"So which teams passed the secondary genin exam and how did they do?" Sarutobi steepled his fingers as he spoke and prepared himself to listen to the jonin's stories. Kurenai was the first to step forward.
"Team 8; consisting of Akamichi Chouji, Hyuuga Hinata, and Yamanaka Ino, pass. They were told to place one hit on me while I used a genjutsu to hide myself. Ino led the team, Hinata used her bloodline to find me, and Chouji actually hit me on the arm. They are rough around the edges, but I'm confident I can smooth them out." She stepped back and joined the collected jonin, signaling that she was finished.
As Kakashi stepped forward, to give his report, Sarutobi admitted to himself that he was tired of hearing how the genin under him fail. The old man even considered taking him off of the teaching list and Kakashi back on the full active duty roster. This would be that last time Kakashi would fail a team just because their teamwork wasn't perfect.
"Team 7; consisting of Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba, and Uchiha Sasuke..." he paused while everyone held their breath, "...pass." Every jonin in the room instantly broke out in whispers at this word. Sarutobi allowed them five minutes to calm down themselves, but when it seemed like silence would never come, he stopped them himself.
"Quiet." The Hokage had not shouted, the word was spoken in less than a whisper, but the jonin heard him. When it was calm once more, Kakashi finished his report.
"While Kiba and Sasuke are constantly fighting, they were able to create a truce to get the bells. Sakura made a plan that Sasuke, Kiba, and Akamaru all followed. They need some work, but I think I can handle it."
"Very well." Kakashi stepped back and joined the crowd. "Has anyone else's teams passed?" Asuma stepped up.
"Team 6; consisting of Aburame Shino, Nara Shikamaru, and Uzumaki Naruto, passed well over expectations." The gathered jonin could feel the shift in the atmosphere of the room as the gathered ANBU stood a little straighter after he spoke. Even Kakashi, who wasn't in ANBU any longer, felt pride fill his being at the thought of the child he used to watch became an official ninja.
"What was the test?" The Third was happy that Naruto has passed as well.
"I had planned for them to track me for awhile, but that was thrown out the window as soon as I met them. Shino calmly explained that they were willing to share all of their secrets in order to form trust. We walked to Naruto's...home and discussed things. Everyone who knew where the boy lived knew reason for Asuma's pause. The area he lived in couldn't be considered a home by most of them there. "Every secret was laid out on the table." Asuma held the Hokage's eyes and he watched as comprehension entered them.
"How did they take the knowledge?"
"In stride. Shikamaru even swore not to be as lazy once he saw how Naruto was being treated by civilians on our walk."
"So you didn't give them an actual exercise?" a random jonin asked from the crowd. Asuma ignored him until the Hokage asked him to answer it.
"I believe that anyone willing to completely expose themselves to their team mates disserves to become a ninja." Sarutobi nodded in response; pleased with his son's answer.
"If there is no other business to discuss, I call this meeting adjourned." Soon after he closed the meeting, the jonin filed out until only Asuma was left standing in front of his father. "Did you have something else to add?"
"No, just a question I would like answered. Why does Naruto live in the destroyed sector of town?" His tone had come out as condescending, but Asuma didn't even notice. Even though his son was questioning the Hokage's leadership, Sarutobi found it hard to blame him, given the topic.
"Naruto has lived in that district for a long time. If anyone tried to force him to relocate, I fear it will not go well."
"But, Lord Hokage, the building he lives in can't be considered a home. One day it will collapse, and then what will happen to Naruto?"
"He will pick a different building in the sector and live there."
"But, Hokage-sama, he shouldn't hav-"
"Don't you think I know that?!" The leader's yell caused Asuma to flinch and hold his head down. Asuma had never heard his father sound so defeated, not even after the Fourth's passing. "I know he shouldn't have to live there, away from most human contact, but currently it's the best thing for him. We can't force him to stay in the ANBU headquarters; he got sick the last time. Naruto doesn't want to live off of any of the other clans; you don't know how many times Shibi has come in here, trying to get Naruto to live on his compound." The Third closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself down but when he started talking again, he sounded his age of 73. "I don't know what to do, Asuma. Naruto needs help, and I created that team in the hopes that you all can help him. If you want the truth, I think Naruto has become afraid of humans. I want you to do all you can to break him of his fear and shyness."
"I can't promise anything, but I will try my best." The elder Sarutobi looked up to his son and only saw truth in his eyes. He knew Naruto was in good hands.
"I'll hold you to it. Asuma, I just want to see the boy smile again."
"How did Naruto get sick?" The Third sighed before he answered.
"He was cooped up in Headquarters for a month and his body was used to being outside at almost all times. And Asuma, the boy wouldn't move even if we built a decent place for him in the district, his pride wouldn't let him." Asuma chuckled, so he continued. "He may be shy around strangers, but he still has his pride."
"I was chuckling because I already knew that. You should have heard him when he was showing us his garden." Sarutobi smiled at the memory of his own tour of the gardens.
"Do you know what kind of team you'll train them to be?"
"Yes, but you won't like it."
Another sigh. "What is it?"
"Who was placed on your team today?" Most of the Aburame stopped their quiet conversations to hear Shino's answer. The majority of the clan was sitting out in the garden eating from the plates of food set near the center of the plain they were in. The clan had always had special occasion dinners here amongst the trees, flowers, and insects of the beautiful place. Shibi himself sat with his back to a large redwood tree set in the exact center of the clearing. The tree had been there long before the first Aburame, and was where most of the clan meetings took place. Up in the boughs, different members sat, not even worried about falling. Light came in the form of lanterns hung at odd intervals on the branches.
"Sarutobi Asuma and Nara Shikamaru." Shino was sitting on his father's right, a few feet away. He had shed his large overcoat and was wearing only his black sleeveless shirt and pants; it was customary in the clan to take off coats as a sign of trust. If you were covered, then it was seen as you had something to hide, and there were no secrets amongst members of the clan.
"What do you think about them?"
"Asuma agreed that is was best to share our team's secrets and merely told us to meet for training the next day. I have not seen him enough to make a valid judgment of character. Shikamaru is very intelligent and does not rush things."
"It seems that your team is based on knowledge and stealth. Asuma is known to enjoy challenging strategy games, while at the same time, he could provide the muscle needed for you team to survive." Shino nodded at his father's observation.
Shino's mother, Hotaru, looked up from her own conversation to look up on one of the lower branches of the tree. "What do you think of them Naruto?" Her tone was quiet like all Aburame, but it held a softer note than most of them. Her musical voice and kind nature made her very different than the other members of her family. Naruto was sitting on the branch above Shino's head and had been dropping bugs into his hair, much to the clan's amusement.
"They seemed nice; they didn't even mind my long tour of the garden. Oh I forgot…here!" Naruto rummaged in his bag, sitting next to him on the branch, and pulled a small scroll out from its depths. He then jumped from his branch and landed near the woman. He unfurled the scroll, bit his thumb, and smeared the blood over a seal in the center of the scroll. A plant materialized from the seal. It was two and a half meters tall with trumpet shaped flowers covering the top of it. The blossoms themselves were red-violet with white throats.
"It's beautiful Naruto."
"It's a cultivar of Ipomoea Purpurea called 'Crimson Rambler'. This kind of flower is technically a weed, but the flowers are so beautiful that people grow it anyway. If you keep it near a fence it will grow along it and not mess with your other plants." Hotaru reached over and ruffled Naruto's hair in a loving manner, happy with the gift.
"Thank you very much Naruto, but why give it to us?"
"Well, your birthday is coming soon, a…well…" Naruto's face grew red with embarrassment of the whole clan's eyes on him and just decided to pick up the scroll and put in away in his bag. Shibi decided to change the topic, but keep Naruto talking. He had long ago learned that the boy would only talk if he was prompted to do so.
"You usually only grow plants that have a dual purpose. Does this plant have any other value than aesthetical?"
"Well, if you dry the seeds and grind them into a fine powder, they can be used as a hallucinogen. But it would have to be a pretty big dose." He climbed back into the branch he was on previously and continued to play with Shino's hair. "The others don't seem too bad; the wasps liked them, so they can't be bad people."
"Naruto, Shino, if you two wouldn't mind, I would like to see you spar."
"Do you mean now, Father?"
"If that is no problem." Naruto and Shino nodded.
"Hey Shino, let's spar in the tree." They had not yet learned how to use chakra to stick an object, but they had been taught how to fight in forests. This was one of their first lessons because they were surrounded by forests. But Naruto didn't suggest this so that they could practice. He suggested it because he was more likely to win if they fought off of the ground. Shino was physically stronger but Naruto was faster on his feet, so Naruto only needed to knock Shino off of his own feet to win.
"That's fine." Shino jumped up and joined Naruto on the branch. They both just stood, gauging their opponent. Buzzing filled the clearing as both of the hives woke and prepared to a fight. Naruto was the first to make his move. He jumped forward and moved to kick Shino as his wasps flew from out of his hair. They stayed small, a rule of the spars, but swarmed Shino. The other boy leaped away to another branch, but was followed by the persistent wasps. It took a large number of his own bugs to beat off the mass of yellow and purple, and by the time he looked for his opponent, Naruto was gone.
'His style relies on kicks. If I can disable his legs, I'll win. Now, where will he come from?' Shino slowly turned in a circle, careful not to fall, but still couldn't find Naruto. "Where is he?"
"Up here." Shino looked up to see Naruto hanging on to the bottom of the branch above his head and grinning. "I win."
"How do come to that conclusion?" That's when Shino felt the stinger of a wasp by his neck. It was smaller than the normal wasps and colored almost completely different; purple and black. It was Naruto's most poisonous wasp. "I concede." The wasp moved away and joined the rest of the hive in Naruto's body. They jumped down and joined the rest of the clan who were back to speaking amongst themselves.
"That was a very fast spar." Hotaru commented.
"Ninja battles should be fast and not last any more than five minutes. The only way it would last longer was if the two fighters were evenly matched. Then it becomes a battle of endurance or luck. A fast battle is a good battle." Shibi told her. She had never become a ninja, so she didn't know certain things.
"If we had been fighting on the ground, Shino would have beaten me easily."
"Maybe so, but I accepted the conditions of the match; I lost fair and square." Naruto just laughed, knowing that Shino would not allow him to continue the argument. Naruto spent the rest of his time on the compound explaining all of his new plants to the figure head of the Aburame clan.
The next day, Naruto and Shino walked into the training ground to see Shikamaru and Asuma already there. The two were locked in a battle of whit, shogi. The two were so caught up in there match that they didn't even notice the other two walking up, even when they were standing behind Shikamaru.
"You shouldn't have moved there, now he'll…" Naruto was cut off by Shikamaru.
"Checkmate." Asuma didn't complain about the outcome of the match and in fact, he was smiling broadly at his opponent.
"You're really good, and I would love to keep playing with you, but we you get to training." Asuma stood from the ground and put away the shogi set. When he was done, he walked out into the middle of the training field. The others followed and they stopped even distance from each other. "Now, tell me what kind of fighting styles so you use?" Shikamaru went first.
"I use only the Academy taijutsu, our clan techniques are used best when the enemy can't see us."
"I do not use a strict style, as my clan's moves are used covertly in missions. I have strong arms and use punches and blocks the most."
"I use an over-seas style called savant. It focuses on dodging and graceful kicks to bring down opponents. Unlike most styles, only foot kicks are allowed, no shins or kneeing, and only a few punches are taught. The most use hands get in this style is as open hand slaps to help knock over the opponent. One hand is always kept free for balance and batting opponents' punches away."
Asuma smiled at the boy. 'When he talks about anything he has done himself, he talks so much more.' "What kinds of kicks are used? I've never heard of that style, though the slap thing sounds like the Juken of the Hyuuga."
"Um…Roundhouse kicks using the instep that can go high, head, medium, ribs, or low, the knees. Kicks using the front or side of the foot, high, medium, or low. A hooking kick using the sole of the foot, high, medium, or low. A front sweep kick to the shin with the inner edge of the foot, low only. There might be more, but those are the only ones that I would use on a battlefield." He had been counting off on his fingers and looked up when he had finished. "The style is perfect for me because I'm short and nimble."
"You know a lot about it, don't you?"
"I guess…I got it from a book from the Hyuuga head; he said that they didn't need it anymore."
"Well, I want to talk about our team now. There will only be two absolute rules: follow my orders and never give up. I really have one more rule, which would be 'Never abandon your teammates,' but I don't think you'll have a problem with that. One thing you should know about me, I will never sugar coat things or lie to you. I believe that you will be lied to enough in this business that you don't need it from me. If you ask me a question that I am at liberty to answer, I will answer. So, does anyone have any questions for me now?"
"My dad wanted me to ask what kind of team we would be training to be." Shikamaru asked from Asuma's right.
"This team will need a lot of work before we can do want I have planned for you. But I will train you to be a capture and on-the-spot interrogation squad. Shino can track with his insects, you can use your shadow to capture them Shikamaru, and Naruto will actually do the interrogation."
"But, Asuma-sensei, I'm not really…um...cut out to do interrogation." Asuma just patted Naruto on the shoulder.
"You will be when I'm done with you. Naruto, you are too shy for your own good, and I told the Hokage that I would do my best to break that out of you. This is the best way; your hive is perfect as scare tactics and I know you have several plants that could be used in that field as well. We will also be looking towards you for poisons and antidotes. Do you think you can handle it?"
"I guess I'll try…"
"That's all I ask of you. In fact, I've enlisted the help of a good friend of mine to help you in this department. He's strict, but a good teacher. He has also said that he will not stand for you to act the way you do now when you are around him. He will not teach someone who doesn't wholeheartedly wants to learn." Naruto nodded as a response, contemplating his words.
"Okay, I'll tell you now, this won't be easy. The moves you will learn will be from all different countries; I saw how useful they were during the war and looked them up. Even I can't use them all, but we'll do our best. They are very flexible and can be used as defensive or offensive. But first, we need to focus on chakra control…"
Sorry it's taken so long, but Dark Orb can't access his email, and I needed his help on some parts. Hope ya like it. Please tell me what you think!
DD