Hello everyone, sorry for the long wait on the next chapter. Writer's block hit me hard, but I've now got a better idea for where I want this story to go so it shouldn't be an issue any more. That being said I've been thinking about what other pairings to add to the story. At the moment I am thinking Sakura x Ino and Gai x Kakashi with each being sort of background ships. If there are any pairings you want to see let me know and I might add them to the story.
Now as far as plot goes I've finally decided to just not follow the shippuden plot, up until then though I will try to follow cannon to a degree (just with my own twists). Some elements of Shippuden will remain like the akatsuki will be there but probably debuffed quite a bit since some of their members never made since to me in terms of canon power seen up til then (i.e. Hidan and Kakuzu).
The next morning the newly formed team eight waited at the entrance of training ground eight. Naruto managed to be there early, a surprising feat considering his habit of oversleeping. It was right at seven that Kurenai appeared in a puff of smoke. "Good morning team! I am glad to see you are all on time, certain shinobi can't seem to be bothered." Kurenai said with a look towards training ground seven.
"Good morning sensei." The three genin hopefuls replied.
"Right, so before you all can call yourselves genin you need to pass my test. To put it simply this team was originally planned as a tracking and recon unit but I don't want to over specialize you three. So your test today is to track me down then try and capture me. So with that begin." Kurenai said before dissolving into flower petals.
The three teammates stood staring at the flower petals for a brief moment before looking at one another. "So, uh, how should we go about this?" Naruto asked looking towards Shino and Hinata. Hinata activated her byakugan before she said, "I-i can't see her, she is already over fifty meters away from us."
"It seems it would be smartest to work together. Why, because we are each effective at different ranges. I can send out tracking kikaichu to search for sensei. I assume you, Naruto, have enhanced senses correct?" Getting a nod Shino continued, "Then you can attempt to locate her by her scent while Hinata checks the area with her byakugan. Is this an agreeable plan?" Shino finished, looking at his teammates expectantly.
"Sounds good to me!" Naruto replied. Hinata simply nodded.
Focusing on the smells around the training area Naruto looked around confused. Trying again he shook his head and stared at his teammates. "Uh you two smell different and I can't seem to pick up sensei's scent anywhere." Naruto finally said causing the other two to look confused, or with Shino his eyebrow briefly rose slightly.
"W-what do you mean, N-naruto?" Hinata asked slightly red in the face.
Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion for a second before understanding dawned on him. "We're in a genjutsu!" Naruto exclaimed, similar looks of understanding grew on the other two genin's faces. With a shared nod the three each exclaimed, "Kia!" and flared their chakra. The genjutsu was disrupted and the three saw Kurenai look at them with a smile.
"Good job, I thought it would take longer for you to see through the trick." Kurenai praised.
"Haha, it takes more than that to fool my nose!" Naruto said with a laugh before taking a fighting stance. Seeing this the other two quickly followed his example. Kurenai smirked before she too got into a stance.
Naruto was the first to make a noticable move, charging forward while unsealing his sword, a wakizashi. Kurenai was unfazed by the appearance of the sword and expertly parried with two kunai. She kicked him in the stomach, launching him backwards. She was then set on by Hinata, who had her byakugan blazing as she tried to land a juken strike on the jonin. Once again Kurenai blocked or parried each strike seemingly without effort.
Before she could force Hinata back she had to jump to avoid a swarm of kikaichu. While in the air she use the replacement jutsu to avoid a barrage of shuriken thrown by Shino. Before she could hide away in the trees she was set upon by twenty Narutos. She managed to pop five before the other two members of the team joined the fray.
"Alright, that's enough!" Kurenai called out, stopping the fight in its tracks. "You all did good, you showed good teamwork skills and your combat abilities are where I would expect them to be for fresh genin. You pass!"
"Yay! We're awesome, believe it!" Naruto yelled as he and his clones hugged his teammates and sensei. This of course was followed by a, "Eep!" and Hinata fainting, apparently three Narutos hugging her at the same time was too much.
After Hinata woke up and reigned in her blush that didn't seem to want to go away the newly minted genin and their jounin sensei went to a celebratory lunch. Naruto was nervous, unsure if the barbeque place they were going would even let him in. He hid it well though as he listened to his dad congratulate him for passing his test.
They arrived at the restaurant, Akimichi Barbeque, and much to Naruto's relief the hostess didn't even bat an eye at him. The team ate quietly, since both Hinata and Shino tended to be quiet people. The quiet was disrupted by, surprisingly, Hinata who asked, "N-naruto, yesterday y-you mentioned one of your likes was your dad. C-could you tell us about him? I-if its not t-to personal?"
"Sure thing! I met my dad when I was six, since then he has helped take care of me and helped me train. He even told me about my mom, Kushina Uzumaki!"
"Your mom is Kushina?" Kurenai asked suddenly, mentally berating herself for not seeing it earlier.
"Yep! Did you know her?" Naruto asked.
"Know her? You bet she did." Came the voice of Anko, Kurenai's face paled slightly.
"Really?" Naruto asked hopefully.
Anko sat down at their table, uninvited, grinned sadistically at Kurenai and said, "Yeah, she was her jounin sensei and Kurenai had the biggest crush on her. Everytime we met up as genin that's all she would talk about, how amazing your mom was."
"Of course my mom was amazing! How else could I be so great, believe it!" Naruto exclaimed. Kurenai was nearly Hinata levels of red in the face, her genin team did not need to know about her childhood crush! Hinata was watching everything, happy to both learn more about Naruto and her sensei and to not be the one blushing up a storm.
Shino watched everything with an emotionless expression, on the inside he was finding the new information worth remembering. Finally Anko was loving this, Kurenai rarely cut loose and maybe a bit of friendly teasing would help plus its really fun to tease her.
"H-how about to continue telling us about your dad, Naruto?" Kurenai suggested, sending a glare at Anko who just stuck her tongue out at her.
"Sure thing! Well let's see he is orange, which is like the best color. He is lazy, as lazy as Shikamaru! His name is Kurama and his fur is surprisingly soft." Naruto said missing the confused looks of everyone but Anko, who already knew about Kurama.
"Did you say fur?" Shino asked.
"Huh? Oh yeah! I always forget he is the kyuubi. But he's not a monster, he was mind controlled when attacked the village." Naruto said, quickly adding the last part.
"Um, what?" Hinata asked, her stutter gone in her confusion.
"Well that's kind of why I have these whiskers and why my hair has started to turn red. He was sealed inside my mom when she was pregnant so I was exposed to his chakra. Then on the night he attacked he was sealed in me by the fourth. I only met him when I was six because some guy hit me with a bottle and I passed out." Naruto explained.
"S-so that's the r-reason you changed so much over the years?" Hinata asked.
"Yep! Dad even says that as I get use to using his Chakra more and more I might start to take on more physical characteristics of his. Like growing tails or ears or even fur." Naruto said, "Though I might not, he's not sure."
"N-n-naruto w-with f-fox ears." Hinata stuttered out as she tried to desperately fight off the blush, mental images, and fainting that all threatened to overwhelm her. In the end she looked dazed with a far off look in her eyes and heavy blush.
"Good work Gaki, you've broken her." Anko said with a laugh, one that Kurenai couldn't help but share.
"Hinata! Are you ok?" Naruto asked jumping up from the table and kneeling by her side. As the various day breaks subsided Hinata was greeted by the sight of a concerned Naruto only a few inches from her face. She promptly fainted.
