Chapter Two: Kurenai's Test
"Hey, you must be Lee," said Naruto waving to Lee.
"Hey, who are you?" asked Lee, walking over to Naruto.
"The names Uzumaki Naruto," they shook each others hand, "I looked through the class roster of last year but couldn't find your name in any graduating class. Why's that."
"Well, you see I never passed the tests and eventually dropped out," said Lee with a low face, "I'm only here because Kurenai requested I be."
Seeing his ally feeling down, Naruto decided to cheer him up, "Hey, don't worry about it. I kept failing the tests myself, I'm only here because I learned a really awesome Jutsu," it seemed to be helping up until Naruto mentioned the Jutsu, which just bummed Lee out again.
"Look Lee," said Naruto, "I'm sorry."
"Its Ok," Lee said giving Naruto a thumbs up, "I just need to remember what Gai told me and I'll do just fine."
"Um," came a light voice, "is this where team ten is supposed to meat?"
"Oh, Hey Hinata!" said Naruto, "That is your name, right?"
"Y-yes," Hinata replied and blushed a little.
"You okay?" asked Lee and Naruto, who both got closer to her face to check it, only making it redder.
"Y-yes," she said turning away.
"Sorry if I'm a little late," came another voice from behind them. There stood a woman with long brown hair wearing a Jounin vest, "I'm your instructor Kurenai. We'll start off with a little test."
"What are you testing us on!" said Naruto getting excited, "Our Jutsu powers?"
"Actually this is a test to see if you qualify to be a Genin," she replied with a soft Smile, "First I would like to test your individual abilities."
"What!" yelled Naruto, "But we already passed the Academy, so aren't we Genin yet?"
"Um, h-he does have a point," replied Hinata, "why is there another test?"
"Well, only nine of the graduates are allowed to become Genin, and it is our job to test your skills. Academy graduates only qualify for this test. Now let's not waste any more time."
"Fine by me," smiled Naruto, "I can pass any test you throw at me." Hinata smiled at this. It was the Reason she liked Naruto, his confidence and drive even when no one liked him in the village. Even with their hateful stairs he persevered.
"So who will be first?" asked Kurenai, "Well Naruto seems full of energy. How about you go First. We'll start by showing your Jutsu abilities. And please, no Sexy Jutsu, I've already heard of that one," she chuckled a little at the though of Naruto as a Girl.
"Well, I don't know many, but here it goes," He started with the Henge Jutsu and Replacement Jutsu, which he couldn't do very well.
"Can you do a Bushin for me?" asked Kurenai.
"Actually, I can't really do that Jutsu," Naruto frowned, "But I can do one better."
"Ok Naruto, but a Bushin is pretty basic, this next one should be really good if you can't do that," she was a little disappointed she might already have to fail the team since this was her first one. She already seamed to like these people, so hoped that Naruto's Jutsu was a good one.
"Kage-Bushin Jutsu!" Cried Naruto as ten Shadow Clones appeared.
"Byakugen!" cried Hinata as the clones appeared. She quickly realized that all of them were real.
"Hinata," asked Kurenai, "since you can confirm, are all those clones real?"
"Y-yes" Hinata replied with a little shock, "I can't tell which is the real Naruto."
"Amazing," replied Kurenai, "Being able to create shadow clones at such a low rank. I think I've seen enough Naruto."
"Thanks," he said scratching the back of his head and grinning.
"Since I've just seen Hinata has the skill to activate her Byakugen, I think she's good enough. Now Lee, show me your Jutsu," she said eagerly wanting to see what this boy could do, given all the hype Gai gave him.
"Well," Lee said scratching his head, "You see I don't know any Ninjitsu or Genjutsu."
"Well, I'm sorry but I'm not sure I can pass you then," Kurenai said with a heavy heart.
"Please let me show you my strength in another way!" pleaded Lee.
"Alright, I'll still give you a chance, Since Naruto still seams eager, I want you and him to fight, don't go overboard though. Good luck.
"Lee, I'm sorry but you can't win," grinned Naruto, "Kage-Bushin Jutsu!" said Naruto as ten of him appeared.
"I will prove to you that without Ninjutsu or Genjutsu I can still become a great Ninja!" Lee yelled as he attacked.
Poor Lee, Kurenai thought, I don't think at your level you could beat this Jutsu. However her thinking quickly changed as she saw Lee move. He was a lot faster than any other Genin she had ever seen, though not as fast as her it was still impressive. None of the Clones could lay a hand on Lee, he was narrowly dodging and attacking until only one Naruto remained.
"Wow," Naruto said to himself, "What speed, but that doesn't mean I'll lose! Kage-Bushin Jutsu!" and two more Naruto's appeared around Lee, and the three commenced a simultaneous attack, the two clones were blocked, but Lee was left open to a hard kick in the chest by Naruto, sending him a ways back, but he, to Kurenai's surprise, quickly jumped back up, destroying the two shadow clones, leaving Naruto in mid attack. He punched at Lee, but Lee ducked and Gave Naruto a hard Uppercut sending him in the air a ways and a short distance back. Naruto landed on his hand so he could flip back up, but that plan was stopped.
"Leaf Violent Wind!" said Lee as he kicked Naruto's arm from underneath him, and when Naruto hit ground the spin dragged him a short distance into a tree. Naruto was barely able to stand back up, only to fall over nearly unconscious.
"N-Naruto-kun!" said Hinata as she ran over to him.
"Its ok Hinata," said Naruto in a soft voice, "Hey Lee, that was amazing. How did you get so fast?" asked Naruto,
"Not only that," said Kurenai, "But I'm wondering why you seem to specialize in Taijutsu."
"Well," said Lee, "I am incapable of using anything else, my body doesn't allow Chakra to perform such things."
Hinata and Naruto both looked shock but Kurenai said in a calm voice, "So that's why, but with that condition you still could have passed, so why didn't you?"
"Well, the best I could do was below average Taijutsu, so I could never pass. I dropped out and began training by body, but it wasn't until I met Gai I really started to grow. Ever since then, I have vowed to prove that Even without Ninjutsu or Genjutsu I can become a great Ninja," responded Lee.
"Very well," responded Kurenai. She was amazed that this boy had trained himself to that speed so early, and was already very proud of here team, "In four hours we will begin the second part of the test. So I suggest Hinata warm up and you two rest, after that you'll need it. I'll just relax in my sun bed over there," she then proceeded to lay down on it and take a nap.
Lee and Naruto both went to lay in the shade of a tree while Hinata stood and did some light stretching and basic punches and kicks.
"So Lee," asked Naruto, "since we are here and all, what do you want to talk about."
"Well," said Lee, "I have seen some people from your class and I must say they all seem very strong. Who is the strongest?" asked Lee.
"Well, next to me it would be Uchiha Sasuke," replied Naruto, "I'm pretty sure you could beat the pants off that pompous ass."
"What about that Sakura Girl?" asked Lee.
"Sakura is so cute!" exclaimed Naruto, "I really like her."
"Really?" said Lee grinning, "Well so do I? Do you think you can win her heart before me?"
"What?" said Naruto, "There is no way she would pick you over me. I'll prove it to you!" after hearing this Hinata came to a halt. She knew about the blondes crush on Sakura, but it didn't help any to hear it out loud. She quickly resumed before anyone noticed. However, Kurenai had been listening to the whole thing and spotted Naruto. She didn't know why, but she really liked Hinata, and decided it might be a good Idea to help her confidence, pass or fail this last test.
After while longer Kurenai got up and said, "Ok, you all seem rested enough. Now its time to test your real abilities. Here on my waist is a bell, if you three can get this bell from me in one hour, you pass. The test begins now," and with that Kurenai vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Where did she go?" asked Naruto.
"Byakugen!" said Hinata, as here eyes did that weird thing they do, she hadn't really gotten that good with it yet, so she couldn't see through objects. She could, however, see small bits of Chakra leading off towards Kurenai, "Sh-she's that way."
"Let's go guys!" Naruto said as the three ran into the patch of trees. They followed Hinata's directions until she said to stop.
"What is it Hinata?" asked Naruto.
"She's jumping around us," she replied, but I can't tell what she's doing.
"To late now," replied Kurenai, "Your trapped," she was now standing a short distance in front of them, since Hinata stopped you before you tripped my wires," and then Naruto noticed they were completely surrounded by trap wires.
"Th-the one between us and here is a log, not if we trip it, it will hit us for sure, not even Lee could outrun it," she said, sounding defeated.
"Don't give up Hinata," reassured Naruto, "there is still time left."
Kurenai turned around and started walking when Lee said, "Naruto, trip the wire in front, Hinata, you and Naruto go after Kurenai and I'll take care of the log,"
"B-b…" Hinata stuttered.
"You can trust me, I promise I won't disappoint you," Lee said striking his nice guy pose. Hinata and Naruto nodded as they tripped the wire and ran for it, "Leaf Spinning wind!" yelled Lee as he did a spinning kick with all his might into the log. The log broke, and Lee simply sat there for a moment, his leg filled with a lot of pain.
Kurenai Saw Naruto was right behind her, and swung back and hit its head, but it dispersed into a cloud of smoke as the real Naruto snatched the bell. However Kurenai to went up in smoke.
"Hinata, didn't you saw your Byakugen could see through the illusion?" Naruto yelled.
"I-I-I'm s-sorry N-Naruto-kun," she said almost ready to cry.
"Hey Hinata," said Naruto feeling Guilty, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. But is there a reason you couldn't tell?" asked Naruto.
Though his words were poorly chosen, Hinata felt a little bit better, but couldn't think of the reason, "It's because it's no Illusion," came Kurenai's voice as she chopped at Naruto with her hand, but Lee made it just in time to intercept the blow, giving Hinata a chance to grab for the bell. However Kurenai quickly moved away before Hinata could get it. Naruto was next to try and lunged straight at her, but Kurenai simply jumped over him and looked back. At first she thought Naruto was being stupid, but realized what he had done, he had just preformed the Kage-Bushin Jutsu and two clones grabbed her arms while Lee dove for the bell. Kurenai, however, quickly jumped up again, only to be caught by Naruto who locked her in a full nelson mid air and wrapped his legs around hers while Rock Lee Hinata, being the only one who could reach in time, jumped to the bell again. Kurenai was quick to act as she used here chakra to force herself to spin mid air, smacking Hinata with Naruto, who lost grip in the momentum and was flung into Hinata. Lee took what he though was the last opportunity and launched at Kurenai to snatch the bell, however Kurenai didn't slow down like Lee though, and gave him a hard kick to the head.
The three Genin Lay on the ground hurting as Kurenai replied, "Well times up. Report back the area we started in to hear the debriefing of your skills," the three Genins did as she said after walking up a passed out and red Hinata, who was below Naruto after they landed.
"We will start with you Lee," Kurenai said as they got there, "Your speed and strength are defiantly above par and you know how to use the Leaf Violent wind, which isn't to surprising but still noticeable. What gets me is you also know the leaf spinning wind, and slightly more advanced version of that, which enables you to put more Chakra into your kick and spin, thus doing more damage. But, you had a clear opportunity to grab my bell, but instead you chose to block my attack against Naruto, why?"
"Well, I didn't want him getting hurt," replied Lee, now wondering if that was really the best choice, but quickly decided it was.
"In the academy you were taught that the mission is top priority, so why didn't you grab the bell?" asked Kurenai in a cold stern voice.
"Because I won't let my comrades down," steadily replied Lee.
Kurenai only smiled and said in a warm voice, "that's exactly what I wanted to hear. In these three man teams, we are together for a reason. To support each other on the mission, you three showed excellent teamwork skills, like you were naturals. Starting tomorrow we begin training. Normally we start off with D rank missions, but we will only be doing five of those a week compared to fourteen. Since we are the last team there will be more time for training since there aren't that many jobs to do now."
"But Kurenai Sensei," said Naruto, "Wouldn't it be better if we did more missions and got experience?"
"Normally yes, but D rank for the most part are chores and babysitting, so be thankful."
"Yes sensei!" said Naruto, happy to hear he would be training rather than chores. Then they were all dismissed, ready the next day to start training with the new sensei.
"So, all fourteen passed?" asked Asuma, "Well you know the rules, we compare our reports to see who gets dropped."
"That won't be Necessary," replied the Third Hokage, "I already got word from the other countries, It seems that they all had the same thing happen and we agreed to let four pass this year, so no worries."
"Thank you Hokage!" said Kurenai Joyfully.
"You seem especially happy," said Kakashi, "Any reason?"
"Well, I really like my team," she smiled, "and I'm glad we won't have to disperse them yet."
"So, who was on your Team Kurenai?" asked Genma.
"Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata, and Rock Lee," she replied.
"So you the one that asked for Gai's protégé?" said Kakashi.
Kurenai nodded. Genma then said, "My teams Gria TenTen, Inuzuki Kiba, and Aburme Shino, and you Asuma?"
"Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choiji, and Yamanoko Ino," replied Asuma, putting out his Cigarette.
"So Kakashi," said Genma, "That Leave's you with Uchiha Sasuke, Hanaro Sakura, and Hyuuga Neji? This should be interesting."
"Really?" asked Kakashi "didn't really think much about it," and then he left the room. The other Jounin did the same except for Kurenai.
"Lord Hokage," she asked, "Naruto is the container for nine-tails and I know it is against law to speak of it, but shouldn't this be shared with his team mates?"
"True, keeping this a secret could cause some problems, but there is a reason for this law. I am afraid I cannot allow you to tell the others, Understood?" he said, not sounding happy about having to say that.
"Yes Hokage," she replied and left. The third simply sat there thinking to himself, This promises to be an interesting year.