Shinobi Leaves: What Lies Beneath
Ami Inuzuka isn't quite sure how she feels about her first Genin team. Her fellow Jounin make it seem easy, but dealing with three twelve-year-olds fresh from the Academy is driving her crazy! One of her students is color blind, another one uses hand puppets to communicate and the third is deathly afraid of dogs, including Ami's pet, Ryu. After a close call with the children, Ami's feeling the pressure of past mistakes. Ready to give up, she gives the kids one last, simple mission. Unbeknownst to the Inuzuka, there's someone out there who desperately wants to get their hands on one of her kids. And they're willing to do anything. Will Team 6 manage to pull themselves together in time to prevent disaster? Find out in the first of the Shinobi Leaves series, What Lies Beneath, updating every Tuesday and Thursday!
Rating: PG-13 (Some Violence and Sexually-Themed Humor)
Pairings: Vary
Shinobi Leaves, Characters © wolfram18, angeloflight123
Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
What Lies Beneath
2
The air was alive and buzzing with the chatter of more than a dozen Genin as they eagerly waited to be entered into the log of Konohagakure shinobi. The building they were lined up in front of managed to provide shade for the children and not faced with the heat, they were as rambunctious as ever. The excitement from the previous night had not escaped them and now was the perfect time to voice their thoughts on the late graduate from their class.
"I can't believe Naruto stole the scroll!" One small voice rang out in the school yard. A rush of young opinions drowned out the first speaker as they recalled their own accounts of last night's happenings.
"Wasn't it all Mizuki-sensei's fault though?" A young boy piped up. It was momentarily quiet before the Academy students dived back into their blatant thoughts of their black-sheep classmate.
"My dad was out all night looking for them! He was one of the first on the scene when the Third Hokage found Iruka-sensei and Naruto. He said Naruto even had Iruka-sensei's headband on!" One girl was telling a group of children. Her hair was a bright teal color, tied back in two pigtails behind her ears. Her eyes were eerie amber like that of a wolf's, but the twinkle in them was much more mischievous rather than dangerous.
"Does that mean Naruto graduated too?" A robust boy asked through a mouthful of potato chips. He had pink swirls on both cheeks and auburn hair that stuck up on end.
"He probably stole it off Iruka-sensei's head; did you see his Shadow clones? There's no way he graduated!" A blond girl snorted. Many of her peers agreed with her while those who didn't were silent.
"I don't think Naruto would do that," another girl spoke up. She had two-toned hair in shades of sky-blue and heterochromia eyes: one red and one white.
"Of course you don't, Haru." A pink haired girl shot at her, spitting out her name as if it were the worst thing to be called.
"You don't either, Sakura, so shut up." The two girls stuck their tongues out at each other. There was a hush in the crowd and the two girls looked around them, their tongues still wagging. Everyone had turned to watch as the one and only Naruto Uzumaki made his way to the back of the line.
"Hi guys," he gave them a big grin with one hand behind his head. Even the attention-lover seemed put off by the many eyes on him. There were shared worried looks of 'did he hear us?' and 'why is he here?' before the children settled back down into a line. The thick tension melted away.
"Hi Na-Naruto," the shy Hyuga princess turned around and mumbled from her spot in front of him.
"Hi Hinata," he smiled gratefully. It was nice to have someone who would always treat him like a normal person… even if she sometimes gave him the willies. Suddenly she was pushed out of the way and the teal-haired girl appeared in front of him, a giant smile on her face.
"You made it Naruto! I thought my Dad may have been lying to me, but I guess he was telling the truth after all," she spoke quickly. Suddenly her visage turned serious, if not a little scolding. "You shouldn't have taken the scroll. If you studied a little more instead of being such a pest you may have been able to pass without all the commotion!" She wiggled a finger at him.
"But you should see what I can do now, Uru! I can make thousands of Shadow Clones! Like real ones, better even than Iruka-sensei!" Naruto made wild gestures excitedly.
"Yeah right," Uru laughed. There was no way Naruto had mastered the jutsu in one night. Not after the puddle of goop he'd conjured during the graduation tests.
"Really! I even beat Mizuki-sensei up with them! It was all flying fists and BAM! WHACK! WOOSH!" He flew his hands around dramatically.
"Now you're telling tales," Uru put her hands on her hips. Naruto quickly denied it.
"It's okay, Hinata." The two-tone haired girl, Haru, was helping her cousin dust off her clothes after picking her up from the ground. She threw a glare at Uru. "You should be more careful Uru. You know how Hinata is." Haru's frown immediately turned into a soft smile as she turned back to her younger cousin whose cheeks were flushed bright red, having fallen in front of Naruto. She'd never call Hinata fragile in front of the Hyuga princess but it was quite clear that the kunoichi life might be tougher than what Hinata could handle. She tried hard though; Haru had to give her that.
Uru quickly made an apologetic bow, bending from her waist with her hands clasped together in front of her.
"I'm sorry, Hinata. I didn't mean for you to fall." She looked up at the other girls with large puppy eyes.
"I-it's okay, Uru." Hinata smiled. Uru grinned back.
"Hey, Naruto!" A boy called from farther up in the line. A small bark followed. Uru's pale cheeks flooded red and her eyes grew wide. A few Genin up, Kiba Inuzuka was waving at Naruto. "You made it!" The boy smiled.
Uru sighed, gaining giggles from both Haru and Hinata.
"Dattebayo!" Naruto shouted in return, right behind Uru. She jumped at the sharp sound ringing in her ears and turned on him with hell in her eyes.
"Naruto, you dope! Don't yell in my ear!" She hit him over the head.
"Yow! Uru…" Naruto pouted, rubbing his spiky blond hair.
A Chunin came and collected the next child, a boy with wild brown hair and scars on his neck, who stepped forward shyly to follow the shinobi inside the building to take his identification picture. Simultaneously, the remaining children took a step forward.
"Do you think he really graduated?" Hinata whispered to her cousin. The mixed blooded Hyuga took a minute to answer as she looked the blond boy up and down.
"Well he'd be stupid to come here if he hadn't. We'll know for sure if he shows up to orientation tomorrow." Haru shrugged and turned her attention back to the building in front of her.
"This is really it," Sakura Haruno said out loud to no one in particular. For once, Haru agreed with her. The graduation itself didn't seem to be such a final step but being entered into the Shinobi listing had some sort of permanent feel to it. Through that, they'd receive missions and be a representative of their village. They'd be a contributing citizen of Konohagakure, no longer a child who couldn't pull their own weight.
Although many of them were only twelve, their naïve childhood was ending today.
Tomorrow they'd be Shinobi.