The longest chapter I have ever willingly written in my whole entire life! I hope it's worth it. When writing this, instead of making everything seem like a mirror image of the last generation, I decided to add a little to it, mix it up a y'know? There is no InoShikaCho for example, and some of the new generation are a little... odd... And instead of throwing a bunch of names in your faces, I decided to take the time and try to get you to know my characters more gradually. I have some of the traditional couples, such as Temari/Shikamaru, Neji/Tenten and Sakura/Sasuke. And guess what? Gaara/Hinata! But wait, who is Naruto's wife? You'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out...
And just so y'all know. I HATE PINK HAIR so you won't be seeing any of it in my fic. Except on Sakura of course.
Declaimer: Like anyone is going to believe that I own Naruto.
Team Failure
"Yumi get up, It's your big day!" A female voice called up the stairs, the figure that the voice was talking to groaned and rolled over in her bed. What was today?...
The figure suddenly sat upright in bed. It was her graduation day! Today was the day she was to become a ninja! She had waited impatiently for the sands of time to fall to this point! And she had to fight the swift moving river of life to reach and stay at this point! Today was the most youthful of days because it marked a new beginning for her!
"YUMI!"
"Coming Mom!" Yumi called back, leaping excitedly out of bed. The energetic girl ran to her closet and flung it open, inside were a whole row of green jumpsuits and vests. Grabbing one at random as well as a vest, she quickly tore off her pajamas and pulled on her green jumpsuit. Then running over to her drawers, she reached in and pulled out two orange legwarmers, she yanked them on, along with her boots, and picked up two very long white bandages before wrapping them hurriedly around her forearms. She pulled her green vest over her woefully flat chest, and quickly pulled a comb through her short black hair. When she was done, she looked in her mirror to make sure everything was in place. In the end, she looked like the one person she admired most in the world.
Maito Gai
Maito Gai had been training her privately alongside her two friends for the past two years, and Yumi was hoping that he would become her official sensei. Of course, she would go and continue calling him Gai-sensei even if he wasn't. But Yumi couldn't help but feel it wouldn't be worth becoming a shinobi if Gai-sensei wasn't there to witness it.
She ran quickly out the door, grabbing her new kunai pouch and tying it around her leg as she went. Without bothering with the stairs, she jumped over the banister, fell ten feet, and landed with a soft thud. Bounding towards the kitchen, she nearly knocked over her father, who looked as though he had only just woken up. Much to Yumi's dismay. Uchiha Sasuke was not a morning person, and certainly wouldn't be pleased with being almost knocked over by his youngest child.
"Yumi, watch where you're going." He said bluntly, scarcely looking at her. "Sorry father," She said, giving him a quick bow, he looked down at her with something that looked like disgust, "Why do you wear that ridiculous outfit?" He growled, looking pointedly at her jumpsuit. "I like to wear this father," she said quietly, yet firmly.
"Everything in place as usual," he said, looking her over, Yumi waited, wondering where he was getting at with this, and soon found out; "If you put half as much effort into your training as you do into getting ready in the morning, you would actually be getting somewhere in your training." Yumi was stung by this, she always tried her best! Always! So what if she couldn't activate her Sharingun like her older brother could, but she wasn't completely worthless! She was said to have a vast potential in Medical training!
She would have spoken back, gotten into a long speech about how she always tried hard, and how she had the power of youth on her side, and got sent to her room. But she was late. Something Yumi was almost never, she loved being punctual. So she just bowed, and wordlessly went on her way. Though feeling slightly deflated.
Her father considered her a failure, as did most kids her age, her teachers, and even her mother at some point. Her taijutsu was so terrible her father would tell her how embarrassing it was for him, her ninjutsu was feeble, and her genjutsu was indecent.
At least it had been before she met her savior Maito Gai.
Ten year old Yumi struggled over and over again to conjure up a decent clone. The sound of her classmates laughter ringing in her ears. She couldn't, the best she could come up with was a big blob that scarcely resembled her.
"Aw look at that, it's an improvement to your face billboard brow," One hurtful comment flew at her. She wished they were physical things, so she could dodge them. But then again, her dodging skills were so poor that it probably wouldn't matter. "You can quit now if you want to Yumi," Iruka-sensei said gently, trying to quell the laughter the ricochetted off the walls of the room.
Yumi just stood there, the jeers endless stream of heartwretching comments beating down on her, tearing at her. Tears began to form in her eyes, her bottom lip quivered.
"Crybaby"
"Uchiha failure"
Uchiha failure...
This description was the most accurate out of all of them, and they were all pretty accurate.
Uchiha failure...
Turning, Yumi ran towards the door, clapping her hands over her ears, knocking aside a few laughing students
Uchiha failure...
She ran as fast as she could down the hall, and out the window at the end, ignoring the shouts from Iruka-sensei, she jumped out, and sprinted full out. It wasn't nearly enough to outdo a full grown ninja. But it got her the necessary distance from the school she hated more then anything.
She ran across a bridge, and flung herself down at the base of a willow tree, her favorite spot. For a few minutes, she just lay there, sobbing. Why? Why her? What did she do to them? Why did they enjoy making her miserable? Why was she such... a failure? How could she live up to the legacy of her parents? A famous medic nin and one of the strongest, most powerful ninja in Konoha?
UCHIHA FAILURE
Tears flowed freely, she made no attempt to stop them, seeing as there was no one around that cared. She turned out to be wrong.
"Why are you crying little girl?" Yumi leapt up in shock and turned around to find a tall green clad figure standing behind her. He walked over to her and crouched to her level. He had a weird bowl shaped haircut, very thick eyebrows, he wore a green jumpsuit, orange legwarmers, and a gentle smile on his face. She couldn't help but trust him.
"E-ev-everyone a-always tea-teases me" She said between hiccups, "Be-because m-my... I-I..." She didn't know how to say it, she wasn't sure how to describe the pain she felt. He however gave an incredibly bright smile. "What's your name?" He asked, still in his gentle voice. Yumi swallowed hard, and decided to at least answer this one.
"Uchiha Yumi" She said, without a stammer. He nodded, "Uchiha huh? I keep hearing that they're all very naturally gifted-" Yumi suddenly let out a sob and hugged her knees, "I'm not! I'm a failure!" She cried, now sobbing harder then ever, "I'm an Uchiha failure! Father says so, everyone in my class says so, and I think even Iruka-sensei thinks so! They all think I'm stupid, ugly and talentless-" She was stopped by a gentle hand on her chin, pushing her head upwards so that she made eye contact with the man who was nice enough to listen, and maybe nice enough to care.
"I can't deny that you are a failure," he said, causing her heart to crumble, she had hoped that he would be the one person to say otherwise. However, he wasn't finished. "I have heard about you Uchiha Yumi, a failure, but always trying harder, trying to surpass yourself. That is an impressive trait Yumi." She blinked at him, he just complemented her!
"Come here," He said, getting up and walking over to the waters edge, she followed hesitantly, when he crouched down at the water's edge, she did the same. "Look, what do you see?" He asked her, indicating that she lean over the water to see what he meant. She did as he bid, and looked. She saw nothing but her reflection, showing her tearstained face and puffy eyes.
"All I see is water and a reflection of someone who will never become a ninja," She said sadly, reaching over and poking her reflection, causing ripples to form, she watched as the tiny waves moved farther and farther away until they eventually disappeared.
"That's not what I see," She looked at him in confusion, what did he mean?
"I see someone who will eventually surpass all her classmates," He said, making her gap at him in astonishment, "You must see something I can't, you must see something that everyone can't" she said shaking her head, looking back at her reflection, trying to see if she could see what this man saw. She however only saw what she saw before.
"I do not believe that you are any of the three things that you said you classmates teased you for," The small girl could only continue to stare at him in confusion, "As I said before, I hear that you try hard no matter how futile it may seem, you try hard, that is a strength that many of your classmates probably don't have." He cocked his head and widened his smile, "What you lack is confidence, I hear from Iruka that you have a very sharp mind, though you don't always show it whenever you are given a test. And I don't know why they consider you to be ugly, your not. And I believe that you will someday grow into a beautiful confident young kunoichi."
Did he really believe that? She wondered as she looked carefully at his face, looking for any signs that he was being insincere. She found none. Then, feeling better then she felt in a long time, she smiled. "Can... can failures really become good ninja?" She asked, twisting her shirt in her fingers, almost afraid of the answer, though she needn't have worried, "You have no idea," He chuckled, "There are many strong shinobi in Konoha that were once failures," Yumi frowned, "Like who?" She asked, going through her list of all the powerful ninjas she knew, "Well, our beloved Hokage for one-" Yumi gasped, "No way! Naruto is way too strong to be a failure." He just laughed and shook his head, "No, he was, he's not now, but he was. And there's also myself" Yumi couldn't help but gasp again when he mentioned himself.
"So all I have to do is work hard?" She asked, hope rising in her chest, something that she only rarely experienced. "No," he said, her hopes falling slightly, but not all the way, "You also need to believe in yourself," He said, reaching over and gently ruffled her hair, "It would all be pointless if you work hard, yet never believe in yourself." Yumi fell silent for a moment, before:
"Will you show me?"
"Show you what Yumi?"
"How not to be a failure"
"Why?"
The question completely threw her off. Why? "I want to prove myself," she said quietly, "I want to prove to my father, everyone in my class, and most of all myself that I'm am NOT a failure!" She jumped up and gave the man a determined look. "But I think I might need some help to do it." The man considered it.
"Very well, but I have missions, so don't expect me to be here all the time." Yumi however stopped listening after he agreed and flung her arms around his waist. He took a step back and gave a million watt smile complete with a thumbs up. "The Power of Youth is strong with you Yumi! Meet me tomorrow at training site four right after school, okay?" She nodded as he walked away.
What was the Power of Youth? She thought. Then an even more pressing question hit her.
What was that man's name?!
Yumi entered the kitchen, she saw her breakfast on the table, so she jumped on it and wolfed it down, and bolted out the door before her mother had a chance to re-enter the room. Sakura shook her head when she saw her green-clad daughter run out the door at top speed. Always on the move, she's never even still when she's asleep. Strange girl.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Shiko get up" A voice barked through the door. Shiko waited until he heard the footsteps of his grandfather fade before getting up and getting changed. When he was done, he looked in the mirror, and smiled. He dressed so outrageously compared to the rest of his clan, that it was hilarious. Shiko most resembled his father, except he had blue eyes, not that anyone ever saw that seeing as he always wore his dark glasses.
The bug-nin wore the glasses that most members of his clan wore, though the rest of his outfit often caused his father to groan in mock agony whenever he saw it. Like his friend Yumi, he too wore a green jumpsuit, the green vest, with orange leggings. It was a bit of a team costume. Liang pulled it off the best though. Liang was also the only one to wear weights, but then again, neither Shiko nor Yumi specialized in taijutsu. At first, the problem with the outfit was that there weren't enough holes for his beetles to crawl out of. But Gai-sensei fixed that by taking it and having it specially modified, so that there were many small cuts all over the jumpsuit, allowing his bugs to roam freely.
Satisfied with his appearance, he turned around and walked out the door and strode confidently down the hall. He passed several members of his clan, who gave him several side glances. He was the weird mutant of the clan.
"Shiko" The ninja-to-be stopped and turned around, seeing the tired face of his father, Aburame Shino. "Yes dad?" He asked innocently, as though he didn't know what his father was about to lecture him on. "Do you have any idea how strange it is to see an Aburame strut around, much less an Aburame strutting around in that" He pointed at his green jumpsuit and orange legwarmers. "No I don't father, and you're never youthful dad" He said, grinning, knowing full well that this always go on his father's nerves.
"What do you mean by that?" Shino asked his son, wondering if he really wanted to know, "Well dad," Shiko said crossing his arms in front of him and seriously examined his father, "For one, you always act as though you have a pole stuck up your butt, and you never embrace the power of youth!" He laughed as his father spluttered. Before turning and leaving, he gave his father a "nice guy" pose , before he sauntered down the hall and through the door that would eventually lead to the kitchens.
Shino shook his head in disbelief. Could his son be any more different from himself?
Shiko happily ate his breakfast, while replaying the moment in his mind over and over again. It felt so good to be so confident. Shiko would never have even tasted this two years ago if it hadn't been for Uchiha Yumi, Rock Liang, and Maito Gai.
A depressed ten year old Shiko sat sadly on the swing that was tied just outside the academy. Nobody wanted to come near him because they said he reminded him of a rotting corpse. They naturally thought this because, unlike other members of his clan, Shiko couldn't control his bugs for some reason. So they had free reign of his body.
He sat and watched quietly as the Uchiha, Yumi, was cruelly teased by her fellow classmates. He could get up and walk right over to her, and scare her tormentors off, but she'll probably be scared off as well. While she was a "failure" he was a "freak." Though among his own clan he could be considered a failure. Being unable to control his bugs was more then enough to gain that title.
An Aburame failure. Yumi, you and I are far more alike then you realize.
Shiko was tempted to get up and walk over to her, to comfort her. But what if she ran away? He felt tiny little feet of his bugs as they scuttled over his face and down his back. It was because of the constant presence of them that he wasn't ticklish at all. Not that anyone ever tried.
There were many times when he wanted to jump in and defend her, nobody deserved this treatment. He never did, if he did, she would probably be teased even worse then before. After all, he was the "freak" no one wanted to be defended by a "freak"
Like many members of his clan, he learned how to keep his face smooth of emotion, how not to give a single thought away. The Aburame's were a very repressed clan in his option.
Most kids avoided him, and liked to pretend he didn't exist. They passed him in the halls, whispering to each other, then giggling when he passed. Very few of them actually confronted him about it. Shiko actually thought that the treatment he received was every bit as bad as Yumi's. Except he didn't hear exactly what his tormentors were saying, though he had a rough idea.
Another failure in their class was a odd looking boy named Rock Liang, he was every bit as bad as Yumi. Though he wasn't from a powerful clan that expected it's children to all be great warriors. No, Liang was easier off then they were.
Even though they recognized each other as fellow failures, they rarely spoke to one another.
Shiko's lack of control didn't stop with his bugs. No, it also extended to his limbs. He sometimes felt that he was the worlds clumsiest person. His father used to say that if Shiko were to walk on air, he would manage to find something to trip over. The young boy felt as though he spent more time on the ground then actually standing up. This was depressing.
The bell rang. It was time for the day to start.
He tried to get off the swing. Emphasis on "tried" what happened was that he somehow managed to get his foot caught on the rope, which caused him to do a faceplant right into the ground, and to shatter his glasses. For the fourth time this week, and it was only Wednesday. Several people laughed, but no one made any effort to help him up. That's alright, Shiko was used to it. Shiko managed to trip twice more and knock over smaller student on his way to his classroom.
When he got his act together and entered class, he saw the class was scapegoating Yumi again. Iruka-sensei was trying to get them to shut up. But it wasn't working. Yumi eventually had enough and ran out the door, crying.
Shiko watched sadly as she went. Defending her would only make things worse.
Yumi didn't come back to school that day. Shiko couldn't blame her. He wondered if she would ever come back. He wouldn't.
She did.
The very next day, she arrived right on time, as always, Shiko noticed that she was very punctual. But it was so strange! She seemed to be... different. She walked with her head high and a confident bounce in her step.
And this was only the beginning.
Over the next few days, she worked harder then ever, she began to ignore the insult that were flung her direction, and acted as though she knew something the rest of them didn't. Shiko was intrigued, he wanted to know what she knew, how can someone change practically overnight?
So, two weeks after Yumi ran out of class, Shiko took a deep breath and followed her a little ways when she was walking home from school. Eventually he summoned his courage and called out to her.
"Yumi"
Yumi turned and looked him in surprise.
He walked cautiously forward (somehow managing not to trip over his feet), unsure how she would take to him. Shiko felt a little hurt when she took as small step back as he approached. But the fact that she didn't run away was a cause for celebration.
"Yes?" She asked, looking him over. Shiko stopped when he was a respectable five feet away. When she looked at him with her big green eyes. Shiko realized that he hadn't planned on what to say.
"Um..." He started, "You're different from before," He said with a vague tone in his voice. Yumi just blinked. "Different? What do you mean?" She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow. He sighed, "You're a lot more confident now then you were before. How did you do it?" He noted that she seemed to be rather flustered at this question. Until she blurted out, "Why do you want to know?" She asked in an almost challenging voice.
Shiko considered this for a moment before answering: "I want to know because I want to know" he said simply. She nibbled on her lip for a moment, as though wondering whether or not Shiko was worthy of what she knew.
"Are you a failure?" She asked suddenly. Shiko raised a thin eyebrow, well he wasn't a prodigy of any sort. "Yes, I guess I am," He said quietly, "And a 'freak' too" They stared at each other for a few minutes, before Yumi smiled.
"Come with me!" She reached over and grabbed his hand. Making him gasp, no one outside his family ever wanted to go near him, much less touch him. She gripped his hand hard and yanked him alongside her. Unfortunately, this was enough to cause him to trip. She put her hands impatiently on her hips as she waited for him to get back on his feet.
When he was up, she turned and began to walk swiftly away. He followed.
They walked someways before Shiko realized that they were heading towards one of the training fields. Why were they going there?
He got his answer more or less right away.
"Yumi! Glad to see you're here, and you brought a friend!" Shiko turned around to see a tall man with enormous bush eyebrows and wearing a green jumpsuit. Yumi gave him a big smile, "Gai-sensei, this is Aburame Shiko, he's like me." Shiko was surprised to hear this, so she did pay attention. Gai gave a million watt smile, "So, you're the infamous Aburame Shiko are you?" Shiko winced, was his failure that well known?
"Yes, I guess so," He said in a completely toneless voice. Gai frowned, "What is with the voice?" He asked, raising an furry eyebrow (reminding Shiko of little woolly caterpillars) "It's not a crime to show some emotion! Embrace the Power of Youth!" Shiko blinked, shinobi weren't suppose to show emotion. It was repeated to him over and over so that he wouldn't be able to forget. And what was with this "youth" nonesense?
"Gai-sensei, you said it would be nice if we were a traditional team of three, and if Shiko joins us, it would be!" Yumi said, "If he wants to of course," She said quickly, looking at him. Before Shiko could reply, Gai did, "That is a very Youthful idea Yumi!" Be beamed at the two of them, "I have become somewhat like a tutor to both Liang and Yumi, I could do the same for your Youthful self if you like," He said, giving a blinding smile and a thumbs up. Shiko learned later this was called a "Nice Guy" pose.
Shiko of course, agreed.
When he was done breakfast, he ran over to the window and jumped out. Damn the doors, it's not like he or is teammates ever used them to enter or exit buildings. Landing lightly on the grass outside the compound, he took off at top speed towards the willow tree where they always meet before going to school. As special as today was, he wasn't about to break that tradition.
He realized that he was the first one here. This was unusual. Yumi was almost frantic about always being on time. She must of mouthed off to her father again. The bug-nin sighed and sat down at the base of the tree. He wasn't going anywhere until they got here.
"Hey Shiko!" A voice called to him from the bridge that crossed a small clear stream. The owner of the rather loud voice was none other then Uzumaki Ichiro, the best friend of Uchiha Shou, Yumi's older brother. "Whatcha doin' here?! Isn't today your graduation?" He asked skidding to a stop in front of the other boy. Shiko nodded, "Yes I know, but I have to wait for Yumi and Liang before I go, it won't be the same otherwise."
He smiled at the older mind-nin, "So what are you doing? Have any missions lately?" Ichiro pouted and shook his head, "No, Ebisu-sensei is punishing the three of us for learning the sexy jutsu," he smirked "The pervert nearly drowned in his own blood when Shou, Nayane, and I were done with him." He laughed so hard he nearly fell over. "Anyway, I gotta go. See ya later!" He waved and sprinted off to meet his teammates.
Just thirty seconds after the blond haired ninja left, Yumi arrived, panting. "Sorry that I'm late Shiko!" Be gasped, "I woke up late, I mean I just woke up, like, seven minutes ago!" Shiko shrugged, "Just as long as you're here, but I wonder what's keeping Liang?"
Yumi laughed, "His dad is probably making him do two hundred pushups for knocking over the sugar or something like that, you know how they're like," She finished in an admiring tone. Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji, and Hyuuga Tenten were living proof that Gai-sensei was an excellent teacher. The three of them saw Liang's dad often, more often the two Hyuuga. Liang's dad shared their devotion for their sensei.
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"DAD WHERE ARE MY WEIGHTS?!" Liang hollered down the hall to where his dad's bedroom was located.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WHERE ARE MY WEIGHTS?'" His dad hollered back, 'I MEAN 'WHERE ARE MY WEIGHTS?' I CAN'T FIND THEM ANYWHERE!" Liang bellowed, waving his arms frantically, "I'M LATE! WHERE ARE THEY?"
"DID YOU CHECK THE GYM?"
"YES!"
"YOUR CLOSET?"
"YES!"
"THE KITCHEN?"
"..."
"GO CHECK!"
Liang ran down the hall toward the kitchen, wondering why his weights would be in there of all places. But as he poked his head in, he found them immediately, they were sitting in the corner where he had put them the previous night.
"DAD I FOUND THEM!"
"GOOD! SEE YOU AFTER YOU GRADUATE MY SON!"
"BYE DAD, I'M GOING!"
Grinning, Liang, ran over to the open window and did a flip through without touching the frame, he landed gracefully on the gravel right beside his house. "Do you or your father ever speak to each other in anything else other then capital letters?" An annoyed voice called to him from one of the neighboring houses. Liang grinned and shook his head, causing his neighbor to groan.
Young Liang stood in front of a giant log sticking out of the ground. He was going to hit it two hundred times with his fists.
"121-122-123-"
"Liang!" Liang stopped and turned around, puzzled as Yumi ran towards him, dragging a startled Shiko behind her., "This is Shiko! He's the third member of our team!" The black haired boy grinned. A third member? Awesome! And he was a fellow failure! Aburame Shiko, people didn't want to be around him because of the bugs that constantly scuttled across his face.
"Shiko, this is Liang!" Liang saluted him and gave him a friendly smile. Liang greatly resembled his father, in more ways then one. Although, unlike his father, Liang wore his hair in a ponytail, and he didn't have the same wide eyes his father had, though their eyebrows were alike hair for hair.
"Welcome Shiko!" He said, walking over and giving him a light punch on his shoulder, "Welcome to Team Failure" he said with a laugh. "Though we don't plan to be failures for long," Yumi said, "Thanks to Gai-sensei," Liang nodded.
Liang ran at top speed towards their meeting place by the big willow tree. To his dismay, he saw both his teammates waiting for him. They had five minutes to get to the school if they wanted to get there in time to graduate.
They exchanged quick greetings, before turning and sprinting off in the direction of the school. Liang had recently become well known for his incredible speed, and was easily able to pull ahead of his two friends and reach the building before they did. He waited long enough for them to catch up before jumping up and grabbing a branch of the tree that grew right beside the Academy.
Climbing the tree, he reached the classroom window he needed to be at and entered.
"Cutting it pretty close you three," Iruka-sensei remarked as a panting Shiko and Yumi appeared at the window a few moments later. Ignoring the venomous looks they were getting from all the other student's in the class, the three of them walked over to some empty seats.
Liang's excitement was growing as Iruka-sensei explained the rules of the tests they needed to take before they could get a forehead protector with the leaf symbol engraved on it.
Finally, we approach you our rivals Liang thought, Sabaku Kimiko, Nara Haku, and you Sabaku Arashi of the village hidden in the sand. We will soon meet and we will show you that we are now forces to be reckoned with, Sand Cousins.
The next chapter will be about the Uzumaki kid and his team. And just so you know, they're about a year older then Shiko and his team. And Kakashi's son and daughter's team is a year older then that, and Jiraiya's son's team is a year older then that... Oh, and the three sand cousins are the same age as Shiko and Co. In later chapters I'll explain how they met new Team-Gai, and how these three talented kids manage to become "rivals" with three Konoha failures. I know some of you would have noticed that Liang's little story was a lot shorter then the other two. This is because his story is pretty much like his father's, and it would be boring for me to re-write it all.
There is also one last team that I will keep secret until the time is right. And just a note: Yumi, Shiko are prime examples that Nurture will sometimes prevail over Nature XD
Please Review, I don't usually start typing out the next chapter until my first or second review XD