Outskirts of Tazuna's Village, Wave Country, 3 days later
Tenten, Team 9 Genin
"Doton: Gansetsukon!" Even as the piece of shaped Earth shot up from her right, into her readied hand, Tenten couldn't help but grin as over a dozen Naruto clones shot from the surrounding undergrowth towards her.
The last week had been the most fun she had on a mission since becoming a Genin, even if it had been a grueling series of training exercises and survival games rather than a real mission. Her earlier jealousy about the closeness shown between Sakura and Naruto had, for the most part, dissipated during this time, and even Sasuke had shown to have a somewhat friendly side beneath his stand-offish composure.
A brace of kunai, thrown with pinpoint accuracy, took out two of the clones even as three others were forced to abort their attempted assault to dodge or block her weapons. Then the others were on her, though thankfully none of them were using Kubikiribocho or Naruto's new bow, kunai and hand axes flashing out in a chaotic but clearly planned manner.
Though as she twirled her new earthen staff in a manner that caught the most aggressive Naruto in the chest, Tenten was already showing why reach and skill were still important even in the face of the Narutos' impressive teamwork strategy.
"Nice try but too slow!" The clone burst into smoke even as she deflected the attacks of two others, leaping into the air acrobatically as a third tried to target her legs, paying for the attempt a moment later as she slammed one end of her staff into the back of his head to use as a lever point.
This lever point was utilised to its utmost a moment later as two small wind bullets tore towards her from the nearby treeline, one taking out a clone that had rather enthusiastically tried to chase her into the air. The two clones that had sent the jutsu died in turn even as she finished her flip in the air, her free hand throwing out kunai that materialised from the special gloves that Naruto had inscribed with seals for her.
Her chakra control wasn't quite good enough to unseal these kunai without having to think about it for a moment, which cost her as one of the Naruto clones still facing her body-tackled her to the ground even as she settled her feet.
"Got you now Tenten-chan!" Having seen Naruto quite literally bury Sasuke under his clones in a similar manner in another spar less than an hour ago, Tenten didn't even think twice about performing a replacement jutsu, switching with a large branch on the far side of the clearing as the other Naruto clones piled on.
Though just because Naruto had numbers on his side didn't mean she couldn't do a little planning of her own, the pile of orange coated ninja barely having time to realise the switch had been made before the branch exploded, courtesy of the exploding tag she had placed on it at the start of the exercise.
Admittedly, if she had been facing anyone but Naruto she would merely have pointed the tag out to Kakashi-sensei, who was watching over their impromptu exercise from a nearby tree. But Naruto insisted that he would be able to deal with anything they threw at him, and given he was Taijutsu sparring with Lee for an hour a day at least now and could still move afterwards, Tenten couldn't help but believe he had a point.
As the smoke cleared in the clearing she was standing in, Tenten knew that wasn't enough to put Naruto down, if he had been involved in that assault to begin with. Slamming her staff into the Earth once more, Tenten barely had time to draw the rest of her unsealed kunai from her pouch before the next wave of clones appeared, flinging a literal wave of kunai in her direction, though most of them wouldn't hit her if she stood still.
Using her own kunai to deal with the attacking clones, as well as any of the kunai that were going to land too close to her, though the dozen or so kunai now littering the clearing turned the space into a potential minefield for her.
"2 minutes left, you're going to have to try a little harder Naruto!" Kakashi-sensei's call echoed through the clearing despite the lazy way he said it, and Tenten leapt up onto the trunk of a nearby tree, using her chakra to perch on the top of one of the branches.
It had been Sakura that had first surprised Naruto into a straight out loss, using the Hiding like a Mole Technique after using explosive tags to deal with his clones, the younger girl had such a natural with Earth techniques she was rapidly becoming something of a scout and infiltration expert. But unfortunately Naruto had taken her win against him as a challenge, and Tenten wasn't going to try and break out of an enforced Earthen Imprisonment using pure strength like Lee had.
"That's cheating Tenten-chan!" Four Naruto's burst from the earth, one of them jumping in front of another to take the kunai she threw at his chest.
"Really?" Tenten scoffed as she sent a flurry of shuriken now at the remaining clones, as she wanted to save the last couple of kunai in her sealed glove for now.
"You want to bring up cheating? After the incident with the stink bomb you put in my weapons pouch the other day? Or the time you convinced Lee he'd broken your leg mid-match?" Naruto had clearly not understood how much she had taken umbrage with the stink bomb, as he cringed slightly before straightening up once more.
"Well, not really… But it did work to distract you." Even as the words registered, Tenten caught the glimpse of a shadow appearing on top of her own, though she didn't have time to react as the weight of her opponent was applied rather firmly to her upper back through the medium of two planted feet.
She was already turning even as she was slammed into the tree branch, only to freeze as she found a kunai about 3 inches from her eye… One of her kunai, as if this defeat wasn't insulting enough.
"Damn Naruto-kun… You wouldn't beat up a poor defenceless woman would you?" If you had spoken to Tenten before the List came out, there was no way her pride as a Kunoichi would have let her attempt to throw Naruto off this way.
Batting her eyes and allowing the rush of battle to force her to take deep breaths that emphasised certain factors? That was all the work of the Special Jounin that had been making the rounds of the teams, who had literally battered into her that everything was a tool to be used in combat, especially on boys like Naruto.
"Err…" To Naruto's credit, he seemed more confused at her change in personality rather than admiring her defenceless damsel act, though he didn't freeze like she had hoped.
"Winner Naruto, good tactics on both sides, though you forgot to keep an eye on the sky Tenten…" Kakashi stood at the bottom of the tree, singular eye smiling up at them as Naruto pushed himself up from where he had been pinning her down with the help of the two clones that had followed him down.
"Damn, thought I had a chance there for a minute, should have guessed the clone on the ground was too obvious. Can you help me pick up Naruto-kun?" Naruto nodded even as he reached down to offer her a hand up.
"Course Tenten-chan, though are you sure you're not mad about the spar? After Neji-teme's reaction…" Neji had actually survived to the end of the spar he had with Naruto yesterday, but the Hyuuga had clearly not taken the 'win' as a positive thing, not in the least because Naruto was younger than him.
"We're ninja Naruto, I'd prefer to lose a hundred spars against you rather than be cocky on a dangerous mission and get wounded or killed." It was probably because she had heard Naruto's stories, helped by the fact she had been involved in helping deal with the bodies removed from inside the Uzu mineworkings, but Tenten didn't feel jealous of her younger friend's seemingly overpowered skill set.
"Tenten-chan is right, little minion." Tenten couldn't help but giggle slightly as Naruto bristled and batted away Kakashi's hand as it tried to ruffle his hair, but the Jounin then turned as close to serious as Tenten had seen him act, speaking more quietly as Naruto straightened up.
"Age, clan status and rank should never be used as expectations, you should treat any ninja you meet on the battlefield as a lethal opponent to be subdued with minimal risk for you and your team. Arrogance has killed more ninja than any jutsu." There was clearly more than one story that Kakashi was thinking of there, but as he shook it off and looked down at the two of them, Tenten decided she didn't want to know the particulars.
She had seen Gai-sensei get that haunted look enough times to know that the stories of the 3rd Shinobi War were not for the faint of heart.
"Anyway, we best get back to Tazuna's house, we need to clean up before the big ceremony tonight." Tenten nodded as Naruto cheered excitedly, acting like a little kid at the start of his first big birthday party, but she supposed that she would be pretty excited given the occasion.
It wasn't often that you were celebrated for saving an entire Country after all…
!"£$%^&**()_+
Civilian Section, Konoha Main Library, 4:45 pm
Umi Kaitomi, Assistant Librarian & Clone Infiltrator.
"Thank you, have a nice day!" As she said goodbye to the last of the library's visitors, a rather adorable pair of four year old twins who seemed to be running their father absolutely ragged, Umi couldn't help but smile even as she picked up the picture books they left behind.
"Someone is rather happy after the chaotic day we've had today, thinking of that delinquent boyfriend of yours again?" Even the nasally tone of the senior librarian in charge, a middle aged woman on the plump side called Fumashira, did nothing to dampen her mood as she shook her head.
"No Fumashira-san, I was just thinking how peaceful things are and how much I am enjoying things in Konoha. It's much better than anything I imagined." The reminder of Umi's past caused Fumashira's critical gaze to lighten and her to sport a warm smile of her own, which worked to completely transform her appearance from dour librarian to doting family member.
"I'm glad that you and the children are fitting in so well dear, I can't imagine what you and the adorable tykes had to go through out there in the wilderness." Fumashira was one of those Konoha residents that considered anything beyond the walls, or the outskirts of Fire's Capital where she spent her holidays visiting family, as darkened and unmapped places in which the monsters of myth and fable awaited.
"Akko and Yuna are probably fitting in even better than I am, though making friends with Konohamaru and his little gang after being introduced to each other by Naruto probably helped." Fumashira's gaze hardened slightly at the mention of Naruto, like many civilians she didn't understand what the Fourth Hokage had done well enough to do anything but fear Umi's boyfriend.
"Well, while I still don't approve of the brat given all the pranking and general delinquency he's known for, I have to admit he's been nothing but a gentleman when you've brought him here. And seeing him try and not pass his bad habits to the kids…" Fumashira's gaze became somewhat unfocused and her smile returned slightly brighter, making Umi glad she had forced Naruto to come to the library with Akko and Yuna a few times before he headed off on his latest mission.
While he hadn't completely won Fumashira over, or any of the other Librarians bar herself, the fact they were seeing him in a setting where he was clearly out of his depth and on his best behaviour was clearly breaking down some of the pre-conceptions they had about him. That he usually had one or both of the twins climbing all over him as he read to them, and a shadow clone would sometimes appear out of the blue to one of them to beg for help with the correct pronunciation of a word before the real Uzumaki reached that section of the story, definitely helped burst the bubble of 'feared demon beast'.
"Uh-oh, Fumashira-senpai has got her 'adorable Akko-chan' face on again! I thought the brats were being watched over by that friend of yours Umi-chan?" The joking call of another of the librarians, a relatively young man in his mid twenties called Gashiro, broke Fumashira from her reminiscing, her unimpressed glare returning full force as she stepped past Umi with a speed that was always surprising given her size and civilian upbringing.
"At least Akko-chan likes me when Umi-chan brings them here, your little nephew has done you no favours there Gashiro-san, he's just as much of a disrespectful brat as you are!"
"That's not fair Fumashira-senpai…" Watching Gashiro deflate, like his soul was being forced from his body under the pressure of his shame, Umi couldn't help but giggle at the semi-organised competition that was occurring between the different Librarians.
Akko, with her confidence and assertiveness, was currently the favourite of easily two thirds of the staff, but Yuna was slowly gaining ground with her shy curiosity and intelligence. Head Librarian Xiang had been forced to put in place a limit of the two children visiting the library to two days a week, as it was causing something of a disruption to the work schedule otherwise.
The fact that Xiang had been found acting out a story book with rather extravagant gestures and accents, having been over twenty minutes late for a meeting, had nothing to do with that decision… obviously.
"Akko and Yuna are with Ayame-neechan and Teuchi-Jiji today, and despite my initial concerns about both stuffing their faces all day or just getting in the way, it seems that Akko is becoming Ayame-neechan's apprentice from the sounds of it. You are all more than welcome to come for a bowl if you wish to see them?" Certainly the two kids wouldn't mind another dose of being spoiled by the two librarians, and it would allow Umi-chan to relax a little with a bowl or two of heavenly goodness after a long day before settling down for the evening.
"I would love to Umi-chan!" And smiling Fumashira was back full force, the senior librarian almost shooing the two of them towards the Library's main entrance with her eagerness.
"Hello Umi-chan…" The shy voice from behind Umi, as she locked the main door was easily recognisable, and she turned with a large smile on her face.
"Hinata-chan! I didn't expect to see you here!" The Hyuuga heiress had become a valued friend over the last few weeks, despite her almost crippling shyness whenever Naruto was around.
"My team finished our mission for the day, and I thought with Naruto-kun away…" Hinata trailed off with a blush, pressing her fingers together in a manner she usually only used when she was around Naruto.
In fact, now that Umi thought about it, Hinata had been reacting like that around her more recently… Weird.
"You wanted to come keep me company? That's awesome Hinata-chan! Hope you don't mind Ramen, think Naruto-kun was onto the right idea, food of the Gods right there!" The blush intensified for a moment before Hinata nodded somewhat more firmly and her eyes met Umi's once more.
"Yes… Yes that was it. And I thought I would show Yuna some of the Calligraphy exercises we talked about last week, if you don't mind of course." Umi honestly didn't know why Hinata was asking, she was a role model for Yuna in a way that Umi couldn't really manage, given she wasn't really a girl and all.
"Sure, though I think if you two try and get me and Akko involved, I won't be responsible for what you unleash." Hinata gave one of her timid but heartfelt smiles as she remembered the 'additional study sessions' Konohamaru's tutor had tried to force on Konohamaru and by extension the twins in preparation for the new year at the Academy.
Ebisu's eyebrows were still growing back, and the mention of blue cheese still made him turn a little green. Officially, it had just been Akko and Konohamaru working together to prank him, and that was the story Umi would stick to regardless of the numerous allegations Ebisu had tried to throw in her direction.
"Akko and I dearie, have to make sure you're sentence structure is correct for the little ones to learn from." Umi scowled at the correction from Fumashira, but made a note of it even as she began to walk that little bit quicker down the street.
She could try and work out what was bugging her with Hinata-chan later, there wasn't any rush. Ramen was calling, and she wasn't going to let anything get in her way!
!"£$%^&*()_+
Hokage Tower, 1 Day later
Anko Mitarashi, Special Jounin and Assistant Remedial Instructor
"The CSATT team is 75% finished testing the selected group of Chuunin, and while there are still areas which we will be improving, the overall process was well received by both examiners and applicants." Anko wasn't normally one for Council meetings, in fact she wasn't really a meetings person all together.
But the last two of these meetings she had attended had lead to her being given permission to torture a bunch of brats and call it training! Even better, some of them weren't complete cry-babies and had actually asked for more.
"And how many of the group would you say are probationary status or worse so far?" The Hokage asked with a sort of determined weariness that came with someone expecting bad news and just wanting to get it over with.
"Less than expected, about 20% are probationary level in key areas, but nearly all of the applicants are within acceptable parameters of ninjutsu and basic combat skills. This is much better than we originally projected, so I have instructed the level of testing to be increased for the official roll out of the system." Anko couldn't help but quietly snort in amusement at Nami-chan's clear confusion and shame at the seeming 'failure' of her new department's projections, while the young woman was dealing with her new responsibilities well enough, she was very clearly missing the reason her expectations were off the mark.
"You have something to add, Special Jounin?" Anbu Commander Tora's voice cut across the quiet muttering of the other Council members, the ANBU mask meaning that she could only judge his mood from his tone and eyes.
The two did not paint a picture of someone in a good mood, and despite her penchant for upsetting authority figures, the shadowy figure in charge of the village's Black Ops was one of the few she didn't want to be on the bad side of.
"I think you are overthinking the capability of the average Chuunin Nami-chan, and underestimating the speed of the Konoha rumour mill." As the eyes of at least half the Council turned in her direction, showing that she had spoken louder than she thought, even as Nami turned and looked at her with a look similar to a child being told that cotton candy wasn't something they could have every meal.
"I do not see the connection between the two, could you please elaborate your reasoning?" Not confusion as such, more of a logical disconnect leading to disbelief.
"Don't worry about it, let's just say I have far more experience with it than most people." And if her cocky smirk faltered slightly at the mention of her past, then no one was stupid enough to point it out.
"Anyway, you have to remember that you did all this testing with those Genin brats first. And as far as the rumours go, what you did with the ANBU has been blown completely out of proportion. They are saying you unleashed a demon on them, and some of those rumours aren't even just unsubtle hate boners for the Uzumaki-gaki, and close to accurate as well …" Seeing at least one of the civilian Council wince at the mention of the rumours, Anko mentally added a 'polite conversation about secrecy' to the next bi-annual review the T&I department had with each member of the Council.
Last thing they needed was actual secrets leaking into the village rumour mill, because a bunch of civvies couldn't keep from boasting of their knowledge and influence, especially as they didn't have any real training in resisting seduction and other infiltrator techniques.
"All these rumours point to one thing, that there is a major shake up coming at every level of Konoha's military, and that Hokage-sama is spitting fire at anyone and everyone who is found to have let themselves become lazy shits. That's a hell of a motivation to push themselves to get in better physical shape, even if they haven't realised they will be being tested on the theoretical stuff as well." And given that at least half a dozen ANBU members had been 'demoted' back to the normal ninja forces, in a manner that while not public wasn't exactly subtle, it didn't take a genius prodigy to see what was coming in the next few months.
"Which means that every spy and informant in the village is probably feeding back messages that our internal security is at the weakest it's been in years. Especially if they know anything about the investigation being carried out in our own ranks…" The Hokage spoke with a tired tone that his detractors said showed he was no longer fit to hold the hallowed position, not that any of them dared bring it up in his presence or those of his closest allies.
The look he sent Anko's way was a clear sign for her to talk about the other task she had been tasked with over the last few months.
"We've found three moles, two unwitting dupes who were being plugged for information by their partners and a sleeper agent inside the T&I department, each of which should have been caught in the regular sweeps we perform. This means we are now checking the ANBU forces that serve as our check and balance, as it's clear there is at least one agent in place there for us to have missed so many black marks among us." It wasn't exactly good news, but it was a sign that she had done her duty and catching people was proof that they were onto something.
"Good, I will have Ibiki look into it further when he has finished preparing for the Chuunin Exams. Will you need time away from your new position to finish your part Special Jounin?" The Hokage had perked up at this news, though his words made it clear she wasn't going to be leading the investigation any further, for now at least.
Taking a moment to think about it, as Anko knew she would need to think through ways of making sure more of these Genin had a chance of surviving her test let alone passing it, she let her typical smirk flash across her face.
"No Hokage-sama, though I might do a couple of test runs, just to make sure there aren't any issues. I have just the brats in mind…"
A/N: Small Chapter I know, sorry about that. But at least it is progress! The main problem with this story is it is so long now I have to keep re-reading it myself to make sure I don't contradict myself or get confused with another story.
Still, Merry Christmas, I wonder which brats Anko is referring to here… XD
Drop me a review as always!
Defias out!