I'm happy to see that my review rate is increasing nicely and I thank all my reviewers. I also have a special announcement.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: As you all know, the three main OCs in this story are based of of me and a few of my best friends. Well, it turns out that Nami seems to have taken a hand at writing fanfiction too! She might very well get her own account on FF, but for now, I thought I'd let her write the next five chapters of Narutoverse no Jutsu. I'm sure you'll see that our writing styles are distinctively different, but its good practice and I'm all about giving people chances. She's full of ideas and I know she'll be a great FF writer. So basically, Nami's going to write the next chapters which consist of our first "dangerous" mission!
Again, thanks for the encouraging reviews!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
"Go! Go! Go! Move it, girls! Knees high! Only a few more laps to go!"
"This…is…murder…" Midori gasped.
"I'm dying…" Kyoko groaned.
"Too late…" Nami moaned.
Ever since six AM that morning, the girls had been running around the training site which seemed to get bigger and bigger with each lap. The sun had risen over the horizon hours ago and the girls felt like their legs had fallen off. Back in the real world, the girls could barely do three laps around the track (Nami doing four sometimes) and now they had lost count at forty-something.
"That's IT!" Nami shouted furiously as she screeched to a stop, causing her teammates to bowl her over.
"Why'd you stop?" Midori asked as she picked herself up and off of her teammates.
"I'm sick of this!" Nami shouted, pushing Kyoko off of her. "Sensei! Why are we doing some stupid training instead of missions?! The other teams are already off doing missions!"
"That's true…" Midori muttered.
"We aren't even doing the lame missions…" Kyoko whispered.
Marieke looked at the girls sternly. "Think. What's different between you three and the other genin teams?"
The girls were silent.
"We have power?" Nami guessed.
"We're more advanced?" Kyoko tried.
Marieke glared at the two.
WHACK!
"Ow!" Nami and Kyoko screamed, rubbing the backs of their heads.
"No!" Marieke shouted.
"We're…a three-woman team," Midori said quietly.
"That's correct," Marieke said loudly. "The other genin teams have two males and one female. Kunoichi are spread within the male shinobi, one girl per team. I don't know why Iruka decided to put you three on the same team…"
The three gulped.
"But I do know that the three of you lack the strength that the male shinobi have!"
"Hey! That's totally sexist of you, sensei!" Nami exclaimed. "And you're a woman!"
"How can you say that about your own sex?" Kyoko said incredulously.
"I say it because it's true," Marieke said sharply. "Although it is possible for a kunoichi to rise above a male shinobi, it's extremely rare. The point is you girls are too lazy to rise to the right level. You think it'll come easy. And you barely passed your test as well. Since you are all girls on one team, you lack what the other teams have! To make it simple, you must train harder!"
"Sensei, does it have to be all taijutsu?" Midori asked. "Like you said, we may lack upper body strength..."
"Who's side are you on?!" Kyoko and Nami screamed.
"Fine, I do," Midori said, rolling her eyes. "But we all have different strengths in other styles."
"You're right," Marieke nodded. "That's one thing I'm certain of. Therefore, you girls must take three tests."
"Not more tests!" Nami groaned.
Marieke whacked her again.
"Ouch…"
"Listen for once!" Marieke ordered. She cleared her throat. "You will take three tests. From these I will gather information about your strengths and weaknesses. Then I will train you each properly."
The first test Marieke had her students do was simple target practice with three basic weapons. She noted that Midori was able to hit most targets with shuriken better than kunai and senbon. Nami was fairly well-rounded with all three weapons, but Kyoko was the one who hit the nail on the head with all of the weapons, not missing one target.
She's excellent with senbon and exceeds the other two, Marieke thought. Yes…Kyoko will become a fine weapon user…if she works hard enough. She sighed. I doubt it…
The next test was based on chakra control and chakra strength. Kyoko, Midori, and Nami were to do the basic running up the tree by sending chakra to their feet.
Marieke noticed the crystal hanging from Midori's neck was glowing. She sensed a large amount of chakra surging through the girl's body.
Midori's chakra is completely different from yesterday. Yes…the Hikari Suishou lets the owner increase their chakra tenfold…With that crystal activated, she definitely rises above her teammates in the quantity of chakra she's able to draw…and she's not half bad at controlling it too…
It took several hours before all three of them reached a designated branch Marieke had marked on each of the trees. Midori had reached her branch first followed by Nami and two seconds later, Kyoko.
"Haha, I beat you!" Nami mocked Kyoko.
"By half a second!" Kyoko said angrily.
"Two seconds."
"Whatever!" Kyoko shouted. "You—"
"Are you girls forgetting that you have one more test left?" Marieke said, arms crossed and vein pulsing on the side of her head.
The girls shut their mouths.
"All right, the last test will be a three-way battle between you three."
"You want us to fight each other?" Midori said, surprised.
"That's right. Think of it as a bit of training. I'll stop the battle once I've finished observing what you three can do," Marieke explained.
The girls backed up in a triangle-like formation, thoughts racing through their heads.
Hmph. I've been waiting for something like this…Nami smirked.
"Ready…"
I'll get Nami back…Kyoko thought determinedly.
"Set…"
Great...This is not good…Midori thought worriedly.
"Begin!"
Instantly, Kyoko jumped backwards instinctively as Nami appeared before her, slamming her fist forward. Darting to the right, Kyoko pulled out a kunai and slashed at Nami's arm. Nami flipped out her own weapon and the sound of metal clashing pierced the air. Several times the noise of the two knives meeting sounded until both girls pulled back.
Taking out a few needles from her holster, Kyoko sent the needles flying towards her teammate. Nami, who still had her kunai in hand, deflected the ongoing senbon rendering them useless. She started to charge at Kyoko. Once she was some feet away, she threw her kunai and launched a dynamic entry kick towards the other girl.
Kyoko dodged the kunai and caught Nami's foot, smirking. Her smirk immediately disappeared when Nami spun around, attempting to attack her with her free leg. Kyoko released Nami and ducked just before the kick hit her.
Nami touched the ground and started to bust out a barrage of punches and kicks.
Kyoko didn't have a second to attack. The only thing she could do was defend herself against Nami's constant attacks.
Marieke watched as Nami pushed Kyoko back, though not doing much damage at all. Then she turned her attention to Midori and shouted, "Midori! Don't just stand there and do nothing! Attack your teammates!"
"Y-Yes sensei!" Midori said, caught a little off guard. She hesitantly reached into her holster and picked out two shuriken. Then she feebly threw the weapons as if she wasn't trying to hit anyone. Nonetheless, the weapons hit the two distracted girls, drawing the smallest amount of blood from each of them.
"OW! Midori!" the two shouted in unison.
"Sorry!"
Marieke slapped her forehead. "Okay, okay, that's enough."
A few minutes later, the three students sat on the log with their sensei pacing in front of them sternly. She glared every few seconds at each girl menacingly.
"I am severely disappointed in you three," Marieke said with her hands laced behind her back. "Kyoko!"
Kyoko glanced up at her sensei with worried eyes.
"During the third test, you were completely ineffective. You didn't land one hit on Nami and you were too defensive. I saw many openings in which you could've attacked Nami, though you refrained to do so. And I doubt it was because you were afraid of hurting her. You were too careless."
Kyoko's brow furrowed.
"Midori!"
Hearing her name, Midori looked at her sensei guiltily.
"I could see that you were reluctant to attack your teammates, but doing nothing at all while you could've easily beaten them isn't acceptable! Your teammates were foolish into going after each other like that, but it was extremely foolish of you to stand around and be a spectator. Not only did I have to force you to attack, but the attack was useless."
Midori lowered her head. "Sorry, sensei…"
"Nami!"
Nami waited to be told off.
"You were too intent on attacking Kyoko without thinking your actions through. It was obvious from the start that you would only rely on brute force to win. That never works. You constantly attacked Kyoko and if the fight had been longer which it would have, then you would've run out of energy and Kyoko would beat you. Your actions were disgraceful."
Nami's eyes narrowed.
"Your first few tests weren't bad, and I thought that you all had some potential," Marieke continued. "But I suppose I was wrong. You girls act as though being ninja is just a game. You're all wrong for the lives of ninja, so I suggest you retire early. I disown you three as my students."
"WHAT?!"
"Sensei, you can't do that!" Midori cried.
"I can and I did," Marieke said, turning her back on the girls. "If you girls aren't going to be serious, there's no reason to train you. It was my mistake that I passed you. Now if you'll excuse me, I must consult Hokage-sama with my decision so I may obtain some new students."
"Hey!" Nami shouted angrily as she stood up. "You can't just walk away after you insulted us like that!"
"Sen—I mean, Marieke-san, you can't just quit after the first day!" Midori said, still shocked.
"And we aren't just some item that you can throw away!" Kyoko added heatedly. "And we're going to become ninja whether you're there for us or not!"
Marieke stopped at this declaration.
"That's right!" Nami agreed. "We'll train each other, we don't need your help to do anything! And you know what? Once we're the best ninja in Konoha, we'll defeat you!"
By the time Nami ended her sentence Marieke was gone.
"I…can't believe she left," Midori said sadly.
"Who needs her anyway," Nami said, waving her hand nonchalantly. "We definitely don't."
"Yeah! Let's train!" Kyoko declared.
Midori nodded, but looked back to where she had last seen Marieke.
Marieke had started her way towards the Hokage Mansion; angry at the thought of those insolent girls she had called students.
"Hello, Marieke."
Marieke didn't stop walking. "Kakashi."
"What's the rush?" Kakashi asked, catching up to Marieke.
Marieke looked over at him and made a face at the sight of his perverted book. "Nothing that matters much."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, though his eyes were still on the book. "What's the problem?"
"My students are complete brats."
"Aren't all students?"
"Not that Rock Lee kid from Gai's team."
"Well, students like him come once in a blue moon," Kakashi shrugged. "My students are brats too."
"I'm disowning them."
"Why?"
"Did Iruka tell you about the three-woman team?"
Kakashi nodded. "Yes, actually. They seem to have popped out of nowhere, in my opinion. I never remembered seeing them at the academy, and neither has Asuma."
"Well, who puts three girls on a team?"
"I thought you'd be delighted. Wasn't it your dream to show that women can be just as good shinobi as men?"
"Yes, but I doubt these girls could do such a thing," Marieke said. "I won't be able to train them to do anything."
"Aren't you jumping to conclusions?" Kakashi asked.
"Of course not. These girls just don't have what it takes."
"That's what I thought when I found out Naruto would be in my cell…"
"Naruto? That Uzumaki boy with the Kyuubi sealed inside of him?" Marieke said, surprised. "I'm surprised he passed, his scores are terrible!"
"Well, it's true," Kakashi nodded.
"Are you able to train him?" Marieke asked.
"Well…he's an impatient moron who has the worst skills I've ever seen."
"…"
"But he's sure fun to watch," Kakashi said, his eye turning into a happy arch.
"If he's such a terrible ninja then why train him?"
"I have a feeling he'll amount to big things," Kakashi said mysteriously. "With some time and training, any ninja can become great. You should know that."
The two jounin sensei stopped. Before them stood the Hokage Mansion.
"Well, this is your stop isn't it?" Kakashi said, turning left and walking off. "I'll see you later, Marieke. Good luck."
Marieke didn't answer him. She looked up at the tall building then pushed the door open.
"Hi-yah!" Kyoko was sweating as Nami blocked her blow.
"Your taijutsu sucks!" Nami mocked.
"Shut up, Nami!" Kyoko shouted, aiming a punch towards her face.
Nami ducked only to trip over Kyoko's swinging leg.
"Hey!"
Kyoko looked at her victoriously. "Hey, Midori! Wanna tag in? I think Nami's getting tired," she smirked.
"I am not!" Nami shouted.
"No thanks," Midori said. She had sat with her back against a tree while reading a scroll she had picked up earlier. "I think I'll concentrate on my own style. I bet you guys can tell that I won't be a tajiutsu master."
"No kidding," Nami said, standing up and brushing herself off. "What're you gonna do anyway?"
"Well, knowing that you guys probably won't think of whether you die or not when you come into battle, I think I'll try my hand at medical ninjutsu. Someone has to make sure you don't kill yourselves," Midori said, grinning slightly.
The two girls looked at each other.
"That was an insult, was it?" Kyoko said.
"I believe it was," Nami said.
Both teammates peered at their tranquil teammate in an intimidating way.
"C'mon guys, I was just joking," Midori smiled nervously. "But I am going to do medical ninjutsu."
"Hmph, that's boring," Nami said, crossing her arms. "Medics don't get in on the action!"
"I don't want to hurt anybody."
"Then how are you supposed to be a ninja? Yeesh…" Kyoko said.
Midori just shrugged.
"Well I'm going to train my ninjutsu," Nami said.
"How come?" Kyoko asked.
"Because I'm already awesome at taijutsu."
"…Of course…" Kyoko said, sweat dropping.
"I can hear the sarcasm in your voice." Nami shot a glare at Kyoko. "Think you can beat me with your style?"
"Which is…?" Midori said.
"I'll be a senbon mistress!" Kyoko declared, holding up several senbon between her fingers. "They're slow and painful! I like it."
"Tch. Just as long as you don't stab yourself," Nami scoffed.
"I will not!"
"You won't win anything by just tossing needles around, you know!"
"What do you know?!"
"EVERYTHING!"
"I beg to differ!"
Midori sighed as her teammates quarreled. She sunk down and hid her face in the scroll. Then she felt something. She stood up and said, "Who's there?"
Kyoko and Nami stopped and looked around.
Nami took out a kunai and Kyoko held her needles at ready.
Marieke appeared.
"Sensei!" the girls exclaimed.
"What're you doing here?" Kyoko questioned.
"What did you hear?" Nami demanded.
"How long were you there?" Midori asked.
"One at a time," Marieke said. "First of all…I wanted to reconsider disowning you."
The girls were silent.
"Let me tell you girls a story," Marieke said, sitting down cross-legged on the grass and motioning for the girls to do the same. "Years ago, kunoichi were scarce; scarcer than they are now. In my old country there about two percent of the shinobi population were kunoichi. I was one of them. I wanted to prove to everyone that there should be more kunoichi in the world. My sensei was a male who trained me just as hard as the other two males on my team. He trained us in taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu. I found that I wasn't above average in any of them. Then, I decided to run away."
"Run away?" Midori repeated.
"Yes. I traveled from village to village, seeking out my strength. My sensei's training was too intense for me, I admit. I had trouble keeping up with my teammates. When I was fifteen, a jounin called me over, claiming that he had seen me before. It was true, for I had come across the same villages twice now. He asked me what I was doing and I explained to him my dream. He just smiled and handed me a scroll. When I opened it, I found that it was a summoning. The jounin told me that he had lost his students on a mission and he wanted to start over. I agreed to let him train me in the art of summoning.
"He taught me how to summon many animals, for he had several scrolls. I discovered that I had a talent in summoning. I trained with him for five years. Then he died in a battle." Marieke paused and closed her eyes. "I was devastated. For the next seven years, I've continued my travels, claiming many scrolls along the way. Everyone who knew me gave me the nickname 'Summoning Sage'. I've summoned just about everything there is to summon, including people."
"Whoa, that's so cool, sensei!" Kyoko blurted out. "So what you're saying is that you achieved your dream?"
"No."
"What?"
"You would think that I did, but I haven't in a way. The truth is I never really felt as if I achieved my dream and I still haven't. So I continue to try to fulfill it…through my students."
"Then why did you disown us?" Nami asked, though not in a demanding tone.
"At first I was happy of my good luck that I would have three girls on my team," Marieke said. "But when I saw how meager you girls were…I didn't think you could take the training. That was wrong. I am very sorry."
"So…you're going to train us again?" Midori asked hopefully.
Marieke nodded, smiling vaguely behind her mask. "That's right."
The girls' faces brightened.
"That's great, sensei!" Kyoko said happily.
"That means we can continue training!" Midori smiled.
"Continue? We didn't even start!" Nami pointed out.
"What are you going to have us do first?" Kyoko asked eagerly.
"Well…I heard what you three wanted to train as before…" Marieke said thoughtfully.
"You mean you're going to help me with medical ninjutsu?" Midori asked, surprised.
"Nope! We're going to train you on tracking skills. It took forever for you to notice me," Marieke said.
DO'H.
Yes, Marieke-sensei is like Kakashi, isn't she? I'm really amused, actually. Her character came off of the idea of Kakashi, which is pretty obvious. Then when my friends and I went to camp we had this counselor named "Marieke". Although it isn't Japanese, we loved that name and it stuck with our sensei. I guess her character hadn't really developed into an actual personality that wasn't Mary Sue-ish until now. Funny how these things work.
Anyway, R&R please! And don't forget to tune in for Nami's chapters!
-HM