Wow… it has been way too long since the last chapter. I know that I don't exactly have an excuse for it, but all I can say is that after I posted the last chapter real life hit me like a storm. All of my classes were piling on all the homework that they could, and then combine that with final exams and you've got a very unhappy me. Add into that the fact that I had to cram for three days to finish my scuba certification course material that I should have spread out over three months… yeah. At the moment I am on a cruise ship in Alaska while typing up this chapter, and have been on this ship for the past… week? No… five, six days. So, yeah.
Anyways, I'll probably have at least one other chapter to post immediately after this one because of the spare time I have at the moment, and I hope to get through the Wave arc soon and get on to the Naruto x FemHaku that won in the poll and has my own personal stamp of approval. Naruto's secondary chakra nature will be Suiton along with Fuuton, and one person got the implication of what happens when you cross Juken and ice-nature chakra. It's not pretty to say the least. If you need another hint, go see how Ali Larter's character Tracy Strauss in Heroes kills people. That's it on the most destructive level possible. Only one person has figured it out so far, and I want to see more people figure it out.
Anyways, new poll: Sasuke is going to lose to Naruto in the Chuunin exam prelims. How do you want him to fail?
A) One-hit knockout from Naruto. (This is what I was planning, but I'll see all your opinions)
B) A Hyouton jutsu learned with Haku's help to freeze Sasuke (or at least part of him) solid
C) You suggest a method! For this choice please remember that I'm not having Naruto reveal that he has the Byakugan until his fight with Neji.
Last but not least, I am going to try and recommend stories that I personally enjoyed to other people in this section right here at the end of every AN. This chapter's shout out goes to…
An Uzumaki Amongst The Dunes by pudgypudge. It's a really good story that I found I couldn't stop reading if I tried. I highly recommend checking it out and any of his other stories.
Let's end this AN here. On with the show!... Er… Fanfic!
* * * * * * *
The next day, all of the new graduates returned to the Academy to discover the rosters of their Genin teams and who their Jounin sensei would be. Naruto and Hinata were lucky in that they already knew that they would be together on the same Genin team with Kurenai as their sensei, but the two were still debating whether they would get Shikamaru or Shino. They argued during the entire time that they were walking to the Academy, when at the entrance Megami had the idea that maybe they would get Sakura or Ino. He paled instantly and mumbled something about Kyuubi having an evil sense of humor. Hinata decided that she didn't want to know.
The two of them entered the classroom and sat down at their seats, with Naruto taking up his regular seat next to a certain emo king and resuming active duty as his fangirl repellant. Sasuke shot him the briefest of glares before returning to his brooding, a sign that he still hadn't forgotten about Naruto's humiliating him the day prior. Naruto just looked at him with his usual foxy grin while the Kyuubi was boiling with anger as she remembered what the Uchiha had said.
Kit, promise me one thing?
Huh?
As soon as you get the chance, please give the duck-ass Uchiha the worst beating of his life? I'd do it myself but… hey that gives me an idea…
Awesome, now I've got even more reason to look for a chance!... Hey, wait… what idea?
Oh, nothing. I'll be done in a few hours. Talk to you then Naru-chan!
Kyuubi receded to the back of Naruto's mindscape as she worked on whatever idea she had thought up, leaving Naruto to seethe at being called his least favorite nickname as Shino and Shikamaru entered the room. Shikamaru was counting bills in his hands while Shino was wearing a new pair of sunglasses that were darker than his previous ones if such a thing was possible. The other members of the class shot those two some dark looks, especially Sakura and Ino; those two had each bet three hundred ryou that Naruto wouldn't pass along with an additional hundred each that Sasuke would have the best performance. However, considering that Naruto had used a Jounin-level jutsu and incapacitated a Chuunin technically before he was considered a Genin, the two fangirls had to pay through the nose for their misplaced faith in Konoha's 'beloved' Uchiha.
"SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!" Iruka's voice bellowed from an enormous demonic head to silence the various side conversations going on throughout the classroom as the scarred Chuunin entered the room. "Good! Now that I have your attention, I'm going to be reading off team assignments. Please listen closely because I won't repeat them!"
The class collectively leaned closer as Iruka pulled out a sheet of paper with the team assignments written on it.
"Team Seven: Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke. Your Jounin sensei is Hatake Kakashi."
The bubblegum-haired girl jumped up from her seat screaming about how true love conquered all while Kiba and Akamaru groaned as one and Sasuke furiously wrote something on a piece of paper before handing it to Naruto. The blond looked down at the paper and had to choke back laughter when he read it, especially after seeing the ever-deepening scowl on the Uchiha's face.
Kill me now.
Megami was cackling in the back of Naruto's mindscape, so much so that she nearly… actually, that's a story for another time. Naruto sent his mind back to what Iruka was saying.
"Team Eight: Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto, and Aburame Shino. Your Jounin sensei is Yuuhi Kurenai."
Money changed hands between Choji and Shikamaru, with the Nara on the receiving end. He had bet twenty ryou that Shino was going to be with Naruto and Hinata and not him. How he knew that Naruto and Hinata would be on the same team?... He didn't.
"Team Ten: Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Choji, and Nara Shikamaru. Your Jounein sensei is Sarutobi Asuma."
A loud thud rang out through the classroom followed by another three or four as Ino rammed her head into the desk in disgust. Naruto and Sasuke were snickering as Hinata looked at the blond sympathetically.
"Please return here in one hour to meet your Jounin sensei. What you do in that hour is up to you."
* * * * * * *
One hour later, everybody was back in the classroom and awaiting the arrival of their Jounin sensei. One Genin in particular was currently assessing his current situation and trying to make heads or tails of what was going on.
To say Shino was confused would not capture the gravity of the situation. From what he knew, teams were assembled so that they balanced out each other's abilities. From what he knew of his own abilities and Hinata's, the two of them would be best suited to a reconnaissance squad meant to gather information, and even possibly an assassination squad. Even the specialty of his Jounin sensei, genjutsu, seemed to support this hypothesis. Combined with the fact that his Kikai insects and Hinata's Byakugan made for one of the most powerful reconnaissance combinations possible, his hypothesis was all but confirmed. The one thing that threw off this thought was Naruto.
From what he knew of Naruto, the boy had absolutely no abilities that could be used for information gathering. The only ability that he knew Naruto to possess was the ability to create solid clones that could fight, and even then that would only work as a distraction. But then again, there was next to nothing in his mental folder titled 'Naruto'. Just the day prior his Kikai insects had reported Naruto's use of a small, almost unnoticeable genjutsu on his person that nobody would have detected without either an extreme specialty in genjutsu or some form of aid such as a doujutsu. The knowledge that Naruto had used a genjutsu alone wasn't enough to indicate an anomaly on its own, but combined with the fact that Naruto supposedly had nowhere near the amount of chakra control to create a genjutsu along with the fact that until the day of the test nobody knew that he could create any form of Bunshin whatsoever threw a monkey wrench into the machinery that was Shino's thought process.
The Kikai wielder could only think of two possible conclusions: either Naruto had learned the Kage Bunshin and the genjutsu he'd used the day prior, or the ebony-streaked blond had been holding himself back during his whole time at the Academy, much like Shino had. If the Aburame had so wanted it, he could have taken the spot of top Shinobi away from Uchiha Sasuke much like Shikamaru could have; however it was a poor idea to give away knowledge of one's strengths and weaknesses too early, especially since he didn't know if any of his comrades would eventually be an opponent of his at some time. The first option that he'd come up with was highly unlikely all told, which left him with the theory that Naruto was holding back throughout his years at the shinobi Academy.
There wasn't any more time for his thinking as the door to their classroom opened up and a woman walked, closely followed by a man. The woman had raven-black hair that cascaded down her frame like a waterfall, and had piercing red eyes that only served to accentuate her beauty. The man was relatively plain in appearance without anything to make him stand out in a crowd aside from the fact that there was an unlit cigarette in his mouth and a lighter in his hands just waiting to be used.
"Team Eight?" The red-eyed woman looked at the class, a small smile gracing her lips as she spotted her three Genin. "Come with me please."
Hinata, Naruto and Shino stood up from their chairs and moved to follow Kurenai out of the classroom, straight to training ground number eight.
* * * * * * *
Once the four of them arrived in the training ground, Kurenai sat down on the ground and motioned for Naruto, Shino and Hinata to do the same. When the three of them had seated themselves comfortably, she began to speak.
"Hello you three. I hope you all still remember me despite my being gone for a week?"
The three Genin nodded, and Hinata smiled softly. She especially enjoyed having Kurenai as her sensei at the Academy.
"Good to hear it. I know that all four of us already know each other, but let's reintroduce ourselves anyways. I'll go first. My name is Yuuhi Kurenai. My likes include creating new genjutsu, reading books and beating up perverts. I dislike perverts and people who think that women can't be as good of shinobi as men. My dream is to prove that women can be as good or better of shinobi than men. Hinata, would you like to go first?"
Hinata nodded, and Kurenai would be pleased to find that Hinata's stutter had disappeared.
"Ano, my name is Hyuuga Hinata. I like training and pressing flowers. I dislike those who judge people solely for their abilities and also those who dislike others without a good reason. My dream is to become a strong leader for my clan and hopefully change it for the better."
Kurenai smiled; Hinata had a strong will and a good heart, and the genjutsu mistress was sure that the girl would make a good leader for her clan.
"Next, Naruto."
Said ebony-streaked blond looked up and rubbed his itchy eyes slightly before speaking.
"My name is… Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, trying different types of ramen, pranking, training, and my family. I dislike the fact that it takes three minutes to cook instant ramen, and anybody who hates somebody without good reason. My dream is to become the greatest Hokage ever!"
Hinata and Kurenai already knew what Naruto would say, but Shino was slightly puzzled over Naruto's hesitation when saying his name, as though it weren't really the right one. It was just another question that he had to write into his mental 'Naruto' riddle.
"Lastly, Shino, you're up."
"My name is Aburame Shino. My likes are practicing my clan techniques and discovering new types of insects. My dislikes are people who kill insects indiscriminately. My goal is to become proficient in my clan techniques and surpass all Aburame before me."
Shino said this in a monotone voice that made Kurenai wonder if it was even possible for the boy to show emotion in any way at all. She obviously hadn't seen the genre of book that Shino secretly read in the privacy of his own home… and no, it isn't Icha Icha Paradise.
Kurenai sat up straight, very pleased with her team. Naruto and Hinata both had the Byakugan, which was an incredible aid when it came to reconnaissance and fighting in general, while Shino's ability to gather intelligence likely surpassed that of nearly any other genin in his age group, and that combined with his ability for rational thought made him capable of becoming an excellent ninja. Now, if only she could get Naruto to trust Shino with his secrets, then she would have the most tightly knit team to ever grace Konoha.
"Well, now that we all know each other a little better, I'm going to give the three of you a choice. Now, normally we administer our Genin exams the day after we meet our teams to determine whether or not they are capable of working together as a team, but I'm going to give you three the option to either take it now or wait till tomorrow. Give yourselves a moment to talk amongst yourselves before choosing."
The three Genin pulled in closer for a huddle… well, actually, Naruto and Hinata moved closer to the ever-stoic Shino.
"What do you guys think? I say we take this thing now cause we'll blow her away!" Naruto, of course, was ever optimistic.
"It would be the logical decision to attempt the examination today instead of waiting until tomorrow. We are prepared at the moment, and while the chances are small, there is the possibility that one of us could injure ourselves between the space of time between tomorrow morning and now to such an extent as to render us unable to perform adequately. The deleterious effects of attempting it now are outweighed by the possible gain, such as an extra day to strengthen ourselves."
Naruto stood with his mouth slightly agape, trying to process what Shino had said when Hinata piped up.
"He said that taking it now would be smarter, and I agree."
"Well then what are we waiting for?! Let's take it!"
"I see you three have decided then?"
The three Genin jumped up in surprise, Shino included, as they noticed that their sensei was standing right beside them. She had apparently used a genjutsu to make it appear as though she hadn't moved from her position when in fact she had been listening to her three charges. She received fervent nods from Naruto and Hinata and a nearly imperceptible nod from Shino.
"Good to hear. Now, unlike any of the other Genin teams I'm going to give you three options for your Genin test to correspond with the three primary uses for a squad composed like yours. The first choice for you Genin test has to do with your skill in reconnaissance, the most important function of this squad. Your task will be to discover one facet of Maito Gai's famous unbreakable sunset genjutsu by noon tomorrow."
Naruto and Hinata paled considerably at Kurenai's mention of the Maito Gai "Youthful Sunset" genjutsu. It had blinded the two of them several times during their daily training and was considered to be the most dangerous genjutsu to use against a Hyuuga. It left the cousins blinded for anywhere from five to thirty minutes if seen with active Byakugan. They fervently shook their heads, the pallor of their skin worrying Shino.
"Option two," Kurenai continued, "will test your capabilities as either an assassination or retrieval squad. In the same manner that you would gather information without being discovered, you would be able to eliminate a target or recover an object with ease and not be discovered in the process. For this, your task is to steal Hatake Kakashi's book without having all three of you caught in the process."
The gleam in Kurenai's eye at the prospect of burning the cyclopic Jounin's book in front of him was so brilliant that the three Genin could guess what was running through their sensei's mind without any trouble. Naruto was thinking the exact same thoughts; he hated perverts in any way, and made it a point to figure out where his closet pervert of an uncle hid his Icha Icha collection. After all, being a close friend of the author's student made it easy for Hiashi to secure copies of the smut novel.
"Option three," Kurenai said, shaking the three Genin from their various trains of thought, "will test your abilities to perform a preemptive strike. A preemptive strike would be used in war to weaken the enemy prior to engagement, whether it be directly or indirectly. For this task, you must steal Mitarashi Anko's daily box of dango, which she will be purchasing an hour from now, and keep it from her for at least an hour. Now that you have heard all the options, which will you choose?"
To say Naruto and Hinata's eyes lit up after hearing the third option would be an understatement. To say that their eyes closely resembled neon signs would be a more accurate description, but still not quite able to capture just how eager they were. Despite his incredibly thick sunglasses, Shino took notice quite readily.
"I believe that I speak for Naruto-san and Hinata-san as well when I say that option three would be the most logical choice." Kurenai sighed at her team's choice.
"Option three it is. Remember, you must keep Anko away from the dango for at least an hour unless she decided to give up, at which point you would pass the exam. Good luck." As her Genin started walking away, Kurenai muttered under her breath "and I was really hoping to burn Hatake's book too…"
Team Eight collectively sweatdropped. Megami snickered in Naruto's mindscape.
* * * * * * *
Naruto, Shino and Hinata had been lying in wait for nearly an hour now, and Anko was due to arrive any time now. The plan had been worked out twenty minutes in advance, and was now waiting to be put into action.
Naruto and Hinata knew Anko better than more than ninety nine percent of the populace of Konoha and were also two of the only ones that she would not mercilessly torment for stealing her dango. It was a well-known fact that dango was as sacred to Anko as ramen was to Naruto or pocky was to Uchiha Itachi, although Itachi's addiction to pocky was only known by his ANBU squad. What they didn't know was that Anko was addicted to dango in the way that a person would be addicted to cigarettes: it had gone further than just a want, it was a need, and thus, Anko was prone to withdrawal symptoms. Naruto had been trying to wean his older sister off of dango but so far had only succeeded in keeping her at one box a week. Apparently Kurenai didn't know this as of yet, since her usual dango time was replaced with time spent in the Torture & Interrogation unit six out of seven days a week.
Today, luckily for Team Eight, was Anko's 'dango day', and also the day that she would be going through her withdrawal. Naruto and Hinata knew that they need only keep Anko away from the dango for five minutes before withdrawal kicked in and she would be weakened.
It was at this time that Anko arrived at the dango stand and sat down at the stool, ordering her weekly box of dango before pulling out a kunai and cleaning her nails with it. Five minutes later, just as the box of dango was about finished cooking, Hinata approached Anko on a silent signal from Shino, and on the same signal Naruto created a Kage Bunshin, henge'ing it into an exact duplication of the dango box.
"Ano… Anko-sensei?"
The purple-haired kunoichi whirled to face Hinata, who was nervously twiddling her fingers. Instead of verbally acknowledging Hinata, Anko motioned with her kunai for the Genin to continue.
"Ano… I was wondering… could you show me your Sen'ei Jashu no Jutsu?"
To say that Anko was confused would be an understatement. She shrugged her shoulders and put the kunai away and started making hand seals, facing Hinata. While Anko was making hand seals, her dango was placed on the counter only for it to be replaced with Naruto's Kage Bunshin. Anko finished her hand seals and pointed her arms at Hinata, chanting the name of the technique as two snakes came from each of Anko's trench coat sleeves and flew towards Hinata. The indigo-haired Hyuuga smiled softly before being replaced with a log, which was constricted by the four snakes.
Anko raised an eyebrow and quickly picked up her 'dango' when the Kage Bunshin dispersed into a cloud of smoke, giving away Naruto's presence in the process. A vein bulged on the snake mistress' head and she pulled out for kunai.
"I'm going to get you for this otouto!" Naruto ran away as fast as he could with Anko giving chase, Hinata and Shino not far behind.
Kurenai appeared from out of her genjutsu and checked her stopwatch. "Fifty minutes to go…"
* * * * * * *
Anko's mad chase through Konoha tore a path of destruction through the hidden village's market district, destroying two merchant's carts, a pocky store, breaking the special's sign for Yamanako Florists and barely skirting Ichiraku Ramen by maybe five feet. Neither Anko nor Naruto was willing to give in and end the chase, while Hinata kept trying to land a Juken strike on Anko to disable her while Shino was coating the kunoichi with Kikai bugs and amassing a large amount of his hive for some other purpose.
After about twenty minutes of the chase, Naruto appeared in the training ground of Team Gai and the sight that greeted him left a sinking feeling in his stomach as all the blood drained from his face.
Anko burst from the foliage with a kunai raised to drop Naruto's pants and show the world his toad-emblazoned boxers when she too saw the sight and dropped her kunai, an enormous bead of sweat rolling its way down the back of her head. Shino appeared after Anko and quickly performed a Kawarimii to replace the dango box in Naruto's hands with another 'box' that was formed from Kikai insects. Hinata and an invisible Kurenai followed, both of who paled horribly and shivered in fright in anticipation of what was about to happen.
None of them could stop what was about to happen.
"YOSH! MY YOUTHFUL STUDENT LEE! YOU HAVE NEARLY OPENED THE GATE OF JOY! YOUR GLORIOUS FLAMES OF YOUTH HAVE MADE ME PROUD MY PUPIL!"
"YOSH! GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
Off in the distance, TenTen could be seen readying her Soshouryu technique in a vain attempt to stop Lee and Gai while Neji… was staring blankly at the scene in front of him with a look that read "Oh hell no."
"LEE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"FLAMES OF YOUTH!"
TenTen was just about to execute her technique when Lee and Gai embraced and a sunset with a beach in the foreground appeared behind the two spandex-clad taijutsu specialists. Neji had looked away at the last second with perfect timing to avoid the near-fatal genjutsu. Nobody else was so lucky.
Naruto took the sight head-on and dropped the Kikai 'dango box' as he collapsed to the floor, moaning in pain and holding his aching eyes. Anko barely avoided the effects of the genjutsu and shielded her eyes with one hand as she grabbed the 'dango' in her other. Hinata's eyes had been covered by Kurenai's hand at the last second to protect the young girl while Shino was… unaffected. He observed the proceedings while his Kikai inspected the scene.
"It would seem that the spandex that their jumpsuits are crafted from is reactive to Gai-san's chakra, producing the genjutsu that we have seen."
Kurenai stood straight, greatly resembling a fish as her mouth opened and closed repeatedly. Anko's hand trembled as she reached for a kunai, intent on cutting that horrible spandex off of Maito Gai and his pupil so that she wouldn't have her position in Torture & Interrogation taken by the 'Green Beasts'. Naruto had recovered and joined his two teammates in staring at their sensei.
After five minutes of gaping awkwardly, during which Lee and Gai had run off to circle all fo Konoha two hundred times and were currently on their third lap, Kurenai recovered and looked at her students with pride.
"You three… pass. Meet at Training Ground Eight tomorrow for some quick training and then your first mission. And… Shino?" The Aburame looked at his sensei. "Give Anko-chan back her dango, would you?"
Anko looked at Shino the way he imagined a snake would look at a hungry mouse. He handed the dango to the purple-haired kunoichi and ran away as fast as he could. Enormous beads of sweat rolled down Naruto and Hinata's heads at the sight.
* * * * * * *
And here ends the edited version of Chapter 5. Those who have already read the previous version will see that the main difference is in Team Eight's Genin test… and it's a big difference.
The kitsune summoning contract will still be in this story… but it will come into play much later.
As for the questions of a few reviewers about Hyouton jutsu, there is something I must point out as to the Mokuton and Hyouton Kekkei Genkai:
Wielders of those two Kekkei Genkai are born with the two prerequisite chakra natures required for performing Hyouton and Mokuton jutsu, as well as knowledge on a subliminal level as to the process of combining the two requisite natures to form the sub-element. It is still possible for somebody without the Kekkei Genkai to form Hyouton or Mokuton chakra; however, doing so would be incredibly difficult. I was going to reveal it later, but the only reason Naruto will be able to perform Hyouton jutsu as easily as he'll be able to is because of Kyuubi.Otherwise, it would take him several years of training to be able to simply form enough Hyouton nature chakra for a jutsu.
Coming up next: Land of Waves Arc!