THE SHINOBI PROJECT
by Tap-Chan
Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto
Chapter 1: The Twelve
Konoha.
One of the last surviving cities of a post-apocalyptic world, set in a territory that had once been known as the Fire Nation. Enclosed in self containing bio-spheres, each city in the land is ruled independently and Konoha is ruled by the Hokage, the head of state and the Council of Elders. In the grip of the warring strife that had destroyed the land and shattered the continent, cities relied only on themselves, building a close-knit civilization that gave its trust to its people and no others. The Hokage monitors almost every major industry in the city and is a title handed down from one Hokage to a chosen apprentice. Civilians and Konoha's military make up the citizens of the city and while the civilians live out normal lives, they all know the Hokage's word on any matter regarding the city is final and is to be obeyed without question. Made up of stone, glass and metal, the Hokage's tower spirals up high into Konoha's skyline casting its shadow over the city.
And though it is a peaceful time and a peaceful place, Konoha is not without its dark shadows and secrets. Secrets that may yet shatter the illusion and bring forth the coming storm.
Uchiha District, Konoha
350724
Six year old Uchiha Sasuke stared in horror at the massacre that lay before him. Blood was splattered all over the walls on every building in the Uchiha district. Bodies of his uncles, aunts and cousins lay, bloodied and broken. The young boy trembled in fear at the sight, his knees shaking. Then, he started to run- his feet taking him towards the main house. His home.
This couldn't be true. He had just celebrated his birthday scarcely a day before. His school mates had just thrown their own celebration for him today. Everybody could not be dead.
Making his way into the main house, Sasuke staggered towards his parents' room. They had to be alive. If they were dead...
What could he do?
Alone?
His small hands pushed open the door that lead to his parents' room and froze at the sight that greeted his eyes.
"Nii-san?"
Standing above his parents' dead bodies was his only sibling. His beloved older brother, his hands stained with blood, holding a blood slicked katana, an Uchiha family heirloom, in one and a gun in the other. His brother glanced at him over his shoulder and Sasuke was frozen at the sight.
"Nii-san?" repeated Sasuke weakly. Instead of their usual coal black, Uchiha Itachi's eyes were the colour of blood, a black wheel-like circle spinning in his eyes. Sasuke had never seen his brother look scarier than he had now.
"Sasuke."
"Why?" asked Sasuke as tears fell from his eyes.
Itachi was silent as he stared at his little brother. Then, his image flickered before Sasuke's eyes and in a blink, Itachi was before him. A bloodied hand grasped Sasuke's neck and slammed him into the ground, causing the younger boy to cry out in alarm. Sasuke scrabbled at his brother's arm trying to free himself, his fingers slipping on his brother's blood slicked wrist.
Itachi cocked his head to the side as if to ponder the question Sasuke had asked.
"Why? Because I can."
Sasuke's eyes widened in shock and alarm. "Those people were our family, Nii-san! Nii-san!" screamed Sasuke hysterically, as he struggled even harder, his black eyes growing wild. "And your eyes!"
"Aa. Biologically."
Itachi tightened his grip slightly and Sasuke stilled out of fear.
Itachi stared at the frightened face of his younger sibling before leaning down close to Sasuke's ear. "Aa, we're related biologically and genetically but I wouldn't go so far as parents. We're not 'natural-born'. You're not like them, you're like me, Sasuke. These eyes. Just like me. And I'll show you what they can do."
And Sasuke screamed.
"If you want vengeance, brother... survive and grow stronger. When you have eyes like mine, come at me."
Konoha Orphanage
350906
A young blonde sat quietly on his bed in the night, staring out the window at the full moon. He is called Uzumaki Naruto and for as long as he can remember, he has had no parents. Tonight would be his last night in the orphanage, because tomorrow someone named Umino Iruka was coming to adopt him. His blue eyes flicked around to look at the other sleeping children within the orphanage dorm. Well, he would not miss this place. The other children did not get along well with him. They disliked his mischief making and thought him odd with his habit of talking to himself and more often than not, he sat for hours on end staring into empty space. The caretakers hardly took notice of him unless he had done something wrong. Well, that was fine. He really wouldn't miss this place anyway.
"Hey, Kyuubi... do you think living with the guy will be fun?" whispered the boy to himself. There was a pause before the blonde continued his strange quiet one-sided conversation with the air. "You think so?" "Aa... I hope he cooks ramen." "I won't be lonely. You're here with me, Kyuubi."
Slowly, the boy fell asleep.
Konoha Park
351012
A little girl sat amidst the fallen autumn leaves and mud, crying her eyes out. Her hair was stained with clumps of mud and her coat was soiled. The girls at the kindergarten had bullied her again today, telling her how large her forehead was and how freaky her hair was. Well, she no longer wanted pink hair, but it didn't seem as if the colour would go away. Now trying to turn it mud brown had not worked either as it had only gotten her favourite jacket dirty. As she sat weeping, she did not notice the soft sound of foot steps approaching her.
A handkerchief was thrust into her line of vision, and she stopped her sniffling to look up. Standing before her was a pretty blonde girl with two other little boys. One boy was munching on a packet of chips while the other looked bored to tears, his foot scuffling the dirt in impatience. Turning her gaze back to the proffered handkerchief, she studied the girl holding it. Probably about her age, her light blue eyes sparkling as her short platinum coloured hair danced with the wind.
"Hey, are you going to take it or not?"
Snapping out of her gaze, the pink-haired girl hesitantly accepted the piece of cloth. The blonde girl proceeded to smile, her face brightening up like the sun.
"Hey, hey- what's your name?"
"You're being rude, Ino." came an exasperated voice from the bored looking boy. He had in fact already laid himself down on the grass nearby, his eyes closed as if to take a nap. The girl the boy had called Ino, turned to glare at him. "You're one to talk, Shika! You were just going to leave her alone to let her cry! Are you listening, Shika!" screeched Ino.
As Ino continued to argue one-sidedly with the boy she called Shika, the other quieter boy who had been mostly over looked came to squat in front of her, his pudgy fingers still bringing chips to his mouth non-stop. His eyes curious as he studied her dirty form.
"Hey, so... what is your name? I'm Chouji."
"Sa-Sakura..." whispered the pink-haired girl.
Ino hearing the softly spoken name, stopped her practically one-sided bickering with 'Shika' and returned her attention to the timid Sakura. A radiant smile on her face, Ino once again was in front of Sakura, having pushed Chouji out of the way. "Sakura? That's a pretty name. I'm Yamanaka Ino! Don't bother with Shika, he's lazy. Chouji eats all day- it's pretty boring. Will you be my firend? Another girl to play with would be so much better. What do you think? Do you like flowers? My mum runs a flower shop and-"
"Let her breathe, Ino. You'll scare her with your talking. And there's nothing wrong with eating." mumbled Chouji.
"Hmmph." sniffed Ino as she pulled Sakura to her feet. "Let's go, Sakura... they're just boys."
Sakura blinked in surprise as she was led away. Looking over her shoulder she saw the two little boys merely shrug and continue to sit on the grass, Chouji munching his chips and Shika dozing in the shade. She surprised Ino by stopping suddenly and turning around to face the two boys. "Um... I'm Haruno Sakura! Nice to meet you!" she shouted, going so far as to bow.
The boys blinked in surprise before nodding their heads in return.
"Nice to meet you, too! I'm Akimichi Chouji!" shouted the plump boy in reply. He turned and glanced at his companion before returning his attention to the two girls. "And he's Nara Shikamaru!" he continued pointing to the lazy boy.
Said boy merely raised a small arm in acknowledgment, not even bothering to get up or turn his head to look in their direction.
Ino sighed before taking hold of Sakura again. "Come on, we can go to my house and get you clean." she said smiling. Turning her head back, she called back towards the two boys. "See you later, Chouji! Shika!"
Hyuuga Compound, Konoha
Main House Shooting Range
351012
Five continuous shots rang out, echoing within the confines of the shooting range. As the target neared the shooter, a few spectators whispered in surprise and awe. All five had hit fatality points on the paper cut out. The shooter, a young boy of seven ignored the whisperings and looks that he recieved. He instead turned to the man standing next to him, observing his practice. The man nodded in satisfaction.
"Very good Neji. You've quickly learned how to aim and fire the normal hand gun. Your rapid progress is astounding."
The young boy bowed. "Thank you, Uncle. Your guidance has helped tremendously."
"Hmmm. Very well, that is all for today. I believe you have your Traditional studies now. You may leave."
Neji bowed once more before depositing his gun in the tray and turned to leave the shooting range. As he walked towards the exit, his ears heard the whispers.
"So he's the one everybody's calling the Hyuuga prodigy, eh? He's just a branch house member." sneered one. "Well, if his father had been born first, he would have been the heir." "Did you see that? He managed to hit the fatality points. Is he really just seven?" muttered another. "He's a child." said another. "A pity the Hyuuga heir lacks his aptitude." "Ah, that's true... Hinata-sama does struggle at many things." "Still, that brat pisses me off."
Neji stopped in his tracks his pale lavender-white pupils moving to the corner of his eyes, staring coldly at the group. The whispering Hyuuga members fell quiet as they realized their object of discussion was staring at them. Neji stood still for a few moments before he continued on his way towards the exit.
"He's a bit like a monster." whispered one observer quietly. The others nodded in agreement. "He's different from us."
Neji wanted to snort in disdain. Did those idiots have nothing better to do than gossip? Of course he was different. He knew he was different. How, he was not sure. But he knew he was just different.
A small girl bumped clumsily into him. Like all Hyuuga's, she had pale lavender-white eyes. However, unlike the usual dark brown or regular black hair, her black hair was as dark as midnight. Her hair at times seemed almost to shimmer a deep dark blue.
"Ne-Neji-niisan!" squeeked the girl in surprise. "I'm sorry, I-I..."
"Hinata-sama." bowed Neji before walking away, ignoring the girl's stammered stutterings.
He continued walking even though he could feel her eyes on his back. Oddly, there were times when he saw flashes of vision that appeared to be either directly behind him or either side of him. Now was one of those times. He knew she was watching him fearfully and sadly. It didn't matter that they were cousins, he still despised most of the family for the way they looked at him. The heiress was not much different in his opinion.
Konoha Playground
351120
She sat on the swing staring out at the curious three boys playing (or perhaps it was arguing?) in the sand box. She cocked her head to the side as the boy with the very bushy eyebrows and bad hair cut started rough housing with the boy with tattooed triangles on his face. The other boy merely stared at them solemnly through his round dark glasses. She thought that quite odd.
As she watched, the boy with the bushy eyebrows fell backwards from a particularly hard shove by the boy with the tattoos.
The boy sneered at the boy with the bushy brows and bad haircut, his face in a sort of snarl.
"I didn't say that! I just said the truth, Rock Lee!" shouted the boy, before he turned to the other young boy with the dark glasses. "We're leaving, Shino!"
The other boy, tilted his head in question before replying, "You were in the wrong too, Kiba."
"Let's GO, Shino!"
The boy named Kiba left, with the quiet boy named Shino, looking back at the one called Rock Lee, who was still on the ground.
"You really shouldn't have picked a fight with Kiba, Lee..." muttered Shino quietly before leaving and heading in the direction of his friend.
As the other two boys walked away, she watched the remaining boy still sitting on the sand hunch his shoulders as they began to shake a little. Walking towards the boy, she frowned as she squatted in front of him.
"Hey, you alright?" she asked.
"Go away."
"Huh, I was just being nice. Well, fine!" she said frowning as she started to stand.
"Wait! I'm sorry... I-" stuttered the boy before bursting into tears, startling the young girl.
"Hey, you're a boy! Stop crying!" exclaimed the girl as she looked around helplessly as the boy in front of her continued to weep.
Seconds passed until the girl made a frustrated sound.
"Aaargh! Mou! Stop it already!"
The boy blinked in shock at the girl's outburst, halted his crying with a hiccup as he turned wide eyes at her.
"You're a BOY aren't you? If you're a boy, then stand up!"
The boy shot to his feet.
"Wipe that snot!"
The boy hurriedly swiped his small clenched fist clumsily across his nose and eyes.
"Look straight and don't cry!"
The little girl nodded smartly, but before she could say anything else, a dark shadow loomed over the two children. Looking up, the girl gave a shout of surprise as a man with a funny bowl cut hair style, with tears in his eyes try to hug the two of them.
The girl instinctively avoided the man's hands as he grabbed them up. She watched as the strange man proceeded to hug the living daylights out of the boy, his eyes continuing to cry. Both had bushy brows and strange hairstyles. But that was not what made the pair strange. The girl backed slowly away from the weird man as he continued to cry.
"I've never seen a more touching display of the fire of YOUTH!" exclaimed the man as he continued to bawl. "My name is Maito Gai, what are yours, youthful children?"
The boy in the man's arms was silent for a second before stammering out a name. "Rock Lee..."
Maito Gai turned his watery eyes, shining with anticipation on the little girl standing near him.
It was official.
She was freaked out by the strange man.
"Tennou Tenko. But I prefer Tenten."
Konoha Council,
390225
It was quiet for a brief moment in the meeting chambers on the Konoha Council at the Hokage Tower. The four elderly that made up the Council, three men and a woman sat opposite a group of younger men and women. Some had frowns on their faces while others were contemplative of the decree that had been announced by the council.
"I am against this proposal, Hokage-sama!" exclaimed a man wearing dark clothes in a chinese style.
"As am I!" exclaimed a woman wearing a red qi pao with a white circle as a crest. "You promised the children would have regular childhoods and be allowed to enter the academy voluntarily if they so wished it! You are reneging on that promise!"
Several murmurs and nods filtered around the gathered men and women.
"They are too young." said a large build man.
"They are almost twelve years old." said the only elderly woman on the council.
"And that promise was not a decision that the Hokage should have made on his own." commented another of the elders.
"With all due respect, Utatane-sama, some of the children aren't even suitable in temperament for the future the council has decreed." said a man with spiky hair tied up high in a pineapple-like pony tail.
"Nara is right. And their abilities-"
"They will learn the temperament and their abilities will be cultivated. The situation has changed from eight years ago. Konoha cannot afford to leave unused potential-"
"They are children! Not weapons for your pleasure!"
"Children that are property of Konoha's military when your clans consented to the genetic manipulation of your genes when you donated genetic material twenty years ago!" snarled an elder.
"We weren't head of our clans then! And those children were created without our permission in that illegal genetics programme."
"Yes, and we returned the products from that raid, but no matter if it was illegal, their creation is still under Konoha-"
"Enough!" snapped the Hokage. "Enough." he sighed again at a softer voice. "You go too far, Danzou."
The other man shot a glare at the Hokage. "You don't go far enough."
"Sarutobi is right, Danzou. Enough." said other elderly man.
"But Danzou is right that the children still belong to the military. It is within our jurisdiction to order them into academy training, Haruno-san." said Utatane.
"But-"
"I'm sorry, Haruno-san. I know I am reneging on my word to all of you, but Danzou is correct that the situation now is very different than the situation eight years prior. Konoha is entering a time where in the coming future, we may require the talents of individuals like your children." sighed the Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Is a potential war with Suna of the Nation of Sand really on the horizon then?" asked a man with white eyes.
"Not in the immediate future, Hyuuga-san. But we predict it may happen in a few years from now with the trouble that has been brewing within their biosphere." answered Utatane Koharu.
"And it is vital we be ready for that time." continued Mitokado Homura, the elder who had quieted the other elder, Shimura Danzou.
"Reports from my men also tell me the children are rapidly progressing beyond their peers. They will be more suited to the Academy than the regular education system."
The men and women facing the council were silent, unable to reply.
"It is decided then. The children Hyuuga Neji, Tennou Tenko and Rock Lee are to be inducted into the Konoha Academy of Military Arts, effective immediately while the children Hyuuga Hinata, Uchiha Sasuke, Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto to be inducted into the Konoha Academy of Military Arts in their eleventh year." stated the Hokage.
Academy of Military Arts,
Konoha
390402
Konoha Academy of Military Arts or better known as just Konoha Academy is the training institution of Konoha's military. On average, the age of enrolment into the academy is at the age of fifteen when many complete their primary regular education. A majority of the population tend to enrol however often, only half manage to complete the rigorous three years at the academy and go on to become part of Konoha's military.
It is the beginning of a new year at the academy and all would be normal if not for the unusual enrolment of three eleven year olds.
Hyuuga Neji heard the whispers and could see the looks from the students about him. It is no different from the whispers he hears in the Hyuuga compound.
"I heard they're eleven. Eleven! Can you believe it?"
"That's impossible, I was still in general education at that age."
"What are they doing at the Academy?"
"I'll bet they got in because of family connections." sneered one.
"Idiot! That's not possible."
"Why not? That boy's a Hyuuga isn't he?"
"Well, the other two aren't from any prestigious clans!"
"Both of you are morons, this is the Academy! You don't get in just by name."
"I still say-"
Neji ignored the last of the whisperings, bored with their speculations and the same words he had heard the whole morning since entering the Academy. He was unsure why he'd been enrolled so quickly into the Academy by his uncle as well, but surmised it had to do with his being different that the other Hyuuga clan members always talked about behind his back.
Turning slightly, he looked at the other two eleven year-olds besides himself that had entered the Academy. One was a boy with bushy brows and a bowl hair cut wearing the ugliest green suit he'd ever seen, with an enthusiastic expression on his face. The boy was chattering non-stop to the other eleven year old, a girl wearing an oriental blouse with her brown hair in an ox-horn style, who looked miserable and about to strangle the boy.
The girl sighed and turned his way suddenly, both locked eyes and stared for a minute before the girl smiled and turned back to answer the other boy on something he had asked. The girl pointed his way for a second and Neji noted the other boy craning his head to get a look at him.
It was clear the boy was about to get up and shout something by the sudden lift on his hand in an enthusiastic wave when their instructor walked into class.
Neji had never been more relieved.
Academy,
Shooting Range
Konoha
390725
It had been a little over three months since the term began and already four students in their class alone had dropped out of the Academy to pursue other career fields. Neji frowned at the lack of determination held by many in the Academy. While there were plenty of students that constantly complained about their fears of not finishing the Academy, there were also those that sniped at him and the other two eleven year olds in the Academy.
He had come to form an aquaintance and simple understanding with the other two his age. They did not bother in his affairs and he would help in their training. While the girl, Tennou Tenko or Tenten as she was asked to be called, hardly required much of his help, the boy Rock Lee seemed to require constant effort. In fact, the boy seemed to see, in his mind alone at least, Neji as a rival and tried to challenge the Hyuuga at every chance he got.
While his tenacity was sort of admirable, his lack of any amazing skill did not impress Hyuuga Neji one bit. In fact, it was because Rock Lee was so ordinary that Neji often wondered how Lee had gotten into the Academy at his age in the first place, unlike himself and Tenten.
Neji shook his head as he watched Lee squeeze the trigger of his hand weapon only to miss the target once again.
On the other side next to him, Tenten lifted her own hand gun and fired three shots off in rapid procession. With his excellent eyesight, he could tell all her shots had hit the target dead center. Her precision and aim never failed to impress him with their uncanny accuracy, whether it was with modern hand held weapons or ancient throwing weapons like kunai, shuriken and senbon. While his own aim was good, he did not have Tenten's perfect accuracy.
"In good shape today too, I see." commented Neji.
"Yeah, this class is a bit dull to be honest but it doesn't hurt to keep with practice." answered Tenten as she reloaded another ammo cartridge into her gun.
Neji cocked his own gun and fired off two rounds into his target, watching the two shots hit two or three inches off the bullseye.
"You need to correct your aim ten centimetres to the left, Neji." said Tenten as she fired another shot towards the target.
"Aa." replied Neji.
Academy,
Classroom 9
Konoha
391206
Rock Lee was excited.
He had lasted eight months in the Academy where many others had only managed perhaps five before leaving the Academy for good. While his parents had not insisted he finish the Academy to become a military man, he was determined to do it for his own sake and prove that he could make it through and become like his idol, Maito Gai.
And today was a milestone. One step in his goal. The remaining students would finally be seperated into groups of three to continue their training under a jounin-rank personal instructor from the military.
Lee fidgeted in his seat, almost barely able to contain his excitement.
"You all know today is the day where regular training ends and your two year training under your personal instructor begins. Who here can tell me what ranks there are in the military and what rank your instructor will hold?"
Every person who studied the military arts knew of the five ranks in the military. While only four were official and spoke of, many would often still aspire to the shadowy fifth rank that was only spoken of in secret. ANBU. The best of the best.
A student in the back raised their hand.
"The ranks are Hokage - the leader of the village and military, Jounin - the highest rank attainable after the Hokage, Chuunin - mid-level rank and the lowest rank in our military, the Genin." answered the student.
Their instructor nodded. "Very good. And the rank your personal instructor will hold is?"
"Jounin, sir." replied another student.
"That's right. While this will be your last class with many of your instructors here at the Academy, you are all always welcome to seek advice from any of us here in the Academy." smiled their instructor. "Well, that concludes this class. Take care everyone, and all of us here at the Academy wish you well in the coming trials and we hope to see all of you, graduate and take your place with us in Konoha's military. Group listings as well as meeting dates are posted outside on the main notice board. Class dismissed."
Rock Lee along with many of the other students shot out of their seats in a rush towards the notice board, eager to find out who their group mates and instructors were.
Lee noticed that Hyuuga Neji and Tenten were hardly interested, both prefering to take their time to and chat with each other rather than rush towards the crush of students crowded around the notice board.
Academy Grounds
Training Field # 5
391211
Tennou Tenko or Tenten as she preferred to be called, groaned in dismay. For the five days, she had asked the heavens what crime she had committed to recieve such punishment. She could not believe her personal jounin-rank instructor was none other than the strange man she had met as a child, when trying to stop Rock Lee from crying in the park, Maito Gai.
'Why me?'
Already, Lee was estatic over the appointment of his 'idol' as their instructor. Their, referring to Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee and herself as a team. Neither Neji nor she, herself, were surprised at the team listing. While the usual team combinations were made to balance out flaws in each individual member, it was also obvious to Neji that the three of them had been singled out, being the only eleven year olds in their whole year to be enrolled into the Academy.
Neji had surmised it would not be surprising that the three of them would end up in the same team. And Neji had been right.
Tenten sighed.
"What is wrong?" came the Hyuuga's familiar voice.
"Nothing. I'm just not looking forward to meeting our instructor." replied Tenten as she closed her eyes.
"Why not? Lee seems very keen."
Tenten peeked open an eye to see Lee's exuberant movements as he expended his excitement on the training dummies.
"That's because Gai is Lee's idol." answered Tenten as she closed her eye once more and leaned back, enjoying the sun.
"Idol?"
"You'll see."
Hyuuga Neji frowned at his female team mate's cryptic reply, the faint beginnings of apprehension creeping upon his thoughts. Was their new instructor so distasteful?
The flicker of an image flashed through his eyes and Neji knew is was from behind him, where their jounin instructor was approaching and Neji cringed at the brief image.
The glimpse he had caught of their new instructor before he appeared over the hillside was reminiscent of his other team mate - Rock Lee.
Bushy brows and a bowl hair cut, wearing the ugly green suit. Except this was an adult version of what could very well be a future Rock Lee.
Tenten who had caught the grimace on his face sighed and sat up. "Told you."
Two minutes later, the sounds of cries could be heard from Training Field number five...
"Lee!"
"Gai-senseiiii!"
"Lee-ee!"
"Gaiiii-sensei!"
"Oh brother..."
Academy,
Front Gate
Konoha
400403
Uchiha Sasuke stared dispassionately at the sea of fifteen year olds hanging about in the courtyard, awaiting class assignments. A few of the teens gave him brief odd looks before turning away at the sight of his clan symbol. Granted he had been a bit surprised when the formal notice had been sent to his home on his enrolment into the Academy but this suited him just fine. The faster he became part of the military, the faster he could attain power for his revenge.
Intent on ignoring the gossipping teens around him, he headed towards the shaded trees when something the teens said caught his attention.
"Hey... that's Uchiha."
"No way, another eleven year old?"
Another? There were others besides him?
"That's crazy, they can't have finished general education already!"
True. He had not finished it, but the rest of the lessons were really quite boring since he'd read everything in advance.
"This is like the second year in a row. I heard from my brother that three eleven year olds were enrolled here last year."
That was an interesting bit of information. So, the Academy had done this before.
"You know, I get that Uchiha and Hyuuga would enrol early, but what's up with those three kids over there?"
A Hyuuga?
"I know the blonde. My little sister says he's a bit odd but that he's almost dumb as a brick."
That intrigued Sasuke as he looked around for said 'blonde'. He caught sight of a short blonde eleven year old sitting around with two other boys their age. One of the boys had messy brown hair, facial markings and a small puppy while the other was a dark haired boy who favoured sunglasses and a high collared windcheater.
He was interrupted in his observation when four more eleven year olds walked past the gate. Well, three walked past the gate while dragging the fourth anyway and making a loud ruckus.
"Shika, you're SO lazy!" screeched the blonde girl who was dragging the reluctant boy's arm.
"Shut up, Ino. I don't want to go to military school."
"Ne, you know you can't refuse Shikamaru. Your parents said so." replied the rotund boy.
"This is so troublesome."
The last girl in the group of four had strange pink hair and seemed pretty quiet as she gave an odd sort of smile and a pat to the defeated boy being dragged by the blonde.
Overall, Uchiha Sasuke was not impressed his peers.
Academy,
Close Combat Class
Konoha
400609
It was a sparring session today.
Umino Iruka, a chuunin ranked instructor at the Academy watched contemplatively at the progress of his students. As he watched many of the students execute quick back flips and ground rolls, it was clear to his eyes that many of the eleven year olds stood out amongst the other students. Particularly the last Uchiha of Konoha, Sasuke.
The boy was without a doubt agile and quick on his feet. It often unnerved him how Sasuke seemed so at ease and at home in a combat situation.
Iruka glanced briefly at the others, noting Aburame Shino's own quick moves of defense and tactical retreat in the midst of his sparring session with an older fifteen year old.
A large shape barrelled past the corner of his vision, catching his attention as he watched the boy known as Akimichi Chouji tackle his opponent into the training mats with surprising speed. For such a large boy, his speed was unexpected.
His gaze continued to run over the others, his attention often stopping at the other eleven year olds like Nara Shikamaru and Inuzuka Kiba. Iruka had to chuckle under his breath as he watched Shikamaru's sparring partner start to turn red in the face from either exertion or anger, Iruka was not sure. Shikamaru often caused much exasperation with his tendency to sleep in class, however at this moment, while Shikamaru seemed to move in a lazy fashion, often side-stepping and dodging kicks and punches, it was obvious the boy was watching the movements and predicting the actions of his opponent with uncanny insight.
Kiba himself seemed to be enjoying the exercise as he rushed at his opponent every so often, keeping the older boy off balance. It was clear to Iruka that Kiba almost seemed to be playing a fast game of tag as the boy grinned cheekily at his opponent.
The only three girls of the group of eleven year olds held they're own against their opponents, though the Hyuuga and Haruno girl were not as confident in their movements as their peer, Yamanaka. Though they did not seem to exhibit any of the flashy abilities of the boys, Iruka was still always amazed that their progress matched that of the older fifteen year olds.
Finally, Iruka's gaze came to rest on his adopted ward, Uzumaki Naruto. The blonde boy often had trouble keeping up in classes and tended to create chaos in the classroom. Currently it was no different in the sparring session. Naruto's fifteen year old opponent had beaten him soundly in the spar. But what often surprised Iruka was Naruto's extreme stamina and hard-headed perserverance. Iruka watched as the boy got up time and time again to charge the older student, and each time, Naruto got ever closer to defeating his opponent.
Naruto seemed to adapt tactically on the fly without consideration of any plan, relying instinctively on the information from his senses unlike his other peers who processed and understood the information with their minds to create battle strategies like Sasuke, Shino, Shikamaru and Haruno.
As the sparring session ended and Iruka watched as Naruto, Sasuke, Chouji and Kiba picked themselves up and proceeded to exit the combat hall looking hardly winded that his thoughts headed towards the one phrase that often rang in his mind when he watched the nine eleven year olds in varying situations...
Haruno, Shikamaru, and Shino in their tactical and analytical abilities.
Hyuuga and Yamanaka in their stealth and information gathering abilities.
The one thought always came back to echo no matter how often he forgot it.
'They may seem normal, but they were genetically engineered for war.'
To be continued...
I started this story two years ago and only planned to post it when I had a whole big chunk written out, but the story stalled quite quickly into the first chapter. That and the fact I haven't really been following Naruto at all since the beginning of the second arc. But recently, I came across this again, sitting unfinished on my computer. So I decided to just try this story again and hope I finish it while I'm not busy with work. (Because I really want to just write out a happy fantasy for myself) I'm actually pretty pleased with making Tenten's name as a portmanteau since it doesn't look like Kishimoto will give her a family any time soon.
Next Chapter: Graduation
04/07/10