I Don't Own Naruto, Any Other Anime/Manga or Its Characters.
All Characters Appearing In This Work Are Fictitious. Any Resemblance To Real Persons, Living Or Dead Is Purely Coincidental.
A Gathering of Generals Part 1
A/N: Sorry for the long wait between chapters, unfortunately the real world has caught up with me and I got Busy with work. Not to mention my Naruto muse doing a henge Jutsu and transforming into a Harry Potter Muse. I would once again like to thank everyone for reviewing and Favourites and Follows to my story. Secondly I have posted two new stories One for DBGT and one for Harry Potter. Please read and review those as well and give those stories the love you have given this one. Thanks and regards Tigersage. Now on with the show.
2 days later In the Hokage's office
Not for the first time Tsunade cursed her job description. Over the years the job became less of leadership and more of paperwork and useless diplomatic meetings where the point of the meeting was to show each other who was the most influential and most important. Not to mention having to micromanage every single thing. Tsunade was being stretched to the limit.
Although thankfully she didn't have any diplomatic meetings to attend to, she still had to meet with the different branches of the shinobi Military, thankfully for the most part her job was made easy by her new councillors.
She had Kurenai taking care of the Shinobi Academy and allocating missions that had already been accepted and allocating them to the shinobi with the help of Iruka and Iwashi. She then had Yamato handling things and attending meetings with the Anbu, with the help of Anko and Ibiki. She had Kakashi handling village security, Kakashi then chose Genma and Raido as his subordinates. She then had Gai taking stock of the village's armoury and weapons along with raw materials such as steel, iron, food and grain etc. Gai recruited Izumo and Kotetsu as his subordinates and had them help him with his task.
She placed Shizune in charge of the shinobi hospitals with Sakura and Ino as her subordinates. Due to the high number of Shinobi casualties, Shizune had also reopened the Civilian hospital and drafted the civilian doctors and nurses as well, and put Hosho who was the head of Konoha's medical corps in charge of the civilian hospital and doctors, he then chose Migaki and Iyashi as his subordinates to help him. The civilian doctors and Nurses although few in number also helped the best they could by using traditional methods to diagnose and treat patients. A wing of the hospital had been cordoned off by the medics for those shinobi suffering from the after effects of poison other infectious venoms.
Also in the basement of this wing were housed the injured Inuzuka clan shinobi and their canine who were suffering from the after effects of their clan based jutsu, whereas some of the Inuzuka clan members were suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder, it was a common side effect that many shinobi were subject to, after all there is only so much violence and horror that a sane mind can take, and wars had a way of bringing out the instincts and traits of wild beasts within men, a trait that shinobi of the Inuzuka clan were already predisposed to.
As such they were more prone to the horrible side effects of war. Many of the Inuzuka having used their beast like techniques which not only transformed the body but also the mind into that of a wild beast, after being subjected to blood and violence for such a long time some of the Inuzuka shinobi and their canine partners had given into their base instincts of violence and anger, along with that came a lack of remorse, for it had taken 3 medics to be injured when they tried to restrain the Inuzuka shinobi to treat their wounds, before the wing containing the Inuzuka clan members was cordoned off.
Shizune had to personally request the den mother of the Inuzuka clan for assistance in helping cure her clansmen. Tsume had responded immediately and summoned for Izumi and Hana and explained them the situation. Addressing the two in a stern and commanding voice she said "alright you two Shizune-chan needs help treating some of our brethren!"
"Izumi and Hana I want both of you to prepare the medical room in the western wing of the clan grounds in case of any complications; I also want you girls to create a team of specialists from our clan to help you. Whatever clan resources you need will be at your disposal."
The two Jonin came to attention and said "Hai Tsume sama!" Tsume looked at Shizune with a serious expression and said "Shizune-chan I am lending you my two best medics, however I want your personal assurance and guarantee of two things; one: when treating my clansmen their team will be the ones in charge and I don't want any bullshit from your people about seniority or other such bullshit. My clan, my rules got it? My people are in charge no if or buts about it!"
"Second whatever techniques my people use will be treated as clan status classified and any knowledge learnt by you and your team will be kept strictly confidential!"
Shizune equally serious and speaking in the voice of a medic said "I assure you Tsume san your team will have the respect and resources they require." Tsume smiled satisfactorily and then looked at Izumi and said "You asked me for a chance to lead right Izumi?" "Well this is your chance, Izumi, Succeed and this will be the first step of many that you will take in ensuring that both I and the clan see you as their future leader and Den Mother if you are to wed my son, you must earn respect and trust from both the clan and myself, this is your chance, whether you sink or swim depends entirely on you."
Izumi looked at Tsume in surprise, shocked to hear such words coming from her mouth. Tsume smiled and said "Do not look so surprised Izumi Hana and I have nothing left to teach you, now close your mouth and get going before I change my mind." Izumi closed her mouth and bowed to her den mother and took her leave. Hana smiled as she turned to leave and said "wow mom, I am surprised you actually praised her, I thought you wanted to test her will some more?" Tsume barked a laugh and said "who knows maybe I am getting soft in my old age, or maybe I see a bit of myself within her. Who knows, keep an eye on her will you?" Tsume said as Hana nodded her head and left the room.
In the Hokage's office
Tsunade was sitting in the war room in yet another meeting, however unlike the other meetings, she did not have to set the tone and neither did she have to be formal. She could relax and speak freely. The reason being that she sat with her young Generals gathered around her; The Konoha 12. It had been 2 days since the gathering of leaders; following their discussions since then she had Naruto, Chouji and Kiba write up a report detailing only the skills and abilities of their respective genin, but later realised that she would only have more paperwork to deal with, even though she now had 5 shadow clones dealing with the paperwork. Despite Tsunade's age her mind and wit were still as sharp and organised as the medical instruments she used in surgery; even her great mind had difficulty in processing all the data and information. This left her with a splitting migraine and an empty bottle of saké.
She had thus taken to dispelling one shadow clone every 3 hours to spare her brain the torture of processing so much information. Tsunade came out of her musings and thoughts as the shinobi were shown into the room. For this meeting she had the room redone a little bit she had replaced the stiff straight back chairs with comfortable office chairs and had also had the walls covered with silencing seals, while the doors were being guarded by Anbu shinobi. She had invited the Konoha 12 to join her for lunch to discuss an important subject. A knock at the door interrupted Tsunade's thoughts. "Enter."
Tsunade silently watched as her shinobi entered the room and took their seats around the table. Once the Konoha 12 had been seated, Tsunade motioned to the Anbu guard in the corner. "Phoenix please ask the chef to serve lunch in 5 minutes." Phoenix nodded his head and said "Hai Godaime Sama."
When Phoenix left the room Shikamaru rocked in his chair and yawned, while Naruto put his feet on the table. "Akamaru left Kiba's side to join Tsunade who had called out to him. Tsunade absent mindedly stroked Akamaru's head as Naruto spoke up and said "am I to assume Baa-chan that you have called us here to discuss the Daimyo's decision and our Genin's futures or did you just call us all here to avoid having to do more paperwork?" Tsunade smiled at Naruto's perceptiveness. "A bit of both Naruto, and must you be so blunt all the time, I thought all the time you spent with Hinata would help you to control your tongue."
Shikamaru sighed and said "what a drag, forgive me Godaime-sama I am sure all of us have much more things to do than to fathom Naruto's lack of respect, although we all know he can be when he wants to, Shikamaru said with a smirk. Chouji spoke up and said "jokes aside, what help do you need from us Hokage –Sama, the abilities of our Genin are well documented in their respective files."
Tsunade sighed and said "yes, I am well aware of that but in light of recent conversations with the Daimyo and other Shinobi who have an interest in their future I have had to call this meeting, it also seems that much like yourselves were; they are not your typical genin, and are in need of some special guidance and training similar to what many of you received."
"I want to know what your opinions on this matter are, know this that despite the Decision the Daimyo has already made. Your opinions of these 9 Genin will dictate their futures, do you feel they are ready for the next level of training and responsibility, have you all taught them all you can, do you have any more knowledge to give them, what are their strengths and weaknesses, what can be done to help them realise their full potential?"
"These are all questions I need answered, and I will not get them from a file. They will eventually be the new leaders of this village and it is important especially for the village and for themselves that they are ready, especially since this will be the first genin team after the war to rise in ranks. Remember these 9 Genin will represent Konoha's Military Might after the War for the foreseeable future."
Lee spoke for the first time since the meeting had convened and said "I would think that once the rumours of what happened in Kumogakure have spread, the Shinobi world will know exactly how strongly the power of youth flows throughout our young genin." Naruto interrupted him and said "A battle is won by soldiers but the credit is always given to Generals and officers. Our Genin might have been instrumental in this war Lee but they will not receive much of the credit, the credit will fall upon the people within this room and the other Jonin and Chunin level Shinobi that participated in the war."
"Although a War is won by Generals and Officers. Might is measured by the soldiers you have trained, this is something the pervy Sage always liked to say to me, and that is why Baa-chan is so concerned about this situation." Tsunade nodded her head and said "precisely, Naruto you have hit the nail on the head." She turned towards the Konoha 12 and said "these are decisions I need to make today and they cannot be made without your help, now let's have some lunch before we discuss these matters." Tsunade said as the Anbu let the chef and his assistants in to serve them.
The shinobi all fell into a comfortable camaraderie as they attacked their food, and discussed other topics of importance.
30 Minutes Later
They had just finished their meal and were resting comfortably; When Tsunade broached the topic and finally brought the meeting to order. "All right enough chit-chat let's get this meeting under way. First order of business is the distribution of spoils of war; as I recall Kiba and Naruto, you both deposited items declared as spoils of war to Anbu HQ."
"After careful checking and examination; these items of war have been declared safe to use and free of any traps or Genjutsu, thus in accordance with Konoha Shinobi law, their ownership has now been passed to yourselves, you may do with them as you see fit." Tsunade said as she took two sealed scrolls from Shizune and passed the sealed scrolls to Kiba and Naruto respectively.
"Now as I said before this is a meeting about the 9 Genin and I will discuss each of them in detail, this is the Order it will go in. I will start by discussing team Chouji, then Team Kiba and finally Team Naruto. I want first a basic rundown of their current skills by their immediate supervisor, followed by the rest of you, any questions?" Everyone shook their head.
"Good then let's begin with: Genin Hirako Aburame Chouji you have the floor I am all ears. Tsunade said as she leaned back in her chair and motioned for Shizune to take notes if needed. Chouji nodded his head and said "very well, Hokage–sama." He then closed his eyes and leaned back his arm across Ino.
"Hirako Aburame is a very bright shinobi, but reserved and like his clansmen specialises in using his insects in battle. From what I have seen he is very proficient in his clan based ninjutsu, although I would recommend you speak to Shino about his exact level of skill. However with this skill alone he would be able to defeat a high level Chunin."
"Aside from that he has a keen interest for strategy and likes to comes up with plans of distraction that although might sound odd at first but work nonetheless, interestingly enough this is a skill he has not learnt from any of us but one for which he has a natural talent for. Aside from that he also has the best chakra control in my squad. He also seems to have a great talent for Herbology, i.e. the study of plants and algae; I must say it has come in quite handy sometimes. He was also trained by Tenten and Shikamaru as well in various other shinobi arts."
Tsunade nodded her head and looked at Tenten who bowed her head and sat up straight in her chair as she gave her report, "Godaime-sama it is true I taught Genin Aburame about many weapons, where he excells in shuriken jutsu, he has also mastered Kunai jutsu to a lesser extent. Although he uses these weapons in combination with his clan based ninjutsu he is sufficiently skilled in them that he would win a fight against any mid-level chunin. I am sure that with more practice he can truly master the art. Unfortunately however he shows no talent or interest in Fuuinjutsu." Tsunade nodded her head and looked at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru nodded his head and stifled a yawn "man what a drag, *sigh* Hirako Aburame let's see; like Chouji said the kids got a good head on his shoulders and unlike many kids his age actually thinks things through, I didn't really teach the kid much, I just taught him a couple of midlevel tactics and strategies. Mainly I taught the kid how to slack off and play Go. The tactics I mainly taught the kid were stall tactics or distraction tactics, since those seemed to be the ones he was most interested in anyway."
Tsunade raised her eyebrows a bit at Shikamaru's tone but simply nodded her head before speaking "what of his Taijutsu skills how do his taijutsu skills match up to his other abilities?" Lee answered this particular question.
"Hokage –sama Hirako Aburame is a very youthful student and has many abilities and skills that are very exceptional, but I am afraid taijutsu is not one of his strong suits, although that is not to say he has none to speak of, he is well versed in Taichi. The ability to use T'ai chi ch'uan as a form of self-defense in combat is the test of a student's understanding of the art. T'ai chi ch'uan is the study of change in response to outside forces, the study of yielding and "sticking" to an incoming attack and not attempting to meet it with opposing force. The use of T'ai chi ch'uan as a martial art is quite challenging and requires a great deal of training. This is itself is a testament to his skill. Although his skillis not that great, he is still formidable enough to go against even the above average Chunin" Lee finished.
Tsunade then looked at Shino and said "please tell me his abilities in his clan based jutsu?" Shino spoke "Hirako Aburame has great skill in his clan's jutsu but without getting into specifics I will say that Hirako's skills at this time are sufficient enough that were he not my clansman and the obvious Bias I would consider him a diamond in the rough and a candidate to join The Anbu, however as it seems my father has different plans for him, plans that my father has considered since speaking to Monkey King Enma." Tsunade looked surprised but nodded her head and said "very well, I will discuss that further with Shibi, when the time comes." Next is Kenshin Morino. Give me an update on his abilities and skills. Tsunade ordered.
Chouji again spoke first and said' not much to say the kid has a talent for Fuuinjutsu and Genjutsu. He has excellent chakra control, the kid is also a medic in training, Sakura and Ino can tell you more about that. Obviously Ibiki has taught much of what the kid knows.
The kid has a good strong Ninjutsu and Genjutsu base. The kid likes to watch old martial arts films and mainly uses strategies based on that. He is very skilled in hit and run tactics, his main style of tactics is to distract and wear down the enemy. However Kenshin's style of fighting is very simple incapacitate the enemy as soon as possible with as little effort as possible."
"One thing to keep in mind is that Kenshin is not only very bright but he has spent his childhood under the Tutelage of one of the most skilled and prominent Jonin within Konoha. As a result he learnt many things under him. Chouji chuckled and said "but that is not to say that I didn't teach him anything. When he first came to me although his skills were good he had no proper chakra control, neither was his team work any good. Not to mention his Taijutsu skills were practically abysmal. Thankfully he was willing to learn, although he was still very quiet and didn't question my methods much, although at first he was reluctant about using taijutsu he quickly learnt that taijutsu was a necessary skill to have especially when your opponent is too fast for you to use hand signs."
"I would say that Kenshin has a very bright future in the Anbu ahead of him; equally he also has a very bright future as a medical Nin, Interestingly enough although he has shown interest in the Anbu,he has shown more of an interest in the medical field." Chouji turned to Neji and said "hey Neji I know your squad is looking for a medic Nin, why not take on Kenshin after all I don't see any reason he can't do both. Neji looked at Chouji thoughtfully and said "you're right Chouji seeing as Ibiki Senpai trained him early on he would be a great asset to the Anbu, but besides his medical abilities what other skills does he have?"
Chouji laughed and said "well besides his obvious abilities as a shinobi, he is also a great Chef, the kid seems to have a great fondness for food and enjoys making food and creating new recipes, infact I remember him one day asking Naruto and I if we would help him with some of his recipes by tasting the food he made." Naruto interrupted "yea well you know me I'm always hungry and I never turn down free food." Everybody laughed at this comment, before Tsunade interrupted by saying "yes, well that aside, what is his skill level in Taijutsu and Fuuinjutsu, also his file stated he had skills with trench knives." Lee spoke up again and said permission to speak Hokage-sama?"
Tsunade simply raised an eyebrow and nodded her head. "Genin Kenshin Morino is a very hard working student in the field of Taijutsu, with my help he has perfected and created his own style of taijutsu which is called Savate." Shizune was confused, "wait what is Savate? I don't recall seeing that Taijutsu style listed in the Konoha Taijutsu Index." Lee smiled and said "That is because it is not listed in the Taijutsu index as of yet Shizune sempai, the reason being that it is not truly Taijutsu; allow me to explain."
"As you all know I spent some time at the Fire Temple training with the monks and Sora. Savate is a civilian martial art that is used and practiced mostly by civilian sailors. As I am sure you can understand keeping your footing while fighting on a rocking boat is very difficult. Whereas Shinobi can keep our footing and balance even with chakra, civilians cannot. So sailors developed a fighting style called Savate which mostly relied on kicks and open-handed slaps, it's a French martial art which uses the hands and feet as weapons combining elements of western boxing with graceful kicking techniques."
Sora learnt this Civilian martial art and taught me the basics, although as a martial art it can come in quite handy, As a Shinobi Taijutsu style it is not very effective except that some of the stances can be used to perfect chakra control and flexibility."
"However this martial art proved perfect for Kenshin has always had a strong respect toward food and the preparation of food in the kitchen. Since food and sustenance play a crucial role in maintaining life, he strongly believes that a chef's work must be treated as though it was sacred, and as such he never uses his hands in a taijutsu battle. So when I taught him the Savate he quickly took to the martial art and after adding his own youthfulness to it, he has created a Taijutsu style that is uniquely his: he calls it Black Leg Savate. It is unique in its characteristics that it only uses the legs and never the hands. I am proud to say that my Student has created a new Taijutsu style and as a Taijutsu master myself I can assure you that it can be very deadly."
"In my professional opinion I would say that while he may be able to defeat a Chunin level opponent it would be a very difficult battle. Not because of the Taijutsu style but because of his skill level. I have no doubt that it can be further developed, however to practice this style. One must have great physical strength not only in their legs but also in their body; and although he practices very hard Kenshin will need some special training to be able to use his art effectively and the kind of training he needs can only be accomplished by someone who has great Taijutsu skills but can also help him in his divisionary tactics for which he seems to have a love for."
"It is my recommendation that for the meanwhile He is not inducted into Anbu Training but have someone train him further. I also believe that this will also be able to help improve his tracking abilities. As for his abilities in Bukijutsu and Fuuinjutsu my youthful friends Tenten and Naruto can speak more to that than I can."
Tenten spoke first "Tsunade-sama I am pleased to say that my student is highly proficient in the use of Trench Knives, he can easily defeat a High level Chunin and even fight on par with a Low level Jonin. In my opinion it is because of his frequent battles with my brother Kenpachi Zaraki, they seem to have a rivalry going and they often argue, with their arguments often leading to fights. Even I have had to become serious sometimes when fighting against his trench knives."
Tsunade was impressed that even Tenten had to fight seriously to defend against Kenshin spoke highly of his skill. Tenten continued "what he learnt from we was mostly weapons training, although Kenshin was able to use fuuinjutsu before he was not able to use it effectively, interestingly enough he had taught himself from reading books about the subject. He had previously been practicing Fuuinjutsu with small everyday items and although his seals were large and some of them either repetitive or not needed, he had a good grasp of the basics."
"So I taught him how to tighten his seal formations and how to use a few big seals instead of a series of smaller ones. The rest he figured out on his own, like I said Naruto and I did not really teach him much about fuuinjutsu, we juts pointed him in the right direction with a few examples of our own and he figured out the rest."
"I would say that he still has a way to go before he can really be good at it. As it stands now he normally uses his fuuinjutsu skills when he has no other option or when he wants to end a fight quickly." Interestingly enough although his fuuinjutsu skills are good they are still not at that level where he can use it to his advantage in battle, and he knows this as well which is why he does not use it in battle very often."
Naruto then spoke and said "Kenshin mainly came to me for help on developing his divisionary and distraction tactics. He would try them out on me to see if it was effective or not. I helped him out with a couple of ideas and pointed out some flaws in his plan and he just took it from there. Although he has some interesting ninjutsu skills it mostly deals with medical and interrogation fields. Overall he is a bright kid and has good instincts, and I would take him on a B rank mission without hesitation."
Tsunade nodded and said "next is Tatsuki Arigawa; what does she bring to the table?"
Chouji was once again the first to speak "Tatsuki Arigawa is also a very skilled Genin, I don't have much to say about her. She is a very talented young woman, thanks to her clan's techniques and Shizune sempai her skill in poisons and toxins are very good and near to low Jonin level. In fact if I were to judge her only on the skill level of her toxins and poison making ability she could very well create a toxin that even an Anbu level shinobi would find difficult to decipher."
"She also has an innate ability for using senbon needles as her weapon of choice, her skill in taijutsu has improved greatly, and she has also learnt a variation of her clan's martial art that is called Pencak Silat. It is a formidable martial art, showing strength against Karate and Kung Fu, The style has a plethora of moves that could be considered dirty; it consists mainly of a set of 18 combo attacks meant to go for vital areas like the eyes, throat, and groin. Even though it is primarily a civilian Martial art, it has it has its advantages over the shinobi Taijutsu."
"One of the things about any Taijutsu form, be it Civilian or Shinobi, is the ease with which it can be customised to fit one's style. In fact each Shinobi taijutsu has evolved from some or the other martial art or fighting style."
Similarly Tatsuki having spent much of her time training with my team in the forests and having spent most of her life in the Jungles she developed a Taijutsu style of her own called Jungle Silat." Tsunade leaned forward at this and said "I have heard a lot about the Martial art. it is truly impressive that a girl of Tatsuki's age can accomplish such a feat." Shizune spoke and said "her weapons handling skills are also very good Milady, as Chouji has stated "she had trained with me for an extensive time before joining the academy and I even measured her skills before she went to Kumo for the Chunin, basis that I can say without a doubt that her poison making skills and her senbon-jutsu skills are at a very high Chunin level."
Tsunade nodded her head at Shizune's information and said "Very well, I guess that about sums it up for team Chouji unless anybody else wants to add anything else about Tatsuki or Team Chouji in General."
Chouji spoke "I would like to add one thing for the record Tsunade-sama; these three genin were assigned to me for the primary reason that all three of them had very poor taijutsu skills when they graduated from the academy. However I am pleased to say that they all put in lots of effort to improve their Taijutsu skills and both Lee and I who have been their primary instructors in Taijutsu are confident in their Taijutsu abilities and although there is much more for them to learn in their respective Taijutsu styles, it is our opinion we have taught them all that we can." Tsunade nodded and said "Noted Jonin Chouji, thank you for your assessment anything else?" Shino spoke up and said "I would also like to mention that being part of The Arigawa clan she is also very well suited to and has great teamwork with my cousin Hirako of the Aburame clan." Kiba also spoke and holding up the sealed scroll he had received earlier said "Tsunade-sama I have decided to gift what is within this scroll To Kenshin Morino, partly because he will benefit the most from it and also I'm a wolf not a Tiger, besides I figure if he and Kenpachi are going to have a rivalry they might as well be evenly matched" he said with a wolf like grin as he threw the sealed scroll towards Chouji who caught it in his outstretched arm. Everyone laughed at this comment and Tsunade said "Noted Jonin Kiba, now let's move on to your team."
A/N: I had actually planned to have the discussion about the Genin as one big chapter but then I decided against it and split it into three chapters.
I will try to update as soon as I can but unfortunately now as it is nearing the end the story is getting harder to write. Anyway hope you enjoyed it so far. Read and Review Please.