Naruto looked over at his slumped over teammates with a satisfied smile. Shikamaru and Ino had shown up for their first day of team training with a determined attitude and a strong desire to improve their abilities. He'd been a bit surprised when Asuma had asked him to lead the team in the stamina and strength building exercises, but had shrugged and complied. They'd fallen into a pattern over the last six weeks of training, doing a D-Rank, breaking for lunch, another D-Rank and then more training until everyone was too tired to continue.
Shikamaru usually crawled off home fairly early in the evening, claiming that he didn't want his mother getting on his back over missing a dinner. Ino, on the other hand, stayed until she passed out from exhaustion. At that point, Asuma would carry her home while Naruto spent the rest of the evening training to perfect his use of Kidou. He hadn't shown any of his ability to his teammates yet, but was looking forward to the day when he'd get to show them off in battle.
Don't be too eager, Naruto, Tenken said. Using your abilities in battle may be dangerous for your teammates. They're used to how normal ninja fight and you are anything but a normal ninja anymore.
"I know that," the blonde said in exasperation, "but I really want to show everyone what I can do. Iruka-sensei was the only one to really see me in action, so everyone still thinks I'm the screw up that I sued to be."
Still, you should ask Asuma to allow you a battle simulation first, Tenken advised. Either against autonomous puppets or against another team. You need to learn how to cover your teammates when they're vulnerable and they need to learn when they have to cover you. Like when you release your shikai.
"Yeah, I guess someone could hit me then and that would suck," Naruto said thoughtfully. "If I have to use a kidou that I haven't mastered, they'll have to cover me too. Those chants are pretty long."
That may be, but they're still better than using jutsu that will backfire on you do to your chakra problems, Tenken replied.
"That's your fault," Naruto complained. "Ever since we locked away the fox and you gave me direct access to my reiatsu, my chakra has barely been stable enough to do basic Academy jutsu. That means that I'm stuck with kidou until we figure out how to stabilize the chakra. Don't get me wrong, kidou is pretty cool, since it's got more versatility than normal jutsu do, but I don't need to attract any more of the wrong sort of attention than I have to."
"Talking to yourself, Naruto," Asuma's voice boomed out from the darkness of the evening. "That's not a very good sign for a shinobi. Usually when one starts talking to himself, they're either a Haruno or headed for the shrinks."
"I'm not crazy," Naruto grunted. "I was just talking with Tenken."
"Hmm, while I know weapon specialists have a close bond with their weapon of choice," Asuma said thoughtfully, "I don't think I've ever heard them talk to them as if they could answer back."
"Well, Tenken can." Naruto replied, sticking his tongue out. "So what brought you back here? You usually go home for the night after dropping Ino off."
"Let's just say that I need to get to know you," Asuma said, lighting a fresh cigarette and leaning back against a tree. "The other two are pretty easy to read, but you like to keep everything close to the chest, don't you?"
"Well, a good ninja isn't supposed to be easy to read," Naruto frowned. "That's what jiji always told me. So why's it such a big deal?"
"I'm the one responsible for the safety of all three of you," Asuma replied. "That means that I need to know what makes you tick, how to motivate you and what to teach you. I can usually rely on the Academy records for a pretty thorough grounding on a fresh genin, but everything about you is different than what your file says."
"Well," Naruto said slowly, "there's lots of people at the Academy who made sure that I didn't do well there. When I did finally start to improve, I didn't see a reason for them to know how much better I was getting…"
"After all, a shinobi's life is about deception," Asuma finished for the blonde. "While that is true, it is also a tenet of Konoha's shinobi force that we work as a team. As your Team leader, I need to know what you're capable of and so do Shikamaru and Ino."
"And who else will you tell," Naruto asked, biting his lip in concern.
"Only those who have a need to know," Asuma replied. "Your teammates and the Hokage are most likely the only ones that fit the bill. We can work everything else out on a need to know basis if you're that worried."
"I've got good reason to be worried," Naruto sighed. "If people knew the truth, they'd either be more frightened of me than they are now, or feel relaxed at the loss of a threat. You see, it all begins and ends with the Kyuubi. He wasn't always a giant ravening monster. At one time he was a leader of something like the military police from a far away place and he and some others were chasing down some criminals. That search brought the three criminals and the six officers here, where they began to change. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"
"You're saying that these nine people became the bijuu," Asuma asked, his cigarette barely clinging to his lip in shock.
"Yep," Naruto replied. "But before they became the bijuu, they had to give up the power they had before they came here. Each of the officers had a sword. A special sword made from a piece of their soul that fought for and with them. The Kyuubi was a man named Komamura and Tenken was his zanpaktou. He sealed it away in a cavern deep underneath what's now Konoha and left to gain the power of a bijuu.
"Years ago, I was chased into a bad part of town and got caught in a cave that collapsed on me. I kept going deeper and deeper until I found the place where Tenken was sealed. That's when he first started talking to me. He said that since I've got the fuzzball in my stomach, that makes me close enough to fuse the piece of the soul that creates the zanpaktou to me. It was pretty cool and Tenken added another layer of seal over the fox so that he can't influence me in any way. The only way his chakra can get into my system is the little bit the Yondaime's seal siphons off and converts into chakra for me."
"This is a rather tall tale, Naruto," Asuma said hesitantly.
"That's why I've never tried to explain it before," the blonde shrugged. "Jiji and Iruka-sensei were just happy to see me buckle down and work, so they never asked who was training me. How do you think they'd have reacted to me telling them it was a talking sword?"
"Pretty badly," Asuma replied with a chuckle. "Especially since we monitor all shinobi for signs of instability. At least, we have since Uchiha Itachi went crazy and slaughtered all of his family."
"Ouch," Naruto winced. "I guess that's part of the reason why Sasuke's such an amazing asshole then. It makes me feel bad for Kiba."
"Assuming I accept your story at face value," Asuma said, "where does that leave us?"
"Well, I'm pretty good with my sword in its sealed state and I'm learning how to use the shikai better," Naruto replied. "My chakra's all messed up because of the double seal, but Tenken lets me access my spiritual energy to use a set of techniques called Kidou that are kind of like jutsu, but not. That leaves me my physical stamina for fighting, although I tend to use my spiritual energy for this really cool speed technique called shunpo. I haven't mastered it yet, but I will. The only regular jutsu that I know are the henge and kawarimi. The bunshin still gives me a lot of problems…"
"Whoa, slow down, Naruto," Asuma called out, interrupting the excited blonde. Naruto pouted, since was the first real chance he'd ever had to brag about his skills to someone. "Let's cover these one at a time. First off, you said you'd learned to use your sword in its sealed state and said something about a shikai…"
"Yeah," Naruto said as he drew Tenken and rested it on his palms. "The katana is a zanpaktou's base or sealed form. Most of it's power is waiting to be released as the spirit of the blade and the spirit of the wielder grow more comfortable with each other. There's two other levels: Shikai and Bankai. It takes a lot of work to reach Shikai; heck, I only learned how to release it when I fought Mizuki. Bankai is much harder, since it's supposed to be the ultimate expression of the zanpaktou's power."
"So the shikai is so different that you have to learn a new way of using it," Asuma asked, raw curiosity evident in his voice.
"It's easier to show you," Naruto said as he held the blade straight out and called, "Todorke, Tenken!" A swirling wind of reiatsu and debris moved around the blonde revealing a different looking Naruto when it settled. The blonde was wearing black plates of armor reminiscent of a samurai's across his chest and forearms and the katana had grown over a foot in length and six inches in width.
"Damn, but that's a big blade," Asuma swore as he stared at Tenken's shikai. "As big as the zanbatous the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist use. Doesn't that weigh a ton with all the armor?"
"Nah," Naruto replied. "I can't even feel the difference in weight. Probably because it's all made of spiritual energy. Anyways this version of Tenken has to be used differently, so we've started working on that. It's really fun to use when I add it to shunpo like this." Naruto's form blurred and the next thing Asuma saw was the blonde standing on the other side of the training posts as half of one slowly slid to the ground.
"Naruto," Asuma said aghast, "I couldn't track your movements…"
"Yeah, shunpo's pretty cool," Naruto grinned. "Tenken said that the shinobi speed techniques have nothing on it. Anyways, the last thing we've been working on is kidou, but I'm too tired to do those right now. They're like jutsu, but don't have all the complicated seals. They have this long chant you have to use at first, but once you master it you can just use the name. I've only mastered two so far and those were really hard."
"I think we need to have a combat evaluation soon," Asuma grumbled, shaking his head.
"Tenken's been saying that too," Naruto offered. "He said we need to learn when we need to back each other up. Besides, I kind of want to see how much better Ino and Shikamaru have gotten."
"I'll see what I can set up," Asuma promised. "Just remember to give me a demonstration of the Kidou of yours before you use it in combat."
"Yes sir!" Naruto snapped a mock salute at the jounin, eliciting a laugh from the bearded man.
Ino scowled at the world as she stomped into the training ground to meet her team. Shikamaru flinched at the fierceness of her expression, while Naruto and Asuma traded amused glances.
"Oi, what's wrong," Naruto asked, hoping to smooth things over and get their training underway.
"I ran into Forehead girl on the way over here," Ino seethed, "and she said that her team had just been assigned a C-Rank escort mission!"
"That's a bit early for them, isn't it, Asuma-sensei," Shikamaru asked with a frown on his face. "They've probably done about the same number of D-Ranks we have, but would they really be ready for a mission outside the village this quickly?"
"It's possible," Asuma admitted grudgingly, "but I doubt it. Kakashi isn't one to rush into things like that. He's seen the result of green teams biting off more than they can chew before, so it must have been one of his team that petitioned the Hokage for the mission…"
"It was probably Sasuke," Naruto said in an irritated sigh. "I would guess Kiba, but he's not dumb enough to endanger his whole team for his own sake, while Sasuke is."
"You don't get to insult, Sasuke-kun," Ino snarled at the blonde, who just shrugged.
"Face the facts, Ino," Naruto said calmly. "No matter how much you like him, Sasuke's still a self-centered asshole. All he wants is power and he doesn't think he needs anyone's help. The villagers spoiled him rotten after his family was killed by sucking up to him like they did and it may get his teammates hurt or killed. Kiba at least has a pack oriented mentality and he would know that there's no way Sakura would be ready for a mission of that level. She was in worse physical shape than you were when we started our team's training."
Ino opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water and reddened as she tried to decide whether to be insulted or complimented by Naruto's words. Finally she decided to take them the best way possible, since she had to work with the other blonde after all and said, "Why do you think you know Sasuke-kun so well? I've been chasing him for years."
"You've been chasing a perfect idea you built up in your head of what Sasuke is like," Naruto shot back in irritation. "For some reason, the majority of girls our age seem incapable of noticing how much of an antisocial asshole he is. They all make excuses for him that fit into their various fantasies and ignore anything that doesn't fit. In all the years you girls have been after him, has he ever gone on a date with any of you? Has he even talked to you for longer than it took for him to tell you to go away?"
Ino tried to refute his words, but ultimately wound up sniffing in anger and turning away from the blonde as he and Shikamaru sighed in frustration. Asuma cleared his throat to break the uncomfortable stalemate. "Ahem, we do have a full day of work ahead of us. I've arranged for a joint training session with another genin team…"
"Well, we know it's not Team Seven," Shikamaru said, "so that must mean you hit Kurenai-sensei up to bring her team over."
"Actually, no," Asuma said, "she felt her team wasn't ready for a full combat spar just yet . That's why I prevailed upon a team of genin that graduated last year that form a reconnaissance and assault team…"
"Yosh, Asuma-kun, your team truly burns with the flames of youth," a loud voice called out as a man leapt into the clearing. It took several seconds for Naruto to actually believe what he was seeing, as the man in question was wearing a green spandex bodysuit with dark orange legwarmers and that was only the beginning of the oddities. His hair had been trimmed in a bowl cut and his eyebrows looked like they could come to life at any moment and crawl off of his face. "They will be fit companions of the road of youthful power for my youthful students."
Three others walked out of the woods, a girl and two boys. One of the boys was plainly a Hyuuga by his eyes and looked around with a bored expression that reminded Naruto of Sasuke. The girl waved at Team Ten and had an embarrassed smile over what her teacher was saying. She had her hair up in balls on top of her head to keep it out of the way and carried more than the usual number of kunai and shuriken. The final member of the team made Naruto's hair stand on end as he was almost a complete clone of the older man, from the jumpsuit to the terrifying eyebrows.
"Now, Gai, remember," Asuma warmed. "Your team is much more experienced than mine so they need to take it easy. I just need a combat evaluation to gauge how much their skills have grown since their training began…"
"Fear not, Asuma-kun," Gai said, smiling broadly enough that a gleam of light appeared on one of his teeth. He stuck his thumb up and continued, "You have my word that we shall push your students to the very edge of what they are capable of and no farther."
Naruto suddenly had a sinking feeling about the whole exercise.