Chapter 2 – The Phoenix Always Rises From the Ashes
"What do we do with them?"
Tsunade looked up at the Copy Ninja as he looked out of the window of her office. She knew this was coming. She had hoped to avoid it, but something had to be done.
"I believe it's still too soon for them to be given another teammate." She told Kakashi. "I don't think they will take well to a new member, no matter who it is."
"I agree with you," Kakashi told her. "They won't accept anyone else as their teammate right now."
"Regardless, we can't afford to have them inactive. They are too valuable. I also don't want to give up on the Uchiha boy just yet. So I have an idea that might work for a while. . ."
Hinata stood around the corner from the training grounds, watching Naurto practice.
"Naruto-kun is pushing himself harder than I've ever seen him go before." She thought. "I hope he is alright." She twiddled her fingers absently as she watched him. Naurto wasn't wearing his usual orange jacket, only his pants and a black t-shirt. His hands and arms were wrapped in bandages almost up to his elbows. It reminded Hinata of the way Rock Lee warps his arms before he goes into battle.
Hinata didn't like the look in Naurto's eye. He didn't look like his usual happy self. His spirit wasn't the same. She had watched him over the years and she knew his usual cheerful demeanor all too well. It was such an inspiration for her to see the determination in his eyes, that same determination which as helped him beat her cousin during the Churin exam. At this moment however, the determination in his blue eyes was different. There was a fire, an unfriendly expression of frustration in Naurto's eyes that Hinata found very unsettling. This was not the Naurto-kun she had grown to care about and admire over the years. "Please be alright Naruto-kun." She thought to herself. "I'll make sure you will be ok, no matter what."
It was then that Naruto noticed her. Hinata's eyes met his and she blushed, averting her eyes nervously before stepping out from her hiding spot. "No sense in hiding if he can see me." She thought. Naruto's expression was one of puzzlement.
"What are you doing her, Hinata?" he asked her. He did not sound upset, and Hinata took it as a good sign.
"I-I was making sure you were ok." She said quickly, her voice barely above a whisper. "We we're all worried about you while you were in the hospital."
"What's nice of you, Hinata, but you need not worry about me." He said. "I've got to train and prepare for the when we go back after Sasuke." Hinata's expression changed at the mention of the Uchiha clan member. He had escaped from the team sent after him and was believed to be seeking Orochimaru, the man who killed the Third Hokage. If Naruto and the other's went after him again, they might run into Orochimaru and. . .
Before Hinata could finish her thought, she was startled by the sudden appearance of Naurto's sensei. Kakashi seemed to materialize out of thin air in front of them, his uncovered eye looking down at them.
"Naurto, Hinata. I'm glad I found both of you," he explained. "The Hokage wants to speak with you." Both genin exchanged confused looks.
"Both of us?" Naurto finally asked.
"Yes, she wants to see both of you. In fact, she wants to see all of you who participated in the Churinn exam. I would hurry up if I were you two; she doesn't like to be kept waiting."
Naruto looked around the office of the Hokage at his former classmates. The remaining all eight were there, most of them arriving before he did. "I wonder what Old Lady Tsunade is up to." He thought as he looked at everyone. Even the senseis of each team were present at this meeting. Whatever it was must be pretty big. Tsunade looked over each and every face before taking a breath and speaking. "This is going to be different, but we have no choice."
"As you all know, some of your teams have loss members," Tsunade began. Naruto and Sakura didn't have to look up to feel every eye on them at that moment. Both of them averted the glances from their friends and former classmates as they tried to keep their attention on the Hokage. "However, it would seem troublesome to reshuffle the teams and force the teams to get used to each other. It would also be more difficult to bring in different genin to certain groups without causing problems. Therefore, I have come up with a solution. Starting now, all of you will be one large team."
Everyone's eyes grew wide at the Hokage's announcement. "One big team?" Naruto thought as he looked at everyone. "How will that work?"
I know what you are thinking, but you will not be a team in the traditional sense. From now on, you will all train together. You're three sensei will continue to train you and Kakashi will supervise all of you. Because Shikamaru is a chunin, he will be in charge when your senseis are no present."
"Ah, another bother." Shikamaru said out loud. "More things I have to worry about."
Tsunade gave him a look that meant for him to hush before continuing.
"From now on, you will be selected for missions based on your abilities. Any of you can be teamed up with anyone else from this group here. This means everyone will have to trust each other and be able to work with everyone. Being that you all came from the same class from the academy and you all have a particular history together, this should be easier for you than if it were done with other teams."
"But why are you putting us all together now?" Naruto blurted out.
"There is another reason for this as well. . . the reason I'm placing you together now as a unit is because you will all be asked to become apprentice ninjas. This means you will have to choose to take on a specialty role and train under a willing junin. Once you begin your specialty training, it will be more difficult to pair all of you up with different teams. I would rather pool you together now while you are learning your specialties so you'll learn each other's strengths and weaknesses. There will be a day that I send you all out on a mission together, and I want to be sure you all will be ready to complete that mission when that time comes."
They all remained silent at this. Specialist ninjas were powerful indeed. They would be more powerful at one particular art than anything else. This was usually training reserved for Chunin, but there were times when genin were given special training. However, both Sakura and Naruto were thinking the same thing when she mentioned the mission she would send them all on; Sasuke. "I want you all to take the next few days to think about what you wish to specialize in or who you wish to train you. It will be important to everyone in this room and you must be prepared to give everything you have. If you have no more questions, then you are all dismissed." The eight genin and their instructors filed out of the office silently. A few of the remaining members of the rookie nine began talking to each other once they got outside, but a few also had thoughts of what was going to happen. Hinata was one of the quiet ones.
"I'll be on a team with Naruto-kun." She thought excitedly. "We will have to train together and we might go on missions together." The thought of having to work closely with Naruto made Hinata's pale skin flush a deeper red than normal. She began to hum happily to herself as she thought about the possibilities. "At least now I can watch over Naruto-kun and make sure he is alright."
And as she thought about looking after Naruto, she believed she knew the best way to do so. She would ask the Hokage about becoming a medic-nin tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Ino was walking along with Sakura talking about the possibilities of their new situation.
"It looks like we will have to work together, Sakura-chan." The blonde girl said. "I already heard you were working under Hokage to be a medic-nin, so I guess there is no need for you to worry about choosing a specialty."
"No, I don't suppose there is." Sakura said absentmindedly.
"I don't think I could work under Lady Tsunade, I heard it is tough to be a medic-nin." Ino touched her friend on the shoulder to stop her, and Sakura looked up to see Ino smiling back at her. "Listen, I know it's hard right now for you, but remember that you have friends who will be here for you." Sakura smiled at Ino's words. Ino may appear to be vain, but Sakura knew she had a big heart when it came to those she loved.
"Thank you, Ino-chan." She said as she bowed to her friend. "You've always been a good friend to me."
"It's ok, forehead girl," Ino said joked. "You sometimes forget. But that's why I'm here to remind you." The blonde girl winked at her friend. "Look, now that we don't Sasuke to worry about, we can be best friends again, right?" Sakura's smile faded quickly at the mention of Sasuke.
"Yeah, no Sasuke to worry about." She tried to laugh it off, but it was clearly forced. "Sasuke-kun, why did you have to leave? She thought. "Please come back to us. Please come back to me!"
"Kakashi-sensei?"
Naruto stood behind his teacher silently, awaiting him to acknowledge his presence. Kakashi turned around and looked down from his book at he blond-haired boy.
"What is it, Naruto?"
"I want you to train me."
"I will be training you everyday, Naruto"
"No, I mean I want you to train me separately from the others."
Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow at the boy. He knew what was coming.
"You want to be my apprentice, is that it?"
"Yeah, that's right, sensei."
"And why is that? I don't have a specialty to teach you."
"But you were the last person to train Sasuke."
Kakashi looked the boy in the eyes now. He was afraid Naruto might try something like this. He didn't need him getting any ideas in his head about going after his former teammate. At least not now.
"Naruto, Sasuke is gone."
"and Hokage isn't going to send us all out after him?" Kakashi averted his eyes from the boy. The silence was the confirmation Naruto needed.
"You're more observant than I realized." He told his student. "You've grown up quite a bit, Naruto."
"Kakashi-sensei, there is going to come a time when I have to fight him again. I have to know everything and be prepared for anything. You are the only person who can help me with that." The look in Naruto's eyes was all proof Kakashi needed to see. If he didn't teach him, he might go after his friend before he was ready, or worst, by himself. At least this way he could keep an eye on him.
"Ok, Naruto. After training tomorrow, we will go and work privately in the woods. But it will be tough. No slacking."
"You can count on me, sensei!" The boy gone before Kakashi could speak again. "You've got a lot of work to do, Naruto. But I think you can do it."Kakashi went back to his reading his book, while Naruto ran along the rooftops towards his next destination. He had to talk to a few more people. . .
(A/N) - There will be more Sasuke for all you fans of the Black-haired boy in the next chapter. See you for now.