Underneath the Underneath

By: FlameXFullmetal

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did then there would be a lot of changes that would be made.

A/N: Hey there I'm back! I wanted to try and get an update out for one of my other stories before I updated this one again and ran into writer's block. I got passed it though so here I am! I want to thank everyone for continuing to read this story. I am absolutely blown away by the number of people that like this story. Thank you. A few housekeeping things to do and then the chapter. First thing I want to do is thank everyone for trying to keep the language acceptable in the reviews. I still have one reviewer that is stuck on copy-n-paste but either than everything has been good. Second I apologize to anyone that found the last chapter not as good as the previous ones. Making it seem like I wasn't trying was not my intention. Anyway, I have one review that I need to reply to before we begin so let's go!

Cousland: While it is true that they may have seemed disrespectful towards Kakashi they were merely following his example for the introductions. Even Hinata. While they are supposed to be polite to him, he is supposed to be leading by example. He is also supposed to be leading his team not looking down on them, which is the impression I got from his team meeting in the anime. He demonstrated an unwillingness to get to know his team better or treat them with respect so they followed suit. While Hinata may not have done so in the anime or manga, she was not trying to be disrespectful, merely following the lead of her jonin and reading the cues of her team. Furthermore, in the anime, she was still a very shy girl who barely spoke above a whisper. In this story, she has already spent nearly a week with the ninetails who would not accept that timid behavior from her.

Kimiko was not trying to be an asshole merely trying to give him a wake-up call. It took the chunin exams and Orochimaru attacking Sasuke before he realized how far he had let himself go. I have no intention of letting it take that long. Furthermore, she was giving him a lesson in civility and respect. In the shinobi world being disrespectful to the wrong person can get you killed. So she was reminding him of that. I have no intention of magically making them a team either.

"hello" people (bijuu in human form) speaking

'hello' people (bijuu in human form) thinking/coded hand signals

"HELLO" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity yelling

"hello" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity talking

'hello' bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity thinking

hello jutsu

****************Fresh Start**************

It took Kakashi almost two weeks to heal even with the iryo-ninjutsu that the village possessed. Once he was released however another team meeting was called and the team met back on the training field. The group was quiet as they stared at each other. After nearly ten minutes of silence, Kakashi finally spoke up.

"It seems as if we had a rather rocky start. So let's start over. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like reading and relaxing. I dislike traitors, cowards, and sweets. My hobby is reading. My dream...I don't really have one at the moment." He said startling the group.

"Much better from the first one. It seems as if you had plenty of time to reflect." Kimiko stated causing the jonin to twitch. It was true though. When he had regained consciousness he had turned the encounter over in his mind repeatedly until he had come to the conclusion that the redhead had been trying to tell him something. Afterward, he replayed the team meeting and realized how he must have come off to the group and why they reacted the way that they had. Then there was the talk he had with the Sandaime which pretty much confirmed his theory. The genin had apparently been insulted by his approach to meeting them. Though they had a rather unique and violent way of showing it. The only thing that alluded him was the identity of the woman that fought on a level far higher than that of an ANBU.

"Yes well...I did have plenty of time to think." He replied.

"My name is Kimiko. I like training with Naruto and Hinata, taking naps and walking in the forest. I dislike seals, confined spaces, obtrusive perverts, and arrogance. My hobbies are taking naps and planting Naruto's face on the ground while training. I only have one dream but that I will not reveal until I trust you more." She introduced just as he had. They had truly been following his example before, hadn't they?

"Hyuga Hinata. I like cinnamon rolls, red bean paste, creating medicinal salves and flower pressing. I dislike the division in my clan, arrogance, the caged bird seal, and perverts. My hobbies are flower pressing, creating medicinal salves and spending time with my friends. My dream for the future is to discontinue the caged bird seal and reunite the clan as a true family." Kakashi nodded. She had a very challenging goal ahead of her. The clan would not allow any attempt to do away with what they saw as a necessary tradition. However, he felt that she would be able to succeed with the right support network.

"Uzumaki Naruto. I like pranking people, ramen, red bean soup and training with Hinata and Kimiko. I dislike traitors, cowards, perverts, and ignorance. My hobbies are training with Hinata and Kimiko and reading. My dream...well I wanted to be Hokage but I am not sure if that was my mask or if I still want to do that. I am going to have to think about it some more. I do want to see my parents in person and get to know them better as a family." He said with a huge smile. Kakashi nodded and then blinked at the last sentence. 'I thought that they were dead. What does he mean in person?'

"Alright I saw what the three of you were capable of already so I am going to skip the second test. I want to know what you think your weaknesses and strengths are."

"I am pretty sure that my lack of control is the only weakness I have but I haven't been challenged often so I wouldn't know if I have any others," Kimiko replied.

"Your temper." Naruto chirped making the vixen sweatdrop. She did have a rather nasty temper.

"And that I suppose."

"I see. Hinata?"

"My strengths are my control and herbal knowledge. I am getting much better in my taijutsu thanks to these two and my reserves aren't that bad anymore. I still have some confidence issues and not a very good handle on ninjutsu. I am having some difficulty with learning iryo jutsu though I really only have scrolls to learn from. I think the only other thing is my lack of knowledge on other forms of fighting and weaponry." Hinata said after a minute of contemplation.

"Very good. You seem to have a lot in common in regards to your jutsu repertoire as the rest of your clan. However, unlike them, you are willing to expand your knowledge." Kakashi mused.

"I am really, really bad at genjutsu. I can dispel them but not very well as it takes me a while to detect them. I am a decent sensor type and have a very advanced form of taijutsu. Despite this, I have yet to find a way to use my sensory abilities to improve my ability to sense genjutsu. My chakra reserves are astronomical but my control is still lacking. I have a massive repertoire of jutsu that I have mastered and a few that I know that I haven't mastered. I can be temperamental when I get frustrated and tend to irritate people unnecessarily. I have a high level of mastery with a variety of weapons and am still expanding on the ones that I can use." Naruto rattled off. The jonin blinked at the boy in surprise. He had not expected that from him. Every one of his strengths seemed to be attached to one of his weaknesses. Overall though he seemed to be well rounded.

"Very well then. Do the three of you know the tree climbing? Oh, you do? What about the water walking?" Their nods surprised him as he had not expected that from them. Humming he looked at the three and sighed. "Do you know your chakra natures? If so, how far have you gotten in mastering them?"

"I know mine is fire and I have perfect mastery over it," Kimiko said confidently. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the vixen but shrugged it off.

"I know that I have wind chakra but I haven't really tested it in a long time so I might have more. As for mastering it, I have the first step down but I don't have access to a waterfall normally so I can't go any farther." Naruto replied causing the jonin to lift an eyebrow.

"I haven't tested mine yet..." Hinata trailed off. Kimiko had said that she would be testing her types later that night so she hadn't learned what hers was yet. Somehow, though, knowing that Naruto and Kimiko had not only learned theirs but had already started/completely mastered them made her somewhat ashamed to be so far behind.

"I see. In that case, I want all three of you to test your types again anyway. While you may have perfected your control of fire you may have developed another affinity without knowing." Kakashi said pulling three sheets of litmus paper from his vest. As the three took them he watched intently to try and see if he couldn't get a clue as to Kimiko's true identity. He was so curious. As expected Kimiko's paper nearly vaporized with how fast it went up in flames and turned to ash.

"See just fire." She said.

"Not quite. There was a minor tear before it ignited. I think you are developing a wind nature as well." Kakashi countered making the nine tails blink in surprise.

'Must be from all the time you spent in Naruto. With your chakra being exposed to so much fire boosting elemental aligned chakra.' Minato mused in the fox's head. Kimiko had to agree as there was no other reason that she could come up with to explain it.

"Nice Kimi-chan!" Naruto cheered happily. Hinata's paper crinkled and then began to turn to ash. The reaction took even Kakashi by surprise as both natures were considered highly offensive and Hinata seemed more of the defensive type.

"Lightening and fire. Interesting combination. That makes three fire types and two lightning types on the team." Kakashi commented with genuine interest. Hinata just blushed and said nothing.

"Um Kakashi-sensei, is it possible for someone to have all five elemental types?" Naruto asked almost sheepishly. The jonin blinked at the odd question.

"As far as I know without certain kekkai genkai or continuous use of all of the chakra types no. Why do you ask Naruto?"

"I think my litmus paper was broken then." He replied. Another blink this one in confusion before Kakashi produced yet another sheet and handed it to the genin.

"Try again." There was no way that it could be a fluke if the reaction occurred twice. Just as before Naruto's paper ripped into four separate sections each one reacting differently. No one could hide their shock, not even Minato. It was impossible without the Rinnegan or continuously using the various natures as Kakashi had previously said.

"Well, then I suppose that I was mistaken and it can happen," Kakashi said the shock still evident. After a second he got a devious look on his face.

"Well since we got off on the wrong foot and we are starting over, we will spend the next week or so training together. Then we will start taking missions together." Kakashi informed the team.

"Do we have to take D-ranks?" Kimiko said making the jonin laugh.

"That is my decision. If I see that you will be able to handle yourself on higher missions right away and the four of us can work together at the end of the training then no. If I sense some lingering problems than yes." Kakashi confessed.

"Kakashi-sensei, I thought that the Sandaime was in charge of handing out the missions?" Hinata queried in confusion.

"While that is true I can recommend that we skip the lower ranked missions in order to better utilize your skills." The jonin informed the team. Nodding in understanding team eleven got to work.

A week and a half later...

Training for the team had been grueling. Despite the fact that Naruto and Kimiko were used to hard workouts, even the fox had to admit that when the jonin got serious he could wear even her out. Part of the problem was the form she was in, however. It had been so long since she had decided to take a human form that she had forgotten the limitations that they had. With most of her power still sealed inside of Naruto as well, she had severely underestimated her stamina. However, training with the jonin was doing wonders to recover her former strength. She had not expected to have lost so much strength upon leaving the seal. Well, she supposed that was to be expected after a hundred years of confinement and being torn in half. As the team met up on training field seven Kakashi looked over the genin with a bit of pride welling up. Despite their rough start they had managed to come to an understanding and over the last week had come together as a functioning team. Whether or not they could keep their synergy going was another story.

"Alright then. After the last week and a half, I have watched as your skills grew and I must say that I am very impressed with the rate at which you learn. As such I have decided that we will take a C-rank mission, to begin with. However, the team's performance on the mission will decide whether or not we can continue to skip the boring missions. Furthermore, should a C-rank not be available at the moment we will be picking up a few D-ranks instead, understood?"

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei." Hinata and Naruto chorused. Kimiko merely groaned. She had no desire to do any C-rank missions or D-rank missions. However, she was aware that they were stepping stones needed in order to improve the level of genin. As such she would cooperate, for now. As the team headed towards the mission hall they couldn't help but notice the weird looks that they were getting, from everyone.

"Kakashi-sensei, why is everyone looking at us like that?" Hinata asked a little meekly.

"There has never been a team that has waited so long to begin missions before so they are curious as to why I haven't done this sooner. Don't worry they are just being nosy." Kakashi said with an eye smile. The rest of the trip was done in silence and as soon as they arrived they were greeted by the sight of team seven looking rather injured, annoyed and tired. After a few seconds, Kakashi chuckled and looked towards the other jonin.

"Tora?"

"Tora," Ebisu replied trying not to laugh. The attitude that two of his team members had, as well as their lack of teamwork, was making simple missions rather difficult. As a result, he hadn't even considered the notion of taking a higher rank mission.

"Sandaime-sama, team eleven reporting for their first mission," Kakashi told the older man before him. Hiruzen nodded. Despite knowing the challenges that team eleven faced he was surprised that it took this long for them to get a mission.

"I see. I was getting a little worried about the length of time that you were taking to come in." The man replied. Kakashi shrugged. He knew that many of the other shinobi were questioning his decision to wait so long. He really didn't care though.

"Your team must have needed a lot of work if you haven't even taken one mission yet." Kiba boasted despite his state. Naruto shrugged as he looked over the battered team before him.

"Your team still needs a lot of work if you can't handle a cat." Kimiko fired back. Kiba growled as he flinched. The cat must be a demon, of that he was sure. There was no way that a normal cat was that hostile or hard to catch.

"Now, now settle down." Kakashi admonished halfheartedly. "Sandaime-sama I would like to recommend that my team be allowed to take C-rank missions to start with on a trial basis. Should everything go smoothly on this mission I would like to make the recommendation permanent." The jonin said the elder shinobi making more than just a few jaws drop.

"Kakashi, considering the start that your team had are you sure that they are ready to skip the D-rank missions?" The Sandaime sputtered after finding his voice and regaining some composure.

"I understand that the team may not have had the best start and I recognize that the team may or may not be ready for such a level, however, I have spent the last week and a half with them for this very reason. They displayed higher than chunin level tactics, teamwork, skills and a willingness to cooperate in order to achieve their goal while not sacrificing anyone during the team test. I think that if given the opportunity they may surprise even you." Kakashi explained. The room was left in an awkward silence as the Hokage considered the jonin's words carefully. In all honesty, he wasn't comfortable sending Naruto out on any missions yet especially since the stability of the new link between him and the Kyuubi had yet to be fully tested. He was worried that something would happen that would cause even further damage. At the same time, he knew that leaving the Kyuubi in the village and boring her would only cause more problems than it was worth.

"I believe that considering what the outcome of the test was I will allow you to test them on a C-rank mission. However, if their performance is not satisfactory then they will return to basic genin duties and lose their permission to do higher ranked missions for some time." Sarutobi finally said. Nodding in agreement Kakashi knew that he was probably causing Ebisu some problems with Kiba and Sasuke but in all honesty, he didn't care. He had, in his opinion, found the perfect team and he was fully intent on bringing out all of their potentials.

"Any preference in the type of mission?"

"Preferably something that will allow me to test them properly. Bandit elimination would be acceptable." Kakashi replied. Nearby Ebisu and several other shinobi blanched at the suggestion. Team eleven had been out of the academy for less than a month and yet he was already sending them to their first kills. More so he intended for it to be their first mission.

"Well, we just happen to have one available. Just be careful it is near the Kumo border." Hiruzen cautioned the silver-haired man. Taking the scroll from the leader Kakashi read it quickly and nodded.

"Pack your gear for at minimum two weeks and make sure to bring a few extra weapons. While it is highly unlikely, we may be confronted by shinobi. While I doubt that they would come so far into Hi no Kuni considering the state of our relationship there is always a possibility. We will meet at the gate and leave in one hour." He commanded. His genin nodded as they left the room to gather their supplies.

"I'll take my leave then Hokage-sama," Kakashi said and then vanished in a poof of smoke. As soon as he was gone Hiruzen could tell that he was going to get a headache. There was no way that he wasn't going to be bombarded with questions.

Entering the Hyuga estate always made Hinata somewhat depressed. The division caused the compound to fell more like a prison than a home. As a result, she had found herself spending more time away from the building lately. The training sessions with Naruto and Kimiko were a blessing in disguise as it allowed her to spend most of the day away from home. Gathering her pack quickly she headed to her father's study. Knocking lightly on the door she waited for her father to grant her permission before entering.

"Tou-san, Kakashi-sensei is taking us on a C-rank mission to deal with some bandits and I will be gone for at least two weeks." She informed the stern man quietly. Normally Hiashi would not have reacted however, he was well aware that his daughter's team had yet to take a single mission and starting off on a C-rank let alone a bandit elimination mission was quite reckless.

"Any particular reason he decided to start off in such a manner?"

"He said that he was confident that we could deal with it. He also said that he didn't feel like wasting the team's talent on D-ranks if he could help it." She whispered. For some reason, she never could raise her voice any higher than a whisper with her father no matter how much she tried.

"I see. Try not to disappoint the clan and hold your team back." He said without turning. Hinata nodded biting her lip and quickly left the room sliding the rice paper door shut behind her. Turning to move down the hall she nearly ran into her cousin, Neji.

"Gomen, Neji-nii." She whispered before darting around him. Glaring at her retreating figure he continued down the hallway without a word. There was no way that her jonin would be taking her on a mission outside of the village so soon. Surely she was heading to a survival exercise with her team. Either way, it didn't matter to him as she would always be a failure.

It didn't take long for Naruto and Kimiko reached the Uzumaki estate and begin packing their belongings. It was done mostly in silence as the blonde considered the mission that they had been assigned. There was no way to interpret the word "elimination" in any way to mean anything either than "kill". While he knew that he would be required to do so in the future in order to revive his parents he had not expected it to happen so soon. His stomach was in knots and he didn't know if he would be capable of taking someone's life so soon.

'Naruto, calm yourself. There is a reason that genin are assigned to these missions. It is to prepare you for the future. It would have happened eventually and it is best to get it out of the way quickly in case the need arises further down the line. This way you are not taken off guard by it.' Minato informed his son. He knew that the words would have little effect but he honestly did not know what else to do. Mentally he made a note to knock Kakashi into the ground once he was brought back into the real world. Even he thought that it was too soon for this kind of mission.

'I know dad but it is nerve wrecking to think that I will be killing someone so soon. I don't know if I can.' Naruto admitted. He always knew that as a shinobi he would eventually be required to kill but he had always hoped that he wouldn't have to for a long while.

'Naru-chan, if you don't you could be endangering the lives of your comrades. Keep that in mind during the fight. Also, try to remember that the bandits have caused much harm and maybe even death to many people before you get to them. It will ease some of the hesitations.' His mother soothed. Naruto nodded to himself and then cursed looking around.

"Kimi-chan, do you know where my katana is?" he called out to his lifetime companion.

"It should be next to your kunai and shuriken." She called back. Glancing around where his aforementioned weapons were he groaned and began searching behind the stand and under it as well. Shrugging he picked up his pack and grabbed his sickle instead. Despite that, he felt off without the katana he had been training with for the last three years. The same katana that his mother used when she was a genin. Nodding to himself, and shaking his head clear of the distractions, he headed out of the room and down the hall vowing to find the blade later. He knew that it was still in the house as no one but Hinata could get in without their consent. The door closing behind him left a hollow sound that reflected his inner thoughts and feelings.

************T.B.C.**************

A/N: I'm back! Sorry I have been off long for a few weeks. However, I am back now. I hope that this makes up for the last chapter as some people didn't like it. I also hope that this clears up some of the confusion behind Hinata's behavior in the last chapter. Anyway, I will see all of you in the next chapter! Ja ne!