightly at him.
Naruto waved them off before reclining in his seat and letting Taeko curl up on his lap. As the four of them waited, the teams were collected by their respective sensei, leaving them alone in the auditorium. After nearly an hour, the door to the auditorium opened, allowing a grey-haired man through. He wore an indigo shirt and gray pants in addition to the green flak jacket of an active-duty Shinobi, the lower half of his face covered by a skin-tight mask just below his nose, and he wore his hitai-ate as an eyepatch over his left eye.
"Team Seven, right?" called out the shinobi.
"What kept you?" Naruto asked, sitting up to glare at the man.
"A granny crossing the street," answered the shinobi, "Now if you're done waiting, we're meeting up at the roof."
After the shinobi closed the door behind him, Naruto sighed in resignation, following his teammates and Palico up the stairs to the roof. It didn't take long for them to find their apparent sensei sitting on the guardrails as he waited for them.
"Have a seat," he invited, watching as his students sat in a circle around him, "Let's start with getting to know each other. Your likes, dislikes, dreams, and hobbies."
"Um, Sensei, why don't you start so that we can see how it goes?" Sakura replied.
"Fair enough," answered the leader, "My name is Hatake Kakashi. Likes and dislikes? I'm a pretty easy guy. Dreams? None of your business. Hobbies? Don't have one. But enough about me; why don't you tell me about yourself, pinkie?"
Doing as they were told, Naruto tuned out Sakura's description of herself to gently scratch Taeko behind the ear while sizing up their sensei as he inspected them all in return. His time among veteran Hunters had given him a good feel for people; it served him well when it came to Mizuki, and so far, his assessments were never wrong.
"Good, now it's your turn, broody," Kakashi said.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," answered the boy in question, "I don't have a lot of likes, and quite a few dislikes…namely a certain barbarian who keeps showing me up in our sparring matches." Sasuke glared at Naruto. "I don't have much in the way of hobbies beyond training and spending time with my twin sister. And as for dreams, I don't have any…just an ambition to be a much better Shinobi than my brother."
Kakashi nodded in approval. "Now for the team pet."
"Meowdy do! I am Taeko, Meowster Naruto's Palico. I really like my meowster's barbecue, and getting headpats; I really dislike those little dots that keep getting away, and Haruno Sakura for being a big meanie to me and Meowster. Being a Palico, I don't have much in the way of hobbies, but I do like to go on hunts with Meowster. My dream is to help Meowster Naruto be the best he can be."
At this, Naruto affectionately scratched his Palico behind the ear. "And that leaves our resident cat-lover."
Naruto turned to regard the veteran Shinobi. "The name's Uzumaki Naruto, Low-Rank Hunter. I'm starting to like ramen, but I really love a good barbecue with a hot cup of tea; I dislike the amount of time it takes to make ramen, well-done steaks, and ungrateful people that are mean to Hunters. Hobbies? Well, apart from a bit of gardening, I like taking up Guild missions when I get the time. My dream is to become Hokage, and to one day take on an Elder Dragon."
The second part of Naruto's dream had drawn every Shinobi's attention to him; it was Kakashi who spoke up first. "Big dreams."
"Yeah, for someone with a death wish!" Sakura snarked.
Sasuke was the only one that was silent, but the look in his eyes reflected the disbelief everyone felt. In all fairness, it was a well-earned disbelief; no Shinobi in their right mind would fight an Elder Dragon. They were rare creatures of such immeasurable power that they were capable of destroying the world. They came in different shapes and sizes, but all were able to at least alter their surrounding environment in one way or another, and were capable of wiping out a Shinobi Village with impunity if left unchecked, much like the Bijuu. Due to the dangers they posed, only High- and Master-Rank Hunters are allowed to take on quests to hunt these beasts.
"I've got a lot of hunts to do before I get there, but I will," Naruto acknowledged.
Kakashi nodded in agreement. "Very well then. Now that we're all well-acquainted, I think it's time to let you all off so you can get ready for the survival test."
"But we've already graduated," Sakura pointed out, "How come we need to do another survival test?"
Naruto could feel the smug grin under Kakashi's mask as he chuckled darkly. "The exams you've been given in the academy only serve to prove you have the potential…this one however, shows that you have what it takes to be a Shinobi. And I'll be frank, about 30% of all prospective graduates ever pass this part of the exam." Kakashi lowered himself from the guardrails, stretching his back before regarding his students. "Now if there's no other questions, meet me at the posts at Training Ground Seven tomorrow morning at 9 AM…and don't bother eating anything, you'll just throw it all up. Dismissed."
Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the genin team behind. With nothing else to do, Sasuke sat up and turned to leave. "Whatever. Don't hold me back, barbarian."
"Wait for me, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out, following her crush out the door.
"What're we gonna do now, Meowster?" Taeko asked.
"Nothing much to do except prep our gear," Naruto answered, "Though I think it's time we break in our new gear."
…
[Elsewhere]
All was silent as a pale, dark-haired woman in a lab coat sat at a desk, dainty fingers tipped with dark purple nail polish scribbling away at a notepad. She had a subtle hourglass figure with curves that were sure to turn heads, with a modest bust and well-defined hips complemented with slender arms and legs that hid a lot of power in her frame. Her facial features were smooth with high-cheekbones to give her a dignified appearance, and she saw the world through golden eyes that were framed at the corners with purple eyeshadow. She looked to be well into her mid- to late-thirties, and in prime physical condition; the streamlined, predatory curves of her body gave the impression of a white snake that had reincarnated as a human. For the sake of comfort in the cold room, she wore a sweater and a tight-fitting pair of pants under her lab coat.
The body she was studying was of a woman that her subordinates had killed a few days ago; the job itself was easy, especially since the woman was a Poacher with a fairly hefty price on her head. The problem was that in order to take the Guild's money, there needed to be proof of the kill, which added a tinge of difficulty to ensure that there was a body left to turn in. It was a testament to their skills that they had done such a good job of minimizing damage to the corpse, allowing her to more thoroughly examine the body with the enthusiasm of an art aficionado.
There was little that could disturb the woman as she continued her examination, even as she sensed a chakra signature from behind the sliding metal door. "The door is unlocked," she called out, as she scribbled enthusiastically on a page in a notebook.
She could hear the sound of the door opening, and the feeling of the guest's chakra sent ripples into the room. "Do we know how much the Guild is willing to pay for her, Kabuto-kun?"
"Our sources tell me that Venus Bianchi's price is 15,000 zenny," answered the guest, "I'm guessing she's committed a number of other crimes on top of her poaching."
"That's good," replied the woman, waving in Kabuto with her free hand, "Come, have a look, and tell me what you know about the human Hunters' anatomy."
"I honestly don't know what you want me to see, Otohime-sama," Kabuto replied, examining the corpse, "And quite frankly, there's nothing to say about them; they're brutes, inferior to a Shinobi in every way as Venus here has proven when the Sound Five have soundly defeated her."
Otohime grinned, turning to face the bespectacled visage of her apprentice, huffing in amusement. "I didn't have many opportunities to study a human Hunter's anatomy because they ritualistically cremate the bodies. Before today, I was barely able to get much more than a cursory glance…a preview if you will. In some ways, you are right in that they are inferior; but like so many other Shinobi, you only scratch the surface."
Kabuto said nothing, though Otohime could sense the curiosity in his expression and took it as her cue to continue her autopsy. "I will admit to the superiority of the Shinobi in that we are capable of using chakra to perform a wider variety of things. But take away our ability to refine what the Wycademy calls Bioenergy into chakra, and we are only superior to a normal human, and just as fragile.
"Compare that to the Hunter's anatomy, and you can see that there is far more to their bodies than just their strength and durability. In my studies, I have also found that they have an immune system so robust that they can survive many natural toxins; a drop of venom that could kill a hundred people could be neutralized just by taking a nap. I've also noted that they have a secondary circulatory system that I imagine allows them to passively use Bioenergy, enabling them to properly utilize their armor and weapons without a fuss. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, but what's even more amazing is the fact that these traits are passed down the generations with very little loss in quality, regardless of the parent."
Otohime glanced at Kabuto, a wicked grin on her delicate features. "Now, say a Hunter and a Shinobi were to get past the barriers separating them long enough to at least have a child together. Their progeny would get the myriad of inherited augmentations from their Hunter ancestry, along with the potential power from their Shinobi heritage's ability to mold and use chakra."
"Combine the two, and you could potentially have a race of demigods walking the world," Kabuto finished, "Truly the work of a virtuoso…the only thing stopping the rise of the Ryōshinobi is the rarity of Hunter-Shinobi couples."
"A frail obstacle, but an obstacle nonetheless," Otohime acknowledged, "Though with the number of Hunter-Shinobi couples and children on a gradual rise, it's only a matter of time before pure-strain Hunters and Shinobi are bred to oblivion. Such a beautiful thing too…a symphony that I've encountered once in Namikaze Minato, and by Kami, was he a magnificent specimen! Strength and jutsu all combined in one package, it was as if he himself were a demigod from stories of old; a shame that Shirohige cremated him before I could get even a sample of his genetic material at the source."
"So what are your plans for this?"
"For now, I study further on Venus's body," replied the scientist, "I'm only at the tip of the iceberg, and there's so much more to learn with respect to their augmentations…exactly how durable are their bodies? What can they do with the Bioenergy system? There's so many things to discover, and so little time before we have to turn in Venus's body to the Guild."
"Is there anything else?" asked the apprentice.
"Not at this time, Kabuto-kun."
"Then I'll leave you to it, Otohime-sama," Kabuto said, bowing respectfully before turning to leave. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he took a moment to think; a child with Namikaze Minato's cocktail of inherited traits potentially mixed in with Othime's…eccentricities was an image that sent shivers up his spine.
…
[Training Ground 7]
The perimeter of Training Ground 7 was quiet; Naruto was propped up against a thick post asleep, with Taeko curled up next to him. In preparation for whatever their sensei would throw at them, Naruto had changed from his tracksuit into a suit of custom-tailored armor made from Rathian parts and solid steel. Under a steel cuirass with a built-in gorget, he wore a long-tailed jacket of Rathian scales with overlapping Rathian plates that reinforced long sleeves tied securely to the back of his hands and protected his shoulders. He wore a pair of steel greaves over a pair of trousers that ballooned around his knees, and everything he needed was mounted on a belt, with his knife and hunting sword at his sides, and his satchel at the small of his back. Protecting his head was a reinforced steel cap with a small visor in front, and a short aventail of Rathian scales covered the back of his neck.
Taeko on the other hand, chose to forgo buying new armor in favor of a new one-handed weapon that was holstered at the small of her back. Its long, slender, double-edged blade was relatively dull, save for the sharp tip and the large thorns that branched from the strong, while an elegant knuckle bow curled around the junction where the hilt met the blade. By all accounts, the weapon was less a sword, and more an overgrown needle with a handle.
Upon catching a familiar scent in the air, Naruto nudged Taeko awake, the two of them stretching as they sat up to meet their teammates. As he let out a breath of relief from stretching away his drowsiness, Naruto was the first to speak. "About time you two got here!"
"Did you wait out here overnight?" Sakura asked, disbelief evident in her tone.
"Not our first time, nya," Taeko responded, pausing for a moment to yawn, "Did either of you see Kakashi on the way over?"
"We thought he'd be here," replied Sakura, "Didn't think you two would come here doing who knows what."
"We've been making preparations," Naruto responded simply, stretching his neck and shoulders.
"Think he's gonna make us wait?" Taeko asked.
Sasuke let out a terse 'hn.' "I wouldn't doubt it, the guy seemed more like a goofball than a real Jōnin."
"I really wouldn't count him out," Naruto cautioned, "I've been around enough veteran Hunters to get a good feel if someone's a faker or not…I might be wrong, but I think that there's more to him than meets the eye."
Sakura snorted. "Says the barbarian."
"At least I'm loaded for bear," Naruto retorted.
Huffing in frustration, Sasuke sat at one of the posts with Sakura following him. The three Genin and the resident Palico waited quietly for nearly an hour before Kakashi walked towards them without a care in the world, one hand in his pants pocket, while the other held onto a bag with two disposable bento boxes.
"What kept you?!" Sakura shrieked.
"I was helping a cat down the tree," replied the Jōnin, smiling in amusement.
"Liar!" Taeko fired back, "I'd have smelled a cat on you!"
Kakashi said nothing in favor of pulling a pair of bells from one of his pockets. "Anyway, to business; we're going to perform a survival test to see how well the four of you handle yourselves in the real world. The test itself is simple: whoever manages to take the bells from me by the time the alarm sounds off gets to celebrate their induction into the team with a bento box; anyone that fails to get a bell from me will be sent back to the academy."
"Judging by the fact that there's two bells and two bento, I'm guessing one of us is gonna fail by default?" Naruto deduced.
The Jōnin grinned in amusement, pulling a wind-up timer out from his other pocket. "You catch on fast, though it could potentially be two in your case." He turned his attention to the rest of his genin team, winding the timer before placing it on a pillar. "I would suggest that all of you come at me with the intent to kill, because your test begins NOW!"
As soon as Kakashi let go of the crank on the timer; the Genin team and Palico vanished into thin air as they ran for cover. Naruto stood high up on a leafy tree branch with Taeko beside him, watching through binoculars as Kakashi stacked the bento boxes atop the stumps. Even before he'd started going on his more serious hunts, he was taught to learn about his prey if he wanted to survive; when he evaluated the veteran on their initial meeting, Naruto felt the vibes of a particularly dangerous monster.
After finishing with his errand, Kakashi simply stood in place, though Naruto could feel as though he were being watched in turn. Still, he needed to perform recon if he intended to succeed at the mission.
"Why isn't he moving, nya?" Taeko asked.
"He's probably waiting for us to make the first move," Naruto answered, his attention still on Kakashi.
"Birdwatching…how quaint," said a voice right next to them, almost startling Naruto and Taeko off the branch. They turned to find Kakashi sitting on the branch beside them, a small orange book titled "Icha-Icha Paradise" open in one hand. In spite of the carefree attitude the Jōnin had, his instincts had told him that Kakashi was not the type to let scouts run away.
"How'd you get this close?" Naruto demanded, slowly inching his hand towards the grip of his knife.
"That's for me to know, and for you to never find out," Kakashi replied, not even bothering to regard the duo as he turned the page, "So, see any birds yet?"
Naruto drew his knife with a reverse-grip in an attempt to slash Kakashi in one go; the Jōnin drew his kunai to intercept just in time to finish turning the page, the hilts of their blades pressed against each other. As he tried to outmuscle Kakashi, Naruto could feel chakra flowing through the veteran's arm as he held up the deadlock with a modicum of effort. "Tantōjutsu," noted the Jōnin, his attention still on the book, "A step up from taijutsu for when you really mean business…a skill every Hunter picks up at a young age."
Naruto broke off from the deadlock, backpedaling away from Kakashi with enough room to let Taeko jump off his shoulder, landing on the opposite side of the Jōnin. Naruto charged back to re-engage, the grip on his knife changing sporadically as he attempted multiple slashes and stabs at his opponent, only for Kakashi to parry each attack with a modicum of effort on his part. At the same time, Taeko thrust her Rathian rapier at Kakashi, keeping in mind not to impale her master with it, only for her opponent to simply avoid every jab. Throughout the fight, the master-Palico duo wasted no opportunity: when one attack was parried or dodged, an opening was made for the other to strike and potentially make a grab for the bells.
"Looks like I'm going to have to get serious with you two," Kakashi sighed exasperatedly, pocketing his book after narrowly avoiding a thrust from Taeko, redirecting the next towards Naruto while knocking her off-balance. Naruto jumped off the branch, kicked off a nearby tree trunk and changed grips to continue with his assault, keeping Kakashi on the defensive with every slash. After finding a lull in the assault, Kakashi kicked Taeko away, leaving him alone with Naruto as the two of them continued their knife fight; the two of them traded blows, slashes, and stabs in an attempt to gain the advantage over each other in a dirty, vicious dance of death.
Seeing an opportunity, Naruto parried a stab to reach for the bells, only for Kakashi to knee him in the chest and elbow-drop him in the junction where his shoulder blades met the spine with enough force to send him crashing down on the branch. Before Kakashi could do anything Taeko leaped towards him from behind, yowling angrily with her sword ready to impale him; upon making contact, Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke, and in his place was a thick log. Unable to stop herself from falling, Naruto rolled off the branch after his Palico, catching her by a paw in midair before stabbing his knife into a nearby tree trunk to break their fall.
"Typical Ninjū partnership," Kakashi said, eyeing them from above, "Great teamwork, but put one at risk and the whole team can fall apart. See ya!"
After Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke, Naruto looked around and found a thick branch beneath them before tossing Taeko gently onto it; once the Palico had safely landed, he swung over to meet her while pulling his knife out. "That could've been better," he said dryly, helping Taeko to pull her sword out of the log.
"When I see him again, I'm gonna turn that broom-head into a scratching post," Taeko seethed.
"Get in line," Naruto snorted as he sheathed his knife, "But if we're gonna do that, we need to regroup, and…"
Naruto trailed off as a distant scream pierced the air. "Sounds like Sakura's in trouble," he noted, looking in the direction of the scream.
After Taeko climbed onto her master's back, Naruto sped through the treetops towards Sakura's position; upon arrival, they found Sakura on the ground, unconscious and pale as a sheet, but otherwise unharmed. As he continued to scan the area, Naruto huffed in exasperation; no signs of a struggle, and it looked like Kakashi was long-gone. "Looks like she was hit with a genjutsu," he groused, slinging Sakura over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.
"What are we gonna do meow?" Taeko asked.
"There's nothing to do except regroup," Naruto sighed, drawing his sword with his free hand, "Like it or not, we need the whole team on this."
As Naruto and Taeko resumed their search, they quickly heard the sounds of fighting nearby. Following the noise, there was no doubt in Naruto's mind that Sasuke was already fighting Kakashi…and from what he was hearing, his rival was not doing well. Their chase had come to an end when they found Kakashi in a clearing squatting in front of Sasuke, who was buried up to his neck in the ground. Without preamble, Naruto leaped out from the foliage, his sword moving down to bisect Kakashi with a heavy chop upon landing, only for his opponent to vanish in a puff of smoke upon contact. As the smoke cleared, Naruto was shocked upon seeing that instead of Kakashi, he'd split a log in two.
"He's behind you, idiot!" Sasuke shouted.
Before Naruto could turn to see what he meant, the timer rang, signalling the end of the test. "Saved by the bell," said Kakashi, his voice coming from behind, "If we were allowed to continue, it would've been very painful for you."
Naruto turned to see that Kakashi was squatting behind him, his hands clasped together with his middle and index fingers extended. "Once you're done freeing Sasuke, meet me at the stumps."
As Kakashi left the clearing, Naruto was startled from his assessment of the man by Sakura's terrified scream. Sighing in exasperation, he planted his sword in the ground before lowering her body. He had to get tools to dig Sasuke out.
…
[Ten minutes later]
Naruto watched as Kakashi stood before his gathered students, eyeing them all carefully. It took a good ten minutes for Naruto and Taeko to free Sasuke from his earthen prison; a task made easy due to always carrying a storage scroll with various tools, of which included shovels. There was no doubt in his mind that they'd failed; the timer sounded off before they could get a single bell off of him.
"Well, after careful deliberation, I've decided that none of you will be going back to the academy," he finally said, "You've all done so horribly that you don't even deserve to be sent back to the academy!"
At this, he turned to each of the students, focusing on Sakura first. "Sakura, you were supposed to be the genjutsu expert in your class, and yet you fell for the oldest genjutsu in the book."
The girl in question bowed her head in shame as he turned his attention to Naruto and Taeko. "You two barely did better; I will admit that recon is usually a very good idea, but being a Hunter, I'd have expected you to know when to run away with your intel instead of fighting it out with a superior opponent. I did enjoy our sparring match though, but you're still not up to par with some of the deadliest shinobi I know of; you would've done better if you'd used what you learned from the academy in tandem with your Hunter skills and your teamwork."
Naruto and Taeko did not respond as Kakashi regarded Sasuke. "You were there when I hit Sakura with my genjutsu, yet you did nothing to jump in and save her…if Naruto weren't preoccupied with transporting her, he probably would've been able to help you more effectively. This is on top of the fact that you made the same mistake Naruto and Taeko did and tried to take me on yourself; your grasp of your clan's signature jutsu is impressive, but you'll never make it to Itachi's level if this is the way you conduct yourself on missions."
Upon hearing Itachi's name uttered, Sasuke sat up only for Naruto to quickly grab him by the shoulder, forcing him to his knees with a sharp tug. "And where do you think you're going?" he demanded, "We already lost. So sit. Down."
Sasuke glared back at Naruto, struggling to get out of his grip, only to hiss silently in pain when Naruto tightened his grip. Finally relenting, Naruto then released him before turning his attention back to Kakashi. "I have something to show you all," said the Jōnin, looking past his team.
As he walked past them, Kakashi brought their attention towards an item behind the three genin; it was a short monument planted in the ground, a pair of stone incense-holders flanking a black granite slab shaped like the blade of a kunai stabbing out from the ground. Naruto was able to see words carved into the granite block, along with a bouquet and a pair of goggles placed in front of it like an offering; overall, the very presence of this thing filled him with an air of solemnity, as though he ought to show respect to it like he would any other grave.
"Hiyōsai has one like it, so I'm sure Naruto knows what this is," Kakashi explained, looking pensively at the stone kunai, "Carved on the face of this stone are the names of many heroes; Shinobi who served the village, all of them dead." He turned to regard his students with a stern expression in his eye. "The names on this stone gave their lives to ensure this village would survive, and if they were here to see how this team worked, they would've rolled in their graves."
The three genin and the Palico were solemnly silent as they made their peace with the names on the stone. The idea that they'd disrespected the dead with their performance filled each of them with a measure of shame.
"I'm not without mercy," Kakashi finally said, "I'm going to give you all one more chance…fail this test again, and I will follow through with banning you all from Shinobi duty. You have half an hour to enjoy the bento boxes I've brought along, except for Sakura; her performance in the test was the worst, and thus she doesn't deserve to have even a bite. Feed her, and you'll fail by default."
Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the four members of Team Seven all alone. "You smell him around, Taeko?" Naruto asked.
"Coast is clear, meowster."
"Good." Naruto reached over the stump and pulled a bento box over, and handed it to Sasuke, who accepted it reluctantly before doing the same for Sakura.
"What're you doing?" she asked.
"Letting you have the bento," he replied, "We're all gonna need our strength to take him on."
"What's the point if we're gonna fail the test for you doing this?" Sasuke queried.
"What's the point of fighting him if we're all too tired and hungry?" Naruto asked back, "You fought Kakashi yourself; you should know that we stand no chance against him by ourselves. What we need right now is for all of us to be at our best; once we're done, we can use the rest of the time to talk strategy."
"But what about you?" Sakura asked.
"You need it more than I do," Naruto replied earnestly, "Besides, I wasn't kidding about being loaded for bear; I always have a couple ration kits on hand for emergencies. Doesn't taste as good as a home-cooked meal, but at least it's more satisfying than a soldier pill."
There were no more words from Sakura as she gratefully accepted the bento box. No sooner than she'd touched it, Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke with utter fury in his eye. "You dare disobey me?!"
"I would, if it meant saving this team!" Naruto replied, slowly inching his hand towards his sword, an action Taeko mirrored.
"I don't even like the dunce and his cat, but he's right," Sasuke added, sitting up, "For better or worse, we're a team, so we have each other's backs."
"And I will be right there with them!" Sakura finished.
There was tension as the Genin and Palico held their ground, readying themselves for the possibility of having to fight the Jōnin again. Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Then in that case, you all pass."
The genin team flinched at the sudden declaration, looking at Kakashi with no shortage of disbelief in their eyes. "Was this part of your test?" Sasuke asked.
"The point of the bell test was never for you to get the bells," Kakashi explained, "It was to force you to work together as a team to get the job done."
"A team-building exercise?" Naruto suggested.
"Exactly," the Jōnin confirmed.
"So we're good?" Sakura asked.
"You are now officially a Shinobi team."
Naruto and Taeko pumped their fists in joy, the latter dancing around her master, while Sakura cheered from behind. Sasuke didn't react, instead taking the victory in stride. "In celebration of our formation as a team, I know just the place for me to treat us to dinner."
…
[Unknown Location]
All was silent as a woman sat on a throne of bones, her head propped up on one hand while the other rapped well-manicured fingers on the armrest in boredom. Skin once browned from the light of the sun had paled from years of internment, but did very little to mar the savage beauty of her streamlined, predatory curves. Her head was capped with long, fiery-orange hair, and her eyes were covered with black eye shadow, adding to her vulpine appearance. What little clothing she wore under her bone armor showed a slim, slightly muscular body emphasizing her legs, and an array of words from a dead language tattooed all over her body in black ink.
Nearby, she had a bone-tipped spear with a thick haft resting against her throne, its edges lined with fine serrations that would have torn the victim apart upon retrieval. She also had a bone sword and shield on hand, ready for situations in which the fight had come too close for comfort. Her weapons were overkill for human-sized targets, but were the bare minimum for fighting monsters that were practically immune to jutsu; creatures that needed a good, solid hit to have even a fighting chance against.
The woman sat and watched from her throne as Uzumaki Naruto celebrated the day's victory with his team over a tankard of fermented honey-tea, and Hunter-style barbecue from the Hunting Hall. There were a great many things she'd seen over the course of her life, but the visions of Uzumaki Naruto interested her the most. She'd watched him on his first few hunts, felt his exhilaration as he challenged beasts that were beyond his level; it made her remember the times she'd hunted herself in her youth.
Part of her wanted to simply kill him and free herself; the other part wanted to take him under her wing and watch as he accomplished his dream of slaying an Elder Dragon. Depending on how well he took to her mentorship, she could make him ready to answer the call to the kingdom that was destroyed in one cataclysmic night. She'd wanted to go herself…to disguise herself as a human, and smuggle herself away on an airship to meet the creature that had performed such a feat. But alas, she'd been sealed away before she could even make plans to leave this damned place.
In all honesty, teaching him seemed like a more interesting prospect; after all, how else was she going to get a chance to see the Scourge of Schrade?
…
A/N: This is where I end the chapter for now; after this, there will be more divergence from canon. It is also from this point on that I will play a new game with you: who can spot the reference?
Please read and review, would you kindly? And please give NorthSouthGorem and ravenking64 for giving this story a read and review.
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Vocabulary/Translations
Kunimitsu Ageha━Her surname Kunimitsu (州光) means "Light Province" or "State of Light," and Ageha is short for "agehachō" (アゲハチョウ) which means "Swallowtail Butterfly".
Bento━the typical Japanese lunch box, a single-serving box with compartments for different food items (i.e. one is for sushi/sashimi, another for wasabi and pickled radish, and one for teriyaki or yakitori), though there will usually be at least one compartment dedicated to rice or noodles.
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And like in "Hunter Effect" if you have a Hunter that you'd like to show up here, (if only as a cameo), here's the following info I'd like you to enter…
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Name:
Race: Human or Wyverian (They're the only races we see doing any active hunting)
Gender: No transgenders, please! I highly doubt MonHun-planet or Naruto-verse would have the technology or techniques to do so.
Sexual Identity: Gay? Straight? Bi? Omni?
Age:
Height: In centimeters (please make it believable)
Weight: In kilograms
Body Type: Slim, Muscular?
Skin Color:
Eye Color:
Hair Color:
Notable Features: Tattoos, scars, amputations, etc.
Personality:
History: Just a little of what they've done before going to the Shinobi Nations, like what was the biggest monster they killed, or where they come from. That, and what they've been doing while in the Shinobi Nations, and how long they've been there. And like in the body measurements, please make it believable.
Guild Branch: Don't tell me who the Guildmaster is, I want to know which Guild Branch in the Shinobi Nations they are active in: Hi no Kuni? Rai no Kuni?
Guild Status: Are they still active? If not, then what do they do now? Are they Guild Knights?
Handler: Do they answer to a Handler, a receptionist, or the Quest Board? If they answer to a Handler, give a brief description of them; name, gender, personality.
Hunter Rank: Are they Low- or High-ranked? Master-ranked perhaps?
Equipment: Just what weapon they normally use, and the armor they wear; yes, even the slinger is allowed
Knife: Describe the knife they carry (this is optional)
Companions: Just a short description of the companions they have available to them. Palicoes, Palamutes, Scoutflies, or Cohoots, and a name for any of them
Voiceover: Optional, but you can choose whichever Japanese or English voice-actor you'd like for their voice.