Coming from the Shadows: Making Plans
"...Uchiha Itachi."
The only sign of annoyance from Sasuke was a slight narrowing of his eyes.
"Haruno Sakura, Nara Shikamaru, and Uchiha Sasuke, you three will be the core of Team Eight. Your Jounin-sensei will be Yuuhi Kurenai."
Shikamaru let out a soft moan. "Troublesome. To be paired up with the loudest kunoichi in Konoha..." His new teammate showed remarkable restraint in resisting the urge to pummeling him for that remark.
"Akimichi Choji, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba, you three will the core of Team Ten. Your Jounin-sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma."
Iruka put his lists back down on his desk and said, "Why don't you acquaint yourselves with your new teammates, your Jounin-sensei won't be here for another half an hour." Iruka left the room to the Genin hopefuls.
Motioning the other members of Team Seven, Naruto said, "I don't really know either of you. You were always pretty quiet, Shino, so I never got the chance. As for you, Ino... I have no excuse." He smiled sheepishly, well aware that wasn't going to fly.
Ino just rolled her eyes at the boy. "Well, I guess we can go with a bit of an in-depth introduction. The only thing we really know about each other is our names. I'm Yamanaka Ino. I like gardening and gossiping. I don't like taijutsu. I'd like to master the mind arts of my clan and make my clan proud."
Nodding softly, Shino followed her example. "My name is Aburame Shino. I like to discover new species of bugs to further the growth of my clan. I don't like those who kill bugs needlessly and destructive jutsu. I seek to master every Kikaichu type my clan has."
"I'm Naruto. I like training, hanging out with friends, and..." Naruto bit his lip, as he paused. "I don't like those who favor or discriminate against people without knowing the individuals involved. I seek to master all the shinobi arts and prove myself worthy as a shinobi of Konoha."
Shino and Ino exchanged a short glance wondering what it was Naruto didn't say.
The trio exchanged in small talk as they got to know each other a bit as they waited for their Jounin-sensei to arrive.
Uchiha Itachi smiled as he watched the three get to know each other. Silently, he released his hold on his chakra and landed silently next to his team. "Ino, Shino, and Naruto. Follow me. We have your final genin test to discuss."
The three exchanged glances before silently following Itachi out.
They found themselves in a café, and after ordering some food, consisting of Donburi, Somen, Chazuke, and Onigiri, the four got right to business. "I'm your sensei, Uchiha Itachi. I enjoy teaching my little brother, and finding ways to improve myself. I hate conflict and those who seek it above all else. My dream is to find peace for Konoha." Itachi said, taking a sip of his tea as he finished.
"Tomorrow at seven, you three are to report at Training Ground Three for your Genin Test. Bring whatever equipment you feel is necessary." Finished with what he had to say, and with his Onigiri. He ghosted out of the room silently, before his students were even aware of it.
Naruto blinked in shock and said, "With skills like that, we have got to be successful tomorrow. Just think of what he could teach us?" He was practically bouncing in his excitement.
Shino nodded. "Indeed. It would be prudent of us to ascertain the skills of our sensei. Perhaps we could each spend a few hours trying to verify what our test would be and then meet up back here around four to discuss what we've uncovered and make any plans, if at all feasible from what we learn. At the very least, we could then discuss any skills that weren't revealed at the Academy."
Naruto smiled. "I like that. What do you say Ino, we do this or just hope we can handle whatever he throws our way tomorrow?"
Ino shook her head in disbelief. "Well, I didn't really expect that. But let's do this. I don't want to be the reason we fail, if we do fail." Finishing up the rest of her Somen, she stood and left her portion of the meal on the table. See you two at four."
The two boys quickly followed suit and left the café.
Four hours later, Naruto made his way back to the café were his teammates were waiting.
Glancing at them, he gestured for them to start. "While my search wasn't as fruitful as would have been desired, I did discover one interesting point of interest." Shino said, "This is Uchiha Itachi's first attempt at forming a Genin team."
Nodding, Ino said, "I looked through the archives to see if I could discover something of interest. And one thing to note was that in the past - this only changed recently, there were twenty-seven genin hopefuls and with each batch there were always three genin teams formed, the other eighteen were either sent back to the academy or barred from the shinobi work force. In the past thirteen years since this was changed, only three teams have failed. So it's almost certainly a test that is within our ability to handle. So if our test was, for example, to beat our Jounin-sensei, and it seemed out of our ability, there is probably a hidden meaning. I think." She finished, somewhat unsure. "I also found some information on tests that were handled in the past, but they vary in purpose..." Ino added on, almost as an afterthought.
"Yeah, that makes sense," Naruto said, agreeing with her. "My bit of information is probably less helpful, but it may be the most interesting piece of information thus far. I don't know the why, but what I did discover was that our sensei was chosen for us by the request of the Hokage."
Ino and Shino looked at him in surprise. "Just how reliable is this information?" Ino asked, wide-eyed.
Naruto pouted, before winking at her to show he took no offense to that question. "I think it's fairly reliable," he said. "I overheard two Uchiha talking about it over at the Yakiniku shop. No clue what it means and what we can do for this information, but what we can do with what we know is share our abilities with each other and make a few plans based on possible scenarios we can think would be administered."
Glancing around, Naruto felt that their current location probably wasn't best for the intended discussion. "Ino, Shino. Mind if we relocate? I don't want my abilities to be well-known. Never know if someone is eavesdropping on our conversation." Despite their confusion, they agreed, and followed Naruto.
Arriving at his apartment, he gestured for them to follow him inside. "I'm home." he said to the empty building, as usual. They followed him into the sitting room and sat around the kotatsu.
"Alright. Thank you. Now as to continue where we left off. I know basic fuuinjutsu. I've got a great deal of mastery over the Henge and Kawarimi, and while I am unable to do the Bunshin for reasons unknown, I have just recently learned a clone jutsu in its place. My area of expertise would either be taijutsu or bukijutsu. In that category, I'm fairly skilled with kunai, shuriken, and wire strings, and I'm in the process of learning to handle staves and ninjato properly. I don't know an elemental jutsu at this point. I can do the vertical-surface walking technique - although I can only maintain constant control of that for ten minutes before my chakra is disrupted. I don't know any genjutsu or ninjutsu."
Following his lead, Shino said, "I have moderate skills with Taijutsu and I can hold my own in it. I don't have any jutsus based off of Kikaichu usuage, but I can control them and use them for both offense and defense. I know one defensive ninjutsu, Doton: Doryuheki. Takes a lot of chakra to use it, so at this point I can only reliably use it once. Most genjutsu doesn't work very well on me, due to my Kikaichu, but I know none at this stage. I have average skills in bukijutsu, and it only consists of kunai and shuriken."
Mentally appraising her two teammates, Ino began to list her abilities. "I'm pretty bad at taijutsu, and I've got a fair amount of mastery over the academy jutsu. I'm proficient at recognizing genjutsu and dispelling them. None of my clan jutsu are reliable to use at the moment. I don't know any taijutsu, and I'm not very skilled with shuriken and kunai."
There was a brief silence as the three took in each others skills and mentally compared each other. "So. As is, we'd work best with Shino and me in close combat, with him taking advantage of the lack of distance to use his Kikaichu and me using my expertise in taijutsu and weapons to try to get him off-balance. Ino covering my flank so that if I get caught in a genjutsu she can dispel it quickly, and perhaps throwing kunai and shuriken when openings show up. Does that sound good?" Naruto said, giving their formation some thought.
"Mm. Perhaps. How skilled are you with staves and ninja-to at this point?" Ino asked, not exactly pleased with her determined role, but unable to refute the point given her skill set, or lack of one.
With tinted cheeks, Naruto said, "Um. I'm still learning. I'm not confident enough to use them in a fight, I'd probably put us at a disadvantage if I did so."
"What about using a clone or two at long-range to heckle with kunai and shuriken? And perhaps using Kawarimi to save your clone if at all possible. I imagine it takes a great deal of chakra to perform and sustain." Shino offered.
"Perhaps, perhaps." Naruto said with a grin. He liked his team.
The trio continued to make plans long into the night.