Disclaimer: Naruto and all associated characters are a property of Masashi Kishimoto. Motoko Kusanagi and all associated elements and characters of Ghost in the Shell are properties of Masamune Shirow.
Jutsu: Original (Translation)
Bijū/Summon/Android Speaking
Bijū/Summon/Android Thoughts
Mental Communications
[Chat Box/Text communication]
A/N: Only a few more chapters remain before the main story starts. To cut down on the confusion, I have come up with a different naming scheme for the Intro Arc.
Edit 9/21 Fixed an error in the Shinobi bracket
Beta v.1.4
January 18th, 2248
Chūnin Exams Stage 2 - Poseidon Global Dome - Amegakure
A large, covered stadium is slowly filling with spectators for the first multinational event in the history of Ame. The massive LED screens switched between various different corporate ads before focusing back on the center of the arena where the day's entertainment would soon be provided. Standing in the center of the massive arena are 78 prospective Genin who are seeking to advance to the Finals in order to prove their worth to advance to the rank of Chūnin.
Naruto looked around in awe at the size and technology that was flaunted in this state of the art Arena. In his 15 years of life he had never seen anything so grand or flashy with his own eyes. Even the pictures he had looked up on LATTICE couldn't do the arena justice.
The glass dome held lights almost as bright as the sun while also keeping the perpetual rain from falling on the heads of the spectators and contestants alike. The rainwater was being filtered and funneled through various fountains, waterfalls, and water sculptures that decorated the concessions stands, waiting areas, and staircases that led to the different seating sections the massive stadium was divided into.
While the Tobirama Arena in Konoha was fairly large, it was only half the size of the PoseiDome (as the locals had dubbed it). Naruto didn't think there were enough people living in Ame to fill the place, let alone justify the costs for such a large and elaborate building. In fact, Ame had been extremely isolationist and hostile for most of its history. The small nation had the unfortunate luck to be located between three of the five major villages who had been at each other's throats for over a century. It was only in the last 15 years that Suna had agreed to a tentative alliance with Konoha. While Iwa wanted nothing more than to wipe Konoha off the map for good, the devastation wreaked by the Yondaime in the Third Shinobi War had crippled Iwa so badly that they could barely man enough people to secure their own territory.
In fact, a few lesser territories had broken free of Tsuchi no Kuni and established their own villages since Iwa could no longer use force to reign them in.
Because Ame's location and proximity to Konoha, Iwa, and Suna, it had been viewed as a convenient battleground at first. A place where your armies could go all out without villages and farmlands in their own territory suffering from the fallout or devastation associated with that level of destruction. At least, until Ame decided that they weren't too pleased with that idea and began to fight back with guerrilla tactics to drive the foreigners out of their land. The Ame ninja were so effective with their tactics that they had inadvertently doomed their land to be plagued by further wars. The "big five" planned battles within their borders in order to take advantage of those talents to try and lure their opponent into a quagmire they could use to their advantage.
This practice continued until Hanzō the Salamander's rise to power shortly before the Second Shinobi War.
With a massive recruitment drive and ruthless training fueled by a population fed up and raving mad over the loss of lives and homes, Ame's shinobi army swelled in the blink of an eye. With Hanzō's cunning and an overwhelming show of force, Ame devastated all the armies battling in and around their borders as soon as the Second War broke out. Afterward, the nation took up an isolationist policy cutting off all diplomatic ties with the nations around them and heavily fortifying their borders to prevent any post-war skirmishes or grudge matches taking place within their country. As a result, Ame remained untouched during the Third Shinobi War, forcing most of the battles to be fought in neighboring Kusa, Taki, and Kawa no Kuni instead.
It was only because of Hanzō's immense strength and sharp intellect that Ame remained independent to this day, a testament to his strength and fortitude. To push back the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three) of Konoha, The Bakuha Butai (Explosion Corps) of Iwa, and even the Kugutsu Butai (Puppet Brigade) of Suna when you were outnumbered and being besieged on all sides was a feat few could manage and it was no surprise that Ame had remained free and unmolested by foreign influence once the dust from the Second War had settled.
Oddly enough it had been the Derumo Cybernetics company that had managed to penetrate the insular nation and get them to start opening up to establishing trade and relations with other nations. Ame still remained strictly neutral in all affairs, but now the water-logged country was accepting imports while exporting the wide variety of fish, aquaculture technology, and even plumbing and water management techniques they had developed to deal with the endless rainfall that plagued their country.
Rumor had it that there was even a deal between Suna and Ame to create a pipeline to direct the massive rainfall towards the desert nation. The amount of estimated rainfall that fell on a yearly basis only to be redirected into lakes, swamps, or the ocean would be more than enough to change the landscape of the arid village if managed properly.
Kakashi sat with the other Jōnin instructors in their assigned section with a deceptively bored expression on his face. In reality, he was gauging the competition his little genin would be soon facing. Assessing the other teams based on their posture, the posture of the sensei within the Jōnin box, and any signs of specialization based on equipment or weaponry that he could pick up at a glance.
From what he had seen so far, his team had a good chance to shine in this exam. The only thing that could really be held against them was their overall mission experience but Kakashi had faith they would be able to overcome that point against them. By showing smart tactics and the capability to back them up with more than enough strength, they would prove their worth.
Ever since that first team test and the harsh wake-up call he had given them, Kakashi had been pleased to see the improvement on his team. While they hadn't formed as tight of a bond with each other as he had hoped, they still worked well together and looked out for each other in combat situations like any well-oiled team should. Their skills had also increased dramatically as he had opted to focus more on training while taking only short term missions to ensure that they still met the requirements to attend the Chūnin exams.
While their mission experience was the least of any of the other genin teams from Konoha, Kakashi had drilled them in scenarios that were common for B and A ranked missions to make up for that lack of practical experience. While even he would admit it wasn't the same as having true field experience, the way that Team 7 operated on all the C-ranks they had completed up to this point proved they were, at the very least, capable of withstanding anything at that level. They also had a perfect mission record to date, unlike their comrades, so that was a bonus point in their favor when it came time for the evaluation.
Kakashi's eye roamed over the rest of the candidates until reaching the teams from Konoha. While Team Gai could present a real challenge to his genin, Kakashi still felt certain that Team 7 would prevail against them. It would certainly be an interesting match, almost worth the incessant challenges he would receive from Gai should his team win as he expected.
Team 8 was too much of a specialist team to offer much of a threat. While Shino's kikaichū could present a challenge, if they had been unfamiliar with how to deal with them, he had made certain that wouldn't be a problem for his genin. The Inuzuka and the Hyūga just weren't at the same level as his team. He knew this because he had watched them all before they left for the exams. They would be eliminated quite quickly.
Team 10 might be a problem since it was a team elimination event, but Kakashi had prepared his team for every kind of scenario. If they succeeded in eliminating Shikamaru off the bat, Team 10 would fall apart faster than a house of cards in a windstorm. Not to mention that Ino's ace was useless against two out of three of his genin. It could be a problem if she chose to dive into Naruto's mind but that would simply have to be dealt with at a later time.
As his eyes landed on his genin, Kakashi couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in how well they had developed. As a team, they were starting to come together nicely. With enough time and experience, he was certain that very tentative bond they had now would only grow into something more profound. In his eye, he could see the next iteration of the Legendary Sannin, if Konoha finally managed to kill Orochimaru and claim his contract of course.
After the test, Sasuke had shelved his arrogant nature and had focused on training. He actively began working with Naruto and Sakura, bouncing ideas and techniques off of them. It had been a bit awkward for the Uchiha at first, but with Sakura no longer fawning over him and Naruto becoming increasingly more calm and respectful, Sasuke began to open up a lot more. He was still stoic and indifferent at best, but he was no longer outright dismissive or cold to his team. Sometimes Sasuke and Naruto still got into it like they did in the Academy, but it was no longer as heated as before. With no more insecurities and misunderstandings to fuel them into going overboard, their competition was more like a healthy rivalry. They still weren't friends with each other but Sasuke no longer avoided hanging out with them if it wasn't required. The three of them could be seen plotting revenge against Kakashi (particularly how to remove his mask in public) over lunch or during one of their days off.
They hadn't managed to succeed yet, despite Naruto's best efforts.
Sasuke had finally managed to unlock his Sharingan during a C-ranked mission that involved a few missing-nin. They had been recent additions to the bandit camp they had been instructed to remove from the border of Hi no Kuni and Kawa no Kuni. The Tani shinobi hadn't been much higher than mid chūnin rank, but they had been smart enough not to reveal themselves until he had moved away from his genin to cut off a large group of reinforcements.
Sasuke had been heavily engaged by a trio of regular bandits before the shinobi decided to use the bandits as cover for their combination attack. Sasuke had been unable to avoid the attack or escape because he had already used his Kawarimi earlier and was not trapped on all sides. The lightning-laced water jet had been only a few feet away from striking Sasuke before Naruto and Sakura had managed to divert the attack with a clever combination of Fūton: Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough) and Doton: Iwadeppō (Rock Gun). The wind from Naruto's attack not only dispersed the lightning in the water, but it propelled the expanding boulder through the water jet and took out one of the shinobi along with a trio of the bandits that had been hemming Sasuke in.
After that little hiccup, however, everything went smoothly. Sasuke managed to finish off the other ninja that had almost ended him. With his Sharingan now fully manifested, Sasuke became more at ease around Naruto and Sakura. His new found determination to follow in his brother's footsteps and spurn his father's advice had done wonders to his attitude. There were times he was still jealous of Naruto's own advancement because of the Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone) training exploit, but Naruto had actually been able to quell most of that negativity by sharing a few of his jutsu that Sasuke had been interested in. In exchange, Sasuke had requested a few Fūton jutsu that Itachi had copied from a group of Suna ninjas.
Kakashi's eye moved onto Sakura and he couldn't help but eye smile in response to her wave towards him.
Sakura had been improving by leaps and bounds as well. While her genjutsu hadn't advanced as much as he would like, her taijutsu was growing even more powerful every day. By mastering her cybernetic output along with controlled bursts of chakra, she had effectively managed to replicate Tsunade's own style while adding a bit more speed and flexibility to her range of motion. She had also been developing her own style of taijutsu instead of relying on the Academy version with the help of both Naruto and, surprisingly, Sasuke as well.
While her focus had mainly been on increasing her overall stamina, speed, and chakra reserves for the past six months, the most surprising area of growth had been her ninjutsu. Sakura had managed to master two Suiton, three Doton, and a Katon jutsu to try and give herself more flexibility. While her reserves were still considered below average for most kunoichi, her control allowed her to squeeze out a few extra jutsu before her reserves were shot.
On their first C-ranked mission, they had faced off against a genin team from Kumo who was tasked with stealing a scroll from a traveling merchant Team 7 had been assigned to protect. When the Jōnin instructor of the Kumo team pointed out her taijutsu specialty, Sakura had felt like a burden once more. Her genjutsu had been easily detected and dispelled and they had successfully kept her at bay with a combination of projectiles and ninjutsu. She had burnt most of her reserves trying to layer multiple genjutsu in the hopes of fooling them into thinking they had cleared them all, or to add sudden bursts of speed to try and catch them off guard so she could land a hit. All that had done was allow her chakra reserves to dwindle and slow her down even further. After that, the Kumo team's ninjutsu specialist trapped her inside some sort of Raiton cage jutsu and promptly disregarded her as a threat after that.
Her cyberbrain had quickly calculated the number of joules the Raiton jutsu was generating and knew that trying to power through it would cause multiple system failures in her limbs. They wouldn't be permanent failures but the damage would be enough to put her out of commission for a few days. That wasn't including the internal damage to her organic organs that she would sustain.
The lightning cage was too tall for her to leap out of, and she hadn't learned any ninjutsu because she had focused on iryōjutsu and genjutsu instead. The only other possibility would be to use Kawarimi but she couldn't be certain if that would allow her to escape unscathed.
In the end, Team 7 was still successful in driving off the Kumo ninja, but that was mainly due to Kakashi who had quickly forced the Jōnin to call a retreat before one of his genin got a taste of the Raikiri (Lightning Cutter). The Kumo genin weren't completely unscathed, as Naruto and Sasuke had managed to put them through their paces, but their well-coordinated teamwork had made them far more formidable than the unorganized Team 7.
If team 7 had worked together as intended, that Kumo team would have been destroyed.
Kakashi had reamed the team upon their return to Konoha with double training and extra harsh criticism for throwing out all of his hard work in favor of running into combat headlong. He had fallen just short of hospitalizing each of them in a no holds barred spar against himself because he was disturbed by how eager they had been to rush headlong into combat. It was completely at odds with how most genin teams behaved during their first contact with an enemy.
On further reflection, he determined it was a simple combination of their extended training in the Academy combined with Naruto and Sasuke's need to test their strength that had caused them to jump the gun. Still, they deserved the harsh penalty because it had been a stupid move on their part and he wanted to curtail that kind of behavior immediately. They had tossed aside all of their training in the heat of battle, the primary cause of death for most genin and chūnin.
While that fiasco had been a learning experience for the entire team, Sakura had learned a bigger lesson from that engagement and demanded to learn some ninjutsu.
Naruto had literally leaped at the opportunity before managing to calm himself and make a strong case for Sakura to accept his aid in learning from him. Kakashi backed up Naruto's claim of having several Doton scrolls at his disposal, which was her strongest affinity. Kakashi also pointed out that Naruto's Suiton affinity was far stronger than his own, so he encouraged her to work with Naruto on strengthening her minor affinity first since it would help increase her reserves and control at the same time.
Kakashi had observed the lessons at first, to ensure that Naruto wasn't leaving out pertinent information that could be harmful or wasn't being too overbearing and clingy to be effective. He was pleasantly surprised to see that his fears were completely unwarranted. Naruto became unusually serious while teaching Sakura.
He was confident, firm, and direct in his explanations or when correcting her and displayed a great deal more patience than Kakashi thought was possible for the hyperactive blond. Instead of cheering her successes with his usual childish exuberance, he simply offered quiet encouragement and praise so that he wouldn't disrupt her concentration.
Even Sakura had been shocked to see this side of Naruto and it took her a full day to really adapt to the change. Kakashi could tell that she also didn't think this side of Naruto had existed, not knowing that he had never revealed that part of himself to anyone else. It had helped to warm the relationship between the two a bit more since Sakura was genuinely grateful. Instead of just acting like Naruto was a co-worker, Sakura was beginning to treat him as a friend.
For Kakashi, it had brought back so many of the bittersweet memories of the early days with his sensei. Instead of losing himself in his book after a few hours at the memorial stone, he had spent most of the evening looking at the names of those he had lost. Embracing that wallowing guilt that he viewed as his penance for his failures to those who had relied on and trusted him.
It was a sobering reminder that jabbed at that wound in his heart. The wound created by his endless guilt and crippling failure, but he reminded himself that it was for the best. That stopping them from developing more than grudging respect for him through his harsh, annoying, and standoffish behavior was the best for all of them.
Thinking of Naruto drew his attention to the blond who was studying everything around him with an almost childlike expression of awe on his face.
Naruto's growth had been phenomenal, to say the least, but that was to be expected when you could abuse the Kage Bunshin like he could. This past six months had seen Naruto blitz through his Suiton and Fūton chakra control exercises until he had mastered both levels of each affinity. While Naruto wanted to delve even further into his Suiton control by mastering the Nidaime's exercises, Kakashi had convinced him it would be better for him to focus on something else given the abundance of water around Ame.
Even if the exam arena was kept dry, the vast majority of Ame shinobi were Suiton users so they would likely have water sources nearby for them to exploit. Otherwise, he could always carry a canteen into battle.
The biggest change of all, however, came shortly after their first C-ranked mission; only a week after they had performed their first bell test. After the debacle with the Kumo ninja and his training session with Sakura, Naruto had begun to go through a dramatic change. He started to deviate from mastering all of his elemental exercises in favor of learning from that Fire Temple scroll he had found in the ruins of the Old Village. Kakashi hadn't been aware of what exactly was in that scroll, only thinking it was a taijutsu style that had been vetted by the Hokage.
The strange taijutsu style was named Shōrinji Ken (Shaolin Fist) and was quite different than most styles favored by shinobi. Most traditional styles were similar in form and technique to the Gōken (Strong Fist) or Jūken (Gentle Fist) who had both been derived from a single ancestor style known as Hakkakuken (White Crane Fist). Even the Academy style was a derivative of the White crane style with modifications intended to help the inexperienced adapt to taijutsu easier.
While the differences between the Gōken and the Jūken were large, the basic movements and approach of an attack were the same for both styles. You approached your opponent head on without a great deal of angular movement or side stepping. The attacks were all centered around strong, set stances that barely shifted or moved unless it was to create an opening to lure your opponent in. Where the Gōken focused on overwhelming power and strength to cause blunt damage and break bones, the Jūken was delicate and precise, attacking the opponent internally with pinpoint precision via the Byakugan.
The Shōrinji style had almost looked like an elaborate dance to Kakashi when he first saw Naruto moving through the beginner kata. It was flowing and fluid with a great deal of deceptive openings that were really setting an opponent up for a vicious combination. There was a lot of circular movements in the arms, legs, and even with the body itself. Many of the stances were odd to him. They looked to be off balance or left you in vulnerable positions with a lot of vital points exposed. Yet, all those points were actually covered by punches, kicks, or evasive maneuvers that came from odd angles. There were also multiple defenses against specific attacks on a person while they were in these compromised positions.
Kakashi had tried to introduce a few different styles to persuade Naruto into learning a more combat effective style, but Naruto had been strangely adamant to succeed with the foreign style. The blond put far more focus into the style than Kakashi liked, but after the first month, Naruto had quickly advanced to the intermediate levels of the style.
That was when Kakashi began to see how dangerous the style really was.
Where Naruto was getting dominated in spars that he used to come out even in, suddenly he was putting up more of a challenge than ever before. Considering that he hadn't even begun the advanced or mastery level training, that was a huge indicator of how well this style worked for Naruto.
There were times where Kakashi would catch himself studying Naruto as he moved through his kata or practiced sparring with his clones. Sakura had shown the most interest in the style but was determined to create her own original style since her body and build was too different to use Naruto's style to full effect. Even Sasuke had taken to observing the blond with his Sharingan, with Naruto's permission of course. Sasuke still viewed his clan's style as superior because of how it was intrinsically tied in with the Sharingan, but that didn't stop him from integrating a few of the most complicated kicks and useful counters.
A very big compliment considering that the only clan more arrogant about the superiority of their taijutsu style was the Hyūga clan.
What had surprised Kakashi the most, however, was how sudden Naruto had switched his focus onto advancing the style over everything else. He had abandoned furthering his Raiton element or mastering more jutsu in favor of mastering the style as fast as possible. Considering Naruto had been going down the path of a ninjutsu specialist since he started the Academy, it was a bit bizarre. Instead of having two-thirds of his clones working on new jutsu and chakra control, he only had half focused on chakra control and new jutsu. The other half continued to review the various different kata before pairing off to run through kata that were designed to be performed with a partner.
Not only had his focus and style begin to change, but Naruto's behavior and personality began to shift dramatically as well. While he was still cheerful and positive, his boisterous and loud nature had begun to taper off the more he threw himself into the style. Instead of being hyperactive or jittery when forced to sit still or listen to a boring lecture, he was able to listen patiently. He became less inclined to jump into the action unless he needed to and no longer complained if he was told to stay out of combat in favor of guarding a target or client. It had been such a sudden switch in his personality that both himself and the Hokage had begun to fear that the Kyūbi had been exerting its influence in some way. Both Kakashi and the Hokage began to closely monitor Naruto to find the cause of his change in behavior and routines.
What they discovered, however, had been shocking.
Naruto now rose before sunset and meditated for a half hour. Not only had Naruto always been a late riser, but they didn't think it would be possible for Naruto to sit still for that long, let alone meditate. Then he would go through a strange kata routine they later learned was called the Taikyokuken (Tai chi). It was a form of moving meditation that warmed his body up and got his blood and chakra system flowing. Next, he went through several stretching exercises to increase his flexibility and strengthen different parts of his body. These included stretching his body and limbs like a contortionist. Stretching his legs over his head, performing front and side splits, bending forward until his head touched his knees before bending over backward to plant his hands flat on the ground as close to his heels as possible.
There were also balancing and agility challenges he would alternate with the stretching challenges on different days. Exercises like balancing on a narrow stump while holding certain stances, balancing with split kicks or even performing acrobatic moves like a gymnast would. He would balance his entire body off of the ground using just his hands before holding his body aloft in various different positions. The one balancing exercise he performed every morning was to balance on just his head and neck alone for as long as he could. The Hokage had worried that Naruto would break his neck doing something like that, but it seemed that hard head of his was more than capable of maintaining that position for almost an hour.
Naruto had later explained that it was to strengthen his neck and head to make it harder for him to suffer from concussions or a broken neck. At first, he had started off in a simple handstand before progressing to leaning his body against a wall while balancing on his head without his hands to support him. The stage the Hokage had witnessed him performing was one of the most advanced levels of strengthening the head and neck.
Next, would come a workout that was completely different than the standard one most shinobi went through. Holding weights while moving through kata, balancing on a pole while holding a pair of milk jugs in front, to his sides, and even behind his body. He would use the chin-up bar in his apartment to hang by his feet and do inverted sit-ups before dropping to the ground to start working on his jumping squats. He would also hold different fighting stances while his clones piled objects on his body. The clones would also strike the different muscle groups under strain with a stick while Naruto held the stance and tried to keep the objects balanced on his body.
Once that was done he would summon clones to begin preparing breakfast and lunch for the day. Both the Sandaime and Kakashi had been shocked to see Naruto actually preparing something other than instant ramen. His fridge and pantry had been filled with vegetables, fruits, grains, eggs, and lean meats. His clones made some strange form of porridge every morning that was made of various nuts, beans, rice, and grains which would be eaten with eggs, fish, or fruits for variety. While the scrolls apparently called for a vegetarian diet with only dairy being acceptable, Naruto had opted to cut back on meat instead of removing it entirely because he preferred organic foods and didn't want to take supplements for the various nutrients that could only come from meat.
Once his clones were set to work on the breakfast and lunch of his choice, Naruto would head out for the final part of his morning routine. This consisted of performing a free running routine from his apartment on the west side of the village to the Hokage Monument without using chakra. They watched as he climbed low walls and poles, leaped between buildings and vaulted over obstacles like railings, clothes lines, and low walls. On occasion he would add in the various agility exercises as he moved, flipping, hand-springing and rolling over, under, and off of objects in his path. Once he reached the stairs leading towards the top of the Hokage monument, he ran up the full length of them before immediately turning around to crawl down several flights on his hands and knees.
The Hokage had almost had a heart attack the first time he saw Naruto crawling head first down the dangerously steep staircase, but Naruto had done it with such proficiency that they could tell he had been doing this exercise for quite some time now. After Naruto finished his stair crawl, he would jog halfway back to his apartment before walking the rest to cool off. By the time his morning routine was finished, there was just enough time for him to eat the breakfast prepared by his clones and take a quick shower. He would then dress in his combat gear, take the packed lunch from his clones, and make his way to Training Ground 3 at full speed to ensure he wasn't late.
Kakashi was amazed at just how much Naruto had been working out before the team's scheduled training. If it were anyone else, he would consider it impossible to endure that much. Only Gai or Lee had a workout and training routine that was close to the level of what Naruto was doing and their routine was considered beyond extreme to most.
Considering the fact that Kakashi had been opting to put his team through more training than missions, he could now see why Naruto had been progressing so quickly. If they didn't have a mission to complete, Naruto was essentially moving from one workout to another.
Kakashi always had the team run laps around the training ground before performing the standard workout of sit ups, push ups, punch/kick combinations, jumping jacks, leg lifts, and pull ups. Then he would work on advanced formations and tactics or several rounds of sparring while trading partners before the lunch break.
With an hour for lunch, Naruto used to always run home or to Ichiraku's to get his ramen fix. Now he had a bento with simple meals like a few onigiri stuffed with fish, egg, or pork with a salad of some sort and some fruit. Otherwise, it was a simple meal of grilled chicken or fish with rice, pickled vegetables, and edamame. He never took longer than 30 minutes to finish his food and would either nap or meditate for the rest of the lunch hour.
After lunch was always individual training overseen by Kakashi or a clone. (Team 7 often suspected that they were all clones, but the first time Naruto dispelled his training clone, the whole team was punished so severely that they never tried to test them again.)
This was when Naruto would divide his clones to their tasks before focusing on his own. 30 clones were always working on elemental manipulation and chakra control with only a handful of those now dedicated to mastering a new jutsu, unlike the 20 he had assigned to that task before. The other 30 clones were all focused on kata, paired kata, or sparring with both Shōrinji and Academy styles.
Most of the time Naruto would focus on the more advanced flexibility, balance, and strength training that he didn't have time to perform in the morning. Once in a while, he teamed up with a clone to practice sparring himself. After all, a real fight was nothing like flowing through a kata, and while he retained the muscle memories and knowledge from his clones that sparred, it still felt different from when he sparred himself.
Once Kakashi dismissed them for the day, Naruto would personally run through all of his kata once more before dinner. Instead of packaged ramen, like he would have made in the past, Naruto would either take the time to visit the Ichiraku's stand or make his own. He also added more nori (seaweed), menma (braised bamboo shoots), and egg instead of extra roasted pork like he used to. After his meal, he would run through the Taikyokuken routine once more before settling down to study a few scrolls or browse LATTICE before heading to bed.
After the first time the Hokage and Kakashi had finished watching a typical day for Naruto through the crystal ball, they had sat in stunned silence for a few moments. Kakashi then asked the Hokage if he had ever seen some of the things Naruto was studying and if there were any dangers behind it. The Hokage had mentioned that he had seen similar exercises performed by the monks at the fire temple but there were major differences between the two.
The monks didn't perform such extensive stretching or balancing exercises. Their combat style was far less elaborate and more defensive in nature. The Fire Monks also seemed to have modified their own style to represent the most popular styles used in Genso no Kuni by removing the circular motions and strange angles of attacks. From what he had observed, the Monks had removed almost all of the foreign elements and replaced them with aspects of the Gōken instead.
The Hokage had seemed very relieved once he had witnessed the cause of the change in Naruto. Kakashi even heard him whisper a quick prayer of gratitude to the Kami before castigating himself for not reviewing the Fire Temple scroll before hand, as he had intended. He had been busy fighting for the Academy changes and dealing with attempts from the foreigners to gain more influence that it had slipped his mind completely. It was only when Naruto graduated that he remembered taking the scroll to review. Since Naruto had passed and would have Kakashi monitoring him, he simply returned the scroll as promised. The Sandaime lamented not allowing Naruto to start this style sooner, if he had, the blond might not have suffered as much mental trauma when his burden had been revealed to him.
When Kakashi queried the Hokage about his reaction, the Sandaime had revealed the events that lead to Naruto learning the truth about his burden and his parents. Kakashi had been completely unaware of Naruto's little breakdown or that he knew the truth about the Kyūbi or his parents. Since he had kept his distance from Naruto as much as possible, he hadn't been able to see just how much Naruto had been struggling with his growing resentment and bitterness.
The Sandaime kept more of a watch on Naruto than people suspected. As Naruto grew more distant from him, he had resorted to observing him through his crystal ball with increasing frequency; sometimes even assigning a clone the task once a month when he was busy. He had seen the signs of resentment and rage building in the normally cheerful blond when he believed he was alone and unobserved. While Naruto tried to use it to fuel his determination, it was obvious he was also suppressing a great deal of it as well. Naruto was increasingly becoming isolated from his peers once he left the Academy and no longer tried to socialize with others as frequently as he had before. The Sandaime had feared that the Kyūbi had been responsible for this change since Naruto admitted that the fox had spoken to him.
When Kakashi asked how a simple taijutsu scroll could make such a dramatic change in Naruto, the Sandaime explained how he had observed Naruto opening the scroll a day earlier and discovered that it had actually contained a large collection of scrolls hidden inside of seals. He began to go into a lecture based on the research he had conducted when he saw the various writings Naruto was studying; filling in other details from his own accumulated knowledge of history.
Apparently, the style Naruto was learning was one of the originators of the current Fire Temple style, if not the original style it was based on. It was a style that was introduced to their lands by foreign monks before the time of the Rikudo Sennin (Sage of Six Paths). All of the stances, kata, and exercises were heavily influenced by the religion that had created them; the religion created by a man known only as the Buddha. Not much knowledge was retained about the Buddha himself but some of the teachings were recorded for posterity by the Fire Temple monks because there were many similarities between the Buddha's philosophies and the Rikudo Sennin's philosophy of Ninshu.
The Sandaime suspected that the scroll Naruto had was one of the original copies made to keep a record of those teachings.
The aged Hokage then went on to explain how the fire monks of today had incorporated many of the teachings from the foreign monks because the different exercises and techniques made it easier for a person to become in tune their chakra system. The foreign monks also espoused a belief in peace and understanding like Ninshu did.
It was how to attain peace and understanding where the teachings of the Buddha began to disagree with the teachings of the Rikudo Sennin.
Ninshu espoused sharing emotions through the universal link all things shared (chakra) to gain understanding and establish peace. In order to spread this understanding and knowledge, people needed to make use of that chakra to make life easier. This was the foundation that Ninjutsu would be built from.
Unlike Ninshu, the followers of Buddha believed that such flashy and ostentatious displays of power would only lead people away from peace. That only through a humble life could you find the true path to peace. They studied and mastered taijutsu because it was the best way to ensure no one died if a conflict couldn't be avoided. They would only use this style for self-defense, or to eliminate any evil that was causing suffering to spread. Even then, however, they tried not to kill as it is one of their tenants to never take a life. The followers of Buddha believed in adhering to a strict lifestyle that many people would consider harsh and poor. This was in complete contrast to Ninshu that sought to make life easy and more comfortable for everyone.
In the end, the followers of Ninshu had won over the masses with the flashy displays of jutsu that could be used to help people. Jutsu like watering crops, building homes, and healing the sick. The Rikudo Sennin's amazing powers and strong charisma had also helped to fuel the spread of Ninshu over Buddhism which appeared to be harsh and poor in comparison. With the surging popularity of Ninshu, the followers of the Buddha eventually dwindled away into obscurity. Unfortunately, Ninshu and its practice of using jutsu to unite people would eventually evolve into the Ninjutsu of today as the world became increasingly violent with the death of the Rikudo Sennin and the war between his successors.
Kakashi had been quite surprised about this knowledge. He had never heard much about Ninshu before. Even the fire temple monks he had dealt with in the past never mentioned much about the philosophy. Most of the monks also used Ninjutsu on a regular basis. It was hard to think that something like Ninjutsu, that was solely designed for warfare, could originate from Ninshu. Especially when you took into consideration the beliefs of the philosophy.
In some ways, the followers of Buddha had been correct. The powers displayed by Ninshu had evolved into tools of warfare.
Kakashi asked how much the Sandaime knew about the Buddhist philosophy so he could better understand the changes in Naruto. From what he had heard so far, it sounded like it would eventually lead Naruto to quit the shinobi force. An option that wasn't really possible given his heritage and his burden. If Naruto began to follow these beliefs, he could end up resenting the village for forcing him into conflict.
The Sandaime had reassured him that it wasn't likely that Naruto would follow that path given his goal of being Hokage. Even if that goal were to change, the Sandaime knew that Naruto still sought strength to prove himself to the village. If Naruto did decide to fully embrace the philosophy, which the Sandaime highly doubted, he would still allow Naruto to serve in a manner that wouldn't run counter to his beliefs. He could place him on one of the numerous village defense teams or even the Barrier response team.
With Kakashi's fears settled, the Sandaime dove back into lecture mode once more. Something he had missed greatly over the years, but he dare not take another team after the fiasco that his own had become. The Densetsu no Sannin were just as infamous as they were famous in his opinion and it had been painful to the old Kage to see what had become of them all.
The aged Hokage had reached out to a contact of his in the Fire Temple who had explained their beliefs at length from a historical scroll. Apparently, the Buddhists believed that peace could only be achieved by attaining enlightenment. By harmonizing ones body, mind, spirit, and chakra with the energy of the universe, they were able to ascend to a higher level of understanding and awareness, therefore becoming enlightened. With enlightenment, the spirit would become free from the stress, pain, and suffering of life. Some of the Buddhist teachings even claimed that once true enlightenment was attained, a person could transcend reincarnation if they chose. Living in perfect tranquility and serenity as a higher life form, free of the shackles or mortality.
This meant that the followers of Buddha went through a great deal more introspection and meditation than the Fire Monks did. Like Ninshu, a major part of being a Buddhist was to be understanding and forgiving of people who lashed out due to their suffering. Many Buddhists believed that you were obligated to absorb the pain and stress of those who were further from enlightenment than you were. To take those negative emotions into yourself and free them through calming exercise or meditation so that you could carry those around you towards enlightenment as well.
The meditation, the chakra flow exercises, and even the control over one's mental state was a major factor in a Buddhist's life and because of this, their taijutsu styles all required those requirements to be met before the combat style was effective. Like chakra, the style was meant to be fluid and in constant motion, which is why it had so many circular movements. The practitioner had to be fully in tune with their body and chakra system at all times and keep it under complete control so they could deliver the right amount of force at the right time with each strike.
That was when Kakashi realized why the style seemed to be ineffective at first. Naruto hadn't fully embraced the necessary aspects to make it effective at that time. He had needed the chakra control and knowledge of his chakra system that could only come from meditation and Taikyokuken; a subject that Naruto had been terrible at all his life. His body had also been built up around the more strict and solid stances of the Academy style so he didn't have the necessary flexibility and agility required for the Shōrinji Ken. Once Naruto had fully embraced the key components of the style and altered his exercises to fit with his new style, he had progressed at a rapid rate.
Now Kakashi could confidently say that Naruto's taijutsu would catch even some Jōnin off guard. It was very effective when Naruto chose to be aggressive but it truly shined when on the defensive, which was perfect for Naruto's style of combat.
He would stand at a distance using his massive chakra reserves to bombard you with ninjutsu, fooling you into thinking he was entirely ranged focus. The second you closed the gap, however, you were in for a big surprise. Naruto's chakra control had advanced so dramatically, because of his newfound dedication to the style, that he had begun to integrate Suiton and Fūton into some of his attacks without the use of hand seals. The attacks weren't overly strong, but they were perfect for throwing the opponent off even further. Not only did they have to deal with the unorthodox style, but they were also being pelted with bursts of drilling water or small gusts of cutting wind that hampered their balance and threw off their timing. With enough time, Kakashi was certain those attacks would evolve from minor flesh wounds to crippling or fatal injuries.
Kakashi had been surprised when Naruto had told him he still planned on being a ninjutsu specialist after his dramatic switch. Naruto had simply stated that he had just wanted to get his taijutsu up to speed before he returned his focus back to Ninjutsu. He felt the Academy style wasn't good enough for him to rely on and the styles Kakashi had shown him didn't catch his interest like the Shōrinji style did. It was for this reason that Kakashi began to put more faith in the Sandaime's belief that Naruto wouldn't quit being a shinobi or start resenting the village for making him fight.
Kakashi couldn't keep down the surge of pride in how much his students had developed since that first test six months ago. They had grown so rapidly in front of him that he couldn't deny he had become attached despite his best efforts. Hopefully, they succeeded and were all promoted so he could distance himself from them before it was too late.
As the stadium continued to fill and the spectators became rowdier, Naruto felt his nervous excitement growing. Closing his eyes, he began one of the simple breathing exercises he had learned from the Fire Temple scroll to help him remain calm and focused. Where in the past he would have been bouncing around and masking his nervousness with a mask of brash overconfidence, he was now storing that energy to be channeled during the next stage of the exams. Even he had to admit that he had changed dramatically since he had started studying the Fire Temple scrolls, but it had certainly been for the better.
When he had first opened the scroll to begin studying the style, he had found a series of seals filled with different scrolls that were neatly organized from introductory to master level with a few extras on philosophy and chakra theory. Of course, he had deemed the extras as unnecessary and had moved onto the first kata scroll in eagerness. After that annoying test from mutt face, he wanted to surprise everyone with an unorthodox style to show how bad ass he was. That didn't turn out so well. He kept tripping over his feet, falling over on his face and even pulled a few muscles trying to copy some of the stances and moves illustrated in the kata. He didn't want to give up so easily, so he went back and began reading from the start.
It had been the best decision of his life.
The first thing he learned was the breathing exercises, stretching routines and the Taikyokuken routine. He disregarded the breathing exercises at first and went through the moving meditation routine at first since it looked like a simple and easy kata. As he began going through the motions he found it to be strangely soothing. He felt everything around him fade away and began feeling the energy within himself. It had been a powerful, energizing sensation that was oddly soothing at the same time.
He turned his attention back to the first scrolls to find out what exactly had happened and found that all of those extra scrolls were tied into each other and dictated how the results should be felt if properly performed. Like the scrolls described, he could feel his Yin and Yang energy as it gathered to form chakra. He could feel his chakra core and, for the first time, he began to feel it flowing through his pathways and pooling in his tenketsu. As he became in touch with his inner self that tension, the bitterness, the pain of his burden began to feel lighter. He could feel his turbulent chakra calm as those negative emotions that had built up inside of him began to just drift away. The more he focused on the movements and the energy flowing inside of him, the more those negative feelings were being purged from his system.
He began to eagerly study the beginner's concepts during his free time while keeping up with his training with Team 7 and Kakashi. At first, he kept it hidden from everyone so that it could catch Sasuke off guard once he had mastered it entirely. After he began delving deeper into the introduction scrolls he became so absorbed in the concepts that he forgot about the combat aspects entirely. While some of the spiritual concepts were unfamiliar and seemed a little far fetched to him, he couldn't deny the benefits he had begun to reap. So, he began integrating all the teachings that would help him master the style as intended. As he learned how to meditate and clear his mind, he found it easier to let go of more than just his thoughts. He found it easier to let go of the grudges and the feelings of injustice he held onto. When the hateful villagers spat at him or cursed him, it didn't really bother him as much because all that tension and pain would disappear with his nightly routine. It was easier for him to ignore that negativity because, for the first time, he truly understood how to rise above all that petty hatred that was fostered by pain and suffering. By taking that negativity and releasing it through his different forms of meditation, he was giving himself and them an outlet to let go of it all.
He had also established a dialogue with the Kyūbi to a certain extent. It wasn't cordial by any means, but the fox had slowly become less vicious and hateful as they began debating the differences and similarities of the philosophy behind his style and the style that the Kyūbi apparently supported which was Ninshu. The philosophy scroll and the chakra theory scroll both mentioned Ninshu and Buddhism at length, and Naruto read them both in his spare time so he could better understand the intricacies of the style itself. The more time he spent in meditation, the more he began appearing in front of the Kyūbi. Eventually, they began to speak to each other and as Naruto began to embrace more and more of the style, he allowed his grudge against the kitsune to fade as well.
The Kyūbi had been surprisingly knowledgeable about the style itself and had begun mentioning more sophisticated exercises in chakra control and improving his combat style by essentially mocking his current skill level while mentioning a better way to improve. (Usually masked as an insult towards his intelligence)
As Naruto improved, he became more in tune with his inner self and realized that his previous excitability and confrontational behavior had been holding him back as much as the negative emotions from his burden. His overconfidence and brash nature, his reluctance to study everything around him because of his lack of patience, all of these things had contributed to the imbalance inside of him. An imbalance further exasperated by the presence of the Kyūbi's Yang chakra that was slowly bleeding into him. All of this had held him back from his goal and hindered him from finding his true strength, so he began to change.
He focused more on meditation and studying in order to strengthen his Yin reserves. He became more respectful and more patient. He worked on thinking before acting and he tempered his pride.
All of these moves had helped him gain the modicum of respect the Kyūbi now granted him. Enough respect that the Kyūbi was no longer as insulting or condescending to him. They could freely communicate with each other without the need for meditation but the fox only deigned to speak to him when it came to integral matters or to further the discussion on Ninshu and how humanity had bastardized it.
Naruto had agreed with the bijū, much to its surprise, but had mentioned that the problem lies with the lack of balance. Ninshu had been too focused on chakra itself and Buddhism had been too focused on individualism. Naruto began to believe that a balance of both was the best philosophy to change humanity for the better and end the endless cycle of violence and hatred. Because of how much both the concepts of Ninshu and Buddhism had helped him deal with the struggles in his life, he had added a new goal for him to achieve on his path to Hokage. He wanted to formulate a new philosophy that incorporated both philosophies in order to share it with the world. Since Ninshu had all but been forgotten along with Buddhism, Naruto wanted to do what he could to keep the knowledge alive and give it a chance to spread on its own merits.
That declaration had gone a long way in swaying the Kyūbi's opinion of him.
The bijū wasn't willing to just trust his words, however, but he was more willing to guide Naruto down that path and, in particular, the path of Ninshu as it was intended to be. The Kyūbi was willing to lend its chakra in certain situations without trying to wrestle control away from him if Naruto politely requested it. Naruto had thanked the Kyūbi for his consideration but had opted to avoid using it in favor of relying on his own skills and power. This had also helped to keep the Kyūbi appeased and more receptive to offering advice to his container.
Naruto opened his eyes as he felt Sakura's hand land on his shoulder. Smiling at her in response, he took a brief look around to see that the proctor had arrived and most of the genin were now filing into the contestant box. Following his team, he couldn't help but keep the smile on his face as he thought over how his relationship with Sakura had improved over the past six months.
After their first mission, he had been angry and disappointed in himself for acting like an idiot. While he had some skill in taijutsu, he had never bothered to further that talent. Opting to focus primarily on ninjutsu. When their team formation had broken apart on the first contact, he realized how problematic it was for a ninjutsu specialist who didn't have the right support. While his clones helped to funnel or lure his targets into his attack zone, their fragility made it easy for the Kumo ninja to eliminate them before evading or countering his attacks. When he was then pressured heavily by a kenjutsu specialist to take the heat off of their ninjutsu specialist, Naruto found himself barely able to launch more attacks without using clones to drag the sword wielder off of him. Yet, when he finally set the kenjutsu specialist up for a major combination attack, the ninjutsu specialist had effectively negated his plan by eliminating his clone and forcing him to break off his attack.
It was then that Naruto decided he didn't want to rely on clones to keep attacks off of him. If he were to be highly skilled at close range, he could distract the enemy from his clones who could use combination jutsu from a distance safely. He could also fool people into thinking he was a taijutsu specialist instead of a ninjutsu specialist or vice versa, depending on the situation.
If it hadn't been for Kakashi, they would have failed the mission. It had been another wake up call for him because if the mission parameters had been a bit different. His own idiocy would have cost his client their life instead of a simple scroll. So, he decided that he would focus more on his taijutsu and wouldn't try to hide it for stupid, selfish reasons. His competition with Sasuke wasn't more important than doing his damn job. He wouldn't fail like that again.
When Sakura had tearfully requested to learn jutsu from Kakashi, Naruto had quickly volunteered to help her in an effort to try and regain their lost friendship. It would also help him remain fresh with his own knowledge. One of the best ways to ensure you fully understood a concept was to begin teaching it to others because they asked different questions and viewed things from a different point of view. By teaching, you were inadvertently introduced to certain aspects of the subject that you hadn't fully focused on when you first learned the subject. It also forced you to break down and review each aspect of the subject in order for you to show the basics to your student.
Besides, any time he could spend with Sakura one on one was a bonus in his book. He also hated to see her so dejected and hurt. He had also felt powerless as she struggled to fight and defend herself effectively during that mission because he had been unable to help her despite his Fūton affinity. If teaching her jutsu helped her protect herself and restored her confidence, then he would be more than happy to share everything with her.
Eager not to blow his chance at restoring his friendship with her, Naruto began forcing himself to rise earlier. He established his current morning routine to burn off his excitement and anxiousness and center himself so that he could focus on what was important.
Helping Sakura grow stronger.
It had been exhaustive at first, but since he didn't need to expend much energy on training Sakura in Suiton manipulation, he managed to adjust quickly. Being worn out and sore helped to keep his usual exuberance subdued and soon Sakura began to change her view of him. She had been riddled with guilt for her treatment of him during the Academy years, but Naruto had waived if off and accepted her apology. After she had completed her Suiton exercises and learned two of the jutsu he felt would be more suited for her, their relationship went back to how it was before she became infatuated with Sasuke. She would start conversations with him, smile at him, and was even willing to spend time with him outside of training. He still didn't dare to hope she would see him in any other light than a friend, but he was willing to accept that. It was just another sign that studying the philosophies in the scroll were improving his life.
Naruto watched with interest as the team from Kumo eliminated the team from Taki. The roar of the crowd was louder than thunder in his ears. He couldn't imagine how it would sound when the entire stadium was filled. Since it wasn't the finals, the stadium was only halfway full. When the Daimyō and all the others arrived, the stadium would be packed with foreign dignitaries, nobles, and prospective clients.
Naruto looked up when he heard the announcer call out the next teams to battle. He felt confident that they would clear this round. Their teamwork was flawless. Kakashi had put them through the ringer for the final two months in terms of understanding common attacks used by each village and the skills they should expect. Not only that, they had learned in depth knowledge about their rivals from Konoha as well.
"Konoha Team A and Konoha Team C please proceed to the center of the Arena." the loudspeaker blared. "Final Call. Konoha Team A and Konoha Team C please proceed to the center of the Arena."
A graphic appeared on all the screens showing the registration photos of Team 7 above the photos of Team 10.
Sasuke smirked at Naruto before making their way down from the contestant box. Naruto could tell that Sasuke considered their match in the bag. They had run through more scenarios about this team than any other because of the rumors that Ame would be focusing on team or group battles in the Finals. Kakashi had drilled it into their heads that their victory would all come down to eliminating their formation and displaying better tactics if they wanted to present a good case for promotion. Sure they could brute force them out of the equation, but that wouldn't score them points with the evaluators.
Naruto heard Shikamaru mutter "troublesome" under his breath as he followed behind Ino and Choji.
Taking their position on the North end of the field as directed, Naruto and Sasuke flanked Sakura in their default position. The formation that Team 10 took would make all the difference in how they would respond.
When they saw Choji take the center position with Ino on his right and Shikamaru on the left, they shot each other quick glances before getting ready for the fight. Tapping into that reserve of nervous energy he had stored away, Naruto tightened the special leather bracers he had ordered to help augment his style. This would be the first time he would be able to utilize them in combat.
The black leather bracers covered his entire forearm and were made of two thick layers of leather that had a layer of chakra conductive metal in the center. Not only did they help power and stabilize his jutsu, but it also made his chakra flow attacks from his taijutsu style stronger and more efficient. They were just part of the changes made in his outfit since he had adopted his new style.
Instead of the sleeveless Anbu style shirt, he opted for a more traditional loose gi top in storm gray which had all the stitching and trim done in burnt orange. The gi top had wider sleeves to help conceal his movements and provide more of a distraction while in close combat and was worn over a kusari (chain) shirt. His bracers fit over the sleeves of his gi to prevent tangling his fingers or giving the enemy something easy to grip onto.
His pants matched the top with a baggier fit that allowed him to take advantage of his increased mobility and flexibility. On his calves were shin guards that matched his bracers in material and functionality. While he left his bracers exposed, the shin guards were secured to his legs with black combat wrap like most shinobi used, but over the top of the wrap was a thick strap of burnt orange leather lined with chain mail to make it harder to cut through. The strap was tied in a criss-cross pattern which contrasted with the black wrap underneath.
He kept his shuriken and kunai pouches in the same place but had switched his cloth hip holster to black leather, even though he hadn't been using them as often as he had in the past. Naruto kept them stocked with the all the standard equipment for a lack of better things to fill them with at the moment. On his feet were the standard, ankle length black shinobi sandals
His hitai-ate was still on his forehead holding his unruly hair up out of his face. His hairstyle hadn't changed much either. A bit longer than before but he kept it trimmed enough to prevent it from dropping into his eyes even if his hitai-ate was knocked loose.
Sasuke hadn't changed very much since the Academy, besides growing a few inches. His shirt and shoes were now black instead of blue. His shorts were replaced with black cargo pants and his leg and arm warmers were replaced with Anbu style arm guards and shin guards that were made of chakra conductive metal with embedded microchips to help increase his chakra flow and cybernetic output. His chokuto was secured to his waist at an angle but instead of placing it on the side like most people would, he had it set up for a reverse draw from his back right hip.
Sakura had modified her outfit a great deal. Now she wore a long sleeved kevlar catsuit. Over the catsuit was a red cheongsam reminiscent of her old dress but it was sleeveless, the length reached mid thigh instead of mid-calf, and the side slits rose all the way to her waist. On her hands were black leather gloves that gave the appearance of being attached to her sleeves. On her feet were knee-length combat sandals with a small block heel to add a touch of femininity while still allowing steady footing. Her long pink hair was parted heavily on the left and tied in a neatly coiled side bun on the right side of her head. Even if the bun was to fall free, her hitai-ate was in its traditional place, acting as a headband to keep her hair out of the face should it fall free. Her long bangs were secured with small red clips.
Instead of the standard hip and thigh pouches, she had modified utility belt and holster into a makeshift hip bag that was secured to her hips with an adjustable strap that belted it to her thighs. As a combat medic in training, she was usually required to carry a large bag of medical supplies across her lower back. To make herself less identifiable as a medic, she had opted to use two medium sized bags hanging from her hips, like the gun holsters she had seen some of the foreigners wearing, securing them to her thighs with an adjustable strap. This gave her more storage capacity overall and was more comfortable to her than an unwieldy bag on her lower back. There was a smaller pocket on the outer edge of her right hip bag that kept her kunai secured while her shuriken were stored in a fancy shuriken dispenser tube that was located on the belt strap where her old hip pouch used to be located.
She had modeled this dispenser after a belted coin dispenser she had seen at a festival. The ease at which the man could withdraw the flat metal to produce change had inspired her to make a shuriken holder that could behave in the same way. The holder was powered using inductive power transfer from her cybernetic limbs. Pressing the button on the bottom dispensed a single shuriken while the top button dispensed a group of three. It was far more efficient then fishing them out of her pouch as the tube ensured that the shuriken were deposited into her hand in the position needed to throw them.
Sasuke had actually requested a few of them from Sakura but kept them hidden inside of his old pouch to fool his opponent's into thinking he had the standard amount of shuriken. Sakura had simply opted to paint her device the same color as her belt so only the most perceptive would be able to notice the dispenser. She had offered to make a chakra powered one for Naruto, but he declined. He had less use for shuriken with his fighting style and because of his proficiency with Suiton: Mizu Shuriken.
She had teased him about being a technophobe afraid that the shuriken dispenser would plot to kill him and he had retorted that he didn't need a nanite-infused belt that would transform into a robot puppy before running away with his pants.
The proctor called for the match to start and immediately Team 7 launched into a massive combination attack to drive Team 10 apart and stop Choji's charge.
Sakura used Doton: Iwadeppō (Rock Gun) to send expanding boulders towards the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Sasuke used Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Phoenix Fire Jutsu) to light each boulder on fire while Naruto used Fūton: Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough) to fan the flames and increase the speed of the boulders.
Choji was forced to cancel his Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Expansion) that had intended to grab Sakura and negate their close-range specialist. He had charged in to try and break their combination but hand underestimated the speed at which Team 7 would finish their jutsu. Choji had no choice but to use Kawarimi with a leftover rock from the previous match to escape the barrage of superheated boulders flying towards him at high speed. Ino nimbly dodged the boulders while dashing towards the side to try and gain a flanking position on Sasuke. Shikamaru dashed to the opposite side of Ino and towards the direction that Choji had appeared when he used the replacement jutsu.
While the plan had called for Shikamaru to be separated instead of Ino, Team 7 didn't falter at the unexpected change. Naruto sent a group of Kage Bunshin to delay Choji and Shikamaru while covering his clones with Suiton: Mizu Shuriken and Tenkyū (Heavenly Weeping) to keep them away from regrouping with Ino under a barrage of water shuriken and senbon. Every time a clone was destroyed by Shikamaru or Choji, Naruto replaced it with another one while keeping his distance.
Meanwhile, Ino was being charged by both Sakura and Sasuke to prevent her from using her family jutsu to try and take control of one of them. With Sakura and Sasuke starting to hem her in, she was caught on the defensive, trying to fend off a sword and Sakura's chakra powered strikes with just a pair of kunai and her agility.
Choji saw Ino in trouble and broke from defending Shikamaru to lend her aid. Using his Bubun Baika no Jutsu he smashed one of the potted trees that were scattered around the arena for ambiance. Seizing a handful of the shattered chunks of wood, Choji tossed them into the center of the arena for Ino to use for Kawarimi. Naruto tried to intercept some of the pieces of wood with clones or shuriken to prevent Ino from reuniting with her team, but Shikamaru cut off his approach by bouncing his Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession) off of the shadows of the flying debris before trying to trap Naruto in his grip.
Naruto used Shunshin (Body Flicker) to avoid the trap and appeared next to Shikamaru before engaging the Nara in a taijutsu battle. He started with the Academy style to give Shikamaru a false sense of familiarity so he would feel comfortable engaging him instead of trying to escape. Shikamaru didn't feel inclined to try and take him on face to face, however. After blocking and parrying a flurry of strikes, Shikamaru lashed out with a kunai before following up with a handful of shuriken to force Naruto to back off a bit. While Naruto was busy evading the projectiles, Shikamaru prepared his escape.
As Naruto charged back in to land a cross, Shikamaru used another piece of the shattered tree to Kawarimi behind Naruto, at a safe distance, before trying to trap the blond in his shadow once more. Naruto was barely able to keep the smirk off of his face when the Kagemane no Jutsu landed on the clone Shikamaru thought was real. It had been a close thing for him to avoid, but as soon as he sensed that flare of chakra behind him, he used his own replacement to swap with a clone that had hidden under a Henge as a piece of the shattered tree.
If Shikamaru had tried to use his clone to replace himself, his technique would have failed and Naruto would have taken him out. However, he was in a better position to finish off the Nara now as Shikamaru had chosen a shattered branch directly in front of his clone. Naruto wasted no time striking a pressure point on the back of Shikamaru's neck rendering him unconscious.
While that was occurring, Sakura was engaged in a strength challenge with Choji after they had exchanged a flurry of blows. Sakura had cut him off from helping Ino with a fierce taijutsu battle that the Akamichi had been losing until he resorted to his Bubun Baika no Jutsu to send her flying back before grabbing her while she rolled back to her feet. The Akimichi heir was trying his best to use his oversized fist to grapple Sakura in order to squeeze her into submission, but Sakura was using a combination of chakra and output redirection from her legs into her arms to keep the giant hand from closing around her. The battle seemed to be even at the moment, but Sakura's legs were beginning to falter under the strain.
By redirecting the muscle and nerve control signals from her legs to her arms, she could double or triple her output, but this caused her legs to temporarily shut down once the remaining energy had been expended. Currently, she was shoring up her weakening leg muscles with chakra alone, but if Choji caught onto her trick and began to try and push or pull her off her feet, she would collapse entirely. Her chakra reserves were dwindling rapidly as a result and her mind raced to find a way out of this predicament before Choji eliminated her from the fight.
She was saved at the last minute by a cluster of small fireballs that Sasuke launched at Choji, striking him in the back. While they weren't strong enough to cause more than 1st degree burns, they did succeed in breaking his concentration enough for Sakura to surge free from his grip. With her patented war cry, she used the last of her energy to charge forward and land a powerful cross to the Akimichi's jaw and send him flying back several feet. The brute of team 10 bounced off the ground and rolled back a few more feet, unconscious.
Naruto appeared next to Sakura with a Shunshin to help support her as her legs finally collapsed from the redirection. After a few minutes, her full functionality would be restored and she would just need to rest a bit to recover her chakra.
Sasuke looked as if he hadn't even engaged in combat yet, despite the fact that he had faced off against Ino for most of the fight. The Yamanaka had tried her best to gain some distance and use her patented Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switch) to claim control of Sasuke, but she hadn't counted on him also knowing how to use the Shunshin.
In fact, the only reason any members of Team 7 knew the speed enhancement technique was because of the scroll that Naruto had found in the ruins of the Old Library. Technically it was a jutsu reserved for Jōnin level shinobi because the taxing effects it could have on the extremities of a growing body when performing the jutsu. That wasn't an issue for any of the members of Team Kakashi since their bodies were either cybernetic or, in Naruto's case, had the healing powers of the Kyūbi.
After toying with the Yamanaka heir in close combat for a bit to make things interesting for himself, Sasuke had appeared behind Ino in a swirl of leaves and had knocked her out with the saya (sheath) of his chokuto to cause less physical damage. With that done, he decided to give Sakura a hand so they could finish this match and move onto the finals where the real challenges would be at.
The proctor declared Team 7 the victors and the crowd began to go wild.
Team 7 returned to the competitor's box confident that they had performed well. While the scenario hadn't played out exactly like they wanted, the gist of the strategy had been fulfilled. Separate and pressure the singled out person in order to break their formation entirely. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio worked best when they were able to maintain their formation and control the field of battle. While this part of the exam was a test of teamwork, forcing Team 10 into individual battles was the best way to eliminate their strength and lower their score.
While it would seem odd that they would undermine their own teammates, the rules of scoring in the second exam had been geared more towards controlling your enemy than showing fancy teamwork and strength. Kakashi had likened it to how Hanzō had so effectively managed to protect his village while dealing with three separate warring factions. For the Ame judges, controlling your enemies actions and forcing them into a vulnerable position was worth a great deal towards promotion as it was a sign that the genin had the right mindset to take on tougher missions and lead others.
The individuals were still graded on their own merits during the battles so teams that weren't as successful still had a shot at promotion. Like any other exam, though, the more you were able to perform in front of the judges the higher shot at promotion you had. While the judges were composed of a multi-village panel, the Ame scoring system still weighed heavily into the mix.
Team 7 studied the rest of their competition as the rest of the matches were concluded. In the end, the finals bracket was displayed. The finals were going to be a series of free for all battles in the spirit of Ame's strength. The groups were randomly shuffled amongst the remaining fighters and the brackets posted on the main screen.
Kunoichi Bracket
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February 18th North Field
All times posted in Genso Standard Time (UTC/GMT +12)
4:00 pm Match 1: Tenten [Konoha] vs Mika [Nadeshiko] vs Haku [Kiri]
4:30 pm Match 2: Sakura [Konoha] vs Kimiko [Nadeshiko] vs Mai [Iwa]
5:00 pm Match 3: Mitsuki [Suna] vs Shima [Kumo] vs Hitomi [Ame]
5:30 pm Match 4: Shizuka [Nadeshiko] vs Michio [Suna] vs Second Elimination Match 1*** vs Second Elimination Match 2*** vs Second Elimination Match 3***
*If severe injuries are sustained by the eliminated contestant, the first contestant eliminated in that match will replace the injured fighter. If both contestants are too injured to compete, the match will proceed without an extra contestant but points will be reduced.
**Second Elimination candidates will receive bonus points if competing consecutively.
February 18th Center Field
6:30 pm Match 5: Winner Match 1 vs Winner Match 2 vs Winner Match 3 vs Winner Match 4
Shinobi Bracket
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!Notice to Bookies and Bettors: Riku of Kumo has been disqualified from the finals due to injury. All bets involving this candidate in the Finals are now off book and refunds have been authorized!
February 18th Center Field
All times posted in Genso Standard Time (UTC/GMT +12)
7:30 pm Match 1: Naruto [Konoha] vs Shibi [Ame] vs Katsuo [Iwa]
8:00 pm Match 2: Neji [Konoha] vs Chōjūrō [Kiri] vs Sora [Iwa]
8:30 pm Match 3: Lee [Konoha] vs Taka [Suna] vs Satoshi [Kumo]
9:00 pm Match 4: Sasuke [Konoha] vs Minoru [Ame] vs Tatsuo [Kiri]
10:00 pm Match 5: Winner Match 1 vs Winner Match 2 vs Winner Match 3 vs Winner Match 4
Purchase Tickets for the Final Exams now before all seats are Sold Out! Visit the Box Office or /PoseiDome-HAEvN/ to purchase your tickets now!
*Konoha residents may purchase tickets through TRELLIS at /AME-EXAMS/Chūnin/
PoseiDome™ does not authorize third party ticket brokers. Please avoid purchasing tickets through unauthorized brokers in order to prevent fraud and eliminate scammers. PoseiDome, Poseidon co., and management are not responsible for any tickets purchased outside of authorized brokers. Management reserves the right to deny entry to any tickets purchased through third party dealers or unauthorized vendors.
As the Konoha team made their way back towards their assigned inn, the mood was still jovial despite the fact that two of the teams had been eliminated. Kiba had declared it a dick move on Hanzō's part to pair them against each other in order to reduce the amount of Konoha Shinobi in the finals. Naruto couldn't help but agree with the Inuzuka, but there wasn't anything that could be done about it.
Ever since they had set foot into Ame they had been under heavy guard. The civilians and shinobi had also been openly hostile towards them to the extent that the guards recommended they don't wander outside of the foreign quarter that had been set up for the exams. If they were involved in any altercations, even if in self-defense, they would be eliminated from the exams after being thoroughly interrogated.
It had been interesting for Naruto to see how his peers dealt with such animosity and ostracism from the village around him. For him, it had been amusing just how familiar it all felt but he took it all in stride like he did back home. Sakura had seemed a bit put out by the guard's restrictions while Sasuke was his usual stoic self.
The typical loudmouths (Ino and Kiba) had been quite vocal in their protests and Naruto could only shake his head at the fact that less than a year ago he would have been right there with them. Probably being louder and even more offensive than they were at the moment.
Lee and Gai had been surprisingly subdued when they learned that their training would be restricted to certain times with time limits being enforced. Apparently, the few training grounds that Ame had set aside for the exams were shared between all of the contestants.
Choji, Shikamaru, Tenten, and Shino hadn't really responded or reacted in any way but that wasn't a surprise to Naruto. Shino had always been non-reactionary. Tenten just wanted to get dry and check all her scrolls to make sure they didn't get damaged. Choji was just waiting to get out of the rain so he could eat his chips safely, and Shikamaru had already written it off as requiring too much effort to get upset.
Hinata and Neji had seemed offended at their treatment but were too dignified to give a response. Ever since the Caged Bird Seal had been removed, the Hyūga clan had seemed to become united in their arrogance. Most of the former Branch members were not so bad, but with the entire family being integrated into the Main branch, the rules for expected behavior had been enforced across the clan.
While the Main Branch had always dictated a stern, proud, and confident demeanor that was above reproach, the Branch family had always been trained to be more passive, humble, and inconspicuous. Now that the Branch members were freed of the seal, however, that humility had quickly fled in the face of wild behavior. It was to be expected after being forcibly subdued for so long that they didn't really know the meaning of restraint now that they were free.
Hinata had always been polite, if not too shy, but with the elimination of the seal she had changed a great deal. She was exuberantly happy, for one, and her confidence had seemed to swell now that the threat of being branded was off the table. She had begun to display that famous Hyūga pride and with the pressures of the heiress being passed onto her sister instead, Hinata had finally been free to be herself.
Neji, on the other hand, had only become more of an asshole. Naruto didn't know him too well but he had heard plenty from Tenten who he got along with quite well. (Her family's store was one of the few that would sell him ninja gear without overcharging) While Neji wasn't such a prick about dictating people's fates with his "clairvoyance" anymore, he still had a superiority complex and loved to put people down with vicious words if he deemed them beneath his notice.
Neji had gone off on a rant towards him while they were in line for the 1st exam and Naruto had managed to shut him up by asking him why he was giving him a speech if he was "trash that was beneath his notice" Naruto then pointed out that he wasn't convincing anyone with his act and that holding on to such hatred would only give him wrinkles faster. Wrinkles that were considered unacceptable in the eyes of the glorious Hyūga clan.
Hinata and Tenten had tried and failed, to suppress their laughter at the expression on Neji's face. It had been torn between indignation, confusion, and surprise.
Most of the Konoha Rookies had been surprised at the sudden change in Naruto's behavior, expecting him to lash out and start yelling and insulting Neji. Instead, the blond had calmly, and politely, shut down the former branch member with a look of boredom on his face.
"Sensei, how are we going to train properly for a month when all of the foreign shinobi are going to be using the same training grounds as us?" Tenten asked Gai.
Kakashi was the one that responded to her question. "Actually, Hokage-sama has arranged for... alternate transportation for those who are competing in the finals. Those who didn't qualify will have to take the long way back or purchase a ticket for the Finals if they wish to stay and watch."
"What kind of alternate transportation?" Ino asked with a pout. "Why don't we get a ride too?"
"Because you lost, Ino-pig!" Sakura said with a smirk.
"Whatever, forehead, at least I still have better style than you do," Ino said with a huff.
The rivals began to glare at each other with scowls on their face.
"Actually, I would like to know what kind of transportation has been arranged as well," Hinata asked quietly.
She was wondering if it was one of those automatic carriages that moved without horses. She had always wanted to see one in person.
"I hear that the Hokage has secured one of those flying machines from the foreigners," Kurenai replied.
Sakura stopped her glaring at Ino to look at Kurenai with surprise.
"Flying machine? What kind of flying machine? Is it a jet?" Sakura asked with excitement before a thoughtful expression crossed her face. "No, it can't be a jet since Konoha doesn't have a suitable runway. That rules out everything except..." Sakura paused to release a gasp before she squealed in excitement.
"Except what?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Obviously, it can only be a Jigabachi!" Sakura said with stars in her eyes. "Oh, I hope it's a Jigabachi! Then again it could be a Tilt Rotor, but those are much larger and harder to land. They are also quite rare from what I hear."
"A wasp? How is a wasp going to help us get back to Konoha." Naruto asked in confusion.
"Not a wasp, idiot, a Jigabachi helicopter," Sakura said in a chastising tone before giving him a playful swat on the back of his head. "Seriously, Naruto, how would a wasp help us get back to Konoha?"
Naruto pouted at Sakura. "Why do you think I was so confused? And what is a helicopter?"
Sakura sighed in exasperation. "I swear it's like you purposely forget everything we learned about technology in the Academy," she muttered before explaining.
"A helicopter is a flying machine. It has blades or 'rotors' on the top that spin rapidly enough to create lift by pushing air down like a fan. This allows helicopters to hover in place or move side to side. There is a type of helicopter called a Jigabachi because its shape is the same as a wasp and when it attacks the rear cannon shifts downward like when a wasp stings."
"Oh, well I guess that makes sense," Naruto said while scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed laugh. "I should have guessed it was something like that to get you so excited, Sakura-chan."
"Obviously," Sasuke said with a snort. "Not only did Kurenai mention a flying machine but Sakura did as well. Were you even listening, moron?"
"I was trying to figure out what kind of training I was going to do for the finals, bastard," Naruto replied with a flat expression. "After all, we might be facing each other in the finals."
"I will definitely make it. Who knows about a loser like you." Sasuke said with a smirk.
"Oi, don't look down on me, bastard. I'll make it to the finals just so that I can kick your ass again." Naruto said before pounding his fist into his other hand.
"Hn," Sasuke grunted dismissively.
Sasuke was confident Naruto would face him in the end, but he would never tell his rival that.
"I can't believe they segregated the kunoichi from the shinobi! How sexist is that?" Tenten complained.
"I know, right?" Ino agreed. "They don't even have the kunoichi fighting in the main field until the championship match."
"Don't even get me started on that ad that was posted before our bracket. Seriously, what kind of kunoichi worries about something as trivial as nails?" Sakura said with a shake of her head.
"Well not all of us are brutes like you are, forehead," Ino said slyly.
"At least I don't give kunoichi a bad name, Ino-pig!" Sakura said with a growl.
"It's not safe for a taijutsu specialist to have nails like that," Hinata interjected. "So please don't fight."
"I tried to keep long nails once. It didn't turn out very well," Tenten said with a grimace.
"I wasn't talking about long ones!" Ino said defensively. "Kurenai-sensei happens to have very nice nails. So it is possible to be stylish yet professional. You guys just didn't try hard enough."
"I stopped caring about that long ago, Ino-pig. Even with prosthetic hands, it isn't feasible for me to worry about them." Sakura said.
"Alright, ladies, that's enough of that," Kurenai said sternly. "There is nothing wrong with trying to present an image. It is a part of our training, after all."
"Right!" Ino said. "And when it comes to beauty, no one has me beat," Ino said with her hands planted on her hips.
"Troublesome women," Shikamaru muttered.
"What was that!?" Ino, Tenten, and Sakura said with a glare towards Shikamaru.
"It's too troublesome to repeat." he replied with his usually lazy expression.
The group reached the entrance to their inn and were called to a stop by Kakashi.
"Okay, listen up." he snapped in an authoritative tone. "Tomorrow morning at 7 am all of those who are competing in the finals are to be packed and ready to go at the temporary training field. The transport will only have room for two genin teams and their sensei."
Kakashi's gaze traveled to Kurenai and Asuma.
"Hokage-sama said that your teams have two days to leave the village or purchase tickets to the finals. If you do decide to stick around, you will still be subjected to surveillance and confined to the foreign quarter, but there will be agents available to escort you to the shopping district if you wish to pick up supplies or souvenirs." Kakashi explained.
"They may not like Konoha but everyone likes our money," Asuma said with a smirk.
"It wouldn't be necessary if they allowed us to come and go as we please, but Hanzo won't allow anyone to leave and return except for the finalists, sensei, and the Hokage's chosen entourage. So, you have 48 hours to decide before they decide to remove you. If you do plan to stay, send a request for enough money for you to live off of for the rest of the month plus a week or two afterward, just to be safe." Kakashi said to the rest of the group.
"How will you bring money to us if you aren't coming back until the finals?" Kiba asked.
He had been so confident of success he hadn't brought enough to last for an entire month. Since only the contestants and finalists were being provided for by the village, he would need to send for more. He knew his mother wouldn't mind him staying to watch.
"Usually, we would take advantage of Jiraiya-sama's summons to deliver messages and scrolls of supplies, but Hanzō has forbidden him or any toads from entering the village. Considering Jiraiya-sama's profession it is understandable." Kakashi answered. "Instead, Itachi has offered the use of his crows for the time being." Kakashi gestured towards the Inn roof and the group could see a half dozen crows staring down at them with glowing red eyes. The crows were tucked underneath the arching clay roof tiles of the inn to avoid the rain.
"Unlike the toads, the crows aren't able to sneak people or groups into the village. They also don't like being used as messengers but Itachi has found a few that have been willing to volunteer their services. So, if you do make a polite and respectful request of the crows, make certain you include everything you need in your request and that it doesn't exceed one medium storage scroll in size. Those are the only crows who volunteered for the duty so make good use of them if you decide to stay because there won't be more coming." Kakashi warned.
When no more questions were forthcoming, Kakashi dismissed the group to their own ends and made a gesture for Team 7 to follow him into the restaurant. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura fell into step behind him and waited for the hostess to seat them. Kakashi signaled them to remain silent when he requested a booth seat instead of the standard corner table.
Most shinobi would never sit inside a contained booth if they could avoid it because poor visibility meant vulnerability. Especially when you were surrounded by rival villages and shinobi. The most requested seats were corner seats that faced every possible entryway into the restaurant. As long as they had eyes on every potential entry and exit point, they would be able to track and respond to any potential threats.
The hostess escorted them to a small walled off booth along the western wall of the restaurant. Once seated the group waited for the waitress to come by and take their orders before they decided to ask the question that was on all of their minds.
"It's a bit early for dinner, isn't it sensei?" Sakura said in a low tone.
"I wanted to discuss the plans for training for the finals while less of the competition was around," Kakashi said quietly before slipping a seal out of one of the pages of his Icha Icha. As he tucked the book into his hip pouch, he quickly planted the silencing seal on the seat rest behind him and activated it with a subtle flare of chakra.
The seal vanished into the seat once activated and the booth was now protected from any external listening devices or jutsu. Seeing the signal from their sensei (putting his precious Icha Icha away) Sasuke was quick to flare his Sharingan to life and cast a subtle genjutsu over the booth to mask their lip movements and project a false conversation for observers to listen to. Sakura followed by flipping a small switch inside one of her pockets to scramble any electronic listening devices that might be planted inside of the booth. Naruto merely sat with his eyes closed in concentration as focused on the chakra signatures around them. He gave the thumbs up when he sensed no agitation in the chakra signatures of their assigned "guards". A sign that they were at ease instead of suspicious.
He had been working on his sensing skills with the help of the Kyūbi recently and had only been practicing those skills for just under a month. It still required a great deal of concentration for him to pick up chakra signatures around the immediate area, but that was significant progress considering how long it had taken him to become fully in tune with his chakra system and body. With that milestone met, the Kyūbi had then introduced him to Reiki (Life force energy) training which all natural sensors were naturally in tune with. With this training, Naruto would eventually be able to determine chakra affinities, reserve levels, and even sense and detect emotions like the Kyūbi did.
While the Kyūbi could have provided this ability to Naruto, the fox hadn't bothered to reveal that truth to him. Instead, the kitsune had decided to see if Naruto could develop that ability on his own, as a sort of test to see how serious his container was about following the path of Ninshu. While most of the current teachings identified Reiki as a different energy source, in truth, Reiki was just a component of chakra itself. It was the main reason that chakra was able to be converted into different forms.
In scientific terms, one would say Reiki was the stem cell of chakra and had both pluripotent and propagation properties. This was how chakra could be converted to any element that existed in nature as well as pure Yin and Yang energy. It was the reason the chakra could be used to grow trees, heal wounds, and regenerate cells. Humans believed that chakra existed in every cell and was necessary for life. In truth, it was only Reiki that existed in every cell and it was only Reiki that was required to sustain life.
The Kyūbi wasn't certain why this knowledge had been lost from the time of his creator. The Rikudo Sennin had been intricately familiar with all aspects of chakra and had taught about reiki when he was spreading the tenants of Ninshu. Since humanity had corrupted and squandered the gift they were given, however, the Kyūbi wouldn't be revealing that knowledge to any human for as long as he existed. He would teach his container how to feel and recognize it but beyond that, he would remain silent. Any other discoveries would have to be made on his own. Given the short lives of humans, he doubted the blond would be able to figure it out before his death.
If he did, then perhaps he was worthy of learning the truth.
"So, what is the plan, sensei?" Sakura asked with a frown.
She knew that Naruto and Sasuke likely had a special sensei lined up for them, considering how much interest the Hokage held for them, but she didn't have the first clue on who would be willing or able to teach her.
"For you, Sakura, I have arranged for Kurenai to take you on for the month. With her team being eliminated, she will have plenty of free time to help you develop your genjutsu talent which has started to fall behind. You might have to deal with a large amount of independent study should her team return to Konoha and start taking C-ranked missions, but I know that wouldn't be a problem for you." Kakashi replied before turning his focus to Naruto.
"As for you, the Hokage has already arranged for another teacher to train you for the month."
"Really?" Naruto said in a surprisingly guarded tone. "I guess I will just have to wait and see if he actually shows up this time," he added with a sneer.
Both Sasuke and Sakura threw him confused glances but decided not to question him about the topic. It was rare when Naruto showed such contempt ever since his personality change, but when it did slip through, it was usually a result of someone touching on a very sensitive topic for the blond.
Kakashi opted to remain silent about Naruto's comment. Speaking of Naruto's absentee godparents only resulted in the blond shutting down and becoming defensive if not outright hostile at times. Kakashi suspected the Sandaime would leave Naruto's training to Jiraiya so that he could inherit the Toad Summoning contract, Fūinjutsu knowledge, and his father's ultimate jutsu, but the Sannin had proven to be quite flaky, at best.
There had been a few times that the Sandaime had scheduled for Jiraiya or Tsunade to meet with Naruto once he had finally learned the truth about his heritage and burden, but both of the wayward Sannin had always backed out at the last minute. The Sandaime had never expected his former students to pull such a cowardly act and had informed Naruto about their impending visits the first few times.
The subject had already been a sore point for Naruto in the first place, who had been furious that he had been essentially abandoned by those who were charged to care for him, but his study in Shōrinji had helped him to let most of that anger go. That didn't mean the blond had forgiven either of them, however, and he made his intent to remain distant from them well known.
After that, the Sandaime had sent more requests without letting Naruto know in the hopes that they could try and salvage their relationship, but neither Tsunade or Jiraiya had managed to muster up the courage to try. Naruto had only asked about them a few more times before he stopped hassling the Sandaime about them.
When pressed by the aged Hokage, Naruto had made it clear to him that he didn't consider them family and never would. In his mind, they had thrown that opportunity away when they abandoned him instead of caring for him as they were charged to do by his parents. If they couldn't be bothered to face him now and apologize, that only meant that they truly held no care or concern for him in their hearts.
In the end, the Sandaime had convinced Naruto to at least allow Jiraiya the opportunity to train him at a later date so he could carry on his father's legacy. It had taken some time, but Naruto had eventually agreed to it. Kakashi suspected the only reason he agreed was to give the Sandaime peace of mind since it was obvious the blond never expected the Toad Sage to follow through.
"As for you, Sasuke, you will be with me and Itachi for the month. We have special plans to help you advance to the next level." Kakashi replied.
Sasuke merely nodded with a small smirk on his face. Knowing that Itachi would be helping only meant that he would be pushed beyond his limits. Kakashi was just a bonus in his eyes as the man had proven to be quite the task master despite his lazy countenance.
Once the waitress had delivered their food and drinks, Team 7 allowed their security measures to fade away. If they kept them up for too long, the chances that they would be detected would continue to grow. They knew that Ame was just itching for a chance to eliminate them from the exams since they had performed so well while Ame had been disgraced. It was for that reason that the Hokage had opted to remove them from Ame for the month since they would likely gather as much intelligence on the competition as they trained while simultaneously trying to antagonize or goad them into a fight so they could be disqualified.
Underhanded, for certain, but they were shinobi.
Team 7 ate their meal with limited, casual conversation before returning to their rooms to prepare for departure. At the moment things were looking bright for the young genin and all of them had felt they were progressing positively towards their goals in the future.