"Well, it wasn't easy, to say the least."
"You must have done a good job though, Izumo," said Kurenai encouragingly. "Only two students unable to pass."
The Chuunin rank teachers at the Academy were seated in a large room on the uppermost floor of the Academy building. They had just finished conducting the graduation exams for the second class, and were discussing the results with the Jonin future squad leaders of their students.
At Kurenai's comment, the attention of one particular Jonin, Might Guy, was piqued.
"Two students won't pass? Why's that?"
Izumo looked up. "Two students in my class have no aptitude for Ninjutsu or Genjutsu." He sighed. "Well, more specifically, one of them has no aptitude whatsoever, and the other has sometimes succeeded in some of the more basic techniques, but her attempts are mediocre at best. She's above average at Taijutsu though, but that's not enough to graduate with. Same goes for the other student. I can't graduate either of them if they can't perform any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, no matter how good their Taijutsu is."
Guy rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Would one of those students happen to be that Rock Lee kid I've heard so much about?"
"Yeah, that's the one. The other's that adopted girl from that small village that was attacked several years back. You know, one of those hybrid children."
General chat resumed between the other Chuunin and Jonin. Guy was only half-paying attention, and caught a just a few fragments of their conversations.
"-The Hyuuga boy passed with full marks?"
"Why are you so surprised? That kid comes from a family of geniuses, after all..."
"-I think there's a budding weapons specialist in your class. That girl Tenten has the best aim I've seen in an Academy student for years…"
"-I wonder why there's so few hybrid people left in the village…? There used to be so many hybrid clans here, and now we've so few I could count them with my hands!"
"Why not pass those two, though…?"
The discussions quickly died down, as people stopped talking in order to hear Guy's question.
"It's the rules, Guy. You know that. Each candidate has to demonstrate that they can successfully perform a variety of basic Ninjutsu and Genjutsu techniques. Neither of those students were able to do that during the Graduation exam. Therefore, I can't pass them." Izumo replied, shrugging.
"If they haven't been able to perform any jutsus at all this academic year, is there any point keeping them on the program?" asked Kurenai. "Wouldn't their places be better used if given to more capable candidates in the following year?"
"I wouldn't write them off so quickly, Kurenai." Guy remarked, smiling slightly. "I've watched that Lee kid doing his training. If you ask me, he has the youthful passion and drive that can enable him to succeed." He gave his trademark thumbs up and broad smile. "Look at me, for example. A most excellent, strong and skilful Jonin, and I use Taijutsu almost exclusively. And you can't say that that's simply because of a natural talent for it." Guy picked up the score sheets and flipped through them until he reached Lee's results page. "As a matter of fact," he added as he read through the grades, "My Graduation results weren't that much better than these."
"That's true, I suppose." admitted Izumo.
"But we can't make special allowances." Kurenai interrupted. "What about other candidates who've failed in the past? We can't pass those two simply because existing Jonins passed with similar grades. Times have changed, Guy. We don't need to pass every single student, regardless of ability, simply because there aren't enough of them like we did twelve years ago."
"If I might make a suggestion?" Kakashi walked over from the other end of the room. He knew Guy well, and he didn't want a heated debate starting. He could already see Guy seething at Kurenai's last remark, though he was sure she had said it without ill intention.
"Why not make an allowance? Just this once." Kakashi continued. "If their abilities are sufficient in the other disciplines, then surely, they could be accepted. There's always the test the squad leader conducts shortly after Graduation, so if they truly are unsuitable as ninja, they can be sent back to the Academy for further training."
Kurenai didn't look convinced.
"There's just one problem with that though." Izumo said, a few moments later. He held up the class register. "The graduating students are ordinarily split into teams of three, to resemble the standard four man squads that are constructed for most missions. If I graduate those two, one of them won't have a squad, based on student numbers."
"In all honesty, that is not an issue." Kakashi replied, shrugging. "This is your first class with a hybrid student, isn't it?"
Izumo nodded in response.
"There's a special rule in place for those students. You're aware that they aren't allowed outside of the village alone until they reach the age of sixteen, nor can they leave the village accompanied until they are at least thirteen, right? The Third Hokage issued a rule a short time after the hybrid evacuees arrived. It states that any who became students at the Academy could become honorary members of existing teams, but only for missions that take place within the village." Kakashi explained.
"Why? I thought the principle behind the 'three Genin, one Jonin' rule was to establish early on the efficiency of basic four man squads? Why compromise that?" Kurenai enquired.
"Most missions within the village rarely require the stealth and mobility of a four man unit. Secondly, we aren't able to put most hybrid students into their own squads because the age gaps between them varied too wildly. Many graduated from the Academy with a three-year minimum age gap." Kakashi replied. "Thirdly, we don't have any Jonin ranked hybrids here who would be able to teach them how to use the skills they're born with. Lord Hokage must have decided the best way would be to assign them to the squad that would best cater to their individual skills."
"So if there was a hybrid student who excelled at Genjutsu, they'd be assigned to my three-man cell?" Kurenai asked. "I suppose that makes sense in a way, but what happens to them when they are able to participate in the Chuunin exams? The rules for them are far more rigid than the Graduation criteria."
"I imagine at that point, they probably would form their own squads with other hybrid ninja, but as far as I know, no hybrids have ever taken part in the Chuunin exams. Most hybrid children who came here as evacuees were reunited with their families just after they'd graduated, so the rule the Third had issued has never actually been put into effect fully." Kakashi looked back at the Izumo. "So, what are you going to do? Will you pass them?"
"I don't know. Won't Lord Hokage be angry at such a disregard for the rules?"
"If that happens," Guy interrupted. "I will take full responsibility. Graduate the two of them, and assign them to my squad."
"Are you sure about this, Guy?" Izumo asked uncertainly.
"Absolutely!" Guy flashed his wide smile once again. "Since both of them can only work with Taijutsu, it makes sense for me to teach them, since I am a Taijutsu specialist. You can assure Lord Hokage that I will make every member of my squad into excellent shinobi!"
He turned to leave. "If you'll excuse me. I look forward to meeting my new students tomorrow. Goodbye!"
After Guy had left the room, Izumo let out a sigh of mild exasperation.
"I suppose it's a good thing I decided not to tell each candidate whether or not I'd pass them right after they'd finished. It'd be awkward, wouldn't it? Telling the two of them; 'You've failed,' and then finding them and saying; 'Changed my mind, you've passed' would mess with their heads."
"You were going to announce it after the lunch break, weren't you?" said Kurenai. "At least now you don't have to deal with any disappointed candidates?"
"Problem is, I don't know if we have enough headbands to go around." Izumo rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I…didn't anticipate I'd pass either of them, so I didn't bother ordering the extra two…"
"There's a surplus from last year's class, but they aren't the standard blue headbands." Iruka walked over from the back of the room, carrying a cardboard box. He set it down on the table, and withdrew two red Leaf headbands.
Izumo let out a low whistle and smiled. "I haven't seen headbands like that in a long while. That's irony for you. Guy's headband is the same colour."