Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, never will, don't even want to.
This chapter is about the newest team member, it may seem a bit boring as nothing really fun happens but hey, I have to introduce the new member. As I said he's just average, totally average…maybe…
( Hokage's Office )
Seven Jonin stood around the Hokage's desk as they waited in silence for him to begin. He put down his pipe and looked at them with a smile.
"It's good that you've joined me, as you know the graduation exam finished today. We are here to divide the fresh recruits. We have a total of twenty-one that passed, seventeen from the class itself and four which did a special program after they flunked last year."
"Team 1 is still being used."
"Team 2 will consist of Ryuko, Kosei and Momoka. Their Jonin Sensei will be Hayama Shirakumo"
"Team 3 will consist of Kosuke, Daiki and Ayane. Their Jonin Sensei will be Hamaki Mimura"
"Team 4 is still being used."
"Team 5 is still being used."
"Team 6 will consist of Riku, Ryoka and Natsuki. Their Jonin Sensei will be Suzaku Nara"
"Team 7 will consist of Sasuke, Kiba and Sara. Their Jonin Sensei will be Hatake Kakashi"
Said Jonin interrupted him "I would like to have Naruko in my team as well, you know my reason for asking this."
"Sorry Kakashi but I can't do that. Chiriku-san will be her Sensei as he's already trained her for years. Her personality would also clash severely with Sasuke and Kiba."
"But…"
"No Kakashi, this is final. You will receive your team and work with them."
"Team 8 will consist of Naruko, Hinata and Yuuto. Their Jonin Sensei will be Chiriku from the Fire Temple"
"Thank you Hokage-sama, I will guide this team to the best of my ability."
"Team 9 is still being used by Might Guy."
"Team 10 will consist of Shikamaru, Ino and Choji. Their Jonin Sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi"
"Team 11 will consist of Shino, Kanna and Riku. Their Jonin Sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi"
"You will meet with your Graduates tomorrow at ten in the morning. You will test them to see if they are qualified to pass as real Genin, the test is of your own choosing. There is no limit to how many teams can pass, if they are worthy of passing then I expect you to do so."
( The following morning )
"Good morning Sensei! Are you ready to go?!" someone's excited… it's going to be the same thing except with one more person on the team Naruko. You have the same sensei, the same teammate and probably only a few more boring useless chores. There's nothing special about being a Genin.
"Calm down Naruko-san, we have more than enough time. I'm not supposed to meet our team until 10 anyway."
"I have to wait one hour?!" we have to wait one hour?! Why?! It's not like we don't know what's going to happen or who's in our team…Except for Naruko, she doesn't know about the last one.
"Then we can finally meet the third member, are you excited Tora-chan?"
"Miauw"
"What do you mean you already know who it is dattebanya?!"
It was obvious, way too obvious if you just payed some attention. "Miauw"
"…I was sleeping…" thought so.
"Let's be on our way, we don't want you to be late to hear who your sensei is going to be now do we?" sarcasm much?
( The Final Class )
As we entered the classroom we noticed the brats sitting in a small group speaking with a hushed tone. Apparently something had happened during the previous evening which caused a massive commotion in Konoha…
"Did you think our examiner would be traitor?! He could've killed any of us!"
"He did seem weird, the way he attacked Naruko in that test… it was weird"
"My father told us he stole something from the Hokage's tower!"
"You're mistaken, he made someone do it for him! I heard my parents talking about it as well"
"So you think…"
"Hn, apparently Sasuke-kun knew he was a traitor and lured him into a trap by taking the scroll as bait, he's so awesome!" Oh great one of those passed…
"What'd he take?!"
"The Forbidden Scroll…"
"Really?! He's so cool! So what happened?!"
"The only thing I know is that the examiner died…I'm sure Sasuke-kun is fine, how could anybody harm him!"
"True!" the door opened and the Prince of Emo's walked in with a slightly dark aura surrounding him, it felt off… it was as if it was made out of…yes, it actually was, it was Dark Chakra! The piece of shit did something last night!
"SASUKE-KUN! You're alright!"
"See, I told you nobody could harm him!"
The Emo ignored them and walked to his seat, on the way there he looked at us with an evil glint in his eyes and a soft whisper "I'll get back at you peasant, just you wait"
He changed since yesterday, sure he was always an emo and dramatic but this… he actually had some killing intent and the look of a maniac. The Dark Chakra affected him, or did it… maybe it just loosened the noose on his negative emotions even further? Whatever it did, it wasn't good. Not that he could harm us, he's still a weakling!
"Settle down graduates it's time to announce the teams!" silence…
"Some of the teams are already in use, so don't ask why I'm beginning with the second team and not the first… Team 2 is…" I didn't really pay attention as I knew what my team was, but I did see some new faces in the classroom, ones that failed last year maybe?
"Team 7 is made up of Sasuke, Kiba and Sara. Your Jonin Sensei will be Hatake Kakashi" Hatake? That somehow sounds familiar, but from what? Ah well, no sense thinking about it now! Poor him though for having the Emo on his 'team'…
"Team 8 is made up of Naruko, Hinata and Yuuto. Your Jonin Sensei is Chiriku" there we go! Let's see if I'm right, Naruko check, Stutter check…and last but not least the average guy that showed almost no emotion except for a raised eyebrow…
"Tora-chan, who's Yuuto?" Still doesn't know huh.
"Miauw"
"No way! But he's so…so…average…" no way really? I had no idea! I thought Baldy said he was crazy awesome and special! I thought his plain brown hair and eyes would excite you, or is it the six out of ten face and appearance that blends in with everybody?
"What do you think Hinata-chan?"
"He seems nice?" even she can't properly say something positive… trust me, the two of you are in for a surprise.
The division of the teams was being finished and we were told to wait for our sensei to appear, it should take ten to twenty minutes apparently. Luckily for us the door opened immediately and Baldy stepped in.
"Team 8, I'm your Sensei Chiriku, follow me" boring Baldy, acting as if you don't know us pff.
The four of us got on our feet and followed Baldy as he walked without a single word. We kept walking and walking until suddenly "We're picking up the pace, try to keep up"
He jumped and we were forced to slightly increase our speed, I immediately knew which way we were going as we've followed this path numerous times before. Yuuto, I still haven't come up with a nickname, didn't struggle to follow us at all. The speed increased even more, Baldy was testing the newby to see what he could do. The speed increased numerous times until we went at about 70% of our usual speed, surprisingly Yuuto managed to keep pace even if barely!
He panted lightly but didn't complain in the slightest. We soon arrived at our destination, the Palace! Yuuto suddenly halted in his track and gasped at the sight before him, he spoke a rare few words "We're going to the Palace?!"
Naruko gave a shrug "You don't know anything about us, do you?"
"No? I'm always too focused on my studies and training… I honestly don't even know anybody from the class…"
Ooooh it was one of these! The type that forgets a person after only five seconds of meeting them, not that I'm one to say something about that…
"We'll do introductions when we get inside. Follow me" Baldy just continued without telling him why or how they were allowed to pass. The guards slightly bowed before us and I could marvel at the sheer number emotions on the Newbies face. Shock, fear, curiosity and most of all nervousness, it was exquisite.
We arrived at our usual gardens where a table with food was already waiting for us! Damn Baldy you did great, not only did you pick a good location but you also arranged food!
"Please take a seat Yuuto."
"O-okay..."
Naruko and Stutter sat at their usual seats and began putting some pastries on their plates. "Can we eat yet?"
"Wait a bit longer Naruko" no -san at the end anymore?
"Finally you're dropping the formalities dattebanya! Why now after all this time?!"
"Because we're now officially Sensei and student, before this you were my master's daughter." Thought so, finally he's done with that annoying stuff.
The Newby shot up from his seat and stared at Naruko "You're what?!"
"The Daimyo's daughter" she gave him a brilliant smile as if it was the most normal thing in the world to say.
"Let's introduce ourselves shall we, Naruko you can go first as you've already begun. Some general things like likes, dislikes and your dream will do"
"Okay! My name is Naruko, I love Tora-chan, fish, my family, fish, Hinata-chan, training and food! My dislikes are judgemental people, arrogance and people that think men are better than woman as Shinobi. My dream is to bring together all nine tailed cats!"
Way to drop a bombshell!
"You want to what?! But they're demons!"
Killing intent spiked from both me and Naruko as we glared at him, Baldy eased the issue slightly "Stop this, the both of you. Yuuto there are many things you don't know about the tailed cats and more things that are false. For one, they aren't demons, far from it in fact."
"H-How so?" Oh great another Stutter…
"They are a force of Nature. And as a force of nature it is utterly insane to try and force your ways on them… many have tried and many have died, that's why they're called demons. Because they've killed so many humans in retaliation. Do you know of the term Jinchuriki?"
"I do, one of our books said something about them. They contain them, right?"
"Correct, it's good that you know they're not the same as the thing they contain. Naruko is one of them and has a close bond with her Tailed Cat. So don't disrespect them, understood?"
He nervously swallowed from the bombshell news and looked at Naruko "I'm sorry Naruko, I didn't know"
"Didn't know what?" she didn't let the issue drop easily
"That…that I was wrong in what I thought I knew. I will never call them demons again." He's quick to accept things!
"Apology accepted!" which makes it easy in this situation, he fits right in so far.
"Let's continue with you Yuuto, tell us something about yourself. As you may have noticed us four already know each other rather well, we will try our best to make you feel part of the group."
"Four?" hey! Don't tell me he forgot about me! "Miauw"
"Tora-chan is part of the team too!"
"…I'm sorry Tora-san, I didn't know." That's better!
"My name is Yuuto, I'm an orphan that lives by himself. I'm not really used to interaction with others so I might come off as clumsy, awkward or rude sometimes… my likes are training, chakra and living in the forest. My dislikes are fire, people that don't respect nature and standing out. My dream…is to become Hokage and be less average…" He doesn't want to stand out but wants to become Hokage?!
Baldy seemed equally surprised "Why do you want to become Hokage?"
He looked at us with a serious and unwavering expression "So there won't be any more orphans… I want to unite the world and stop the wars." Sorry kid but that's impossible, war is in the human's nature…many have tried, all have failed.
"A respectable goal, we will do our best to help you accomplish this. Last but not least is Hinata"
"Hai. My name is Hinata Hyuga. I like flower pressing, Naruko and Tora-chan. Training with Sensei, and pastries…I love cinnamon buns. My dislikes are stuck-up people, the ways of my clan and arrogance. My dream is to unite my clan."
Three big dreams, one even bigger than the other… it seems Stutter's is the most realistic one.
"And finally me. My name is Chiriku of the Fire Temple. I used to be the head monk there before I joined the Guardian Twelve, I will be your Sensei from now on. My likes are teaching, meditating, nature and a life of serenity. My dislikes are war, greed and the darkness in humanity. My dream is similar to yours Yuuto, it's to remove the darkness from the world."
A dream is a dream because it's not reachable in reality, you can't remove darkness. Darkness is as much part of us as is light.
"Now that we've gotten to know each other we will discuss some issues over lunch. As you may have guessed already Yuuto, neither Naruko nor Hinata are Genin level. Naruko has been trained for many years by twelve Jonin, the same goes for Hinata as she's from the Hyuga family. This is not to put pressure on you, we will see what your level is and do our best to bring you up to our level as quick as possible."
"Sensei, what level are they?" far above you…
"Naruko is Jonin level in skill, but she lacks experience. Hinata is Mid to High Chuunin but also lacks experience."
He looked at them dumbfounded "But they're my age!"
"Indeed, but Naruko is a genius of hard work, whereas Hinata is a genius at her own chakra. Neither of them have gotten so far by slacking. They don't take things for granted and strive to overcome themselves each and every day, and I expect the same of you."
"Hai Sensei!" he looked at us with newfound respect "Will you be testing me as well?"
"I will indeed, that's what we're going to do after lunch. I want to see what you can do, there will be no secrets between each other. You will not hold back any longer"
He suddenly quieted down before gulping yet again "You…you knew?"
"I do, you may have fooled others but I took notice of it immediately when I looked for the third member. You have a curious way with chakra, tell us about it while we're still sitting" the interesting part, I'm also curious as to what he can do.
"Okay…You must have also noticed that I can't use the Henge?"
We nodded, at least I knew and I'm sure Baldy did as well.
"The easiest way to explain it is that my chakra has a personality of its own? When I started living in the forest I became lonely…extremely lonely. I almost never had any human interaction as I was, and am, scared of human interaction… that I'm talking to you now is a miracle… I was so lonely that I sought company in things like animals, plants and trees and finally…"
"You reached out to your chakra?" How curious.
Newby nodded "I did, I played with it as a kid out of instinct and used it to have fun. One day something snapped in me and I woke up with a huge headache, and from that day I felt a bond with my chakra."
"Something snapped? Tell me, did you notice something off in your personality?"
He tilted his head as he thought about it "I never really payed attention to that…maybe I've gotten quieter and withdrawn? I don't know for sure…as I said, I don't talk with people much…"
He's got a split personality? And one of them fused with his chakra apparently, I never knew that could happen. It does make for a curious situation!
"Okay, I can follow your story so far. Now about your abilities, it seems as if you use chakra with everything. Even now I can see a slimmer of chakra around you if I pay close enough attention."
Stutter activated her creepy eyes "You're right! His chakra is moving through his body as if it's alive, it's not sticking to the pathways!" Oh? Now that's even more interesting, that sounds a bit like sage chakra!
"Miauw"
"Tora-chan asks if you're in tune with nature? I don't know what she means but…"
"I do! When I close my eyes and sit still I feel the nature around me!" thought so, he's actually tuned in with the nature itself if only a little.
Baldy's face changed as he heard this as well "Tell me, do you take in chakra from around you?"
"Yes? I always do… when I played with my chakra I had almost nothing so it quickly became boring… so I tried taking some from around me, I knew everything apparently has a little chakra because of people in the forest talking about it sometimes"
…He's not serious is he…sages train years to master the special chakra and he somehow lucks out as a kid! Damn kids not knowing any better, I think him being young actually helped as brats have better instincts!
"What can you do with that chakra Yuuto?" a good question, I wonder as well…
"Uhm, I spread it around me like fog. I then use the fog to create things like blades… I also make myself stronger and feel stuff around me. I like shaping things with my chakra?" he held up his hands as they turned blue, the next second the chakra shaped into all sorts of animals. A small fox, rabbit, cat and some critters…his shaping skills were amazing to say the least! It must be because he did nothing other than this as a child, it's just natural to him, amazing.
"That's enough Yuuto, you have a great gift that can be developed even further. First we have to see which path would be the best for you. There are some general things that I will be teaching you as I've taught the others, you need to be able to use the Shunshin and Kawarimi without any seals or words. My philosophy is that dodging and surviving is more important than beating the other person quickly." A solid one, wear them out and wait for an opening, or keep dodging and support your allies.
"But Sensei, I can already use those without seals or words…" Told ya so
"Show us"
He did do it without signs but it was still too slow, it took almost a full second before he got to a new location. "Still too slow Yuuto, you need more practice. Naruko, show him"
Newby looked at Naruko with curiosity "Okay!" and watched as the latter suddenly disappeared from her spot, she changed location about two to three times a second! A log appeared next to her to which she kept replacing herself with it back and forth with record speed…Newby could only look with large eyes and an open mouth.
"That Yuuto, is how you use them. And Naruko is still not even near fully mastering them, she's proficient yes, but not a master as of yet. You will have to be able to do both in half a second before you pass"
"Hai Sensei" Haven't really noticed the socially awkward part of him yet, but I'm sure it will come. Maybe he's so in the zone at the moment that it's going decent.
"We're going to have a quick spar, you will show me what you can do. This way we can judge on which parts we will have to focus during the coming year."
"Why one year?" Ye, why?
"Because that's when you will participate in the Chuunin exam. These are held two times each year, the next one being held in six months' time. But you aren't ready for those, actually you are, but I still have much to teach you. You're required to have finished six C-rank missions before you can participate, we will do those in the final six months. These first six months will be fully used to train and nothing else, not even D-rank missions." Sweet! No boring ass crap like that!
"Why not? Don't we need the experience?"
"D-rank missions are a waste of time…even the new monks at the temple didn't have to do such menial tasks each and every day. They say it promotes teamwork, I say it promotes annoyance" so very true…
Newby didn't seem to glad about it though "But…I need the money in order to live… I can't buy Ninja equipment and stuff like that from my allowance…" No worries Newby, Tora-chan will save the day!
"Miauw"
"Tora-chan's right! You can stay here!" then we won't have to move to the damn village each and every day thank kami!
Baldy looked at us with a smile "That's actually a good idea you two, Hinata we will see if you can live here as well. It will give us all the more time to train, Yuuto, you said you like living in the forest correct?"
"I do"
"Do you want to stay in a room or in the Daimyo's forest during your time here? I can arrange both for you if you wish"
"The forest! I can really stay here?!"
"Of course, why would I have said so otherwise" I think Newby isn't used to this…
Newby seemed relieved and smiled "I would like to stay in the Forest please" I think his stay in the Konoha's forest may not have been by his own design, or at least not without an incentive.
"I will arrange it; do you need to grab your belongings?"
"I don't, the only thing I own is the camp I made and these clothes" I thought he said he got an allowance?
"That's not a lot, why is that?"
"I'm…afraid to go into the village…" he's not that shy, is he?!
"…I won't ask further about the subject then, I can see it's a somewhat difficult subject as of now. Maybe later when we get to know each other better."
"Thank you Sensei" Damn you Newby, you've made me curious, making me curious and then not telling me what's going on is extremely annoying! I will be thinking about this all day long!
"Then it's time for the spar. Follow me" the two went a bit further towards the clearing and stood in front of one another ready to begin. Newby being extremely nervous of course.
"Begin!"
Newby released a blue fog around himself and held out his two arms. Two small blue balls formed and began spinning in the air around him. I couldn't tell what they were for except that they were obviously made from chakra. His next act was a bit more obvious, two large blue blades formed on his forearms leaving his hands open to use.
He ran at Baldy as the fog followed his every move, it always had the same radius around him of one metre. Baldy stood there just waiting for the attack, Newby slashed his right blade horizontally to which Baldy was forced to dodge.
He dodged sideways…only for the blade to suddenly change form and follow him! Apparently as long as someone was within range of the fog he could change the shape of his blades to follow them!
Baldy however wasn't an expert for nothing, he grasped the blade with a shield covered hand and looked at it with interest. "Now I've caught you, what's next"
Newby smirked and slashed his other blade to which Baldy moved the grasped blade in hopes to block it. Blocking ones' slash with his own blade, that's just uncool… the blade he held just vanished! Baldy looked a bit surprised and dodged backwards enough to dodge the incoming slash even as it changed shape. He looked back at Newby only to see two fully formed blades yet again.
"So you can make it appear and disappear at will, and even change its shape while it's in range of your fog. A most interesting skill indeed."
Newby said nothing and just stood still obviously stalling for more time, but for what? I looked closer only to suddenly see four blue balls spinning around him! They multiplied! Do they suck in charka from the fog to multiply by themselves?!
Newby rushed in again with a constant barrage of attacks which Baldy either blocked or dodged, he didn't go on the offence himself as he wanted to see what the newest member could do. This went on for a couple of minutes until sixteen balls of chakra were spinning around the Newby…sixteen balls that didn't seem to do anything, but what for?
Baldy decided to find out and attacked for the first time on his own, he took his staff from his back and attacked the Newby. The latter was surprised with the sudden attack and tried to dodge mid-swing of his blade but fell short, the staff would have hit him!
It would have, but it didn't. One of the balls shot towards the staff at the very last moment and cancelled it with its own force. So they're used as a defence, a defence that gets stronger the longer the fight lasts. Useful in the long run, but useless when you're forced to defend early on?
Baldy thought the same yet again and continued attacking. Newby blocked the attacks with his blades if possible and was forced to block the others with this diminishing amount of chakra balls…only three were left which luckily for him multiplied to six after the last exchange.
Newby went for a last assault and attacked with both blades vertically. Baldy, instead of dodging, decided to block them with this staff. Or at least he tried to as they went through his staff. They suddenly disappeared only to materialize again after they passed the staff!
Baldy was taken by surprise and for the first time Shunshinned to the side, it was the first time Baldy was forced to use an actual Jutsu. He appeared one metre to the left and was instantly hit by six blue balls of chakra as they seemed to have anticipated where he would appear! So they not only block but also attack, how useful.
But how did he know where Baldy would be appearing? Shouldn't that be impossible?
The six shots were blocked by a shimmering shield, Baldy had it up this whole time… of course he did, he just didn't have to use it until now except for the small shield when he grabbed the blade.
"Great work Yuuto, we're ending the spar now. You managed to hit me with an attack as I didn't think your chakra balls could also attack, you did well in tricking me. But how did you find out where I would appear?"
Newby scratched his head "I sensed your chakra moving" he's that good a sensor?! That's incredible!
"You did what? That's at an incredibly high level Yuuto, are you sure?"
A quick nod was the response, apparently it was, if not then how was he able to do what he did? This Average brat wasn't average at all.
"And am I correct in assuming that you can extend those blades of yours to whatever area your fog covers?"
Another nod. "That is a useful skill indeed, but you need to work on your deception more. If you'd suddenly switched the length or movement of the blades when I wouldn't be able to dodge it would have been far more effective. You could also have tricked me into thinking they had a fixed range for the first few exchanges."
Deception is the number one trick in a shinobi's books. He did do that with the last attack though so points to him.
"Overall you did very well, your techniques are unique and have a lot of potential. But I can't help but think that you're more suited for a different fighting style."
"Why Sensei? Didn't I do good for a beginner?"
"Because of those multiplying balls, it'd be better if you had a fighting style that gave you more time before finally attacking. After you have enough balls you will finally attack, so a style that dodges and retreats until you are at your maximum strength would suit you better."
"This style also fits rather well with Hinata and Naruko. Naruko is a front-line attacker that takes the attention of the opponents while Hinata supports him. You will have all the time needed to build up your strength and then go for an all-out assault when the opportunity arrives."
I could see Newby getting slightly frustrated by the idea, he didn't like it?
"So I'm just a backup?"
"No, you're not. You're the clean-up crew. Imagine having over a hundred of those balls ready to attack and then giving the opponent no chance to escape or retaliate. Why would you put yourself in a difficult position if there's no need?"
"But…"
"No Yuuto you're mistaken. You aren't a backup. I will be teaching you a number of techniques that'll allow you to do the same thing if you're by yourself. You will be just as effective alone as in a team if you do this right. Just trust me, I've got a lot of experience by working as one of the Twelve."
This convinced the Newby and rightly so. Baldy was right, he's in a team now and has to take the position that's best suited for him. His average demeanour is actually helpful in this, the enemy won't take notice of him until it's too late because Naruko and Stutter grab far more attention.
"Okay Sensei, I'll trust you…" still not totally convinced but good enough. Don't worry Newby.
"I will be training you in evading and speed, you need a lot of speed for those blades to become effective. You will also need it to evade attacks and stall for time. Therefore the coming year will contain a lot of physical training."
Oh great, even more of that… but he's right, speed is key for a good shinobi.
"I will also be training you in your chakra affinity"
This surprised the Newby though, he didn't think he would be doing that so quickly!
"Isn't that for Chuunin?!"
"It isn't necessarily. Most wait until they're Chuunin because of the chakra requirements, you however have enough and great control of it. In fact," he threw the Newby a piece of chakra paper "put your chakra into that"
The startled Newby caught the paper and looked at it before doing so. The paper crumbled into dust showing that he had a good earth affinity and nothing else.
"Earth affinity it is, that's well suited for the style I'm going to train you in. Earth Jutsu are very well suited for both defence and offence, if you have enough control over it you might even be able to destroy entire areas with it or control the pace of a battlefield"
As well as something else, you're forgetting his Sage chakra. Sage chakra is made by becoming one with an element…and an Earth Sage is terrifying you can believe me on that, they're almost unstoppable if they've mastered the arts enough.
Newby smiled greatly when he heard he had earth affinity, he said he hated fire so he must be glad he doesn't have that?
"Earth huh, I like that."
Or it's because of his love of nature, Earth is nature more than any other element. Sure Water may help with providing life and Fire in giving warmth needed, but without earth nothing would be possible. I wonder what he'll turn out to be, he's almost as special as Naruko and Stutter…
So there ya have it, the new member. His skill may seem a bit overpowered but I'm changing things for the better compared to the original story. I feel that some mediocre Jutsu etc aren't really worthy enough of Jonin…therefore the really strong dudes are going to be even stronger hehe. And before you ask, yes there is a chuunin exam in Konoha in six months' time, but I will not say anything about them participating as of yet, that'll be a secret. And Duckbutt has learned a new skill, but what is it? Find out in the next episode of Tora the Ten Tailed Cat.