Will of Fire
Chapter 3:Teaming Up, Part 1
Naruto sat between Sasuke and Ryu, anxiously awaiting when he would finally be put on a Genin team. The so-called 'exams' had been way too easy. All they had to do was create a proper Bunshin(clone).
Congratulations on making Genin, kit, came the Kyuubi's voice. Naruto couldn't help but smile behind his mask at this. He hadn't talked to Kyuubi much recently, because he had been training so much. He had anticipated the exams to be a hell of a lot harder than they were. Plus, Kakashi had promised Naruto that he would mark his graduation as his coming of age. This was especially invigorating for Naruto, because Kakashi had promised to reveal who his parents were when he finally came of age. So to hear his inner protector's voice was a welcome surprise.
Naruto was deterred from his thoughts, as Iruka-sensei walked through the door, holding a sheet of paper.
"I will now place all of you on your Genin teams. The teams were created to be balanced, with three teams of three." Some were confused at this, seeing that there were ten graduates, not nine. "Starting with Team Seven: Uzumaki Naruto," the blond perked up at hearing his name, interested to see who he would be paired with, "Uchiha Sasuke," the two smiled at each other, and both mentally sighed, glad that they would have a friend on the team, "And Haruno Sakura." The pink haired girl shrieked in excitement at being on the same team as Sasuke.
Naruto and Sasuke shot each other annoyed glances, and then both turned to their third companion, disappointed that they weren't all on the same team, to see Ryu smirking at them.
"Good luck with the banshee guys. I think you'll need it." Naruto started laughing, while Sasuke gave an amused smirk, having not actually laughed since the Uchiha Massacre.
"Ahem, alright then, now Team Eight: Jaganshi Ryu," now it was Ryu's turn to perk up and listen, "Aubrame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata."
Ryu looked around the room, and caught the gazes of his two new teammates. He grinned at the two of them, then gave them both the thumbs up sign. The Hyuuga blushed, and turned away, while the Aubrame just turned away, seemingly unaffected by the friendly gesture. Ryu frowned at this, and turned back, thinking, Crap, out of everyone else here, I get the two that I haven't heard utter one freaking word the entire time I've been at the academy. I'll bet Genkai rigged it just to spite me for that one time I was late for a training session. Heh, as if the beating wasn't enough...
A poke on the shoulder spurred him from his thoughts. He turned to look at Naruto, who said, "Hey, when you get a chance, could you introduce me to that cute Hinata girl?"
Ryu grinned and nodded his head.
"Finally, Team Ten: Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, and Inuzuka Kiba."
A boy in the middle of the classroom slowly raised his hand, as if doing so required actual effort, and asked, "Iruka-sensei? Why wasn't I called?"
"Oh, right, well, Shikamaru, that last IQ test showed your intelligence to be so high, that you are to immediately be moved into strategist training."
"Jamakusai(Troublesome)," was the young boy's reply.
"Now you are all to wait here for your Jonin instructors." And with that, Iruka left the room.
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Ryu and his two new teammates, Hinata and Shino, were all sitting on a park bench, looking up at their sensei. Yuhi Kurenai had been the first to arrive.
"Now, before we officially become a team, there are a couple of things we have to accomplish. The first is to get to know each other a little better. So, I'll go first. My name is Yuhi Kurenai; I like my job as an instructor; I don't like stuck-up snobs and guys who can't take a hint; my hobbies are training, collecting flowers, and spending time with Asuma; my current goal is to help all of you better yourselves; my dream is to have a family." Then, smiling, she pointed to Hinata. "You're up next, ladies first, after all."
Hinata blushed a little. "My n-name is H-Hyuuga Hinata; I l-like, umm..." at this she tented her fingers and blushed a little more, "a-a c-c-certain b-boy," Kurenai smiled at the flustered girl, while Ryu thought to himself, Shit, I hope she's not another Sasuke fan-girl. Naruto would be so disappointed. "I d-dislike... nothing r-really; my h-hobbies are trying to b-become a b-better p-person, and f-flower-pressing; my goal i-is to g-get H-Him t-to n-notice m-me; my d-dream is t-to... ummmm..." at this, the extremely shy girl was blushing a deep crimson, and she covered her face with her hands.
Kurenai sweat-dropped at the sight. Looks like I'll have my work cut out for me with this one. She pointed to Shino next, and said, "Next."
"My name is Aubrame Shino; I like bugs, and my family; I dislike people who kill bugs in front of me; my hobbies are bug collecting, training, and studying; my goal is to become a good ninja, and my dream is the same," he stated in a monotonous voice.
Okay, that guy officially creeps me out, Ryu thought.
"Okay, then," Kurenai said. She then pointed at Ryu and said, "Last one."
Ryu smiled, and cheerfully stated, "My name is Jaganshi Ryu; I like life," this caused Kurenai, and even Hinata and Shino, to sweat drop, "I dislike people who enjoy killing, kill just because they can, and who belittle others; my hobbies include training, hanging out with Naruto and Sasuke, and painting," Kurenai couldn't help but be intrigued by this, "my goal is to protect those I care about, and help them achieve their goals; and my dream," Ryu looked to the sky, with a sad look in his eyes, and said, "is to make my parents proud of me."
Kurenai didn't miss the look on his face as he looked towards the heavens, but decided to ask him about it later.
Kurenai smiled, taking one last look at the three of them, before saying, "Meet me at Training Ground Eight tomorrow morning, and the real Genin test will begin." With that, she disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
The three new Genin stared at the place where their sensei had disappeared. Then Ryu sighed in exasperation, "Dammit, not another test! And here I thought we'd be ready to go and missions, and crap like that."
"It is most likely to test our teamwork."
Ryu stared at the normally quiet Shino with a questioning look on his face.
Shino turned towards him and explained, "I highly doubt that they would go through the trouble of putting us on teams if they wanted to test us individually."
At that, Ryu stood and looked at his two new teammates with a determination in his eyes. "Then let's all go work on that," he said, "If we're gonna work together then we should know how to play off of each others' strengths and cover each others' weaknesses."
Shino then stood as well. "That sounds logical."
Hinata stood up next. "H-Hai(Yes)," was all she said.
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Ryu, Hinata, and Shino all stood at attention before their sensei, Kurenai. She had just explained that they had until noon to get ahold of one of the two bells that she was carrying, or they would fail the test, and they were now waiting for the signal to start.
"GO!"
The three Genin scattered into the surrounding woodland.
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Kurenai was currently standing in front of Ryu, the one she had tracked down first. He was currently wearing what he called his 'fight clothes'. He wore a long, black trench-coat, with the kanji for 'spirit' embroidered in gold on the back, black pants with golden flames spiraling up the legs, and a black T-shirt, with more of the gold flames crossing and wrapping around his chest is a giant 'X'. He wore his Konoha headband as a belt. However, the most intriguing thing to Kurenai was the katana he carried on his back.
"So," Ryu said, "are we gonna stare menacingly at each other all day, or are we gonna fight?"
"Well, I suppose," Kurenai replied. "How about you take the first move?"
"Heh, fine with me," said Ryu, as he took a very interesting stance. He just stood there, with his right arm raised, his index finger pointing straight at Kurenai, his thumb towards the heavens. A pale blue light the size of a pea glowed at the end of his finger, and, without giving Kurenai the chance to think about what he was doing, he cried out his attack.
"Rei Gan(Spirit Gun)!"
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The sphere of pale blue light shot from Ryu's fingertip, instantly growing to the size of a basketball.
Kurenai's eyes grew wide, as she barely dodged the blast of what seemed to be pure chakra. But that couldn't be right. A Genin being able to perform techniques like that was just...
She never got time to finish her thoughts, as Ryu appeared in front of her at a speed that many Chunin would be jealous of, and slammed his right fist into her gut, the strength of it causing her to cough up blood, as she flew backward for a few yards, before crashing into a tree. She pulled herself to her feet, and, seeing that he was coming again, activated a more powerful genjutsu.
Ryu stopped dead in his tracks as the world around him began to spin. He shook his head to try and free himself from the sudden dizziness. This, however, did not help, as the world just spun faster and faster.
This must be a genjutsu, he realized. He then smirked, as he put his hands into the basic chakra-molding seal. Too bad I have an advantage against this. Then he activated his bloodline limit.
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"She's coming," Hinata said, watching Kurenai move through the woods using her bloodline limit, the Byakugan.
Shino's voice came from nearby, "Right. Be careful."
Hinata stood her ground in the clearing as the female Jonin landed in front of her. She took the basic Gentle Fist stance, poised for a fight.
At least she looks more confident than yesterday, Kurenai thought.
In truth, Hinata was completely terrified. But she refused to let it show. Not in front of her teammates. Her own family already viewed her as weak. She didn't know what she would do if her team felt the same way. So, Hinata charged Kurenai, throwing everything she had at her sensei.
Kurenai was easily dodging all of Hinata's actual strikes, but the chakra being expelled from her palms was harder to avoid. Every now and then, as Hinata relentlessly attacked her sensei, she would feel a sharp pain, as Hinata's chakra damaged her chakra system and muscles.
Kurenai dodged a palm strike to the head Hinata had just thrown, and finally saw an opening. She struck Hinata in the stomach a few times, and then knocked her down with a side kick.
"Not bad, Hinata," Kurenai complimented, as she walked up to the shy Hyuuga. "But I should end this..."
She was just about to knock the young Hyuuga heir out, when she suddenly felt a foot collide with her gut, and was thrown back. She looked up, and was thoroughly shocked. Ryu was now standing in front of Hinata, but with one very noticeable difference. A large third eye now adorned his forehead. It looked just like a regular eye, except for the size, and was the same deep brown as his normal eyes.
Ryu smirked, fully aware of what Kurenai was staring at. "This," he said pointing his thumb at his new eye, "is my bloodline limit. This is the Jagan." Then his face turned serious as he turned his head just enough to see Hinata, while his Jagan kept staring right at Kurenai. "Are you alright, Hinata-san?"
"H-Hai," she replied. She wasn't surprised about the Jagan, having been shown the previous day, but that didn't mean she didn't find it just a little bit creepy.
Ryu nodded, and turned to face Kurenai. He used his Jagan to survey the surrounding area. Good, the trap is set. Now for the endgame... His right hand grabbed the hilt of his katana. He watched Kurenai pull out a kunai in response, preparing to meet steel with steel. He smirked, as he pulled out his weapon.
Ryu had surprised her plenty of times today, but now she was just plain confused. He now held in his right hand the hilt and guard of a katana... and nothing else. There wasn't a single trace of a blade. Then her eyes widened at what he did next.
With his smirk still in place, Ryu brought the hilt up in front of him. He then called out another technique.
"Rei Ken(Spirit Sword)!"
Kurenai watched in awe as a blade made of the same pale blue light that formed his Spirit Gun extended from the hilt.
Ryu charged at Kurenai, his 'sword' at the ready. Kurenai instinctively brought up her kunai to block, and channeled as much chakra as she could into the weapon, hoping that maybe that would block it. Luckily for her, it did.
"This 'blade' of mine is made of pure chakra," Ryu explained, "It's a lot like my Spirit Gun, only more refined."
Kurenai was shocked... again. Being able to use techniques like that, without any hand-seals at all? That would require a level of chakra control that many Jonin didn't possess, let alone Genin. She would definitely have to talk to his old sensei, after this.
"Hey, Kurenai-sensei?"
She looked quizzically at a grinning Ryu.
"Yokushi(Checkmate)." He nodded for her to look behind herself.
Her eyes widened at the sight. She was surrounded by the Aubrame clan's infamous Destruction Bugs.
She couldn't believe it. She had completely underestimated their abilities. They had slowly, but surely, backed her into a corner, and she hadn't even come close to seeing it coming. She couldn't be more proud to call herself their sensei.
She smiled as she said, "You all pass."
Ryu continued to grin as he said, "Cool," before promptly passing out.
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Author's Notes
There we go. Much better than my previous Chapter 3. Mainly because it's longer, and wraps up Team 8's entire exam, allowing me to devote the entirety of the next chapter to Naruto and Sasuke's exam. Thanks to those that urged me to do this. Please R&R!... again.